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[10/14/10 - 07:05 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, October 14
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:

Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!


AGAINST THE WALL (Lifetime) - Kathy Baker has joined the cast of the pilot, "a family drama set in Chicago which follows policewoman Abby Kowalski (Rachael Carpani), who causes a rift with her three cop brothers when she decides to join the department's Internal Affairs division." She'll play Abby's mother, a Chicago cop's (Treat Williams) wife, "a gem [who] loves her kids, God and husband, in that order." In addition, Michael Fresco ("Raising Hope") has signed on to direct the pilot. He'll take over from Dean Parisot who pulled out following the death of his wife, Sally Menke. Annie Brunner is behind the hour, which comes from Universal Cable Productions.


CLOAK & DAGGER (ABC Family, New!)/THE INCREDIBLE HULK (ABC, New!) - Marvel Television, spearheaded by Jeph Loeb, is developing small screen takes of both properties at the Disney-owned channels. Guillermo del Toro and David Eick are each reportedly being courted to oversee "Hulk," which would once again follow the exploits of physicist Bruce Banner whose accidental exposure to gamma radiation transforms him into the jade giant when he loses control of his emotions. Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno starred in the much-ballyhooed CBS series from 1978-82 while Eric Bana, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo spearheaded the character's various feature incarnations. As for "Cloak & Dagger," no writer is currently attached. Said property revolves around Tyrone "Ty" Johnson and Tandy Bowen, teen runaways in New York City who develop superpowers - he can engulf enemies in darkness, she can emit daggers of light - after being forced to take experimental drugs.


IT TAKES A VILLAGE (FOX, New!) - Playwright David Talbert and actor/producer Morris Chestnut are developing a new comedy at the network about "a young R&B singer who loses his money thanks to the ill-advised dealings of his best friend and business manager." The man subsequently is "forced to move back to his old home in the inner city [and] winds up working in an at-risk youth community center - where he becomes a mentor of sorts to the 'Bad News Bears'-esque kids. Said half-hour is set up at 20th Century Fox Television with Talbert penning the script and executive producing alongside Chestnut, Brian Wilkins and 5 Boroughs Entertainment's Steven Greener.


LIFE UNEXPECTED (The CW) - Creator Liz Tigelaar has confirmed via her Twitter page the netlet has asked for two additional scripts of the sophomore drama. Currently the series, which airs Tuesdays at 9:00/8:00c, has a 13-episode production commitment.


POTOMAC FEVER (E!, New!) - Actor Rob Lowe is spearheading a potential new reality series at the cable channel about the lives of "real-life aspiring politicos as they look to move up the ranks of power in the nation's capital." Said effort, which has a pilot order, is set up at 44 Blue Productions ("Lock Up") with the company's Rasha Drachkovitch executive producing alongside Lowe. No other specifics were given.


SECRET MILLIONAIRE (ABC) - The Alphabet reportedly plans to launch its incarnation of the series on Sunday, March 6 at 8:00/7:00c where it would spell current occupant "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The project, which has a six-episode order, was originally set to roll out on Friday nights at 8:00/7:00c. In addition, producer Zodiak USA has been given the go-ahead to begin casting additional episodes.


SINBAD AND THE MINOTAUR (A.K.A. 8TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) (Syfy) - Holly Brisley and Steven Grives have joined the cast of the Manu Bennett-led telefilm, in which "Sinbad searches for the golden head of the long lost Colossus of Rhodes and instead finds an island where the mythical Minotaur still rules, protecting a vast treasure." No details were given about their characters. Karl Zwicky is directing the American World Pictures-produced project from a script by Jim Noble. Production is expected to be completed in Australia for an unspecified 2011 premiere.


SPRING/FALL (HBO, New!) - Tea Leoni is set to topline and executive produce a potential new comedy at the pay channel set against the backdrop of New York's fashion world about the "dysfunctional partnership between two women with different approaches to career, family, and friendship." Kate Robin ("Six Feet Under") penned the half-hour and is executive producing alongside Leoni, R.J. Cutler ("The September Issue") and Jimmy Miller.


TOO BIG TO FAIL (HBO) - John Heard and Evan Handler are the latest additions to the docudrama's ensemble cast, which includes William Hurt, James Woods and Paul Giamatti. They'll play Joe Gregory, the former Lehman Brothers president, and Lloyd Blankfein, CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs, in the project, about "the 2008 financial crisis and the power brokers who decided the fate of the world's economy as the system teetered on collapse."






  [october 2010]  
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· AGAINST THE WALL (LIFETIME)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· INCREDIBLE HULK, THE (ABC)
· IT TAKES A VILLAGE (FOX)
· LIFE UNEXPECTED (CW)
· MARVEL'S CLOAK & DAGGER (FREEFORM)
· POTOMAC FEVER (E)
· SECRET MILLIONAIRE (ABC)
· SINBAD & THE MINOTAUR (SYFY)
· SIX FEET UNDER (HBO)
· SPRING FALL (HBO)
· TOO BIG TO FAIL (HBO)





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