 |
 |
[03/01/11 - 11:19 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, March 1
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!
40 (HBO, New!) - Ed Burns is set to star in a potential comedy at the pay channel from Doug Ellin ("Entourage") about four lifelong friends in New York "who help each other navigate life at 40, which isn't all they expected it to be." He'll play one of the quartet who's married with kids and "used to work at Bear Stearns making over 2 million a year but has now been out of work for almost a year." The others are billed as "a rich metrosexual guy, a ripped personal trainer and a schlumpy neurotic married guy." Ellin, who has an overall deal at the network, penned the half-hour and is executive producing.
ARE YOU THERE VODKA? IT'S ME CHELSEA (NBC) - Mark Povinelli has scored a role on the comedy pilot, inspired by Chelsea Handler's best-selling autobiographical book of the same name about her twentysomething adventures. He'll play Todd, a bar back at the sports bar where Chelsea (Laura Prepon) works. Angel Laketa Moore, Jo Koy, Lauren Lapkus, Natalie Morales and Handler herself also star. Dottie Zicklin and Julie Ann Larson co-wrote the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour, to be helmed by Gail Mancuso.
THE ASSISTANTS (CBS) - Emily Rutherfurd ("The New Adventures of Old Christine") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about four assistants who toil for a celebrity couple - Gale Meeks and Ali Vance (who are likened to Rob Riggle and Sarah Jessica Parker). She'll play Liddy Gribble ("friendly if a bit manic and socially awkward"), Ali's sister who now works for her as house manager. T.J. Miller also stars in the Tucker Cawley-penned half-hour, which is set up at CBS Television Studios.
BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO) - Michael Zegen ("Rescue Me") has scored a role on the show's upcoming second season. He'll play Benny, "a tough, smart urban kid... as aspiring Jewish gangster," who will ultimately grow up to be the notorious gangster known as "Bugsy" Siegel. No other specifics were given.
BREAKING IN (FOX) - Co-creator Adam F. Goldberg has inked a two-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. The pact covers his duties on the soon-to-launch comedy, which likewise comes from director Seth Gordon, as well as his future development. No financial details were given.
THE CROSSING (NBC) - Rachelle Lefevre ("Off the Map") has been cast in the pilot, a period drama set in Circle Bend, Missouri following the Civil War and revolves around Jason Edding, a former soldier who is welcomed as its savior - whether he likes it or not. She'll play Anna, a widowed leather goods store owner with a young daughter (Claire Wellin), who becomes involved with Jason. Her casting is in second position to the ABC drama. Peter Horton is helming the Universal Media Studios-based hour from a script by Joshua Brand.
GOOD CHRISTIAN BITCHES (ABC) - Leslie Bibb and Annie Potts have both joined the cast of the drama pilot, based on Kim Gatlin's book about Amanda Vaughn, a widowed mother of two who - to get a fresh start - moves back to the affluent Dallas neighborhood where she grew up. Bibb will play said role with Potts as her overbearing mother, Gigi. The duo joins the recently cast Jennifer Aspen in the hour, which Alan Poul will helm off a script by Robert Harling.
GRACE (ABC) - Abigail Spencer ("Hawthorne") has booked the female lead on the drama pilot, about Michael Grace (Eric Roberts), a famous choreographer whose womanizing ways have produced three daughters - Sarah, a lawyer; Shay, a photographer; Eden, a teenager - all with different mothers. She's on board as the eldest daughter Sarah ("smart, funny, intense"), a former dancer-turned-Beverly Hills lawyer who opts to buy her father's failing studio and run it. Lesli Linka Glatter is directing the ABC Studios-based hour from a script by Krista Vernoff.
HAIL MARY (CBS) - Veteran character actor Stephen Tobolowsky has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Mary Beth Baker (Minnie Driver), a suburban single mom who teams up with her murdered son's best friend to solve crimes. He'll play Barney Cox, the strip mall private investigator Mary Beth initially hired to look into her son's death - and ultimately goes to work for. Jeff Wadlow is behind the hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television.
HART OF DIXIE (The CW) - Jaime King ("My Generation") has scored a role on the drama pilot, about Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson), a young big-city doctor who inherits a medical practice in the oddball town of BlueBell, Alabama. She's on board as Lemon Breeland, an overly effusive member of the Blue Belles, elite young ladies chosen to keep the town's history alive. Wilson Bethel also stars in the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which Jason Ensler is directing from a script by Leila Gerstein.
HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN (CBS) - Rhys Darby ("Flight of the Conchords") has snagged a role on the comedy pilot, about Alan (David Hornsby), an uptight guy learning to live his life with the help of his old high school classmate. He'll play Mike, the "earnest, brow-beaten" husband of Alan's sister, Janet. Dave Foley and Nancy Lenehan co-star in the CBS Television Studios-based project, which was penned by Hornsby.
IDENTTIY (ABC) - Jay Paulson ("Happy Town") has booked a role on the drama pilot, a procedural set at the Identity Crimes Division, the FBI's first cyber-crime unit mixed with traditional investigators. He's believed to be playing the character formerly known as Jose Rodriguez ("rookie, cocky, good-looking; a young pagan who'll sleep with anything"), the junior member of said team. Orlando Jones and potentially Wentworth Miller also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, from writer John Glenn.
MISSING (ABC) - Ashley Judd has closed her deal to topline the drama, about "a suburban mother who, after her son disappears in Italy while studying abroad, rushes to Europe to track him down" where "it soon becomes clear she is no ordinary soccer mom, but a former CIA agent who will stop at nothing to bring her son home alive." The Alphabet has ordered 10 episodes of the series, from ABC Studios, creator Greg Poirier and fellow executive producers Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo. Steve Schill is directing the pilot and will likewise executive produce.
NO ORDINARY FAMILY (ABC) - Co-creator Greg Berlanti has inked a massive four-year, eight-figure overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. The pact, which begins in June, calls for the prolific writer/producer to develop new series projects for the studio, home to his current feature work. Berlanti had been based at ABC Studios, where he shephered "Brothers & Sisters," "Eli Stone" and "Dirty Sexy Money" for sibling ABC.
THE OVER/UNDER (USA) - Steven Pasquale ("Rescue Me") has booked the lead role on the drama pilot, about Paul Keller, "a day trader with a massive gambling problem who is fired from his job six months after a bad trade costs his firm millions. Shut out of the job market, he and his beautiful, photographer wife retreat to a neighborhood on the cusp of gentrification. He finds an unlikely partner and starts to turn his life around in an unexpected way." Anthony Carrigan also stars as Marino Puzzo, the aforementioned partner with whom he opens a high-end bookie business. In addition, Bronwen Hughes ("Fairly Legal") has been tapped to direct the pilot, which was written by Sheila Callaghan. Fox Television Studios and Universal Cable Productions are co-producing.
PAN AM (ABC) - Christina Ricci has officially set to star in the period drama pilot, about the pilots and flight attendants working at the iconic Pan Am airline in the 1960s. She'll play Maggie, a 24-year-old fiery redhead, who while "on duty is a beautiful, perfectly groomed and poised stewardess, and off duty is an earthy, bohemian living among the beatniks and intellectuals of Greenwich Village." Thomas Schlamme is helming the Jack Orman-penned hour, which also stars Margot Robbie and Michael Mosley. Sony Pictures Television is producing.
S.I.L.A. (NBC) - Daniella Alonso ("My Generation") and Matthew Levy ("Sons of Tucson") have both landed roles in the pilot, a drama depicting a complex web of crime, policework and politics in Los Angeles. She'll play Daniela Garza ("a former newscaster type"), the press liason for Virgilio Zaragoza, the Mayor of Los Angeles; with Levy as Max Broadkey, an adrenaline junky who's happiest when viewing life by remote. Stephen Gaghan wrote and will direct the hour for 20th Century Fox Television. Danny Pino also stars.
UNTITLED SUSANNAH GRANT PROJECT (CBS) - Jennifer Ehle ("The King's Speech") has booked the female lead on the drama pilot, about Michael Halstead (Patrick Wilson), "an ultra-competitive surgeon whose life is changed forever when his ex-wife, a doctor running a free clinic, dies and begins teaching him what life is all about from the hereafter." She'll play Michael's aforementioned ex-wife, Anna Lindberg ("confident, wildly attractive, despite the lack of fuss she spends on her appearance... or maybe because of it"). Susannah Grant penned the CBS Television Studios-based hour, which Jonathan Demme is attached to direct.
|
|
|
 [march 2011]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[10/17/25 - 01:16 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Hits Season Highs with Best Audience Performance Since July
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 139 consecutive weeks across all key measures.
|
[10/17/25 - 10:38 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues Historic Hot Streak - Rising for Fourth Straight Week Since Premiere with 6 Million Total Viewers
Plus: "High Potential" dominated the 10 p.m. hour with 4.15 million Total Viewers and a 0.33 rating among Adults 18-49.
|
[10/17/25 - 10:01 AM]
51st Season of "Saturday Night Live" Continues with Three Back-to-Back Shows in November
Miles Teller is on tap to host on November 1, followed by Nikki Glaser on November 8, and Glen Powell on November 15.
|
[10/17/25 - 09:05 AM]
All-New Season of "The Last Woodsmen" Premieres Friday, November 14 at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
Deep in the untamed wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, veteran logger Jared Douglas returns to put everything on the line in the new season.
|
[10/17/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia" - Sneak Peek - Netflix
A brutal mob war between John Stanfa and Joey Merlino plunges '90s Philadelphia into chaos and bloodshed in this captivating true-crime series.
|
[10/17/25 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "Me late que si" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A desperate, ordinary man, fed up with his misfortune, hatches a daring heist and assembles a very unusual group to attempt the impossible: stealing a live lottery jackpot.
|
[10/17/25 - 08:00 AM]
"Weapons" Begins Streaming Exclusively on HBO Max October 24
When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at 2:17 a.m., a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
|
[10/17/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "My Secret Santa" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A vivacious single-mom (Alexandra Breckenridge) in need of a job decides to disguise herself as a man in order to get hired as the seasonal Santa at a luxury ski resort.
|
[10/17/25 - 07:01 AM]
"Euphoria" Season 3 Is Coming Spring 2026
Newly announced cast members include Gideon Adlon, Bill Bodner, Colleen Camp, Danielle Deadwyler, Homer Gere, Jessica Blair Herman, Natasha Lyonne, Hemky Madera, Kwame Patterson, Trisha Paytas, Rebecca Pidgeon, Bella Podaras, Cailyn Rice, Eli Roth, Madison Thompson, Jack Topalian, Sam Trammell, Matthew Willig.
|
[10/17/25 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "Eloa the Hostage: Live on TV" - Official Trailer - Netflix
This gripping documentary explores the case of a teenage girl who was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend in one of Brazil's most shocking hostage situations.
|
[10/17/25 - 06:01 AM]
Apple Is the Exclusive New Broadcast Partner for Formula 1 in the U.S.
Apple TV will deliver comprehensive coverage of Formula 1, with all practice, qualifying, Sprint sessions, and Grands Prix available to Apple TV subscribers.
|
[10/16/25 - 02:11 PM]
Video: National Geographic Unveils First Look at "Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember" - A Powerful and Heartfelt Special Featuring the Global Movie Star on His Most Personal Journey Yet
The one-hour documentary, from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa, Jane Root's Nutopia, and Chris Hemsworth and Ben Grayson's Wild State, premieres November 23 at 9:00/8:00c on National Geographic and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
|
[10/16/25 - 12:58 PM]
Lifetime Announces Annual "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" Holiday Movie Slate Kicking Off November 29th
Featured talent this year includes Brandy Norwood, Kane & Katelyn Brown, Loretta Devine, Debbi Morgan, Arielle Kebbel, Tyler Hilton, James Lafferty, Vivica A. Fox, Jackée Harry, Sy'Rai Smith, Nischelle Turner, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, and others.
|
[10/16/25 - 12:31 PM]
Video: "The Witcher" Season 4 - Character Trailer - Netflix
Scattered to fates unknown, Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri traverse the war-torn Continent and its countless enemies in the hope of finding each other again.
|
[10/16/25 - 11:32 AM]
A+E Global Media and Rachael Ray's Free Food Studios Cook Up Expanded Programming Partnership with Over 100 New Episodes Ordered
The network has ordered 110 new episodes of Ray's programming, including new episodes of "Meals in Minutes," that will continue to focus on her approachable and comforting cooking style.
|
|
|
|
