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[07/05/11 - 10:56 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, July 5
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!


90210 (The CW) - Kristina Apgar ("Privileged") has been tapped as a potential love interest for Matt Lanter's character in the new season. She'll play Jane, "a mysterious 21-year-old from Alaska who married young and is a widow." Season three of the series wrapped with Lanter's Liam leaving for the summer to work on a fishing boat while girlfriend Annie (Shenae Grimes) prepared for college in the fall.


ARE YOU THERE VODKA? IT'S ME CHELSEA (NBC) - Natalie Morales, Angel Laketa Moore and Jo Koy have all been cut from the midseason comedy, about the twentysomething adventures of comedian Chelsea Handler (as played by Laura Prepon). It's understood their characters are being reconceived however no other specifics were given. The trio played the friends/sports bar co-workers of Chelsea.


BREAKING IN (FOX) - The network and producer Sony Pictures Television have picked up the options on the show's cast, extending the deadline to order a potential second season through November 15. The midseason comedy didn't make the cut for FOX's 2011-12 lineup, announced back in May.


EXIT STRATEGY (FOX) - FOX has passed on the Ethan Hawke-led drama pilot, about a team of CIA agents who are sent in to fix operations gone bad. Ken Olin was previously brought in to spearhead a retooled version of the 20th Century Fox Television-based project, which also starred Elyes Gabel, Lily Rabe, Lina Esco, Megan Dodds and Tom Sizemore. David Guggenheim penned the script while Antoine Fuqua directed and executive produced.


FAMILY ALBUM (FOX) - Mike O'Malley, Rachel Harris and Rob Huebel have had their options extended as the pilot, a single-camera comedy that takes a snapshot of the Bronsky clan as they reveal the hilarious stories behind the photo-worthy moments of life, undergoes retooling for a potential midseason order. Damaris Diaz, Isabella Cramp and Ted Sutherland co-starred in the original pilot as the kids with Joy Osmanski as a friend Harris's character makes while on vacation. Shawn Levy directed from a script by co-creators Joe Port and Joe Wiseman.


GOSSIP GIRL (The CW) - Elizabeth Hurley is set to recur on the show's fifth season. She'll play Diana Payne, "a sexy, smart, self-made media mogul and all-around force to be reckoned with [whose] entrance on the Upper East Side will change the lives of all our characters - including, and especially, Gossip Girl herself."


LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (NBC) - Stephanie March and Diane Neal are both set to return for the show's 13th season. They're reprise their roles of ADAs Alexandra Cabot and Casey Novak, respectively, for an undetermined number of episodes. Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T and Richard Belzer plus incoming detectives Danny Pino and Kelli Giddish also star.


LITTLE IN COMMON (FOX) - Co-stars Paula Marshall and Lombardo Boyar have been dropped from the comedy pilot, which follows three diverse middle-class families who become intertwined when their children play on youth sports teams together. Producers will recast Marshall's character, the wife of Rob Corddry's, while Boyar's is being written out to make Alana Ubach's single. Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart also star in the Warner Bros. Television-based project, which is being redeveloped for a potential midseason order. Adam Bernstein directed the original pilot from a script by Rob Thomas.


THE LYING GAME (ABC Family) - Adrian Pasdar ("Heroes") has landed a role on the upcoming drama, about separated-at-birth twins (both played by Alexandra Chando) who switch places so that one can experience the trappings of wealth while the other pursues the identity of their birth mother. He'll play the father of Sutton's best friend Madeleine (Alice Greczyn). The newcomer rolls out Monday, August 15 at 9:00/8:00c.


SKINNY DIP (HBO, New!) - Carl Hiaasen's novel, "a caper story about an heir-heiress pushed overboard on a yacht by her larcenous husband" who fakes her death and plots revenge with a moody ex-cop, is being developed as a drama series at the pay channel. Michael Oates Palmer is spearheading the adaptation and will executive produce alongside actor Michael Keaton, who has a first-look deal with the network.


SMOTHERED (ABC) - The Alphabet has formally passed on the comedy pilot, about new parents (Kyle Howard, Brooke D'Orsay) who struggle with the pressures brought on by their parents (Marcia Gay Harden, Julie White, Adam Arkin and John C. McGinley). Andy Ackerman helmed the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour from a script by Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen.


SONS OF ANARCHY (FX) - David Hasselhoff is set to appear on the upcoming season of the FX drama. He'll play Dondo, "a well-endowed former porn star who is now making major coin by producing sleazy girl-on-girl adult films." Said report adds that Dondo was "given a major career boost by Luanne (Dendrie Taylor) and gets involved in a little dirty work in her memory."


UNTITLED PETER KNIGHT PROJECT (CBS) - The Eye has picked up the options on the cast of the comedy pilot as it mulls a potential midseason commitment. Ben Rappaport, Kevin Corrigan, Larry Wilmore, Michael Landes, Michelle Trachtenberg and Tim Peper co-star in the project, a workplace comedy about up-and-coming executives. Neil Patrick Harris directed for CBS Television Studios, Happy Madison Productions and Sony Pictures Television.






  [july 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· 90210 (CW)
· ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? (NBC)
· BREAKING IN (FOX)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EXIT STRATEGY (FOX)
· FAMILY ALBUM (FOX)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· HEROES (NBC)
· LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (NBC)
· LITTLE IN COMMON (FOX)
· LYING GAME, THE (ABC FAMILY)
· PRIVILEGED (CW)
· SKINNY DIP (CW)
· SMOTHERED (ABC)
· SONS OF ANARCHY (FX)
· UNTITLED PETER KNIGHT PILOT (CBS)





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