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[10/04/11 - 10:57 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, October 4
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!


DEXTER (Showtime) - Talks have reportedly broken down between Michael C. Hall and the pay channel over a proposed two-year deal to continue on the flagship drama. It's understood Showtime is offering $20 million for said services while Hall's team is asking for $24 million, either of which would make Hall one of the highest-paid actors in cable. Showtime also is said to be open to a one-year deal versus two. (Deadline.com)


FAME MONSTER: THE LADY GAGA STORY (Lifetime, New!) - Norman Snider ("Casino Jack") has been tapped to pen an unauthorized biopic of famed songstress Stefani Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga. Ilene Kahn Power ("Who Is Clark Rockefeller?") is executive producing the project, which is based on Maureen Callahan's 2010 book "Poker Face: The Rise and Rise Of Lady Gaga." (Deadline.com)


HARVEKARBO (FOX, New!) - Oscar-winners Ethan Coen and Joel Coen ("No Country For Old Men") have booked a dramedy at the network about "an ill-tempered LA private investigator whose cases frequently involve the depraved doings of the Hollywood elite - and his deadbeat friends in Los Angeles' El Segundo." Said hour is being co-created with Phil Johnston ("Cedar Rapids") and has a script commitment with a penalty attached should it not go to pilot. 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television are co-producing with the Coens, Johnston, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo executive producing. (Deadline.com)


I LICK MY CHEESE (CBS, New!) - Jamie Denbo ("Ronna & Beverly") has booked a new comedy at the Eye about two college sweethearts who are forced to sublet the spare rooms in their home after a proposed remodel spirals out of control. The half-hour is based on Oonagh O'Hagan's tome of the same name, "a collection of real-life notes from the frontline of room-sharing." CBS Television Studios and Roughcut Television are behind the half-hour, with Ash Atalla executive producing alongside Denbo. (Deadline.com)


THE PRODUCER (CBS, New!) - Jerry Weintraub ("Ocean's Eleven") has booked a period drama at the Eye "set in the fictional world of evening news." Rick Dresser ("Keen Eddie") is penning the hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television. Weintraub and Dresser then will executive produce. (THR.com)


THE SIMPSONS (FOX) - Voice principals Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith once again have reached an impasse with 20th Century Fox Television over their salaries. It's understood the group offered a 30% pay cut - to about $4 million per season each - in exchange for a tiny percentage of the show's huge back-end profits while 20th is asking for a 45% salary reduction. "Twenty-three seasons in, The Simpsons is as creatively vibrant as ever and beloved by millions around the world," the studio said in a statement. "We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the voice cast that allows The Simpsons to go on entertaining audiences with original episodes for many years to come." (TheDailyBeast.com)


TWEAKED (CBS, New!) - Jon Favreau ("Cowboys & Aliens") has booked a new comedy at the Eye "which chronicles life and dating among single parents in Santa Monica." He'll write, direct and executive produce the single-camera project, which was penned on spec. Said effort is expected to be laid off at CBS Television Studios and receive a pilot order. The news marks Favreau's first foray into television since helming the pilot to ABC's "In Case of Emergency" in 2006. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED JOANNA GARCIA PROJECT (ABC, New!) - "Better With You" alums JoAnna Garcia and Shana Goldberg-Meehan are set to reteam for a new comedy at the Alphabet about a woman (Garcia) who moves in with her husband's family. The multi-camera project has received a pilot production commitment from the network following a bidding war with NBC and CBS. Warner Bros. Television is producing with Goldberg-Meehan penning the script and executive producing. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED NAT SAUNDERS/CHRIS HAYWARD PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Nat Saunders and Chris Hayward ("Trollied") have snagged a script order from the Eye for a new comedy about "an OCD-sufferer realizes who, after a near-death experience, realizes there's more to life than working at the family funeral home." The duo will write and executive produce alongside Ash Atalla for CBS Television Studios and Roughcut Television. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Alfre Woodard will guest on "Grey's Anatomy" as a famous novelist who is under Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Lexie's (Chyler Leigh) care (TVLine.com); Aaron Tveit will return to "Gossip Girl" as Nate Archibald's skeevy politico cousin, Trip van der Bilt (Zap2It.com); Marisa Tomei, Martin Sheen and Blair Underwood are bound for the new season of NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" (EW.com); Gloria Votsis will play a potential love interest for Jeremy Sisto's George on the Thanksgiving episode of "Suburgatory" (EW.com); plus Lex Medlin will be upped to series regular for season four of "Drop Dead Diva" (THR.com).






  [october 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· BETTER WITH YOU (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
· DROP DEAD DIVA (LIFETIME)
· FAME MONSTER: THE LADY GAGA STORY (LIFETIME)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· HARVEKARBO (FOX)
· I LICK MY CHEESE (CBS)
· IN CASE OF EMERGENCY (ABC)
· KEEN EDDIE (FOX)
· PRODUCER, THE (CBS)
· RONNA & BEVERLY (SHOWTIME)
· SIMPSONS, THE (FOX)
· SUBURGATORY (ABC)
· TWEAKED (CBS)
· UNTITLED JOANNA GARCIA PROJECT (ABC)
· UNTITLED SAUNDERS & HAYWARD PROJECT (CBS)
· WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? (NBC)
· WHO IS CLARK ROCKEFELLER? (LIFETIME)





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