or


[09/04/13 - 11:17 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, September 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!


FIRST TIMERS (ABC, New!) - Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger ("The Neighbors") have sold a semi-autobiographical comedy to the Alphabet about twentysomething male/female business partners. ABC Studios is behind the half-hour, with Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Len Goldstein of the studio-based Fake Empire executive producing alongside the duo. (Deadline.com)


FORMER FAT GIRL (NBC, New!) - J.J. Philbin ("New Girl") has snagged a pilot production commitment from the Peacock for a single-camera comedy about "a formerly obese thirtysomething woman who has just recently shed the weight and is now experiencing life and relationships from her very unique perspective." Said effort is loosely based on former "The Biggest Loser" contestant Amy Parham's book "10 Lessons from a Former Fat Girl." Jason Katims and Michelle Lee will also serve as executive producers via their Universal Television-based True Jack Productions. (Deadline.com)


HALF (NBC, New!) - Newcomer Matt Angel has sold a new single-camera comedy to the Peacock about Riley Young, "a quirky 13-year-old conceived through artificial insemination, who convinces her dysfunctional family into embarking on a search for all of her half siblings." Said effort is based on a pilot presentation for which Angel raised money on Kickstarter. Greg Malins ("Ground Floor") and Matt's father, Dan Angel ("R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour"), are on board to executive produce the half-hour for Sony Pictures Television. (Deadline.com)


HERE'S YOUR DAMN FAMILY (FOX, New!) - Ricky Blitt ("Romantically Challenged") has booked a new multi-camera comedy at the network about "a stunted, set-in-his-ways thirtysomething man living with his mom who finds his perfectly organized world upended when his mother/roommate gets married, and her new husband plus his three teenage children move in." "The Big Bang Theory" star Johnny Galecki and former ABC chief Stephen McPherson are also on board to executive produce the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour, which has a penalty attached. (Deadline.com)


ROYAL (FOX, New!) - Joshua Safran ("Smash") has set up a potential drama at the network about "a Kate Middleton-type, caught having an affair, who is thrown out of the royal family and forced to take the only job she can get - as assistant and minder to an temperamental, suicidal, drug-and-sex-addicted up-and-coming designer, also running from his own past." 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment is behind the hour with the company's Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope executive producing alongside Safran. (Deadline.com)


ROYALS (E!/Lionsgate; W: Mark Schwahn; D: TBA) - Elizabeth Hurley ("Gossip Girl") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, a contemporary family ensemble steeped in all of the regal opulence of the British Monarchy and framed by Shakespeare's "Hamlet." She'll play "the sexy, devious and conflicted Queen Helena, who struggles to cope with the death of her oldest son and the crisis of confidence this creates with her husband, King Simon, while working to deter the growing relationship between her middle son, now the heir apparent, and his American girlfriend." (Deadline.com)


SOCIAL CIRCLE (ABC, New!) - Joshua Safran ("Gossip Girl") has booked a new drama at the Alphabet about "a group of friends from college, now in their late 20s, who regroup and discover they really don't know each other at all." The project is set up at Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's newly ABC Studios-based Fake Empire banner where they'll executive produce alongside Safran. (Deadline.com)


TYRANT (FX/Fox 21; W: Craig Wright; D: David Yates) - Jennifer Finnigan ("Monday Mornings") has been tapped for the female lead on the drama pilot, about an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation. She'll play idealistic mom Molly (Finnigan), who is married to Barry (Adam Rayner) and has two kids, Emma (Anne Winters) and Sammy (Noah Silver). Ashraf Barhom, Fares Fares, Jordana Spiro, Justin Kirk, Mehdi Dehbi, Moran Atias, Salim Daw and Sibylla Deen also star in the project, which begins filming next week in Morocco. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED GREG MATHIS PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Todd Jones and Earl Richey Jones (Johnson Family Vacation) are developing a multi-camera comedy at the network inspired by the life of Judge Greg Mathis. The untitled project will center on "a hoodlum-turned-judge who has total control of his courtroom - and no control at home raising his four kids." Warner Bros. Television is behind the half-hour with A Very Good Production's Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman executive producing alongside Mathis and the Jones brothers. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - HBO is reportedly on track to order a third season of "The Newsroom" (@Jeff_Daniels); "Parks & Recreation" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" co-creator Michael Schur has inked a massive overall deal with Universal Television that will keep him at the studio through 2016 (Deadline.com); Jason O'Mara has snagged an arc on "The Good wife" as "a wild-eyed Irish attorney who has spent a decade successfully defending gang members and crime families" who joins Lockhart/Gardner (Deadline.com);

Dan Stevens has been tapped to voice the biological computer TIM on The CW's "The Tomorrow People" (EW.com); Walton Goggins will guest on "Community" as "a mysterious, emotionless man that the Greendale gang encounters" (TVGuide.com); Cynthia Addai-Robinson has been tapped to play DC Comics villain Amanda Waller on "Arrow" (TVGuide.com); and Jane Leeves will guest on CBS's "We Are Men" as "a hairstylist at the on-site salon with whom Tony Shalhoub's Frank has a long-standing weekly appointment" (TVLine.com).






  [september 2013]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· ARROW (CW)
· BIGGEST LOSER, THE (USA)
· BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (NBC)
· COMMUNITY (YAHOO)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· ELLEN MORE OR LESS (NBC)
· FIRST TIMERS (ABC)
· GOOD WIFE, THE (CBS)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· GROUND FLOOR (TBS)
· HALF (NBC)
· MONDAY MORNINGS (TNT)
· NEIGHBORS, THE (ABC)
· NEW GIRL (FOX)
· NEWSROOM, THE (HBO)
· NO PLACE LIKE HOME (FOX)
· PARKS & RECREATION (NBC)
· RL STINE'S THE HAUNTING HOUR: THE SERIES (DFC)
· ROMANTICALLY CHALLENGED (ABC)
· ROYAL (FOX)
· ROYALS, THE (E)
· SMASH (NBC)
· SOCIAL CIRCLE (ABC)
· TOMORROW PEOPLE, THE (CW)
· TYRANT (FX)
· UNTITLED GREG MATHIS PROJECT (FOX)
· WE ARE MEN (CBS)





[07/31/25 - 12:00 PM]
FOX Nation to Present Live Kickoff Concert with Country Star Chris Janson Ahead of "PBR Friday Night Live" in Sunrise, Florida on August 8
The live music event, streamed on FOX Nation will set the stage for the debut of "PBR Friday Night Live," the platform's first broadcast of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Camping World Team Series.

[07/31/25 - 11:27 AM]
Video: BET+ Original Movie - "Peripheral"
A psychological sci-fi thriller that follows Sasha Warwick, a former photographer grappling with a recent stillbirth and the unnerving silence of a new life in a remote Arizona town.

[07/31/25 - 10:46 AM]
Lifetime Announces Two-Night Premiere of the Highly Anticipated New Docuseries "The Chrisleys: Back to Reality" September 1st and 2nd
The series begins during the wake of the family's controversy and upheaval with Todd and Julie in federal prison and follows the family as their parents are eventually pardoned, released from prison and return home.

[07/31/25 - 10:12 AM]
TLC Announces the Return of "90 Day Fiance: The Other Way" with New Couples, New Countries, and Unforgettable Challenges
These Americans are leaving behind their lives in the U.S. to start over with their partners abroad, facing unfamiliar cultures, new family dynamics, and the pressure of building a future far from home.

[07/31/25 - 10:01 AM]
Cast Announcement: Hulu's New Unscripted Series "Are You My First?"
From the producers of "Love Island USA" and hosted by Colton Underwood and Kaitlyn Bristowe, these sexy young singles embark on a heated yet heartfelt journey, packed with romantic dates, revealing challenges, and new love interests eager to find "the one."

[07/31/25 - 09:31 AM]
Alfie Allen Joins the Cast of "3 Body Problem" and Reunites with "Game of Thrones" Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Humanity's going to need all the help they can get.

[07/31/25 - 09:02 AM]
Video: "Eenie Meanie" - Official Trailer - Hulu
The film stars Samara Weaving, Karl Glusman, Jermaine Fowler, Marshawn Lynch, Randall Park, Andy Garcia, and Mike O'Malley.

[07/31/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Wayward" - Official Teaser - Netflix
A small-town cop suspects that the local school for troubled teens - and its dangerously charismatic founder - may not be all it seems.

[07/31/25 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "Katrina: Come Hell and High Water" - Sneak Peek - Netflix
This is the story of a brutal coastal hurricane turned cataclysmic through human error and neglect.

[07/31/25 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Barbie Mysteries: Beach Detectives" Trailer - Netflix Family
Barbie and Barbie's summer plans take a mysterious turn when the podcast hosts stumble upon a series of beachside mysteries.

[07/31/25 - 07:02 AM]
Rodrigo de la Serna Will Play Anibal Gordon in a New Netflix Series
The thriller, inspired by real events, tells the story of AnĂ­bal Gordon, a criminal who went from committing robberies to actively participating in the violent years of Argentina in the 1970s and his relationships with the different gangs of that era.

[07/31/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: Netflix's "Long Story Short" Official Trailer Debut... and Confirmed for Season 2!
"Long Story Short" is an animated comedy from the creator of "BoJack Horseman" about one family, over time.

[07/31/25 - 07:01 AM]
Paramount+ Announces "Tulsa King" Season Three Will Premiere on September 21, Starring Oscar Nominee Sylvester Stallone
The season two premiere drew 21.1 million global viewers, making it Paramount+'s most-watched global premiere to date.

[07/31/25 - 07:00 AM]
Vice President Kamala Harris Visits "The Late Show" Tonight for First Interview Since 2024 Election
Simon & Schuster announced earlier today that it will publish 107 Days, a book by former Vice President Kamala D. Harris about her campaign for the presidency in 2024.

[07/31/25 - 06:41 AM]
Fox Corporation Acquires One-Third Interest in Penske Entertainment
The investment is expected to supercharge a new era of growth for the NTT IndyCar Series, the most competitive and dynamic motorsport on the planet.