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[10/01/13 - 11:14 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, October 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!


GALAVANT (ABC, New!) - "The Neighbors" creator Dan Fogelman has landed a pilot order from the Alphabet for a single-camera comedy "centering on handsome Prince Galavant and his quest for revenge over the King who stole his one true love." Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and his frequent collaborator Glenn Slater are on board to provide the music and lyrics, respectively, for the project. ABC Studios, home to Fogelman's overall deal and his company Rhode Island Ave. Productions, is producing. (Deadline.com)


HOW TO LEAD A LIFE OF CRIME (FOX, New!) - Mike Daniels ("Sons of Anarchy") has sold a new drama to the network billed as "a how-to school for criminals." Said hour is based on Kirsten Miller's book of the same name. Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend are also on board to executive produce for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)


THE KNICK (Cinemax; W: Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; D: Steven Soderbergh) - Grainger Hines ("Hell on Wheels") has scored a role on the upcoming drama, which centers on Knickerbocker Hospital circa 1900 and the groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff, who push the bounds of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. He'll play Captain August Robertson, "a self-made shipping magnate, who has used his fortune to keep the doors of the hospital open to the many poor immigrants who have arrived in New York on his ships. He installed his daughter Cornelia (Juliet Rylance) on the Board of Directors and together they are using his money to bring the crumbling hospital into the 20th century." Andre Holland, Cara Seymour, Chris Sullivan, Clive Owen, Eric Johnson, Eve Hewson and Michael Angarano also star. (Deadline.com)


THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (FOX, New!) - "Saturday Night Live" alum Will Forte has scored a pilot production commitment from the network for a single-camera comedy about "two strangers who must overcome their differences and work together to ensure the survival of the human race." Said effort, which Forte is currently not attached to star, comes from the 20th Century Fox Television-based Lord Miller Productions with the company's Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Seth Cohen executive producing alongside Forte. (Deadline.com)


THE LOTTERY (Lifetime/Warner Horizon; W: Timothy J. Sexton; D: Danny Cannon) - Danny Cannon ("The Tomorrow People") has signed on to direct the pilot, a drama set in a world destined for extinction and the ensuing national lottery that is held to decide the surrogates for 100 embryos that have been successfully fertilized. He'll work from a script by Sexton as well as executive produce alongside Dawn Olmstead of Grady Girl Productions. (THR.com)


MYSTERY GIRLS (ABC Family; W: Shepard Boucher & Tori Spelling; D: TBA) - Jennie Garth ("Beverly Hills, 90210") is in talks to star opposite Tori Spelling on the comedy pilot, about "a former starlet (Spelling) who is roped into solving crimes with her former mystery TV show costar (Garth) when a witness to a crime will only speak to the infamous Mystery Girls." No other details were given. (TVLine.com)


A SLAVE IN THE WHITE HOUSE (ABC, New!) - Sheldon Candis and Justin Wilson ("LUV") are developing a 12-hour limited series at the Alphabet based on the true story of Paul Jennings, "a Virginia-born slave who served as personal valet to President James Madison while at the same working behind the scenes as a subversive anti-slavery activist." Said duo will pen the script - with Candis attached to direct - using Elizabeth Dowling Taylor's bestselling book of the same name as basis. They'll likewise executive produce alongside Deborah Spera and Maria Grasso's One-Two Punch Productions. (Deadline.com)


TIGERS (CBS, New!) - Meredith Philpott ("Awkward") has booked a potential drama at the Eye about "a family dynasty of lawyers headed by a matriarch infamous for her narcissistic personality, biting witticisms and publicity-seeking antics." The Sony Pictures Television-based Fedora Entertainment is behind the hour with the company's Peter Tolan and Michael Wimer executive producing. (Deadline.com)


UNREAL (Lifetime; W: Marti Noxon & Sarah Gertrude Shapiro; D: Roger Kumble) - Josh Kelly ("One Life to Live") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about Rachel (Appleby), "a young staffer on a hit competition dating show whose sole job is to manipulate her relationships with (and among) the contestants to heighten the drama." He'll play Jeremy, "a cameraman on the dating show who also is Rachel's ex-boyfriend." Freddie Stroma also stars. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED DYLAN MORGAN/JOSH SIEGAL PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan ("30 Rock") have set up a single-camera comedy at the Eye "set at the CDC and follows a dysfunctional investigation team led by a single woman who is great at saving lives but bad at having one of her own." Sony Pictures Television is behind the half-hour - which has penalty attached - with Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment also serving as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED MICHAEL LISBE/NATE REGER PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Michael Lisbe and Nate Reger ("How to Be a Gentleman") have likewise booked a single-camera project at the Eye billed as "a young ensemble comedy with a mystery element that hints at the futures of all five characters." Jaime Tarses is also on board to executive produce via her Sony Pictures Television-based FanFare Productions. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Disney-ABC Domestic Television is reportedly developing a new syndicated talk show for comedian Mo'Nique that could launch as soon as September 2014 (THR.com); Kevin James is set to team with Lionsgate Television to star in and executive produce a multi-camera comedy under the 10/90 model (Deadline.com); Ed Asner will guest on "The Crazy Ones" as "a commercial actor whom Sydney (Sarah Michelle Gellar) finds charming" (TVGuide.com); Patrick Fischler is set to visit "Suits" as "a Harvard Law School classmate of Harvey's with whom he has a unique (and tense) history" (TVLine.com); and Leslie Bibb is bound for "The Following" as "a suburban housewife who unexpectedly finds herself in the company of James Purefoy's Joe Carroll" (TVGuide.com).






  [october 2013]  
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· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· AWKWARD (MTV)
· BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 (FOX)
· CRAZY ONES, THE (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· GALAVANT (ABC)
· HELL ON WHEELS (AMC)
· HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN (CBS)
· HOW TO LEAD A LIFE OF CRIME (FOX)
· KNICK, THE (CINEMAX)
· LAST MAN ON EARTH, THE (FOX)
· LOTTERY, THE (LIFETIME)
· LUV (BET)
· MYSTERY GIRLS (ABC FAMILY)
· NEIGHBORS, THE (ABC)
· SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC)
· SLAVE IN THE WHITE HOUSE, A (ABC)
· SONS OF ANARCHY (FX)
· SUITS (USA)
· TIGERS (CBS)
· TOMORROW PEOPLE, THE (CW)
· UNREAL (HULU)
· UNTITLED LISBE & REGER PROJECT (CBS)
· UNTITLED MO'NIQUE PROJECT (SYNDICATION)
· UNTITLED MORGAN & SIEGAL PROJECT (CBS)





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