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[10/16/13 - 11:17 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, October 16
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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!
THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB (ABC, New!) - Lily Koppel's best-selling novel - which "tells the true story of the women behind NASA's early astronauts and the struggles they face when their lives and families are catapulted into the spotlight overnight" - is being developed as a limited series at the Alphabet. Stephanie Savage will pen the adaptation - set in the 1960s - and executive produce alongside Josh Schwartz and Len Goldstein via their ABC Studios-based Fake Empire banner. Groundswell Productions' Michael London will likewise serve as an executive producer with the company's Janice Williams also producing. (Deadline.com)
BABYLON FIELDS (NBC, New!) - Michael Cuesta, Gerald Cuesta and Michael Atkinson's much-ballyhooed drama pilot - in which the dead are resurrected and try to resume their former lives - is being revived at the Peacock. CBS and 20th Century Fox Television originally commissioned the project in 2007 with an ensemble cast that included Adam LeFevre, Amber Tamblyn, Jamey Sheridan, Kathy Baker, Leila Arcieri, Mackenzie Milone, Ray Stevenson and Will Janowitz. NBC has subsequently ordered a new pilot with Michael Cuesta - who has inked a two-year overall deal with 20th - once again directing from a script by Gerald Cuesta and Michael Atkinson. (Deadline.com)
BLACK OAK (CBS, New!) - Julia Hart (The Keeping Room) has sold a new drama to the Eye about "a woman who inherits the haunted hotel that has plagued her family with a curse for generations, forcing her to confront her dysfunctional family's secrets, ghosts, and demons." Said effort is set up at the Warner Bros. Television-based Berlanti Productions with Greg Berlanti and Melissa Kellner Berman among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)
CROSSBONES (NBC/Universal; W: Neil Cross; D: David Slade) - David Hoflin and Yasmine Al Massri are the latest to board the upcoming drama, about the diabolical pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard (John Malkovich), who reigns over a rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors in 1715. He'll play Vane, "a pirate captain known for being a vicious, villainous and murderous predator"; while she's set as Selma, "a poised and elegant Arabian woman who is Blackbeard's one confidante." Production on the series is set to begin shortly in Puerto Rico. Claire Foy, Richard Coyle and Tracy Ifeachor also star. (Deadline.com)
DAMASCUS (CBS, New!) - America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") is set to star in a potential drama at the Eye about "a crusading nun (Ferrera) who practices law on behalf of the least fortunate, and has her beliefs tested when her life collides with an elitist corporate lawyer. As the two set out to help those in need of justice, they come up against a secretive and powerful organization that is determined to destroy them." Nick Osborne penned the CBS Television Studios-based project, which has a put pilot commitment with Ferrera and Teri Weinberg likewise serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
JENNIFER FALLS (TV Land; W: Matthew Carlson; D: TBA) - Nora Kirkpatrick and Joel David Moore have both been cast in the comedy pilot, about Jennifer (Jaime Pressly), a career woman and mother who must move back in with her own mom (Jessica Walter) after being let go from her high-powered, six-figure salary job. Moore will play Jennifer's brother, "who had lived in her shadow, and now she works for him in his bar"; while Kirkpatrick is on board as Jennifer's sister-in-law, "the only straight woman on her softball team and Jennifer's oldest friend from the neighborhood." Dylan Gelula and Missi Pyle also star. (Deadline.com)
JUJITSU RABBI AND THE GODLESS BLONDE (FOX, New!) - Lauren Blum and Rebecca Dana are developing a new comedy at the network based on the latter's memoir, billed as an ultimate fish-out-of-water tale about her experience moving to Brooklyn's enormous Lubavitch community and living with Cosmo, a thirty-year-old Russian rabbi who practices jujitsu on the side. Sony Pictures Television-based FanFare Productions is behind the project, with the company's Jamie Tarses executive producing. (Deadline.com)
MASSHOLES (FOX, New!) - Spike Feresten ("Talkshow with Spike Feresten") has set up an animated comedy at the network about Kevin Dunlevy, "a smart nerdy tween trying to survive in a small Massachusetts town full of tough guys and half-wits." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the project, which Feresten will write and executive produce. (Deadline.com)
MYSTERY ISLAND (NBC, New!) - "The Office" alums Ed Helms and Graham Wagner have scored a pilot presentation order from the Peacock for an animated comedy "set on an island where holidaymakers get marooned after their cruise ship malfunctions." The project is set up at Universal Television with Pacific Electric Picture Co.'s Michael Falbo executive producing alongside said creators. Helms is expected to voice one of the characters. (Deadline.com)
THE SHRINE (CBS, New!) - Nicholas Wootton ("Golden Boy") has set up a potential drama at the Eye about "a struggling Catholic hospital in Los Angeles that becomes a sensation when patient after patient is miraculously cured of cancer. Could it truly be divine intervention? A young female doctor investigates these 'miracles,' only to discover that there may be a murderous impostor in the hospital." Warner Bros. Television is behind the hour, which based on the upcoming book by Wootton's father, Gareth Wootton. Greg Berlanti and Melissa Kellner Berman of Berlanti Productions will also serve as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED DAVEY HOLMES/SHAWN RYAN PROJECT (FOX, New!) - "The Chicago Code" alums Shawn Ryan and Davey Holmes are set to team with Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 6) for a period drama "set in 1957 in the Territory of Hawaii, which is on a path to become the 50th state in the Union two years later. Statehood and tourism are about to make a few men very rich, and when the brother of a small-time Hawaiian hustler is murdered, he resolves to wage war on the most powerful man on the island." Sony Pictures Television is behind the project, which has a put pilot commitment with MiddKidd Productions' Marney Hochman and Perfect Storm Entertainment's Danielle Woodrow executive producing alongside the aforementioned trio. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - ABC has asked for three additional scripts from its freshman comedies "The Goldbergs" and "Trophy Wife" (Deadline.com); Brian Koppelman and David Levien have bowed out as showrunners of HBO's "History of Music" project from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter and starring Bobby Cannavale (Deadline.com); Margo Martindale will return for at least one episode of "The Americans," reprising her Emmy-nominated role of Claudia (TVLine.com); Martin Donovan has been cast as Jack Crawford's (Laurence Fishburne) therapist at the FBI on the new season of "Hannibal" (TVLine.com); Yvette Nicole Brown will visit "Welcome to the Family" as "the Yoder family's annoyingly overbearing and strong next-door neighbor" (THR.com); and Shaun Cassidy has inked a two-year overall deal with Universal Television (THR.com).
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[03/04/26 - 03:01 PM]
FX's "Disinherited" - New Drama from Emmy Award Winner Peter Gould and T-Street Ordered to Series on FX and Hulu
Victoria Pedretti and Kiera Allen star as a pair of scrappy sisters thrust by an unexpected inheritance into a world of generational wealth and long-buried crimes.
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[03/04/26 - 11:31 AM]
"Disney Animation's Songs in Sign Language" to Debut on Disney+ April 27
Directed by veteran Disney animator/director Hyrum Osmond, the featured songs are "The Next Right Thing" (from Frozen 2), "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (from Encanto) and "Beyond" (from Moana 2).
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[03/04/26 - 11:03 AM]
Video: HBO Max Releases First Teaser from the DC Studios Series "Lanterns," Starring Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, and Kelly Macdonald
The series is slated to debut later this August on HBO and available to stream on HBO Max.
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[03/04/26 - 10:01 AM]
Netflix's "Untamed" Season 2 Production Kicks Off in Hawaii
The series will film on location on O'ahu and the island of Hawaii.
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[03/04/26 - 10:01 AM]
MTV Announces the Final 18 Episodes of "Jersey Shore Family Vacation," One of TV's Most Influential Reality Franchises, Premiering on Thursday, May 7 at 8PM ET/PT
This farewell season marks the culmination of a franchise that entertained millions with major life milestones, laugh-out-loud chaos, and the unfiltered chemistry that defined an era of reality television.
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[03/04/26 - 09:45 AM]
Lifetime Raises the Bar by Expanding Into Premium Vertical Storytelling with "Tides of Temptation," A Micro Drama Feature Executive Produced by Taye Diggs
Serving as a digital offshoot of the just announced upcoming original movie "Terry McMillan Presents: Paradise with You," the project expands the film's universe through a cinematic, mobile-first format designed with feature-level production value.
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[03/04/26 - 09:44 AM]
Lifetime Greenlights Three New Original Movies for 2026 Love of a Lifetime Slates Featuring All-Star Casts
Valerie Bertinelli, Henry Czerny, Eric McCormack, Taye Diggs, Heather Hemmens, and Cynthia Bailey are among the featured talent.
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[03/04/26 - 09:43 AM]
Lifetime Reteams with Robin Roberts for "Angel in the Rubble" Starring Sherri Shepherd in Remembrance of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11
Slated to premiere in September in remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the movie is based on Genelle Guzman-McMillan's memoir "Angel in the Rubble: The Miraculous Rescue of 9/11's Last Survivor."
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[03/04/26 - 09:42 AM]
Lifetime Expands Roster of Powerhouse Creatives with New Movie Projects Helmed By Queen Latifah and Taraji P. Henson
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[03/04/26 - 09:41 AM]
A+E Global Media Greenlights Two New Digital-First Series Under the History Brand
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[03/04/26 - 09:40 AM]
The History Channel Marks the 25th Anniversary of September 11 with New Two-Hour Special "102 Minutes Inside the Towers"
The documentary offers a deeply immersive and unique perspective through firsthand accounts from those who were inside the Twin Towers.
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[03/04/26 - 09:39 AM]
The History Channel Taps Internationally Acclaimed Action Icon Dolph Lundgren to Executive Produce and Host New Series "History's Greatest Machines with Dolph Lundgren"
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[03/04/26 - 09:38 AM]
The History Channel Greenlights New Nonfiction Series "Crime and Justice with Tom Selleck" (w.t.)
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[03/04/26 - 09:37 AM]
The History Channel Orders "Extraordinary Origins with Ted Danson" (w.t.) A New Series Hosted and Executive Produced by the Multi-Award-Winning Actor
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[03/04/26 - 09:36 AM]
The History Channel Greenlights New Nonfiction Series "History's Strange Fortunes with Kevin Bacon" (w.t.)
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