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[10/21/13 - 11:19 PM]
Development Update: Monday, October 21
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!


BALLERS (HBO; W: Steve Levinson; D: Peter Berg) - John David Washington and Donovan Carter have both landed roles on the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson-led comedy pilot, which chronicles the lives of several Miami-based athletes. Washington, son of Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, will play Ricky, "a highly competitive and highly spiritual pro athlete"; while Carter, a former Boston Bruins player, is on board as Vernon, "a deeply family oriented pro athlete." Omar Miller and Troy Garity also star. (Deadline.com)


NICKY (CBS, New!) - Nick Zano's proposed comedy - about a 30-year old man (played by Zano) who is trying to finally move out of the house only to realize he needs to stay and help raise his youngest sister - has found a home at the Eye. Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen ("Work It") will co-write the multi-camera project alongside Zano for Warner Bros. Television. They'll likewise executive produce alongside Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin with Zano serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)


ROOMMATES (CBS, New!) - David Caspe ("Happy Endings") and Erik Sommers ("Community") have sold a potential comedy to the Eye about "a successful, suave ladies' man whose perfect life gets turned upside down when a mess of a guy saves his life and then immediately cashes in on his IOU by asking for a place to stay." Sony Pictures Television is behind the half-hour, which has a penalty attached. Jamie Tarses of the studio-based FanFare Productions will executive produce alongside said duo. (Deadline.com)


SONGBYRD (E!/UCP; W: Krista Vernoff; D: Michael Morris) - Robert Hoffman ("90210") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about Lauren Byrd (Bethany Joy Lenz), a young, prolific songwriter of some of the best love songs struggles to find love in her personal life after her inspiration is revealed to be a lie. He'll play Chris Spencer, "Lauren's creative affairs director who is helplessly in love with her, a fact she is clueless about." Rumer Willis also stars. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED DAN ST. GERMAIN PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Comedian Dan St. Germain is set to star in a potential comedy at the network about Dustin, "a guy who is a complete emotional wreck who after he gets dumped, moves back in with his ex and her current boyfriend to figure out what went wrong and learn how to stop being a man baby when it comes to love." He'll also pen the half-hour and executive produce alongside The Walcott Company's Max Winkler and Jake Johnson for 20th Century Fox Television. (THR.com)


UNTITLED ERIK SOMMERS PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Erik Sommers ("Community") has set up a new comedy at the Alphabet about "a plucky young doctor who follows her dreams and starts working in the chaotic ER of an inner-city hospital, where she finds that the only people weirder than the patients are the doctors and nurses who treat them." Said effort is set up at the Sony Pictures Television-based Olive Bridge Entertainment with the company's Will Gluck and Richie Schwartz executive producing alongside Sommers. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED WINKLERS PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Henry Winkler ("Happy Days") is set to star in a new multi-camera family comedy at the Alphabet about "an emotionally reserved construction worker who learns about love, life and hugs while unexpectedly living with his in-laws," to be played by Winkler and his wife more than 35 years, Stacey. "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator Phil Rosenthal is penning the half-hour, which has a pilot production commitment, alongside Max Winkler (Winkler's son) and Rob Reinis (Winkler's son-in-law). Rosenthal will likewise direct and executive produce for Max Winkler and Jake Johnson's 20th Century Fox Television-based The Walcott Company with all the aforementioned auspices presumably executive producing. (Deadline.com)


WORK MOM (ABC Family; W: Grant Levy & Dominik Rothbard; D: Ted Wass) - Renee Olstead and Brandon Scott have both landed roles on the comedy pilot, about Heather (Olstead), who finally gets promoted at her digital marketing firm and winds up hiring her recently unemployed mother. Her vivacious mother, Eden (Emily Rutherfurd), mixes up the office in a way no one could have predicted. She'll play the aforementioned Heather with Scott as Craig, "an employee at Pow Marketing who is sweet and idealistic in his approach to both people and work." (THR.com)


YOUNGER (TV Land; W: Darren Star; D: TBA) - The cable channel has given a cast-contingent pilot order to the single-camera comedy, about a suddenly-single New Jersey housewife and mother in her early 40s who, unable to restart her career, decides to lie about her age and successfully passes herself off as a twentysomething. Armed with a makeover and new resume, she wins a coveted position at the city's hottest publishing company. Pretending to be "younger" doesn't hurt in the bar scene, either, as guys line up like never before. Darren Star penned the script based on the novel by Pamela Redmond Satran. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Brennan Elliott has been upped to series regular on "Cedar Cove," where he plays wealthy home developer Warren Saget (THR.com); Neil Flynn will guest on FOX's "Surviving Jack" as "a high-school wrestling coach who butts heads with Christopher Meloni's title character" (TVLine.com); Zuleikha Robinson will visit "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" as Amara, "a powerful sorceress from Agrabah" (TVLine.com); Stephen Lord has been cast as Rumplestiltskin's father on "Once Upon a Time" (TVGuide.com); Robert Hoffman is bound for NBC's "The Night Shift" as Thad, who served a turn in Afghanistan with his brother T.C. (Deadline.com);

Stella Maeve has booked an arc on "Chicago PD" as "a pretty 18-year-old escort who is addicted to heroin and goes through a very difficult withdrawal" (Deadline.com); Nick Tarabay will visit NBC's "Believe" as "a dangerous, intimidating CIA Black Ops who is a constant looming threat as he hunts Bo and her protector Tate" (Deadline.com); Philip Anthony-Rodriguez will recur on FOX's "Gang Related" as "an undercover agent working for the Treasury Department" (Deadline.com); Jack Falahee and Ivan Sergei will both swing by ABC Family's "Twisted" (Deadline.com); and Nickelodeon has renewed "The Haunted Hathaways" for a 22-episode second season and "See Dad Run" for a 13-episode third season (Deadline.com).






  [october 2013]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· 90210 (CW)
· BALLERS (HBO)
· BELIEVE (NBC)
· CEDAR COVE (HALLMARK)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· COMMUNITY (YAHOO)
· CUZ-BROS (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· GANG RELATED (FOX)
· HAPPY ENDINGS (ABC)
· HAUNTED HATHAWAYS, THE (NICKELODEON)
· NICKY (CBS)
· NIGHT SHIFT, THE (NBC)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND (ABC)
· SEE DAD RUN (NICKELODEON)
· SONGBYRD (E)
· SURVIVING JACK (FOX)
· TWISTED (ABC FAMILY)
· UNTITLED DAN ST GERMAIN PROJECT (FOX)
· UNTITLED ERIK SOMMERS PROJECT (ABC)
· WINKLERS, THE (ABC)
· WORK MOM (ABC FAMILY)





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