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[12/20/13 - 11:13 PM]
Development Update: Friday, December 20
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!


BY THE HORNS (NBC, New!) - Josh Parkinson ("Eastbound & Down") has sold a potential drama to the Peacock about "a member of a notorious south Texas crime syndicate who decides to attempt a takeover of the whole organization when he learns the 14-year-old son of the newly named boss is actually his." Thunder Road Television's Basil Iwanyk and Kent Kubena also serve as executive producers for Sony Pictures Television. (Deadline.com)


CLAWS (HBO, New!) - Eliot Laurence (Logo's "The Big Gay Sketch Show") is developing a single-camera comedy at the pay channel described as "a midnight-dark workplace dramedy-noir about a nail salon in Florida and the strange, dangerous women who work there." Warner Bros. Television-based Le Train Train is behind the half-hour with Rashida Jones and Will McCormack executive producing and Laurence as a co-executive producer. The company's Jeff Grosvenor will also receive a producing credit. (Deadline.com)


GAFFIGAN (CBS/Sony; W: Jim Gaffigan & Peter Tolan; D: TBA) - Adam Goldberg ("NYC 22") is the latest to board the comedy pilot, about a husband (Jim Gaffigan) and wife (Ashley Williams) trying to raise their five kids in a New York two-bedroom apartment. He'll play Dave Reedy, "his best friend, a die-hard New Yorker and stand-up comic who lives next door and is always at hand to give Jim the benefit of his neurotic counsel." Tongayi Chirisa also stars. (Deadline.com)


GRACEPOINT (FOX; W: Chris Chibnall; D: James Strong) - Josh Hamilton ("American Horror Story: Coven") has been cast in the event series, a gripping crime drama which follows the tragic and mysterious death of a young boy found dead on an idyllic beach surrounded by rocks and a jutting cliff-face, from where he may have fallen. He's set as Joe Miller, Det. Ellie Miller's (Anna Gunn) husband. David Tennant, Jacki Weaver, Kevin Rankin, Kevin Zegers, Michael Peña and Virginia Kull also star. (Deadline.com)


HIEROGLYPH (FOX/20th; W: Travis Beacham; D: Miguel Sapochnik) - British actor Reece Ritchie (Hercules) is the first to be cast in the network's ancient Egypt series, about a notorious thief who is plucked from prison to serve the Pharoah, navigating palace intrigue, seductive concubines, criminal underbellies and even a few divine sorcerers. He'll play Shai, "the young, handsome Pharaoh who rules with an iron fist and fully trusts no one. He is obsessed with maintaining power over his kingdom, which he'll do by any means necessary." Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope also serve as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


LOTERIA (NBC, New!) - Ligiah Villalobos (Under the Same Moon) has set up a potential drama at the Peacock about "a Mexican-American mogul who is killed in a suspicious car crash and has cut his kids out of his will. The question at the center of the potential series is whether the car crash was an accident or a plot by one of them to kill him." The project - alongside Daniel Knauf's "Babylon" and Sri Rao's "The Black Widow" - is one of three in the works at the network from Ben Silverman's Electus banner, one of which likely will be granted a 13-episode order and air multiple times a week. (THR.com)


THE MESSENGERS (The CW, New!) - Eoghan O'Donnell ("Teen Wolf") has set up a new drama at the netlet about "when a mysterious object crashes down to earth, a group of seemingly unconnected strangers die from the energy pulse - but then awaken again as angels of the coming Apocalypse." Ted Humphrey ("The Good Wife") is supervising the hour for CBS Television Studios with Industry Entertainment's Ava Jamshidi as well as Thunder Road Television's Basil Iwanyk and Kent Kubena executive producing. (Deadline.com)


SIX (TNT, New!) - James D. Parriott ("Covert Affairs") has booked a new drama at the cable channel about "the aftermath of a Category 6 tornado that obliterates the majority of a small Kansas town and unearths years of horrific secrets." He'll write and executive produce alongside Thunder Road Television's Basil Iwanyk and Kent Kubena. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Scott Eastwood and Tania Raymonde, co-stars of the "Chicago PD" backdoor pilot last season, won't be making the jump to the "Chicago Fire" spin-off due to "creative reasons" (TVLine.com); Yvette Nicole Brown will visit "Melissa & Joey" as "Mel's (Melissa Joan Hart) stubborn, feisty and super-cool hairdresser" while Mo Gaffney will drop by as "the vice principal at the high school where Mel and Joe (Joey Lawrence) are chaperoning a dance" (THR.com, TVLine.com); Gbenga Akinnagbe and Giles Matthey have both boarded "24: Live Another Day" as Erik Ritter, "a strong, sharp, arrogant and ambitious CIA field operative," and Jordan Reed, "a smart and sophisticated CIA computer tech," respectively (Deadline.com);

Joanna Adler has joined the cast of "Devious Maids" as Opal, "a new maid who is secretive & conniving, reminiscent of Mrs. Danvers from Hitchcock's Rebecca" (Deadline.com); ABC's single-camera comedy pilot "Galavant" will film in the U.K. as the result of a tax credit from the country (Deadline.com); and Jack Coleman will guest on "CSI" as "a kind, empathetic pastor who is devastated by the death of his 16-year-old daughter, whose body was found in the desert" (TVGuide.com).






  [december 2013]  
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W
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· 24 (FOX)
· AMERICAN HORROR STORY (FX)
· BABYLON (NBC)
· BLACK WIDOW (NBC)
· BY THE HORNS (NBC)
· CHICAGO FIRE (NBC)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· CLAWS (TNT)
· COVERT AFFAIRS (USA)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEVIOUS MAIDS (LIFETIME)
· EASTBOUND & DOWN (HBO)
· GAFFIGAN - 2013 VERSION (CBS)
· GALAVANT (ABC)
· GOOD WIFE, THE (CBS)
· GRACEPOINT (FOX)
· HIEROGLYPH (FOX)
· JIM GAFFIGAN SHOW, THE (TV LAND)
· LOTERIA (NBC)
· MELISSA & JOEY (ABC FAMILY)
· MESSENGERS, THE (CW)
· NYC 22 (CBS)
· SIX (TNT)
· TEEN WOLF (MTV)





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