or


[10/24/14 - 11:43 PM]
Development Update: Friday, October 24
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!


ANIMAL RESCUE SHOW (Nickelodeon, New!) - Erika Keastle and Patrick McCarthy ("Good Luck Charlie") are developing a multi-camera comedy at the cable channel about "12-year-old Taylor who has her life turned upside down when her single mother, in an attempt to help her make more friends, signs up their animal rescue facility as a place where her outrageous classmates can come work and receive community service hours for school." Tracy Katsky's Kapital Entertainment-based KatCo is behind the half-hour. (Deadline.com)


BOTCOP (FOX, New!) - Itai Grunfeld and Geoff Barbanell ("Kickin' It") have sold a high concept single-camera comedy to the network about "an outdated half man/half robot relic who is fired from the LAPD and forced to take the only law enforcement gig he can get - that of a meter maid." 20th Century Fox Television and Tracy Katsky's Kapital Entertainment-based KatCo are behind the project. (Deadline.com)


BRODY JENNER PODCAST WITH DR. MIKE DOW, THE (E!, New!) - Brody Jenner ("The Princes of Malibu"), Stevie Ryan ("Stevie TV") and Dr. Mike Dow ("Couples Therapy") are set to team for a new live weekly relationship call-in talk show for the cable channel in which they, alongside a celebrity guest, "discuss hot-and-heavy topics live and will field callers' questions about navigating their love and sex lives." The project is based on Jenner and Dow's podcast, which launched in January. Jenner and his manager Eric Podwall will executive produce, with David Friedman set as showrunner. A presentation is set to film later this month in Los Angeles. (Deadline.com)


COLONY (USA/Legendary/UCP; W: Carlton Cuse & Ryan Condal; D: Juan José Campanella) - Peter Jacobson, Alex Neustaedter and Gonzalo Menendez have all been cast in the drama pilot, about a family torn by opposing forces and making difficult choices as they balance staying together with surviving the struggle of the human race. Jacobson will play Alan Snyder, "the savvy proxy governor of occupied Los Angeles who is under growing pressure to crush the resistance movement"; with Neustaedter as Bram, "Will (Josh Holloway) and Katie's (Sarah Wayne Callies) thoughtful son, forced to grow up fast after everything fell apart"; and Menendez as Captain Lagarza, "the commanding officer of a special police unit that carries out missions for the occupational government." Amanda Righetti also stars. (Deadline.com)


DEATH CLASS (NBC, New!) - "Dexter" alums Jennifer Carpenter and Sara Colleton are looking to re-team for a new drama based on Erika Hayasaki's book "Death Class: A True Story About Life." Said effort, which is currently searching for a writer, is set up at Universal Television. West Egg Studios' George Stelzner will likewise executive produce the hour, about "nurse Norma Bowe, who, when she decides to teach a class on death at a college in New Jersey, never expected it to be popular. But year after year students crowd into her classroom and the reason is clear: Norma's "death class" is really about how to make the most of what poet Mary Oliver famously called our one wild and precious life." (THR.com)


ERIC & BELLA FOREVER (CBS, New!) - Ajay Sahgal ("Friend Me") and Carlos Jacott ("Psych") are set to team for a new multi-camera comedy about "two people - both too closely intertwined with their families - and the story of their unlikely relationship, told in flashback, from the toasts and tributes of the people in their wedding video." CBS Television Studios and Tracy Katsky's Kapital Entertainment-based KatCo are behind the project. (Deadline.com)


MR. CHRIS (ABC, New!) - Chris Case ("Legit") has set up a single-camera comedy at the Alphabet about "trust-funder Chris, who after he gets financially cut off by his fed-up father, temporarily moves in with a construction foreman and his family, where he has to learn the lessons that were never taught to him growing up." CBS Television Studios is behind the half-hour with Alix Jaffe and Greg Garcia also executive producing via their Amigos de Garcia Productions banner. (THR.com)


SILK (ABC, New!) - The Alphabet is looking to import Peter Moffat's BAFTA-nominated drama, which "chronicles the journey of unorthodox and uncompromising attorney Martha Costello. What she lacks in polish she makes up for in her unstoppable blue-collar determination." Marty Scott ("Drop Dead Diva") will pen the adaptation and executive produce alongside Moffat for ABC Studios and BBC Worldwide Productions. (THR.com)


ST. LUCY'S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES (ABC, New!) - Karen Russell's best-selling book of the same name - about "mysterious and attractive twins Claudette and Felix, 16, who, when they show up at the elite St. Lucy's boarding school, change the school and the tiny town of Green Hills, Maine, in ways no one could have imagined" - is being developed as a drama at the Alphabet. Channing Powell ("The Walking Dead") will pen the script under the supervision of Jenny Bicks ("The Big C") with John Jacobs also executive producing for 20th Century Fox Television. (THR.com)


TOTALLY ILLEGAL (ABC, New!) - "Two and a Half Men" co-creator Lee Aronsohn has sold a new multi-camera comedy to the Alphabet "based on the real-life exploits of producer Kelly Slattery, who arrived in the U.S. from rural Canada as an illegal alien and was taken in by a Mexican American family who had been U.S. citizens for many generations." Aronsohn will write the script for the ABC Studios-based project, which he will co-create with Slattery and executive produce alongside Marcus Wiley. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED J.P. LAVIN/CHAD DAMIANI PROJECT (CBS, New!) - J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani ("Anchorwoman") have sold a new drama to the Eye about "four agents who go undercover as the perfect family for an operation that has them rooting out dangerous criminals in the suburbs while becoming an unlikely family at the same time." Shane Brennan ("NCIS: Los Angeles") is overseeing the CBS Television Studios-based project, which is based on the upcoming Top Cow Productions comic book "Family Affair" by Lavin, Damiani and Matt Hawkins. Top Cow topper Marc Silvestri and Hawkins will serve as co-executive producers with Industry Entertainment's Stephen Crawford producing. (THR.com)


UNTITLED PETE CORREALE PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Comedian Pete Correale is set to star in a potential half-hour at the Eye about "a working class New Yorker who, along with his wife have scrimped and saved to finally own their own walk-up NYC apartment only to now share their biosphere with the eccentric tenants who whom they now share their lives." Marsh McCall ("Last Man Standing") is penning the multi-camera comedy for CBS Television Studios, Levity Entertainment Group and the Kapital Entertainment-based KatCo. Tracy Katsky will also executive produce. (Deadline.com)


WRECKED (TBS, New!) - Newcomers Justin Shipley and Jordan Shipley have scored a pilot order for a new single-camera comedy about two best friends who become the unexpected leaders of a new society formed after their plane crashes on a remote island. Jesse Hara will also presumably executive produce. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Adam Davidson has been tapped to helm the pilot for AMC's proposed "The Walking Dead" spin-off (Deadline.com); Starz has opted to position its upcoming drama "Flesh & Bone" as a limited series, complete with "a suitable conclusion" (Deadline.com); Lauren Graham will guest on "The Odd Couple" as Oscar's (Matthew Perry) ex-wife Gaby, "who lived through a contentious marriage and an even more contentious divorce" (EW.com); Tricia Helfer will drop by "Suits" as "Mike and Harvey's opposing counsel in a huge class action case" (TVLine.com); Debra Mooney will recur on "The Originals" as "a tough, no-nonsense werewolf who will do quite literally anything to ensure the safety of her pack" (TVLine.com); Bess Armstrong has been tapped for an arc on "Switched at Birth" as "Daphne's (Katie Leclerc) formidable pre-med professor" (THR.com); Mark Pellington is set to direct TNT's drama pilot "Cocaine Cowboys" (THR.com); and Percy Daggs III will visit "iZOMBIE" as "a wealthy genius who lives in Seattle" (TVGuide.com).






  [october 2014]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· ANCHORWOMAN (FOX)
· ANIMAL RESCUE SHOW (NICKELODEON)
· BOTCOP (FOX)
· COCAINE COWBOYS (TNT)
· COLONY (USA)
· COUPLES THERAPY (VH1)
· DEATH CLASS (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
· DROP DEAD DIVA (LIFETIME)
· ERIC & BELLA FOREVER (CBS)
· FEAR THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)
· FLESH & BONE (STARZ)
· FRIEND ME (CBS)
· GOOD LUCK CHARLIE (DISNEY)
· IZOMBIE (CW)
· KICKIN' IT (DISNEY XD)
· LAST MAN STANDING (FOX)
· LEGIT (FXX)
· MR CHRIS (ABC)
· NCIS: LOS ANGELES (CBS)
· ODD COUPLE, THE (CBS)
· ORIGINALS, THE (CW)
· PRINCES OF MALIBU, THE (FOX)
· PSYCH (USA)
· SEX WITH BRODY (E)
· SILK (ABC)
· ST LUCY'S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES (ABC)
· STEVIE TV (VH1)
· SUITS (USA)
· SWITCHED AT BIRTH (FREEFORM)
· TOTALLY ILLEGAL (ABC)
· TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS)
· UNTITLED LAVIN & DAMIANI PROJECT (CBS)
· UNTITLED PETE CORREALE PROJECT (CBS)
· WALKING DEAD, THE (AMC)
· WRECKED (TBS)





[02/26/26 - 02:46 PM]
Netflix Declines to Raise Offer for Warner Bros.
"The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," said co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.

[02/26/26 - 02:19 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Soars to Season High with Best Audience in Over a Year
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 157 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[02/26/26 - 02:08 PM]
Britbox Unveils Spring Slate with "The Lady" Starring Mia McKenna-Bruce; Premieres March 18
Other highlights include the return of "Hope Street" and the debut of "Mudtown."

[02/26/26 - 01:36 PM]
Paramount Comments on Warner Bros. Discovery Board's Determination of Paramount's Proposal as Superior
David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: "We are pleased WBD's Board has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers to WBD shareholders superior value, certainty and speed to closing."

[02/26/26 - 01:16 PM]
Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors Determines Revised Proposal from Paramount Skydance Constitutes a "Company Superior Proposal"
Under the terms of the Netflix merger agreement, this notice triggers a four business day period during which Netflix has the right to propose revisions to the Netflix merger agreement so that the PSKY proposal would cease to constitute a "Company Superior Proposal."

[02/26/26 - 01:00 PM]
FOX Television Network Renews Hit Joel McHale Series "Animal Control" for Season Five
In addition, the first three seasons of the series are currently streaming on Netflix, and the show has been sold in territories around the world.

[02/26/26 - 10:31 AM]
More Stars Take the Stage to Present at the 98th Oscars
Javier Bardem, Chris Evans, Chase Infiniti, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani and Maya Rudolph are among the featured talent.

[02/26/26 - 10:30 AM]
Video: AMC Networks Unveils Captivating Sneak Peek Scene from "The Vampire Lestat"
In the new rock and roll centric season, the Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by "muses" from his wild and rebellious past.

[02/26/26 - 10:21 AM]
Feed the Children Teams Up with FOX's "Next Level Chef" to Put Child Hunger to Bed
The year-round campaign rallies the public alongside donors, volunteers, and partners to provide kids with the food and resources they need to rise and thrive every day.

[02/26/26 - 10:01 AM]
"Running Point" Season Two Returns April 23 on Netflix
Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson) is no longer the surprise choice to lead the Los Angeles Waves, she's the one everyone is watching.

[02/26/26 - 10:01 AM]
Season Three of the HBO Original Comedy Series "The Comeback" Debuts March 22
New episodes of the eight-episode season will debut weekly leading up to the series finale on Sunday, May 10.

[02/26/26 - 10:00 AM]
CBS Launches New Podcast "NCIS: Partners & Probies" Hosted by Series Stars Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover, Offering Fans an Inside Look at the #1 TV Franchise Worldwide
Premiering Tuesday, March 3, new episodes will roll out weekly.

[02/26/26 - 09:14 AM]
FOX Sports Assembles World-Class Broadcast Team for 2026 World Baseball Classic
Headlining FOX MLB's coverage of Team USA matchups and knockout rounds are highly acclaimed play-by-play announcers Joe Davis, Adam Amin and Kevin Kugler; expert analysts John Smoltz, A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Wainwright; and veteran reporters Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci.

[02/26/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: Trailer & Key Art - "Sunny Nights" Starring Will Forte & D'Arcy Carden
After a critical acclaimed Australian debut, the darkly comedic crime drama starring Will Forte and D'Arcy Carden makes its U.S. debut on March 11 on Hulu.

[02/26/26 - 09:01 AM]
BritBox Announces April 7th Premiere for "A Taste for Murder"
The six-part crime procedural produced by Eagle Eye Drama and in association with ITV Studios stars Warren Brown, Phyllis Logan, and Cristiana Dell'Anna, and was shot on location in Croatia and Italy last year.