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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!
DELORES & JERMAINE (ABC/ABCS; W: Jermaine Fowler; D: TBA) - Christina Moore ("Bad Judge") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about Jermaine (Jermaine Fowler), a millennial with big ideas, but very little drive, who moves in with Delores (Whoopi Goldberg), his estranged grandmother, a strict, football-loving, former DC cop who needs his youthful enthusiasm in her life as much as he needs her old-school parenting. She's set as Ebony, "Jermaine's mother, Marsha's new wife." (Deadline.com)
FOR JUSTICE (CBS/CBSP; W: Rene Balcer; D: Ava DuVernay) - Mario Van Peebles and Leonardo Nam have both joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Natalia "Nat" Chappel (Anika Noni Rose), an FBI agent who works in the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division investigating crimes based on civil rights violations across the country. The former will play Nat's father Benjamin Tolan, "a long-time revolutionary, determined to overthrow the American government by subversion or political action, and he's been living an underground life for decades"; with the latter as Leon Ortiz, "an FBI agent with the Civil Rights Unit and the best-dressed, best-groomed man in the Bureau. He's also ranked in mixed martial arts." Rachel Boston, Tim Blake Nelson, Phylicia Rashad and Shawn Hatosy also star. (Deadline.com)
HEART MATTERS (NBC/Universal; W: Jill Gordon; D: Robert Duncan McNeill) - Joshua Leonard (If I Stay) has signed onto the drama pilot, a medical soap that follows the outspoken Alex Panttiere (Melissa George), one of the rare female heart transplant surgeons. Alex brings an innovative eye to treating patients week to week while also balancing the complications of her professional and romantic life. He'll play Max, Alex's ex-husband. Dave Annable, Don Hany, Jamie Kennedy, Maya Erskine and Shelley Conn also star. (Deadline.com)
JOE TIME (CBS/WBT; W: Bill Wrubel; D: James Burrows) - Rita Moreno, Alli Kinzel and Noland Ammon have all been cast in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Joe (Steven Weber), a family man who struggles with the fact that everyone around him is pursuing their dreams and enjoying life more than he is. Moreno will play Joe's mom Judy, who is "in love with her husband Mitch, and also preoccupied with physical fitness and her amazing personal trainer." Kinzel and Ammon then are set as Joe's kids Lucy, "who works with him in the family construction business," and Andrew, "a piano player who thinks it's cool to accompany his grandfather during his cabaret performance," respectively. Duane Martin and Eric Petersen also star. (Deadline.com)
KINGMAKERS, THE (ABC/ABCS; W: Sallie Patrick; D: TBA) - Khary Payton ("Teen Titans Go!") has been tapped for a role on the drama pilot, about Eli Hennessy (Gus Halper), a young man who adopts the identity of Jacob Darlow to infiltrate the murder of his sister, Julia, at an elite Ivy League school and its century-old secret society. He'll play Ben Wheeler, "a laid-back and casual professor who is an anomaly among his stuffed-shirt peers at Braddock." Adrian Pasdar, Colm Feore, Kristin Bauer van Straten and Parminder Nagra also star. (Deadline.com)
NOT SAFE FOR WORK (A.K.A. UNTITLED ASEEM BATRA PROJECT) (NBC/Universal; W: Aseem Batra; D: Betsy Thomas) - Vanessa Lachey ("Dads") has scored a role on the multi-camera comedy pilot, about best friends Dale (Michael Cassidy) and Georgie (Christine Woods) whose relationship is upended when he starts dating the "perfect" woman. She'll play the latter woman, Drea, "the perky local morning news anchor who is self-conscious about maintaining her image." Rizwan Manji also stars. (Deadline.com)
PREACHER (AMC/Sony; W: Sam Catlin; D: Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen) - Ruth Negga ("Marvel's Agents of SHIELD") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about Jesse Custer, a conflicted Preacher in a small Texas town who merges with a creature that has escaped from heaven and develops the ability to make anyone do anything he says. Along with his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and an Irish vampire named Cassidy, the three embark on a journey to literally find God. She'll play the aforementioned Tulip in the project. (Deadline.com)
RUSH HOUR (CBS/WBT; W: Bill Lawrence & Blake McCormick; D: Jon Turteltaub) - Page Kennedy ("Backstrom") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, a small screen take on the film franchise about Lee (Jon Foo), a stoic, by-the-book Hong Kong police officer assigned to a case in Los Angeles, where he's forced to work with Carter (Justin Hires), a cocky black LAPD officer. He'll play Carter's cousin Gerald, who "runs with a rough crowd, and he's in the know about a lot of stuff that is often helpful to a police investigation. He comes off as vicious and terrifying, but it's merely an act." Said role is in second position to his FOX drama. Aimee Garcia and Jessika Van also star. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Matthew Rauch's Clay Burton has been upped to series regular on "Banshee" while Casey Labow will recur as Maggie, "wife to a local leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, who desperately wants a better life for her and her son" (Deadline.com); Ed Quinn has booked a 10-episode arc on "Mistresses" as Dr. Alec Adams, "an internist at the hospital" (Deadline.com); "The Returned" director Keith Gordon has inked a development deal with A+E Studios (Deadline.com); and Dennis Haysbert will visit "Blue Bloods" as Chief Donald Kent, "an old friend of Commissioner Frank Reagan's who scores a promotion to a two-star Chief for his leadership of the Gang Unit" (AOL.com).
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