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[08/29/16 - 11:37 PM]
Development Update: Monday, August 29
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!


AMERICAN WOMAN (TV Land) - Cheyenne Jackson and Jennifer Bartels have both been cast in the Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari-led comedy pilot. The former will play Greg, "the newest boy toy to Kathleen (Suvari), one of Bonnie's closest friends. A charmer who works in casting at a major studio, Greg persuades Kathleen to invest a bundle in his new casting company - leaving her friends understandably leery." The latter then is set as Diana, "best friend to Bonnie (Silverstone) and a working professional 10 years into her career. Diana has had to endure harassment and inappropriate sexual comments from her sexist boss throughout her tenure, but she masks her misery through a positive resilient manner." (Deadline.com)
DOOMSDAY (ABC, New!) - "Justified" alums Mark Bianculli and V.J. Boyd have scored a pilot production commitment - with a series penalty attached - for a new drama which "starts in the aftermath of 9/11, when the U.S. government institutes a secret think tank featuring the most creative minds in science and entertainment that is tasked with dreaming up man-made disaster scenarios and their possible solutions. Because the hypothetical ideas are deemed extremely dangerous, the list is sealed and the program shut down. But when a catastrophe occurs that's ripped from the pages of the missing doomsday book, the team is brought back years later to prevent the disasters of their own making." Sony Pictures Television is behind the hour with Carol Mendelsohn Productions' Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz executive producing alongside Pernomium Pictures' Boyd and Signal Hill Productions' Bianculli. (Deadline.com)
FAMILY GUY (FOX) - Mark-Paul Gosselaar will guest in an upcoming episode where he'll reprise his "Saved By the Bell" role and help "reenact one of the series' most iconic moments - when Zack discovers that Jessie is abusing caffeine pills." (TVLine.com)
G.L.O.W. (Netflix) - Alison Brie ("Community") is the first to be cast in the dramedy, inspired by the real story of the 1980s female wrestling league, which tells the story of an out-of-work actress who finds one last attempt to live her dreams in the form of a weekly series about female wrestlers. She'll play said woman, Ruth. (Deadline.com)
HANDMAID'S TALE, THE (Hulu) - Yvonne Strahovski ("Chuck") has booked a role on the upcoming drama as Serena Joy, "wife of Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and the head of the household staff. As an influential public figure, she fought for traditional values and the establishment of Gilead." (Deadline.com)
SPLITTING UP TOGETHER (ABC, New!) - Emily Kapnek ("Selfie") is back in business with the Alphabet with a new single-camera comedy billed as "the story of a couple whose marriage is reignited by their divorce." The project, which has a put pilot commitment, is based on Mette Heeno's Danish series. A Very Good Production's Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman will executive producing alongside Heeno, Hella Joof and Mie Andreasen for Kapnek's Warner Bros. Television-based Piece of Pie Productions. (Deadline.com)
START UP (ABC, New!) - Writer Matt Tarses and actor/director Zach Braff are set to team for a new single-camera comedy about "a guy (Braff) in his mid-30s with a wife and two kids makes the crazy decision to quit his good job and dive into the brave new world of starting a business." The project, which is based on the podcast by Alex Blumberg, has a put pilot commitment from the network and Sony Pictures Television. Davis Entertainment's John Davis and John Fox as well as Gimlet Media's Chris Giliberti, Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber also serve as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
WHITE FAMOUS (Showtime) - Megalyn Echikunwoke and Utkarsh Ambudkar are the latest additions to the Jay Pharoah-led comedy pilot. Echikunwoke will play "Floyd's (Pharoah) ex-girlfriend and the mother of his son"; while Ambudkar is set as Malcolm, "Floyd's frustrated agent who wants his client to do whatever it takes to make it big in the business." (Deadline.com)





  [august 2016]  
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· ALEX, INC. (ABC)
· AMERICAN WOMAN (PARAMOUNT)
· CHUCK (NBC)
· COMMUNITY (YAHOO)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOOMSDAY PROJECT, THE (ABC)
· FAMILY GUY (FOX)
· GLOW (NETFLIX)
· HANDMAID'S TALE, THE (HULU)
· JUSTIFIED (FX)
· SELFIE (ABC)
· SPLITTING UP TOGETHER (ABC)
· WHITE FAMOUS (SHOWTIME)





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