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[09/01/16 - 11:46 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, September 1
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!


AFFAIR, THE (Showtime) - Jonathan Cake ("Desperate Housewives") is set to recur on season three as "the boss and love interest of Noah and Helen's daughter, Whitney." (TVLine.com)
AMERICAN GODS (Starz) - Jeremy Davies ("Justified") is the latest bound for the Neil Gaiman adaptation as Jesus: "Resurrected on Ostara's feast day, Jesus has always been generous in sharing the Easter holiday with the ancient goddess. But the overly empathetic Son of God would be crushed to know that Ostara harbors some deeply buried resentment over the issue." (EW.com)
BEACHES (Lifetime) - Gabriella Pizzolo and Grace Capeless have been cast as "the younger versions of CC (Idina Menzel) and Hillary (Nia Long)" on the network's remake of the feature film. Also on board are Grace's mother Jodi Capeless, "who'll play CC's mom Leona in the childhood scenes, and nine-year-old Sanai Victoria, who'll play Hillary's daughter Tori." (TVLine.com)
BLACK LIGHTNING (New!) - Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil ("Being Mary Jane") are set to make the network rounds with a small screen take on the DC Comics hero: Jefferson Pierce, who "hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he'll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning." Akil Productions and the Warner Bros. Television-based Berlanti Productions are behind the hour with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter also executive producing. (Deadline.com)
CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND (The CW) - Albert Tsai ("Dr. Ken") will visit the show's second season as "a confident kid who tutors Rebecca in an important subject." (@JarettSays)
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE (Netflix) - Antoinette Robertson, DeRon Horton, John Patrick Amedori, Ashley Blaine Featherson and Marque Richardson have all been cast in the small screen take on the feature film. Robertson will play Coco Conners, "an economics major and bombshell who is baffled by Winchester's hierarchy of blackness that favors natural hair over the "good hair" she bought"; with Horton as Lionel Higgins, "a self-proclaimed nerd, who becomes an unlikely hero for being the only student journalist to write a firsthand report on the blackface party that rocks Winchester"; Amedori as Gabe, "Sam's intellectual equal and their debates are passionate and as heated as their secret (for now) affair"; Featherson as Joelle Brooks, "a girl who can code switch at lightning speed and is Sam White's best friend"; and Richardson reprising the role of Reggie, "the character he portrayed in the 2014 feature." (Deadline.com)
DEVIOUS MAIDS (Lifetime) - The cable channel has opted not to renew the series for a fifth season (Deadline.com)
EMPIRE (FOX) - Juan Antonio ("Murder in the First") has been tapped as "a super attractive new love interest" to Jamal (Jussie Smollett): Philip, a military vet, "who runs a PTSD support group Jamal attends." (EW.com)
FAMILY GUY (FOX) - Tony Sirico will reprise his role of Vinny the dog in a cameo during the upcoming season. (TVLine.com)
FIREWALL (CBS, New!) - Jeff Rake ("The Mysteries of Laura") has scored a put pilot commitment from the network for a new drama about "a charming but ruthless San Francisco billionaire who, in the wake of personal tragedy, decides to use his wealth for good, putting together a team of various experts to exact justice on criminals who've slipped through the cracks of the legal system." Bruno Heller also serve as an executive producer for Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)
I'M DYING UP HERE (Showtime) - Sarah Hay, W. Earl Brown, Jere Burns and Jocko Sims are all bound for the Jim Carrey-produced drama. Hay will recur as Tawny, "the volatile young girlfriend of the newest comic at Goldie's comedy club, Nick Beverly (Jake Lacy)"; with Brown as Teddy, "Goldie's greatest rival in the L.A. comedy club scene." Guest starring are Burns as "Sid Robbins, the ex-husband to [Melissa] Leo's character, who is desperately still trying to hit it big in stand-up"; and Sims as Melvin, "Ralph's (Erik Griffin) old Army buddy who returns to town bearing the scars of war." (Variety.com)
MASTERS OF SEX (Showtime) - Danny Jacobs, Stephen Root and Romy Rosemont are the latest to appear on the new season. Jacobs will play Bob Drag: "Bob has worked for Little Brown, Masters and Johnson's publisher for years, but his relationship to Bill and Virginia's work evolves beyond the editorial when he becomes patient zero in a new study at the clinic." Root and Rosemont then will guest as Harvey and Marcia Toplin, "co-owners of a sex clinic and the funhouse mirror image of Masters and Johnson." (Deadline.com)
MY SO CALLED WIFE (Bravo) - Newcomer Marianne Rendón has joined the cast of the upcoming drama as Jules, "a smart, attractive, wickedly funny and charming artist." (Deadline.com)
NASHVILLE (CMT) - Singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens will recur on the new season as Hanna "Hallie" Jordan, "a young social worker who turns out to have the voice of an angel." (Deadline.com)
ROADSIDE PICNIC (WGN America) - Chloe Coleman has signed onto the drama pilot as "Red's (Matthew Goode) daughter Marie, a child who's been highly affected by her father's time in the zone." (Deadline.com)
UNIDENTIFIED (NBC, New!) - Feature writer Sean Finegan has sold a new drama to the Peacock billed as "a high octane thriller with sci-fi elements, which centers on a CIA operative trying to protect his family from an unimaginable secret." Universal Television is behind the hour with Turi Meyer and Al Septein; and Middle Man Productions' Zachary Levi also among the executive producers. Finegan, Justin Allen and Apocalyptic Entertainment's Erik Olsen are the co-executive producers. (Deadline.com)





  [september 2016]  
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F
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· AFFAIR, THE (SHOWTIME)
· AMERICAN GODS (STARZ)
· BEACHES (LIFETIME)
· BEING MARY JANE (BET)
· BLACK LIGHTNING (CW)
· CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND (CW)
· DEAR WHITE PEOPLE (NETFLIX)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEVIOUS MAIDS (LIFETIME)
· DR KEN (ABC)
· EMPIRE (FOX)
· FAMILY GUY (FOX)
· FIREWALL (CBS)
· I'M DYING UP HERE (SHOWTIME)
· IMPOSTERS (BRAVO)
· JUSTIFIED (FX)
· MASTERS OF SEX (SHOWTIME)
· MURDER IN THE FIRST (TNT)
· MYSTERIES OF LAURA, THE (NBC)
· NASHVILLE (CMT)
· ROADSIDE PICNIC (WGN)
· UNIDENTIFIED (NBC)





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