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[01/27/17 - 11:55 PM]
Development Update: Friday, January 27
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!


BEHIND ENEMY LINES (FOX) - The network's small screen take on the feature film has been ordered to pilot. Writer Nikki Toscano and director McG are spearheading the project with Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, John Davis and John Fox executive producing for 20th Century Fox Television, Temple Hill and Davis Entertainment. Albert Page is a co-executive producer. The logline is as follows: "Loosely based on the hit movie franchise of the same name, BEHIND ENEMY LINES is a military soap thriller wherein a group of U.S. soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. Our distinctly patriotic series is a multi-perspective narrative that closely follows our soldiers on the ground, and the officers and service men and women on a nearby aircraft carrier, along with intelligence officers in DC as they attempt to bring our heroes home safely and under the radar."
BLUEGRASS/BLOOD RED (ABC) - Amanda Detmer ("Second Chance") has been cast in the Reba McEntire-led drama as Randa Post, "sexy and cheap, she has a sweet quality that is tempered by her desperate need for love." (Deadline.com)
DYNASTY (The CW) - The netlet's reboot of the 1980s staple - which "follows two of America's wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children" - is heading to pilot. Sallie Patrick, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are behind the hour, which is set up at CBS Television Studios. Original series' creators Esther Shapiro and Richard Shapiro will also executive produce while Fake Empire's Lis Rowinski is as co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)
GOOD GIRLS (NBC) - Manny Montana ("Conviction") is the first to board the drama pilot, about three "good girl" suburban wives and mothers who suddenly find themselves in desperate circumstances and decide to stop playing it safe, and risk everything to take their power back. He'll play Rio, "a smart local hustler who recognizes what assets our good girls can be to his money laundering business." (Deadline.com)
GOSPEL OF KEVIN, THE (ABC, New!) - Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters have snagged a pilot order from the Alphabet for a new drama about Kevin, "a down-on-his-luck man who is tasked by God with a mission to save the world." ABC Studios is behind the hour, home to their banner, Fazekas & Butters. Robert Atwood serves as producer. (Deadline.com)
HAPPY PEPPERS, THE (NBC) - Jeff Astrof and Max Mutchnick's multi-camera comedy - about "an adult brother and sister who wind up living together for the first time since they were kids, after one of them suffers a big loss" - has scored a pilot order from NBC. The project was previously developed by CBS and subsequently found a home at the Peacock. Warner Bros. Television is producing. (Deadline.com)
HAWAII FIVE-0 (CBS) - Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker will guest star on the series as Desmond Gamal, "a bomb maker wanted in connection with numerous attacks around the Middle East." (EW.com)
LIBBY & MALCOLM (ABC) - Jahi Winston ("Feed the Beast") is the latest to be cast in the Felicity Huffman/Courtney B. Vance-led comedy as M.J., "Malcolm's (Vance) youngest child." (Deadline.com)
LOOMING TOWER, THE (Hulu) - Tahar Rahim has been tapped for a lead role on the straight-to-series drama. He'll play Ali Soufan, "a young FBI agent on John O'Neill's I-49 anti-terrorism squad who quickly ascends to John O'Neill's protégé due to his brilliance, as well as his fluency in Arabic and Islam. Ali is outraged by the perversion of his religion by enemies of the United States and uses every tool at his disposal, including going undercover in extremists' gathering spaces, in order to prevent catastrophes." (Deadline.com)
MR. MERCEDES (Audience) - Breeda Wool and Justine Lupe are the latest to be cast in the upcoming drama. The former will play Lou Linklatter (formerly Freddi Linklatter). "Freddi works with Brady at the "Discount Electronix" store and is an outspoken young woman who is flippant with their boss, Frobisher, whom she teases when he gets into his lecture mode." Lupe then is set as Holly Gibney, "the younger cousin of Janey and Olivia who has some "issues": OCD, synesthesia, sensory processing disorder." (Deadline.com)
SALVATION (NBC) - Warren Leight's drama - "a real time extreme event medical series that follows the nurses and doctors of an understaffed Brooklyn hospital that becomes the borough's last viable trauma center after a catastrophic hurricane wreaks havoc on the city" - is heading to pilot at the Peacock. Director Charles McDougall and Paul Haggis will also executive produce for Sony Pictures Television. (Deadline.com)
SEARCHERS (The CW) - Jason Rothenberg's drama - about "a pragmatic brother and free-spirited sister are forced to team up when they learn that their mother's terrifying and bizarre stories may be a road map to discovering the great legends, myths, and unexplainable mysteries of the world" - has scored a pilot order from the netlet. Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter also executive produce via their Warner Bros. Television-based Berlanti Productions. (Deadline.com)
SNOWFALL (FX) - Justine Lupe (Francis Ha) will recur on the upcoming drama as Victoria: "Heartbroken, she has come to L.A. to look for her missing sister. She's smart, organized and diligent in her search but in a bit over her head." (Deadline.com)
TEN DAYS IN THE VALLEY (ABC) - The Alphaet has rounded out the cast of the Kyra Sedgwick-led drama. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays Detective John Bird, "a relaxed, funny, and strategically non-judgmental maverick investigator and early morning surfer." Also on board are: Francois Battiste as Gus, "a cop who serves as Jane's confidante and secret source for her show"; Currie Graham as Henry Vega, "the charismatic yet demanding director at the helm of Jane's new series"; Nelson Lee as Sheldon, "the laid-back yet unpredictable drug supplier who launders his drug money through a popular taco truck"; Abigail Pniowsky as Lake, "Jane's adorable and exuberant 8-year-old daughter"; Josh Randall as Tom, "Ali's decisive, tough yet warm husband, a go-getting journalist who sees it all"; Ali Stroker as Tamara, "a writer and crack researcher in Jane's internal writers' room, Tamara is unafraid to pitch and let her opinions be known"; Ella Thomas as Isobel, "the complicated and charming, fiercely intelligent star of Jane's show (and therefore the alter-ego of Jane herself)"; Beth Triffon as Mackenzie, "script coordinator for Jane's series and an earnest aspiring writer herself"; and Mark L. Young as P.J., "the friendly and street-smart neighborhood drug supplier who dreams of becoming a writer." (Deadline.com)
THIS IS US (NBC) - Amanda Warren has been tapped to play William's mother in an upcoming episode with Brian Tyree Henry also slated to appear as William's cousin. (EW.com)
UNTITLED SEAL TEAM 6 PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Ben Cavell has scored a pilot order from the Eye for a new drama which "follows the lives of the elite Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high stakes missions our country can ask." Director Christopher Chulack will also executive produce alongside Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly of CBS Television Studios-based Timberman/Beverly. (Deadline.com)





  [january 2017]  
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M
T
W
T
F
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· BEHIND ENEMY LINES (FOX)
· BLUEGRASS/BLOOD RED (ABC)
· CONVICTION (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DYNASTY (CW)
· FEED THE BEAST (AMC)
· GOOD GIRLS (NBC)
· HAWAII FIVE-0 (CBS)
· KEVIN (PROBABLY) SAVES THE WORLD (ABC)
· LIBBY & MALCOLM (ABC)
· LOOMING TOWER, THE (HULU)
· MR. MERCEDES (AUDIENCE)
· RELATIVELY HAPPY (NBC)
· SEAL TEAM (PARAMOUNT PLUS)
· SEARCHERS (CW)
· SECOND CHANCE (FOX)
· SHELTER (NBC)
· TEN DAYS IN THE VALLEY (ABC)
· THIS IS US (NBC)





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