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[02/22/18 - 11:19 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, February 22
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!


A.P. BIO/CHAMPIONS (NBC) - The Peacock has quietly flipped the regular time periods of its new Thursday comedies. Beginning March 8, "A.P. Bio" will air at 8:30/7:30c with "Champions" anchoring the comedy block at 9:30/8:30c. As previously announced, "A.P. Bio" will formally premiere (following its February 1 and February 25 previews) on March 1 with episodes at both 8:30/7:30c and 9:30/8:30c on March 1.
ABBY'S (NBC) - Natalie Morales ("The Grinder") has scored the title role on the comedy pilot: "No nonsense, slight but strong, Abby is ex-military, a staff sergeant in the Army who did two tours of duty in Afghanistan. Warmly convivial but never openly sentimental, Abby has found her calling, hosting friends and newcomers in her open-air backyard bar where locals find camaraderie and a kind of sanctuary. It's her livelihood, her lifeblood and she's clearly unnerved when her new landlord shows up citing all kinds of reasons why the whole venture is illegal." (Deadline.com)
CHICAGO P.D. (NBC) - Titus Welliver will drop by the current season as "a big-time meth dealer [who] was recently released from prison." (TVLine.com)
CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, THE (Netflix) - Richard Coyle has been tapped to play Father Blackwood in the Archie Comics adaptation, High Priest of the Church of Night and Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts: "Ruthless and ambitious, Blackwood hides a terrifying dark agenda that will put him in direct conflict with Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) and other members of the coven." (Deadline.com)
FALSE PROFITS (ABC) - Bellamy Young ("Scandal") has scored the lead role in the drama pilot, about Laura Hazelton, "a single mom with two kids, the kind of level-headed woman who makes the best of a bad situation - and the last couple years have been bad indeed. Tired of being ten steps behind, Laura signs up for a multi-level marketing scheme for selling cosmetics." (Deadline.com)
FAM (CBS) - Odessa Adlon has been cast in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about a woman's younger half-sister who comes to live with her and her fiancé to escape their train wreck of a father. She'll play Shannon, "Clem's younger half-sister who shows up on her doorstep unannounced. Shannon is a wild child who has bounced back and forth between neglectful parents, and picked up some very bad habits along the way." (Deadline.com)
GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, THE (ABC) - Dennis Andres is bound for the Alphabet's reboot of the 1980s series as Justin Hayes: "Adorable and friendly, he's a creative director at the marketing agency where Meera (Hannah Simone) works. He cares about the environment, gets Meera's humor and is a potential love interest for her." (Deadline.com)
HARRY & MEGHAN: A ROYAL ROMANCE (Lifetime) - Australian actor Burgess Abernethy has been tapped to play Prince William in the docudrama with Laura Mitchell set as his wife Catherine Middleton. (Deadline.com)
HOW MAY WE HATE YOU (ABC) - Elizabeth Ho ("Disjointed") has scored a role on the Kat Dennings-led single-camera comedy pilot as Belinda, "type-A and control-obsessed, she is the recently-promoted staff manager at the hotel. Eager to get the hotel in shape and make Ellie (Dennings) and Gabe (TBD) suffer, Belinda goes a little overboard on new policies. The only thing keeping her in check is the fact that the hotel owner's son has just become her new assistant manager - and she's too paralyzed by the need to impress to protest." (Deadline.com)
IN BETWEEN LIVES (NBC) - Australian actress Harriet Dyer has booked the female lead on the drama pilot, about Cassie Gallagher (Dyer), a mysterious young woman who reluctantly uses her gift of clairvoyance to help a veteran LAPD detective and a damaged ex-FBI outsider solve the most unnerving and challenging cases the city encounters. (Deadline.com)
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (CBS) - Brian J. Smith ("Sense8") has been cast as Ed Exley in the Eye's small screen take on James Ellroy's classic noir novel: "Cold (though not without a conscience), obviously brilliant, authoritative and fiercely ambitious, Ed Exley is a uniformed L.A. cop when the pilot story begins. The son of Preston Exley, former hero detective-turned-real estate developer, he is determined to make his mark and to become a hero in his father's eyes. Competing against the memory of his deceased brother, his father's favorite, Ed will do anything to prove himself. He wants nothing more than to make detective and is single-minded in his pursuit." (Deadline.com)
ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC) - Suzy Joachim has been cast as Madame Leota, "described as a powerful gatekeeper to a haunted house." (EW.com)
OUR PEOPLE (FOX) - Lea Thompson is the first to board the single-camera comedy pilot, about a man from a bombastic African family who doesn't have a word in their native language for "privacy" and his fiancée from a mid-western family try to build a normal life together. Though nobody can agree what that "normal" means. She'll play Jenny's mom Lisa, "a fleece and birkenstocks hippie who can be just as feisty and opinionated as her daughter." (Deadline.com)
PANDAS IN NEW YORK (CBS) - Nishi Munshi is the first to sign onto the multi-camera comedy pilot, about a family of Indian doctors with a successful group practice in New York City who embark on a project to arrange their youngest son's life, unaware he's made plans of his own. She'll play Gita Panda, "tough and like a second parent to her siblings, she's also an orthopedic surgeon and a mother to triplets." (Deadline.com)
QUEENS (ABC) - Amirah Vann ("Underground") has snagged one of the lead roles on the Regina King-helmed drama pilot. She'll play Sergeant Ella Kendrick-Graves: "Smart, kind, and principled, Ella patrols her childhood neighborhood in Queens. One of the five sisters who are all officers in the NYPD, Ella is a stand-up cop who goes out of her way to prove that police officers can still be good guys who treat people fairly. Married for 18 years, Ella is also a mother of three who struggles to balance her home life with her job. When she chooses to disregard protocol, her partner gets shot, putting his life and her career in jeopardy." (Deadline.com)
SAFE HARBOR (ABC) - Josh Randall and Vanessa Vasquez are both bound for the drama pilot, about the colorful, complicated lives of cops on and off the beat as we follow them into harrowing, emotional and often humorous situations. Randall will play Charlie Scooderro, "Mudd's (Aasif Mandvi) longtime partner and friend; with Vasquez as Esme Chiso, "an officer at Harbor Division, who's feeling conflicted about her brother, who's now running with a dangerous gang." (Deadline.com)
SPENCER (The CW) - Taye Diggs is the first to be cast in the drama pilot as Billy Baker, "who, having attended Crenshaw High himself, is the head coach of Beverly Hills High's football team. He has an intense desire to see Spencer, a transfer from Crenshaw, succeed - on and off the field - even if his efforts impact his relationship with his own son." (THR.com)
VILLAGE, THE (NBC) - Warren Christie is the latest to board the ensemble drama pilot as Nick, "an ex-special forces operative who lost his leg while on tour. He returns to Manhattan to a welcoming community that constantly thanks him for his service, which he finds uncomfortable. He's just trying to adjust back to a normal life after serving." (Deadline.com)
WHISKEY CAVALIER (ABC) - Ana Ortiz has signed onto the Scott Foley/Lauren Cohan-led drama pilot as Susan Sampson: "Based out of the FBI's New York office, Dr. Susan Sampson is the FBI's top behavioral scientist - and Will's (Foley) best friend. However, that doesn't stop her from developing a fast friendship with Will's rival (and future partner), Frankie (Cohan)." (Deadline.com)





  [february 2018]  
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· A.P. BIO (PEACOCK)
· ABBY'S (NBC)
· ALL AMERICAN (CW)
· CHAMPIONS (NBC)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA (NETFLIX)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FALSE PROFITS (ABC)
· FAM (CBS)
· FINEST, THE (ABC)
· GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, THE (ABC)
· HARRY & MEGHAN: A ROYAL ROMANCE (LIFETIME)
· HOW MAY WE HATE YOU (ABC)
· INBETWEEN, THE (NBC)
· L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (CBS)
· MISSION, THE (ABC)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· OUR PEOPLE (FOX)
· PANDAS IN NEW YORK (CBS)
· VILLAGE, THE (NBC)
· WHISKEY CAVALIER (ABC)





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