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[07/27/18 - 11:43 PM]
Development Update: Friday, July 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!


BESTIES/BLACK-ISH/GROWN-ISH (Various) - As expected, Kenya Barris has formally exited his overall deal with ABC Studios as he transitions to a new pact with Netflix. Barris will nevertheless remain an executive producer on all three series with Jonathan Groff and Kenny Smith overseeing "black-ish"; Julie Bean continuing to run "grown-ish"; and co-creator Ranada Shepard behind newcomer "Besties." (Deadline.com)
CENTRAL PARK (Apple) - Regina Hicks has been tapped as co-showrunner of Loren Bouchard and Josh Gad's animated series as part of two-year overall deal with producer 20th Century Fox Television. Apple made a two-season, 26-episode, straight-to-series order to the project - which tells the story of a how a family of caretakers, who live and work in Central Park, end up saving the park, and basically the world - back in March. (Deadline.com)
CHICAGO FIRE (NBC) - Annie Ilonzeh and Steven Boyer will both recur on the show's seventh season as Emily Foster," described as an intelligent, easygoing and confident new paramedic"; and Jerry Gorsch, "the recently named Assistant Deputy Commissioner at the CFD." (Variety.com)
CHICAGO PD (NBC) - Rob Morrow will drop by the upcoming season as Evan Gilchrist, "an outspoken critic of the police department who is forced to call on CPD for help when his teen daughter goes missing." (TVLine.com)
DOUBT (CBS) - Co-creators Tony Phelan and Joan Rater have signed a two-year overall deal with Universal Television where they will develop new series projects for the studio. Said duo were previously set up at CBS Television Studios. (THR.com)
EMPIRE (FOX) - Toby Onwumere is bound for the upcoming season as Kai, "a war correspondent and also Jamal's (Jussie Smollett) love interest." (Deadline.com)
FBI (CBS) - Greg Plageman has joined the freshman drama as showrunner. He'll take over from Craig Turk, who has bowed out of the series over creative differences. (Deadline.com)
KILLING EVE (BBC America) - Emerald Fennell has been tapped as lead writer for the show's second season, taking over for the ever-busy Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge will continue as an executive producer on the new season, which recently began production. Additionally, Lisa Bruhlmann and Francesca Gregorini have signed on as directors alongside returning executive producer Damon Thomas. (Variety.com)
LETHAL WEAPON (FOX) - Maggie Lawson is set for a recurring role on the revamped series as Natalie Flynn, "an emergency room surgeon and Wesley's (Seann William Scott) ex-girlfriend. The two met in an active war zone years earlier, where Natalie served as a medic, and had a brief romance that resulted in a child. Over a decade later, Cole once again is a regular in Natalie's ER - he's moved to Los Angeles to get closer to both her and their kid." (Deadline.com)
ONE DAY AT A TIME (Netflix) - Famed creator Norman Lear and his ACT III Productions banner have signed a two-year first look deal with producer Sony Pictures Television. It's understood the pact includes the option to re-imagine titles from Lear's extensive library, including "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times," among others. (Deadline.com)
PSYCH (USA) - James Roday has inked a one-year first-look deal with producer Universal Cable Productions. The pact gives the studio first crack at the actor-director-writer's behind-the-camera output. (THR.com)
SUPERGIRL (The CW) - Rhona Mitra and Robert Baker are both bound for the upcoming season as Mercy Graves, "Lex Luthor's longtime bodyguard"; and Mercy's brother, Otis Graves. This incarnation of Mercy Graves is detailed as "an ex-CADMUS agent who has always believed in human exceptionalism. But with both Lex and Lillian in prison, Mercy is stepping out of the Luthor shadow and running her own show." Baker's Otis Graves "is Mercy's defacto right hand man. What he lacks in brains, he makes up for with his savant-like abilities to assassinate aliens." (Deadline.com)
TIME BANDITS (Apple, New!) - A small screen take on Terry Gilliam's 1980 fantasy film is being developed by the company. Anonymous Content, Paramount Television and Media Rights Capital are all behind the project, which "follows the time-traveling adventures of an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin who, one night, stumbles on six dwarfs who emerge from his closet. They are former workers of the Supreme Being who have stolen a map that charts all the holes in the space-time fabric, using it to hop from one historical era to the next in order to steal riches." Gilliam will be a non-writing executive producer on the project, additional auspices of which were not given. (Deadline.com)





  [july 2018]  
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· BLACK-ISH (ABC)
· CENTRAL PARK (APPLE TV PLUS)
· CHICAGO FIRE (NBC)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOUBT (CBS)
· EMPIRE (FOX)
· FBI (CBS)
· GROWN-ISH (FREEFORM)
· KILLING EVE (BBC AMERICA)
· LETHAL WEAPON (FOX)
· ONE DAY AT A TIME (POP)
· PSYCH (USA)
· SUPERGIRL (CW)
· TIME BANDITS (APPLE TV PLUS)
· UNRELATED (FREEFORM)





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