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[02/28/19 - 11:44 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, February 28
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!


2019-20 SEASON BROADCAST PILOTS (Various) - Directors have been confirmed for ABC's "The Hypnotist's Love Story" (Francesca Gregorini); ABC's "Untitled Jessica Gao Project" (Jude Weng); CBS's "Bob (Hearts) Abishola" (Beth McCarthy-Miller); CBS's "Riches to Rags" (Victor Gonzalez); NBC's "Bluff City Law" (Jessica Yu); NBC's "Friends-in-Law" (Pamela Fryman); and NBC's "Untitled Murray & Penn Project" (Oz Rodriguez). (Deadline.com)
BAKER AND THE BEAUTY, THE (ABC) - Carlos Gomez, Lisa Vidal, Dan Bucatinsky and Belissa Escobedo are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about the impossible Miami love story between a simple baker and an international superstar. Gomez is Santiago Garcia, "patriarch of the family"; while Vidal portrays Mari Garcia, "the matriarch"; with Bucatinsky as Lewis, "Noa's manager and handler"; and Escobedo as Natalie, "the youngest child in the Garcia family." (Deadline.com)
BLUFF CITY LAW (NBC) - Barry Sloane and Michael Luwoye will join Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee in the legal drama pilot as Jake Reilly, "a smart and confident lawyer who works for Elijah"; and Anthony Little, "a fantastic lawyer who is also the warm-hearted father of three daughters," respectively. (Deadline.com)
CHARLOTTE WALSH LIKES TO WIN (Amazon, New!) - Julia Roberts is in talks to star in a new limited series based on Jo Piazza's bestselling novel about the "idealistic Charlotte Walsh [who] leaves her job as a high-powered Silicon Valley executive to move back with her husband and three daughters to her downtrodden Pennsylvania hometown so that she can run for Senate in a midterm election that will decide the balance of power in Congress." Jon Robin Baitz is spearheading the Amazon Studios-based project, with Red Om Films' Roberts, Lisa Gillan and Marisa Gill; ScratchPad's Baitz; Rebelle Media's Laura Lewis; and wiip's Paul Lee and Mark Roybal serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
IT'S A MAN'S WORLD (YouTube) - Erin Darke will star in while Romeo Tirone is slated to direct and executive produce the comedy pilot, about Emma (Darke), "a successful video game design executive and the sole breadwinner for her family, who is used to dodging the landmines that come with being a woman in a male-dominated field. When she gets fired without explanation and finds that she's being blacklisted by everyone in her industry, Emma decides to dress as a man to get a new job and to continue supporting her family. As strange and politically incorrect as Emma's new life may be, she starts to enjoy the newfound ease of access and power that comes with being a man." (Deadline.com)
LOST BOYS, THE (The CW) - Sarah Hay, Cheyenne Haynes and Haley Tju have all scored roles on the film-turned-TV drama pilot as Mollie, "turned into a vampire by David, Mollie has become her maker's rival for leadership of the vampire gang"; and the Frog Sisters, Liza and Cassie, "sharp, cool and lightly Goth, the Frog Sisters are teenage locals who work at Santa Carla's comic-book store," respectively. (Deadline.com)
neXT (FOX) - Eve Harlow is the first to board the fact-based thriller pilot as Gina: "Easy to offend, a bit of a nerd and ultra woke, she works at the FBI cybercrime division." (Deadline.com)
PATTY'S AUTO (FOX) - Kyla Pratt is the latest addition to the multi-camera comedy pilot as Tiny, "Patty's younger sister by a different father. The opposite of Patty, Tiny wears her heart on her sleeve. She gives manicures at the nail station inside the shop, and she gets frustrated with Patty for treating her like a kid, even when she acts like one." (Variety.com)
PREACHER (AMC) - Tyson Ritter, who plays the dual role of Humperdoo and Jesus, has been promoted to regular for the series' upcoming fourth season. (Deadline.com)
RIVERDALE (The CW) - Co-star Luke Perry is "currently under observation" in Los Angeles after "paramedics were called to Perry's Sherman Oaks home on Wednesday morning after he suffered an apparent stroke, and he was taken to a nearby hospital." (Deadline.com)
SISTERS (FOX) - Timothy Hutton is set to star alongside Brittany Snow and Megalyn Echikunwoke in the drama pilot as the "handsome, charming & brilliant Dr. Leon Bechley, "a distinguished & highly respected fertility specialist." (Deadline.com)
TOMMY (CBS) - Adelaide Clemens, Russell G. Jones and Olivia Lucy Phillip are all bound for the Edie Falco-led drama pilot. Clemens will play Blake: "As the Press Secretary for the chief of police, she focuses less on substance than on how things look." Jones then is Looper: "Phlegmatic but sharp as a tack, Looper is the Chief of Staff, whose job is to keep the trains running while the new Chief of Police performs the political aspects of the job." And Phillip is Kate: "She's Tommy's daughter, who seems to be everything her mother is not: soft where her mother is hard, quiet where she is commanding; deep down, however, she's just as stubborn." (Deadline.com)
UNTIL THE WEDDING (ABC) - Olivia Thirlby has scored a role on the drama pilot as Adrienne, "the one all her friends go to first for advice. She's super empathic and warm with a biting sense of humor. Idealistic, ambitious and really smart, Adrienne has an especially high EQ. She's a highly skilled psychologist who's sometimes better at taking care of other people than she is of herself. A trauma specialist, she's still a little commitment-phobic after a terrible breakup with a fellow do-gooder she met in Kenya two years ago. She regrouped back home in New York and fell in love with a stable, menschy guy. When the fellow do-gooder makes an unexpected reappearance at the moment the mensch is about to propose, Adrienne is thrown for a loop and her world goes topsy turvy." (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED WALKING DEAD SPIN-OFF PROJECT (AMC, New!) - The cable channel is in "active development" of a new spin-off of its zombie franchise. AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan revealed said effort during the company's quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts. (Deadline.com)





  [february 2019]  
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· ALMOST FAMILY (FOX)
· BAKER AND THE BEAUTY, THE (ABC)
· BLUFF CITY LAW (NBC)
· BOB (HEARTS) ABISHOLA (CBS)
· BROKE (CBS)
· CHARLOTTE WALSH LIKES TO WIN (AMAZON)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FEAR THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)
· FRIENDS-IN-LAW (2019 VERSION) (NBC)
· HYPNOTIST'S LOVE STORY, THE (ABC)
· IT'S A MAN'S WORLD (YOUTUBE)
· LOST BOYS, THE - 2019 VERSION (CW)
· NEXT (FOX)
· PATTY'S AUTO (FOX)
· PREACHER (AMC)
· RIVERDALE (CW)
· SUNNYSIDE (NBC)
· TOMMY (CBS)
· UNTIL THE WEDDING (ABC)
· UNTITLED JESSICA GAO PROJECT (ABC)
· WALKING DEAD, THE (AMC)
· WALKING DEAD, THE: WORLD BEYOND (AMC)





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