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[02/03/05 - 12:00 AM]
Development Update: February 3
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 newly revamped "Series in Development" charts. Visitors can now filter our listings by network, genre and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!

BLUE SKIES (NBC, New!) - Jhoni Marchinko ("Will & Grace") has scored a cast-contingent pilot order from the Peacock for a new comedy about a 27-year-old woman who finds herself the "reluctant enabler" to her eccentric family. The project, additional details of which were not available, is set up at NBC Universal Television.

BOSTON LEGAL (ABC) - Chi McBride is set to reprise his "Boston Public" role of Steven Harper in an upcoming episode of the David E. Kelley-produced series. The controversial installment is understood to revolve around the Winslow High principal's decision to ban certain network news coverage on school grounds. It's not clear if any of the other "Public" cast members will appear in the episode nor when it will air. Kelley is no stranger to crossovers, as "Boston Public," "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice" have all mingled at some point.

THE COMMUTERS (CBS) - Stephen Kay ("Boogeyman") has been tapped to direct the drama pilot, which revolves around three couples in the suburbs, the husbands of which all commute together each day on the train to New York City. Dan Bucatinsky ("All Over the Guy") created "Commuters," which is set up at Paramount Network Television.

DEVIANT BEHAVIOR (A.K.A. UNTITLED JOSH BERMAN PROJECT) (FOX) - Josh Berman's ("C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation") untitled drama pilot has been given a production green light and a title. The project, which is set up at Regency Television, revolves around a team that tracks serial killers. No other details were available.

DOG TOWN LAYWERS (The WB) - Jay Baruchel ("The Stones," "Undeclared") has scored the lead role in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama pilot, about the relationship between a young prodigy lawyer (Baruchel) and his mentor, a jaded defense attorney who has fallen from the big leagues. Jonathan Shapiro ("The Practice") created the Warner Bros. Television-based project, which will be executive produced by Shapiro, Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman.

EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT (ABC, New!) - The Alphabet has given a showrunner-contingent pilot order to a small screen adaptation of Carrie Gerlach's book of the same name. The comedy, about a woman who publishes a self-help book but doesn't take her own advice, is set up at Sony Pictures Television and Pariah Television. Pariah's Gavin Polone and Vivian Cannon will executive produce the project along with Emily Kapnek ("As Told by Ginger").

THE GHOST WHISPERER (CBS, New!) - Famed psychic James Van Praagh ("The Dead Will Tell") has set up another project at the Eye, this time a cast-contingent drama pilot about a young newlywed who talks to the dead. John Gray ("Helter Skelter") is attached to write and direct the pilot as well as executive produce with Touchstone Television-based producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses ("Profiler"). Van Praagh will serve as a co-executive producer.

HOT PROPERTIES (ABC, New!) - Suzanne Martin ("Maybe It's Me") is back at ABC as the writer/producer has received a pilot commitment from the Alphabet for a new comedy about four women who run a real estate office in New York. The project is set up at Warner Bros. Television. Martin spent the past development season at ABC where she created the Gina Gershon-led comedy pilot "Hot Momma."

IN JUSTICE (ABC) - Jason O'Mara ("The Agency") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a group of impassioned lawyers who aid the wrongly convicted. He'll play a detective working for the team in the project, which is set up at Touchstone Television and comes from feature writers Robert & Michelle King ("The Vertical Limit"). O'Mara's involvement stems from a talent holding deal the actor signed with the network and the studio in October (read the story). He's also no stranger to ABC, having spent the past development season as part of the failed drama pilot "Countdown."

QUANTICO (CBS, New!) - Jeff Davis and Mark Gordon ("Grey's Anatomy") have booked a pilot order from the Eye for a new a suspense thriller set inside the F.B.I.'s behavioral analysis unit. The drama project is set up at Touchstone Television with Davis writing the pilot script and executive producing with Gordon.

STACKED (A.K.A. UNTITLED PAMELA ANDERSON PROJECT) (FOX) - Tom Everett Scott ("That Thing You Do!") has joined the cast of the Pamela Anderson-led comedy, which now features the title "Stacked." Scott will play a bookstore owner who hires Pamela Anderson's character, a woman who's trying to change her life and break her habit of falling for less-than-responsible men. Steve Levitan is behind the 20th Century Fox Television-based project, which already has an on-air commitment of six episodes.

THE UNIT (A.K.A. UNTITLED DAVID MAMET/SHAWN RYAN PROJECT) (CBS) - Recent "The Shield" collaborators David Mamet and Shawn Ryan have been given a green light to produce the drama pilot, which now is running under the title "The Unit." The project, which previously had a put pilot commitment, chronicles the lives of the members of a special forces unit and their families. Mamet will write the pilot script and executive produce the 20th Century Fox Television-based project along with Ryan.

UNTITLED DAVID DIAMOND/DAVID WEISSMAN PROJECT (CBS) - The untitled project, from writers David Diamond & David Weissman ("The Family Man") and director Brett Ratner, has been given a green light to produce a pilot. The drama revolves around the lives of a sports agent and his wife, a magazine editor, as they juggle parenthood. Ratner will direct the project, which is set up at 20th Century Fox Television and Paramount Network Television, from a script by the duo.

UNTITLED SEAN JABLONSKI/JASON KATIMS PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Sean Jablonski ("Nip/Tuck") and Jason Katims ("Roswell") have scored a pilot order from FOX for a new drama which follows the staff of a fertility clinic. The pair will write and executive produce the project, which is set up at the 20th Century Fox Television-based Imagine Television, along with Imagine's David Nevins and Brian Grazer.

Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





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· AGENCY, THE (CBS)
· ALLY MCBEAL (FOX)
· BLUE SKIES (NBC)
· BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
· BOSTON PUBLIC (FOX)
· COMMUTERS, THE (CBS)
· COUNTDOWN (ABC)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DEAD WILL TELL, THE (CBS)
· EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT (ABC)
· FERTILE GROUND (FOX)
· GHOST WHISPERER (CBS)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· HELTER SKELTER (CBS)
· HOT MOMMA (ABC)
· HOT PROPERTIES (ABC)
· IN JUSTICE (ABC)
· JUST LEGAL (WB)
· KILLER INSTINCT (FOX)
· MAYBE IT'S ME (WB)
· NIP/TUCK (FX)
· PRACTICE, THE (ABC)
· PROFILER (NBC)
· ROSWELL (UPN)
· SHIELD, THE (FX)
· STACKED (FOX)
· STONES, THE (CBS)
· UNDECLARED (FOX)
· UNIT, THE (CBS)
· UNTITLED DIAMOND & WEISSMAN PROJECT (CBS)
· WILL & GRACE (NBC)





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