LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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THE NEW NORMAL (NBC) - Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler's single-camera comedy, about a gay couple - Bryan (Andrew Rannells) and Andrew (Justin Bartha) - and Goldie (Georgia King), the woman who becomes a surrogate to help them start a family, is the latest half-hour to be ordered to series by the network. Murphy directed the 20th Century Fox Television-based pilot from a script he co-wrote with Adler. Ellen Barkin and Bebe Wood also star as Jane, Goldie's outrageous grandmother, and Shania, Goldie's eight-year-old daughter whom she had in her teens, respectively. Also guest starring are Jayson Blair as Goldie's cheating husband Clay and NeNe Leakes as Bryan's no-nonsense assistant Rocky. (Deadline.com)
REVOLUTION (NBC) - The Eric Kripke-penned, Jon Favreau-helmed pilot - about a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist - has snagged as series commitment from the Peacock. The Warner Bros. Television-based Bad Robot Productions is behind the hour, which Bryan Burk and J.J. Abrams are executive producing alongside Kripke. Billy Burke stars as Miles Matheson, a former Marine who reluctantly finds himself aiding his niece Charlie (Tracy Spiradakos) in her quest to rescue her brother Danny (Graham Rogers) from the dangerous Captain Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito). Andrea Roth and Tim Guinee also star as Charlie and Danny's parents, Rachel and Ben; with David Lyons as Miles's old Marine pal; and Anna Lise Phillips, Zak Orth, J.D. Pardo and Maria Howell as various residents who aid the group in their quest. (Deadline.com)
[UPDATED!] Here's NBC's official descriptions:
These days, families come in all forms - single dads, double moms, sperm donors, egg donors, one-night-stand donors... It's 2012 and anything goes. Bryan (Andrew Rannells, "Girls," "The Book of Mormon") and David (Justin Bartha, "The Hangover") are a Beverly Hills couple and they have it all. Well, almost. With successful careers and a committed and loving partnership, the one thing missing is a baby. And just when they think the stars will never align, enter Goldie (Georgia King, "One Day"), an extraordinary young woman with a checkered past. A Midwestern waitress and single mother looking to escape her dead-end life and small-minded grandmother (Ellen Barkin, "Ocean's Thirteen"), Goldie decides to change everything and move to L.A. with her precocious 8-year-old daughter. Desperate and broke - but also fertile - Goldie quickly becomes the guys' surrogate and quite possibly the girl of their dreams. Surrogate mother, surrogate family.
"The New Normal" is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Productions. Murphy serves as creator/executive producer and director along with executive producer/creator/writer Ali Adler ("Glee," "Chuck") and executive producer Dante Di Loreto ("Glee," "American Horror Story").
Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working? Well, one day, like a switch turned off, the world is suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Planes fall from the sky, hospitals shut down, and communication is impossible. And without any modern technology, who can tell us why? Now, 15 years later, life is back to what it once was long before the industrial revolution: families living in quiet cul-de-sacs, and when the sun goes down lanterns and candles are lit. Life is slower and sweeter. Or is it? On the fringes of small farming communities, danger lurks. And a young woman's life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously - and unbeknownst to her - had something to do with the blackout. This brutal encounter sets her and two unlikely companions off on a daring coming-of-age journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future.
From director Jon Favreau ("Iron Man," "Iron Man 2") and the fertile imaginations of J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Person of Interest") and Eric Kripke ("Supernatural"), comes a surprising "what if" action-adventure series, where an unlikely hero will lead the world out of the dark. Literally. The series stars Billy Burke ("The Twilight Saga"), Tracy Spiridakos ("Being Human"), Anna Lise Phillips ("Terra Nova"), Zak Orth ("Rome + Juliet), Graham Rogers ("Memphis Beat"), J.D. Pardo ("A Cinderella Story"), Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad"), David Lyons ("The Cape"), Maria Howell ("The Blind Side"), Tim Guinee ("Iron Man") and Andrea Roth ("Rescue Me"). Kripke, Abrams, Favreau and Bryan Burk ("Lost," "Star Trek") serve as executive producers. "Revolution" is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions, Kripke Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was directed by Favreau.
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