or


[10/18/13 - 11:24 PM]
Development Update: Friday, October 18
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!


THE BLACK BOX (ABC; W: Amy Holden Jones; D: Simon Curtis) - Laura Fraser ("Breaking Bad") will round out the cast of the upcoming drama, about Dr. Elizabeth Black (Kelly Reilly), a world-famous neuroscientist who unwraps the mysteries of the brain as she juggles complex issues of her own. She's on board as Regan Black, "the wife of Elizabeth's brother Joshua (David Chisum) and antagonist to Elizabeth." Ali Wong, David Ajala, Ditch Davey, Siobhan Williams, Tasso Feldman, Terry Kinney and Vanessa Redgrave also star. (Deadline.com)


GIRLFRIENDS' GUIDE TO DIVORCE (Bravo/UCP; W: Marti Noxon; D: TBA) - Paul Adelstein ("Private Practice") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Abby (Lisa Edelstein), the famous author of a best-selling self-help book series who is hiding the fact that she's separated from her husband as she starts to navigate her life as a single woman in her early 40s in Los Angeles. He'll play her aforementioned husband in the project, which also stars Beau Garrett. (Deadline.com)


THE LAW OF ATTRACTION (ABC, New!) - Jonathan Shapiro ("The Firm") and Betsy Borns ("All of Us") have sold a legal drama to the Alphabet about "a beautiful, upper class, brilliant woman who is forced to practice law with a charismatic, lower class tough guy in a reluctant partnership to save her father's powerful Boston law firm." Said duo will write and executive produce alongside Matt Gross via his ABC Studios-based Gross Entertainment. (Deadline.com)


LOS ROLDAN (ABC/ABC Studios; W: Sarah Hooper; D: TBA) - The Alphabet is once again looking to import the Argentine telenovela, about "the patriarch of the family, an average blue collar worker, who talks a woman out of jumping off a ledge. For saving her life, she offers him a big job in her company that changes his fortune but also puts him in the path of suspicious co-workers who try to figure out who he is and why has he been given such a big job." Writers Sarah Kucserka and Veronica Becker and producers Jose Tamez and Salma Hayek set up the previous incarnation at the network in 2010. Sarah Hooper ("Mount Pleasant") is spearheading the revised take with Michael McDonald likewise executive producing for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)


THE SECRET SEX LIFE OF A SINGLE MOM (Lifetime, New!) - Ashley Jones, Cynthia Preston and Alex Carter are set to star in a small screen take on Delaine Moore's memoir of the same name, about Moore's (Ashley Jones) steamy self-discovery post-divorce. Preston will play Moore's supportive best friend Halli with Carter as The Dom. John L'Ecruyer is directing the telefilm from a script by Christine Conradt with Pierre David and Tom Berry executive producing for Reel One Entertainment. (Deadline.com)


SINS (ABC, New!) - Philip Levens ("Knight Rider") has landed a potential drama at the Alphabet about "a modern day black widow who seduces a wealthy man while struggling to stay one step ahead of his District Attorney sister and the ghosts of her past." Barry Jossen is also on board to executive produce for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED CHRIS DOWNEY/APOLLO ROBBINS PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Writer Chris Downey ("Leverage") and director Martin Campbell ("Last Resort") are set to team for a new drama about Alice Jones, "an FBI forensic psychiatrist, who teams up with Vincent Smith, a brilliant pickpocket-turned-Las Vegas magician, to catch bad guys living it up in Vegas in elaborate stings." Sleight-of-hand artist/security consultant Apollo Robbins - known as The Gentleman Thief - co-created the ABC Studios-based hour alongside Downey and will likewise executive produce. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED PHILIP MARLOWE PROJECT (ABC, New!) - "Castle" creator Andrew W. Marlowe is developing a new small screen take on Raymond Chandler's famous hard-boiled detective, billed as "a smart, sexy and stylish update of Chandler's character which follows the investigations of wisecracking, edgy and rugged private detective Philip Marlowe as he navigates the morally complicated world of today's Los Angeles." Marlowe is penning the ABC Studios-based hour alongside his wife Terri Edda Miller and will executive produce via their MilMar Pictures banner with Michael De Luca of Michael De Luca Productions. Jason O'Mara toplined the network's 2007 take on the character, simply dubbed "Marlowe." (Deadline.com)


YOUNG & HUNGRY (ABC Family/CBSP; W: David Holden; D: TBA) - Aimee Carrero ("Level Up") has joined the cast of the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Nick (yet to be cast), a well-off young tech entrepreneur, who hires Gabi (Emily Osment), a feisty young food blogger, to be his personal chef. She'll play her best friend Tessa, "an ambitious banking intern who is always hustling to make ends meet." Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum , Ashley Tisdale and Jessica Rhoades are also among the executive producers. (THR.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - NBC has commissioned four additional scripts of its newcomer "Sean Saves the World" (Deadline.com); MTV has reportedly given eight-episode series orders to its comedy pilots "Happyland," from writer Ben Epstein and director Lee Toland Krieger, and "Faking It," from writer Carter Covington and director Jamie Travis (Deadline.com); James Van Der Beek is returning to "How I Met Your Mother" as Simon, one of Robin's early boyfriends (@VanderJames); "CSI" co-star George Eads - who took a break from the series after a reported off-camera dispute - will be back beginning with its ninth episode this season (EW.com); Amandla Stenberg is set to recur on "Sleepy Hollow" as the teenage daughter of Orlando Jones's Capt. Frank Irving (THR.com);

Lifetime has picked up 20 original half-hour episodes of "Betty White's Off Their Rockers," which ran for two seasons on NBC (THR.com); Aimee Carrero has booked an arc on "The Americans" as "a smart yet impulsive Sandinista freedom fighter who will go to any lengths to support her cause" (THR.com); Rockmond Dunbar's incoming FBI Supervisory Agent Dennis Abbott has been upped to series regular on "The Mentalist" (TVLine.com); Marilyn Manson will lend his voice to "Once Upon a Time" as Shadow, "a character whose voice will give life to the very essence of Neverland" (RollingStone.com); and Amanda Plummer is bound for "Hannibal" as "a hippie-chic acupuncturist who's been causing trouble" (TheWrap.com).






  [october 2013]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· ALL OF US (CW)
· AMERICANS, THE (FX)
· BETTY WHITE'S OFF THEIR ROCKERS (LIFETIME)
· BLACK BOX (ABC)
· BREAKING BAD (AMC)
· CASTLE (ABC)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FAKING IT (MTV)
· FIRM, THE (NBC)
· GIRLFRIENDS' GUIDE TO DIVORCE (BRAVO)
· HANNIBAL (NBC)
· HAPPYLAND (MTV)
· HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS)
· KNIGHT RIDER (NBC)
· LAST RESORT (ABC)
· LAW OF ATTRACTION, THE (ABC)
· LEVEL UP (CARTOON)
· LEVERAGE (TNT)
· LOS ROLDAN (ABC)
· MARLOWE (ABC)
· MENTALIST, THE (CBS)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· PRIVATE PRACTICE (ABC)
· SEAN SAVES THE WORLD (NBC)
· SECRET SEX LIFE OF A SINGLE MOM, THE (LIFETIME)
· SINS (ABC)
· SLEEPY HOLLOW (FOX)
· UNTITLED DOWNEY & ROBBINS PROJECT (ABC)
· UNTITLED PHILIP MARLOWE PROJECT (ABC)
· YOUNG & HUNGRY (FREEFORM)





[02/22/25 - 08:09 AM]
"Portobello," from Marco Bellocchio, Debuts on Max in 2026
Max has announced its first Italian scripted original production.

[02/21/25 - 02:45 PM]
4 Nations Face-Off: Canada-USA Championship Game Delivers 9.3 Million Viewers; ESPN's Largest Hockey Audience Ever
The telecast peaked with 10.4 million viewers and was the most-viewed non-NFL event ever on ESPN+.

[02/21/25 - 11:22 AM]
New Vice Series "The Grudge" Premieres on March 26
Taking viewers inside sports' fiercest rivalries, where every game is more than a contest - it's a battle for pride, redemption, and legacy.

[02/21/25 - 10:15 AM]
"High Potential" Finishes Spectacular First Season Hitting Series Highs
In addition, "High Potential" achieved a remarkable benchmark for the finale episode, earning a series high on streaming and becoming ABC's best drama episode ever, based on seven-day views on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

[02/21/25 - 10:00 AM]
FOX's "The Quiz with Balls" Hosted by Jay Pharoah Rolls Into Season Two with Renewal of Hit Game Show
The popular game show pits brains against balls, combining a high stakes quiz show and a large-scale physical competition with each episode featuring two families competing for $100,000 in an epic "battle of the balls."

[02/21/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "CHAOS: The Manson Murders" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Directed by Errol Morris, the film untangles a web of conspiracy involving the CIA, LSD, Jack Ruby, the Manson Family, and Vincent Bugliosi, casting doubt on the official story of the 1960s' most infamous killing spree.

[02/21/25 - 08:00 AM]
"The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" Begins Streaming Exclusively on Max February 28
Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan.

[02/21/25 - 12:01 AM]
Video: Netflix Unveils the Premiere Date and First Look of Dome Karukoski's "Little Siberia"
A pastor's faith turns upside down when a meteorite lands in his small Finnish town, its impact stirring up chaos and criminal intentions.

[02/20/25 - 04:01 PM]
Video: "When Life Gives You Tangerines" - Official Trailer - Netflix
In Jeju, a spirited girl and a steadfast boy's island story blossoms into a lifelong tale of setbacks and triumphs - proving love endures across time.

[02/20/25 - 04:01 PM]
Fremantle Announces "Neighbours" Will Be Resting from December 2025
"As this chapter closes, we appreciate and thank Amazon MGM Studios for all that they have done for 'Neighbours' - bringing this iconic and much-loved series to new audiences globally," said Jason Herbison.

[02/20/25 - 04:01 PM]
ESPN Statement on Decision to Opt Out of Major League Baseball Deal
"We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN's coverage super-serves fans," said the company.

[02/20/25 - 01:22 PM]
Lifetime Announces Two New Original Movies for This Spring
Look for "Taken at a Basketball Game," starring D.B. Woodside and Claire Qute, on March 15; followed by "Wife Stalker," starring Keshia Knight Pulliam, on March 29.

[02/20/25 - 01:01 PM]
Leighton Meester to Guest Star in "Nobody Wants This" Season 2
She'll be playing Kristen Bell's middle school nemesis who Joanne crosses paths with as an adult.

[02/20/25 - 12:30 PM]
Hulu Renews Hit Drama Series "Paradise," from Dan Fogelman and Starring Sterling K. Brown, for a Second Season
Following the season one finale on Hulu on March 4, "Paradise" will air a full first season run on ABC beginning Monday, April 7 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

[02/20/25 - 12:00 PM]
Feature Documentary on Popular Dutch Actor Rutger Hauer "Like Tears in Rain" Makes Exclusive US Debut Thursday, March 13, 2025 on Viaplay
Through private, never-before-seen footage and candid interviews with family, friends and colleagues, his goddaughter Sanna Fabery de Jonge uncovers his intimate world in the revealing, acclaimed documentary.