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[01/31/19 - 11:53 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, January 31
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!


AFFAIR, THE (Showtime) - Jennifer Jason Leigh is set for a recurring role on the show's upcoming final season. No details about her character were given. (Deadline.com)
BILLIONS (Showtime) - Michael Raymond-James will guest on the new season as "U.S. Attorney Bryan Connerty's (Toby Leonard Moore) black sheep brother who's taken a very different path in life." (Deadline.com)
COURTHOUSE (CBS, New!) - Greg Spottiswood is the latest to land a pilot commitment from the Eye for a new drama "that pulls back the curtain on the court system and follows the dedicated, chaotic, hopeful, and sometimes absurd lives of the judges, assistant district attorneys, and public defenders as they work with bailiffs, clerks, cops and jurors to bring justice to the people of Los Angeles." The project is set up at Warner Bros. Television with Leonard Goldstein and Michael M. Robin also executive producing. (Deadline.com)
DIARY OF A FEMALE PRESIDENT (Disney+, New!) - The upcoming streaming service has ordered 10 half-hour episodes of a new comedy series "told from the narration of a Cuban-American 12-year-old girl's diary, as she navigates the ups and downs of middle school and her journey to becoming the future president of the United States." Writer Ilana Peña is behind the project with Robin Shorr and I Can and I Will's Gina Rodriguez and Emily Gipson likewise executive producing for CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)
DOLLFACE (Hulu) - Brenda Song and Lex Scott Davis have both signed onto the Kat Dennings-led comedy series. Song will play Madison Maxwell, "Jules' (Dennings) former best friend; she's confident, assertive, and distinctly feminine. Madison works in PR, think Prom Queen meets Class President." Davis then will portray Stella Cole, "Madison's (Song) other best friend from college; she is effervescent, effortlessly cool, and filled with a childlike sense of wonder (if children wondered about things like ecstasy, vintage furniture and Peruvian soundbaths)." (Deadline.com)
FRANKENSTEIN (CBS, New!) - Jason Tracey has likewise booked a pilot order from the network for a new incarnation of the classic Frankenstein tale about "a San Francisco homicide detective who's mysteriously brought back to life after being killed in the line of duty, but as he resumes his old life and he and his wife realize he isn't the same person he used to be, they zero in on the strange man behind his resurrection - Dr. Victor Frankenstein." Rob Doherty will also executive produce for CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)
GAMES DIVAS PLAY (BET) - Sarunas J. Jackson, Jackie Long, Barry Brewer and Kendall Kyndall have all scored roles on the upcoming drama, a thriller which takes viewers inside the high-stakes world of professional sports where everyone plays to win. Jackson will play Marques King, "an all-star baller married to Vanessa (Lauren London), who was able to prepare himself for all aspects of life as a professional basketball player, except the women." Long then is Kareem Johnson, "Marques' best friend and assistant, who is a former college basketball standout once destined for fame and fortune"; with Brewer as Eric Rowland, "Nia's (Karen Obilom) live-in boyfriend in New York, an IT nerd who worships the ground she walks on"; and Kyndall as MJ (aka Marquis Vaughn Jackson), "Nia's (Obilom) assistant." (Deadline.com)
GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC) - Michelle Forbes will visit the veteran drama in a yet-to-be-revealed role. (TVLine.com)
HAPPY ACCIDENT (ABC) - Kether Donohue is bound for the comedy pilot as Danielle Bennett, "the middle child of [Matt] Walsh's patriarch Bud. Described as emotionally sloppy and neurotic, Danielle is a single mother who is dedicated to her neo-feminist politics - to the point of self-defeating exhaustion." (TVLine.com)
HEART OF LIFE (ABC, New!) - Ben Queen has sold a new drama to the Alphabet inspired by singer-songwriter John Mayer's song of the same name. The project, which has a pilot order, "follows two sets of adult siblings from wildly different worlds who discover they're related and must reassess everything they thought they knew about their shared father." ABC Studios and 20th Century Fox Television are behind the hour with Queen, Mayer, Jake Kasdan, Paul Weitz and Melvin Mar likewise executive producing. (Deadline.com)
HOMELAND (Showtime) - The pay channel has revealed the show's eighth and final season is being pushed from a summer premiere to the fall due to "production demands of our international locations." (Deadline.com)
INVINCIBLE (Amazon) - Steven Yeun and J.K. Simmons have been tapped to voice the principal roles on the adult animated superhero series, which "revolves around 17-year-old Mark Grayson (Yeun), who's just like every other guy his age - except his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man (Simmons). But as Mark develops powers of his own, he discovers his father's legacy may not be as heroic as it seems." Also featured in the eight-episode series, due in 2020, are Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Melise, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder. (Deadline.com)
JANE THE VIRGIN (The CW) - Eden Sher will recur on the show's upcoming final season in a yet-to-be-revealed capacity. (Deadline.com)
KATY KEENE (The CW) - Maggie Kiley has been tapped to direct the drama pilot, based on the Archie Comics character of the same name. (Variety.com)
LIBERATOR, THE (Netflix) - Martin Sensmeier has been tapped to star alongside Bradley James in the four-part animated World War II drama series as Samuel Coldfoot: "A member of the Choctaw nation, Coldfoot is a born leader; brave, meticulous and inspiring. While outwardly stoic, Coldfoot is willing to sacrifice his personal well-being for what is right and this attitude has thwarted his advancement in the Army. His abilities and skills are immediately recognized by Sparks and he becomes one of the leaders of E-Company." (Deadline.com)
MILLION LITTLE THINGS, A (ABC) - Drea de Matteo is set for a recurring role on the newcomer as Mrs. Nelson, "a woman who lives at Barbara Morgan's old address." (Deadline.com)
NEW YORK UNDERCOVER (ABC) - The Alphabet has given a green light to produce a pilot for its revival of the 1990s FOX staple, which "will follow detectives Nat Gilmore and Melissa Ortiz as they investigate the city's most dangerous criminals from Harlem to Battery Park." Additionally, Anthony Hemingway has signed onto direct and executive produce from a script by Ben Watkins. The project is expected to feature cast members from the original series reprising their roles. (Deadline.com)
REPUBLIC OF SARAH, THE (CBS, New!) - Jeffrey Paul King has scored a pilot order from the Eye for a new drama which "centers on a small New Hampshire town that is thrust onto the world stage when the discovery of a valuable resource within its borders compels the residents to declare themselves an independent nation, thus setting the unlikely young mayor and her cabinet of inexperienced locals on the path of running a brand-new country." CBS Television Studios is behind the hour with James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Jeff Grosvenor and Marc Webb also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
SNEAKY PETE (Amazon) - Patrick J. Adams will recur on the upcoming third season as Stefano Kilbane, "an arrogant business magnate who is obsessed with fine art and has a deep need for revenge." (Deadline.com)
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN (CBS) - Mike Metz's hybrid comedy - about a man who sets out with his group of 20-something friends to accomplish a list of challenges he wrote for himself years ago in an effort to turn around his banal life - has landed a pilot order from the Eye. CBS Television Studios and Gail Berman's The Jackal Group are co-producing. (Deadline.com)
WOMAN UP (ABC) - The Zoe Lister-Jones-penned single-camera comedy - about two former teen moms who have worked their asses off to see their daughters all the way through high school graduation; and now, at 37, they're ready to make up for the youth they never had - is heading to pilot at the Alphabet. 20th Century Fox Television is producing alongside Elizabeth Meriwether Pictures, Ms. Lister Films and Small Dog Picture Company. (Deadline.com)
YOU (Netflix) - James Scully and Jenna Ortega have both been cast in the show's second season as Forty Quinn, "Love's (Victoria Pedretti) beloved brother"; and Ellie, "a teenager who grew up fast in the big city," respectively. (Deadline.com)





  [january 2019]  
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F
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· AFFAIR, THE (SHOWTIME)
· ALIVE (CBS)
· ALL RISE (OWN)
· BILLIONS (SHOWTIME)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DIARY OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT (DISNEY PLUS)
· DOLLFACE (HULU)
· GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (BET)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· HAPPY ACCIDENT (ABC)
· HEART OF LIFE (ABC)
· HOMELAND (SHOWTIME)
· INVINCIBLE (AMAZON)
· JANE THE VIRGIN (CW)
· KATY KEENE (CW)
· LIBERATOR, THE (NETFLIX)
· MILLION LITTLE THINGS, A (ABC)
· NEW YORK UNDERCOVER (ABC)
· REPUBLIC OF SARAH, THE - 2019 VERSION (CBS)
· SNEAKY PETE (AMAZON)
· TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN (CBS)
· WOMAN UP (ABC)
· YOU (NETFLIX)





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