 |
 |
[08/07/08 - 07:01 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, August 7
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!
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? (FOX) - The network has ordered nine additional episodes of the series, bringing its third season total to 22 hours. Mark Burnett Productions and Zoo Productions are behind the project, which shifts to Friday nights starting September 5. Jeff Foxworthy hosts.
THE CONVERSATION (AMC) - Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 feature is once again being eyed for the small screen, this time at AMC. Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") and Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") are penning the latest adaptation, following their previous pass for ABC/ABC Studios in 2006. Tony Krantz and Coppola are also returning via their respective companies Flame Ventures and American Zoetrope for Sony Pictures Television. McQuarrie, Jendresen and Heather McQuarrie then will executive produce alongside Krantz. As for specifics, the new incarnation will center on electronic surveillance expert Harry Caul (played by Gene Hackman in the film) as he works as an eavesdropper with a larger, ongoing storyline about who's monitoring him as he hears conversations he shouldn't be privy to. The AMC version will also bet set in the 1970s, unlike the ABC version which was set in present day. Prior to ABC, Krantz sold a version to NBC in 1995 as an agent, with Ron Bass writing and Kyle MacLachlan attached to star.
DROP DEAD DIVA (Lifetime) - Golden Brooks ("Girlfriends") and April Bowlby ("Two and a Half Men") are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about Deb, a dead aspiring actress-model who is reincarnated in the body of Jane (Brooke Elliott), a chubby, brilliant attorney. Brooks is set as Kim Kastle, who's detailed via the casting notice as: "Late 20s-Mid 30s, all ethnicities, in a Michael Kors suit, with a blue Hermes bag. Kim is a partner at the same law firm as Jane. Confident, savvy, manipulative and rather bitchy, she is not as smart as Jane, or as well liked by the clients, but she does know how to play the office politics game. For Kim, "everything's a competition. Every woman, a threat. Every man, a conquest"." And Bowlby then is playing Stacy Punt: "Early 20s, all ethnicities, "Sports Illustrated swimsuit sexy," a vapid but sweet young woman. She is Deb's best friend. Shallow, but with a gushy, fun personality, she is offended when Deb suggests she get a job and tells her, "I'm a model." Later, Stacy is the only person in whom Jane (Deb) confides about her rather unusual situation." Jackson Hurst and Margaret Cho also star in the Sony Pictures Television-based hour, which James Hayman is helming from a script by Josh Berman.
THE INFORMANT (FOX, New!) - Tom Szentgyorgyi ("Journeyman") is developing a domestic take on the Australian series of the same name, about Richard Button, a regular middle-class suburban dad who works as a police informant for an elite federal investigative agency. Greg Haddrick was behind the original version. 20th Century Fox Television and Alchemy Entertainment are co-producing.
LOVELAND (FOX, New!) - The network is reportedly close to importing the upcoming U.K. dating series, in which participants select their dates based on interactions with computer-generated versions of potential suitors. Jo Pine created the format, which comes from Tom Gutteridge's Standing Stone Productions. Antwerp animation house Nazooka is behind the technology used in the show, which is set to roll out on Sky One later this season, as is a web-based version of the format.
SHAWN RYAN PROJECTS (Various, New!) - "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan has set up three new projects around town - "The Lead Sheet" at A&E, "Millionaires Club" at FOX and an untitled hour at FX. That's in addition to "Confessions of a Contractor" at CBS, which was announced earlier this week. All four stem from his overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. "Sheet," created by author James Ellroy, chronicles the hunt for the infamous Hillside Strangler - a prolific serial killer who tortured, raped and killed young women in 1977-78 in the hills above Los Angeles. The series then follows three police officers and two DAs as they investigate the killer, with each episode of the crime procedural starting with a tip leading to a violent crime that may or may not be related to the Strangler. Ellroy is penning the hour and executive producing alongside his manager Joel Gotler. As for "Club," the single-camera comedy revolves around a ragtag group of wannabe millionaires who keep coming up with ill-fated plots to get rich. "Semi-Pro" helmer Kent Alterman attached to direct the half-hour from a script by Ryan. And finally, Ryan is teaming with "Ocean's Eleven" writer Ted Griffin for the FX project, which is billed as a comedic drama about a private eye. Ryan is executive producing each via his MiddKid Productions banner with 20th producing the broadcast projects and Fox 21 shepherding the cable projects.
TREME (HBO) - Khandi Alexander ("CSI: Miami") and "The Wire" alums Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, a post-Katrina-themed drama which chronicles the rebuilding of New Orleans through the eyes of local musicians. David Simon and Eric Overmyer are behind the hour, which is also executive produced by Nina Noble for Simon's Blown Deadline Productions. As for specifics, Pierce will play Antoine Batiste, "an accomplished jazz trombonist who is now scratching for gigs, trying to support a live-in girlfriend and a new baby, while still carrying a torch for a failed marriage to Ladonna Batiste (Alexander), the mother of his two children, who is single-handedly keeping her bar afloat," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Peters then is set as Albert Lambreaux, a big chief of the White Feather Nation trying to bring the tribe's members home.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [august 2008]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[05/28/24 - 12:28 PM]
Latest Season of "Ugliest House in America" Starring Actress and Comedian Retta Delivers Solid Ratings for HGTV
The latest season, which debuted on Monday, April 22, attracted more than 10 million total viewers.
|
[05/28/24 - 12:12 PM]
Bravo's "Summer House" Two-Part Reunion Begins Thursday, June 6 at 9 P.M. ET/PT
Extended and uncensored versions of the shocking reunion will be available to stream next day on Peacock.
|
[05/28/24 - 11:01 AM]
Video: "Back to 15" - Official Teaser - Netflix Brazil
Maisa, Larissa Manoela, Klara Castanho and João Guilherme take a tour of the new set for the third season.
|
[05/28/24 - 10:09 AM]
MGM+ Series "Godfather of Harlem" Adds Emmy Award-Winning Actor Rome Flynn as Recurring Guest Star
Flynn will portray Frank Lucas, a country boy from North Carolina who ventured to Harlem and, after initial friction with gangster Bumpy Johnson, eventually rose to become Bumpy's fierce defender and right-hand man.
|
[05/28/24 - 09:39 AM]
Netflix Top 10: "Bridgerton" Continues Its Reign; "Atlas" Debuts at #1
Making their list debuts were the kids animated series "Jurassic World: Chaos Theory" in sixth place (3.8M views), the Shane Gillis comedy "Tires" in seventh (3.8M views), and the reality series "Buying London" in tenth place (1.9M views).
|
[05/28/24 - 09:30 AM]
New HBO Original Series "City of God: The Fight Rages On" Premieres This August on Max
This new six-episode Brazilian production takes place two decades after the events of the highly acclaimed film "City of God."
|
[05/28/24 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Follow the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from auditions to training camp and the NFL season as they chase their dreams and a coveted spot on the squad.
|
[05/28/24 - 08:47 AM]
Adult Swim Unveils Programming Plans for Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Adult Swim will screen the entire first episode of the highly anticipated new series "Common Side Effects" exclusively at Annecy.
|
[05/28/24 - 12:01 AM]
Video: "Savage Beauty" Season 2 - Official Teaser - Netflix
With the face of Bhengu Beauty on the run, the family wrestles over control of their empire as they each fight for their own future.
|
[05/27/24 - 02:04 PM]
108th Indianapolis 500 Averages 5.344 Million Viewers on NBC and Peacock; Up 8% vs. 2023
The race is also the most-streamed IndyCar race ever, with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 286,000 viewers across Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.
|
[05/27/24 - 12:01 AM]
Video: "Kubra" Season 2 - Official Trailer - Netflix
With new powers - and new problems - will Gökhan lead his followers to salvation or damnation?
|
[05/26/24 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Hierarchy" - Official Trailer - Netflix
The top 0.01% of students control law and order at Jooshin High School, but a secretive transfer student chips a crack in their indomitable world.
|
[05/24/24 - 11:17 PM]
Development Update: Week of May 20-24
Updates include the cancellations of Max's "The Girls on the Bus"; Freevee's "High School" and "Primo"; The CW's "The Spencer Sisters" and "Walker"; as well as Apple's "Still Up."
|
[05/24/24 - 01:01 PM]
For the 3rd Year Straight, "20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine for the Broadcast Season Across Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54
"20/20" grew its overall audience versus the 2022-2023 broadcast season (+1%/+40,000 - 3.882 million vs. 3.842 million).
|
[05/24/24 - 11:53 AM]
#1 Show of the Night "Elsbeth" Finale Up +12% from Its Season-to-Date Average
CBS won Thursday night for the 13th consecutive week averaging 3.63 million viewers.
|
|
|
|
