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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 ASSET (FOX) - Bradley Whitford ("The Good Guys") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about Anna King (Ali Larter), a globe-trotting CIA agent whose cover is that of a renowned photojournalist. He's set as Leo Maxiell ("50s, Yalie type"), the head of New York City's CIA Station who is King's biggest supporter. Josh Friedman is behind the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, to be directed by Neil Burger. (Deadline.com)
BEN FOX IS MY MANNY (FOX) - Abby Elliott ("Saturday Night Live") is on track to star in the comedy pilot, about Kate, an uptight single mom whose aimless brother Ben moves in to help her raise her five-year-old daughter, Maddie (Maggie Jones). She'd play said mom in the single-camera project, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television. Jake Kasdan is directing from a script by Dana Fox while Echo Kellum also stars. (Deadline.com)
CULT (The CW) - Robert Knepper ("Prison Break") has been tapped to join the cast of the drama pilot, about Skye Yarrow (Jessica Lucas), a production assistant on a wildly popular television show named "Cult," who teams with Jeff Sefton (yet to be cast), a journalist blogger, to investigate the rabid fans of the series who might be re-creating crimes seen on the program in real life. He's on board as Roger Reeves, the actor who plays cult leader Billy Grimm ("eyes filled with intellect; and madness") on the show-within-a-show. Alona Tal also stars as the actress behind Kelly Collins, the detective trying to take down Billy on the show. (Deadline.com)
DEVIOUS MAIDS (ABC) - Judy Reyes, Roselyn Sanchez, Angelique Cabral and Rebecca Wisocky have all joined the cast of the drama pilot, about four maids with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. Reyes and Sanchez will play two of the quartet - Zoila Del Barrio ("tough and sly") and Carmen Verde ("sexy and ambitious"), respectively - joining the previously cast Ana Ortiz and Dania Ramirez. Cabral then is set as Phoenix ("tough and intelligent"), a pop star whom Carmen works for with Wisocky as Evelyn Ford ("sophisticated and acidic"), the wife of a renowned fashion designer, whom Ortiz's character goes to work for. (Deadline.com)
THE GOODWIN GAMES (FOX) - Scott Foley ("Scrubs") has booked a lead role on the comedy pilot, about "a trio of siblings' chance to inherit a fortune from their father, if only they can heed the idiosyncratic terms of his will." He'll presumably play the eldest son Henry ("tall, handsome, exceedingly competent in all things"), a dedicated surgeon. Becki Newton also stars as middle child Coney with the youngest Jimmy yet to be cast. Peyton Reed ("New Girl") is on board to direct from a script by Carter Bays, Chris Harris and Craig Thomas for 20th Century Fox Television. (Variety.com)
HOW TO LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE (ABC) - Comedian Jon Dore has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about Polly (Sarah Chalke), a recently divorced, single mom, who moves in with her eccentric parents, a couple who's full of life but knows no boundaries. He'll play Julian ("doesn't pay his bills unless they are in a red envelope"), her "Big Lebowski-esque" ex-husband. Julie Anne Robinson ("The Middle") is on board to direct the 20th Century Fox Television-based project, from creator Claudia Lonow. (Deadline.com)
LADYFRIENDS (NBC) - Rachel Dratch and Danny Comden has both scored roles on the comedy pilot, about two longtime female friends who are living very different lives - one, Nicole (Andrea Anders), has a loving husband and family, the other, Jen (yet to be cast) not so much - but couldn't live without each other. She'll play their pal Lisa ("just a little bit worse off in every way than Jen, which is why Jen keeps her around") while he's set as Jen's ex-husband Davis ("one of those rock star type chefs - charming, super confident, verging on arrogant"). Kari Lizer is behind the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour, to be helmed by Scott Ellis. (TVGuide.com)
LIVING LOADED (FOX) - Larry Wilmore, Anna Maria Horsford and Kaitlyn Black have all been cast in the comedy pilot, about Dan Deegan (Mike Vogel), a hard-partying blogger who changes his ways when he goes to work at his father's (Donald Sutherland) radio station. Wilmore will play Leonard Clark ("a buttoned up man of thirty"), his reluctant co-host; with Horsford as Bernie Marsh ("her Midwestern, librarian demeanor belies her brutal management philosophy"), a national NPR executive; and Black as Esther, an unspecified character. Michael Marc Friedman also stars in the half-hour, which comes from Rob McElhenney, Rob Rosell and FX Productions. (Deadline.com)
MALIBU COUNTRY (ABC) - Lily Tomlin ("Web Therapy") has joined the cast of the Reba McEntire-led comedy, about Reba Gallagher, a woman who divorces her broke, cheating rock star husband and moves her family from Nashville to the only asset she has left - a little house in Malibu. She'll play Reba's mother Shirley ("an old-time Southern woman") in the multi-camera project, from writer Kevin Abbott and ABC Studios. John Pasquin ("Last Man Standing") is on board to direct. (Deadline.com)
NASHVILLE (ABC) - Powers Boothe ("Hatfields & McCoys") has been cast in the drama pilot, which centers around the Nashville music scene and its stars, both rising and fading.
He's set as Lamar Hampton, a powerful philanthropist who disapproves of his daughter Rayna James's (yet to be cast) singing career, despite her burgeoning success. Clare Bowen, Jonathan Jackson and Sam Palladio also star in the ensemble, which comes from writer Callie Khouri, director R.J. Cutler, ABC Studios and Lionsgate Television. (Deadline.com)
NEXT CALLER PLEASE (NBC) - Collette Wolfe ("Cougar Town") has scored the female lead on the comedy pilot, about a mismatched duo - Stella Hoobler ("pretty, spunky, fiercely intelligent, passionate, adventurous know-it-all") and Cam Doherty ("disheveled, unshaven, hung-over; a purposefully detached, magnetic grouch") - who host "Orbit Lifestyle," a relationship call-in show in New York City. She'll play said woman in the Lionsgate Television-based half-hour, from writer Stephen Falk and director Marc Buckland. (Deadline.com)
REWIND (Syfy) - Jack Bender ("Alphas") has signed on to direct and executive produce the drama pilot, about a team of military field operatives and civilian scientists who must use untested technology to travel back in time to alter past events in order to change the future and avoid a devastating terrorist attack. He'll work from a script by Justin Marks for Universal Cable Productions and BermanBraun. (Deadline.com)
THE SELECTION (The CW) - Aimee Teegarden ("Friday Night Lights") has booked the lead role on the drama pilot, "an epic romance set 300 years in the future which centers on a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads." She's on board as the aptly monikered America Singer ("voice of an angel, and the mien of a goddess"), a member of the artist caste who's one of the 34 girls selected. Mark Piznarski is helming the Warner Bros. Television-based hour from a script by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. (TVLine.com)
SUCCESSION (USA, New!) - Matt Greenberg ("The Invisible Man") is developing a mini-series at the cable channel which "centers on a scenario where following a devastating attack, the American power structure is shaken." Universal Cable Productions is behind the project, which Greenberg will executive produce alongside J.P. Sarni and Sam Martin. Caroline Self and Darren J. Butler have also been tapped as non-writing consultants. (Variety.com)
TROOPER (CBS) - Mira Sorvino is in final negotiations and Jay Hernandez is set to star in the drama pilot, about a common-sense mother who becomes a New York State Trooper. She'd play said woman, K.J. Flaxton ("bright smile; open-hearted; charismatic"), with Hernandez as Carlos Coto ("Cuban-American; intimidating in his uniform; sunglasses; handsome"), her partner, "a former Miami homicide detective looking for a new start for him and his daughter following the death of his wife." Craig Gillespie is directing off a script by Aron Eli Coleite for the Warner Bros. Television-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis will be credited as co-executive producers as part of their duties on CBS's untitled Ralph Lamb pilot (THR.com); "The Office's" Daniel Chun has inked a two-year, seven-figure overall deal with ABC Studios, wrapping his run on the NBC comedy (Deadline.com); "Man Up!" alum Victor Fresco has likewise signed a two-year overall deal with Universal Television (Deadline.com); Terry Crews will recur as Will's (Jeff Daniels) bodyguard on HBO's upcoming "The Newsroom" (Deadline.com); music legend Stevie Nicks is set to drop by "Up All Night" as herself (EW.com); Rob Corddry and John Goodman will both reprise their roles on the season finale of "Community" (EW.com); Nadia Bjorlin will guest on "CSI" later this season (TVLine.com);
Josh Hopkins is bound for two episodes of "In Plain Sight" as a single parent/potential love interest for Mary McCormack's Mary (TVGuide.com); Carter MacIntyre has joined the cast of "Drop Dead Diva" as Jane's (Brooke Elliott) sexy new guardian angel, replacing Ben Feldman's Fred (THR.com); Phoef Sutton has been tapped to run the Cedric the Entertainer-led "Have Faith" at TV Land (THR.com); and directors have been tapped for 10 other pilots - "American Judy" (Beth McCarthy-Miller), "Counter Culture" (Ted Wass), "Only Fools and Horses" (also Ted Wass), "The Life" (Mark Pellington), "Prairie Dogs" (Luke Greenfield), "Prodigy/Bully" (Peter Segal), "Shelter" (Liz Friedlander), "The Unprofessional" (Craig Zisk), "Untitled Mindy Kaling Project" (Charles McDougall) and "Zero Hour" (Pierre Morel) - this cycle (Deadline.com, THR.com).
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