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[05/01/14 - 11:28 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, May 1
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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!
BESSIE (HBO, New!) - Queen Latifah is set to play iconic blues singer Bessie Smith in a proposed biopic at the pay channel, which "chronicles how Smith overcame her tempestuous personal life to become one of the most acclaimed performing and recording artists of the 1920s and '30s, earning the nickname Empress of the Blues." Dee Rees (Pariah) wrote and will direct the project, which is based on the biography "Bessie" written by Chris Albertson. Latifah will also executive produce alongside Shakim Compere, Lili Fini Zanuck, Richard Zanuck, Shelby Stone and Randi Michel with Hallie Foote as co-executive producer and Ron Schmidt as producer for Flavor Unit Entertainment and the Zanuck Company. (Deadline.com)
DIG (USA/UCP; W: Gideon Raff & Tim Kring; D: S.J. Clarkson) - Regina Taylor and Omar Metwally have both booked roles on the event series, about an FBI agent stationed in Jerusalem (Jason Isaacs) who, while investigating a murder of a young female archeologist, uncovers a conspiracy 2000 years in the making. She'll play Ruth Ridell, "the U.S. ambassador to Israel who has little time for problems that Peter creates for her with the local authorities"; while he's set as Yussef Khalid, "an American who disappeared after being accused of murder." Alison Loren Sudol, Anne Heche and David Costabile also star. (THR.com)
HOW AND WHY (FX/FXP; W/D: Charlie Kaufman) - Marcella Plunkett (Dark Touch) has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, the story of a man, Goodman Hesselman (John Hawkes), who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life. She'll play two roles, "Cynthia, a photographer at Goodman's new TV station in Murfreesboro, and Magda, Mendelson's (Michael Cera) secretary, whose day is spent in a cramped, tiny room, not much bigger than her desk." Sally Hawkins and Catherine Keener also star. (Deadline.com)
UNSTRUNG (ABC Family; W: Emily Whitesell; D: TBA) - Chanel Celaya and Sofia Mattsson are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, which explores the sexy, cutthroat, and emotional stakes of the professional world tour of tennis as brother and sister Luke and Ellie Holt compete to move up the ranks. Celaya will play the aforementioned Ellie, "an athletic, spunky beauty with great talent but not-so-great discipline"; with Mattsson as Ninotchka Andropov, "a diva ranked 3rd in the world but first in looks." (THR.com)
UNTITLED ANDY ST. CLAIR/PAUL O'TOOLE PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Andy St. Clair and Paul O'Toole have scored a cast-contingent pilot order from the network for a new comedy about "22-year-old Andy, who after he catches his girlfriend cheating, accidentally rear-ends a celebrity. Taking pity on Andy, the celebrity takes it upon himself to teach him how to man up." Odenkirk Provissiero's Marc Provissiero will executive produce the project with St. Clair and O'Toole serving as co-executive producers. (THR.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Brian Percival has bowed out of helming the AMC drama pilot "Knifeman" for personal reasons (Deadline.com); "Nashville" executive producer R.J. Cutler has signed a first-look development deal with CBS Television Studios for scripted projects, ending his run at Lionsgate Television (Deadline.com); Kristin Chenoweth has been cast as Maleficent in Disney Channel's "Descendants," "who butts horns with her daughter Mal (Dove Cameron)" (Deadline.com); Nestor Serrano and Brit Morgan will both recur on the new season of "Graceland" (TVLine.com); and Tyler Hilton is bound for the upcoming CBS drama "Extant" as "the chief coder on the Humanichs Project at the center of the story" (THR.com).
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[04/23/24 - 03:01 PM]
"Tamron Hall" Grows Week to Week in Women 18-49 Hitting 6-Week High and Ranking No. 2 Among All Syndicated Talk Shows
In addition, "Tamron Hall" turned in increases for the same week last year in Households and Women 18-49.
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[04/23/24 - 03:00 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Up Week-to-Week in Adults 18-49
Season to date, "Nightline" is growing versus the comparable weeks last season in Total Viewers (916,000 vs. 913,000), posting its largest overall audience in 3 years - since the 2020-2021 season.
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[04/23/24 - 01:54 PM]
Great American Family Announces Danica McKellar Set to Star in "A Royal Christmas Ball" (wt), Co-Starring Oliver Rice, Part of Great American Christmas 2024
In the film, Chelsea Jones (McKellar) is a dance instructor and studio owner in Chicago who inspires kids to find themselves through dance.
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[04/23/24 - 12:34 PM]
Sports Personalities Joy Taylor and MJ Acosta-Ruiz to Host Season 2 of Fuse Media's Hit Trailblazing Series "Like a Girl"
The company is also announcing the launch of "She Leads," a short-form series celebrating women breaking barriers.
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[04/23/24 - 12:05 PM]
Bravo's "Below Deck Mediterranean" Sets Sail for New Season in Athens, Greece on Monday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
Capt. Sandy Yawn, is joined by franchise-favorite Chief Stew Aesha Scott, who returns to the Med where her yachting career began.
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[04/23/24 - 11:22 AM]
Viewership for April 21 Edition of ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball" - Texas Rangers vs. Atlanta Braves - Up 24 Percent From Last Year
The reigning World Series Champion Texas Rangers 6-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves averaged 1,623,000 viewers, up from 1,309,000 viewers for last New York Mets vs. San Francisco Giants game.
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[04/23/24 - 11:04 AM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of Apr. 15: "Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver" Debuts at #1; "Baby Reindeer" Rises to the Top
List mainstays included "3 Body Problem," which spent its fifth week on the list in third place (3.2M views), and Guy Ritchie's aristocratic gangster series "The Gentlemen," which spent its seventh week on the list in sixth place (2.9M views).
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[04/23/24 - 09:59 AM]
The Gang is Back Again... Prime Video Reveals Premiere Date and First-Look Images for Third Season of Stephen Merchant's Critically Acclaimed Comedy-Drama "The Outlaws"
All five episodes of the comedy thriller from creator, star, and award-winning writer and director Stephen Merchant, will debut on May 31.
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[04/23/24 - 09:32 AM]
ABC News Studios Presents "Michael Strahan x Jon Bon Jovi: Halfway There"
The one-hour special premieres this Sunday, April 28 on ABC.
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[04/23/24 - 09:31 AM]
ABC News Announces "20/20" Primetime Special for Robin Roberts' Exclusive Interview with WNBA Star Brittney Griner
"Prisoner in Russia: The Brittney Griner Interview" airs Wednesday, May 1 on ABC.
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[04/23/24 - 09:01 AM]
Paramount+ Announces Star-Studded Cast for Ninth Season of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars"
In this new season, due May 17, eight fan-favorite queens return to use their drag superpowers for good, competing to win a supersized donation of $200,000, provided by The Palette Fund, for a charity of their choosing.
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[04/23/24 - 07:38 AM]
Date Announcement & First Look: "Shoresy" Season 3 Premieres June 21 on Hulu
The series returns for season three on Friday, June 21 with all six new episodes exclusively in the U.S. on Hulu.
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[04/23/24 - 07:16 AM]
Video: "Atlas" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A brilliant counterterrorism analyst with a deep distrust of AI discovers it might be her only hope when a mission to capture a renegade robot goes awry.
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[04/23/24 - 06:20 AM]
Video: Apple TV+ Debuts Trailer for Fourth Season of Critically Acclaimed Comedy "Trying"
"Trying" will return for its eight-episode fourth season of on Wednesday, May 22 on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through July 3.
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[04/23/24 - 06:01 AM]
"The Spiderwick Chronicles" Makes Roku Channel History with Record-Setting Opening
The series also earned the highest daily reach and most hours streamed of any title to ever debut on The Roku Channel in a singular day.
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