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[12/15/23 - 11:39 PM]
Development Update: Week of December 11-15
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!
ANIMAL CONTROL (FOX) - Ken Jeong, Sarah Chalke and Krystal Smith will each guest on the upcoming second season of the series. Jeong will play Lee Park, "a well-respected, moderately unhinged dog whisperer"; with Chalke as Yazmin, "Frank's (Joel McHale) one who got away"; and Smith as Bettany, "Emily's (Vella Lovell) tenacious and tough new assistant." (Deadline.com, 12/13)
BUTTERFLY (Amazon) - Kitao Sakurai is set to direct the pilot and an additional episode of the upcoming Daniel Dae Kim/Reina Hardesty-led series. (Deadline.com, 12/11)
CHICAGO FIRE (NBC) - Rome Flynn has been tapped to recur on the new season as Jake Gibson, "a quietly confident former amateur boxer with a dark past. The physically fit and fearless Jake earns a spot on Truck 51's radar thanks to a heroic act." (Deadline.com, 12/13)
CHUCKY (Syfy/USA) - John Waters is bound for the current season as Wendell Wilkins, "the reclusive creator of the Good Guy dolls, who gets drawn into the psychopathic Chucky's tangled web." (EW.com, 12/14)
ÉTOILE (Amazon) - Charlotte Gainsbourg has signed onto the upcoming series. She replaces Camille Cottin, "who departed the show due to scheduling conflicts." (Variety.com, 12/12)
FIRE COUNTRY (CBS) - The hit drama is exploring a potential spin-off featuring a female sheriff, "which is an episodic guest star with an option to become a series regular." The project is in the early stages with no formal backdoor pilot order. Separately, Rafael de la Fuente will recur on the series as Diego, "a charming and motivated paramedic/firefighter and combat vet who served in Afghanistan." (TVLine.com, 12/13; Deadline.com, 12/15)
FOUNDATION (Apple TV+) - Alexander Siddig has joined the cast of the show's third season as Ebling Mis, "a self-taught psychohistorian and diehard fan of Hari Seldon (Jared Harris)." (Deadline.com, 12/13)
GHOSTS (CBS) - The cast of the comedy "have renegotiated their contracts, landing big salary increases while adding an optional year to their existing deals." Leads Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar have seen their paychecks double to $250,000 an episode; while Brandon Scott Jones (Isaac), Richie Moriarty (Pete), Danielle Pinnock (Alberta), Asher Grodman (Trevor), Román Zaragoza (Sasappis), Sheila Carrasco (Flower), Rebecca Wisocky (Hetty) and Devan Chandler Long (Thorfinn) will each make $100,000 an episode next season, up from $35,000 - $55,000 on average. (Deadline.com, 12/15)
GOOD TIMES (Netflix) - J.B. Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jay Pharoah, Marsai Martin, Slink Johnson and Rashida "Sheedz" Olayiwola are set as the principal voices on the upcoming animated reboot of the series from Sony Pictures Television, which is expected to premiere in the summer of 2024. No character details were indicated. Additionally, Ranada Shepard is set as co-creator of the series alongside Carl Jones. The late Norman Lear, who will be featured in one episode, executive produced alongside Brent Miller of Act III Productions; Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton and Jeron Smith of Unanimous Media; and Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door Productions. (Deadline.com, 12/12)
GOVERNMENT CHEESE (Apple TV+) - Simone Missick will star opposite David Oyelowo in the upcoming series, which "follows Hampton Chambers (played by Oyelowo), a man recently released from prison who struggles to keep his criminal past at bay and win back his family, all while processing moments of divine intervention that seem to happen with increasing frequency." She'll play Astoria, Hampton's wife. Separately, Oyelowo's Yoruba Saxon banner has signed a first look deal with the streamer. (Deadline.com, 12/12; Variety.com, 12/13)
GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC) - Disney's flagship drama will be available on the company's upcoming all-in-one Disney+/Hulu app. Additionally, the company is licensing 14 popular library TV series to Netflix on a non-exclusive basis for 18 months, which will also continue to offer "Grey's Anatomy" for the foreseeable future. The series include "The Wonder Years" (available January 1), "This Is Us" (January 8), "My Wife & Kids" (February 5), "The Resident" (March 4), "White Collar" (April 1), "Reba" (May 6), "Archer" (May 13), "How I Met You Mother" (June 3), "Lost" (July 1), "Prison Break" (July 29), "The Hughleys" (September 2, also on Hulu), "The Bernie Mac Show" (January 1, 2025), "Home Improvement" (February 1, 2025) and 25 episodes of "30 for 30" (various dates between from February to December). (Deadline.com, 12/11)
HALCYON (Amazon, New!) - Writer Richard Smith and director Colin Trevorrow are set to team for a small screen take on Christopher Long's graphic novel "Hiding in Time," billed as "a paranoid sci-fi thriller in which the Witness Protection Program relocates families to various eras in time. The series unravels a conspiracy that emerges when this seemingly infallible system is breached." Davey Holmes, Andrew Mittman and Lloyd Braun will also executive produce for Metronome Film Company, 1.21 and MGM Television. (Deadline.com, 12/15)
JEOPARDY! (Syndication) - Mayim Bialik took to social media with the news she will not be returning as host of the flagship game show. (@missmayim, 12/15)
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME (NBC) - Dean Norris has been cast as Randall Stabler, Elliot's older brother, in a multiple-episode arc. (TVLine.com, 12/13)
LOVE & MARRIAGE (OWN) - The cable channel has extended all three installments in its reality franchise. "Love & Marriage: Huntsville," which wraps its seventh season on January 20 after a three-part reunion, will return for an eighth season. "Love & Marriage: D.C." is due back with new episodes on January 27; and "Love & Marriage: Detroit" is a go for season two later in 2024. (Deadline.com, 12/14)
MAYANS MC (FX) - J.D. Pardo has signed a first-look deal with FX Productions to develop new series projects. (Deadline.com, 12/11)
MY BRILLIANT FRIEND (HBO) - Executive producer Jennifer Schuur has renewed her overall deal with the company, her home since 2019. (THR.com, 12/13)
NINE PERFECT STRANGERS (Hulu) - Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, Lucas Englander and musician King Princess are all bound for the show's second season, joining the previously announced Murray Bartlett, Dolly de Leon, Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Aras Aydin. Bartlett "will play Brian, Baranski is Victoria, Murphy will portray Imogen, de Leon will play Agnes, Richardson-Sellers is Wolfie, King Princess will portray Tina, Aydin will play Matteo and Englander is Martin." No other details were given. (Deadline.com, 12/14)
NOT DEAD YET (ABC) - Brad Garrett has joined the cast of the series as Duncan Rhodes, "the owner/publisher of the SoCal Independent newspaper, among many other successful businesses. He is also the father of Nell's boss Lexi (Lauren Ash). Duncan is a total master of the universe. He has exuberant confidence and charisma and at the same time is completely out of touch with how normal people live - but he doesn't know that. He thinks everyone is probably considering space travel for their next vacation. No one is comfortable telling him he's out of touch, or that he's not a great father, until he meets Nell." (Deadline.com, 12/13)
NOWHERE (NBC, New!) - Matthew Arnold has sold a new drama to the network based on his upcoming novel in which "a group of individuals awake to find that all the inhabitants from their remote Vermont town have seemingly vanished overnight. Led by the former sheriff, the remaining citizens embark on a mysterious search for their missing loved ones, uncovering numerous supernatural anomalies along the way." James Wan, Rob Hackett, Michael Clear, Natalie Viscuso, Roy Lee, Steve Schneider and Aengus McLoone will likewise executive produce for Universal Television, Atomic Monster, Vertigo Entertainment, Room 101 and Antihero Entertainment. (Deadline.com, 12/15)
POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN (Starz) - Liv Symone will recur on the series, beginning with tonight's episode, as Iesha: "The character is described as sweet and effervescent, the epitome of the girl next door, who sees the best in everyone. She is one-third of a girl group alongside Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore) and Krystal (Aliyah Turner)." (Deadline.com, 12/11)
RESIDENCE, THE (Netflix) - André Braugher, who passed away on Tuesday, completed work on four of the show's eight planned episodes. It's unclear if his character "will be written off or recast" when production resumes next year. (Deadline.com, 12/12)
ROOKIE, THE (ABC) - Lisseth Chavez's Celina Juarez will be promoted to series regular for its upcoming sixth season. (Deadline.com, 12/14)
SEAL TEAM (Paramount+) - Beau Knapp has joined the cast of the show's final season as Drew Franklin, "a Chief Petty Officer with a checkered history at Command whose placement on Bravo Team is a sign of their problem-child status in the eyes of the DEVGRU powers that be. A smooth talker who exploits every angle to his own advantage, Drew revels in the mystery and rumors that surround him." Additionally, Dylan Walsh will recur as Captain Walch: "Recently appointed Commanding Officer of DEVGRU, Captain Walch is by the book but also politically-minded and may be clouded by his ambitions as he decides what to do with Bravo Team." (Deadline.com, 12/12; Deadline.com, 12/15)
SUMMER ON THE BLUFFS (Amazon, New!) - Sunny Hostin's novel - which "follows the tales of three godsisters and their godmother, as well as the rich history of Oak Bluffs, an exclusive historically Black beach community in Martha's Vineyard" - is being developed for television by Amazon MGM Studios. Elizabeth Hunter is penning the script and will executive produce for Sunny Hostin Productions and Octavia Spencer's Orit Entertainment. (Variety.com, 12/15)
THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER (Amazon, New!) - Amy Rardin is spearheading a small screen take on Lucy Score's romance novel for Amazon MGM Studios in which "runaway bride Naomi Witt heads straight from the altar into trouble when her estranged twin sister, Tina, calls her to small-town-Virginia. Upon her arrival, Tina steals her car, phone, and purse and leaves Naomi stranded in an unfamiliar town with a teenage niece in her care, as well as a grouchy but very sexy local who turns out to be her knight in tattooed armor." PKM's Patrick Moran and Lynley Bird will also executive produce. (Deadline.com, 12/13)
TOXIC TOWN (Netflix) - Lauren Lyle is bound for the series in a yet-to-be-revealed role. (Deadline.com, 12/12)
TWINS, THE (BET, New!) - The cable channel is developing an unscripted series inspired by the podcast "Surviving El Chapo" which "centers around the Flores brothers, Margarito and Pedro, identical twins who became multi-millionaire, cocaine kingpins by the age of 18 and who would eventually assist in the capture and take-down of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman." G-Unit Film & Television and Pilgrim Media Group are behind the project with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson among the executive producers. (Deadline.com, 12/14)
UNTITLED BRAD INGELSBY TASK FORCE PROJECT (HBO) - Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones and Thuso Mbedu have all been cast in the Mark Ruffalo-led drama. Pelphrey will portray Robbie, "a sanitation worker and dreamer who has been knocked around by life, but has always gotten back up again." Jones then is Maeve, "Robbie's (Tom Pelphrey) niece who has put her life on hold to care for Robbie's children." And Mbedu is set as Aleah, "a Sergeant Detective who is recruited for Tom's task force." (Deadline.com, 12/11; Deadline.com, 12/13)
UNTITLED SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS PROJECT (Hulu, New!) - The streamer has nixed a proposed "reality show that would have featured the family of Sean "Diddy" Combs." The project, from James Corden's Fulwell 73 Productions, was shuttered "after multiple lawsuits alleging sexual assault were filed against the mega-producer." (Deadline.com, 12/13)
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