[09/16/10 - 06:23 PM] Development Update: Thursday, September 16 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!
BURN NOTICE (USA) - Dylan Baker has been tapped as the latest antagonist for Jeffrey Donovan's character on the cable drama. He'll play Max, "a brilliant, plugged-in operator from [his] past who may soon hold the keys to his future," in the show's upcoming season finale, a role which may continue through next season.
GOOD CHRISTIAN BITCHES (ABC, New!) - Darren Star has landed a rich put pilot commitment from the Alphabet for a new drama based on Kim Gatlin's book about Amanda Vaughn, "a recently divorced mother of two who, to get a fresh start, moves back to the affluent Dallas neighborhood where she grew to find herself in the whirling midst of salacious gossip, Botox, and fraud." Feature writer Robert Harling ("The First Wives Club") is penning the adaptation and will executive produce alongside Star and Aaron Kaplan for ABC Studios.
LOS ANGELES: LOS ANGELES (NBC) - Rachel Ticotin ("Total Recall") has joined the cast of the upcoming spin-off. She'll take over for Wanda De Jesus as the new Lieutenant who heads the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division. Skeet Ulrich, Corey Stoll, Alfred Molina, Terrence Howard, Megan Boone and Regina Hall co-star in the project, which rolls out later this month.
MARRY ME (Lifetime, New!) - Lucy Liu, Steven Pasquale, Bobby Cannavale, Enrique Murciano and Annie Potts are set to star in a new four-hour mini-series at the cable channel, about a woman (Liu) looking for her Prince Charming. Sony Pictures Television is behind the project, to be directed by James Hayman. Barbara Hall and Susanne Daniels are executive producing the mini-series, which is expected to bow during the holiday season.
UNANSWERED PRAYERS (Lifetime) - Patty Duke and Alex Frnka have joined the cast of the recently-announced telefilm, about "a couple (Eric Close, Samantha Mathis) who have their lives turned upside down by a woman (Madchen Amick) who returns home to their small town." They'll play Mathis's mother and the girlfriend of the couple's son, respectively.
UNTITLED JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Ghost Whisperer") is set to topline a potential comedy at the network described as a female "Big Bang Theory." Walt Becker ("Wild Hogs") and Tiffany Paulsen ("Nancy Drew") are behind the project, which has yet to be set up at a studio.
UNTITLED JOSH BERMAN PROJECT (Lifetime) - Lou Diamond Phillips ("Stargate Universe") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about two cops (Sherry Stringfield, Jamie-Lynn Sigler) that investigate the city's most high-profile crimes while navigating their divergent personal lives. He'll play their boss, a police lieutenant. Josh Berman and Sony Pictures Television are behind the project.
UNTITLED HOWARD GORDON/RYAN MURPHY PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Ryan Murphy ("Glee") and Howard Gordon ("24") are set to team for a new drama billed as "a high-concept character-driven procedural that deals with making people face their worst fears and phobias." It's understood the duo, both of which are based at 20th Century Fox Television, are in negotiations for a put pilot commitment with the network. As for specifics, the untitled hour - which will have some supernatural elements - centers on a psychiatrist, "the person people go to when everything else has failed."
UNTITLED GARY LENNON PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Gary Lennon ("Justified") has booked a script at the Eye for a Newark-based drama about "the first female police chief in the Garden State's troubled city." Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman are on board to executive produce the hour alongside Lennon for CBS Television Studios.
