[07/25/12 - 11:19 PM] Development Update: Wednesday, July 25 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!
CINNAMON GIRL (Lifetime) - The Renée Zellweger-produced drama, about four girls coming of age during the Los Angeles music and movie scenes of the late 1960s/early 1970s, has been ordered to pilot. Gavin O'Connor is directing the hour from a script by Zellweger and Anthony Tambakis. Said trio will executive produce with Danny Bramson serving as producer and music supervisor. (Deadline.com)EX MEN (CBS) - Kal Penn ("How I Met Your Mother") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about Carter Thomas (Christopher Nicholas Smith), a young guy who finds camaraderie living among the more experienced guys he meets in a short-term rental complex. He'll play Gil Brooks ("a nice, somewhat nebbishy guy, who owns a Spa and Pool equipment store"), one of said fellows, who was "caught having the world's worst affair and now lives in the complex until he can convince his wife to take him back." Rob Greenberg is behind the half-hour, which is set up at the CBS Television Studios-based The Tannenbaum Company. (Deadline.com)THE EXPERIMENT (MTV, New!) - Blumhouse Productions ("Paranormal Activity") is developing a new "found-footage mystery" drama at the cable channel. Brian Horiuchi and Miguel Sapochnik created the hour which Sapochnik will direct from a teleplay by Horiuchi. They'll likewise executive produce alongside Jason Blum and Naomi Despres. No other specifics were given. (THR.com)THE LANDLORD (HBO, New!) - Writer/cartoonist Daniel Clowes ("Ghost World") is developing a new comedy at the pay channel about "a volatile college professor with Utopian delusions, who after inheriting a shabby apartment building in a remote California town, drags his family into the unforgiving netherworld of small-town America." "Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are eyeing the half-hour, which they'd presumably executive produce alongside Clowes and John Lesher. (Variety.com)LOW WINTER SUN (AMC) - Mark Strong and James Ransone are both on track to star in the drama pilot, "a contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption in a world where the line between cops and criminals is blurred." The former would play Frank Agnew - a role he originated in the project's U.K. incarnation - who murders a fellow detective, activating "forces that will forever alter that detective's life and pull him into the heart of the Detroit underworld." Ransone then is set as Damon Callis, a member of the Detroit organized crime syndicate. Chris Mundy is behind the hour, a co-production of AMC Studios, Endemol USA and Tiger Aspect Productions. (Deadline.com)TINY APARTMENT (Comedy Central, New!) - Jessie Cantrell, Mike O'Gorman and Pat Driscoll's web series has snagged a pilot order from the cable channel. Said effort revolves around a young couple, Jessie (Cantrell) and Mike (O'Gorman), living in a rundown apartment in New York City, trying to "make the best of their situation with a little help from beer, take out, and their best friend, Pat (Driscoll)." Tristram Shapeero is on board to direct and executive produce alongside the trio, as well as Joe Kelly and Mosaic's Jimmy Miller and Sam Hansen. (Deadline.com)UNTITLED DAN HARMON PROJECT (FOX, New!) - "Community" creator Dan Harmon is reportedly close to landing a new multi-camera comedy at the network. No details however were given about the project, which Harmon would write and executive produce. (TVGuide.com)AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have extended their contracts with Comedy Central through the middle of 2015 and the end of 2014, respectively (Deadline.com); HBO has terminated its overall deal with "The Newsroom" executive producer Scott Rudin (Deadline.com); production on "Fringe" will be suspended for two weeks while co-star John Noble seeks treatment for a sleep disorder, a development which won't affect the show's September 28 return (Deadline.com); "Homeland" co-creator Howard Gordon has inked a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television, while Hugh Fitzpatrick has been tapped to oversee via his Teakwood Lane banner (Deadline.com); book publisher Random House has inked a first-look deal with FremantleMedia, who will have first crack at its potential TV output (Deadline.com); Alice Evans will guest on "Grimm" as "a powerful Royal who comes to Portland to see Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz)" (EW.com); Sinqua Walls has been tapped to play Sir Lancelot on "Once Upon a Time"(TVLine.com); and Kenny Johnson is bound for "Burn Notice" as "a merciless, cunning and physically fit operative" in the show's summer finale (THR.com).
[06/19/13 - 12:17 PM] ESPN to Present World Series of Poker Main Event To kick off ESPN's WSOP coverage, the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event Final Table will air on Tuesday, July 23.
