CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from various wire reports each morning:

DEAD LIKE ME (Showtime) - The pay channel will debut its new sci-fi drama on Friday, June 27 at 10:00/9:00c with a special 90-minute premiere. Here's how Showtime describes the series:

From creator Bryan Fuller ("Star Trek: Voyager," "Carrie") comes this comically offbeat original series about Georgia "George" Lass (Ellen Muth), a disaffected teenager who's surprised discover that an afterlife really exists after she's struck and killed by a piece of the MIR space station that hurtles to Earth. There, she finds that she's been assigned to be a "reaper," delivering souls to their eternal reward under the watchful eye of her boss Rube (Mandy Patinkin). Rebecca Gayheart, Jasmine Guy, Callum Blue and Cynthia Stevenson costar.

Showtime has committed to 15 episodes of the drama (the 90-minute debut is actually the first two episodes back-to-back).

K STREET (HBO) - HBO has committed to 10 episodes of the George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh produced series. The project, a half-hour political dramedy "about the procedure of government" according to Clooney, will debut this fall alongside the new season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The series takes its title from Washington D.C.'s K Street, home to the various public relations firms in the city. Such "spin doctors" as Mike Deaver, James Carville, Mary Matalin and Bob Strauss are set to make appearances on the show.

THE 'L' WORD (A.K.A. EARTHLINGS) (Showtime) - The pay channel's upcoming lesbian-centric drama has a new title. The series, which stars Scott Bairstow, Jennifer Beals, Pam Grier and Mia Kirshner among others, is expected to bow in July.

MISSING (Syndication) - Telco Productions has cleared its new reality series in 75% of the country for a fall 2003 launch. The project, a collaboration with The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the F.B.I., features segments on missing people across the country.

Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters