or


[06/22/05 - 12:00 AM]
Development Update: June 21-22
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 newly revamped "Series in Development" charts. Visitors can now filter our listings by network, genre and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!

ABC FAMILY ORIGINAL SERIES (ABC Family) - The cable channel has quietly rescheduled its upcoming original series "Venus & Serena: For Real" and "Beautiful People." The former will now launch on Wednesday, July 20 at 10:00/9:00c while the latter will still debut on Monday, August 8 but now air at 9:00/8:00c.

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (FOX) - Brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, who helmed the initial installments of the series, have signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with Touchstone Television to direct and produce series for the studio. The pair, who recently completed a one-year deal with 20th Century Fox Television, directed the pilot to Touchstone's "What About Brian" this past development season and were also responsible for the pilots for NBC's "LAX" and FX's "Lucky." The new deal with Touchstone (which won't affect their development of "City Hall" and "Motel Novella" at HBO) calls for the brothers to direct at least one pilot project per season in addition to their own projects.

BEAUTY AND THE GEEK (The WB) - In addition to Tuesday's second season renewal (read the story), the Frog has also committed to a reunion special for the hit reality series. The special, which is expected to feature all the season one cast members, will air on Wednesday, July 13 in the show's regular 8:00/7:00c time period. "Geek" itself will wrap its six-week run on July 6.

COMMITTED (NBC) - RonReaco Lee, who played Nate's (Josh Cooke) wheelchair-bound nemesis Todd on the short-lived comedy, has inked a talent holding deal with NBC Universal Television. Under the terms of the pact, which runs through June of next year, NBC will cast Lee in one of its current projects or develop a new one around the actor.

FX ORIGINAL SERIES (FX) - FX's new summer comedies "Starved" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" have been slated to premiere on Thursday, August 4 at 10:00/9:00c and 10:30/9:30c respectively. According to the network's press materials, "Starved" follows "the misadventures of four 30-something friends - a bulimic cop, an obese writer, a commodities broker and an anorexic bisexual songwriter - as seen through the country's obsession with food and the loneliness of single life" while "Philadelphia" tracks "a diverse group of friends who own a bar in Philadelphia," one of whom reveals he has cancer in the first episode.

THE HOWARD STERN SHOW/PARTY AT THE PALMS (E!) - Howard Stern has confirmed "The Howard Sterm Show's" 11-year run on the cable channel will wrap on Friday, July 8 (featuring highlights of his July 1 radio broadcast). E!'s decision to bow out of the bidding to renew "Stern" likely means fellow suitor Spike TV has snagged the series however no official announcement has been made. The series, which has averaged 793,000 total viewers (494,000 in adults 18-49) to date this year, won't disappear from E!'s lineup however as repeats will continue to run in its regular weekday 11:00/10:00c slot. Meanwhile in other E! news, a solid 2.2 million viewers tuned into the premiere of "Party at the Palms," a new "Wild On!"-esque series hosted by Jenny McCarthy, last Wednesday.

INTO THE WEST (TNT) - After opening to 6.47 million viewers on June 10, week two of the six-week limited series fell by nearly 26% to 4.8 million viewers. The installment nevertheless bested most of its broadcast and cable competition, including movies on FOX (4.1 million) and UPN (1.23 million) and comedies on both ABC (3.5 million on average) and the WB (1.59 million on average).

LAS VEGAS (NBC) - TNT is expected to announce this week it has landed the off-network rights to NBC's hit Monday drama "Las Vegas," in a deal valued at $450,000 per episode. The pact includes the rights to the 88 episodes or so likely to be produced through the show's fourth season as well as the right to repurpose NBC's run eight days after its original airing. The repurposing will kick off this fall with its weekday run beginning in the fall of 2007. In addition, TNT has asked for the video-on-demand rights as part of the license fee, a first for the industry. The expected $40 million pact is more than double what TNT paid for "Alias" ($200,000 per episode), but pales in comparison to TNT's off-network purchases of "Cold Case" ($1.4 million per episode) and "Without a Trace" ($1.35 million per episode). TNT will begin running "Alias" weekdays this fall while "Trace" will expand from its current once-a-week run in the fall of 2006. "Cold Case" then will join TNT's lineup once a week starting this fall with its five-a-week expansion due in the fall of 2007.

RAY ROMANO & KEVIN JAMES: MAKING THE CUT (HBO) - The one-hour special, which featured the comedians as they competed in the PGA's famed Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, drew just 761,000 viewers for its initial broadcast this past Saturday.

THE SHOWBIZ SHOW WITH DAVID SPADE (A.K.A. GONE HOLLYWOOD) (Comedy Central) - The cable channel has given a 13-episode order to a new weekly half-hour "The Daily Show"-esque series hosted by comedian David Spade. The project is a reworked version of the previously completed pilot "Gone Hollywood," a potential weekday strip hosted by Greg Giraldo and executive produced by Spade. Like the previous incarnation, "Showbiz" is seen as an expanded version of Spade's "Hollywood Minute" vignettes from "Saturday Night Live" in which he skewed celebrities and the media. Comedy Central is said to have approached Spade to host the series after "8 Simple Rules" got the axe last month with the promise of a 13-episode order. Spade will continue to executive produce "Showbiz" (which will launch in September) along with creator Hugh Fink, Pariah's Gavin Polone and the Brillstein-Grey Co.

WITHOUT A TRACE (CBS) - Writer/producer Ed Redlich has exited the hit CBS/Warner Bros. Television drama after signing a new two-year, seven-figure overall deal with Paramount Network Television. The pact calls for Redlich, who served as "Trace's" showrunner for its first two seasons (and opted for reduced role last season), to develop and produce series projects for the studio. Redlich spent the past development season behind the failed CBS/Warner Bros. Television pilot "Conviction," which starred Sally Field.

Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [june 2005]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· ALIAS (ABC)
· ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (NETFLIX)
· BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (ABC FAMILY)
· BEAUTY AND THE GEEK (CW)
· CITY HALL (HBO)
· COLD CASE (CBS)
· COMMITTED (NBC)
· CONVICTION (CBS)
· EIGHT SIMPLE RULES (ABC)
· INTO THE WEST (TNT)
· IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (FXX)
· LAS VEGAS (NBC)
· LAX (NBC)
· LUCKY (FX)
· MOTEL NOVELLA (HBO)
· PARTY AT THE PALMS (E)
· SHOWBIZ SHOW WITH DAVID SPADE, THE (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· STARVED (FX)
· VENUS & SERENA: FOR REAL (ABC FAMILY)
· WHAT ABOUT BRIAN (ABC)
· WITHOUT A TRACE (CBS)





[05/10/24 - 01:30 PM]
Three New Series, Breakout Comedies and Fan-Favorite Dramas Anchor NBC's Fall Lineup Boosted by Live Tentpole Specials
Three new series are set to premiere in the fall: drama "Brilliant Minds," starring Zachary Quinto; "St. Denis Medical," which stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, Allison Tolman and David Alan Grier; and Reba McEntire returns to comedy with multi-camera "Happy's Place."

[05/10/24 - 11:01 AM]
Video: "Mulligan" Part 2 - Official Clip - Netflix
Allegiances are tested when the grim realities of life on an empty, alien-ravaged planet start to sink in for President Mulligan and his rag-tag band of survivors.

[05/10/24 - 11:00 AM]
Gordon Ramsay and FOX Entertainment Launch Bite, A Next-Gen Global Food Brand and Entertainment Platform
Bite offers food fans more of the culinary content they love, while giving advertisers and brand partners even greater reach and more innovative ways to engage with Ramsay and FOX's massive audience of over 100 million food-loving fans.

[05/10/24 - 09:59 AM]
Video: Starz Announces July 5 Airdate for Juicy Taboo-Tackling Docu-Series "Down in the Valley" with First Look Images and Teaser Trailer
"Down in the Valley" will pull back the curtain on the surprising but always intriguing people and places that make the Deep South a place where anything can happen and usually does.

[05/10/24 - 09:32 AM]
ABC Renews Seven Primetime Unscripted Series
"American Idol," "The Bachelor," "Celebrity Jeopardy!," "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune," "Dancing With the Stars," "Shark Tank" and "What Would You Do?" are all due back.

[05/10/24 - 09:31 AM]
Video: "The Conners" Farewell Season - Coming Soon to ABC
You've been part of this family for years. After 6 seasons, be there to say goodbye.

[05/10/24 - 09:01 AM]
Hallmark Channel Renews Its Longest-Running Original Series "When Calls the Heart" for a 12th Season!
Hallmark can confirm that the new season will consist of 12 episodes, with production beginning in July.

[05/10/24 - 09:01 AM]
Video: ALLBLK Releases Trailer for Hilarious New Comedy Special Gary "G Thang" Johnson: Sitcho Ass Down Premiering Thursday, May 30
Known for his quick wit and sharp observations of everyday life, Gary "G Thang" Johnson takes to the stage in his very first standup comedy special as a call to action to embrace adulthood, face the chaos, and always have a plan.

[05/10/24 - 09:00 AM]
Prime Video Sets Premiere Date for Content Creator-Driven Talk Show "Influenced" from Candle Media's Hello Sunshine and Amazon MGM Studios on August 1st
The thirty-minute episodes will be co-hosted by popular social media personalities, Achieng Agutu, Eyal Booker, Tefi Pessoa, Taryn Delanie Smith, and Cyrus Veyssi.

[05/10/24 - 08:30 AM]
Video: "Criminal Minds: Evolution" - Teaser 2024 - Paramount+
The upcoming all-new season picks up as the FBI's elite team of profilers investigates the deadly mystery of Gold Star.

[05/10/24 - 07:31 AM]
Video: "Tires" - Official Trailer - Netflix
At his father's auto shop, a hapless manager strives to improve customer service and drive profits while keeping his troublemaking cousin in line.

[05/10/24 - 07:14 AM]
Prime Video Orders "Haven" from Drama Republic Starring Sophie Turner, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, and Archie Madekwe
"Haven" is a contemporary, high-octane thriller about the heist of the century and the ordinary office worker, Zara (Turner), who finds herself at the heart of it.

[05/10/24 - 02:15 AM]
BBC Comedy Orders a Second Series of "Juice" and "Such Brave Girls"
"Such Brave Girls" is a VAL production for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, and Hulu in the US.

[05/09/24 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Franco Escamilla: Ladies' Man" - Official Trailer - Netflix
This self-proclaimed ladies' man will make us laugh with his hilarious adventures about teenage romance gone wrong, featuring painfully long kisses and rockstar cameos with surprising outcomes.

[05/09/24 - 02:34 PM]
CNN Original Series Engages in Cold War Thriller "Secrets & Spies: A Nuclear Game"
This razor-sharp series examines the tenuousness of global geopolitics during the Cold War through the lens of two notorious double agents: Oleg Gordievsky and Aldrich Ames.