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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!
1321 CLOVER (CBS) - Paul F. Thompkins (VH1's "Best Week Ever"), Amanda Detmer ("What About Brian") and Logan Grove ("Christmas Do-Over") are the first to be cast in the pilot, a documentary-style comedy about a typical suburban family. Detmer, whose involvement is in second position to "Brian," will play Sharon. Said character is further detailed in the casting notice as follows: "30s, Female. A mother of two. Sharon is Rob's extremely patient and loving wife. She tolerates Rob's antics because she knows he is, underneath it all, just an insecure guy who is trying his best to provide for his family. Sharon is also trying her best. She has her hands full with her two children (ages 6 years and 6 months). She worries that other moms in the neighborhood seem to be juggling the demands of motherhood with less anxiety - although she finds the occasional afternoon beer helps with that. Sharon is cute and could even look beautiful - if she had more than ten minutes a day to shower, get dressed and put on some makeup. Sharon allows Rob to believe he wears the pants in the family, but she is clearly the one running the show. Sharon is not convinced that being the subject of a documentary is a great idea."
Grove then is set as Tyler - "6, Male. Tyler is an average 6-year-old boy - very average. He does not excel academically, athletically or socially. He is surrounded by hypercompetitive, exceptional children. Luckily, he hasn't noticed. Tyler is a genuinely good kid, who is too innocent to realize that having a Hello Kitty bounce house at his birthday party isn't exactly cool. He knows his parents love him and he loves them, even when his dad does something embarrassing, which is pretty often." - with Thompkins as Rob, Sharon's insecure husband.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Amanda Detmer (Sharon), Logan Grove (Tyler), Paul F. Thompkins (Rob)
Writers: Brad Walsh, Paul Corrigan
Director: Walt Becker
Executive Producers: Brad Walsh, Paul Corrigan
Studio: CBS Paramount Network Television
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK (The CW) - "Strong Medicine" alum Rosa Blasi has been cast in the comedy pilot, about four twentysomethings employed by top movers and shakers in New York. She'll play the boss of one of the quartet, a big-name personal publicist.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Anna Chlumsky, Rosa Blasi
Writers: Marcie Ulin, Meredith Lavender
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Marcie Ulin, Meredith Lavender, Sean Hayes (Hazy Mills Productions), Todd Milliner (Hazy Mills Productions)
Studio: CBS Paramount Network Television
HELL ON EARTH (The CW) - Kim Coles ("Living Single") is the first to sign onto the comedy pilot, about a "mean girl" who gets hit by a bus, goes to purgatory and is given a second chance at life as an ordinary girl. She'll play an angel in the project.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Kim Coles
Writers: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Studio: CBS Paramount Network Television
THE HILL (ABC) - Mark Moses ("Desperate Housewives") and Smith Cho ("Emily's Reasons Why Not") have both scored roles on the comedy pilot, about an aide (Eric Christian Olsen) to a Democratic senator who falls for the daughter (Michelle Trachtenberg) of his boss' arch enemy (Moses). Moses will play said enemy, a Republican senator, while Cho is set as the best friend of Trachtenberg's character.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Eric Christian Olsen (Matt O'Brien), Mark Moses, Michelle Trachtenberg (Maggie Rogers), Smith Cho, Wendie Malick (Bryce Lowell)
Writer: Shana Goldberg-Meehan
Director: Andy Ackerman
Executive Producers: Andy Ackerman, Shana Goldberg-Meehan
Studio: Warner Bros. Television
I'M IN HELL (CBS) - Feature helmer Frank Coraci ("Click") has come aboard to direct the comedy pilot, about a high-flying Wall Street guy (Jason Biggs) who dies in a Blackberry-related car crash only to be sent back stripped of his career, his fancy apartment and the fabulous trappings of his former existence. He'll work from a script by co-creators Aron Abrams and Greg Thompson.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Jason Biggs (Nick)
Writers: Aron Abrams, Greg Thompson
Director: Frank Coraci
Executive Producers: Aron Abrams, Greg Thompson
Producers: Jason Biggs, Peter Kiernan
Studio: CBS Paramount Network Television
ME & LEE? (FOX) - Bill Smitrovich ("Without a Trace") and Jason Antoon ("The Lost Room") have both been cast in the comedy pilot, about a chronic back pain victim (Jamie Kennedy) who gets more than he bargained for when he undergoes "bionic" surgery in a secret lab run by actor Lee Majors in the basement of his Beverly Hills mansion. The former is set as the man's obnoxious and opinionated father while Antoon will play Blitt, the lab's technician.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Bill Smitrovich, Jamie Kennedy (Joel Salsberg), Jason Antoon (Blitt), Lee Majors (Lee Majors)
Writer: Matthew Salsberg
Director: Paul Dinello
Executive Producers: Allan Loeb (Scarlet Fire Productions), Jenji Kohan, Matthew Salsberg, Steven Pearl (Scarlet Fire Productions)
Studio: Lionsgate Television
NURSES (FOX) - Katheryn Winnick, who had been briefly cast as Eve Morrow on the drama pilot, has inked a one-year, mid-six-figure talent holding deal with the network. The pact calls for FOX to cast the actress in another project during its next development cycle.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Brett Dalton (Dr. Kurt Taylor), Drew Sidora (Becca Dimato), Eliza Dushku (Eve Morrow), Gregory Harrison (Dr. Richard Morrow), Jaclyn DeSantis (Joanne "Jo" Mazur), Melinda Page Hamilton (Margo MacDonald), Ramon Rodriguez (Patrick De Leon), Sara Rue (Chris Korenek)
Writers: Andy Stern, Samantha Goodman
Director: P.J. Hogan
Executive Producers: Ann McManus (Shed Productions), Barry Josephson (Josephson Entertainment), Eileen Gallagher (Shed Productions), P.J. Hogan
Co-Executive Producers: Andy Stern, Samantha Goodman
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
THE THICK OF IT (ABC) - John Michael Higgins ("Arrested Development") has been tapped for the lead role in the comedy pilot, about the nonpartisan high jinks that ensue in the office of a newly elected congressman. He'll play Albert Alger, said congressman, in the project.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Alex Borstein (Hope Mueller), John Michael Higgins (Albert Alger), Michael McKean (Glen Glahm), Oliver Platt (Malcolm Tucker), Rhea Seehorn (Ollie Tadzio)
Writer: Mitchell Hurwitz
Director: Christopher Guest
Executive Producers: Armando Iannucci, Mitchell Hurwitz, Paul Telegdy (BBC Worldwide Productions)
Studio: Sony Pictures Television
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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