 |
 |
[01/25/08 - 06:37 PM]
Development Update: Week of January 21-25
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!
FRINGE (FOX) - John Noble ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King") and Lance Reddick ("The Wire") have landed two of the principal roles on the drama pilot, about a young female FBI agent who is forced to confront the spread of unexplained phenomena and work with an institutionalized scientist whose work might be at the center of the coming storm. Noble is set as Dr. Walter Bishop, said scientist, with Reddick as Phillip Broyles, a special agent for Homeland Security who heads the special Fringe division. They join the previously cast Kirk Acevedo and Mark Valley. Production on the two-hour pilot is set to begin shortly with Alex Graves helming from a script by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The quartet also serve as executive producers alongside Bad Robot's Bryan Burk for Warner Bros. Television.
KATH & KIM (NBC) - Selma Blair is in talks to star opposite Molly Shannon in the comedy pilot, about the dysfunctional relationship between a mother (Shannon) and her daughter (Blair). Blair's character, Kim Day Fattibene, is further detailed in the casting notice as follows: "26-32, any ethnicity. Also attractive, but not on the same healthy path as her mother, Kim is oblivious to needing any fitness or life plan whatsoever. Although loveable and endearing, she is a drama queen, tends to sit on the couch a lot, self absorbed and a little spoiled. She carries a few extra pounds but still thinks she's the hottest thing around and resists her mother's advice on pulling her life together. She's just left her perfectly nice husband, Dennis, not for the first time, just because he shushed her at a ballgame. Kim - after moving back home - now fully expects her mom and best friend Debbie to drop everything and attend to her and is horrified to learn that her Mom has a boyfriend and a sex life." Michelle Nader is behind the Universal Media Studios/Reveille-based half-hour, which Paul Feig is directing. Nader and Rick McKenna also serve as executive producers alongside original Aussie creators Gina Riley and Jane Turner.
LEGALLY BLONDE (MTV, New!) - The cable channel is casting a potential new "Grease: You're the One That I Want"-esque series in which women ages 18 and older with vocal, acting and dancing skills compete for the role of Elle Woods in the Broadway production of the film franchise. Laura Bell Bundy plays said role in the current production, which opened in April and has grossed a little over $30.8 million to date, a performance of which was broadcast on MTV on October 13. Casting calls are set for the coming weeks in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Nashville and Orlando. No production details however have been confirmed.
S.I.S. (Spike TV) - Keith David ("First Sunday") has scored the lead role in the two-hour backdoor pilot, about a five-man elite secretive police unit within the LAPD that tackles major crimes and major criminals. He'll play Assistant Chief Joseph Armstrong who's detailed in the casting notice as: "50's-60's. The head of the S.I.S. unit, Armstrong is a righteous man with a crisp military bearing. A devout Mormon, Armstrong prides himself on believing in men who have lost belief in themselves, and Billy Beckett is his latest "adoptee". Believing that Billy is a great detective who has lost his confidence, Armstrong is willing to buck official disapproval in order to get another great detective on his squad, no matter the price. A tough-minded man who has to stop his determined squad members from using their covert status to execute assassinations, Armstrong is the moral center of the S.I.S. team." Omari Hardwick, Matt Nable, Peter Stebbings and Colleen Porch also star in the project, which comes from Sony Pictures Television and Neal Moritz's Original Film. John Herzfeld will direct the pilot from his own script as well as executive produce alongside Moritz and Vivian Cannon.
A VERY MERRY DAUGHTER OF THE BRIDE (Lifetime, New!) - Luke Perry, JoAnna Garcia, Helen Shaver and Kenneth Welsh are set to star in a Christmas-themed movie at the cable channel. The project, due in December, centers on Roxanne (Garcia), a twentysomething wedding planner who conspires with Charlie (Perry), the son of her mother Rose's (Shaver) new beau Jack (Welsh), to break up their parents' impending nuptials but an unexpected romantic development forces Roxanne to re-examine her feelings. Actor/director Leslie Hope ("24") is helming the project from a script by Scott Eastlick and Nadine Van Der Veld. Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev are producing for Nomadic Pictures.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [january 2008]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[02/10/26 - 03:51 PM]
Super Bowl LX Is Second Most-Watched All-Time with Nearly 125 Million Viewers, Peaking at All-Time U.S. Record 137.8 Million Viewers Across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo
Super Bowl LX is the most-watched show in the history of NBCUniversal, which celebrates 100 years of NBC in 2026.
|
[02/10/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of February 2 - "Bridgerton" Season 4 Is the Tea Everyone Is Having in This Week's Top 10
Plus: the new season of the hit drama series "The Lincoln Lawyer" took the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 9 million views.
|
[02/10/26 - 12:00 PM]
Teresa Palmer-Led Mystery Series, "The Family Next Door," to Debut Monday, February 23 on Acorn TV
When the enigmatic Isabelle (Palmer) moves into a small seaside rental in Osprey Point, her obsessive drive to solve a neighborhood mystery casts suspicion on four local families.
|
[02/10/26 - 11:08 AM]
NBC to Rebroadcast the Pilot Episode of "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" on Feb. 28 Immediately Following "Saturday Night Live"
The series returns on Monday, February 23 at 8 p.m. with an encore of the pilot and a new episode immediately following at 8:30 p.m. in its timeslot premiere.
|
[02/10/26 - 11:01 AM]
Prime Video Releases First-Look Images for Upcoming Live-Action "Spider-Noir" Starring Nicolas Cage
Produced by Sony Pictures Television exclusively for MGM+ and Prime Video, the hotly anticipated series will debut domestically on MGM+'s linear broadcast channel, then globally on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories thereafter.
|
[02/10/26 - 10:27 AM]
MLB.TV Launches on ESPN Beginning February 10
Beginning today, fans can purchase MLB.TV through ESPN platforms with flexible options designed to meet a range of viewing needs.
|
[02/10/26 - 09:26 AM]
Warner Bros. Discovery Confirms Receipt of Further Amended Unsolicited Tender Offer from Paramount Skydance
The Board is not modifying its recommendation with respect to the Netflix Merger Agreement.
|
[02/10/26 - 09:04 AM]
Video: "Dear Killer Nannies" - Teaser - Hulu
"Dear Killer Nannies" is a gripping coming-of-age series told through Juampi's perspective as a child, the son of Colombia's most notorious drug lord, Pablo Escobar Gaviria.
|
[02/10/26 - 09:02 AM]
Video: National Geographic Documentary Films and Abramorama Unveil Trailer, Coast-to-Coast Theatrical Simulcast, and Disney+ and Hulu Streaming Date for Werner Herzog's "Ghost Elephants"
The film follows National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes on an epic journey as he sets out with some of the last remaining master trackers in the world in pursuit of an animal long believed to be a myth.
|
[02/10/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Tyler Perry's Joe's College Road Trip" - Official Red Band Trailer - Netflix
To teach his sheltered grandson about the real world, Madea's foul-mouthed brother Joe takes the college-bound teen on a raucous cross-country road trip.
|
[02/10/26 - 09:00 AM]
HBO Original Comedy Special "Chris Fleming: Live at the Palace" Debuts February 27
From the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, comedian Chris Fleming bursts onto the screen with a fun and lighthearted blend of skillful storytelling and wild physicality in his first HBO stand-up special.
|
[02/10/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "The 32nd Annual Actor Awards" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Host Kristen Bell is ringing up SAG-AFTRA members everywhere to spread the word about the 32nd Annual Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA.
|
[02/10/26 - 08:00 AM]
Paramount+ and CBS Partner to Air "UFC 326: Holloway vs. Oliveira 2" Live on Paramount+ and CBS Television Network
Plus, CBS announced today "This Is UFC," tracing UFC's rise from underground spectacle to global powerhouse, airing Friday, February 20, (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+.
|
[02/10/26 - 08:00 AM]
The Chaos Continues as Another Explosive Season of "Mama June" Returns Friday, March 13 with New Friends and New Foes
The new season promises to deliver everything fans love about the Shannon family and more, from family feuds and fires to Mama drama and a wedding.
|
[02/10/26 - 06:28 AM]
Great American Media Partners with Bestselling Author Melissa Ferguson to Adapt "Meet Me in the Margins" and Upcoming Novel, "The Christmas Yes List" into New Original Movies for 2026
Known for her heartfelt storytelling, faith-forward themes, and charming romantic comedies, Ferguson has become a favorite among readers of Christian romance and romantic comedy novels.
|
|
|
|
