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[03/11/08 - 05:37 PM]
Development Update: March 10-11
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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!
DRIVING AROUND WITH JONI (HBO, New!) - Jhoni Marchinko ("Men in Trees") has scored a pilot commitment from the pay channel for a new comedy about an eccentric, successful 40-year-old widow who spends her days driving around Los Angeles with her French bulldog, looking for meaning in her life after the sudden death of her husband. The project was originally set up at Warner Bros. Television where Marchinko had an overall deal prior to its termination during the WGA strike. Marchinko then will pen and executive produce "Joni" while Warner Bros. will still retain a piece of the show but not be creatively involved.
ELEVENTH HOUR (CBS) - Marley Shelton ("Grindhouse") has been tapped as the female lead in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama pilot, about Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell), a special science adviser to the government who - with his feisty female bodyguard Rachel Young (Shelton) in tow - saves people from the worst abuses of science. Ashley Jensen originated Shelton's role in the U.K. version. Danny Cannon is directing the hour from a script by Mick Davis with the pair executive producing alongside Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman for Granada International and Warner Bros. Television.
HARPER'S ISLAND (CBS, New!) - Feature writer Ari Schlossberg ("Hide and Seek") has booked a pilot presentation order from the Eye and CBS Paramount Network Television for a new horror-themed drama that unfolds during the course of a season as a group of friends meet on an island off the Seattle coast for a destination wedding. "Jericho's" Jon Turteltaub is on board to direct and executive produce alongside his Junction Entertainment partners Karim Zreik and Dan Shotz. The latter pair then will serve as co-executive producers, as will Schlossberg.
MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL (CBS) - Josh Cooke ("Big Day") is set to star opposite Tim Peper in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about two best friends who own a bike shop and whose relationship becomes complicated when one (Peper) starts dating the ex-wife of the other (Cooke). Mike Sikowitz is behind the half-hour, which is set up at Sony Pictures Television.
THE SAINT (New!) - Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Jorge Zamacona, Bill Macdonald, Roger Moore and Geoffrey Moore are set to team to produce an independently financed two-hour TV movie/backdoor pilot based on Leslie Charteris's famed novels about debonair international thief Simon Templar. Zamacona and Macdonald previously set up the project at TNT last season (read the story) but it didn't move forward. The rights subsequently reverted back to them, after which Fontana and Levinson came aboard. Nehst Studios is behind the project while James Purefoy ("Rome") in talks to topline. Production then is set to begin next month with filming in Budapest, Hungary, New York and Puerto Rico. Since the 1997 feature starring Val Kilmer, both UPN (director John McTiernan and producer ATG in 2000) and ABC (writer Stephen Nathan and producer FremantleMedia North America in 2004) have taken stabs at developing a new small screen take.
UNTITLED NICK LACHEY PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Nick Lachey is developing a "Fame"-esque reality series set at his alma mater, the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. The untitled project then would track its students, blending their performances with a narrative about what takes place in the school. Marc Platt and Russell Heldt are executive producing alongside Lachey.
WORST WEEK (CBS) - Erinn Hayes ("The Winner") has landed the female lead in the comedy pilot, about a guy named Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) and his rocky relationship with the parents of his fiancee (Hayes) during a family holiday. Her character, Melanie "Mel" Cook, is further detailed in the casting notice as follows: "30. Sam's fiancee. She's a beautiful, warm woman who is unaffectedly striking, even when she's not wearing any make-up. Currently in her first trimester of pregnancy, Mel is throwing up on a regular basis and just trying to soldier on until she's feeling better. Very attached to Sam, she's hoping that his visit for Dick's birthday will sweeten up her parents and set the stage for their announcement of Mel's pregnancy and engagement. However, Sam's surreal string of blunders, gaffes and boneheaded misfortunes make it very hard for Mel to convince her folks that Sam is indeed Mr. Right." Jay Malone also stars in the half-hour, which comes from Universal Media Studios and executive producers Jimmy Mulville, Marc Buckland and Matt Tarses.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[08/11/25 - 05:01 PM]
"You and Everything Else" Premieres September 12 - A Story of Two Best Friends Bound by Love, Fractured by Envy
The Netflix series tells the complicated, tender story of two best friends whose lives have been tightly intertwined since they were kids.
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[08/11/25 - 12:05 PM]
ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Schedule Update: Boston Red Sox Host New York Yankees at Historic Fenway Park on September 14
In addition, on Wednesday, September 24, ESPN will exclusively air the New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs game at 8 p.m. ET.
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[08/11/25 - 11:05 AM]
A&E's New Non-Fiction Series "Family Lockup" Premieres Thursday, August 21 at 10PM ET/PT
The series follows a groundbreaking re-entry program in which estranged family members of inmates attempt to rebuild their broken relationships from within prison walls to help their incarcerated loved ones regain the support that can help them stay out of jail - for good.
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[08/11/25 - 10:00 AM]
The CW Network Sets Broadcast Crews for 2025 ACC and Pac-12 College Football
The CW's broadcast crew for ACC games will once again be led by veteran broadcaster Thom Brennaman, who is returning for his second year as play-by-play announcer for CW Sports.
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[08/11/25 - 09:15 AM]
Lori Harvey Joins the "Reasonable Doubt" Cast for Season 3
She'll play Chelsea, an unpredictable force with a troubled past that resurfaces to challenge Jax in unexpected ways.
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[08/11/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Swiped" - Official Trailer - Hulu
"Swiped" introduces recent college grad Whitney Wolfe, played by Lily James, as she uses extraordinary grit and ingenuity to break into the male-dominated tech industry and launch an innovative, globally lauded dating app (two, actually), paving the way to becoming the youngest female self-made billionaire.
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[08/11/25 - 09:00 AM]
Primetime Special "Downton Abbey Celebrates The Grand Finale" Set to Air Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 9 P.M. ET/PT on NBC and Next Day on Peacock
The one-hour telecast features special conversations with the beloved cast of the highly anticipated third and final film as they reunite at London's famed Savoy Hotel to exclusively share personal memories and never-before-told secrets from the franchise's 15-year journey.
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[08/11/25 - 08:16 AM]
Archewell Productions Extends Creative Partnership with Netflix
"With Love, Meghan" Season 2 will debut later this month.
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[08/11/25 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Haunted Hotel" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A single mother of two struggles to run a haunted hotel with the help of her estranged brother, who is now one of the ghosts haunting the hotel and thinks the other ghosts have some pretty good ideas.
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[08/11/25 - 08:00 AM]
ESPN DTC and FOX One to Launch Combined Bundle Offer
Consumers will have the opportunity to purchase the two services bundled together starting October 2 for $39.99 per month.
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[08/11/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys" - Final Trailer - Netflix
From a trio of Super Bowl triumphs to a string of controversies, this documentary series relives the wild ride of the '90s Dallas Cowboys dynasty.
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[08/11/25 - 06:30 AM]
For the First Time Ever, Hallmark and the Grand Ole Opry Share the Holiday Stage in Celebration of the Opry's Centennial Year
The duo will team for "A Grand Ole Opry Christmas," a new, original movie starring Nikki DeLoach and Kristoffer Polaha, premiering this year during Hallmark Channel's 16th annual Countdown to Christmas programming event.
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[08/11/25 - 05:07 AM]
Video: Apple TV+ Unveils First-Look Clip of Five-Part Documentary Event "Mr. Scorsese"
The five-part documentary event from acclaimed director Rebecca Miller is set to premiere globally on October 17.
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[08/11/25 - 05:01 AM]
Paramount and TKO Announce Historic UFC Media Rights Agreement
Starting in 2026, Paramount will exclusively distribute UFC's full slate of 13 marquee numbered events and 30 Fight Nights via its direct-to-consumer streaming platform, Paramount+, with select numbered events to be simulcast on CBS, Paramount's leading broadcast network.
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[08/10/25 - 04:01 PM]
New Series "Plastic Beauty" Cuts Deep into Japan's Cosmetic Surgery Industry, Premiering 2026
At the center of the Netflix series is Fumi Numata (Mayu Matsuoka), a gifted surgeon whose passion lies in saving lives through medicine.
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