or


[04/04/08 - 12:00 AM]
Development Update: Friday, April 4
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!


CAN OPENERS (CBS) - Eion Bailey ("ER") is the latest addition to the drama pilot presentation, about a brain surgeon (Lauren Lee Smith) who fights to survive in the competitive boys club that is the seven-year neurosurgical residency. He's set as Dr. Pete Anderson, a chief resident at the end of his seven-year neurosurgical residency. Sony Pictures Television and Apostle Productions are behind the project, which comes from creator Elle Johnson and fellow executive producers Denis Leary and Jim Serpico. Production is set to begin shortly in New York City.


DOLLHOUSE (FOX) - Olivia Williams ("X-Men: The Last Stand") is the latest addition to Joss Whedon's upcoming drama series, about a group of young men and women, known as "Dolls," who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. She'll play Adelle DeWitt, who's detailed in the casting notice as follows: "40 something, any ethnicity, beautiful, sophisticated, cold as an alp. Runs the Dollhouse with an efficiency that is both ruthless and protective. Would die before she showed anyone how lonely she is." There she'll join the previously cast Dichen Lachman, Eliza Dushku, Enver Gjokaj, Fran Kranz and Tahmoh Penikett. Whedon wrote the pilot and is directing for 20th Century Fox Television.


EXIT 19 (CBS) - Matthew Lillard ("Scooby-Doo") is set to star opposite Geena Davis in the drama pilot presentation, about Gloria (Davis), a quirky Manhattan homicide detective who also is a single mom to two kids in the suburbs on Long Island. He'll play Gloria's younger brother who lives with her. Jeffrey Bell is behind the ABC Studios/CBS Paramount Network Television-based project, which also comes from fellow executive producers Gene Stein and Nina Wass.


NY-LON (CBS) - Will Kemp ("Step Up 2: The Streets") has been tapped as the male lead in the drama pilot, about a New York store clerk (Elisha Cuthbert) and a London stock broker (Kemp) who embark on a cross-continental romance. His character, Michael Antonioni, is further detailed in the casting notice as follows: "30-34, British, rakishly handsome, charming, and confident. He's a successful, ambitious broker. He has plenty of casual relationships with women but has avoided intimacy. Mostly because he has extensive responsibilities; he supports his younger sister in college, his nephew and sister-in-law, and is about to take on his newly pregnant on-again/off-again sex partner. He won't be an irresponsible father like his own dad and his deadbeat brother. He's deeply emotional but that's masked with wit, charm, and cockiness. Until he falls hard for Edie, even though he's from a different world. Then he's hooked. He likes Edie's independence; she's different from the women he knows." Stephen Moyer played said role in the U.K. original. Caterina Scorsone and Johnny Whitworth also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, which comes from creators Lara Runnels and Patti Carr. Armyan Bernstein, Chris Coelen, Laurie Zaks and Rob Pursey also serve as executive producers while Larry Shaw is directing.


SMALLVILLE (The CW) - Co-creators/executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar are departing the veteran drama after seven seasons. "As the creators of 'Smallville' we look back at 7 amazing years. We look back at 152 episodes. We look back knowing that the show will continue into Season 8 without us. After much heartache and debate we have decided it is time for us to move on," began an open letter to the show's fans on Kryptonsite.com. In their absence, fellow executive producers Darren Swimmer, Todd Slavkin, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will now serve as showrunners beginning next season.


SONY PICTURES TELEVISION (New!) - Graham Yost ("Raines"), Kevin Falls ("Journeyman"), David Guarascio & Moses Port ("Aliens in America"), Josh Berman ("Vanished"), Jenny Bicks ("Men in Trees"), Bill Martin & Mike Schiff ("Cavemen") and Will Gluck ("The Loop") have all inked development deals with the studio. The pacts, ranging from blind, two-script commitments to multi-year overall deals, come after said parties were force majeured out of their previous studio pacts during the recent WGA strike. Yost, Guarascio and Port were previously based at Universal Media Studios while Bicks was at Warner Bros. Television, Martin and Schiff at ABC Studios, Gluck at CBS Paramount Network Television and Berman and Falls at 20th Century Fox Television.


SPACED (FOX) - Yara Martinez ("The Unit") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about two strangers (Sara Rue, Josh Lawson) who pose as a married couple in order to rent an apartment. She'll play Marsha Klein, the woman's best friend. Julia Deakin originated said role in the original U.K. version. Federico Dordei also stars in the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour, which Charles Stone is directing from a script by Adam Barr. Barr then is executive producing alongside Granada International's Robert Green and Wonderland Sound and Vision's McG and Peter Johnson.


STYLEDOME (The CW, New!) - BermanBraun ("Duel") and Super Delicious Productions ("Amne$ia") have scored a pilot commitment from the network for a new reality project which combines the traditional beauty makeover series with a race-against-the-clock competition show. The former's Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun are executive producing the hour alongside the latter's Joanna Vernetti, Cara Tapper and Adam Cohen. As for specifics, each week well-known stylists will head up a team of makeover artists as they attempt to give new looks to three worthy contestants. A live audience vote following the reveal then determines the winner. No prize however was mentioned.


Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [april 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· ALIENS IN AMERICA (CW)
· AMNE$IA (NBC)
· CAN OPENERS (CBS)
· CAVEMEN (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOLLHOUSE (FOX)
· DUEL (ABC)
· ER (NBC)
· EXIT 19 (CBS)
· JOURNEYMAN (NBC)
· LOOP, THE (FOX)
· MEN IN TREES (ABC)
· NY-LON (CBS)
· RAINES (NBC)
· SMALLVILLE (CW)
· SPACED (FOX)
· STYLEDOME (CW)
· UNIT, THE (CBS)
· VANISHED (FOX)





[09/01/25 - 08:02 AM]
Video: "Dan Da Dan" Season 2 - Official Trailer 3 - Netflix
The mystery around Jiji's family boils over as Momo, Okarun and Turbo Granny investigate the strange hot spring town and its even stranger secrets.

[09/01/25 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "House of Guinness" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Dublin, 1868. The Guinness family patriarch is dead, and his four children - each with dark secrets to hide - hold the brewery's fate in their hands.

[09/01/25 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "Canelo vs. Crawford" - Special Trailer - Netflix
Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford clash in a mega-fight for boxing's unified super middleweight crown live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

[09/01/25 - 03:00 AM]
Warwick Davis Comes Back to Hogwarts in HBO Original "Harry Potter" Television Series
Davis will return as Professor Filius Flitwick, marking his homecoming to the wizarding world in a role he originated for the film series.

[09/01/25 - 12:01 AM]
Video: "Platonic: Blue Moon Hotel" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When a suave stranger with a hidden agenda checks into the Blue Moon Hotel, chaos and raunchy romance ensnare the two unhinged sisters who work there.

[08/31/25 - 11:31 AM]
Video: "Inside: USA" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Twelve creators. One week. A cash prize of $1,000,000. All these Insiders have to do is survive the challenges and not blow the money. Easy, right?

[08/31/25 - 09:02 AM]
Video: "Portobello" - Official Teaser - HBO Max
The series, by Marco Bellocchio and starring Fabrizio Gifuni as Enzo Tortora, will premiere the first two episodes at the 82nd Venice Film Festival.

[08/30/25 - 08:12 AM]
Video: Trailer & Key Art Debut - Hulu's "Chad Powers"
Hulu's new six-episode comedy series starring Glen Powell will premiere September 30 with two episodes.

[08/29/25 - 10:46 AM]
National Geographic Documentary Films Announces Global Acquisition of Streaming Rights to Werner Herzog Documentary "Ghost Elephants" Following Venice World Premiere
The documentary will make its U.S. premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend.

[08/29/25 - 10:08 AM]
"Prison Break" Turns 20: Executive Producer Dawn Olmstead Curates Episode Collections on Hulu
It's been 20 years since Michael Scofield entered Fox River State Penitentiary on a mission: break brother Lincoln out.

[08/29/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "French Lover" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When a jaded actor meets a down-on-her-luck waitress in Paris, their unexpected love story begins - but will it survive the glare of the spotlight?

[08/29/25 - 08:02 AM]
Video: Prime Video Unveils Paris Trailer and New Cast for the Final Episodes of "The Summer I Turned Pretty"
Joining the series in recurring roles are Corinna Brown, Fernando Cattori, Isaline Prevost Radeff, and Jahz Armando.

[08/29/25 - 05:43 AM]
"Sounds of Summer" - Feel-Good, Music-Packed Movie About Swedish Pop Icons Gyllene Tider Makes Exclusive US Debut Thursday, September 18, 2025 on Viaplay
Directed by Per Simonsson and named after the band's most enduring hit, "Sounds of Summer" is a breezy, very inspiring 97-minute ride that follows Gessle from small-town outsider to pop trailblazer.

[08/29/25 - 03:01 AM]
Video: "RIV4LRIES" - Official Trailer - Netflix
At a middle school in Pisa, no one has ever challenged the cool kids - until new girl Terry arrives with bold ideas and the rivalries begin.

[08/29/25 - 02:01 AM]
Video: "Love Is Blind: UK" Season 2 - The Reunion - Official Trailer - Netflix
Who's saying "I still do?" Emma and Matt host this season's couples and special guests as tea is spilled and secrets are revealed in a fiery reunion.