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[08/07/08 - 07:01 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, August 7
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!
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? (FOX) - The network has ordered nine additional episodes of the series, bringing its third season total to 22 hours. Mark Burnett Productions and Zoo Productions are behind the project, which shifts to Friday nights starting September 5. Jeff Foxworthy hosts.
THE CONVERSATION (AMC) - Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 feature is once again being eyed for the small screen, this time at AMC. Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") and Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") are penning the latest adaptation, following their previous pass for ABC/ABC Studios in 2006. Tony Krantz and Coppola are also returning via their respective companies Flame Ventures and American Zoetrope for Sony Pictures Television. McQuarrie, Jendresen and Heather McQuarrie then will executive produce alongside Krantz. As for specifics, the new incarnation will center on electronic surveillance expert Harry Caul (played by Gene Hackman in the film) as he works as an eavesdropper with a larger, ongoing storyline about who's monitoring him as he hears conversations he shouldn't be privy to. The AMC version will also bet set in the 1970s, unlike the ABC version which was set in present day. Prior to ABC, Krantz sold a version to NBC in 1995 as an agent, with Ron Bass writing and Kyle MacLachlan attached to star.
DROP DEAD DIVA (Lifetime) - Golden Brooks ("Girlfriends") and April Bowlby ("Two and a Half Men") are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about Deb, a dead aspiring actress-model who is reincarnated in the body of Jane (Brooke Elliott), a chubby, brilliant attorney. Brooks is set as Kim Kastle, who's detailed via the casting notice as: "Late 20s-Mid 30s, all ethnicities, in a Michael Kors suit, with a blue Hermes bag. Kim is a partner at the same law firm as Jane. Confident, savvy, manipulative and rather bitchy, she is not as smart as Jane, or as well liked by the clients, but she does know how to play the office politics game. For Kim, "everything's a competition. Every woman, a threat. Every man, a conquest"." And Bowlby then is playing Stacy Punt: "Early 20s, all ethnicities, "Sports Illustrated swimsuit sexy," a vapid but sweet young woman. She is Deb's best friend. Shallow, but with a gushy, fun personality, she is offended when Deb suggests she get a job and tells her, "I'm a model." Later, Stacy is the only person in whom Jane (Deb) confides about her rather unusual situation." Jackson Hurst and Margaret Cho also star in the Sony Pictures Television-based hour, which James Hayman is helming from a script by Josh Berman.
THE INFORMANT (FOX, New!) - Tom Szentgyorgyi ("Journeyman") is developing a domestic take on the Australian series of the same name, about Richard Button, a regular middle-class suburban dad who works as a police informant for an elite federal investigative agency. Greg Haddrick was behind the original version. 20th Century Fox Television and Alchemy Entertainment are co-producing.
LOVELAND (FOX, New!) - The network is reportedly close to importing the upcoming U.K. dating series, in which participants select their dates based on interactions with computer-generated versions of potential suitors. Jo Pine created the format, which comes from Tom Gutteridge's Standing Stone Productions. Antwerp animation house Nazooka is behind the technology used in the show, which is set to roll out on Sky One later this season, as is a web-based version of the format.
SHAWN RYAN PROJECTS (Various, New!) - "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan has set up three new projects around town - "The Lead Sheet" at A&E, "Millionaires Club" at FOX and an untitled hour at FX. That's in addition to "Confessions of a Contractor" at CBS, which was announced earlier this week. All four stem from his overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. "Sheet," created by author James Ellroy, chronicles the hunt for the infamous Hillside Strangler - a prolific serial killer who tortured, raped and killed young women in 1977-78 in the hills above Los Angeles. The series then follows three police officers and two DAs as they investigate the killer, with each episode of the crime procedural starting with a tip leading to a violent crime that may or may not be related to the Strangler. Ellroy is penning the hour and executive producing alongside his manager Joel Gotler. As for "Club," the single-camera comedy revolves around a ragtag group of wannabe millionaires who keep coming up with ill-fated plots to get rich. "Semi-Pro" helmer Kent Alterman attached to direct the half-hour from a script by Ryan. And finally, Ryan is teaming with "Ocean's Eleven" writer Ted Griffin for the FX project, which is billed as a comedic drama about a private eye. Ryan is executive producing each via his MiddKid Productions banner with 20th producing the broadcast projects and Fox 21 shepherding the cable projects.
TREME (HBO) - Khandi Alexander ("CSI: Miami") and "The Wire" alums Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, a post-Katrina-themed drama which chronicles the rebuilding of New Orleans through the eyes of local musicians. David Simon and Eric Overmyer are behind the hour, which is also executive produced by Nina Noble for Simon's Blown Deadline Productions. As for specifics, Pierce will play Antoine Batiste, "an accomplished jazz trombonist who is now scratching for gigs, trying to support a live-in girlfriend and a new baby, while still carrying a torch for a failed marriage to Ladonna Batiste (Alexander), the mother of his two children, who is single-handedly keeping her bar afloat," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Peters then is set as Albert Lambreaux, a big chief of the White Feather Nation trying to bring the tribe's members home.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[07/14/26 - 12:00 PM]
FOX Sets Fall 2026 Premiere Dates for a Season of Returning Favorites, Iconic Franchises, and Big Television Moments
The network's fall season kicks off Monday, September 21 with the return of "Celebrity Name That Tune" and "Celebrity Weakest Link."
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[07/14/26 - 11:00 AM]
"Big Brother" Delivers Most-Watched Premiere Since 2021
On social media, the premiere was the most-engaged and most-viewed premiere since 2020.
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[07/14/26 - 10:52 AM]
Lifetime Reteams with Angie Harmon to Star and Executive Produce Two New Installments of "Buried in Barstow"
The wheelhouse of movies follow former assassin Hazel King (Angie Harmon) as she tries to build a quiet life for herself and her daughter but her dark past keeps coming back to haunt her.
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[07/14/26 - 10:03 AM]
New Original Competition Series "Cocktail Wars" Hosted by Lance Bass and Joey Fatone to Premiere on August 18 on E!
In a series of themed challenges, "Cocktail Wars" pits America's buzziest mixologists against each other in a lively, high-stakes competition with $10,000 on the line in every episode.
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[07/14/26 - 10:02 AM]
Ruiz Jr. Faces Knyba at Prudential Center, Newark, NJ on September 4 - Live on TNT and DAZN
The third headline show of TNT Sports and DAZN's "The Fight," the new monthly live boxing series, will be broadcast co-exclusively in the U.S. on TNT, truTV?and DAZN and worldwide on DAZN.
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[07/14/26 - 09:43 AM]
CBS Leads 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations with 48
"Beyond the Gates" and "The Young and the Restless" both received nominations for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series.
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[07/14/26 - 09:31 AM]
Netflix and Mythical Partner Up to Bring "Good Mythical Morning," "Mythical Kitchen" and "Last Meals" to Netflix
Beginning September 7, the same day as "Good Mythical Morning's" season 30 premiere, members can watch new episodes dropping day-and-date alongside YouTube and a library of episodes from these iconic series, giving fans more ways to enjoy their daily dose of Mythical entertainment.
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[07/14/26 - 09:06 AM]
"The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only Live" - Premiere Event Performance to Make Streaming Debut on AMC+ on August 23
Additionally, highlights from the electrifying premiere event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, will be screened for fans in Hall H at Comic Con International on Friday, July 24.
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[07/14/26 - 09:01 AM]
FOX Nation Teams Up with Conor McGregor and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship for New Competition Series "World's Baddest Man"
Premiering in summer of 2027, the series is hosted by McGregor, who is prominently featured throughout as elite domestic and international fighters compete in a high-stakes, bracket-style tournament for the chance to be crowned the World's Baddest Man.
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[07/14/26 - 08:42 AM]
ESPN to Air 2026 WNBA All-Star Draft Featuring Legends Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon on July 15
The 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game will be played in Chicago at United Center on Saturday, July 25, and broadcast on ABC and Disney+ (8:30 p.m. ET).
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[07/14/26 - 08:01 AM]
First Look at Suspenseful New Thriller Series "Below" - On Netflix October 8
Calvin Penney (Josh Hartnett) is a big hearted but stubborn fisherman living in a small Newfoundland town, who's still haunted by his father's mysterious death from decades ago.
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[07/14/26 - 08:00 AM]
TLC's New Series "Double Lives of Suburban Wives" Reveals Secrets Behind Everyday Suburban Lives
The series follows these couples as they navigate the complexities of marriage, parenthood and suburban life alongside careers in adult content creation.
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[07/14/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "The Shards" - Official Trailer - FX
Set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of privileged high school seniors at an elite prep school as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, obsession and the dangers lurking beneath the surface of American adolescence.
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[07/14/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "The Whisper Man" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.
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[07/14/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: Apple Original Films Unveils Trailer for Action-Packed "Mayday"
Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh team up in "Mayday," a genre-bending, action-packed buddy comedy that flips the spy thriller on its head.
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