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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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[09/25/16 - 11:26 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Tops Demos with College Football
The Alphabet wins the night among adults 18-49 while CBS is the most-watched network.
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[09/25/16 - 11:18 AM]
"This Is Us" Grabs NBC's Best Premiere Live + 3 Lift Ever in 18-49 Rating
NBC further spins the numbers for Tuesday, September 20.
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[09/25/16 - 11:02 AM]
FOX Comedies - "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "New Girl" and "Scream Queens" - See Significant Gains in Live + 3
FOX further spins the numbers for Tuesday, September 20.
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[09/25/16 - 10:12 AM]
College Football Week 4: ESPN/ABC with Five of the Six Highest Overnights Across All Networks
ESPN spins the numbers for Saturday, September 24.
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[09/25/16 - 08:30 AM]
ABC's "S.H.I.E.L.D." Is Tuesday's Biggest Gainer in Adults 18-49 with a Best-Ever 82% Jump
ABC further spins the numbers for Tuesday, September 20.
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[09/24/16 - 11:16 AM]
FOX Hit Dramas - "Gotham" and "Lucifer" - See Significant Gains in Live + 3
FOX further spins the numbers for Monday, September 19.
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[09/24/16 - 10:06 AM]
Monday's "The Good Place" Is the Week's Top Debut Half-Hour of a New Comedy in Live + 3
NBC further spins the numbers for Monday, September 19.
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[09/24/16 - 08:48 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "MacGyver" Debuts on Top for CBS
The Eye's reboot leads the night in both total viewers and adults 18-49.
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[09/23/16 - 02:31 PM]
"Superstore" Is Stocking Up! NBC Orders Full Second Season
NBC's crowd-pleasing comedy "Superstore" has added nine more episodes to its inventory bringing the season total to 22.
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[09/23/16 - 12:21 PM]
Oxygen Media Presents "Snapped: Notorious - The Menendez Brothers" Premiering Sunday, October 2nd from 9PM - 11PM ET/PT
Oxygen Media will take an unflinching look at the Menendez Brothers' case, from their privileged upbringing, to the shocking details of their savage crime, to the ongoing debate that asks: Are the brothers monsters? Or are they victims of parental abuse?
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[09/23/16 - 12:18 PM]
Video: "Shameless" Season Seven Premiere Available Now Across Multiple Platforms
Said installment comes in advance of its linear premiere on Sunday, October 2.
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[09/23/16 - 11:10 AM]
Showtime(R) Presents "Sebastian Maniscalco: Why Would You Do That?"
Directed by Joe Demaio, written by Maniscalco and filmed live at New York City's famed Beacon Theatre during one of the seven sold-out shows on his 2016 tour, the hour-long special is chock-full of skepticism.
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[09/23/16 - 10:06 AM]
Freeform Greenlights Development on Late-Night Series with Comedian Iliza Shlesinger
"A late-night show has been THE goal for me and I'm ready to throw my hat into the ring," said Shlesinger.
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[09/23/16 - 10:03 AM]
AMC Renews Travel Docu-Series "Ride with Norman Reedus" Featuring Star of "The Walking Dead" for Second Season
Season two will consist of six one-hour episodes featuring "The Walking Dead" actor and motorcycle and travel enthusiast Reedus as he takes viewers back on the open road to journey to amazing places and sample local cultures.
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[09/23/16 - 09:54 AM]
Comedy Central Announces Slate of Stand-Up Specials Filming This Fall with Comedians Lewis Black, Kurt Braunohler, Joe DeRosa, Mark Normand and Roy Wood Jr.
"Lewis Black: Black to the Future" kicks things off on Friday, October 7.
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