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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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[07/10/26 - 10:30 AM]
Prime Video Renews Epic Biblical Drama "House of David" for Season Three
Season One, which captivated more than 40 million viewers worldwide, is now streaming on Wonder Project and Prime Video alongside Season Two.
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[07/10/26 - 09:00 AM]
"Star Trek" Beams Back to San Diego, Celebrating "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" and the Franchise's 60th Anniversary at Comic-Con International
Join the cast and executive producers of the hit series for an exclusive look at what's ahead, along with a special celebration of "Star Trek's" 60th anniversary featuring legendary talent from across the franchise.
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[07/10/26 - 07:30 AM]
Peacock to Exclusively Stream Record-Shattering Cultural Phenomenon "Obsession" Beginning July 17
After two months in theaters, the indie horror phenom continues to break records and recently surpassed the $400 million milestone at the global box office.
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[07/09/26 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Our Sticky Love" - Official Teaser - Netflix
An ambitious prosecutor loses her memory and moves in with a boxing coach who claims to be her boyfriend. Can this sticky situation turn into real love?
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[07/09/26 - 04:15 PM]
FOX Sports Scores Most-Watched FIFA Men's World Cup Round of 16 in English-Language U.S. History
Round of 16 coverage averaged 14.465 million viewers.
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[07/09/26 - 03:12 PM]
History Made on FOX: 33.086 Million Viewers for Belgium-USMNT - Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in U.S. on Record
The broadcast reached a peak audience of 41.033 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 PM ET.
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[07/09/26 - 03:08 PM]
TNT Sports Delivers Its Most-Watched Start Ever for MLB Tuesday
TNT Sports' coverage of the 2026 MLB regular season is averaging 466,000 viewers across TBS, truTV and HBO Max through its first half of the season (15 games), up 21% vs. 2025.
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[07/09/26 - 01:04 PM]
Tracey Ullman, Sam Spruell and Jerome Flynn Join the Season Two Cast of FX's "Alien: Earth" Coming to FX and Hulu
Production on the highly-anticipated second season of FX's "Alien: Earth" is underway in London.
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[07/09/26 - 12:48 PM]
TNT Sports & DAZN Deliver Strong Cross-Platform Audience & Engagement for Inaugural "The Fight" Event
The live championship card peaked with 820,000 viewers on TNT, truTV and DAZN from 11:45 p.m.-12 a.m. ET during the main event.
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[07/09/26 - 12:42 PM]
Women's Sports Sundays on ESPN Drives Strong Audience Growth Across WNBA and AUSL
The Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces matchup on Sunday, July 5, averaged 1.6 million viewers on ESPN, peaking with 1.8 million viewers.
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[07/09/26 - 12:06 PM]
FOX Sports Reveals Broadcaster Match Assignments for Star-Studded FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarterfinals
John Strong and Stu Holden, FOX Sports' lead announcer team for the FIFA World Cup 2026, call the opening match of the Quarterfinals featuring Kylian Mbappé and France vs. Achraf Hakimi and Morocco on Thursday, July 9.
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[07/09/26 - 12:01 PM]
Video: "Marshals" Season 2 Coming This Fall - CBS
You haven't heard all the Dutton stories yet.
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[07/09/26 - 10:51 AM]
Shaquille O'Neal, Authentic Brands Group & TNT Sports' "Dunkman Presented by Lilly" - the World's First Professional Dunk League - to Take Flight Tuesday, July 21, at 8 p.m. ET
The five weekly live telecasts will feature 24 of the best dunkers competing in a brand-new league format for the title of World Champion and a grand prize of $500,000.
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[07/09/26 - 10:31 AM]
Academy Award Nominee Andrea Riseborough Joins the Cast of "9/12" for Paramount+
The upcoming six-episode limited series tells the story of the David vs. Goliath fight that exposed corruption and won justice for 9/11's ailing heroes.
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[07/09/26 - 10:31 AM]
Netflix Announces Golf Drama "Jupiter Island" & Connor Hines Signs New Creative Partnership
"Jupiter Island" takes place on an ultra-exclusive island where professional golfers reign supreme - until a secret upends their carefully curated world.
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