 |
 |
[09/26/08 - 06:24 PM]
Development Update: Friday, September 26
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!
BUNKER HILL (A.K.A. MORSE CODE) (TNT) - The Donnie Wahlberg-led drama has been given a pilot commitment by the network. Wahlberg plays Mike Moriarty in the project, "a crime drama about a young war hero/Drug Enforcement Administration officer who works in his hometown of Boston." Walon Green and Jon Avnet are behind the Warner Horizon Television-based hour, which Avnet is directing from a script by Green. Wahlberg himself is also executive producing.
LIFE ON MARS (ABC) - Director Gary Fleder, who most recently helmed the pilots to ABC's "Finnegan" and "Life on Mars," has reupped his overall deal with sibling ABC Studios. Under the pact, he's developing an untitled hour with "Jericho" co-creator Jonathan Steinberg about a 25-year-old who becomes a senator. He'll executive produce the project via his Mojo Films banner alongside the company's development chief Mary Beth Basile. Earlier this week, Fleder signed on to direct The CW pilot "Light Years" from creator Liz Tigelaar.
THE NEW MCTOMS (FOX, New!) - Boyce Bugliari and Jamie McLaughlin (The CW's "Dash 4 Cash") are developing a new hybrid multi- and single-camera half-hour about a conservative matriarch who must face the reality of her three children marrying ethnically diverse spouses. The project is set up at Salma Hayek and Jose Tamez's ABC Studios-based Ventanarosa banner. Bugliari, McLaughlin, Hayek and Tamez then are executive producing the comedy, which has a script commitment from the network.
PROJECT RUNWAY (Bravo/Lifetime) - In a surprise move to all parties involved, a New York judge has granted a preliminary injunction on the Weinstein Co., temporarily barring the show's move from Bravo to Lifetime or marketing any such move. Said decision could derail the show's sixth season launch in January on Lifetime. Production nevertheless is continuing in Los Angeles. Lifetime inked a blockbuster five-year, $150 million deal with the Weinstein Co. back in April to acquire the series (read the story), which included 10 additional cycles of "Runway" (two 14-episode seasons per year) as well as spin-offs "The Models of Project Runway" and "Project Pygmalion" (14 episodes each) not to mention the broadcast rights to 70 Weinstein movies. NBC Universal subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Co. claiming it didn't give NBC Universal-sibling Bravo proper notification that another party had made an offer for "Runway." The claim stems from a January 2007 agreement which reportedly gave Bravo the right of first refusal for any outside bid. In any case, Judge Richard Lowe III has ordered NBC Universal to post a minimum $20 million bond as part of the trial proceedings. A timetable on how the case will proceed is expected to be set in the next month.
TRUE BLOOD (HBO) - Mehcad Brooks, Todd Lowe, Deborah Ann Woll and Michelle Forbes have been named series regulars on the show's recently ordered second season. All four actors currently recur on the inaugural season - Brooks as Benedict "Eggs" Talley, a mellow, guitar-strumming refugee from a hard life; Lowe as Terry Bellefleur; Woll as Jessica; and Forbes as Maryann.
UNTITLED DAVID GUARASCIO/MOSES PORT PROJECT (FOX, New!) - "Aliens in America" alums Moses Port and David Guarascio have booked a new single-camera comedy at the network about a twentysomething man who starts taking a mood enhancer called Blisstilan and, after snapping out of his funk, takes a job at the pharmaceutical company behind the product. The man must now navigate working for his new boss, a high-powered female executive who boasts the nickname "The Velvet Hammer." No studio was listed as being attached. Port and Guarascio will pen the pilot and executive produce.
UNTITLED DOUG JUNG PROJECT (TNT, New!) - The cable channel is in final negotiations with Jerry Bruckheimer for a new drama pilot from creator Doug Jung ("Big Love") based on an original idea by Danny Cannon. The untitled hour, which Cannon will direct from a script by Jung, is described as a "character-based police drama that follows a squad of young undercover LAPD officers as they walk the line between doing their job and being seduced into the easy money and corruption of the crime world." Cannon, Jung and Bruckheimer then will executive produce alongside Jonathan Littman for Warner Horizon Television.
THE WONDERFUL MALADYS (HBO, New!) - Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") is set to topline and executive produce a potential new comedy at the pay channel about the dysfunctional lives of three adult siblings in New York who lost their parents at a young age. Feature writer Charles Randolph ("The Interpreter") is behind the half-hour, which he penned on spec last year. Gellar's character then is detailed as having "a kind of zealous immaturity - like a drug addict with a to-do list." It's understood HBO is fast-tracking the project to begin production early next year. Gellar and Randolph are executive producing alongside Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [september 2008]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[07/17/26 - 09:31 AM]
Francesca Reale and Roby Attal Join Netflix's "This Summer Will Be Different"
Reale will play Bridget and Attal will play her brother Felix (nicknamed "Wolf") in the adaptation of Carley Fortune's novel.
|
[07/17/26 - 09:01 AM]
"Mortal Kombat II" Begins Streaming Exclusively on HBO Max July 24
The sequel stars Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis's Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada.
|
[07/17/26 - 07:31 AM]
Video: Apple TV Debuts Electrifying Trailer for "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies"
Directed and executive produced by Emmy Award winner Matthew Hamachek and Emmy Award nominee Erica Sashin, the highly anticipated three-part docuseries from Skydance Sports premieres globally on Apple TV on Friday, August 21, 2026.
|
[07/17/26 - 06:01 AM]
Eoin Macken, Roisin Gallagher, Amy Huberman, Jamie Schneider and James Craven Join Prime Video's Adaptation of Chloe Walsh's #1 New York Times Bestselling Series, "Boys of Tommen"
Look for Eoin Macken as Teddy Lynch, Róisín Gallagher as Marie Lynch, Amy Huberman as Edel Kavanagh, Jamie Schneider as Patrick Feely, and James Craven as Pierce O'Neill.
|
[07/17/26 - 05:01 AM]
Video: "One Hundred Years of Solitude" Part Two - Official Trailer - Netflix
In that instant, the keys to Melquíades were revealed to Aureliano Babilonia: the first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by ants.
|
[07/16/26 - 09:01 PM]
Video: "Someone, Someday" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A dating app CEO unknowingly befriends someone out for revenge, jeopardizing her company, her family and her dream of finding romance.
|
[07/16/26 - 02:41 PM]
FOX Sports Rings the Bell, Captures Most-Watched MLB All-Star Game Since 2018
Coverage reached a peak audience of 10,186,000 viewers from 8:45-9:00 PM ET.
|
[07/16/26 - 01:48 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2026
Starting in Q1 2027, Netflix will move from a six-month to a yearly snapshot.
|
[07/16/26 - 01:09 PM]
Messi Shines, FOX Sports is Golden with Record-Breaking England-Argentina FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinal
15.063 million viewers watched Lionel Messi and Argentina knock out England in the semifinal Wednesday afternoon on FOX.
|
[07/16/26 - 12:03 PM]
Paramount+ Reaches Nearly 16M Viewers for UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2, Peaking with Record-Breaking 8M Streams in U.S. and Latin America
The main event concluded in 69 seconds as Max Holloway secured a first-round TKO against Conor McGregor, whose return from a five-year layoff ended after he suffered an early knee injury.
|
[07/16/26 - 12:01 PM]
Video: "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe" Official Podcast - Official Trailer
After each episode, Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton will break down the biggest moments, comic book references, multiverse theories, and behind-the-scenes stories.
|
[07/16/26 - 11:33 AM]
TNT Sports to Exclusively Present NASCAR In-Season Challenge Final Four Showdown from Legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, July 19
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte and Adam Alexander will provide commentary for Sunday's race, as well as practice and qualifying on Saturday, July 18.
|
[07/16/26 - 11:00 AM]
ESPN Delivers Strongest First Half Viewership Performance Since 2012 Across Television Networks
Fans consumed a combined 288 billion minutes of sports content across ESPN and ESPN on ABC during Nielsen's first half 2026 calendar period.
|
[07/16/26 - 11:00 AM]
E! Greenlights Additional Episodes of "The Golden Life" Season One
The first half will premiere this fall on E!.
|
[07/16/26 - 10:49 AM]
Michelle Buteau, Hamish Linklater, and Simu Liu Join Elizabeth Banks in Recurring Roles in New Comedy Series from Creators Liz Heldens and Matt Ward
Good company makes for great comedy.
|
|
|
|
