 |
 |
[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 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[10/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
Brewers Triumph on FS1 Delivers Most-Watched LCS Game 3 Telecast Since 2016
On FS1, Game 3 averaged 6,460,000 viewers.
|
[10/16/26 - 01:12 PM]
ESPN Documentary Film "The Endless Race" Premieres Oct. 29 on Hulu
The film will also air Sunday, November 1 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN and stream afterward on the ESPN App later that day.
|
[10/16/26 - 12:34 PM]
Season 5 of "True Detective" Starts Production in 2027
Nicolas Cage and Antonio Banderas will star in the anthology's next season.
|
[10/16/26 - 12:15 PM]
ESPN Collaborates with Ferg on New NBA Marketing Campaign Featuring Unreleased Tracks "Can't Stop Me" & "Aura"
"Aura" debuts in ESPN creative on October 16 and aims to drive awareness of the major star-driven games on ESPN platforms to tip off the season, while the campaign began October 4 with "Can't Stop Me."
|
[10/16/26 - 11:45 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores with Show's "Super Bowl Night"
In fact, among Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" grew for the fourth telecast in a row, hitting a season high and posting the show's best non-finale episode in over nine years.
|
[10/16/26 - 11:00 AM]
Video: Starz Unveils Opening Scene of Highly Anticipated "P-Valley" Final Season
This will mark the first extended preview for fans ahead of the highly anticipated debut of the third and final season with two new episodes Friday, December 4.
|
[10/16/26 - 10:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late Night
"20/20: Born to Kill" ranked as Friday's No.1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.
|
[10/16/26 - 10:23 AM]
Prime Video Orders "Rally" to Series from Julie Plec, Universal Television, Entertainment 360 and Amazon MGM Studios
Let the games begin!
|
[10/16/26 - 09:00 AM]
"Lil Kev" Is Back! Inspired by Kevin Hart's Childhood, The Animated Comedy Series Returns for Season Two Wednesday, December 9 Exclusively on Paramount+
Set in 1993 North Philadelphia, "Lil Kev" follows twelve-year-old Kev as his enormous ambition and wild imagination fuel one scheme after another.
|
[10/16/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Tyler Perry's The Gospel of Christmas" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A struggling pastor moves his family to a troubled New York neighborhood, where they must save a neglected church from foreclosure before Christmas.
|
[10/15/26 - 11:31 PM]
Video: "Chaar Yaar" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
"Chaar Yaar" is a story of four middle-class boys, their dreams, setbacks and friendship being their armour.
|
[10/15/26 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Dead-End Job" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Drowning in debt, a young man takes lucrative part-time jobs from a mysterious agency - only to find his hustle for more money turning nightmarish.
|
[10/15/26 - 05:00 PM]
The Walt Disney Company Goes for Baseball Home Run with Banana Ball Tournament and Documentary in 2027
Following Banana Ball's 10-year journey, from its humble beginnings in Savannah, Georgia, to a phenomenon known as "The Greatest Show in Sports," the documentary will give fans an inside look at the stories, personalities and community behind it all.
|
[10/15/26 - 02:55 PM]
Super Bowl Season Success: Bills-Rams Thriller Propels "Monday Night Football" to Best Five-Week Start of ESPN Era
The matchup featuring the NFL's two most recent MVPs averaged 19.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.
|
[10/15/26 - 02:52 PM]
Peter Rice Named Netflix Chief Content Officer
He replaces Bela Bajaria, who is leaving Netflix after nearly 10 years, most recently leading the Company's global content team.
|
|
|
|
