 |
 |
[10/01/08 - 06:08 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, October 1
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!
EVERYBODY HURTS (HBO, New!) - Iconic producer Norman Lear is developing a new drama at the pay channel about a family running a pro-wrestling business in 1970s New York, the lives of their wrestlers and their fans. Aaron Blitzstein ("The Riches") is penning the pilot script, which Lear will executive produce alongside Lara Bergthold via his Act III Productions banner. Blitzstein then will serve as a co-executive producer.
GLEE (FOX) - Cory Monteith ("Kaya") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a Spanish teacher (Matthew Morrison) suddenly called upon to coach the glee club at the high school - one of the worst in the nation. He'll play Finn Hudson, who's detailed in the casting notice as follows: "18+ or emancipated to play high school. A handsome jock, who looks too kind to be hanging out with the rest of the slope-browed Neanderthals on the Harrison High football team, Finn in fact has an excellent singing voice, and a slumbering passion for classic 80s rock. A kid who has the collected works of Journey committed to memory, Finn is blackmailed by Will Schuester into joining the Glee Club, and in fact Finn finds music to be more fun than grunting and butting heads with other guys. Mercilessly mocked by his buddies for joining the Glee Club, Finn proves to have an acerbically accurate vision of the nature of high school society, and clearly regards it all as an exercise in futile time-wasting." Jayma Mays and Lea Michele also star in the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which comes from co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.
THE GRAYSONS (The CW, New!) - "Smallville" executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson are set to team with "Supernatural" executive producer McG for a small screen take on the life of DC Comics hero Dick "DJ" Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman. The netlet has given a put pilot commitment to the hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television and McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision banner. Souders, Peterson, McG and Wonderland's Peter Johnson then are the executive producers with Souders and Peterson penning the script. No specifics about the show's mythology however were given.
THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY (NBC, New!)/UNTITLED JEFF RAKE DRAMA PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Jeff Rake ("Cashmere Mafia") has booked a pair of projects at NBC and FOX. First up is a single-camera take on the classic 1970-74 sitcom "The Partridge Family." Reveille, Geffen Records and Sony Pictures Television are co-producing the half-hour, which will be reimagined to feature a struggling, sort of well-meaning mom pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow. Over at FOX, Rake has an untitled hour inspired by the government's real-life Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The project then tracks "a Pentagon-based inventor who decided he couldn't live another day standing on the sidelines while Rome burns and accordingly set out put his inventions to very real use, behind the back of friends, family and the entire U.S. government." Mitch Hurwitz, Eric and Kim Tannenbaum's Sony Television-based Tantamount is behind the hour, which Anthony and Joe Russo are attached to direct. Both projects have a script commitment with a penalty attached should they not move forward.
THE TOWER (CBS) - "K-Ville" alum Cole Hauser has sealed a talent deal with CBS and its studio sibling CBS Paramount Network Television. The pact calls for the pair to develop a new series project for the actor, who starred in the recent CBS pilot "The Tower," or cast him in one of their existing projects in development.
UNTITLED VALERILE BERTINELLI PROJECT (TBS) - Nadia Dajani, Kevin G. Schmidt and Dean Collins are the latest additions to the comedy pilot, which stars Valerie Bertinelli as Claire Peterson, a newly separated woman who is raising two teens while running a lumber business. Dajani will play Lisa Capelli, whom the casting notice details as follows: "Late 30s, all ethnicities, with a larger-than-life personality, Lisa is Claire's next door neighbor, best friend and confidante. A tough-minded single woman who makes a decent living as a magazine photo-journalist, Lisa has held Claire's hand throughout her divorce from the infamously irresponsible Gary Peterson. It's not just a one-way street; Lisa gets to chow down on Claire's vanilla pecan waffles in exchange for her gruff, down-to-earth advice about men and divorce and post-divorce trauma. Lisa's also good in a pinch for a short-term loan to help Claire cover this month's mortgage."
Schmidt then is set as Daniel Peterson - "To play 16 years old, insecure but bright and quick-witted. Daniel is Claire's son, and the divorce will force him to grow up faster than either one of them would like, complicating their relationship. His lousy job at a cheese store is barely tolerable, since it will pay this avid fisherman enough to buy a new dinghy, and let him fish his beloved Wisconsin lakes. Best friends with the mischievous and somewhat unreliable Hunter, Daniel is having a hard time dealing with his parents' divorce, but he's hiding it quite well. When his mom balks at spending money to repair the dryer, Daniel gets fed up with wearing sopping jeans, and buckles down to the grinding task of installing a new motor in the dryer, with Hunter's questionable aid. It's his first decision as the man of the house." with Collins as Hunter - "About 16, all ethnicities. Hunter is Daniel's mischievous, kinda girl-crazy best friend. Not the most dependable guy on Earth, Hunter is just as obsessive about fishing as Daniel -- but with Hunter, fishing is just another of a long series of time-wasters. Not a detail-oriented guy (Hunter would rather ogle than focus), he assists Daniel in the dull task of putting a new motor in the dryer, and Daniel fixes the appliance in spite of Hunter's questionable help." The trio joins the previously cast Anjelah Johnson and Juliette Goglia on the project, which comes from creator Dave Caplan.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [october 2008]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[04/29/26 - 04:01 PM]
"American Idol" Scores 5.3 Million Total Viewers with Biggest Audience in Over 2 Months During Taylor Swift Night
Monday's episode was the No. 1 entertainment program on the night among Total Viewers (5.34 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.42 rating).
|
[04/29/26 - 02:41 PM]
Record Breaker! ESPN Airs Most-Viewed First Round Game 5 Ever on Cable, Extending Milestone Run of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday averaged 2 million viewers, up 190% vs. ESPN's First Round Game 5 average last year.
|
[04/29/26 - 12:17 PM]
First-of-Its-Kind Competition Reality Series "Designed to Last" Begins Streaming May 5
Hosted by Maria Menounos, the Hulu series follows three teams of architects, engineers, and inventors as they compete in 10-hour build challenges, modifying tiny homes to withstand specific environmental hazards.
|
[04/29/26 - 10:31 AM]
Netflix Announces the Emmy Nominated Masterpiece, "Bad Thoughts," Tom Segura's Dark and Twisted Comedic Series, Will Return for Its Second Season on May 24
In this six-episode dark comedic series, Tom Segura navigates unthinkable situations and fantasies within a cinematic world.
|
[04/29/26 - 10:01 AM]
Netflix Announces New Adult Animated Comedy Series "Dad's House"
In small-town suburban Australia, thirteen year old child of divorce, Sean, spends every second weekend with his laidback, but well meaning dad, Ian.
|
[04/29/26 - 10:01 AM]
HBO Original Documentary "The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas" Debuts May 13
The film is a tapestry of personal vignettes from across the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in America.
|
[04/29/26 - 09:46 AM]
Netflix Wins Romantic Drama "Lovesick," Orders Hot Package Straight-to-Series
The straight-to-series Netflix drama stars Danes as Annika, a renowned breast cancer surgeon whose world changes after receiving her own cancer diagnosis.
|
[04/29/26 - 09:13 AM]
CNN FlashDoc "Behind the Bob: Vogue's Anna Wintour" Now Streaming on CNN App
The documentary special is now streaming at CNN.com/Watch and on the CNN app for streaming subscribers and will air Sunday, May 3 at 8pm ET on CNN, just one night before the iconic Met Gala.
|
[04/29/26 - 09:05 AM]
"The Other Bennet Sister" Premiere: BritBox Shines a Light on Austen's Overlooked Heroine This May
Other highlights include "Twenty Twenty Six," "I Literally Just Told You," and "QI."
|
[04/29/26 - 09:01 AM]
Celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th Birthday with "Ocean with David Attenborough"
The world's preeminent natural historian turns 100 on May 8.
|
[04/29/26 - 09:01 AM]
Season 2 of "Ransom Canyon" Returns to Netflix on Thursday, July 23, 2026
The new season of the beloved western drama, starring Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly, features eight brand new episodes.
|
[04/29/26 - 09:00 AM]
Video: The Main Stage Is Set - Trailer and Guest Judges Revealed for "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" Season 11 Premiering May 8 on Paramount+
Brian Tyree Henry, Bronwyn Newport, Christina Ricci, Cooper Koch, Evan Mulrooney, Gina Gershon, Jamal Sims, Janelle James, Juno Temple, Kate Hudson, La Toya Jackson, Law Roach and Reneé Rapp will serve as celebrity guest judges for the eleventh season.
|
[04/29/26 - 08:28 AM]
First Look at Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan and Robert De Niro in "The Whisper Man," Premiering August 28th
When his eight-year-old son is abducted, a widowed crime writer looks to his estranged father, a retired former police detective, for help, only to discover a connection with the decades-old case of a convicted serial killer known as "The Whisper Man."
|
[04/29/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: Peacock Debuts First Look Teaser & New July 9 Premiere Date for "The Five Star Weekend"
The series stars Jennifer Garner, D'Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Harlow Jane and Timothy Olyphant.
|
[04/29/26 - 08:00 AM]
TLC Unveils New Season of "90 Day: The Last Resort" as Six Couples Face Make-or-Break Moments in an English Castle
This season, "90 Day Fiance" couples Jenny and Sumit, Shekinah and Sarper, Kara and Guillermo, Paola and Russ, Thais and Patrick, and Rebecca and Zied have all reached relationship breaking points.
|
|
|
|
