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[12/26/08 - 06:43 PM]
Development Update: Week of December 22-26
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!
BITCHES (FOX, New!) - Feature writer Michael Dougherty ("Superman Returns") has scored a hefty script commitment from the network for a new drama about a quartet of female friends in New York who are werewolves. The project, which has a penalty attached should it not move forward to pilot, is set up at Warner Bros. Television. Writer/producers Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts ("Pushing Daisies") have been tapped to supervise Dougherty and executive produce. No other specifics were given.
GILMORE GIRLS (The CW) - One day after filing a lawsuit against CBS over "Two and a Half Men" (see below), Warner Bros. Television itself has been sued by producer Gavin Polone over "Gilmore Girls." The breach-of-contract lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims the vertically integrated Time Warner companies Warner Bros. Television and The WB "have colluded to defraud the originator of hit 'Gilmore Girls' television series with a scheme that rivals the greed and bravado of any story line defendants could script." Hofflund/Polone, Polone's company with Judy Hofflund, alleges the "modified adjusted gross," the money the show earns after costs are deducted, for "Gilmore's" first six seasons was modified by the studio - through "collusion among defendants to set below-market license fees" and a series of improper charges - which cut into Hofflund/Polone's profits as a result. A third-party audit commissioned by Hofflund/Polone in October 2006 alleges that number was understated by $45.5 million and the company has asked for "tens of millions of dollars" in damages as a result. Warner Bros. has yet to comment on the suit.
LOST & FOUND (NBC) - Australian actor Damon Herriman ("All Saints") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, which centers on Tessa Cooper (Katee Sackhoff), an offbeat LAPD detective who, after butting heads with higher-ups, is sent as punishment to the basement to work on John and Jane Doe cases. He'll play Anthony Yeckel, an oddball civilian consultant to the police's lost-and-found department who has an obsessive love of old detective TV shows. Brian Cox and Josh Cooke also star in the Universal Media Studios/Wolf Films-based hour, which Michael Engler is directing from a script by creator Chris Levinson.
TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS) - Warner Bros. Television filed a $49 million breach of contract lawsuit against CBS on Tuesday. Said suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims the network owes Warner Bros. additional fees toward the production deficit carried by the studio. The "deficit recoupment" was understood to be tied to "Men" hitting certain ratings milestones as specified by the show's original four-year license agreement signed in 2003. The suit indicates the studio incurred a $61.1 million deficit over the course of the first four years of the show (for instance CBS paid $750,000 per episode during "Men's" first season while Warner Bros. actual cost to produce the show came in at $1.22 million), a cost which CBS would cover should "Men" finish as a top 10 show. Additionally, should "Men" finish in the top five in its fourth season, CBS would pay an additional $650,000 more per episode in the fifth and sixth seasons (with a downward scale from there). "CBS has reaped the benefits of the tremendous success of 'Two and a Half Men" but wants to deny Warner Bros. the right to its agreed-upon share," Warner Bros. said in a statement. CBS countered with simply, "Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas."
UGLY BETTY (ABC) - "Dexter" co-star Lauren Velez has booked a multi-episode arc on the Thursday dramedy. She'll play Elena, a nurse that enters the lives of the Suarez family, whom reports speculate will be linked to a major plot development. It's not clear when her first episode will air.
UNTITLED MARIA BELLO PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Maria Bello ("The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor") is set to topline a potential new drama at the pay channel about a woman who's forced into a life of crime to support her three teenage sons after her husband is killed. Gary Lennon ("The Shield") is penning the hour, which sees the woman using her sons as henchmen, leading them all down a destructive road. Bello herself will executive produce alongside Lennon, Gavin Polone and John Carrabino.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[03/03/25 - 01:15 PM]
Prime Video Orders Two-Part Documentary Special "Octopus!" Executive Produced and Narrated by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
The documentary transports viewers into the otherworldly depths of one of the most intelligent and mysterious life forms on Earth as it follows the Giant Pacific Octopus from birth to death.
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[03/03/25 - 12:00 PM]
Krysten Ritter to Guest Star in Showtime Original Series "Dexter: Resurrection"
Production kicked off in January in New York and the series is set to launch in summer of 2025 on Paramount+ with Showtime.
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[03/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: FX's "Alien: Earth," "Dying For Sex," "Adults," "The Bear," & More Coming Soon to Hulu - FX
The award-winning collection awaits.
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[03/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Iliza Shlesinger: A Different Animal" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Comedian, mother, Millennial ambassador. "Iliza Shlesinger: A Different Animal" premieres March 11.
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[03/03/25 - 09:00 AM]
Video: Max Unveils March 6 Premiere Date, Key Art, and Trailer for New Original Preschool Series "Dylan's Playtime Adventures"
Based on the beloved Scholastic book series by bestselling author/illustrator Guy Parker-Rees, the show premieres Thursday, March 6.
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[03/03/25 - 08:48 AM]
Video: "Miss Austen" Trailer
Don't miss this fascinating, witty, and heartbreaking story of sisterly love starring Keeley Hawes, premiering on Sunday, May 4.
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[03/03/25 - 08:01 AM]
Nickelodeon and Spin Master Entertainment Pick Up "PAW Patrol" and "Rubble & Crew" for New Episode Orders
Both series have been picked up for an additional 26 episodes each, marking seasons 12 and 13 for the award-winning animated series "PAW Patrol," and the third and fourth seasons of "Rubble & Crew."
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[03/03/25 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When the village druid forgets how to prepare their magic potion, Asterix, Obelix and the Gauls must find new ways to keep the Roman conquerors at bay.
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[03/03/25 - 07:30 AM]
Paramount+ Announces All New Episodes of MTV's "Family Legacy" to Premiere Tuesday, March 25
10 half-hour episodes will premiere exclusively on the service and feature brand-new interviews with the children of the most influential and iconic musicians and bands.
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[03/03/25 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "The Electric State" - Final Trailer - Netflix
An orphaned teen hits the road with a mysterious robot to find her long-lost brother, teaming up with a smuggler and his wisecracking sidekick.
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[03/03/25 - 05:11 AM]
Filming Wraps for "The Crystal Cuckoo," The New Series Starring Catalina Sopelana, Alex Garcia, Itziar Ituno, Ivan Massague, Tomas del Estal, and Alfons Nieto
Netflix has announced today that the new six-episode series produced by AtÃpica Films, has ended production, which took place in Extremadura and Madrid.
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[03/03/25 - 03:01 AM]
Video: "Rhythm + Flow Italy" Season 2 - Official Teaser - Netflix
New talent. New locations. Young artists from north to south and even overseas battle it out for a grand prize and the title of Italy's next rap star.
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[03/03/25 - 12:01 AM]
Video: Netflix Debuts Official Trailer for "Love Is Blind: Sweden" Season 2
The new season will premiere only on Netflix on March 13.
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[03/02/25 - 07:00 AM]
Video: "The Studio" - The Perfect Acceptance Speech - Apple TV+
Delivering a completely natural acceptance speech takes practice.
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[03/01/25 - 12:31 AM]
Video: Netflix Launches Trailer for Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor Starrer "Nadaaniyan"
What starts as a harmless arrangement soon spirals into something neither of them sees coming.
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