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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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[05/06/26 - 09:01 AM]
HBO Original Comedy Special "Josh Johnson: Symphony" Debuts May 22
In his debut HBO stand-up special, Emmy-nominated comedian, writer, and actor Josh Johnson performs all new material about our shared experiences as humans.
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[05/06/26 - 09:01 AM]
Final Season of FX's "The Bear" Premieres June 25 on FX and Hulu
All eight episodes will be available to stream at debut.
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[05/06/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Legally Blonde" Prequel "Elle" Drops Exclusive Images and Official Teaser Trailer
The series, produced by Amazon MGM Studios in association with Hello Sunshine, premieres on July 1, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
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[05/06/26 - 08:01 AM]
HGTV Reboots Popular 72-Hour Renovation Series with "Crashers" Starring NKOTB Bandmate and Home Reno Expert Jonathan Knight
The 13-episode season will follow Jonathan Knight as he ambushes folks anywhere from furniture boutiques to the hardware store or even the local paint shop to offer them a fast-paced reno with a catch.
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[05/06/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Hungry for a new heist, Berlin summons the gang to Seville and turns an ambitious duke into the victim of his own plan: to steal a Da Vinci masterpiece.
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[05/06/26 - 06:31 AM]
Video: Apple Original Films Debuts Trailer for John Travolta's "Propeller One-Way Night Coach"
Set in the golden age of aviation, a young airplane enthusiast, Jeff (Clark Shotwell), and his mother (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett) set off on a one-way cross-country odyssey to Hollywood, which transforms a simple flight into the trip of a lifetime.
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[05/05/26 - 04:00 PM]
"The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" Renewed for Season Two
The series is the #1 new comedy of the 2025-26 season in the 18-49 demo.
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[05/05/26 - 03:52 PM]
ESPN Networks Aired Its Most Viewed First Round of the Current Rights Deal of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs
ESPN also delivered three of the top five matchups in the First Round including the Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins Game 1 (2.1 million viewers).
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[05/05/26 - 03:36 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver the Most-Watched First Round Game 7 in NBA History for Saturday Night's 76ers-Celtics
Saturday night's matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 11.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.
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[05/05/26 - 02:33 PM]
TNT Sports Delivers Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Ever
Game 7 of the Montreal/Tampa Bay series on Sunday, May 3 averaged 2.3 million viewers, the most-watched First Round game on cable ever featuring a Canadian team.
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[05/05/26 - 02:24 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Flexes Double-Digit Season-to-Date Viewership Increase
2,130,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX on Saturday, May 2, for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cardinals' 3-2 Victory over the Dodgers in most of the country.
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[05/05/26 - 02:20 PM]
Video: "County Rescue" - Season 3 Trailer - Premieres Sun May 17 at 8/7c
Julia Reilly and Brett Varvel star in the series.
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[05/05/26 - 02:01 PM]
MGM+ Releases First Look at "American Hostage" Starring Emmy Award Winner Jon Hamm
The psychological thriller tells the harrowing true story of Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program.
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[05/05/26 - 12:03 PM]
Abdullah Mason Returns Home for Lightweight World Title Defense against Joe Cordina July 4 at Cleveland's Wolstein Center
Boxing's youngest world champion is set to make his first defense in front of a hometown crowd on the 250th anniversary of American independence as part of TNT Sports and DAZN's inaugural "The Fight" event, a new monthly live boxing series.
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[05/05/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of April 27 - The Hunt Continues as "Apex" Takes No. 1 for a Second Week
Plus: Revenge might be a dish best served cold, but "Man on Fire" served it up hot, reaching No. 1 on the English TV list with 11 million views.
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