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[02/20/09 - 06:32 PM]
Development Update: Friday, February 20
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!


ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS) - Jenna Elfman ("Courting Alex") has been tapped for the lead role on the comedy pilot, about Billie (Elfman), a San Francisco movie critic who finds herself "accidentally" pregnant after a fling with a younger man, and the unconventional family that comes from this "mistake." Claudia Lonow is behind the CBS Paramount Network Television-based half-hour, the production of which was contingent on casting said role. Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun also serve as executive producers on the project, which is based on Mary F. Pols's book of the same name.


CAPTAIN COOK'S EXTRAORDINARY ATLAS (ABC) - The Alphabet has quietly commissioned three additional scripts of the project, about a young girl (Jodelle Ferland) who finds a magical atlas that reveals a secret world underneath our own. Tom Wheeler created the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which filmed a pilot last year. The network nevertheless is keeping the drama under consideration for the current development cycle, hence the additional script order. Hal Holbrook, Janel Moloney, Jonathan Cake, Nathan Gamble and Patrick Breen also star in the pilot, which was directed by Thomas Schlamme.


REINCARNATIONIST (FOX) - Nick Bishop, Kelli Giddish and Ravi Patel are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about past-life investigators. Bishop will play "a recently fired top homicide detective struggling with the death of his wife," while Giddish is set as "a Ph.D. in psychology and cognitive research who believes in reincarnation" with Patel as "an eccentric therapist." David Hudgins is behind the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which Deran Sarafian is directing.


SEE CATE RUN (A.K.A. I, CLAUDIA) (ABC) - Amy Smart ("Smith") has booked the title role on the drama pilot, about a young prosecuting attorney (Smart) who one day is going to be a serious contender for president of the U.S. John Scott Shepherd created the project, which comes from ABC Studios and director Dean Parisot.


TWO DOLLAR BEER (FOX) - Jonathan Sadowski, Kevin Simpson, Noureen Dewulf and Ricky Mabe have all joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a group of Detroit twentysomethings who drink beer and discuss their woes. Sadowski will play Luke, "a handsome ex-high school jock who thinks too much," with Simpson as Mitchell, "the world's grouchiest guy"; Dewulf as Mitchell's wife Fakhri, a nurse; and Mabe as Burt, "who is a bit off." Mike Binder is behind the half-hour, which is set up at 20th Century Fox Television.


UNTITLED FRANK MILITARY PROJECT (CBS) - "Brotherhood" co-star Jason Clarke has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a team of federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan. He'll play "the powerful, charismatic section chief who oversees four lawyers and a handful of paralegals in their overlapping cases." While not specified, it's assumed Clarke's commitment is in second position to his duties on the Showtime series. Frank Military is behind the hour, which is based at CBS Paramount Network Television.


Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [february 2009]  
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· ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS)
· BROTHERHOOD (SHOWTIME)
· COURTING ALEX (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· PAST LIFE (FOX)
· SEE KATE RUN (ABC)
· SMITH (CBS)
· TWO DOLLAR BEER (FOX)
· US ATTORNEY (CBS)





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