or


[03/09/09 - 06:11 PM]
Development Update: Monday, March 9
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!


COP HOUSE (FOX) - Tony Hale ("Chuck") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a halfway house for troubled cops. He'll play a cop who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder on the project, following his stint on fellow FOX pilot "Boldly Going Nowhere." Adam Resnick created the half-hour, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television.


EMPIRE STATE (ABC) - Tammy Blanchard and Mel Raido are the latest additions to the pilot, a drama about a blue-collar man falling in love with a wealthy girl. Blanchard will play the man's cousin and close friend, a successful attorney, with Raido as the girl's ruthless and manipulating brother. Jeremy Podeswa is helming the ABC Studios-based hour from a script by Michael Seitzman.


LIMELIGHT (ABC) - Robbie Jones and Shannon Woodward are both on board the drama pilot, about the students and faculty at a performing-arts college. They'll play two students, an inspired percussionist and a talented actress, respectively. David Semel is helming the K.J. Steinberg-penned hour for Warner Bros. Television.


LITTLE PEOPLE: JUST MARRIED (TLC, New!) - The cable channel has ordered 13 episodes of the series following strong numbers for its backdoor pilot special on Monday, January 19 at 10:00/9:00c. Reality house LMNO Productions is behind the project, which follows newlyweds Bill Klein and Jen Arnold, a pharmaceutical salesman and pediatrician, respectively. It's understood "Married" will roll out on Monday, May 25 at 10:00/9:00c following the fifth season premiere of "Jon and Kate Plus 8." LMNO is also behind two other recent backdoor pilot specials at the network: "Amazing Love Stories" and "Incredible Weddings," both of which aired Sunday, February 15.


MAGGIE HILL (FOX) - Luke Mably, Gbenga Akinnagbe and Anna Rose Hopkins have all joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Maggie Hill (Christina Cole), a brilliant surgeon with schizophrenia. Mably will play her "real" boyfriend, a handsome doctor, while Akinnagbe is set as her rival, an arrogant surgeon. Hopkins then will play Maggie's younger sister. Ian Biederman is behind the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, to be directed by Stephen Hopkins.


MELROSE PLACE (The CW) - Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is the latest to book a role on the "Melrose" revival. She'll play Violet, "a bright-eyed but shrewd small-town girl and recent L.A. transplant who has come to town with a secret." Michael Rady and Katie Cassidy also star in the hour, which comes from executive producers Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin. Davis Guggenheim directs.


MIAMI TRAUMA (CBS) - Lana Parrilla ("Swingtown") has joined the cast of the medical drama, a pilot set in a Miami trauma center. She's on board as "a brilliant surgeon who becomes the leader of the trauma team." Jeffrey Lieber is behind the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television.


NO HEROICS (ABC) - "Scrubs" co-star Eliza Coupe has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about four B-list superheroes living among us. She'll play Callie (a.k.a. "Crossfade"), a bad girl who can turn invisible. Drew Pearce and Jeff Greenstein co-created the half-hour, which is set up at ABC Studios.


RUNAWAY SQUAD (A&E) - The cable channel is set to order eight additional episodes of the series, about Joe Mazzilli, "a decorated former undercover detective in New York who searches for runaway kids and brings them back to their families on a pro bono basis." 1.2 million viewers tuned into the original backdoor pilot special on December 22. Granada Television is producing.


THREE RIVERS (CBS) - Justina Machado ("ER") has booked a role on the drama pilot, about organ transplants as seen through the eyes of the doctors, donors and recipients involved. She'll play an operating assistant on the hour, which comes from executive producers Carol Barbee and Curtis Hanson.


THE UNKNOWN (ABC) - Rupert Penry-Jones has been cast in the drama pilot, about a team of dedicated amateur detectives working on cases of unidentified victims. He'll play their leader, "a former cop whose 11-year-old daughter was kidnapped three years ago with no leads." Danny Cannon is helming the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced hour from a script by Mark Friedman. Warner Bros. Television is the studio attached.


V (ABC) - "Firefly" alum Morena Baccarin has been tapped as Anna, the leader of the Visitors, in the Alphabet's revival of the cult '80s franchise. Yves Simoneau is directing the Warner Bros. Television-based project from a script by Scott Peters.


VAMPIRE DIARIES (The CW) - Nina Dobrev ("Degrassi: The Next Generation") has been cast as the female lead in the drama pilot, about a tragic heroine who is the object of passion for two vampire brothers. She'll play said girl, Elena, in the hour, which comes from co-creators Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. Marcos Siega is directing.


THE WONDERFUL MALADYS (HBO) - Nate Corddry and Molly Parker are set to join Sarah Michelle Gellar in the comedy pilot, about the three dysfunctional siblings in New York who lost their parents at a younger age. Corddry will play Alice Malady's (Gellar) younger brother Neil, a bookish grad student, with Parker as her older sister Mary, a therapist. Alan Taylor has also come aboard to direct from a script by Charles Randolph.


Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [march 2009]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE (FOX)
· CHUCK (NBC)
· COP HOUSE (FOX)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EMPIRE STATE (ABC)
· ER (NBC)
· FIREFLY (FOX)
· FORGOTTEN, THE (ABC)
· JON & KATE PLUS 8 (TLC)
· LIMELIGHT (ABC)
· LITTLE COUPLE, THE (TLC)
· MAGGIE HILL (FOX)
· MELROSE PLACE (CW)
· MIAMI MEDICAL (CBS)
· NO HEROICS (ABC)
· RUNAWAY SQUAD (A AND E)
· SCRUBS (ABC)
· SWINGTOWN (CBS)
· THREE RIVERS (CBS)
· V (ABC)
· VAMPIRE DIARIES, THE (CW)
· WONDERFUL MALADYS, THE (HBO)





[05/22/26 - 07:17 AM]
ESPN Films and Wakai Announce Global Premiere of "FC Barcelona: Sonar, jugar y ganar"
The documentary premieres in the U.S. on Saturday, May 23 at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and streaming on ESPN+.

[05/22/26 - 07:11 AM]
Video: Back to Where It All Began - Official Teaser for "Vought Rising" Revealed
The prequel to the global hit series "The Boys" will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in 2027.

[05/22/26 - 07:01 AM]
First Picture of Charlie Heaton in "Peaky Blinders" Reveals His Role as Charles Shelby
The new chapter will premiere globally on Netflix - and on BBC iplayer and BBC One in the UK.

[05/22/26 - 04:27 AM]
Video: "Maa Behen" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When trouble knocks on her door, a mother and her estranged daughters attempt to cover up a crime in a nosy colony where no secret is safe.

[05/21/26 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Husbands in Action" - Official Teaser - Netflix
A detective teams up with his ex-wife's new husband to chase down her kidnappers. Can this unlikely duo put aside their differences for one wild rescue?

[05/21/26 - 02:32 PM]
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Since 2018
The New York Knicks overtime victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 19 generated an average audience of 7.1 million viewers and peaked with 8.87 million viewers at 10:45 p.m. ET.

[05/21/26 - 02:00 PM]
"Survivor" Historic 50th Season Concludes with Most-Watched Finale Since 2020
The season finale drew an average of 5.78 million viewers, based on Nielsen Preliminary panel only data.

[05/21/26 - 12:00 PM]
What's New on HBO Max This June
Highlights include the return of "House of the Dragon" and the debut of "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness."

[05/21/26 - 11:00 AM]
A24's "How to Make a Killing" Begins Streaming Exclusively on HBO Max June 19
Disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, blue-collar Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) will stop at nothing to reclaim his inheritance, no matter how many relatives stand in his way.

[05/21/26 - 10:00 AM]
Video: Trailer & Key Art Debut - Hulu Original "Hannah Berner: None of My Business"
Hannah Berner delivers her most vulnerable material yet - questioning her future, exposing her unorthodox career path, dishing dating secrets and admitting she's "part-time hot" in this sensational sophomore special.

[05/21/26 - 10:00 AM]
HBO Original Documentary "Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)" Debuts June 7
Acclaimed producer, director, and musician Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson tells the story of the legendary nine-time Grammy Award-winning band.

[05/21/26 - 10:00 AM]
The Tony Awards to Feature Showstopping Performances by All of the Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical Nominees
Additional performances will be announced in the coming weeks.

[05/21/26 - 09:02 AM]
HBO Max Announces the Debut of HBO Original "House of the Dragon" with American Sign Language (ASL) to Mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Season one with ASL will debut on May 29, followed by season two on June 15.

[05/21/26 - 09:00 AM]
Video: Acorn TV Releases Trailer and Key Art for All-New Season of Fan-Favorite Mystery Thriller "Harry Wild" Premiering Monday, June 22 on Acorn TV
Season five marks a highly anticipated on-screen reunion between Jane Seymour, who stars and executive produces, and Joe Lando, her longtime co-star from the beloved Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."

[05/21/26 - 08:16 AM]
"Emily in Paris" Begins Production in Greece for the 6th and Final Season
Since its debut in 2020, Seasons 1-5 have spent 32 weeks on the Netflix Global Top 10 list, reached #1 in 90 countries, and accumulated over 250 million views.