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[10/27/09 - 04:33 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, October 27
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!
DELTA BLUES (TNT) - The cable channel has commissioned a pilot for the drama project, about "an outstanding but unusual Memphis cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and lives with his mother." Liz Garcia ("Cold Case") and Josh Harto penned the Warner Horizon Television-based hour and are executive producing alongside Smokehouse Pictures's George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Abby Wolf-Weiss. Casting is underway.
DRY (Showtime, New!)/THE NATURE OF FIRE (CBS, New!) - Augusten Burroughs ("Running With Scissors") has set up a pair of projects, including a comedy at Showtime and a drama at CBS. The former, dubbed "Dry," is based on the author's experience as an advertising executive struggling toward sobriety. The latter, "The Nature of Fire," will center on "a group of male firefighters whose world is rocked when they're joined by a female arson investigator." Burroughs is penning both efforts and executive producing alongside Created By's Vince Gerardis ("FlashForward") and Katalyst's Karey Burke, Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg ("The Beautiful Life") for CBS Television Studios. As previously reported, Bryan Fuller and Bryan Singer are developing a small screen take on Burroughs's book "Sellevision" for NBC.
FAMILY GUY (FOX) - Microsoft has dropped out as the sole sponsor of the show's upcoming "Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" special. Said development reportedly comes after the company's executives attending its October 16 taping and grew concerned over its content. "We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of 'Family Guy,' but after reviewing an early version of the variety show, it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand," said a Microsoft spokeswoman. "We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent." The special will nevertheless continue with another, yet-to-be-named, sponsor when it airs on November 8.
FLASH FORWARD (ABC) - Paula Newsome ("Women's Murder Club") is the latest to land an arc on the freshman drama, Entertainment Weekly reports. She'll play a doctor in several upcoming episodes however details about her character weren't released.
GHOSTS/ALIENS (Comedy Central) - Joey Kern ("The Sasquatch Gang") has been tapped as the new lead of the comedy pilot, about "two potheads who set out on a quest to expose the truth about the existence of ghosts and aliens." He'll take over from Jonathan Sadowski as one of said men, Trey Hamburger. Keir O'Donnell, Allan McLeod, Kaylee DeFer, Keir O'Donnell, Nathan Barnatt and Rebecca Wisocky also star in the project, which Michael Patrick Jann is directing from a script by Phil Johnston.
GOSSIP GIRL (The CW) - Sherri Saum ("In Treatment") has booked a multi-episode arc on the series. She'll play Holland Kemble, "a powerful business executive-turned-Upper East Side trophy wife and could be trouble for Lily (Kelly Rutherford) and Rufus (Matthew Settle)." It's not clear when her first episode will air.
HOUNDS (Comedy Central) - Ron White is back in business with the cable channel as the comedian will lend his voice to a new animated comedy described as "a blue-collar Southern neo-gothic comedy." Chris Thompson ("Ladies Man") is behind the half-hour which White will also co-executive produce. As for specifics, White will voice Chicken, "a countrified Yoda with a bottle of Jack and a bag of weed, an opinionated Southern philosopher who considers himself the center of the universe." Earlier this year, White toplined a pilot presentation for the network in which he "looked at stories from across the country and ran them through his everyman perspective."
RAVENS PARISH (FOX, New!) - Feature writer Dan McDermott ("Eagle Eye") has scored a script commitment from the network about "a man and his teenage son who return to their rural Mississippi hometown in search of a fabled cavern hidden beneath a nearby swamp that allegedly holds hidden treasure." McDermott, who previously served as head of current programming at the network, will pen the hour and executive produce for 20th Century Fox Television. Generate's Peter Aronson and Jordan Levin are also attached as executive producers via their first-look deal with the studio.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[06/29/26 - 12:55 PM]
ESPN Films' "The Day Diego Returned to the Azteca" Is Now Streaming on Disney+ and Premieres on ESPN July 3
The film tells the extraordinary and little-known story of Diego Armando Maradona's only return to Estadio Azteca after leading Argentina to the 1986 FIFA World Cup title.
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[06/29/26 - 11:31 AM]
Netflix's Upcoming Comedy Series "A Hundred Percent" Rounds Out Cast with Tiffany Boone, Lisa Gilroy and Diane Lane
They'll join the previously announced stars Nick Kroll, Sam Richardson, Jason Mantzoukas and Vanessa Bayer.
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[06/29/26 - 11:30 AM]
ESPN to Provide Extensive Coverage of the 2026 NBA Summer League Beginning July 9
The 11-day event begins Thursday, July 9, and concludes with the Championship Game on Sunday, July 19, live on ESPN, with games throughout the event airing on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
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[06/29/26 - 10:30 AM]
Prime Video Launches New Installment of Emmy-Nominated Series "Eli Manning Presents: The Undercovers," Featuring New York Liberty Point Guard Sabrina Ionescu, on June 29
The new installment arrives as WNBA on Prime prepares to host the Commissioner's Cup Final between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces.
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[06/29/26 - 10:00 AM]
USMNT FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Finale Pulls in 17.015 Million Viewers on FOX
Said coverage delivered a peak audience of 19,471,000 viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.
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[06/29/26 - 09:26 AM]
Alicia Vikander Joins Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Netflix's "Enigma Variations"
She joins the previously announced star Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the André Aciman adaptation.
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[06/29/26 - 09:13 AM]
New Antonia Lofaso Led Food Network Series "Kitchen Undercover" Sets Premiere Date for Tuesday, July 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
"Kitchen Undercover," a high-stakes, sneak-attack restaurant rescue series, follows chef Antonia Lofaso and sous-chef Nestor Milian as they go undercover to help failing restaurants that are one more bad review away from total collapse.
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[06/29/26 - 09:11 AM]
Iconic "Modern Marvels" Franchise Returns with 3-Part Limited Series on July 27 on The History Channel
"Modern Marvels" explores World War II as the ultimate global arms race - where victory depends on who can invent, build, and scale the most incredible engineering marvels.
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[06/29/26 - 09:01 AM]
Magnolia Network Programming Highlights: July/August 2026
Look for the series premiere of "Maine Cabin Masters: All Inn" on Monday, July 27.
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[06/29/26 - 09:01 AM]
Paramount+ Greenlights Texas Tech Red Raiders Football Docuseries
Produced by Skydance Sports, the award-winning, premium content studio, the four-episode docuseries has been in production since January 2026 and is expected to premiere ahead of this year's college football season.
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[06/29/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On" Season 4 - Official Trailer - Netflix
Is the grass greener on the other side? Six more couples test this theory by moving in with new potential partners for a revealing social experiment.
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[06/29/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "The Devil's Mouth" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Five friends explore The Devil's Mouth cave system in Thailand for one last adventure before life in the real world begins.
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[06/29/26 - 08:32 AM]
Discovery Channel July Programming Highlights
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[06/29/26 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2" - Official Teaser #2 - Netflix
A new standalone 10-episode story from the world of Cyberpunk 2077 is coming this fall, only on Netflix.
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[06/29/26 - 08:02 AM]
Video: "The Marlow Murder Club" Season 3 - Teaser
In the new season, newly promoted DI Tanika Malik's crime-solving gang, retired archaeologist Judith Potts, dog walker Suzie Harris, and vicar's wife Becks Starling are back and bringing their unconventional methods to a string of high-profile murders.
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