[11/10/09 - 06:28 PM] Development Update: Tuesday, November 10 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!
KATHY GRIFFIN: MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST (Bravo) - People.com reports the veteran Bravo series has been picked up for a sixth season. "Let's just say we are hoping the premiere episode will be Cher-tastic," Griffin told the publication. Filming on the 10-episode season is expected to begin in January.
LOST (ABC) - Sheila Kelley ("L.A. Law") has snapped a role on the final season of the ABC drama, Entertainment Weekly reports. She'll apparently play Kendall, "an intellectual beauty with a sharp edge to her wit who is caught committing corporate espionage and has to lie her way out."
SHIT MY DAD SAYS (CBS, New!) - Justin Halpern has snagged a script commitment from the Eye for a new comedy based on his popular Twitter feed of the same name. Max Mutchnick and David Kohan ("Will & Grace") are shepherding the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour, which Halpern will write and co-executive produce alongside Patrick Schumacker. Earlier this year, Halpern landed a book deal for "Shit My Father Says" with HarperCollins' It Books imprint.
TRIBECA FILMS PROJECTS (New!) - Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro have inked a new two-year, first-look overall deal with CBS Television Studios. The pact gives the company first crack at the pair's Tribeca Productions' output. Already in the works are "Securing the City" at CBS, about "the lives of the NYPD's elite counterterrorism and intelligence division, whose mission is to prevent terrorist activity by infiltrating and capturing perpetrators before they strike." Terry George ("The District") is penning the hour which is based on Christopher Dickey's book of the same name, subtitled, "Inside America's Best Counterterror Force."
At The CW then is "Felony Review," about "a group of twentysomething assistant district attorneys from New York who prepare to make the jump to prosecuting felonies." Julie Martin is behind the hour, which was detailed earlier this year. Outside its studio pact, Tribeca has "Alphaville" at Showtime. The project, which will be set in the 1980s, chronicles "Alphabet City's gritty and tumultuous past before it became the gentrified East Village." Spike Lee is attached as an executive producer. Rosenthal and De Niro are executive producing all three efforts while Tribeca executives Meghan Lyvers and Brandon Brito will serve as co-producers.
UNTITLED AUSTIN WINSBERG PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Austin Winsberg ("Jake in Progress") has landed a multi-camera comedy at the Eye about "two neighbors who hate each other - until they discover a common bond." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the half-hour, which is the result of a blind script deal Winsberg had with the studio. Separately, Winsberg is developing an "action-horror-comedy" drama at Warner Bros. Television and McG's Wonderland Sound & Vision banner, details of which weren't specified. No network however is currently attached.
UNTITLED MARK BRAZILL PROJECT (FOX) - The network has passed on the comedy pilot, which was in the cast-contingent stage. The coming-of-age comedy, formerly known as "The Rednecks & Romeos," held an opening casting call last month for its four principal roles. The producers ultimately brought their final picks to test however the network opted not to move forward. Producer Warner Bros. Television is reportedly planning to shop said effort to other networks.
