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[02/22/10 - 12:03 AM]
Development Update: Monday, February 22
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!
THE BIG C (Showtime) - "Sex and the City" alums Jenny Bicks and Michael Engler have both joined the upcoming comedy, about a suburban wife and mother (Laura Linney) whose cancer diagnosis forces her to shake up her life. Bicks will serve as the half-hour's showrunner while Engler is set as a co-executive producer and in-house director. Darlene Hunt penned and Bill Condon helmed the pilot, which also stars Gabourey Sidibe, John Benjamin Hickey, Oliver Platt and Phyllis Somerville. Linney, Neal Moritz and Vivian Cannon also serve as executive producers for Sony Pictures Television.
THE JENSEN PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Muse Entertainment has booked another two-hour backdoor pilot at the Peacock, this time about "12 geniuses who move to an isolated spot in the Allegheny Mountains to spend their time inventing ways to fix the world's problems and then share their discoveries freely and anonymously with the world." Kellie Martin, Brady Smith, Patricia Richardson and LeVar Burton all star in the project, which picks up as "a few decide to take their latest invention, cash in and make names for themselves, launching a cross-country race as the others try to stop them." Monica Macer penned the script while Douglas Barr is attached to direct. Production then is set to begin on Monday in Montreal in a deal similar to Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart's time buy for the upcoming "Secrets of the Mountain." Joel Rice, Jeff Grant and Brian Wells are the executive producers.
LOVE BITES (NBC) - Becki Newton ("Ugly Betty") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, which is billed as "an anthology of love and sex." She'll play Annie, "an optimistic, infectiously bubbly social worker who is a virgin." Cindy Chupack is behind the hour, which comes from Universal Media Studios and Working Title Films.
NEVERMIND NIRVANA (FOX) - Rachael Leigh Cook ("Psych") has joined the cast of the pilot, a comedy about "two grown Indian-American brothers who clash with their controlling immigrant parents as they assimilate American culture." She'll play Elizabeth Van Pelt, the girlfriend of one of them. Harish Patel and Utkarsh Ambudkar also star in the Ajay Sahgal-penned half-hour, which is set up at 20th Century Fox Television.
SCOUNDRELS (ABC) - Neal McDonough ("Desperate Housewives") is the latest addition to the upcoming drama, about "the matriarch (Virginia Madsen) of a family of criminals who decides it's time for her brood to go straight after her husband is sentenced to a long prison term." He'll play Wolfgang "Wolf" West, said husband, in the hour, which comes from co-creators Lyn Greene and Richard Levine. Gary Cole originated the role in the project's previous incarnation, "Good Behavior." ABC Studios and South Pacific Pictures are co-producing.
STRANGE BREW (FOX) - Jere Burns ("Surviving Surburia") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about "a family that owns a small regional brewery and struggles with working and living together." He'll play Ted, the patriarch of the Forrest clan, who was "once a weathered ourdoorsmen [however] the last 10 years has turned him into a withered indoorsmen." Also signing as Ted and Janie's (Laurie Metcalf) kids are Aya Cash, Skylar Astin and Mo Mandel. Cash will play "beautiful, highly-intelligent, highly-underachieving" Lizzy, the eldest sibling who works as Ted's secetary. Astin and Mandel then are believed to be playing fraternal twins Kyle, "the alpha twin," and Clay, "the sweeter, gentler one." David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are behind the Warner Bros. Television-based project, to be directed by Marc Buckland.
UNCLE NIGEL (TBS) - Charles Dutton, Lea Thompson and Jeff Davis are all the latest additions to the drama pilot, about Nigel Wells (Gary Cole), "a veteran Philadelphia homicide detective who takes on his inexperienced, incompetent nephew Ronnie (Matt Jones) as a partner." Dutton is set as Captain Elliot Mackey, "the tightly wound, immaculately dressed" deputy of detectives. Thompson then is playing Abby Wells - Ronnie's mom, Nigel's sister - a "single, beautiful, open-hearted" woman. Lastly, Davis is on board as Detective Frank Frankel, "a smug, resentful prick" who serves as Ronnie's nemesis in the squad. Andy Breckman penned the hour and is executive producing.
UNTITLED LARRY CHARLES/ANT HINES PROJECT (CBS) - Nicollette Sheridan ("Desperate Housewives") has joined the cast of the pilot presentation, about "a British lowlife (Paul Kaye) who moves to L.A. to reconnect with his daughter, a precocious teen superstar." She'll play "the girl's outrageous stage mother and the deadbeat dad's long-lost love." Larry Charles is helming the semi-scripted comedy, which was conceived by Ant Hines. Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount are co-producing.
UNTITLED RICHARD HATEM PROJECT (ABC) - Katee Sackhoff ("24") is set to topline the drama pilot, about "a beautiful female detective who teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground." She'll play said woman, Julia Scott, who's "strong in body and soul." Sackhoff's involvement would seem to indicate her run on the FOX drama will either be short-lived or reduced should it return for a ninth season. Gary Fleder is helming the ABC Studios-based hour from a script by Richard Hatem.
UNTITLED WYOMING PROJECT (The CW) - Sean Faris ("The Vampire Diaries") and newcomer Renee Smith are the first to be cast on the drama pilot, about a horse trainer who becomes the patriarch of a Wyoming ranch and responsible for his three younger sisters - Dinah (16), Maggie (13) and Bird (9) - after their parents die. Faris will play Gideon Thorpe, the aforementioned trainer, who's described as "rugged, a young John Wayne." Smith then is set as Dinah, the eldest sister, who's "short but sturdy, a sixteen-year old version of Holly Hunter in 'Broadcast News.'" Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino co-wrote the hour, which comes from CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television.
WORTHY (FOX) - 20th Century Fox Television has pulled out of the drama pilot, about "an Arizona politician who is blackmailed by a mob boss following a hit-and-run accident." It's not clear how said development will affect the show's production status. Originally ordered to pilot back in October, no casting has since been announced. Davey Holmes penned the hour with Jake Kasdan attached to direct. Gavin Polone also serves as an executive producer.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[02/10/26 - 03:51 PM]
Super Bowl LX Is Second Most-Watched All-Time with Nearly 125 Million Viewers, Peaking at All-Time U.S. Record 137.8 Million Viewers Across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo
Super Bowl LX is the most-watched show in the history of NBCUniversal, which celebrates 100 years of NBC in 2026.
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[02/10/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of February 2 - "Bridgerton" Season 4 Is the Tea Everyone Is Having in This Week's Top 10
Plus: the new season of the hit drama series "The Lincoln Lawyer" took the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 9 million views.
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[02/10/26 - 12:00 PM]
Teresa Palmer-Led Mystery Series, "The Family Next Door," to Debut Monday, February 23 on Acorn TV
When the enigmatic Isabelle (Palmer) moves into a small seaside rental in Osprey Point, her obsessive drive to solve a neighborhood mystery casts suspicion on four local families.
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[02/10/26 - 11:08 AM]
NBC to Rebroadcast the Pilot Episode of "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" on Feb. 28 Immediately Following "Saturday Night Live"
The series returns on Monday, February 23 at 8 p.m. with an encore of the pilot and a new episode immediately following at 8:30 p.m. in its timeslot premiere.
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[02/10/26 - 11:01 AM]
Prime Video Releases First-Look Images for Upcoming Live-Action "Spider-Noir" Starring Nicolas Cage
Produced by Sony Pictures Television exclusively for MGM+ and Prime Video, the hotly anticipated series will debut domestically on MGM+'s linear broadcast channel, then globally on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories thereafter.
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[02/10/26 - 10:27 AM]
MLB.TV Launches on ESPN Beginning February 10
Beginning today, fans can purchase MLB.TV through ESPN platforms with flexible options designed to meet a range of viewing needs.
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[02/10/26 - 09:26 AM]
Warner Bros. Discovery Confirms Receipt of Further Amended Unsolicited Tender Offer from Paramount Skydance
The Board is not modifying its recommendation with respect to the Netflix Merger Agreement.
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[02/10/26 - 09:04 AM]
Video: "Dear Killer Nannies" - Teaser - Hulu
"Dear Killer Nannies" is a gripping coming-of-age series told through Juampi's perspective as a child, the son of Colombia's most notorious drug lord, Pablo Escobar Gaviria.
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[02/10/26 - 09:02 AM]
Video: National Geographic Documentary Films and Abramorama Unveil Trailer, Coast-to-Coast Theatrical Simulcast, and Disney+ and Hulu Streaming Date for Werner Herzog's "Ghost Elephants"
The film follows National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes on an epic journey as he sets out with some of the last remaining master trackers in the world in pursuit of an animal long believed to be a myth.
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[02/10/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Tyler Perry's Joe's College Road Trip" - Official Red Band Trailer - Netflix
To teach his sheltered grandson about the real world, Madea's foul-mouthed brother Joe takes the college-bound teen on a raucous cross-country road trip.
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[02/10/26 - 09:00 AM]
HBO Original Comedy Special "Chris Fleming: Live at the Palace" Debuts February 27
From the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, comedian Chris Fleming bursts onto the screen with a fun and lighthearted blend of skillful storytelling and wild physicality in his first HBO stand-up special.
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[02/10/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "The 32nd Annual Actor Awards" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Host Kristen Bell is ringing up SAG-AFTRA members everywhere to spread the word about the 32nd Annual Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA.
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[02/10/26 - 08:00 AM]
Paramount+ and CBS Partner to Air "UFC 326: Holloway vs. Oliveira 2" Live on Paramount+ and CBS Television Network
Plus, CBS announced today "This Is UFC," tracing UFC's rise from underground spectacle to global powerhouse, airing Friday, February 20, (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+.
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[02/10/26 - 08:00 AM]
The Chaos Continues as Another Explosive Season of "Mama June" Returns Friday, March 13 with New Friends and New Foes
The new season promises to deliver everything fans love about the Shannon family and more, from family feuds and fires to Mama drama and a wedding.
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[02/10/26 - 06:28 AM]
Great American Media Partners with Bestselling Author Melissa Ferguson to Adapt "Meet Me in the Margins" and Upcoming Novel, "The Christmas Yes List" into New Original Movies for 2026
Known for her heartfelt storytelling, faith-forward themes, and charming romantic comedies, Ferguson has become a favorite among readers of Christian romance and romantic comedy novels.
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