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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!
CUTTHROAT (ABC) - Peggy Lipton ("Crash") and Escher Holloway ("Choose Connor") have both booked roles on the drama pilot, about Nina Cabrera (Roselyn Sanchez), "an upscale Beverly Hills widow and soccer mom who runs an international drug cartel." The former will play Sandy, Nina's mother, a former Miss California, with Holloway as Ivan, Nina's 16-year-old stepson. Bronwen Hughes is helming the hour from a script by co-creators Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters. 20th Century Fox Television is producing.
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (NBC) - Fran Kranz ("Dollhouse") is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, which "explores modern-day romance through the eyes of five friends, each looking for 'the one' but in the meantime settling for 'friends with benefits.'" He'll play one of the quintet, "a nerdy but cute hopeless romantic who is worth $12 million after selling an algorithm to Google." 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television are behind the hour, which David Dobkin is directing from a script by Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter.
GENERATION Y (ABC) - Jaime King ("Gary Unmarried") and Mehcad Brooks ("The Deep End") are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about "a disparate group of former high school classmates" in Austin over the past 10 years and the events that have shaped their lives. King is set as Jacqueline Fox, "The Beauty Queen," who is "now an unhappily married failed actress," while Brooks is playing Rolly Marks, "The Jock," "a lieutenant in Afghanistan trying to get back to his pregnant wife." Brooks's involvement is presumably in second position to the unlikely-to-return "Deep End." Anne Son, Daniella Alonso, Julian Morris, Keir O'Donnell, Kelli Garner and Michael Stahl-David also star in the hour, which comes from ABC Studios and creator Noah Hawley. Craig Gillespie is directing.
KOURTNEY & KHLOE TAKE MIAMI (E!) - The cable channel has commissioned a second season of the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" spin-off. 10 new episodes are set to roll out this summer. "Millions of people tuned in to E! to see Kourtney and Khloe's lives change completely this past year, and now fans can follow them on their next adventure in this new season of 'Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami'," said the network's Lisa Berger in a statement. "However, this time it's a whole different world as the pair must embrace their new life roles and juggle their hectic careers as they head back to South Beach where fun always follows." Farnaz Farjam, Jeff Jenkins, Jonathan Murray and Ryan Seacrest are the executive producers for Ryan Seacrest Productions and Bunim-Murray Productions.
LUCK (HBO) - Two-time Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman ("Kramer vs. Kramer," "Rain Man") is set to topline the drama pilot, which is "described as a provocative look at the worlds of horseracing and gambling told through a diverse group of characters surrounding a racetrack." He's on board as Chester "Ace" Bernstein, an ex-con who "teams with Gus Economou (Dennis Farina), his longtime chauffeur and muscle, to craft a complex plan involving the track." John Ortiz also stars in the hour, which Michael Mann is directing from a script by David Milch. The pair are also executive producing alongside Carolyn Strauss. Henry Bronchtein also serve as a co-executive producer. Production is set to begin this month for a potential January 2011 series order.
MIDLAND (FOX) - Adrianne Palicki ("Friday Night Lights") and Bryce Johnson ("Popular") have each landed roles on the drama pilot, about Robert Allen (Jimmy Wolk), a con artist - who's married to one woman and dating another - that's looking to get inside his wealthy in-laws' oil business. She'll play Cat ("classy, gorgeous, former Miss Texas runner up whose ambitions and abilities now go well beyond trophies"), the man's wife, while Johnson is believed to be playing her younger brother Drew ("former UT frat guy who's been lost since graduating to a world where keg stands count for so little"). Eloise Mumford also stars in the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which was penned by Kyle Killen. Marc Webb is directing.
NO ORDINARY FAMILY (ABC) - Julie Benz ("Dexter") and Christina Chang ("24") have both joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a typical American family who develop special abilities. Benz will play the Powell clan's matriarch, Stephanie, "a gifted scientist who develops a power for superspeed." Chang then is set as Yvonne Cho, "a young police officer who works at the same precinct" as Stephanie's husband Jim (Michael Chiklis). Autumn Reeser and Romany Malco also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, which David Semel is helming off a script by Greg Berlanti and Jon Harmon Feldman.
THE PINK HOUSE (NBC) - "American Idol" alum Katharine McPhee is the first to land a role on the comedy pilot, about the friendship between two Midwestern guys who take a risk and move out to Los Angeles to begin the next chapter of their post-college lives. She'll play Emily, "a down-to-earth Midwest girl new to Manhattan Beach who lives in an apartment behind the guy's house and works as a pharmaceutical rep." Kenny Schwartz and Rick Weiner are behind the half-hour, which is set up at Universal Media Studios.
TRAFFIC LIGHT (FOX) - Alexandra Breckenridge ("The Ex List") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about three best friends in different stages of their relationships. She'll play Callie, the girlfriend of Adam (Nelson Franklin), the show's "yellow light." Breckenridge joins the previously cast David Denman. Bob Fisher penned the half-hour for 20th Century Fox Television.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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