[04/01/10 - 12:04 AM] Development Update: Thursday, April 1 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!
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? (Syndication) - Twentieth Television is moving forward with a second season of the show's syndicated incarnation. Said development is a result of clearances in 80% of the country - including the top 15 markets - for the 2010-11 season. The half-hour effort is expected to be paired with "Don't Forget the Lyrics," which is launching its own syndicated version this fall, in most markets as well as on its CMT and MyNetworkTV runs. To date this season, "5th Grader?" ranks fourth among the first-run game shows in households (2.1 rating) and tied for third among women 25-54 (1.1).
FRINGE (FOX) - Former "Brothers & Sisters" showrunners Monica Breen and Alison Schapker are set to join the series for its third season. The move is part of a new overall deal the pair recently inked with producer Warner Bros. Television. In addition, they'll develop new series projects for the studio. J.J. Abrams, Jeff Pinkner, Bryan Burk and J.H. Wyman also serve as executive producers of "Fringe."
GROWING UP TWISTED (A&E, New!) - Former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider is set to topline a new reality series at the cable channel which centers on the rock star and his family: wife, Suzette, and their children, "wannabe rock star Jesse, budding filmmaker Shane and 12-year-old Cheyenne." Evolution Film & Tape ("Real Housewives of Orange County") is behind the project, which has a six-episode order.
HEAVY (A&E, New!) - Tijuana Entertainment and Megalomedia have booked a 12-episode order at the cable channel for a new reality series which will focus on "individuals whose lives were crippled by their weight - and how their struggle to lose the pounds has impacted their lives." No other details were given about the project.
THE PEACEMAKER (A&E, New!) - The cable channel has ordered four episodes of a new reality series about gang interventionist Malik Spellman, "who has spent the past 15 years helping the LAPD on violence prevention efforts." Rapper-turned-actor Ice-T is executive producing the project, which is set up at Asylum Entertainment ("American Gangster").
