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[04/13/10 - 12:06 AM]
Development Update: Tuesday, April 13
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!


THE AMERICAN PAINTER EMMA DIAL (HBO, New!) - Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote") is looking to bring Samantha Peale's novel of the same name, "an 'uptown/downtown' story set in [New York's] art world as a young woman grapples with an identity crisis and the limits of her potential," to the small screen. Sarah Treem ("How to Make It in America") is writing the pilot script, which is expected to be a half-hour. She'll also executive produce alongside Hoffman and his Cooper's Town banner partner Emily Ziff. Sara Murphy, also of the company, will produce.


BEACH LANE (NBC) - Patton Oswalt ("Big Fan") and Kristen Johnston ("3rd Rock From the Sun") have both been cast in the comedy pilot, about Mike Brennan (Matthew Broderick), a celebrity author hired by an irresponsible millionaire heir to run his struggling small-town newspaper in the Hamptons. He'll play James Wilson, the aforementioned heir who's "tanned and tousled from a life of leisure." Johnston then is set as Neelie Wilson, James's stepmother, who actually holds the purse strings. Paul Simms is behind the half-hour, which is set up at Broadway Video Television and Universal Media Studios.


INSATIABLE: TALES FROM A LIFE OF DELICIOUS EXCESS (Starz, New!) - Robert Lantos's Serendipity Point Films and Rob Lee's Bayonne Entertainment are developing Gael Greene's autobiography as a potential series for the pay channel. The 2006 book detailed the "Top Chef Masters" judge/New York Magazine's food writer's "affairs with famed chefs, porn stars and her experiences among the Studio 54 set, as well as her discoveries on the plate during her 40 years at New York mag." No writer has been tapped to pen the adaptation, which is being executive produced by Lantos and Lee with Serendipity's Ari Lantos and Mark Musselman serving as producers.


LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES (NBC) - Blake Masters ("Brotherhood") has been tapped to co-create the latest "Law & Order" spin-off, which could land a straight-to-series commitment. Franchise steward Dick Wolf is behind the hour, which is set up at his Universal Media Studios-based Wolf Films. No other specifics were given.


THE KILLING (AMC) - Billy Campbell ("The 4400") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, which "ties together three distinct stories by a single murder and as the detectives assigned to the case disagree about the best course of action, they chase down a variety of leads and suspects." He'll play Darren Richmond ("early 40s, Gavin Newsom's good looks - minus the slick back"), a City Council President who's billed as Seattle's JFK. Veena Sud penned the hour, which is set up at Fox Television Studios and Mikkel Bondesen's Fuse Entertainment.


PERFECT COUPLES (NBC) - Kyle Howard ("My Boys") has been cast in the final principal role on the comedy pilot, about three couples at various stages of their relationships. He'll play Dave ("a no-drama guy who thoroughly enjoys his needier friends' quirks"), who's dating the equally low-maintenance Julia (Christine Woods). His casting is presumably in second position to the TBS series. David Walton, Hayes MacArthur, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Olivia Munn co-star in the Universal Media Studios-based half-hour, which Andy Ackerman is helming off a script by Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri.


SECRET TREASURE (NBC, New!) - ITV Studios has booked a pilot order from the Peacock for a new game show in which "requires players to juggle instinct, intuition and attitude." Jeff Apploff ("Don't Forget the Lyrics!") is behind the project, which "pits six contestants against one another as they answer trivia questions and attempt to steal and reveal each other's cash-filled 'secret treasure boxes.'" He'll also executive produce, presumably alongside ITV CEO Paul Buccieri.


TEAM SPITZ (CBS) - Max Ehrich ("The Pregnancy Pact") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about Jeff Spitz (Rob Riggle), a bombastic high school football coach. He'll play Jake, a cocky player on the team who thinks he's entitled the starting quarterback job. Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Slavin also star in the project, which comes from director Ted Wass and co-creators Bill Martin and Mike Schiff. CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television are co-producing. Separately, Ehrich is also set to guest star in the CBS drama presentation "The Quinn-tuplets," about five siblings whose childhood was documented on TV. He's on board as the teenage version of one of them, Patrick, who's played by Sam Witwer as an adult.


Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





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· 4400, THE (USA)
· AMERICAN PAINTER EMMA DIAL, THE (HBO)
· BEACH LANE (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS! (FOX)
· HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA (HBO)
· INSATIABLE: TALES FROM A LIFE OF DELICIOUS EXCESS (STARZ)
· KILLING, THE (NETFLIX)
· LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES (NBC)
· MY BOYS (TBS)
· PERFECT COUPLES (NBC)
· PREGNANCY PACT (LIFETIME)
· QUINN-TUPLETS, THE (CBS)
· SECRET TREASURE (NBC)
· TEAM SPITZ (CBS)
· THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN (NBC)
· TOP CHEF MASTERS (BRAVO)





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