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LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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BEACH LANE (NBC) - Comedian Nick Thune has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a celebrity author (Matthew Broderick) hired by an irresponsible millionaire heir to run his struggling small-town newspaper in the Hamptons. He'll play James Wilson, said heir, in the project, which comes from creator Paul Simms and the Universal Media Studios-based Broadway Video Television. Thune replaces Patton Oswalt, who was dropped from the pilot following its table read. A year ago, Thune found himself in the opposite situation - he was replaced by Josh Lawson on the CBS comedy pilot "Waiting to Die." As for "Lane," Kristen Johnston, Aimee Garcia and Henry Zebrowski also star.
THE LIST (Lifetime) - Cybill Shepherd ("Eastwick") has booked a role on the upcoming telefilm, about a former beauty queen (Jennifer Love Hewitt) who, to save her home, takes a job at a massage parlor, only to learn that the clients expect more than a rubdown. She'll play the mother of Hewitt's character in the project, who is "stunned to discover that her former Texas homecoming-queen daughter is working as a prostitute to pay the bills." Production on the Jaffe-Braunstein Films original begins shortly in Vancouver for a premiere date later this year. Eric Laneuville is directing from a script by Suzanne Martin.
RETIRED AT 35 (TV Land) - The cable channel has ordered the comedy, about "a successful businessman (Johnathan McClain) who decides to leave the rat race of New York City behind and move into his parents' Florida retirement home to reconnect with them, reevaluate his life and live the dream of retirement that so many are working towards," to series. A total of 10 episodes are set to roll out in the first quarter of 2011. Chris Case penned the pilot, which he also executive produced alongside Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis. The multi-camera half-hour also stars George Segal, Casey Wilson, Christine Ebersole, Jessica Walter, Josh McDermitt, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Matt Champagne, George Wyner, Jere Burns and Faye DeWitt.
WTF! (CBS, New!) - Drew Carey ("The Price Is Right") is set to topline a potential hidden camera series for the network in which he - and a troop of comedic agents - pull benevolent pranks using flash-mob tactics. Raquel Productions and RelativityReal are behind the project, which stands for "Wow That's Funny!" Production was completed this weekend on a pilot presentation that featured, among other stunts, the group transforming "a late-night truck stop into a five-star restaurant for long-haulers." Tom Forman, Jay Blumenfeld, Tony Marsh and Charlie Todd are executive producing alongside Carey.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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