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[09/17/10 - 07:09 PM]
Development Update: Friday, September 17
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!
CASTLE (ABC) - Lee Tergesen has been tapped as a new antagonist on the crime procedural. He'll play Gates, "a shrewd, hardened, and violent felon who becomes the prime suspect in this season's big '3XK' serial-killer investigation." Tergesen will make his first appearance on the show's seventh episode.
THE COUNCIL OF DADS (FOX, New!) - Peter Tolan ("Rescue Me") has booked yet another project, this time a half-hour comedy at FOX. Said effort, based on the non-fiction book by Bruce Feiler (subtitled "My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me"), revolves around a man who, after being diagnosed with rare, life-threatening cancer, assembles six of his closest friends - each with their area of expertise - who agree to help raise his young twin daughters following his death. Tolan is writing and executive producing the Sony Pictures Television-based project, which has a $1.5 million pilot production commitment. Feiler will serve as a consultant on the adaptation.
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC) - Nancy Travis ("The Bill Engvall Show") has snagged a role on the show's upcoming seventh season. She'll play the mother of Brian Austin Green's character. Travis's casting comes on the heels of John Schneider being tapped as Green's father. Both parents make their debut on the series come episode seven.
MY FORMERLY HOT LIFE (ABC, New!) - Stephanie Dolgoff's bestselling memoir is being eyed for the small screen at ABC. Julie Anne Robinson ("The Middle") is attached to direct and executive produce the potential single-comedy, "a comedic look at the good, the bad, and the ugly moments in a woman's life as she adjusts to the realization that she is no longer forever 21." Dolgoff and Christy Fletcher and Rebecca Gradinger of Fletcher & Co. will serve as co-executive producers. No writer or studio was indicated.
PERSON OF INTEREST (CBS, New!) - J.J. Abrams's latest entry has found a home at CBS. The drama is being penned by Jonah Nolan, who co-wrote "The Dark Knight" and "The Prestige" alongside his director brother, Christopher. No details were given about the crime thriller other than it is set up at Abrams's Warner Bros. Television-based Bad Robot. Abrams, Nolan and Bryan Burk will then executive produce.
SPARTACUS: BLOOD & SAND (Starz) - Andy Whitfield is departing the series as the actor been advised by his doctors to immediately resume aggressive treatment for a recurrence of cancer. "It's with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus, and all the wonderful people involved. It seems that it is time for myself and my family to embark on another extraordinary journey. Thank you sincerely for the support so far," said Whitfield in a statement.
While Whitfield's exit places season two, originally targeted for September 2011, in limbo, the show's six-episode prequel "Gods of the Arena" is still on track for a January premiere. "Right now, we just want to extend our concern and support to Andy and his family," said Starz's Carmi Zlotnik in the network's portion of the statement. "We will address our programming plans at some later date."
SQUIRRELS (The CW, New!)/UNTITLED COOPER & LEVIN PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Former "Brothers & Sisters" showrunners Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper-Landsman have set up a pair of drama projects. First up at CBS as an untitled hour about "a 45-year-old mom of three whose neurosurgeon husband kills himself, leaving her in financial ruin and forcing her to go back to complete the surgical residency she never finished, only now her oldest son is her supervising resident." Richard Shepard, Sean and Bryan Furst are also on board to executive produce, the former of which may direct.
Then at The CW there's "Squirrels," about a woman who, "following a whirlwind affair over graduation weekend with the hottest guy in her med school class, makes a radical decision to give up a plum surgical residency in Chicago in order to be near him, and takes the only remaining spot at UCLA -- psychiatry, a field which she has no belief in." Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz are likewise attached to executive produce. Both hours come from CBS Television Studios.
THAT'S A RECORD (NBC, New!) - Jimmy Fallon is set to executive produce a new game show pilot for the Peacock in which users attempt unusual world records. Chris Hardwick ("Web Soup") is hosting the project, which is based on the Universal Record Database, a website devoted to said feats. Fallon frequently features such efforts on "Late Night," such as the number of bunnies snuggled in a hammock or the fastest time a robot can decorate a cupcake. JD Roth and Todd A. Nelson of 3 Ball Productions are also attached.
TRUE LIES (ABC, New!) - A small screen take on James Cameron's 1994 feature of the same name, about a super-spy (Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film) whose family discovers his real job, has found a home at ABC. Rene Echevarria ("Castle") is penning the adaptation which he'll executive produce alongside Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment banner for 20th Century Fox Television. The Alphabet has given a script commitment to the project with a penalty attached should it not go to pilot.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[09/23/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Gamechangers: Mother/Athlete" - Official Trailer - The Roku Channel
Five trailblazing WNBA players - Sheryl Swoopes, Bria Hartley, Skylar Diggins, Allison Feaster, and Natalie Achonwa - talk about the physical, emotional, and professional challenges of becoming mothers while competing at the highest level of the sport.
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[09/23/26 - 07:31 AM]
AMC Global Media's October Highlights Include "Kill Jackie," "Yaga," "V/H/S/Mixtape," "Signora Volpe" and More
Other series premieres include "Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena" and "This is Not a Murder Mystery."
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[09/23/26 - 07:26 AM]
OWN Announces October Premiere Dates for Iyanla Vanzant's Two New OWN Spotlight Specials
OWN Spotlight specials feature candid conversations and thought-provoking documentaries hosted by Oprah Winfrey and other creators, shining a light on the issues, stories, and achievements shaping Black communities.
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[09/23/26 - 07:01 AM]
Roku Launches New Live Sports Talk Series "Pregame with Matthew Berry"
Produced by Berry's Fantasy Life, "Pregame with Matthew Berry" will stream Monday through Friday from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET on The Roku Channel's Roku Sports Channel.
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[09/23/26 - 06:11 AM]
"CNBC Innovation Lab" Premieres on Saturday, September 26 at 4PM ET on CNBC
Hosted by Jon Fortt, CNBC will debut an in-depth, one-hour special, "CNBC Innovation Lab," examining how artificial intelligence is reshaping the labor market and society, particularly for younger workers entering an AI-driven world.
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[09/23/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "Ray Gunn" - Official Trailer - Netflix
In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson).
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[09/23/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: Apple TV Debuts Gripping Trailer for Season Two of Dark Comedy "Where's Wanda?"
Season two will make its global debut on Apple TV with one episode on Wednesday, October 21, followed by a new episode weekly through December 9, 2026.
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[09/23/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "Masterplan" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Stealing the Mona Lisa, it's a family affair.
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[09/23/26 - 12:01 AM]
Netflix Announces Start of Production for "High Tides: The Film"
The film is the sequel to the popular series "High Tides," whose three seasons together spent over 24 weeks in the Dutch Netflix Top 10.
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[09/22/26 - 04:15 PM]
Inside the Most Daring Jewel Theft in History, "Heist at the Louvre," New Podcast from "20/20" and the ABC News Podcast Network, Premieres Monday, Sept. 28
The series unpacks how thieves were able to pull off one of the most daring jewel heists in history, with host James Longman following the investigation and its aftermath to try to answer the central question: Where are the crown jewels now?
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[09/22/26 - 03:08 PM]
Record-Breaking Week 3: ESPN/ABC Claim Every Saturday Window; "College GameDay" Continues Historic Start to the Season
ESPN networks delivered the top five most-watched games of Week 3 and accounted for two-thirds of all college football viewing.
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[09/22/26 - 02:34 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Scores Regular Season High 27,212,000 Viewers in Week 2
Said coverage was up +8% vs. last year's full season average of 25,269,000 viewers.
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[09/22/26 - 02:17 PM]
Colts-Chiefs Overtime Thriller Is Most Watched Week 2 NBC "Sunday Night Football" Game Since 2015, Averaging 24.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience for Colts-Chiefs peaked at 27.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).
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[09/22/26 - 12:16 PM]
Netflix's "Crew Girl" Renewed for Season 2
Season 1 of the coming-of-age teen drama series launched on September 10 and debuted in the Netflix English TV Top 10, where it has remained since its release, climbing up to #2 this week.
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[09/22/26 - 12:02 PM]
Netflix to Live-Stream STARTO ENTERTAINMENT's New Year's Eve Countdown Concert Worldwide for the First Time
This concert began in 1996 as a charity event supporting recovery efforts following the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and has since become an annual tradition for artists and fans to close out and welcome the new year together.
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