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[10/27/10 - 06:53 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, October 27
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 APPRENTICE (NBC) - Donald Trump has inked a multi-year first-look deal with the NBC Universal empire. The pact gives NBC and its corporate siblings first crack at his Trump Productions's development. In addition to "The Apprentice" and "The Celebrity Apprentice," Trump is behind the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, both of which are cleared on the network through 2013. Separately, Trump has secured second seasons of "Donald J. Trump Presents: The Ultimate Merger" on TV One and "Trump's Fabulous World of Golf" on the Golf Channel. The company, alongside 44 Blue Productions, is also casting "Keep It In the Family" at The CW. The series, based on the BBC Two entry of the same name, tracks a family-run businesses facing the dilemma of who will take over the reins. Andy Litinsky serves as an executive producer of each project alongside Trump.


BIRD DOG (TNT, New!) - Mike Robe ("Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From The Stories Of Stephen King") has snagged a cast-contingent pilot order from the cable channel for a new drama about an unlikely partnership between two cops who happen to be father and daughter. As for specifics, "Bird Dog," centers on Gail McGrath, "who followed in her father's footsteps in becoming a police officer but had little else in common with him. She left the big city she grew up in to move to a small Pacific Northwestern town where she was patrolling the streets until her dad, a NYC cop, showed up on her front doorstep and join her as her new partner." Warner Horizon Television is behind the hour, which Robe will direct and executive produce off his own script. Said order is billed as a result of difficulties casting on fellow TNT effort "Hollywood & Vine," which has been put on hold.


BORED TO DEATH/EASTBOUND & DOWN (HBO) - The pay channel has renewed both of its current Sunday comedies, marking the third seasons for each. No episode order however was specified. Through five weeks, "Bored to Death" is averaging 962,000 viewers and a 0.5 rating among adults 18-49 while "Eastbound & Down's" average audience is 1.414 million viewers and a 0.9 adults 18-49. Both series lead out of newcomer "Boardwalk Empire" (2.994 million viewers and a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating during the aforementioned period), which had previously been picked up for a second season.


CHARLIE'S ANGELS (ABC) - Al Gough and Miles Millar's small screen revival of the much-ballyhooed franchise has been ordered to pilot. Leonard Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen are also on board as executive producers on the project, which is set up at Sony Pictures Television. Gough and Millar's take is the third in recent years, which Josh Friedman taking a stab in 2009 and Carlton Cuse & John Wirth in 2004. Production is set to begin in January, potentially in Miami.


I USED TO BE FAT (MTV, New!) - 3 Ball Productions ("The Biggest Loser") has booked a 10-episode order from the cable channel for a new reality series which "follows teens during the summer between their senior year in high school and their freshman year in college as they lose weight in preparation for a new chapter in their lives." The company's J.D. Roth is among the executive producers of the hour-long project, which showcases one teen each week as they "work with trainers, nutritionists and doctors to achieve their weight-loss goals." The newcomer launches Wednesday, December 29 at 10:00/9:00c on the network.


NITE TALES (BET) - Jamie Foxx has come aboard as an executive producer on the project, while Denise Richards and Stacey Dash will replace Flavor Flav as hosts. The half-hour anthology, billed as a hybrid of "Tales From the Crypt" and "The Twilight Zone," originated as a movie on BET. Production is underway on 26 episodes with Tom Arnold, Method Man and Jason Mewes among those set to appear. Foxx and Deon Taylor co-wrote and co-directed the premiere installment and several other episodes. Roxanne Avent, Robert Smith and former NBA star Mitch Richmond also serve as executive producers alongside Foxx and Taylor for their No Brainer Films. The series is being shot on spec with a sale to cable expected shortly.


THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF... (Bravo) - Matt Anderson and Nate Green - the duo behind "The Real Housewives of New York," "New Jersey," "Atlanta" and "Bethenny Getting Married?" - are reportedly close to signing an overall deal with the cable channel. Said pact would formally launch their own production company, Purveyors of Pop, where they'd develop new series projects for the network. The pair are only the second talent to sign such a deal with the network, the other being Magical Elves principals Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth.


UNTITLED AUDRINA PATRIDGE PROJECT (VH1, New!) - "The Hills"-turned-"Dancing With the Stars" star Audrina Patridge is set to be the focus of a new reality series at the cable channel. Mark Burnett is behind the project, which is expected to receive an 8-10 episode order. The untitled series "will document Patridge's life with her family as she tries to navigate the world of fame and celebrity in Hollywood." MTV previously ordered a pilot for the project (then billed as "The Audrina Show") in 2009 that ultimately didn't move forward. Burnett and Patridge will once again executive produce alongside her manager Dave Fleming.






  [october 2010]  
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· APPRENTICE, THE (NBC)
· AUDRINA (VH1)
· BETHENNY EVER AFTER (BRAVO)
· BIGGEST LOSER, THE (USA)
· BIRD DOG (TNT)
· BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
· BORED TO DEATH (HBO)
· CHARLIE'S ANGELS (ABC)
· DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DONALD J. TRUMP'S FABULOUS WORLD OF GOLF (GOLF)
· EASTBOUND & DOWN (HBO)
· HILLS, THE (MTV)
· HOLLYWOOD & VINE (TNT)
· I USED TO BE FAT (MTV)
· KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY (CW)
· NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING (TNT)
· NITE TALES (SYNDICATION)
· REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA, THE (BRAVO)
· REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY, THE (BRAVO)
· REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, THE (BRAVO)
· ULTIMATE MERGER, THE (TV ONE)





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