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[01/24/11 - 10:31 PM]
Development Update: Monday, January 24
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!


17TH PRECINCT (NBC) - Michael Rymer ("Battlestar Galactica") has been tapped to direct the Ronald D. Moore-penned pilot, a police drama set in a world "where magic and supernatural elements rule over science." Rymer helmed nearly two dozen "Galactica" episodes as well as the first two parts of the mini-series that launched Moore's revamp. Sony Pictures Television is producing "Precinct."


BLACK & RIGHT (NBC, New!) - Jenifer Rice-Genzuk ("The Game") has booked an autobiographical comedy at the Peacock about "a young, hip liberal African-American couple who lose everything and are forced to move in with their die-hard Republican pundit mother and her white conservative husband." New Wave Entertainment's Brian Volk-Weiss and Michael Pelmont will executive produce the half-hour alongside Rice-Genzuk, who wrote the project on spec.


THE DOCTOR (A.K.A. UNTITLED RINA MIMOUN PROJECT) (CBS) - The Rina Mimoun-penned hour, about "a mother who reconnects with her adult children when she joins the family's medical practice," has been greenlit to pilot. Warner Bros. Television, where Mimoun's overall deal is based, is producing.


THE EX-MEN (TV Land) - David Alan Basche ("Lipstick Jungle") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about three divorced men who live in an apartment building together where the landlord is a smart and sexy divorce attorney (Kristen Johnston). He'll play one of the trio, Stuart Gardner, "a caring cosmetic dentist" who has a secret crush on Johnston's character. Donald Faison also stars while Mark Reisman penned the script.


GREATEST HITS (TBS, New!)/LOST IN THE WOODS (MTV, New!) - Actor/Writer Matt Jones ("Breaking Bad") has sold a pair of scripts, one to TBS and one to MTV. The former revolves around "a slacker record-store employee who turns into a hitman" while the latter is billed as an hourlong dramedy set at a summer camp. Teri Weinberg of Yellow Brick Road Productions is also on board to executive produce "Woods."


H8R (The CW, New!) - Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey ("Extra") is developing a new reality project at the netlet in which "everyday people who really-really-really dislike a particular celebrity" are given "the chance to confront them - and the star a chance to win you over." No other details were given.


HAIL MARY (CBS) - Jeff Wadlow's drama, about "a Southern female private eye who partners with a street-wise hustler to solve crimes," has received a pilot commitment from the network. Wadlow is also expected to direct the hour, which comes from Warner Bros. Television and Joel Silver's Silver Pictures. Beau Bauman is on board as producer.


HOUSE OF LIES (Showtime) - Ben Schwartz ("Undercovers") and Josh Lawson ("Romantically Challenged") are the latest additions to the comedy pilot, about Marty (Don Cheadle), "a highly successful, cutthroat consultant who is never above using any means (or anyone) necessary to get his clients the information they want." Schwartz will play Clyde Oberholt, a member of Marty's team and his closest friend, with Lawson as Doug Guggenheim, Marty's Harvard-educated associate. Stephen Hopkins is directing the half-hour from a script by Matt Carnahan.


KNUCKLE (HBO, New!) - "Eastbound & Down's" Danny McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green are developing a small screen take on Ian Palmer's documentary of the same name, about "two Irish families that settle a longstanding dispute by periodically engaging in bare knuckle bouts." The film, which took 12 years to shoot, is being eyed as a comedy for the pay channel with McBride, Hill and Green executive producing via their Rough House Pictures banner.


MAGIC CITY (Starz) - Jeffrey Dean Morgan ("Grey's Anatomy") is reportedly in final negotiations to star in the upcoming drama, about "a hotel in the heart of sexy, exciting Miami at the dawn of the 1960s." He'd play Ike Evans, "a suave Jewish-American man who builds the hotel and along the way makes some strange bedfellows and many powerful enemies." Mitch Glazer is behind the project, which is set to begin production shortly on its 10-episode commitment. Geyer Kosinski and Tony To are also executive producing.


RIP CITY (TV Land) - Sherri Shepherd ("Sherri") has booked a role on the Christine Taylor-led pilot, a workplace comedy set at a regional beverage manufacturer and distributor. She'll play Gabby, "the office drama queen, who, like the others, is curious about their new boss (Taylor), and very nervous about the fact that someone's going to be fired." Terri Minsky is behind the half-hour.


UNTITLED LIZ MERIWETHER PROJECT (FOX) - Liz Meriwether's comedy, about "a Bridget Jones-type girl who moves in with three guys and they all learn surprising secrets," has been ordered to pilot. She penned the single-camera project and is executive produce alongside Chernin Entertainment's Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope for 20th Century Fox Television.


UNTITLED MICHAEL SARDO PROJECT (Lifetime) - Jeffrey Nordling ("Desperate Housewives") and Katherine LaNasa ("The Defenders") have both scored roles on the drama pilot, about Ann Brown (Carrie-Anne Moss), "New York's premiere celebrity psychiatrist who leaves town to join her sister, the Dean at a teaching hospital, and becomes the chief of staff of the hospital's psych ward." He'll play Mark Maddux, "a brilliant psychiatrist who was in line for the chief of staff job until Ann got hired in by the Board," while LaNasa's role wasn't specified. Timothy Busfield is directing the Universal Cable Productions-based hour from a script by Michael Sardo.






  [january 2011]  
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M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· 17TH PRECINCT (NBC)
· BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SCI FI)
· BLACK & RIGHT (NBC)
· BREAKING BAD (AMC)
· DEFENDERS, THE (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOCTOR, THE (CBS)
· EASTBOUND & DOWN (HBO)
· EXES, THE (TV LAND)
· EXTRA (SYNDICATION)
· GAME, THE (BET)
· GREATEST HITS (TBS)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· H8R (CW)
· HAIL MARY (CBS)
· HOUSE OF LIES (SHOWTIME)
· KNUCKLE (HBO)
· LIPSTICK JUNGLE (NBC)
· LOST IN THE WOODS (MTV)
· MAGIC CITY (STARZ)
· NEW GIRL (FOX)
· RIP CITY (TV LAND)
· ROMANTICALLY CHALLENGED (ABC)
· SHERRI (LIFETIME)
· UNDERCOVERS (NBC)
· UNTITLED MICHAEL SARDO PROJECT (LIFETIME)





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