or


[02/21/11 - 09:55 PM]
Development Update: Monday, February 21
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!


CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS) - Simon Mirren, an executive producer on the veteran drama, has reportedly inked an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. The pact, which begins in June, will set the writer/producer up at the studio where he'll develop new series projects. It will also spell the end of his six-year run at "Minds," which is co-produced by ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios. Financial details weren't specified. Separately, Mirren is executive producing "The Sector" at Cinemax, an action-adventure drama from Scott Free Productions, Anne Thomopoluos and Aaron and Matt Benay.


HAIL MARY (CBS) - Minnie Driver ("The Riches") has booked the title role on the drama pilot, about a suburban single mom who teams up with a streetwise hustler to solve crimes. She'll play the aforementioned mom, Mary Beth Baker, a pretty and petite guidance counselor ("a little bit Erin Brockovich and a lot Leigh Ann Tuohy"). Jeff Wadlow penned the hour for Warner Bros. Television.


IN CRISIS (ABC) - Guillermo Diaz ("Mercy") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about a professional fixer (Kerry Washington) and her dysfunctional staff. He'll play Huck, the firm's the lone paralegal who is also an expert hacker. Columbus Short, Henry Ian Cusick and Katie Lowes also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, from writer Shonda Rhimes and director Paul McGuigan.


MISSING (ABC) - Ashley Judd is reportedly on track for the lead role in the upcoming drama, about "a devoted single mom who, after her 18-year-old son disappears in Italy where he'd been working on architecture fellowship, takes it upon herself to travel to Europe and track him down." She'll play said woman, Becca Winstone, "a former CIA agent who will stop at nothing to bring her son home alive." Steve Shill is directing the pilot to the project, which was ordered directly to series last month. Gina Matthews, Grant Scharbo and creator Greg Poirier are executive producing alongside Shill for ABC Studios. Production is set to begin late next month in Rome, Vienna and Prague for a late summer/early fall bow.


MY LIFE AS AN EXPERIMENT (NBC) - Adam Campbell ("Harper's Island") is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about the adventures of A.J. Wilder, an immersion journalist and how his unusual assignments affect his home life with his wife and two kids. He'll play Dan Meadow, A.J.'s editor and "perhaps the manliest man in America." Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith co-wrote the half-hour, which is based on A.J. Jacobs's book of the same name. Sony Pictures Television is producing.


PRIME SUSPECT (NBC) - Toby Stephens ("Vexed") has joined the cast of the Maria Bello-led drama pilot, a remake of the iconic British series of the same name. He'll play Matt Webb ("an usually genial man in his 40s"), the live-in boyfriend of Bello's character, Jane Timoney, who is fighting his ex-wife to allow their son to stay with him and Jane. Alexandra Cunningham penned the Universal Media Studios-based hour, to be directed by Peter Berg.


REM (NBC) - Jason Isaacs ("Brotherhood") has booked the lead role on the drama pilot, about Mark Britten, a police detective living in two different realities following a horrible car accident: one in which his son Rex lives, another in which his wife Hannah lives. He'll play said cop ("40ish, handsome, but a weight to his stare") in the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which David Slade is directing from a script by Kyle Killen. Isaacs will also receive a producing credit while Howard Gordon is executive producing alongside Killen. In addition, Tim Minear ("Terriers") has been tapped as a consulting producer.


SUBURGATORY (ABC) - Alan Tudyk ("Dollhouse") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about Tessa (Jane Levy), "a teenage girl who is moved by her dad George from Manhattan, where she grew up, to her version of hell: the suburbs." He's on board as Noah Werner, George's college buddy, who's "too tan for the season with white teeth and professionally tousled hair." Michael Fresco is directing the Emily Kapnek-penned half-hour for Warner Bros. Television.






  [february 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· AWAKE (NBC)
· BROTHERHOOD (SHOWTIME)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOLLHOUSE (FOX)
· HAIL MARY (CBS)
· HARPER'S ISLAND (CBS)
· MERCY (NBC)
· MISSING (ABC)
· MY LIFE AS AN EXPERIMENT (NBC)
· PRIME SUSPECT (NBC)
· RICHES, THE (FX)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· SECTOR, THE (CINEMAX)
· SUBURGATORY (ABC)





[08/05/26 - 12:31 PM]
Taron Egerton, Jamie Chung, Benjamin Norris, Dylan Arnold, Jessy Hodges, and Milan Carter Join the Cast of "I Love LA" Season 2
Mood board turned reality.

[08/05/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of July 27
"Ride or Die," "Off Campus," "Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya," "Elle," and "Reacher" led all original series worldwide.

[08/05/26 - 12:00 PM]
Untitled "Gilmore Girls" Documentary in Production and Coming to HBO Max
The film marks the first-ever authorized documentary about the series, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of its debut in 2025.

[08/05/26 - 11:04 AM]
Hallmark Media, NFL, Skydance Sports and the Chicago Bears Announce the Starting Lineup for "Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story"
Lyndsy Fonseca, Robert Buckley, Marsha Mason, Barbara Alyn Woods, and Khary Payton will star.

[08/05/26 - 11:01 AM]
Peacock Renews "The Five Star Weekend" for a Second Season
According to preliminary Nielsen data, the series ranked among the Top 5 streaming original series during its first two weeks following its July 9 premiere.

[08/05/26 - 11:01 AM]
CBS Media Ventures Sets September Premieres for New and Returning Hit Series
New productions include "Adam's Law" and "American Mayhem."

[08/05/26 - 10:32 AM]
Video: TNT Reveals Trailer and First Look at Highly Anticipated Limited Series "High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam" Starring Joel Kinnaman
The first two episodes will debut Sunday, September 13 at 9pm ET/PT, followed by episode three on Monday, September 14 at 9pm ET/PT on TNT.

[08/05/26 - 10:11 AM]
Disastrous Home Renovations Get a Second Chance in New HGTV Series "Botched Homes"
General contractor and master craftsman Charlie Kawas will rescue South Florida homeowners from some of the region's most disastrous renovation projects in the new series, premiering Wednesday, September 2.

[08/05/26 - 10:10 AM]
Cherry Jones, Corey Stoll, Rob Delaney, Abbey Lee Join Netflix Series Based on Dan Brown's "The Secret of Secrets"
They join the previously cast Morgan Spector as Robert Langdon and Rebecca Hall as Katherine Solomon.

[08/05/26 - 09:21 AM]
Grammy Award-Nominated Group Katseye Returns to "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" For First-Ever Late-Night Performance on Wednesday, Aug. 12
Group members Sophia Laforteza, Lara Raj, Daniela Avanzini, Yoonchae Jeung and Megan Skiendiel will sit down with Fallon to chat about their new music and upcoming tour.

[08/05/26 - 09:01 AM]
Varnell Hill Is Back in the Spotlight: First Look at the Long-Awaited Comedy Series "The Varnell Hill Show," Premiering Globally September 1 on Paramount+
The eight-episode first season will make its global debut on Paramount+ with two episodes on Tuesday, September 1, followed by one new episode every Tuesday through October 13.

[08/05/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Untold: The Testimony of Vince Young" - Official Trailer - Netflix
After delivering one of the greatest performances in Rose Bowl history, Texas Longhorns legend Vince Young was the NFL's next big thing, and for a while, he was.

[08/05/26 - 08:46 AM]
Paramount+ Announces New Scripted Drama "Trauma"
When terrorists seize a busy London Hospital and take the Prime Minister hostage during surgery, former Royal Marines medic turned ER doctor Jim Marchant (Richard Madden) must fight his way through the building to save everyone inside.

[08/05/26 - 08:41 AM]
Investigation Discovery Exposes the Story Behind One of Television's Most Controversial Reality TV Projects in "O.J. Unseen: Exploitation of Evil"
The four-part documentary event premieres on Monday, September 7 and Tuesday, September 8 at 9/8c on ID, with episodes available to stream on HBO Max.

[08/05/26 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "Love Is Blind: UK" Season 3 - Official Trailer - Netflix
A new group of UK singles enter the iconic dating pods in search of love - but who will make it out of the pods and down the aisle?