 |
 |
[03/07/11 - 10:49 PM]
Development Update: Monday, March 7
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!
AWAKENING (The CW) - Meredith Hagner ("Lights Out") is set to star opposite Lucy Griffiths in the drama pilot, about two combative sisters who come of age amid the beginning of a zombie uprising. She'll play younger sister Jayce Lestrade ("high energy, eyes too bright, seldom knows anything about her"), who's far more comfortable with her zombie status than eldest Jenna (Griffiths). Her casting is in second position to the struggling FX drama. David Van Ancken is directing the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, from co-creators Bill Laurin and Glenn Davis.
COOPER & STONE (The CW) - Riley Smith ("Drive") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about two female detectives - Angela Stone (yet to be cast) and Jenna Cooper (Alexandra Breckenridge) - in Chicago's Northside who specialize in pop culture knowledge and solving homicides. He's set as Danny Kovacs, a brash, hot-shot vice detective who went to the academy with Stone. John Dahl is helming the CBS Television Studios-based hour off a script by Laurie Arent.
FREE AGENTS (NBC) - Hank Azaria ("Huff") has been tapped to star in the comedy pilot, about "the attraction between two quirky PR executives working together who both are on the rebound - one from divorce, the other from the loss of a fiance." He'll play one of the pair, the divorced Alex, the casting of which lifts said contingency off its production. Universal Media Studios is behind the half-hour, which Todd Holland will direct from a script by John Enbom.
GRACE (ABC) - Sherri Saum ("Gossip Girl"), Chris Carmack ("The O.C.") and Robert Hoffman ("Step Up 2: The Streets") have all scored roles in the drama pilot, about Michael Grace (Eric Roberts), a famous choreographer whose womanizing ways have produced three daughters - Sarah (Abigail Spencer), a lawyer; Shay, a photographer; Eden (Anabelle Acosta), a teenager - all with different mothers. Saum will play middle child Shay ("beautiful, bright, talented and irreverent"), an artist, making a meager living as a photographer in Venice Beach. Carmack then is set as Dylan Doran ("a sexy man-child"), Shay's on-and-off musician boyfriend, who's also the father of her 14-year-old son, Joseph. And Hoffman is believed to be playing Javier DeRenzio ("a rippling wall of hotness"), a dancer who creates some sparks with the married Sarah. ABC Studios is behind the hour, from director Lesli Linka Glatter and writer Krista Vernoff.
HAIL MARY (CBS) - Brandon T. Jackson ("Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son") is set to star opposite Minnie Driver in the drama pilot, about Mary Beth Baker (Driver), a suburban single mom in Atlanta who opts to become a private investigator following her son's murder. He'll play KZ, her late son's best friend ("a small-time con artist with a quick wit and a fast mouth"), whom she takes on as a partner. Enrique Murciano and Stephen Tobolowsky also star in the Warner Bros. Television-based project, from writer Jeff Wadlow and director Brad Silberling.
HART OF DIXIE (The CW) - Nancy Travis ("The Bill Engvall Show") has booked a role on the drama pilot, about Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson), a young big-city doctor who inherits a medical practice in an oddball southern town. She'll potentially recur as Emmeline Hattenbarger (a.k.a. "Mrs. H"), a no-nonsense nurse that befriends Zoe. Jaime King and Wilson Bethel also star in the project, from Warner Bros. Television. Jason Ensler is directing from a script by Leila Gerstein.
HOGOBLIN (HBO, New!) - Michael Chabon ("Wonder Boys") and Ayelet Waidman ("Bad Mother") are reportedly set to team for a potential drama at the pay channel about "a group of con men and magicians who battle Hitler and the Nazis during WWII." No other specifics or auspices were given.
HOMEGROWN (CBS) - Shane McRae ("Four Kings") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about Joe Reilly, "a blue-collar guy who wrestles with how to parent his unmarried grown daughter, Eileen (Becki Newton), and her 12-year-old son, Jimmy, while sharing a house with them as well as his wife, Barb, and recently widowed mother." He'll play Gabe, Jimmy's father, a handsome firefighter. Jackie and Jeff Filgo are behind the half-hour, to be directed by Andy Ackerman for Warner Bros. Television.
MAGIE EYE (NBC, New!) - Tony Oller and Chris Tavarez are set to star in Walmart and Procter & Gamble's latest co-production, about Tyler McFarland (Oller), "the captain of the high school football team who is expected to lead his school to victory but must make the difficult decision to tell the coach about teammates Nick and Alex (Tavarez) bullying a mysterious new kid in school, Cory." Said title refers to a camera with magical properties that Tyler's little sister discovers which may hold the key to Cory's past. Gregg Champion will direct the telefilm from a script by Wesley Bishop while David A. Rosemont, Brian Wells and Jeff Grant are executive producing. Production is set to begin this week for an expected June 11 premiere on the Peacock.
MY FRICKIN' FAMILY (ABC) - Mo Gaffney has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about Anna (Ellen Woglom) and Raj (Ravi Patel), a couple with a new baby and the culture clashes between its four very different grandparents. She's on board as Maureen, Anna's mother, "a margarita-loving Baptist travel agent who has never been east of the Mississippi." Christopher Rich and Harish Patel also star in the project, from ABC Studios and creator Erica Rivinoja. Tristram Shapeero is directing.
REVENGE (ABC) - Former "Brothers & Sisters" co-star Emily VanCamp has been tapped for the lead role on the drama pilot, about a mysterious young woman who comes to the Hamptons to exact revenge on the people who destroyed her family. She'll play Emily Thorne ("a brown-eyed, auburn haired beauty"), said woman, in the ABC Studios-based hour. Phillip Noyce is directing from a script by Mike Kelley while Ashley Madekwe also stars.
SMOTHERED (ABC) - Marcia Gay Harden and John C. McGinley are set and Adam Arkin is in talks to join the cast of the comedy pilot, about a young couple - Zach (Kyle Howard) and Gillian (yet to be cast) with a one-year-old daughter who find themselves smothered by their two very different sets of parents - his are pretentious and disengaged while hers are scrappy and exuberant. Harden and Arkin would play Zack's folks, Fran ("early sixties, pretentious") and Alan ("mid-sixties, dry, disengaged"); with McGinley and the previously cast Julie White as Gillian's, Skip ("mid-fifties, exuberant") and Patty ("early fifties, scrappy"). Andy Ackerman is directing the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour, which comes from co-creators Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen.
UNTITLED DAN GOOR PROJECT (NBC) - Andrew J. West ("Greek") has scored the lead role on the comedy pilot, about a young doctor who spends as much time taking care of his parents as he does his patients. He'll play the man in question, Adam Foote, in the half-hour, which also stars Jean Smart. Dan Goor penned the project for Universal Media Studios.
UNTITLED PETER KNIGHT PROJECT (CBS) - Larry Wilmore ("The Daily Show With Jon Stewart") is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about a group of assistants and junior executives as they juggle love, friendship, and the corporate ladder. He'll play Julian, a managing partner at the show's venture capital firm. Peter Knight penned the half-hour for Sony Pictures Television and CBS Television Studios. Neil Patrick Harris is directing.
|
|
|
 [march 2011]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[01/23/26 - 12:44 PM]
"20/20" Improves on the Previous Week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Hitting an 8-Week High in the Key Adult News Demo
"20/20" ranked No. 1 in its two-hour time period in Adults 25-54.
|
[01/23/26 - 12:28 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" posted double-digit increases week to week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.
|
[01/23/26 - 10:31 AM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Closes Out Historic Season with 2.6 Million Viewers Highlighting Hurricanes and Hoosiers
The six postseason GameDay shows delivered 2.4 million average viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year.
|
[01/23/26 - 10:16 AM]
Investigation Discovery Sets Premiere Dates for Projects from Academy Award Winner Octavia Spencer with "Lost Women of Alaska" and "Feds"
Over three gripping hours, "Lost Women of Alaska" premieres on Wednesday, February 25 from 8-11pm ET on ID.
|
[01/23/26 - 10:00 AM]
"America's Culinary Cup" Announces Chefs Michael Cimarusti and Wylie Dufresne to Join Padma Lakshmi as Judges in the Ultimate Culinary Arena
The series will now premiere with an expanded 90-minute episode on Wednesday, March 4 at 9:30/8:30c.
|
[01/23/26 - 09:35 AM]
A+E Global Media Greenlights New Digital-First Series Under the History Brand - "MonsterQuest: Origins" - Exploring America's Most Haunted Wilderness
The series takes viewers deep into the wilderness of the United States to uncover the truth behind some of the country's most enduring legends.
|
[01/23/26 - 09:32 AM]
ESPN NBA Schedule Update: Toronto Raptors Visit Orlando Magic on January 30
This matchup replaces the previously scheduled Memphis Grizzlies vs. New Orleans Pelicans game.
|
[01/23/26 - 09:30 AM]
CBS Flips "The Price Is Right at Night" and "Hollywood Squares" on Wednesday Nights
"Price Is Right" will now lead off the night at 8:00/7:00c followed by "Hollywood Squares" at 9:00/8:00c.
|
[01/23/26 - 09:04 AM]
Video: It's Time to Raise the Curtain on "The Muppet Show" as Official Trailer Is Revealed
Music, comedy, and a whole lot of chaos are bound to ensue when The Muppets once again take the stage of the original Muppet Theatre with their very special guest, Sabrina Carpenter!
|
[01/23/26 - 08:32 AM]
Video: Official Trailer and Key Art for the Highly Anticipated Drama "Marshals" Starring Luke Grimes, Reprising His Role of Kayce Dutton, Now Available
With the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Dutton joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana.
|
[01/23/26 - 08:22 AM]
Tune-In Friday, February 13 at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel for the Premiere of "Gold Rush Mine Rescue with Freddy and Juan"
In North America's most extreme goldfields, thousands of unprepared miners gamble it all, chasing the highest gold prices in history - and find themselves on the brink of ruin.
|
[01/23/26 - 08:00 AM]
"Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Hall of Fame Countdown," Hosted By "CBS Mornings" Co-Host and "The NFL Today" Analyst Nate Burleson and Actress Daniela Ruah, to Air Monday, Feb. 2 on CBS
This year's special, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, raises the bar with the Hall of Fame Countdown, as Nate and Daniela curate their top 10 greatest Super Bowl commercials of all time.
|
[01/23/26 - 07:37 AM]
Historic Back-to-Back Stretch: ESPN Delivers Its No. 1 and No. 8 Most-Watched Events Ever on Consecutive Days
Across Sunday and Monday, fans consumed 18.7 billion total minutes across ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 - a 28% increase from last season's Divisional Round game and Championship Monday on the same networks.
|
[01/23/26 - 07:05 AM]
"The Turpins: A New House of Horror - A Diane Sawyer Special Event," Airs Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 10 P.M. on ABC, Streams Next Day on Disney+ and Hulu
The one-hour special takes viewers inside the Turpin children's shocking story of survival, only to have to go through it all again.
|
[01/23/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "Love Me Love Me" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Friends, enemies, lovers. Their story is about to begin. "Love Me Love Me" premieres February 13.
|
|
|
|
