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[03/11/11 - 11:26 PM]
Development Update: Friday, March 11
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!
COUNCIL OF DADS (FOX) - Landry Bender and Griffin Gluck have booked the final principal roles on the comedy pilot, about a dying man who asks four of his closest friends (Kyle Bornheimer, Patrick Breen, Richard T. Jones and Rick Gomez) - each with their area of expertise - to help raise his two kids after he's gone. They'll play said kids, Mykala ("quiet and still a little overwhelmed by the loss of her father") and Daniel ("a touch too bright for his own good"), respectively. Diane Farr also stars as their mother with Ken Howard as their grandfather. Anthony and Joe Russo are directing the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, which was written by Peter Tolan.
THE DOCTOR (CBS) - Scott Foley ("Grey's Anatomy"), Michael Boatman ("The Good Wife") and Kyle MacLachlan ("Desperate Housewives") have all landed roles on the drama pilot, about Emily Campbell (Christine Lahti), a mother who reconnects with her two adult children - David (Foley) and Natasha (Eva Amurri) - when she joins the family medical practice following their father's death. Foley will play the aforementioned David ("cocky, but he has the goods to back it up"), a cardiologist; with Boatman as Robert Brody, the chief-of-staff at the show's Hartford Medical Center who was once an intern under Emily at Mt. Sinai. And finally, MacLachlan is set as Jason Walden, the best friend of Emily's late husband and a fellow partner at the practice. Warner Bros. Television is behind the hour, which David Nutter is directing from a script by Rina Mimoun.
DON'T TRUST THE BITCH IN APT. 23 (ABC) - Newcomer Eric Andre is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about June (Dreama Walker), an earnest, honest, optimistic girl from the heartland who - after her mortgage company employer goes under - is forced to move in with Chloe (Krysten Ritter), a sexy, unstable New York City party girl who has the morals of a pirate. He's believed to be playing Mark ("late 20's, conservative"), a potential love interest/former co-worker of June's who's now a manager at Starbucks and offers her a job. James Van Der Beek and Michael Blaiklock also star in the project, from 20th Century Fox Television. Jason Winer is directing from a script by Nahnatchka Khan.
EDEN (USA) - Judith Light ("Ugly Betty") has scored a role on the drama pilot, about John Sparks (Nick D'Agosto), "a young hotel worker who, with the help of his escaped con artist cousin Eddie (Enver Gjokaj), gets a job as the concierge at an elite NYC hotel."
She'll play Carla, John's Mother, "a free-spirited, eccentric woman who, when off her meds, battles a grandiose delusional disorder that leads her to believe she is related to a diverse group of famous people." Production is underway on the Universal Cable Productions-based project, which comes from writers Ken and Mary Hanes. Camille Guaty and Gretchen Egolf also star while Jace Alexander directs.
EVIL GENIUS (Comedy Central) - Paul F. Tompkins is redeveloping the comedy at the cable channel, about Professor Tiberius Lynch, "an evil genius who has successfully taken over the world, achieving global domination. The only problem is -- what should he do next?" Tom Scharpling ("Monk") and Tompkins - who previously set up the half-hour back in December 2006 - will co-write and executive produce alongside Avalon Television's John Thoday and Richard Allen Turner.
EXIT STRATEGY (FOX) - Tom Sizemore ("Crash") has joined the cast of the pilot, a drama about a team of CIA agents who are sent in to fix operations gone bad. He's set as Jonathan Marks, a "veteran CIA spymaster and the team's LOGPAC (support officer): the guy who can get you anything, anywhere, anytime." Elyes Gabel, Ethan Hawke, Lily Rabe, Lina Esco and Megan Dodds also star in the hour, from 20th Century Fox Television. David Guggenheim penned the hour while Antoine Fuqua is on board to direct.
GRIMM (NBC) - Kate Burton ("Grey's Anatomy") has scored a role on the drama pilot, about Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli), a police detective who discovers fairy tale creatures live among us and is tasked with defending humans from these mythical beasts. She'll play his aunt, Marie Brannigan ("a weathered beauty"), who indoctrinates him into the supernatural world. David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf co-wrote the Universal Media Studios-based hour, which also stars Bitsie Tulloch, Reggie Lee, Russell Hornsby, Sasha Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell. Marc Buckland is directing.
HAIL MARY (CBS) - Noureen DeWulf ("Hawthorne") has snagged a role on the drama pilot, about Mary Beth Baker (Minnie Driver), a suburban single mom-turned-private investigator who teams up with her murdered son's best friend, KZ (Brandon T. Jackson), to solve crimes. She's on board as Ingrid Collins, Mary Beth's tech-savvy assistant at her day job as a guidance counselor, a "punk pixie who dresses more like Courtney Love than a receptionist." Also cast in the Warner Bros. Television-based hour is Jet Jurgensmeyer as Billy Shifflet, a latchkey kid that Mary Beth tries to look after. Enrique Murciano and Stephen Tobolowsky also star while Brad Silberling is directing from a script by Jeff Wadlow.
HALLELUJAH (ABC) - Zoey Deutch ("The Suite Life on Deck"), Robbie Amell ("True Jackson, VP") and Della Reese ("Touched by an Angel") have all been cast in the drama pilot, about a tiny town in Tennessee which finds itself being torn apart by the forces of good and evil. The former will play Willow, the thoughtful daughter of the hardworking, moral Rye Turner (Donal Logue), who waits tables at the family's diner. Amell then will play her love interest: Gideon, the cocky son of Rye's nemesis - corrupt millionaire Del Roman (Terry O'Quinn) - a former high school football star who now works as a floor manager at his father's store. And finally, Reese is on board as Dulcie Prejean, Del's lifelong advisor, a blind woman with a flair for the autoharp. Frances O'Connor and Arielle Kebbel also star as Rye and Del's respective wives with Jesse L. Martin as Jared O'Neal, a mysterious stranger that comes to town and shakes things up. Michael Apted is directing the ABC Studios-based hour from a script by Marc Cherry.
I HATE THAT I LOVE YOU (NBC) - Comedian Nick Thune has scored the male lead on the pilot, a twisty romantic comedy about two couples - one straight (Brad and Missy), one lesbian (Allie and Sarah) - whose lives become even more complicated after Allie becomes pregnant with Brad's baby. He'll play Brad ("handsome, in shape") in the half-hour, the owner of a spinning studio. Nicole Holofcener is directing the Jhoni Marchinko-penned half-hour for 20th Century Fox Television. Anna Camp also stars.
IDENTITY (ABC) - Colin O'Donoghue ("The Rite") has likewise booked the male lead on the drama pilot, a procedural set at the Identity Crimes Division, the FBI's first cyber-crime unit mixed with traditional investigators. He'll play John Bloom, a former undercover agent who's reluctantly drafted to the team. Wentworth Miller was previously in talks for said role but ultimately passed. Angela Bassett, Jay Paulson and Orlando Jones co-star in the ABC Studios-based hour, from director Gary Fleder and writer John Glenn.
MY LIFE AS AN EXPERIMENT (NBC) - Jon Dore ("The Jon Dore Television Show") and Paget Brewster ("Criminal Minds") have booked the lead roles on the comedy pilot, about A.J. Wilder, an immersion journalist whose unusual assignments frequently affect his home life in Brooklyn with his wife, Stacie, and two kids (Cooper, 8; Ella, 6). Dore will play said man ("gutsy, lovable, smart, and just a bit demented, with an irresistible urge to poke at the hornet's nest of life") with Brewster as Stacie ("feisty and adorable, but with an edge"). Adam Campbell also stars in the half-hour, which Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith co-wrote for Sony Pictures Television.
ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC) - Veteran character actor Raphael Sbarge has booked a role on the drama pilot, about Anna Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a woman with a troubled past who is drawn to Storybrooke, a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real. He'll play Archie, "an eccentric looking gentleman (likened to Michael Emerson) walking a Dalmation and, oddly, carrying an umbrella," who's also the Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio lore. Ginnifer Goodwin, Jamie Dornan, Jared Gilmore, Josh Dallas and Lana Parrilla also star. Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis penned said hour for ABC Studios with Mark Mylod attached to direct.
PLAYBOY (NBC) - Eddie Cibrian ("CSI: Miami") has been tapped as the male lead on the pilot, a period drama set the Playboy Club in Chicago in 1963. He'll take over for Jeff Hephner as Nick Darlton ("35, a man, a jaw, confident, sharp, genial yet private, the ultimate playboy"), an attorney/fixer who used to work for the Bianchi crime family. Said casting was made after the pilot's table read earlier this week. Amber Heard, David Krumholtz, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Laura Benanti, Leah Cudmore, Naturi Naughton, Sean Maher and Wes Ramsey also star in the 20th Century Fox Television-based project, from director Alan Taylor and writer Chad Hodge.
THE REMEMBERER (CBS) - Michael Gaston, Daya Vaidaya and Kevin Rankin have all boarded the drama pilot, about Carrie Wells (Poppy Montgomery), an ex-cop struggling with the blessing/curse of hyperthymesia - the ability to remember everything - who is drafted back into the NYPD. Vaidaya is set as Nina Iara ("got lotsa smarts and lotsa ambition - a local girl, born in Rockaway Park, she left her girlfriends at Stella Maris H.S. far behind - one of the youngest cops ever to make Detective"); with Gaston presumably as Detective Mike Costello ("Yonkers to Queens by way of the 3rd Marines, Desert Storm") and Rankin as Detective Second Class Roe Sanders, the junior member of the squad. CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television are behind the project, from director Niels Arden Oplev and co-creators Ed Redlich and John Bellucci.
ROOKIES (CBS) - Terry Kinney ("The Unusuals") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about six NYPD rookies who balance their personal lives with learning the beat on the streets of Manhattan. He's on board as Larry "Yoda" Rivers, the group's Field Training Officer. Also cast in the CBS Television Studios-based hour is Harold House Moore as Jayson "The Franchise" Toney ("ex-NBA point guard, tall, muscular"). Adam Goldberg, Judy Marte, Leelee Sobieski, Stark Sands and Tom Reed round out the aforementioned sextet. James Mangold is directing from a script by Richard Price.
SUBURGATORY (ABC) - Cheryl Hines ("In the Motherhood") has been cast in the comedy pilot, about Tessa (Jane Levy), a teenage girl who is moved by her dad George (Jeremy Sisto) from Manhattan, where she grew up, to her version of hell: the suburbs. She'll play Dallas Royce ("with giant lips full of Juvederm and sizable fake breasts"), a well-to-do housewife and the mother of Dalia (Carly Chaikin), Tessa's frenemy at school. Alan Tudyk and Allie Grant also stars in the half-hour from Warner Bros. Television. Michael Fresco is directing from a script by Emily Kapnek.
UNTITLED DAN GOOR PROJECT (NBC) - Newcomer Brad Morris has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about Adam Foote (Andrew J. West), a handsome doctor who spends as much time taking care of his parents as he does his patients. He'll play Adam's older brother Matt ("not as handsome, not a doctor"). Jean Smart also stars as their mother, Barbara, in the Universal Media Studios-based project, from writer Dan Goor.
WEEKENDS AT BELLEVUE (FOX) - Eric Winter ("The Mentalist") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about Ellie Harlow (Lauren Ambrose), the weekend physician in charge of Bellevue's psychiatric emergency room, a one-woman front line charged with assessing and treating some of the city's most vulnerable and troubled citizens. He's set as Jared Knox, "scruffy and sexy, the kind of ER doc who works like a dog eight months a year so he can spend the other four surfing in Fiji and skiing in Vail." Jack Bender is helming the Universal Media Studios-based hour from a script by Lisa Zwerling. Amber Stevens and Janet McTeer also star.
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