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[08/25/11 - 11:03 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, August 25
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!


ANGER MANAGEMENT - Bruce Helford ("The Drew Carey Show") is reportedly on track to spearhead the proposed Charlie Sheen-led comedy. Said effort is a small screen take on the Jack Nicholson/Adam Sandler-led feature of the same name with Sheen in the Nicholson role. Debmar-Mercury and Lionsgate Television are co-producing. No network is currently attached. (Deadline.com)


ARE YOU THERE VODKA? IT'S ME CHELSEA (NBC) - Ali Wong ("Breaking In") has joined the cast of the Peacock's Laura Prepon-led Chelsea Handler comedy. She'll play a new character, Bianca, "the daughter of immigrant parents and Chelsea's best friend since grade school [who] is now a fellow cocktail waitress and Chelsea's partner-in-crime." Wong fills the void left by Natalie Morales, whose character Ivory was been dropped from the project. Her casting comes on the heels of Jake McDorman likewise being added to replace Jo Koy's departing Mark. Angel Laketa Moore's Shoniqua is also being phased out however it's not clear if another new character will be brought in. (Deadline.com)


DEADMAN (The CW, New!) - "Supernatural" creator Eric Kripke is developing a small screen take on Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino's DC Comics hero, about "the spirit of a murdered man, Boston Brand, who lives on as he inhabits other people's bodies and helps them solve crises in their own lives." Warner Bros. Television is behind the hour, which Kripke will write and executive produce. (Deadline.com)


PHINEAS & FERB (Disney) - Co-creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh have each inked multi-year, seven-figure overall deals with Disney Television Animation. Said pacts, which include a piece of the franchise's merchandising profits, cover their duties on the much-ballyhooed comedy for another season as well as calls for them to spearhead a feature film based on the show. "Across the 2nd Dimension," a "Phineas & Ferb" TV movie, delivered an impressive 7.6 million viewers earlier this month making it the third-highest-rated movie in Disney Channel history. They'll also develop new projects for the company, most likely a spin-off. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED JEFF RAKE PROJECTS (CBS, New!) - Jeff Rake ("Hawthorne") has booked both a comedy and a drama at the Eye. The half-hour revolves around "a well-intentioned family man struggling with being the perfect dad while his perfect dad lives under his roof." He'll write and executive produce alongside Sony Pictures Television-based producer Jamie Tarses and her FanFare banner. The drama then centers on "a female detective who finds she can interact with dead people - the victims of murders she investigates." Said hour is likewise set up at Sony Pictures Television with Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan also on board to executive produce. (Deadline.com, Variety.com)


UNTITLED LIZ HELDENS PROJECT (NBC, New!) - "Friday Night Lights" alums Liz Heldens, Pete Berg and Sarah Aubrey are set to re-team for a potential drama on the Peacock billed as "a western story told from a female point of view." Heldens will pen the hour for Universal Media Studios with Berg and Aubrey also executive producing via their Film 44 banner. (Deadline.com)


THE YARD (NBC, New!) - Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons ("Mastermind") has booked a new comedy at the Peacock which "presents the life lessons of elementary school as seen through the lens of an 'Office'-like documentary." The project, which has a pilot production commitment, comes from Sony Pictures Television and the studio-based Will Gluck. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Mircea Monroe will guest on the seventh episode of The CW's "Hart of Dixie" as a woman from Wade Kinsella's (Wilson Bethel) past (TVLine.com); Lucian Msamati is set as mercenary pirate Salladhor Saan in "Game of Thrones" (EW.com); Will Forte will turn up in episode four of NBC's "Up All Night" as a surfer dude/stay-at-home dad who befriends Will Arnett's Chris (NYMag.com); Arye Gross will play a middle-aged scientist on "Fringe's" fifth episode back this season (TVGuide.com); Alan Dale is on board as Prince Charming's (Josh Dallas) father on ABC's "Once Upon a Time" (TVLine.com); Jamie Lee Curtis has booked a two-episode arc on "NCIS" as a strong-willed career woman/single mom who butts heads with Mark Harmon's Gibbs (EW.com); Elvira herself, Cassandra Peterson, will turn up in the Halloween installment of ABC's "Last Man Standing" (TVLine.com); plus Billy Miller is bound for The CW's "Ringer" as a new pal for Sarah Michelle Gellar's Bridget in Narcotics Anonymous (TVGuide.com).






  [august 2011]  
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· ANGER MANAGEMENT (FX)
· ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? (NBC)
· BREAKING IN (FOX)
· DEADMAN (CW)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DREW CAREY SHOW, THE (ABC)
· FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (DIRECTV)
· FRINGE (FOX)
· GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
· HART OF DIXIE (CW)
· HAWTHORNE (TNT)
· LAST MAN STANDING (FOX)
· NCIS (CBS)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· PHINEAS AND FERB (DISNEY)
· PHINEAS AND FERB THE MOVIE: ACROSS THE 2ND DIMENSION (DISNEY)
· RINGER (CW)
· SUPERNATURAL (CW)
· UNTITLED JEFF RAKE COMEDY PROJECT (CBS)
· UNTITLED JEFF RAKE DRAMA PROJECT (CBS)
· UNTITLED LIZ HELDENS PROJECT (NBC)
· UP ALL NIGHT (NBC)
· YARD, THE (CANADA) (HULU)





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