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[08/29/11 - 10:48 PM]
Development Update: Monday, August 29
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!


BISHOP TO PAWN (TNT, New!) - Greg Plageman ("Person of Interest") is developing a new drama at the cable channel about "a private investigator who runs his business out of his Los Angeles pawn shop." Warner Horizon Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Television are behind the hour, which Plageman will write and executive produce alongside Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and co-executive producer KristieAnne Reed. (Variety.com)


BRICKHOUSE (CBS, New!) - Jeff Wadlow and Chris Columbus are set to team for a potential drama at the Eye about Frank Brickhouse, "a former San Francisco police officer who - after he's released from a mental institution into the custody of his younger brother, also a homicide detective - believes he is a 1940s detective a la Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe." CBS Television Studios is behind the hour, which Columbus is attached to direct from a script by Wadlow. Both would also executive produce. (Variety.com)


MAID IN MIAMI (ABC Family, New!) - "Rita Rocks" co-creators Stan Zimmerman and James Berg are set to team with "Glee's" executive music producer Adam Anders for a potential comedy at the cable channel. Christina Millian is reportedly in talks to star in the project, which revolves around a young maid who is an aspiring singer. Zimmerman and Berg then will pen the half-hour and executive produce alongside Anders. (Deadline.com)


MALLED (CBS, New!) - Bill Kunstler ("Accidentally on Purpose") has landed a new multi-camera comedy at the Eye about "a career journalist who after getting laid off takes a retail job in a clothing store at the mall." Said half-hour comes from CBS Television Studios and the Tannenbaum Co. with Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum executive producing alongside Kunstler. (Variety.com)


PILLARS OF SMOKE (NBC, New!) - Peter Traugott is looking to import Noah Stollman and Oded Davidoff's Israeli drama "Timrot Ashan" for the Peacock. The project, the moniker of which translates to "Pillars of Smoke," revolves around a police investigation into disappearance of a remote cult that "slowly uncovers the darkest secrets of the region and its inhabitants, as well as a grander political conspiracy and environmental disaster from which the cult members are attempting to escape." Traugott and his development executive Rachel Kaplan will executive produce via their Universal Media Studios-based banner alongside Alon Aranya. The search is underway for a writer. (Deadline.com)


TWO BADGES (CBS, New!) - Ted Humphrey ("The Good Wife") is developing a new drama at the Eye about a female former gang member who becomes a police detective. Said hour, from CBS Television Studios and Carol Mendelsohn Productions ("The Defenders"), is based on Mona Ruiz's autobiography of the same name, which detailed her efforts to patrol the same streets in Santa Ana, where she used to cause trouble. Humphrey then will write and executive produce alongside Mendelsohn. (Variety.com)


UNTITLED APRIL WOO PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Leslie Glass's suspense novel heroine April Woo - "a brilliant young Chinese-American who becomes the first female head of detectives in Coney Island, New York" - is being targeted for a potential drama franchise at the network. Amy Bloom ("State of Mind") is spearheading the adaptation, which comes from CBS Television Studios and Denis Leary and Jim Serpico's Apostle banner, which has a first-look deal with the studio. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED CHRIS HARDWICK PROJECT (AMC, New!) - Chris Hardwick has been tapped to host a potential talk show for the cable channel from "Watch What Happens: Live" producers Sony Pictures Television and Michael Davies's studio-based Embassy Row Productions. Said effort is designed to follow the network's signature dramas as a kind of post-show discussion group (a la the aforementioned "Watch What Happens"). A pilot reportedly was shot several weeks ago focusing on AMC's "The Walking Dead" and a decision to go to series could be made in time for said hour's return next month. (NYMag.com)


UNTITLED CHRIS CASE/JOEY GUTIERREZ PROJECT (CBS, New!) - Chris Case and Joey Gutierrez ("Retired at 35") have booked a potential comedy at the Eye about "a recently separated father of two who attempts to move on with his life." The multi-camera project is set up at CBS Television Studios with Mindy Shultheis and Michael Hanel likewise executive producing via their Acme Productions banner. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED EVERT BACKSTROM PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Leif G.W. Persson's literary hero - homicide detective/equal-opportunity misanthrope Evert Backstrom - is set to be the focus of a potential drama at the network. Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan ("Traffic") is spearheading the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which has a put pilot commitment after a fierce bidding war. Persson and his agent Niclas Salomonsson will also executive produce alongside Gaghan, who has an overall deal with the studio. (Deadline.com)


WICKED GOOD (ABC, New!) - Jason Richman ("Detroit 1-8-7") has booked a second drama at the Alphabet, this time about "a family of witches - soldiers in an eternal battle between good and evil - [who is] dispatched to suburban Orange County, where they must root out dark forces while battling the challenges of everyday life in suburbia." ABC Studios and Mandeville Films are behind the hour, which is executive produced by Richman and the latter's David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Richman is also behind "Two Roads," a drama he is co-writing with David Zabel for the network and studio. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Jason Dohring is set to recur on The CW's "Ringer" as a high school teacher at the new school attended by Siobhan's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) stepdaughter (EW.com); Fred Willard will turn up in the Christmas-themed 100th episode of "The Closer" (EW.com); Jordana Spiro will play an acolyte of Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos's characters on "Dexter" (TVLine.com); Jessica Tuck will guest on "Castle" as a wealthy museum benefactor who becomes a suspect in a murder investigation (TVLine.com); "General Hospital's" Lisa LoCicero is set as a stage mom in an upcoming episode of "Rizzoli & Isles" (TVLine.com); Mekhi Phifer, Cheech Marin and Liza Lapira are bound for an episode of "Psych" dealing with Gus's (Dulé Hill) college a cappella group (TVGuide.com); Will Chase will play man from Debra Messing's past on NBC's "Smash" (Deadline.com); plus Judy Greer is set as Ashton Kutcher's soon-to-be-ex wife on "Two and a Half Men" (Deadline.com).






  [august 2011]  
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· ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS)
· BACKSTROM (FOX)
· BISHOP TO PAWN (TNT)
· BRICKHOUSE (CBS)
· CASTLE (ABC)
· CLOSER, THE (TNT)
· DEFENDERS, THE (CBS)
· DETROIT 187 (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
· GLEE (FOX)
· GOOD WIFE, THE (CBS)
· MAID IN MIAMI (ABC FAMILY)
· MALLED (CBS)
· MIDNIGHT SUN (NBC)
· PERSON OF INTEREST (CBS)
· PSYCH (USA)
· RETIRED AT 35 (TV LAND)
· RINGER (CW)
· RITA ROCKS (LIFETIME)
· RIZZOLI & ISLES (TNT)
· SMASH (NBC)
· STATE OF MIND (LIFETIME)
· TALKING DEAD (AMC)
· TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS)
· TWO BADGES (CBS)
· TWO ROADS (ABC)
· UNTITLED APRIL WOO PROJECT (CBS)
· UNTITLED CASE & GUTIERREZ PROJECT (CBS)
· WALKING DEAD, THE (AMC)
· WATCH WHAT HAPPENS: LIVE (BRAVO)
· WICKED GOOD (ABC)





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