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[10/17/11 - 10:39 PM]
Development Update: Monday, October 17
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!


33 1/3 (NBC, New!) - Kirker Butler ("The Cleveland Show") has booked a new comedy at the Peacock about "a 33-year-old aspiring rock singer and single mother of a teenage girl who, after a humiliating failed marriage proposal, moves back into her mother's basement where she must learn to deal with her opinionated gay slacker brother, an old crush who still lives next door, a mother with a medical marijuana card, and a head filled with a never-ending playlist of some of the best songs ever written." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the single-camera project, which Butler will write and executive produce alongside Aaron Kaplan. (Deadline.com)


CHINA DOLL (HBO, New!) - "Big Love" creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer are developing a new drama at the pay channel about "a successful California construction subcontractor, his Asian-American wife who is a university professor and their humanoid robot as they straddle both sides of the Pacific with extended families on two continents." The pair will write and executive produce the hour via their Anima Sola Productions, which recently inked an overall deal with the network. Lisa Bellomo, a development executive at the company, will presumably also receive a producing credit. (Deadline.com)


GATEWAY (TNT) - Donal Logue, Karen Allen and Ana de la Reguera are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about three brothers - Terence (David Denman), Daniel (Keir O'Donnell) and Jake (Cam Gigandet) - who step in to save their town when their sheriff father is murdered in 1880s Colorado. Allen will play their mom, a rancher's daughter, with Logue as Auggie, Jake's drinking buddy, and De la Reguera as "the practical and feisty co-owner of Lola's saloon." Eric Lange, Keith Carradine and Shannon Lucio also star in the Warner Horizon Television-based hour, from director Danny Cannon and writer Bruce McKenna. (Deadline.com)


INTERCEPT (ABC Family) - Danielle Panabaker ("Shark") and newcomer Chloe Wang are set to star in the drama pilot, about a group of college students who get roped into solving crimes when one of them creates a high-tech communication device that intercepts conversations throughout the West Coast. They'll play the two girls on the team: Kat (Panabaker), "described as the prettiest and coolest girl on campus," and Tess, "a pretty, bookish techie." Ray Wright is behind the hour. (Deadline.com)


ONE GREAT LIFE (FOX, New!) - Shaun Zaken and Jay Baxter ("Wizards of Waverly Place") have sold a new comedy to the network about "four friends who, after hitting their thirties, decide to pool their assets and live one great life." Said effort comes from Universal Cable Productions-based Hypnotic with the company's Doug Liman and Dave Bartis executive producing alongside the duo. (Deadline.com)


PRODIGY/BULLY (FOX) - Actor/writer Mike O'Malley ("Shameless") has sold a new comedy to the network about "a young boy genius who uses his brains and brawn to get whatever he wants." The single-camera project is based on Hank Perlman's shorts of the same name, which producers John Wells Productions and Warner Bros Television originally sold to NBC in 2006. Said effort went to pilot with Josh Flitter in the lead role and Perlman directing from a script he co-wrote with Steve Elliott. Wells, Paris Barclay and Andrew Stearn will executive produce the new incarnation with O'Malley serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)


REVIEW WITH FORREST MACNEIL (Comedy Central, New!) - Andrew Daly ("Eastbound & Down") is set to star in a potential comedy at the cable channel billed as "a send-up of traditional review shows but instead of films, food or art, Forrest MacNeil (Daly) reviews difficult life experiences... by living them - the adrenaline rush of stealing, the drama of divorce, the effects of murder, the wonder of anonymous sex." Charlie Siskel ("Tosh.0") is behind the half-hour, which has a pilot commitment and is based on the Australian series "Review With Myles Barlow" created by and starring Phil Lloyd. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED DON JOHNSON PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Writer W. Merritt Johnson ("Temple Grandin") and actor Don Johnson ("Eastbound & Down") are developing a new dark comedy at the pay channel about "a suicidal game show host, who is trying to avoid the downward spiral of his life while dealing with the headache of his family and work life." The duo will also executive produce the effort alongside the latter's manager Jason Weinberg with Chris Carmona, who originated the idea alongside the former, serving as supervising producer. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED JENNIE SNYDER URMAN PROJECT (The CW, New!) - Former "90210" showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman has booked a second drama, this time at the netlet about "a female medical student who discovers that working as an intern at a big hospital is a lot like being in high school." CBS Television Studios is behind the hour, which Urman will executive produce alongside Dan Jinks. Last month, Urman sold another untitled drama to CBS and is currently working on a rewrite for "Danni Lowinski," a pilot presentation that didn't move forward at The CW during the last development cycle. (Variety.com)


UNTITLED MARLON WAYANS PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Marlon Wayans is returning to the small screen with a potential comedy at the Alphabet about two cop brothers, one of which - having fallen down on his luck - moves in with the other and his family. ABC Studios is behind the hybrid single/multi-camera project, which Wayans will write, executive produce and star in. Wayans's manager Lisa Blum and Wayans Bros Entertainment's Rick Alvarez will also serve as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED MARTHA WILLIAMSON PROJECT (Lifetime, New!) - Martha Williamson ("Touched by an Angel") is developing a new drama at the cable channel about a hospital chaplain. No other details were given about the hour, which comes from Canadian producer Muse Entertainment. The company's Michael Prupas and Joel Rice then will presumably executive produce alongside Williamson. (Variety.com)


ZOMBIELAND (FOX, New!) - Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are reportedly looking to bring their 2009 feature to the small screen. FOX and Sony Pictures Television are developing a half-hour incarnation of the property, which actually originated as a pilot script at CBS in 2005. Gavin Polone will presumably executive produce the comedy alongside Reese and Wernick however no other specifics were given. (NYMag.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - FOX has passed on the second try of the Rob Corddry-led comedy pilot "Little in Common," from creator Rob Thomas (Deadline.com); "Lost's" Hiroyuki Sanada will guest on "Revenge" as a Japanese business man with mysterious ties to Emily Van Camp's Emily Thorne (EW.com); Bellamy Young has been tapped as a potential love interest for Thomas Gibson's Hotch on "Criminal Minds" (EW.com); Jamie Bamber is set to recur on "Body of Proof" for at least three episodes as a blue collar beau for Dana Delany's Megan Hunt (TVLine.com); June Diane Raphael will turn up on "New Girl" as a "smart, slightly intimidating but helpful friend" of Zooey Deschanel's Jess (EW.com); Tom Wopat and Aaron Dean Eisenberg will play husband and son, respectively, to Margo Martindale's character on "A Gifted Man" (TVLine.com); Mark Consuelos will turn up on "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" as a Spanish professor who asks out Jamie Pressly's Annie (TVLine.com); Jaime Ray Newman is set for two episodes of "NCIS" as "a Navy Lieutenant Commander who is a chaplain at the Navy Yard" (TVLine.com); plus Ken Marino will guest on "Happy Endings" as Dave's (Zachary Knighton) shrink (TVLine.com).






  [october 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· 33 1/3 (NBC)
· 90210 (CW)
· BIG LOVE (HBO)
· BODY OF PROOF (ABC)
· CHINA DOLL (HBO)
· CLEVELAND SHOW, THE (FOX)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· DANNI LOWINSKI (CW)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EASTBOUND & DOWN (HBO)
· EMILY OWENS, MD (CW)
· GATEWAY (TNT)
· GIFTED MAN, A (CBS)
· HAPPY ENDINGS (ABC)
· I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER (FOX)
· INTERCEPT (ABC FAMILY)
· LITTLE IN COMMON (FOX)
· LOST (ABC)
· NCIS (CBS)
· NEW GIRL (FOX)
· ONE GREAT LIFE (FOX)
· PRODIGY/BULLY (NBC)
· PRODIGY/BULLY (FOX)
· REVENGE (ABC)
· REVIEW WITH FORREST MACNEIL (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· SHAMELESS (SHOWTIME)
· SHARK (CBS)
· TEMPLE GRANDIN (HBO)
· TOSH.0 (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL (CBS)
· UNTITLED DON JOHNSON PROJECT (HBO)
· UNTITLED JENNIE SNYDER URMAN PROJECT (CBS)
· UNTITLED MARLON WAYANS PROJECT (ABC)
· UNTITLED MARTHA WILLIAMSON PROJECT (LIFETIME)
· WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE (DISNEY)
· ZOMBIELAND (AMAZON)





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