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[10/24/11 - 10:56 PM]
Development Update: Monday, October 24
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!


1600 PENN (NBC, New!) - Josh Gad, Jason Winer and Jon Lovett have snagged a put pilot order for a single-camera comedy at the Peacock about "a dysfunctional family that just happens to live at the most famous address in America, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the half-hour, which Winer will direct from a script by Lovett, a former speechwriter for President Obama, with the trio executive producing. (Deadline.com)


ALL-AMERICANS (FOX, New!) - Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen (CBS's "Waiting to Die") have booked a new multi-camera comedy at the network about "a patriotic and conservative Army Ranger comes home after serving 10 years in the Middle East to find that in the last decade, his brother (the only family he has left) has turned into a liberal, skinny jeans-wearing, anti-establishment, street artist who lives in a hipster neighborhood." Warner Brothers Television is behind the hour with the studio-based Tom Werner and Mike Clements of Werner Entertainment executive producing. Kultgen then will serve as an executive producer with Sasso as a co-executive producer. (THR.com)


AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (Lifetime, New!) - Melanie Griffith is in talks to star and executive produce a potential drama at the cable channel about "a mother of two children who has conversations with her inner voice while dealing with one of her kids leaving home for college and the other remaining at home." Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") is behind the hour, which has a pilot commitment from the network. David Slade ("Eclipse") likewise is in negotiations to direct for Fox Television Studios. Griffith, Antonio Banderas and Jendresen then will executive produce alongside Jendresen's producing partner, Ray Ricord. (Deadline.com)


DON'T PANIC (ABC, New!) - Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan are developing a new comedy at the Alphabet about "a group of female friends as they navigate the ups and downs of post-college life in New York City, all while suffering through an endless cycle of weddings and bridal showers." Said half-hour, from ABC Studios, is based on the book "Girls In White Dresses" by Jennifer Close. Crittenden and Allan then will write and executive produce via their overall deal with the studio. (Deadline.com)


DREAMHOUSE (FOX, New!) - Cassie Pappas ("Awkward.") has snagged a script commitment from the network for a new semi-autobiographical comedy about "a young woman who moves back home to try and keep her family together after her dad moves out of the house and into the backyard [while] her two siblings move next door to an unfinished model home and she has to try and keep them all sane too, becoming a parent to her parents and her sibling." 20th Century Fox Television and 3 Arts Entertainment are behind the half-hour, which the latter's Tom Lassally and Jonathan Berry will executive produce alongside Pappas. (Deadline.com)


THE HOLLOWS (The CW, New!) - Jordan Hawley ("Smallville") has sold a new drama to the netlet based on Kim Harrison's bestselling novels set in an urban fantasy world. CBS Television Studios-based Carol Mendelsohn Productions is behind the hour, which would track Rachel Morgan, "a PI witch, works with local law enforcement agencies to combat threats both mundane and supernatural." Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz then will executive produce alongside Hawley. (Deadline.com)


HOME GAME (ABC, New!) - Rob Sheridan ("18 to Life") is developing a potential comedy at the Alphabet based on Michael Lewis's book of the same name, subtitled "An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood." Said tome chronicled the author's "triumphs, failures, frustration and exhilaration of being a new father during the first year of each of his three children's lives." Greer Shephard and Michael M. Robin are executive producing the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour alongside Sheridan via their self-title banner. (Deadline.com)


THE INFIDEL (NBC, New!) - The Omid Djalili-led film, about "a devoutly Muslim family man (Djalili) who is shocked to discover upon the death of his mother that he was adopted, and was actually born a Jew," is being developed as a comedy at the Peacock. Mark O'Keefe ("Bruce Almighty") is penning the adaptation, which Djalili is attached to reprise his role. Avalon Television and Slingshot Productions will co-produce the project with Djalili, O'Keefe, David Baddiel, Arvind Ethan David and Jon Thoday executive producing. (Deadline.com)


LOVETOWN, USA (OWN, New!) - BBC Worldwide Productions is developing a new reality project at the network in which "a group of expert matchmakers would set up operations for 30 days in a city of approximately 15,000 people, looking to pair up as many eligible singles as possible." Izzie Pick Ashcroft, Jane Tranter, Rob Bagshaw, Charlie Debevoise and Mark Hickman are executive producing the effort, which would have the mayor, local business and community leaders and everyday citizens participate in the search. (Variety.com)


THE MURDER ROOM (CBS, New!) - George Nolfi ("The Adjustment Bureau") has booked a new drama at the Eye about "a world famous profiler, forensic artist, and leading investigator for the FBI who forms a team to investigate crimes that have stupefied law enforcement around the world." Said hour, from CBS Television Studios-based Carol Mendelsohn Productions, is based on Michael Capuzzo's book of the same name. Nolfi then will write and executive produce alongside Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz. (Deadline.com)


THE STEWARTS (ABC, New!) - Dahvi Waller ("Mad Men") has sold a new drama to the Alphabet about "an influential family and the various staff that supports them." Said hour is set up at Warner Bros. Television with Waller writing and executive producing. (THR.com)


SULLIVAN & SON (TBS) - Valerie Azlynn, Jodi Long, Vivian Bang and Owen Benjamin have joined the cast of the Steve Byrne-led comedy pilot, about a popular and legendary neighborhood bar in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Byrne plays Steve, the son in the show's moniker, a successful corporate attorney in New York and returns to the old neighborhood to take over running said bar. Long will play his Korean-American mother with Bang as long-suffering, under-appreciated younger sister; Benjamin as his childhood friend who has no filter; and Azlynn as Melanie, a regular at the bar and the love interest to Steve. Warner Horizon Television and Wild West Picture Show Productions are behind the half-hour, which tapes on November 13. Peter Billingsley, Rob Long and Vince Vaughn executive produce alongside Byrne. (Deadline.com)


THROWDOWN GUN (FX, New!) - Famed novelist James Ellroy has set up a new drama at the cable channel about "the lives of a white cop and a black cop who are forever intertwined after covering up a violent crime while on duty - the consequences of which alter race relations in Los Angeles." Clark Peterson ("Monster") is also on board to executive produce the hour alongside Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz via their CBS Television Studios-based banner. (Deadline.com)


UNEARTHLY (The CW, New!) - Kevin Murphy ("Hellcats") is returning to the netlet with a potential drama about "a girl who realizes that her destiny is to become an angel." CBS Television Studios-based Carol Mendelsohn Productions is behind the hour, which Murphy is set to executive produce alongside Mendelsohn, Julie Weitz and Robin Schorr ("Food, Inc."). (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED BARBARA HALL PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Barbara Hall ("Joan of Arcadia") has landed a potential drama at the Alphabet about "a female genius who explores the age-old question of smart vs. pretty." ABC Studios and Brillstein Entertainment Partners are behind the hour with the latter's JoAnn Alfano executive producing alongside Hall. (THR.com)


WHY YOU'RE NOT MARRIED (ABC, New!) - Tracy McMillan ("United States of Tara") has set up at new single-camera comedy at the Alphabet about "the dynamic between the millions of attractive chicks between the ages of 25 and 45 who want to be married... and the men who seemingly refuse to commit to them." Said half-hour, from ABC Studios and DreamWorks Television, is based on her HuffingtonPost.com blog post-turned-book of the same name. ABC has given the project a script commitment with a penalty attached. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - John Melfi has been tapped as an executive producer on Netflix's "House of Cards" with Rick Cleveland and Sarah Treem joining as co-executive producers (THR.com); Richard Levine and Lyn Greene won't return as co-showrunners on season two of Starz's "Boss" (Deadline.com); "True Blood's" Alexander Woo, Raelle Tucker and Brian Buckner have each inked two-year overall deals with HBO (Deadline.com); Steven Maeda ("Miami Medical") has joined "Pan Am" as an executive producer in anticipation of a back order from ABC (Deadline.com); Jenna Elfman and John Hannah will join the recently cast Ryan Phillippe on the final season of "Damages" (Deadline.com); Thomas Lennon and Bruce Davison will guest as father and son stockbrokers on ABC's upcoming "Apartment 23" (TVGuide.com); plus Grey Damon will visit "The Secret Circle" as a potential bad boy love interest for Phoebe Tonkin's Faye (TVLine.com).






  [october 2011]  
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· 1600 PENN (NBC)
· 18 TO LIFE (CW)
· ALL-AMERICANS (FOX)
· AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (LIFETIME)
· AWKWARD (MTV)
· BAND OF BROTHERS (HBO)
· BOSS (STARZ)
· DAMAGES (AUDIENCE)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DONT PANIC (ABC)
· DON'T TRUST THE BITCH IN APARTMENT 23 (ABC)
· DREAMHOUSE (FOX)
· HELLCATS (CW)
· HOLLOWS, THE (CW)
· HOME GAME (ABC)
· HOUSE OF CARDS (NETFLIX)
· INFIDEL, THE (NBC)
· JOAN OF ARCADIA (CBS)
· LOVETOWN, USA (OWN)
· MAD MEN (AMC)
· MIAMI MEDICAL (CBS)
· MURDER ROOM, THE (CBS)
· PAN AM (ABC)
· SECRET CIRCLE, THE (CW)
· SMALLVILLE (CW)
· STEWARTS, THE (ABC)
· SULLIVAN & SON (TBS)
· THROWDOWN GUN (FX)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· UNEARTHLY (CW)
· UNITED STATES OF TARA, THE (SHOWTIME)
· UNTITLED BARBARA HALL PROJECT (ABC)
· WAITING TO DIE (CBS)
· WHY YOU'RE NOT MARRIED (ABC)





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