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[02/13/12 - 10:40 PM]
Development Update: Monday, February 13
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!


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (ABC) - Yves Simoneau ("V") has signed on to helm the drama pilot, an epic fantasy re-imagining of the classic tale. Jonathan E. Steinberg penned the script to the project, which comes from ABC Studios and Gary Fleder's Mojo Films. (Deadline.com)


DO NO HARM (NBC) - Alana De La Garza ("Law & Order: LA") and Ruta Gedmintas ("The Borgias") are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about Jeffrey Kohn, a brilliant neurosurgeon who wrestles with his dangerous alter-ego, Ian Price, that threatens to wreak havoc on his personal and professional life. The former will play fellow doctor Lena Steck ("attending neurologist; strong willed; confident") with Gedmintas as Olivia Case ("delicate features; fragile by nature"), Kohn's former fiance. Michael Mayer is directing the Universal Television-based hour from a script by David Schulner. (Deadline.com)


GOTHAM (ABC) - Director Francis Lawrence ("Kings") is set to reteam with Michael Green on the drama pilot, about "a female cop who, after pursuing a seemingly unsolvable case, discovers a magical world that exists within New York City." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the hour, which Erwin Stoff is executive producing alongside Green. (Deadline.com)


LET IT GO (FOX) - Zachary Levi ("Chuck") has booked a lead role on the single-camera comedy pilot, about "a married couple, his best friend and her sister as they try to navigate, negotiate and sometimes manipulate society's unspoken rules." He'll play Ben, one half of the aforementioned couple, in the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, from creator D.J. Nash. Fedora Entertainment's Michael Wimer and Peter Tolan also serve as executive producers on the project, production of which was contingent on casting Levi's role. (Deadline.com)


LIVING LOADED (FOX) - Michael Marc Friedman is the latest addition to the Mike Vogel-led comedy pilot, about a loose partying blogger of the popular blog who is forced to change his career plans when he becomes an NPR radio host. He's on board as his best friend Bobby ("a roughneck with skin like a catcher's mitt"), a roofer. Rob McElhenney and Rob Rosell are all behind the single-camera project, which is set up at FX Productions. (Deadline.com)


MIDNIGHT SUN (NBC) - Brad Anderson ("Fringe") is set to direct the drama pilot, about a police investigation into disappearance of a remote cult which taps into a grander political conspiracy. Lisa Zwerling penned the Universal Television-based hour, which is based on Noah Stollman and Oded Davidoff's Israeli drama "Pillars of Smoke." (Deadline.com)


MUST HIRE (FOX) - Adam Bernstein ("30 Rock") has been tapped to direct the comedy pilot, about an uptight, young executive who hires his dad for an entry level position and is shocked to discover that his new hire is a disruptive office clown. Eli Jorne and Reed Agnew are behind the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, production of which is cast-contingent. (Deadline.com)


POLITICAL ANIMALS (USA) - Brittany Ishibashi has boarded the upcoming Greg Berlanti-penned drama, about Elaine Barrish, a divorced former First Lady and current Secretary of State, who struggles to keep her family together while simultaneously dealing with the crises of the State Department. She's set as Anne Ogami, the shy, bohemian, Asian-American girlfriend of Barrish's son/chief of staff Douglas (Jimmy Wolk). Warner Horizon Television is behind the project, due this summer. (Deadline.com)


THE SELECTION (The CW) - Mark Piznarski ("Gossip Girl") has been tapped to direct the drama pilot, set 300 years in the future, about "a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads." He'll work from a script by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, which is based on the upcoming series of books by Kiera Cass. Warner Bros. Television is producing. (Deadline.com)


SINGLE BLACK FEMALE (BET, New!) - "The Game" masterminds Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil have booked a new drama at the cable channel which "chronicles the work and family life of a black woman who is the host of a popular Atlanta-based talk show in the vein of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show.'" Said duo recently inked an overall deal with BET back in May, which included a series and several pilot commitments. No other specifics were given about the project. (Deadline.com)


TROOPER (CBS) - Craig Gillespie ("My Generation") is set to direct and executive produce the drama pilot, about a common-sense mother who becomes a New York state trooper. Aron Eli Coleite penned the hour, from the Warner Bros. Television-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED KEVIN WILLIAMSON PROJECT (FOX) - Shawn Ashmore and Valorie Curry are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about a diabolical serial killer (James Purefoy) who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers and the retired FBI profiler (Kevin Bacon) who finds himself in the middle of it. Ashmore is on board as one of the younger agents who assists Ryan Hardy (Bacon), presumably Mike Weston ("eager; more brains than brawn"), with Curry as Denise ("a sweet faced girl of 24"), Hardy's nanny. Kevin Williamson is behind the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, to be directed by Marcos Siega. (Deadline.com)


WHITE VAN MAN (ABC) - J.K. Simmons ("The Closer") has joined the cast of the Kyle Bornheimer-led comedy pilot, about a man who is forced to put his dreams on hold in order to take over the family handyman business from his father. He'll play said father, Tony, in the ABC Studios-based half-hour, based on Adrian Poynton's U.K. series of the same name, from director Michael Fresco and writer Bobby Bowman. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Peter Mensah will recur on "True Blood" as Kibwe, Chancellor for the Authority (Deadline.com); upcoming guest star Kelli Williams has been upped to series regular on "Army Wives," while Lawrence Gilliard has been tapped for a five-episode arc (Deadline.com); Bradley Whitford will turn up on "Parks & Recreation" as Pawnee's departing city councilman whose seat Leslie (Amy Poehler) is vying for (HuffingtonPost.com); and Jaime Ray Newman will return to "CSI: NY" as the late Claire Taylor for its eighth season finale (TVLine.com).






  [february 2012]  
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· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· ARMY WIVES (LIFETIME)
· BEAUTY & THE BEAST (ABC)
· BEING MARY JANE (BET)
· BORGIAS, THE (SHOWTIME)
· CHUCK (NBC)
· CLOSER, THE (TNT)
· CSI: NEW YORK (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DO NO HARM (NBC)
· FAMILY TOOLS (ABC)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· FRINGE (FOX)
· GAME, THE (BET)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· GOTHAM (ABC)
· KINGS (NBC)
· LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES (NBC)
· LET IT GO (FOX)
· LIVING LOADED (FOX)
· MIDNIGHT SUN (NBC)
· MUST HIRE (FOX)
· MY GENERATION (ABC)
· PARKS & RECREATION (NBC)
· POLITICAL ANIMALS (USA)
· SELECTION, THE - 2012 VERSION (CW)
· TROOPER (CBS)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· V (ABC)





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