or


[04/12/12 - 11:17 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, April 12
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!


CALIFORNICATION (Showtime) - The pay channel's veteran comedy will seed a potential spin-off during its upcoming sixth season about "what happens when an innocent young Catholic school girl is exposed to the evils of rock and roll and falls heads over heels in love with the music and the men who make it." Said character - twentysomething professional groupie Faith, who despite a fondness for sex, drugs and rock and roll, remains quite religious - will recur during a nine-episode arc and, assuming critical and ratings success, continue on her own series thereafter. "Californication" creator Tom Kapinos will presumably executive produce the half-hour. (EW.com)


HEMLOCK GROVE (Netflix) - Dougray Scott ("Desperate Housewives") is in talks to play the male lead on the upcoming drama, "a gripping tale of murder, mystery and monsters set in a ravaged Pennsylvania steel town." He'd play Norman Godfrey, "the older brother of Olivia's (Famke Janssen) late husband, JR, one of the founders of the Godfrey Center for Biomedical Technologies; wealthy, but with modest tastes and an equally modest home, Norman is sickened by Olivia's displays of ostentation and the way in which she spoils her son." Bill Skarsgard, Landon Liboiron and Penelope Mitchell also star in the Gaumont-based project, from director Eli Roth and co-creators Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman. (Deadline.com)


ROYAL (HBO, New!) - Feature writer Nick Schenk ("Gran Torino") has booked a potential comedy at the pay channel about "a working-class, old-school, politically incorrect, tell-it-as-it-is biker who is forced back into 'the real world' to take guardianship over his nieces and nephew, executing a highly unorthodox parenting style - and inhabits a place he doesn't want to be where everyone's soft and overly PC." Said half-hour is set up at the Sony Pictures Television-based Fedora Entertainment with the company's Peter Tolan and Michael Wimer executive producing alongside Schenk and Television 360's Guymon Casady and Brandon Brito. (Deadline.com)


WHIPPED (FX, New!) - Shawna Kenney's memoir "I Was a Teenage Dominatrix" - about her experience of doing just that for various politicos and elected officials to pay for college at the American University in Washington, D.C. - is being developed as a potential series at the cable channel. Gina Fattore ("Californication") is spearheading the adaptation, which is set up at Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley's Wild West Picture Show Productions. No other details were given. (Vulture.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Brooke Nevin will guest star as the daughter of Ted Danson's D.B. Russell on the season finale of "CSI" (THR.com); Donald Glover will turn up on "30 Rock" as a younger version of Tracy Morgan's character on the show's April 26 live episode (TVLine.com); A&E has renewed its hit series "Storage Wars," "Storage Wars: Texas" and "Shipping Wars" (Deadline.com); Seth MacFarlane's revival of "The Flintstones" for FOX has been put on hold due to multihyphenate's busy workload (Deadline.com); and "The Office" executive producer Greg Daniels is reportedly mulling a major reboot of the series as co-stars John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B.J. Novak and Ed Helms may not return or have limited availability next season (Deadline.com).






  [april 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· CALIFORNICATION (SHOWTIME)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FLINTSTONES, THE (FOX)
· HEMLOCK GROVE (NETFLIX)
· OFFICE, THE (NBC)
· ROYAL (HBO)
· SHIPPING WARS (A AND E)
· STORAGE WARS (A AND E)
· STORAGE WARS: TEXAS (A AND E)
· UNTITLED CALIFORNICATION SPIN OFF PROJECT (SHOWTIME)
· WHIPPED (FX)





[05/01/26 - 01:33 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Jumps Back from Spring Break with Fifth Straight Week of Growth Among Both Total Viewers and Households
Dominating the New York market, "Live with Kelly and Mark" towers over its closest competition this season by double and triple digits in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Women 25-54.

[05/01/26 - 12:36 PM]
VH1 Marks 15 Years of Love & Hip Hop with "The Final Chapter," A Six-Part Event Series Premiering on VH1 in Fall 2026
For 15 years, Love & Hip Hop built stars, sparked conversation, and helped define the modern reality television era.

[05/01/26 - 10:01 AM]
Video: Trailer Debut - Hulu Original - "Lisa Ann Walter: It Was An Accident"
Lisa Ann Walter's long-awaited debut comedy special takes on feral Gen-Xers, self-loathing, and navigating a backsliding America, via the no-filter lens of a grown-ass woman who has been paying attention.

[05/01/26 - 10:00 AM]
FOX Announces "Marriage Market," A High-Stakes Arranged Marriage Experiment, Hosted by Whitney Cummings
The series welcomes singles - who are officially over swiping, ghosting, and endless first dates - into an actual Marriage Market, where they're up for trying something radical... putting their love lives in the hands of family members that know them best and risking it all for one shot at forever - in an arranged marriage.

[05/01/26 - 09:01 AM]
Avery Anna, Blake Shelton, Carter Faith, Dan + Shay, Ella Langley, Jordan Davis, Kane Brown, The Red Clay Strays, Thomas Rhett, Tucker Wetmore, and Zach Top Added to 61st Academy of Country Music Awards Performance Lineup
They join previously announced superstar performers Cody Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, and Riley Green.

[05/01/26 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "El Encargado" - Official Trailer - Hulu
The perfect superintendent... if you don't look too closely.

[05/01/26 - 08:05 AM]
NBC Sports' NBA Playoff Viewership on NBC & Peacock Up 58% vs. Comparable Coverage Last Year Through First 13 Games
This is the first time in 24 years that NBC Sports is presenting the NBA Playoffs.

[05/01/26 - 08:00 AM]
Video: We TV and All Reality Unveil Key Art and Trailer for New Original Unscripted Series "This Is Poly"
"This Is Poly" premieres Friday, May 29 at 9:30 PM ET/PT, immediately following the season premiere of "Love After Lockup" at 8pm ET/PT.

[05/01/26 - 07:01 AM]
"The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special" to Premiere Tuesday, May 12, on ABC and Streams Next Day on Disney+ and Hulu
The new hourlong special is a joyful and revealing portrait of an American superstar.

[05/01/26 - 06:02 AM]
Video: "Marty, Life Is Short" - Official Trailer - Netflix
The definitive documentary on beloved comedian Martin Short, using beautiful, intimate, never-before-seen archive.

[05/01/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: The Gustavo Cerati Documentary - Netflix
The intimate portrait reveals the musician's most quiet and human sides, drawn from exclusive testimonies and unreleased material.

[04/30/26 - 02:17 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
ABC News' "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers (931,000) for the week of April 20.

[04/30/26 - 11:01 AM]
UP Faith & Family to Exclusively Premiere Season Eight of the Police/K9 Procedural Hit Series "Hudson & Rex" Beginning June 11
In the eighth season, Detective Mark Hudson (Luke Roberts) joins the team.

[04/30/26 - 10:31 AM]
Meet the Six Contestants Competing on "Fear Factor: 48 Hours of Fear," Where Fear and Sleep Deprivation Are Guaranteed!
The two-week special event airs Thursday, May 14 and May 21 on FOX.

[04/30/26 - 10:01 AM]
Netflix Announces New Series "Minimum Wage," Set to Debut Later This Year
Based on the breakout American High Shorts series of the same name, which has drawn over 30 million views across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram since launching in May 2024 and will debut exclusively on Netflix later this year.