[08/10/12 - 11:08 PM] Development Update: Friday, August 10 By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)
LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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CLEOPATRA (NBC, New!) - Screenwriter Michael Seitzman ("North Country") has booked a period drama at the Peacock about the famous Egyptian queen, billed as "an epic romance set in a world of sorcery, gods and monsters that centers on Cleopatra, Mark Antony and Julius Caesar." ABC Studios-Di Bonaventura Pictures is behind the project, which has a put pilot commitment, with Seitzman executive producing alongside the company's Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott. Seitzman has been behind three pilots in recent years, including ABC's "Americana" this past development cycle. (Deadline.com)ISLAND PRACTICE (CBS) - Amy Holden Jones has been tapped to pen the small screen take on Pam Belluck's book of the same name - subtitled "Cobblestone Rash, Underground Tom, and Other Adventures of a Nantucket Doctor" - which has found a home at CBS. 20th Century Fox Television-based Imagine Television optioned the book last month as a potential TV series about "an eccentric maverick who practices medicine on an island off the coast of Seattle using tactics that are frequently as controversial as they are heroic." Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo and 3 Arts Entertainment's Oly Obst will executive produce alongside Jones with Dr. Timothy Lepore - the subject of Belluck's tome - serving as a consultant. (Deadline.com)REAL LIFE: THE MUSICAL/SUPER SAVER SHOWDOWN (OWN) - The cable channel has pulled both series from its Friday lineup. The latter opened to an invisible 71,000 viewers for its debut last week while the former posted an equally modest 68,000 viewers for its August 3 return. "Real Life" originally bowed on Saturday, June 9 at 10:00/9:00c and likewise got the hook after one airing.
VICTORIOUS (Nickelodeon) - Dan Schneider took to Twitter to confirm the Victoria Justice-led series will end after 60 episodes. "Okay, first things first... There is a whole NEW season of Victorious coming your way," he added on his blog. "We just finished shooting 15 new episodes, and they're amazing. If you love Victorious, I feel sure you will love the NEW episodes coming! By now, a lot of you have heard that Victorious will not be returning for a 4th season. That is true. This was the network's decision - not mine." (@DanWarp)AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Shiri Appleby is on track to recur on "Chicago Fire" as "the ex-girlfriend of Shay (Lauren German) who is pregnant and married to a rich husband" (Deadline.com); Bett Rickards has booked an arc on "Arrow" as DC Comics character Felicity Smoak, an IT wunderkind at Queen Consolidated (Deadline.com); Mike Dopud is bound for "Mistresses" as "a good-looking European who buys Josslyn's (Jes Macallan) real estate firm" (EW.com); Michael Bolton will guest as himself on the season premiere of "Two and a Half Men"(EW.com); Annabella Sciorra will guest on "The Good Wife" as "a tough, smart gangland lawyer who's a doppelganger of Julianne Margulies's Alicia" (TVLine.com); and Seth Green will visit "Men at Work" as "a homeless guy who starts a feud with Milo (Danny Masterson)" (TVLine.com).
