or


[08/20/12 - 11:21 PM]
Development Update: Monday, August 20
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!


THE FRANCHISE (Showtime) - The pay channel is trimming the show's second season by one week, with the finale now set for this Wednesday, August 22 at 10:00/9:00c. To date its sophomore run, featuring the Miami Marlins, has averaged a very modest 77,000 viewers and a 0.0 rating among adults 18-49. Last summer's inaugural season, showcasing the San Francisco Giants, averaged 106,000 viewers and a 0.0 adults 18-49 rating. (Sun-Sentinel.com)


PAGING DR. FREED (USA) - Kyle Howard and Joel David Moore have booked the lead roles on the long-in-the-works single-camera comedy pilot, about David (Howard) and Jonathan (Moore) Freed, two gynecologist brothers who inherit their father's thriving medical practice after he suffers a heart attack during an attempt at "playing" doctor with his young secretary. Their casting lifts said contingency on the half-hour, which comes from Fox 21, Universal Cable Productions and Watson Pond Productions. Marc Buckland is attached to direct from a script by Michael Feldman with Katy McCaffrey and Brad Johnson also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


RED WIDOW (ABC) - Goran Visnjic ("ER") has joined the cast of the midseason drama, about a woman, Marta Walraven (Radha Mitchell), who must take over her late husband's illegal drug business to protect her three young children. He'll take over for Thomas Kretschmann as mob boss Christian Schiller in the project, from writer Melissa Rosenberg. Clifton Collins Jr., Erin Moriarty, Jaime Ray Newman, Jakob Salvati, Lee Tergesen, Luke Goss, Rade Serbedzija, Sterling Beaumon, Suleka Mathew and Wil Traval also star in the ABC Studios-based project. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED DIGGY SIMMONS PROJECT (BET, New!) - 17-year-old rapper/blogger Daniel "Diggy" Simmons III, son of Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons, is set to star in a new original movie at the cable channel about Blake, a blogger with a "close group of loyal friends who hold him down on his rise to the top." Also cast in the project, a backdoor pilot for a potential series, are Allen Maldonado as Blake's best friend Manny; Teyana Taylor as Manny's twin sister/Blake's ex-girlfriend Tae; Chris Brew as tech geek/fellow pal Dot; Bria Murphy as Manny's girlfriend Nia; and Stephanie Charles as Dot's ex-girlfriend Sheri. Salim Akil ("Sparkle") will direct from a script by Kenya Baris with Mara Brock Akil, Chris Lighty, Laurie Dobbins and James Dubose also among the executive producers. Simmons and Kevin Liles will also serve as co-executive producers. Production is set to begin later this year. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED JONATHAN SHAPIRO PROJECT (FX, New!) - Jonathan Shapiro ("The Firm") has booked a potential drama at the cable channel about a former police detective who now works as a fixer. Ryan Seacrest Productions and The Weinstein Co. are behind the hour, which Shapiro will executive produce presumably alongside Seacrest, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Nina Wass and Adam Sher. No other details were given. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - "Saturday Night Live" will kick off its 38th season on Saturday, September 15 (NBC.com); Sundance Channel has commissioned a second season of its summer series "Push Girls" (Deadline.com); Bryan Cranston is set to direct an episode of "The Office" this season (@RainnWilson); Nicki Minaj is the latest name being tossed around as a judge for "American Idol" (THR.com); Rob Corddry will guest on FOX's freshman entry "Ben & Kate" (EW.com); Ed Skrein and Jacob Anderson have been cast as Daario Naharis and Grey Worm, respectively, on "Game of Thrones" (WinterIsComing.net); Marco Pennette has been tapped as the new showrunner of "Animal Practice," succeeding Gail Lerner beginning with the show's fourth episode (Deadline.com); Jayson Blair has been upped to series regular on "The New Normal" as Goldie's (Georgia King) cheating husband Clay (Deadline.com); Chuck Lorre is finalizing a new four-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, which includes a feature component (Deadline.com); Rob Huebel will drop by "Up All Night" as "Chris's (Will Arnett) annoying roommate from college that he can't seem to get rid of" (TVGuide.com); and Super Bowl XVII winner Joe Theismann will make a cameo on "Necessary Roughness" as himself (THR.com).






  [august 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
· ANIMAL PRACTICE (NBC)
· BEN & KATE (FOX)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· ER (NBC)
· FIRM, THE (NBC)
· FRANCHISE, THE (SHOWTIME)
· GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
· NECESSARY ROUGHNESS (USA)
· NEW NORMAL, THE (NBC)
· OFFICE, THE (NBC)
· PAGING DR. FREED (USA)
· PUSH GIRLS (SUNDANCE)
· RED WIDOW (ABC)
· SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC)
· START UP, THE (BET)
· UNTITLED JONATHAN SHAPIRO PROJECT (FX)
· UP ALL NIGHT (NBC)





[06/13/26 - 12:01 PM]
FOX Sports Soars Into Record Books with Most-Watched USMNT Telecast Ever
15,986,000 viewers watched the USMNT defeat Paraguay 4-1 across FOX, FOX One and Tubi.

[06/12/26 - 02:38 PM]
ABC Delivers Most-Watched NBA Finals Through Four Games Since 1998
Game 4 averaged 20.9 million viewers and peaked with 23.2 million viewers at 11:15 p.m. ET.

[06/12/26 - 01:11 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Is No. 1 Across Late-Night with Best Numbers Since Season Premiere Week
Rising week to week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" matched a season best in the key Adult demo of premiere week, while drawing its largest overall audience since its season premiere week eight months ago.

[06/12/26 - 12:31 PM]
FOX Sports Scores Record Viewership with FIFA World Cup 2026 Opening Match
6,309,000 viewers watched Mexico top South Africa 2-0 across FOX, FOX One and Tubi.

[06/12/26 - 11:01 AM]
"Married at First Sight" Season 20 Arrives July 12 on Peacock
See you at the altar.

[06/12/26 - 10:01 AM]
"CMA Fest Presented by SoFi" Reveals Lineup for Primetime Concert Special Airing Thursday, June 25, at 8/7c on ABC and Next Day on Hulu
The three-hour event showcases unforgettable performances, exciting collaborations and standout moments captured during the 2026 CMA Fest in Nashville, bringing fans front-row access to one of Country Music's most star-studded weekends.

[06/12/26 - 08:15 AM]
"Nightline" Ranks No. 1 Across the Board and Posts Increases Both Week to Week and Year to Year in All Key Target Demos
"Nightline" posted week-to-week increases in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, delivering its strongest numbers in both key Adult demos in nearly 2 1/2 years.

[06/12/26 - 07:01 AM]
Netflix's "The God of the Woods" Starts Production in Upstate New York
The highly-anticipated series adaptation of Liz Moore's New York Times' bestselling novel is now filming upstate in both the Hudson River Valley and the Adirondacks.

[06/12/26 - 06:01 AM]
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from "Villaflor," Santiago Mitre's New Film
Based on true events, this political thriller blends espionage and historical drama, following two stories in 1977 that move in opposite directions.

[06/12/26 - 03:01 AM]
Video: "Sidemen Presents: Side-Menu" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Ready, steady, chaos! Join the Sidemen and friends in a brand new series where they pair up to take on national dishes, judged by a special guest, to determine which contestant will become the star chef of the series.

[06/12/26 - 01:31 AM]
Video: "Gram Chikitsalay" Season 2 - Official Trailer - Prime Video
The young, idealistic and brilliant Dr. Prabhat, takes charge of a neglected Primary Health Centre in a North India Village hoping to bring about much needed changes only to realise it is he who will have to change before anything else.

[06/12/26 - 12:01 AM]
Video: "Inside the Trustor Scandal" - Official Clip - Netflix
Joachim Posener, alongside key insiders, revisits the snowballing financial scandal that followed the illegal purchase of a Swedish investment firm in the '90s - and who exposed it.

[06/11/26 - 06:01 PM]
FX's "Adults" Releases Standalone Prequel Episode Revealing Paul Baker's Origin Story
The special episode entitled "Marathon Day" will be available for fans everywhere on Friday, July 31 on FXX and Hulu at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.

[06/11/26 - 05:01 PM]
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World Into the Spirit Realm in "The East Palace", Premiering July 17
Netflix's new Korean series asks: what if the only way to stop a royal curse was to cross into a realm of spirits?

[06/11/26 - 03:51 PM]
ESPN's Presentation of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final Game 4 Draws Largest Audience Since 2017
Game 4, which saw the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in Las Vegas to even the series at 2-2, averaged 5.3 million viewers on ABC and drew the largest Game 4 audience since 2017.