or


[10/12/12 - 11:14 PM]
Development Update: Friday, October 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!


THE CHURCH (NBC, New!) - Feature writer Howard Franklin ("The Big Year") has sold a potential drama to the Peacock which "chronicles the struggles of a family who is part of a seemingly innocuous and upstanding organization that they come to realize is a controlling cult." The Universal Television-based Wolf Films is behind the hour with the company's Dick Wolf, Peter Jankowski and Danielle Gelber executive producing alongside Franklin. (Variety.com)


THE CISKO KID (CBS, New!) - Diego Gutierrez ("Without a Trace") is spearheading a new small screen take on O. Henry's iconic Mexican caballero, which has been adapted into numerous film and TV incarnations - most recently in 1994 as a TV movie with Jimmy Smits in the title role and Cheech Marin as his sidekick Pancho. Gutierrez's take will focus Cisco, an Afghanistan veteran who teams with his best friend/fellow Marine, Sam, to defend the city's disenfranchised after his father is murdered. CBS Television Studios is behind the hour with Ventanarosa's Salma Hayek and Jose Tamez as well as Donners' Company's Lauren Shuler Donner and Jack Leslie executive producing alongside Gutierrez. Separately, Gutierrez is also developing "Flesh and Bones" at FX with producers Eli Roth and Eric Newman. (Deadline.com)


CONTINUING FRED (ABC Family) - Mimi Gianopulos ("What to Expect When You're Expecting") has booked the lead role on the comedy pilot, about 20-something Winifred "Fred" Harris, a newly-graduated slacker with an overbearing family who surprisingly finds purpose when she begins to teach at a local elementary school. Bill Daly is behind the multi-camera project, which was picked up last month. (Deadline.com)


FIVEHEAD (ABC, New!) - "America's Next Top Model's" Tyra Banks and Kenya Barris are set to re-team for a new single-camera comedy at the Alphabet which "chronicles the impressionable teenage years of Banks in the halls of her high school and at home, focusing on her family and the long journey that took Banks from awkward teen to one of the world's most recognizable supermodels." ABC Studios is behind the half-hour which Barris will pen off a story conceived alongside Banks with the duo executive producing for Bankable Productions. (Deadline.com)


GRANNY IS MY WINGMAN (CBS, New!) - Kayli Stollak's blog - which documents the 25-year-old New Yorker's experiences with online dating alongside her 76-year-old grandmother - is being eyed as a potential multi-camera comedy at the Eye. Donald Todd ("Hart of Dixie") is on board to co-write the half-hour, which is set up at the Warner Bros. Television-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television, alongside Stollak. Todd, Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman will executive produce with KristieAnne Reed and Stollak serving as co-executive producer and supervising producer, respectively. (Deadline.com)


LE GRAND (ION) - A deal to import the Jean Reno-led, eight-episode drama, about a tough elite cop who stops at nothing to solve mysterious murder cases in Paris, has become the focus of a $4 million transatlantic breach-of-contract lawsuit. Producer Atlantique Productions has alleged ION Media Networks backed away from a license deal for the series over "creative concerns, such as the 'intelligibility' of Reno's accent." ION has yet to comment on the lawsuit. René Balcer is behind "Le Grand," which was shot in English entirely on location in Paris. (THR.com)


LIFESTYLE LEMONAID (FOX) - Erin Richards ("Breaking In") has been tapped for the lead role on the comedy pilot presentation, based on Nikki Joel's tell-all blog about her marriage to top WME talent agent Brandt Joel. She'll play Nikki in the HBO-turned-FOX project, described as "a life force with a sense of mischief who's sexy, defensive and sometimes argumentative but always protective of her fashionista son." Jordon Nardino penned the half-hour, which is also executive produced by Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson as well as the Joels. (Deadline.com)


THE SECRET LIVES OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES (NBC) - Laura Allen ("Awake") has booked the final principal role on the drama pilot, based on Josie Brown's book about the secrets and lies of three suburban couples exposed in the aftermath of a murder. She'll play Alison Dunn, "a grounded and levelheaded mother and wife who happens to be hiding the darkest secret of all." Martin Henderson co-stars as her husband with Nicole Ari Parker, Jesse L. Martin, Perrey Reeves and James Tupper playing the other couples, the Cookes and the Deavers. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Mark Pellington and writer Sascha Penn are all behind the hour, which comes from Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)


UNDATEABLE (NBC, New!) - Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle's book, subtitled "311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating Or Having Sex," is being developed as a multi-camera comedy at the Peacock. Adam Sztykiel ("Due Date") is penning the project, which has a penalty attached and is "described as a bromantic comedy about two very different guys who are bonded by their common inability to attract women." Doozer's Bill Lawrence and Jeff Inglod are also on board to executive produce for Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED STEVE CONRAD PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Steve Conrad has booked a potential comedy at the pay channel from Mike White's RipCord Productions ("Enlightened"). No details were given about the project, which will be developed under White's recently signed overall deal with HBO. White and David Bernad then will presumably executive produce the untitled half-hour alongside Conrad. (Deadline.com)


WONDERLAND (NBC, New!) - Screenwriter Whit Anderson is developing a new drama at the Peacock billed as a sequel to Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" centering on a new character, Clara, "who must wage war against Wonderland's reigning Queen, the woman we once knew as Alice." ABC Studios is behind the hour, with Dare to Pass' Anthony E. Zuiker and Matt Weinberg as well as Brillstein Entertainment Partners' JoAnn Alfano and Margaret Riley also among the executive producers. Anderson previously penned the much-ballyhooed feature reboot of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 2010 which didn't move forward. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Adult Swim has commissioned a seventh season of its veteran stop motion series "Robot Chicken" (@AdultSwim); Katie Cassidy's Juliet Sharp will return for the series finale of "Gossip Girl" (EW.com); Keith David will guest on "Touch" as "a grizzled ex-Navy Seal who's also an old friend of Kiefer Sutherland's character" (TVLine.com); Hal Holbrook is bound for TNT's "Monday Mornings" as "a prestigious neurosurgeon who is a mentor to Alfred Molina's Dr. Hooten" (TVLine.com); Ben Schwartz will drop by Netflix's upcoming "Arrested Development" revival (TVLine.com); Emily Evan Rae has booked an arc on "Parenthood" as a member of the student council who interacts with Max Burkholder's Max (TVLine.com); and Richard Harmon has checked into A&E's "Bates Motel" as Richard Slymore, "the cool, intelligent and artsy BMOC at the high school Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) enrolls at after he and his mother move to town" (TVLine.com).






  [october 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL (VH1)
· ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (NETFLIX)
· AWAKE (NBC)
· BATES MOTEL (A AND E)
· BREAKING IN (FOX)
· BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (UPN)
· CHURCH, THE (NBC)
· CISCO KID, THE (CBS)
· CONTINUING FRED (ABC FAMILY)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· ENLIGHTENED (HBO)
· FIVEHEAD (ABC)
· FLESH & BONES (FX)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· GRANNY IS MY WINGMAN (CBS)
· HART OF DIXIE (CW)
· JO (FRANCE) (HULU)
· LIFESTYLE LEMONAID (FOX)
· MONDAY MORNINGS (TNT)
· PARENTHOOD (NBC)
· ROBOT CHICKEN (ADULT SWIM)
· SECRET LIVES OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES, THE (NBC)
· TOUCH (FOX)
· UNDATEABLE (NBC)
· UNTITLED STEVE CONRAD PROJECT (HBO)
· WITHOUT A TRACE (CBS)
· WONDERLAND (NBC)





[02/02/26 - 04:01 PM]
Netflix and HYBE Announce Global Live BTS Comeback Performance and Feature-Length Documentary
Streaming live from the historic Gwanghwamun in Seoul on March 21, this monumental performance celebrates the release of their highly anticipated new album, ARIRANG.

[02/02/26 - 03:34 PM]
"The Kelly Clarkson Show" to Conclude After Season Seven
Season seven episodes will air through Fall 2026.

[02/02/26 - 01:17 PM]
NBC Renews "St. Denis Medical" and "Happy's Place" for 2026-27 Season
"Both 'St. Denis Medical' and 'Happy's Place' have delivered comedic brilliance over their first two seasons, truly connecting with our audience with hilarious characters, and remain hugely important and successful programs to our primetime and Peacock lineup," said Lisa Katz.

[02/02/26 - 01:15 PM]
NBC Sports Presents First Ever Live Broadcast from Alcatraz Island as Part of Super Bowl LX Pregame Show This Sunday, Feb. 8 on NBC & Peacock
Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, fellow two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and co-host Jac Collinsworth will broadcast live from multiple locations on the island beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

[02/02/26 - 12:31 PM]
E! to Air the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards Hosted by Alan Cumming on Sunday, February 22
The EE BAFTA Film Awards ceremony will be held at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in London and will premiere as-live on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK.

[02/02/26 - 11:01 AM]
Video: "Final Siren: Inside the AFL" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Inside the highs, the heartbreak, and the hunt for glory.

[02/02/26 - 10:38 AM]
New Year, New Viewership Milestones for ESPN: Signature Events Deliver Second-Best Month in 30 Years
Continuing ESPN's landmark viewership success to start the year, January 2025 and 2026 now account for two of the top three most-watched months in the platform's history.

[02/02/26 - 10:01 AM]
Video: "Sommore: Chandelier Fly" - Sneak Peek - Netflix
From hot topics to celebrity scandals, "The Queen of Comedy" Sommore delivers her unapologetic perspective with a combination of bravado and elegant style.

[02/02/26 - 09:06 AM]
CNN FlashDoc "Bad Bunny and the Halftime Show: Rhythms of Resistance" Now Streaming in the CNN App
The special is now streaming on demand for subscribers of CNN's streaming offering and will premiere Saturday, February 7 at 10pm ET on CNN.

[02/02/26 - 09:01 AM]
"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" Returns February 15
The weekly series has received 32 Emmys since its premiere in 2014.

[02/02/26 - 09:00 AM]
Video: AMC/AMC+ Release Final Teaser Trailer for the New Season of the Critically Acclaimed Noir Thriller, "Dark Winds"
Consisting of eight hour-long episodes, Season 4 premieres on Sunday, February 15 at 9pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+.

[02/02/26 - 09:00 AM]
Video: Prime Video Reveals Official Trailer for "Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association"
Directed by Kenan Kamwana Holley, all four episodes of the docuseries will premiere February 12 exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Soul Power is the latest addition to the Prime membership.

[02/02/26 - 08:01 AM]
ITV's Captivating Police Procedural Series, "Winter," Begins Filming in Bristol and Belgium, Whilst Further Casting Is Announced Alongside Richard Armitage and Annabel Scholey
Each episode features its own compelling, self-contained crime story, with resulting guest casting.

[02/02/26 - 07:02 AM]
Apple's Hit Drama "Your Friends & Neighbors" Lands Early Season Three Renewal
Season two will make its global debut on Apple TV with one episode on Friday, April 3, 2026, followed by new episodes every Friday through June 5.

[02/02/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Love Is Blind" Season 10 - Official Trailer - Netflix
The pods are back, this time in Ohio, with a brand-new group of singles dating sight unseen. Will they be able to see love from a new perspective?