[11/19/12 - 11:18 PM] Development Update: Monday, November 19 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!
HERE IF YOU NEED ME (CBS, New!) - Kate Braestrup's novel - about "a female state trooper who, after her husband is killed, takes over his life and finds spirituality in the process" - is being developed as a drama at the Eye. Neil Tolkin ("The Emperor's Club") is set to pen the hour with Jeffrey Kramer, Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz executive producing via the latter duo's CBS Television Studios-based Carol Mendelsohn Productions. Jody Hotchkiss will also serve as a co-executive producer with Braestrup herself serving as an executive consultant. (THR.com)HOT MESS (MTV) - Johnny Pacar ("Make It or Break It") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about Amanda Marshall (Annabelle Stephenson), "who is caught between her current and former boyfriend, and her close circle of friends from college." He's on board as Ben, Amanda's ex-boyfriend, in the project, which also stars Matthew Atkinson, Mathew Botuchis and Shoshana Bush. Lauren Iungerich is writing and directing the half-hour. (Deadline.com)LOCO (CBS, New!) - Ayelet Waldman ("Applebaum") has scored a script commitment from the Eye for a new drama about "a couple whose best friends are killed and are tasked with integrating four unusual and gifted kids into their family." Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly of the CBS Television Studios-based Timberman-Beverly Productions will executive produce the hour alongside Waldman, who will pen the script. (THR.com)MESSED UPTONS, THE (NBC, New!) - Newcomers Jessie Miller and Bennett Wolin have sold a potential comedy to the Peacock about 33-year-old Jenn Upton, who "after hitting rock bottom, discovers she's actually the crazy glue that holds her broken family together and learns that life isn't so embarrassing if your family is as big of a mess as you are." They'll serve as co-executive producers on the half-hour with Stacy Traub executive producing for the 20th Century Fox Television-based Imagine Television. (Deadline.com)STALKERS (Lifetime) - Lela Loren ("H+") has joined the cast of the backdoor pilot movie, based on Rhonda Saunders's book about Diane Harper (Drea de Matteo), "a hot-headed cop with a troubled past, and a polished, ambitious DA (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) who team up to bring a stalker (Mena Suvari), obsessed with her former lover, to justice." She'll play said lover in the project, which also stars Henry Simmons. Mark Tonderai is directing from a script by David Wiener. (Deadline.com)UNTITLED KENAN THOMPSON PROJECT (NBC, New!) - "Saturday Night Live" cast member Kenan Thompson is set to star in a multi-generational family comedy at the Peacock about a man who moves in with his in-laws. Bryan Tucker is penning the script with Thompson, Andrew Singer and Lorne Michaels also executive producing via the latter's Universal Television-based Broadway Video. No other specifics were given. (TVGuide.com)AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Anna Chlumsky will guest on "Hannibal" as "a young FBI trainee under the tutelage of Laurence Fishburne's Jack Crawford" while Raul Esparza will appear in two episodes as Lecter's infamous jailer Dr. Chilton, played by Benjamin Hendrickson and Anthony Heald in the films (TVLine.com); Michael Beach will recur on "The Client List" as "the boyfriend of parlor owner Georgia (Loretta Devine), a former musician who owns the bar where she works" (Deadline.com); and Jane Kaczmarek will visit "Law & Order: SVU" as a Suffolk County district attorney who goes head-to-head with Raul Esparza's Rafael Barba (TVGuide.com).
