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[12/13/12 - 11:06 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, December 13
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!


DARKNET (USA, New!) - Rene Balcer ("Law & Order") has sold a new drama to the cable channel about "a couple of cyber-crime investigators - an MIT grad whose younger sister disappeared years ago and a former hacktivist who was recruited by the FBI after serving time in jail - who stumble across a far-reaching conspiracy to change the course of human evolution." Universal Cable Productions is behind the hour, with Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan executive producing alongside Balcer. (Deadline.com)


LAUGHS UNLIMITED (HBO, New!) - Director Oren Moverman ("Rampart") and author Anthony Swofford ("Jarhead") are developing a drama at the pay channel about Billie Crown, "an Army medic who returns from serving a tour in Afghanistan only to find that her husband is divorcing her and taking custody of their daughter" and must now hide "her PTSD from family and colleagues so she can be reinstated as a Sacramento police officer, and so she can reconnect with her daughter." The Donners Company's Lauren Shuler Donner and Jack Leslie as well as Jennifer Beals and Adena Chawke are executive producing the project - the title of which refers to "a comedy club where Billie and her fellow cops hang out to relax and blow off steam" - alongside said duo. (Deadline.com)


LOVE THY NEIGHBOR/THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS (OWN) - The cable channel has detailed its two proposed series from multi-hyphenate Tyler Perry. First up is "Love Thy Neighbor," a multi-camera comedy set at Love's Diner, "where every day the menu serves up good food, great laughs, valuable life lessons and a lot of love for its zany neighbors." The second is "The Haves and the Have Nots," a drama about "the dynamics of the affluent Cyrer family and the impoverished family of their housekeeper, Hanna, and the obstacles and secrets that exist within both." Perry will write, direct and executive produce both efforts via his Tyler Perry Studios banner. (THR.com)


OFFICE, THE (NBC) - In a video on his Facebook page, co-star Rainn Wilson revealed the show's final season will run for 24 episodes, capping the series at exactly 200 episodes. Said run - previously indicated to be 22 episodes - includes the now aborted backdoor pilot episode "The Farm," the fifth installment shot this season. (Facebook.com)


SUPER FUN NIGHT (ABC) - Kelen Coleman ("The Newsroom") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about three nerdy female friends (Lauren Ash, Liza Lapira and creator Rebel Wilson) on a quest to have super fun every Friday night. She'll play Felicity Vanderstone, "a successful professional who serves as a role model and inspiration to Wilson's character," a role originated by Anna Camp in the original CBS version. Warner Bros. Television and Conaco Productions are co-producing. (TVLine.com)


UNTITLED HATFIELDS & MCCOYS PROJECT (History, New!) - Wild Eyes Productions is developing a reality series at the cable channel featuring the real-life descendants of the Hatfields and the McCoys, the subject of History's blockbuster mini-series. No other details were given. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - NBC has ordered three more episodes of "Whitney," bringing its sophomore run total to 16 installments (Deadline.com); L.A. Reid won't return for the third season of FOX's "The X Factor" (Deadline.com); Julianne Moore is the latest "30 Rock" alum set to drop by the show's swan song (HuffPo.com); Rob Benedict will guest on "The Mentalist" as "an adjunct professor and PhD candidate who works in the same lab where a student was murdered" (EW.com); NBA legend Julius Erving will appear as himself in an upcoming episode of "The Office" as part of Jim's (John Krasinski) efforts to launch his sports marketing business (EW.com); writer Chris Baldi has inked a development deal with Nickelodeon, home to his proposed TV movie "Friend Request" (Variety.com); and Rosie O'Donnell will make a cameo during the new season of NBC's "Smash" (@Rosie).






  [december 2012]  
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F
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· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· DARKNET (USA)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FARM, THE (NBC)
· HATFIELDS & MCCOYS (HISTORY)
· HATFIELDS & MCCOYS: WHITE LIGHTNING (HISTORY)
· HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS, THE (OWN)
· LAUGHS UNLIMITED (HBO)
· LAW & ORDER (NBC)
· LOVE THY NEIGHBOR (OWN)
· MENTALIST, THE (CBS)
· NEWSROOM, THE (HBO)
· OFFICE, THE (NBC)
· SMASH (NBC)
· WHITNEY (NBC)
· X FACTOR, THE (FOX)





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