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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!
ALPHA HOUSE (Amazon) - Mark Consuelos, Yara Martinez and Kobi Libii are the latest additions to the comedy pilot, which follows four senators who live together in a rented house in Washington, D.C. Consuelos will play one of them, Andy Guzman, "a young, handsome, confident Senator with an excess of charm & swagger"; with Martinez as Adriana De Portago, "a beautiful Cuban-American billionaire heiress looking for a good time with new beau, Andy Guzman"; and Libii as Aaron Stimson, "a seasoned Capitol Hill vet on one of the Senators' staffs." John Goodman also stars in the project, from Amazon Studios and creator Garry Trudeau. (Deadline.com)
BLOODLINES (NBC) - "Private Practice" alum KaDee Strickland has joined the drama pilot, about Bird Benson (Skyler Samuels), "a smart, irreverent and strong young girl who, due to an accident of birth, finds herself caught in the middle of an epic struggle between two warrior families set against the backdrop of modern suburbia." She'll play her birth mother, Stella Killpriest, an achingly beautiful loose cannon. Writer David Graziano and direct Peter Berg are behind the Universal Television-based hour, which also stars Jonathan Banks. (Deadline.com)
HOSTAGES (CBS) - Dylan McDermott ("American Horror Story") has snagged the male lead on the drama pilot, about a family caught in the middle of a grand political conspiracy that will change their lives forever. He'll play Duncan Carlisle, a dangerous FBI agent, "the kind of guy you want on your side." Toni Collette also stars as Ellen Sanders, a successful surgeon who is selected to operate on the President of the United States, only to have her family taken hostage. Their ransom: she must kill the President. Jeffrey Nachmanoff is behind the hour, from the Warner Bros. Television-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television. (Deadline.com)
JOE & JOE & JANE (NBC) - Will Greenberg, Lauren Lapkus and Asif Ali will round out the cast on the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Joe Waxman (Greenberg), a conflict-avoidant children's book author caught in an ongoing tug of war between his wife, Jane (Sally Pressman), and co-author/best friend, Joe Dougan (Dave Annable). Greenberg is set as said title role with Lapkus as Melissa Unger, Jane's best friend who remains hopelessly upbeat despite life always giving her lemons. Ali then is on board as Matt Savage, the guys' overgrown frat boy of an agent. Joe Port and Joe Wiseman are behind the project, which is set up at 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)
ONION PRESENTS, THE: THE NEWS (Amazon) - Aja Naomi King ("Emily Owens, M.D.") will join Jeffrey Tambor and Cheyenne Jackson on the comedy pilot, set behind the scenes of The Onion News Network that shows just how far journalists will go to stay at the top of their game. She's on board as Jillian Chase, "the overworked Associate Producer who longs to be a reporter but lacks the complete facial symmetry required." Director Todd Strauss-Schulson and writers Will Graham and Dan Mirk are behind the project. (Deadline.com)
ORIGINALS, THE (The CW) - Claire Holt is the latest player from "The Vampire Diaries" bound for the proposed spin-off, which tracks Klaus as he returns to the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, a town he helped build centuries ago. She'll continue on Rebekah, Klaus's vampire sister, in the project, which also stars Charles Michael Davis, Daniel Gillies, Daniella Pineda, Danielle Campbell, Leah Pipes and Phoebe Tonkin. Julie Plec penned the backdoor pilot, which is slated to air on April 25. (Deadline.com)
SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY (ABC) - Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux's comedy - about a group of people who bond while working for the world's worst boss - has received a pilot presentation order from the Alphabet. The single-camera project comes from 20th Century Fox Television with Kaplan-Perrone Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone executive producing alongside said duo. (Deadline.com)
SPY (ABC) - Mason Cook ("Mockingbird Lane") is set to star opposite Rob Corddry in the single-camera comedy pilot, about Tim Elliot (Corddry), a hapless single father who, trying to impress his horribly precocious 10-year-old son, quits his job and goes to work for the CIA. He'll play said progeny, Marcus, in the ABC Studios-based project, from director Alex Hardcastle and writer Simeon Goulden, based on the latter's U.K. series of the same name. (Deadline.com)
SUPER CLYDE (CBS) - Rupert Grint ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows") has booked the title role on the comedy pilot, about a meek, unassuming fast food worker who decides to become a super hero. The single-camera project is set up at CBS Television Studios with executive producer Michael Fresco directing from a script by creator Greg Garcia. (Deadline.com)
TERROR, THE (AMC, New!) - Dan Simmons's 2007 best-selling novel - set in 1847 when the crew of a Royal Naval expedition to find the Arctic's treacherous Northwest Passage discovers instead a monstrous predator - is being developed as a drama at the cable channel. Feature writer David Kajganich is penning the adaptation with Simmons, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Free Productions' David W. Zucker and Ridley Scott and Television 360's Scott Lambert and Meghan Lyvers also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)
...THEN CAME ELVIS (NBC) - J.K. Simmons ("The Family Tools") has boarded the comedy pilot, about Henry (yet to be cast), a 14-year-old boy who watches his family - blind father Mel, immature mom Joyce (Parker Posey), rebellious older sister Katie and their dog Elvis - come closer together post-divorce. He'll play the aforementioned Mel in the Universal Television-based project, from creator D.J. Nash. Simmons's involvement is in second position to the yet-to-debut ABC comedy. (Deadline.com)
UNDER THE DOME (CBS) - Mike Vogel ("Pan Am") has booked a principal role on the upcoming drama, based on Stephen King's best-selling novel about a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. He's set as Barbie, "an Army veteran who is in Chester's Mill on a mysterious mission." Also starring in the CBS Television Studios-based hour are Aisha Hinds, Alex Koch, Britt Robertson, Colin Ford, Jolene Purdy, Natalie Martinez and Nicholas Strong. Niels Arden Oplev will direct the debut installment from a script by Brian K. Vaughan. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED JOHN LEGUIZAMO PROJECT (ABC) - Jeff Astrof ("$#*! My Dad Says") has signed on pen the now multi-camera comedy pilot, based on John Leguizamo's life as "a husband, father and fish out of water on the upper West Side of New York as reflected in his one-person shows." He'll succeed Chris Sheridan, who was attached to the single-camera incarnation, as well as executive produce alongside Leguizamo, Jeff Golenberg, Sam Maydew, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Maria Crenna. ABC Studios is producing. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - NBC has rolled back its commitment to its summer drama "Camp" from 13 to 10 episodes (Deadline.com); CBS Television Distribution has pulled the plug on its freshman entry "The Jeff Probst Show," however originals will continue through the end of the season (Deadline.com); Chris and Paul Weitz are looking to bring Neal Stephenson's novel "Reamde" to the small screen at Fox Television Studios (Deadline.com); Nick Gomez will guest on "Dexter" as a hit man who is "frustrated when Debra gets in between him and his target" (TVLine.com); Eric Mabius is bound for "Scandal" as "a member of a powerful political family who turns to OPA for advice" (THR.com); Duane "Dog" Chapman will make a cameo on the March 18 episode of "Hawaii Five-0" (TVGuide.com); Shohreh Aghdashloo is set to recur on "Grimm" as the Queen of the Schwarzwald Gypsies (TVLine.com); and Jonathan Taylor Thomas will reunite with "Home Improvement" star Tim Allen on "Last Man Standing" later this season (EW.com).
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