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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!
GIFTED (NBC, New!) - David Bickel ("Malibu Country") has booked a multi-camera comedy at the Peacock about "two average, middle-class parents who find themselves out of their element raising an intellectually gifted teenage son." Said effort is set up at Universal Television with the studio-based David Janollari executive producing alongside Bickel. (Deadline.com)
GORGEOUS MORONS (CBS, New!) - Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky and Danny Chun are set to team for a potential multi-camera comedy at the Eye about "two stunningly handsome but dumb brothers, a model and a personal trainer, who find their lives rocked by their new roommate, a female literature PhD. who is merely very attractive." ABC Studios is behind the half-hour, which has a put pilot commitment. (Deadline.com)
THE HENCHMAN (FOX, New!) - Writer Dan Kopelman ("Rules of Engagement") and director John Hamburg (I Love You, Man) are set to team for a new single-camera comedy about "a henchman to the world's worst super-villain who deals with single parenthood and impending middle age." Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment also serves as an executive producer on the half-hour, which has a put pilot commitment. It's understood said effort will likely be laid off at 20th Century Fox Television or Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)
THE KNICK (Cinemax; W: Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; D: Steven Soderbergh) - Andre Holland, Juliet Rylance, Eve Hewson and Michael Angarano
have all been cast in the
Clive Owen-led drama, which centers on Knickerbocker Hospital circa 1900 and the groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff, who push the bounds of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. Holland will play Algernon, "a gifted, black Harvard-trained surgeon who fights for respect in the hospital while trying to navigate his way through the racially charged turn-of-the-century NYC"; with Rylance as Cornelia, "a driving force whose passionate social work at The Knick will always play second fiddle to her wealthy father's philanthropy toward it"; Hewson as Lucy, "a young, naive nurse from the South who, like tens-of-thousands of others, has come to New York for adventure and finds more of it than she ever thought she would"; and Angarano as Dr. Bertram "Bertie" Chickering Jr., "an eager surgeon-in-training who gives up the chance to practice uptown in a wealthy hospital, for the romance and excitement of learning from a groundbreaking surgeon in the chaotic, downtown world of The Knick." (Deadline.com)
NAVY ST. (DirecTV, New!) - The satcaster is reportedly on track for a 10-episode straight-to-series order for "a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of a mixed martial arts gym based in Venice, California." Byron Balasco ("Detroit 1-8-7") is behind the hour, which is set up at Endemol Studios. Preliminary casting is already underway with an eye towards a production start early next year. (Deadline.com)
PARADISE (NBC, New!) - Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) has scored a put pilot order from the Peacock for a new drama "set in the late 21st century in the city of Las Vegas which is now the world's largest maximum-security prison, known as Paradise." Warner Bros. Television-based Berlanti Productions is behind the hour with Greg Berlanti and Melissa Kellner Berman executive producing alongside Grahame-Smith and his KatzSmith Productions partner David Katzenberg. As for specifics, the project centers on Matthew Turner, M.D., "its newest inmate, convicted of a murder he didn't commit. Desperate to get back to his family and prove his innocence, Matthew will have to find a strength he never knew he had, and stay alive long enough to do the one thing no inmate has ever done: escape." (Deadline.com)
THE STRAIN (FX/FX Productions; W: Chuck Hogan & Guillermo del Toro; D: Guillermo del Toro) - Leslie Hope ("Revolution") has snagged a role on the drama pilot, about the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City which is tasked with investigating a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. She's set as Joan Luss, "one of the few survivors of the outbreak." The show's ensemble also includes Corey Stoll, Francis Capra, Jack Kesy, John Hurt, Kevin Durand, Lauren Lee Smith, Mia Maestro, Miguel Gomez, Richard Sammel, Robert Maillet, Roger Cross and Sean Astin. (TVLine.com)
UNTITLED CHRISTINE PIETROSH/JESSICA GOLDSTEIN PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Christine Pietrosh and Jessica Goldstein ("Cougar Town") have sold a new comedy at the Alphabet about "a group of friends who are brought together after an unexpected turn of events." ABC Studios is behind the half-hour with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers also executive producing via their Shondaland banner. (THR.com)
UNTITLED DAN MAZER PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Dan Mazer (Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan) has set up a potential multi-camera comedy at the network described as "an adult relationship comedy." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the half-hour with Good Humor Television's Tom Werner and 3 Arts Entertainment's Tom Lassally executive producing alongside Mazer. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED HARRIS WITTELS PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Harris Wittels ("Parks & Recreation") has sold a family comedy to the Peacock, about "a well-meaning slacker who lives with his parents and is in a constant struggle with his family about how best to raise his younger brother, a multimillionaire high school entrepreneur." Ali Rushfield, Dave Becky, Tom Lassally and Josh Lieberman also serve as executive producers for Universal Television and 3 Arts Entertainment. (Deadline.com)
WAYWARD PINES (FOX/FX Productions; W: Chad Hodge; D: M. Night Shyamalan) - Tim Griffin and Charlie Tahan are the latest to board the ever-expanding cast of the limited series, about Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) who finds himself stranded in the seemingly bucolic town of Wayward Pines, Idaho while looking for two missing federal agents. The former will play Adam Hassler, Ethan's boss at the Secret Service; while the latter is set as Ben, Ethan and Theresa's (Shannyn Sossamon) son. Carla Gugino, Greta Lee, Juliette Lewis, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard and Toby Jones also star. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) is set to helm the debut installment of NBC's John Malkovich-led pirate drama "Crossbones" (Deadline.com); Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael have inked a premium blind script deal with ABC Studios for a new comedy project to star the latter actress (Deadline.com); The Weinstein Company is developing Daniel Stashower's historical thriller "The Hour of Peril" as a mini-series (Deadline.com); "Bob's Burgers" writers Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux have inked a two-year overall deal with producer 20th Century Fox Television (Deadline.com); Freddie Prinze, Jr. will guest on Lifetime's "Witches of East End" as "a gallant and sweetly shy entomologist who falls head over heels for Madchen Amick's Wendy Beauchamp" (EW.com);
Doug Jones has been cast as a "mysterious murderer" on "Teen Wolf" (TVLine.com); Matthew Atkinson will recur on "Parenthood" as "the drummer in the band fronted by new arrival Oliver (Tyson Ritter) who bonds with Amber while recording at the Luncheonette" (TVLine.com); Connie Nielsen has joined the cast of "The Following" as Lily Gray, "a Soho art dealer who finds herself in a bit of trouble" (TVLine.com); Angela Kinsey will swing by "New Girl" as "a snobbish 'cool' teacher whom Jess meets at the school where she landed the substitute teacher gig last season" while Eva Amurri will return as Schmidt's competitive co-worker Beth (TVGuide.com); and Gildart Jackson will guest on "Supernatural" as Haggerty, "a veteran member of the Men of Letters, and appear during a 1930 flashback" (THR.com).
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