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[10/31/13 - 11:22 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, October 31
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!


DELIVERANCE CREEK (Lifetime/Warner Horizon; W: Melissa Carter; D: Jon Amiel) - Yaani King ("Mad Men") has been cast in the post-Civil War set backdoor pilot movie, about Belle (Lauren Ambrose), "who attempts to defend her family's land by any means necessary and is pushed into becoming an outlaw by the corrupt bank that runs their town." She'll play Kessiah "Kessie" Washington, "a quick-witted plantation slave who forges her freedom papers and sets out for Deliverance Creek with a desperate plan to save her family from slavery." Christopher Backus and Riley Smith also star. (Deadline.com)


EYE CANDY (MTV; W: Emmy Grinwis; D: Catherine Hardwicke) - Nico Tortorella ("The Following") is the latest addition to the Victoria Justice-led drama pilot, about "a reclusive hacker whose blog exposes everything from terrorist plots to suspected killers." He's on board as Tommy, "the cyber-crime unit's formidable and flirtatious head whose fascination with Lindy may be more than professional." (Deadline.com)


KASHER IN THE RYE (Showtime, New!) - Moshe Kasher ("The New Normal") is developing a comedy at the pay channel inspired by his 2012 memoir - subtitled "The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16" - which chronicled his "teenage years in Oakland in the 1990s and his deaf mother's struggles to raise him." Matt Tolmach (The Armstrong Lie) and 3 Arts Entertainment's Dave Becky and Josh Lieberman will executive produce alongside Kasher. (Deadline.com)


THE NOVICE (USA/Fox 21; W: Joe Gayton & Tony Gayton; D: TBA) - Shane Coffey ("The Originals") has booked the title role on the drama pilot, about a young man who finds that his true calling may be a life of crime. After repeatedly trying to break into corporate America, Kyle Jones returns home to his economically struggling family and his high school restaurant job, but minimum wage isn't going to help with his family's debt. So, while it is out of necessity that he seizes an unexpected opportunity to make money with a Korean crime family, it appears that this new life may have its perks as well. Marty Adelstein, Shawn Levy, Becky Clements, Matt Ochacher, Michael Pelmont and Brian Volk-Weiss also serve as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


OLIVIA JONES IS MY GIRLFRIEND (NBC, New!) - Laura Gutin Peterson ("1600 Penn") has sold a multi-camera comedy to the Peacock about "the unlikely friendship between a girl who's never had a boyfriend and a girl who has never had any girl friends." Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer are also on board to executive produce the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour with Peterson serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)


ONE KICK (NBC, New!) - Matt Lopez (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) is developing a new drama at the Peacock based on the upcoming book series by Chelsea Cain, about Kick Lannigan, "who made national news as a child after being abducted, and later rescued, in an Elizabeth Smart-type kidnapping. Determined to never fall victim again, Kick has trained herself in martial arts and firearms. She finds her calling when a mysterious billionaire offers her the resources and high-tech tools she needs to hunt down predators and rescue other abductees." Sara Colleton ("Hannibal") will executive produce alongside Lopez. (Deadline.com)


THE ORDER (ABC, New!) - Dean Widenmann ("V") has sold a new drama to the Alphabet which follows two timelines: "a young woman at Yale, 10 years ago, tapped as a member of an ultra-prestigious secret society, and the same woman in present day as a respected FBI agent and in the midst of the biggest case of her life, which she discovers is linked to her past in the secret society." The project is inspired by Alexandra Robbins's book "Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power." The Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Michael Prevett and Jeremy Bell will executive produce alongside Widenmann. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED ANNIKA BENGTZON PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Charles Randolph (Love & Other Drugs) is looking to bring Swedish author Liza Marklund's Annika Bengtzon novels - about "a dogged, no-nonsense tabloid reporter searching for the truth while also juggling her bosses and her family" - to the small screen. TBD Entertainment's Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan and Yellow Bird Entertainment's Jenny Gilbertsson and Berna Levin will also serve as executive producers alongside Randolph. The latter company is also behind "Annika Bengtzon: Crime Reporter," a Swedish TV series based on said novels. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED AVENGER PROJECT (The CW, New!) - Deric Hughes and Benjamin Raab ("Warehouse 13") are developing a small screen take on Street and Smith Publications' 1939 pulp hero, a globe-trotting adventurer whose life is shattered when his wife and young daughter are killed. The shock of said event caused his skin and hair to turn white while his face became malleable, able to reshape into a likeness of any person. The updated take then will track Alice Benson, "a young woman who, in the wake of her parents' murder, discovers she possesses a superpower as a result of genetic bio-hacking which allows her to transform her appearance at will." Baer Bones' Neal Baer and Conde Nast Entertainment's Dawn Ostroff will serve as executive producers for CBS Television Studios with Hughes and Raab as co-executive producers. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED LAURA SOLON PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Laura Solon has set up a potential comedy at the Alphabet about "an uncompromising blue-collar nanny who finds the biggest challenge of caring for an 8-year-old boy is living with his self-assured bachelor dad." ABC Studios is behind the half-hour with Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan also serving as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED SEAN JABLONSKI PROJECT (USA/UCP; W: Sean Jablonski; D: TBA) - Matt Passmore ("The Glades") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about Neil Truman (Passmore), "an investment banker who attempts to satisfy his married midlife crisis by quitting his job and redefining himself and his relationships." Russ Krasnoff is executive producing alongside Jablonski. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has cleared "The Real" for a nationwide rollout next fall with the Fox TV Stations as a launch group as well as a second window on BET (Deadline.com); David Fonteno is bound for two episodes of "Sleepy Hollow" as "a Catholic Priest who has been an advisor to Orlando Jones's Captain Frank Irving for a number of years" (TVLine.com); Alexandra Chando will visit "Castle" as "a Lindsay Lohan/Miley Cyrus type who has had a big public meltdown" (TVLine.com); and "Law & Order: SVU" co-stars Ice-T and Kelli Giddish will drop by "Chicago PD" in their "SVU" roles in "a case that involves a serial rapist/killer" (TVGuide.com).






  [october 2013]  
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W
T
F
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· 1600 PENN (NBC)
· CASTLE (ABC)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· DELIVERANCE CREEK (LIFETIME)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EXPOSED (ABC)
· EYE CANDY (MTV)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· GLADES, THE (A AND E)
· HANNIBAL (NBC)
· KASHER IN THE RYE (SHOWTIME)
· LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (NBC)
· MAD MEN (AMC)
· NEW NORMAL, THE (NBC)
· NOVICE (USA)
· OLIVIA JONES IS MY GIRLFRIEND (NBC)
· ONE KICK (NBC)
· ORDER, THE (ABC)
· ORIGINALS, THE (CW)
· REAL, THE (SYNDICATION)
· SATISFACTION (USA)
· SLEEPY HOLLOW (FOX)
· UNTITLED AVENGER PROJECT (CW)
· UNTITLED LAURA SOLON PROJECT (ABC)
· V (ABC)
· WAREHOUSE 13 (SYFY)





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