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[02/11/14 - 11:56 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, February 11
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!


ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB, THE (ABC/ABC Studios; W: Stephanie Savage; D: TBA) - JoAnna Garcia Swisher ("Animal Practice") is the first to board the summer drama, which tells the true story of the women behind NASA's early astronauts and the struggles they face when their lives and families are catapulted into the spotlight overnight. She'll play Betty Grissom, a bouncy redhead with curls askew who speaks with a folksy Hoosier accent. Her husband, Gus (yet to be cast), is one of the original astronauts. (Deadline.com)


FIFTH WHEEL (NBC/ABC Studios; W: Elena Crevello & Heidi Niedermeyer; D: Marc Buckland) - Jonathan Groff ("Happy Endings") has been tapped as showrunner of the multi-camera comedy pilot, while Marc Buckland ("Sean Saves the World") is set to direct. Said project, from Heidi Niedermeyer and Elena Crevello, revolves around "a young woman who confronts her new reality after her last single friend gets engaged." Mark Gordon and Andrea Shay also serve as executive producers. (THR.com)


HOW I MET YOUR DAD (CBS/20th; W: Carter Bays, Craig Thomas & Emily Spivey; D: Pamela Fryman) - Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha) has been tapped for the title role in the "How I Met Your Mother" spin-off, about Sally (Gerwig), "a female Peter Pan who has never grown up and has no idea of where she's going in life. After breaking up with her husband of less than a year, Sally finds a solid circle of support in her friends and family." Said report bills the casting as "so important that the studio is willing to move production of the series to New York for her after the pilot, which will be shot in Los Angeles." (Deadline.com)


IDENTITY (The CW/CBS; W: Corinne Brinkerhoff; D: Gary Fleder) - Ahna O'Reilly (The Help) has scored the lead role on the drama pilot, about Mia Lawrence ("wry, whip-smart, unfiltered in an endearing way"), a young New Yorker who is recruited by the CIA to infiltrate her recently discovered biological family, a wealthy and powerful dynasty in Texas suspected of having criminal alliances across the globe. (Deadline.com)


MANHATTAN (WGN America/Lionsgate; W: Sam Shaw; D: Thomas Schlamme) - Katja Herbers (De storm) has scored a role on the upcoming drama, which follows the brilliant but flawed scientists - on mission to build the world's first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico - and their families as they attempt to co-exist in a world where secrets and lies infiltrate every aspect of their lives. She'll play Helen Price, "a member of Frank Winter's (John Benjamin Hickey) team and one of the few female physicists assigned to the Manhattan Project." Ashley Zukerman, Daniel Stern, Harry Lloyd and Rachel Brosnahan also star. (Deadline.com)


MASON TWINS, THE (NBC/ABC Studios; W: Casey Wilson & June Diane Raphael; D: Robert Duncan McNeill) - Todd Grinnell and Bret Ernst are the latest to board the comedy pilot, about fraternal twins, Pender (June Diane Raphael) and Lizzie (Erinn Hayes), who reconnect after Lizzie's perfect city life has fallen apart and she returns to her suburban town to find that her sister hasn't matured past her teen queen days. The former will play Kyle, "Pender's former boyfriend who is now her boss at the pizzeria"; with Ernst as Joey, "the bartender at the pizzeria." Windell Middlebrooks also star. (Deadline.com)


NAVY ST. (DirecTV/Endemol; W: Byron Balasco; D: TBA) - Jonathan Tucker ("Parenthood") has joined the cast of the upcoming series, "a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of Navy Street, a Venice, CA-based mixed martial arts (MMA) gym owned by Alvey Henderson (Grillo), a former fighter who never made it big due to a drug addiction but is now sober." He'll play Alvey's eldest son, "once promising fighter who is now nothing more than a junkie." (Deadline.com)


NOTTINGHAM (BBC America, New!) - Cole Haddon ("Dracula") is developing a potential hour at the cable channel, billed as a re-imagining of the Robin Hood story in which the Sheriff of Nottingham secretly launches a one-man war against the Crown as Robin Hood after his wife is killed by the King's men and nobody is brought to justice. Said effort is set up at the Sony Pictures Television-based Davis Entertainment with the company's John Davis and John Fox executive producing. (Deadline.com)


PRO, THE (NBC/ABC Studios/Universal; W: Alex Gregory & Pete Huyck; D: Todd Holland) - Colton Dunn ("Key and Peele") has scored a role on the Rob Lowe-led comedy, about former tennis doubles champion 'Big Ben' Bertrahm (Lowe), whose career flame-out and misguided investments have left him working as the pro at a tennis and golf club, where he tries to hustle and charm his way back into America's 1%. He'll play Lewis Mosely, the club's very plugged in bookie. Rob Riggle also stars. (Deadline.com)


RED BAND SOCIETY (FOX/ABC Studios; W: Margaret Nagle; D: TBA) - Griffin Gluck ("Back in the Game") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about a group of teenagers who meet as patients in the children's wing of a hospital and become unlikely allies and friends. He'll play Charlie, "a smart, insightful and mischievous 13-year-old hospital patient who's been in a coma for a year because of an accident." (Deadline.com)


SAVE THE DATE (CBS/ABC Studios/CTS; W: Jackie Filgo & Jeff Filgo; D: TBA) - Maggie Lawson ("Back in the Game") has landed the lead role on the multi-camera comedy pilot, about "35-year-old and newly single Katie, who drunkenly books a wedding venue and now is faced with the task of meeting the right man in time." (Deadline.com)


STREET DREAMS (Xbox, New!) - Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies) is set to team with hip hop artist Nas for a potential comedy at XBox Entertainment Studios, "set in the 1990s in Long Island's Queensbridge housing complex, where Nas grew up, and takes a look at music, family and the levinetrials and tribulations of the rap game." Electric City Entertainment's Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell are also on board to executive produce alongside Nas's manager, Anthony Seleh. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - HBO has reportedly given a series commitment to its comedy pilot "The Brink," starring Jack Black, Pablo Schreiber and Tim Robbins (Deadline.com); MTV likewise has issued a 10-episode order to its Victoria Justice-led drama "Eye Candy," however the pilot will be reshot with a new supporting cast (Deadline.com); USA has passed on its pilots "Horizon" and "Divide & Conquer" and producer Universal Cable Productions plans to shop them elsewhere (Deadline.com); Michelle Fairley has joined "24: Live Another Day" where she'll succeed Judy Davis as "a British national and the widow of a notorious terrorist" (Deadline.com); Candace Cameron Bure and Scott Weinger will both drop by "The Neighbors" as "new visitors to the alien neighborhood" (Ew.com); Titus Welliver is bound for two episodes of TNT's "The Last Ship" in "a strong role influencing the future of those survivors" (TVLine.com); Joseph May will recur on "Mistresses" as "the fabulous gay pal and business associate of Rochelle Aytes' level-headed single mom" (TVLine.com);

Annie Wersching will recur on "Extant" as "a member of the Yasumoto Corporation board who endeavors to insure that in our race toward a technologically advanced future, we don't leave our humanity behind" (TVLine.com); Erik Valdez has booked an arc on "Graceland" as the "Grade A psychopath" son of a powerful cartel leader (TVLine.com); Beth Broderick will reunite with fellow "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" alum Melissa Joan Hart on "Melissa & Joey" as "Mel's (Hart) doctor, who has shocking news for her" (THR.com); Nazanin Boniadi will recur on "Scandal" in a yet-to-be-revealed role (THR.com); Patrick Fabian likewise will turn up on "Grey's Anatomy" as "a pediatric surgeon who comes in to help Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital" (TVGuide.com); and Ron Canada will drop by "Elementary" as "a retired high school teacher from a crime-plagued Brooklyn neighborhood who's dedicated his life to improving his community and keeping his students away from gangs and drugs" (TVGuide.com).






  [february 2014]  
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· 24 (FOX)
· ANIMAL PRACTICE (NBC)
· ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB, THE (ABC)
· BACK IN THE GAME (ABC)
· BRINK, THE (HBO)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DIVIDE & CONQUER (USA)
· ELEMENTARY (CBS)
· EXTANT (CBS)
· EYE CANDY (MTV)
· FIFTH WHEEL (NBC)
· GRACELAND (USA)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· HAPPY ENDINGS (ABC)
· HORIZON (USA)
· HOW I MET YOUR DAD (CBS)
· HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS)
· IDENTITY (CW)
· KEY & PEELE (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· KINGDOM (AUDIENCE)
· LAST SHIP, THE (TNT)
· MANHATTAN (WGN)
· MASON TWINS, THE (NBC)
· MELISSA & JOEY (ABC FAMILY)
· MISTRESSES (ABC)
· NEIGHBORS, THE (ABC)
· NOTTINGHAM (BBC AMERICA)
· PARENTHOOD (NBC)
· PRO, THE (NBC)
· RED BAND SOCIETY (FOX)
· SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH (WB)
· SAVE THE DATE (CBS)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· SEAN SAVES THE WORLD (NBC)
· STREET DREAMS (BET)





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