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[02/14/14 - 11:44 PM]
Development Update: Friday, February 14
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!


AGENT X (TNT; W: William Blake Herron; D: Peter O'Fallon) - Gerald McRaney ("House of Cards") is the latest to board the drama pilot, about Natalie Maccabee (Sharon Stone), the newly elected Vice President of the United States who is tasked with protecting the Constitution in times of great crisis with the aid of her Chief Steward and a secret operative designated "Agent X" (Jeff Hephner). He'll play Malcolm Millar, "the refined Chief Steward of the Vice President's mansion, and keeper of its many secrets." Jamey Sheridan, John Shea and Mike Colter also star. (Deadline.com)


AMERICAN CRIME (ABC/ABC Studios; W/D: John Ridley) - Elvis Nolasco and Caitlin Gerard have both landed roles on the drama pilot, which centers on a racially charged murder and the subsequent trial in California's Central Valley as seen through the personal lives of the players involved. They'll play Carter Nix and Aubry Taylor, "an interracial couple, both drug addicts." (Deadline.com)


BABYLON FIELDS (NBC/20th; W: Gerald Cuesta & Michael Atkinson; D: Michael Cuesta) - Meagan Good ("Deception") is the first to land a role on the drama pilot, in which the dead are resurrected and try to resume their former lives. She'll play Janine Beltran, "a local doctor with an edge to her." Amber Tamblyn originated said role in the original incarnation for CBS in 2007. (Deadline.com)


COERCION (NBC/Universal; W/D: George Nolfi) - Gavin Stenhouse has booked the lead role on the drama pilot, about the O'Connor family and their son, Alex, a decorated American war hero and CIA analyst who is a true patriot and loves his country and family. Unbeknownst to him, both of his parents and his sister are part of a dormant Russian sleeper cell that has just been reactivated. He's set as the aforementioned Alex in the project, which is based on the Israeli drama "The Gordin Cell." (Deadline.com)


DEAD BOSS (FOX/Warner Bros.; W: Patricia Breen; D: TBA) - Jane Krakowski ("30 Rock") has scored the lead role on the pilot, a comedic mystery that finds overachiever Helen Stephens wrongfully convicted of murdering her boss and forced to rely on her train wreck of a sister to prove her innocence. She's set as the aforementioned Helen Stephens, a role originated by Sharon Horgan in the BBC3 series of the same name. (Deadline.com)


FEED ME (NBC, New!) - Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds") is set to star in a new single-camera comedy pilot for the Peacock about "a dysfunctional family bound by love and the restaurant they run together. And when daughter Emma's husband has an affair, they circle the wagons to fiercely protect one of their own." Sally Robinson (Lifetime's "Steel Magnolia") is behind the half-hour, which is set up at Universal Television. Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas of Witt/Thomas Productions are also on board to executive produce. (Deadline.com)


GUILT BY ASSOCIATION (TNT; W: Dee Johnson & Marcia Clark; D: Nelson McCormick) - Neve Campbell and Elisabeth Rohm are on track to topline the drama pilot, about Rachel Knight (Campbell), a gutsy Deputy District Attorney in the Special Trials Unit of the D.A.'s office for L.A. County. She works closely with a tough-as-nails female LAPD detective named Bailey Keller (Rohm) and a stylish female prosecutor named Toni LaCollette (Rose Rollins), both of whom routinely crash at Rachel's place. They'll play the aforementioned roles, Rachel Knight and Bailey Keller, respectively. (Deadline.com)


IN THE SPOTLIGHT (CBS, New!) - Nigel Lythgoe ("So You Think You Can Dance") is looking to import the Turkish competition series "Keep Your Light Shining," in which "12 contestants take turns singing for 15-20 seconds when a moving spotlight focuses on them. Each round, one contestant is eliminated by the audience, with the show also featuring a panel of celebrity judges." Jennifer Bresnan, Jeff Collins and Michael Hammond are also on board to executive produce the project, which has a pilot commitment. Kalen Productions, Nigel Lythgoe Productions and Collins Avenue Entertainment are co-producing. (Deadline.com)


MANHATTAN (WGN America/Lionsgate; W: Sam Shaw; D: Thomas Schlamme) - Christopher Denham is the latest addition to 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. He'll play Jim Meeks, "a physics prodigy recruited to join the top-secret project and work under Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey)." Ashley Zukerman, Daniel Stern, Harry Lloyd, Katja Herbers and Rachel Brosnahan also star. (Deadline.com)


MORE TIME WITH FAMILY (CBS/20th; W: Cathy Yuspa & Josh Goldsmith & Tom Papa; D: TBA) - Alyson Hannigan ("How I Met Your Mother") is set to star opposite Tom Papa in the comedy pilot, about a husband and father (Papa) making a career change to spend more time with his family. She'll play Tom's wife, Cindy, in the multi-camera project. (Deadline.com)


NESS (WGN America, New!) - Writer Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island) and director Michael Dinner ("Justified") are set to team for a potential drama about the life of famed prohibition agent Eliot Ness following "the real (and untold) story of Ness post-Untouchables when he became the top cop in Cleveland, the most dangerous city in America during the 1930s. He spent the next decade fighting the mob, his own corrupt police department, and a serial killer on the streets. All while battling his alcoholism, serial philandering and the constant need for acclaim." The project is based on Douglas Perry's new book "Eliot Ness: The Rise and Fall of an American Hero." John Davis and John Fox are also on board to executive produce via their Sony Pictures Television-based Davis Entertainment banner. Said effort is not to be confused with "Nemesis," Sony's eight-hour miniseries for NBC about Ness's hunt for the so-called Torso Killer. (Deadline.com)


ONE, THE (Lifetime, New!) - Frank DeJohn and David Alton Hedges are developing a new mini-series at the cable channel "described as a coming-of-age story exploring Jesus' early life and formative years as he comes to learn he is the Son of God and is destined for greatness." Thinkfactory Media ("Hatfields & McCoys") is behind the project, with the company's Leslie Greif among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


RED BAND SOCIETY (FOX/ABC Studios; W: Margaret Nagle; D: TBA) - Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (The Help) has joined the cast of 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. She'll play Nurse Jackson, "who works in the pediatrics ward. She's an excellent, intuitive nurse and a tough customer who doesn't put up with any crap from anyone." Griffin Gluck also stars. (Deadline.com)


SAINT FRANCIS (ABC/ABC Studios; W: Christopher Moynihan; D: TBA) - Michael Imperioli ("Detroit 1-8-7") has scored the lead role on the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Francis Quinlan, "a blue-collar, no-nonsense Long Island cop and family man who butts heads with the modern, liberal world when his 29-year-old sister gets pregnant out of wedlock." Tagline Television is co-producing. (Deadline.com)


SALVATION (NBC/Universal; W: Liz Heldens; D: Jeffrey Reiner) - Warren Kole ("Common Law") is the first to sign onto the drama pilot, a family saga set against the backdrop of a Texas mega church where faith, family and corruption are explored in equal measure. He's set as Jacob, a charismatic, fresh-out-of-jail, fire-and-brimstone, rattlesnake-handling, poison-drinking Pentecostal preacher who found his faith in prison. He's on board as Jacob Thorne, "a charismatic, fresh-out-of-jail, fire-and-brimstone, rattlesnake-handling, poison-drinking Pentecostal preacher who found his faith in prison." (Deadline.com)


TWO TO GO (NBC/Universal; W: Bryan Shukoff & Kevin Chesley; D: TBA) - Echo Kellum ("Sean Saves the World") is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about longtime best friends Kurt and Laura, who grapple with the challenges of modern-day dating while their group of friends try and prove that they are destined to be together. He'll play one of said friends, Nick, a disheveled stay-at-home dad. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Telepictures Productions has pulled the plug on its freshman talk show "Bethenny" due to a loss of affiliate clearances to NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution's upcoming "The Meredith Vieira Show" (Deadline.com); Genevieve Angelson has been tapped to succeed Mamie Gummer in FOX's "Backstrom" as the title character's (Rainn Wilson) second in command (Deadline.com); and Rob Huebel will reunite with fellow "Human Giant" alum Aziz Ansari on "Parks & Recreation" as "an unlikable owner of a tent store that Ben (Adam Scott) and Tom (Ansari) can't seem to escape when they try to rent one" (EW.com).






  [february 2014]  
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W
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F
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· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· AGENT X (TNT)
· ALLEGIANCE (NBC)
· AMERICAN CRIME (ABC)
· BABYLON FIELDS (NBC)
· BABYLON FIELDS (CBS)
· BACKSTROM (FOX)
· BETHENNY (SYNDICATION)
· COMMON LAW (USA)
· DEAD BOSS (FOX)
· DECEPTION (NBC)
· DETROIT 187 (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FEED ME (NBC)
· GUILT BY ASSOCIATION (TNT)
· HATFIELDS & MCCOYS (HISTORY)
· HOUSE OF CARDS (NETFLIX)
· HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS)
· HUMAN GIANT (MTV)
· IN THE SPOTLIGHT (CBS)
· JUSTIFIED (FX)
· MANHATTAN (WGN)
· MEREDITH VIEIRA SHOW, THE (SYNDICATION)
· MORE TIME WITH FAMILY (CBS)
· NEMESIS (NBC)
· NESS (WGN)
· ONE, THE (LIFETIME)
· PARKS & RECREATION (NBC)
· RED BAND SOCIETY (FOX)
· SAINT FRANCIS (ABC)
· SALVATION (NBC)
· SEAN SAVES THE WORLD (NBC)
· SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (FOX)
· TWO TO GO (NBC)
· WEEDS (SHOWTIME)





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