|
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!
A TO Z (NBC/Warner Bros.; W: Ben Queen; D: TBA) - Christina Kirk ("Girls") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about the relationship between a young couple, Andrew (Ben Feldman) and Zelda (Cristin Milioti), from meeting to breakup. She'll play Lydia, "nicknamed Big Bird, the general manager of an online dating company where Andrew works who believes that her job is not to help people find love but to keep them paying the monthly membership fee." Henry Zebrowski and Leonora Crichlow also star. (Deadline.com)
AMERICAN CRIME (ABC/ABC Studios; W/D: John Ridley) - Benito Martinez and W. Earl Brown are the latest additions to 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. The former will play Alonzo Gutierrez, "a hardworking, middle-class widowed father whose son is accused of the crime"; with the latter as Tom Harmon, "the emotionally distraught father of Lily, widow of the murdered war vet." Caitlin Gerard, Elvis Nolasco, Johnny Ortiz and Richard Cabral also star. (Deadline.com)
BATTLE CREEK (CBS/Sony; W: David Shore & Vince Gilligan; D: Bryan Singer) - Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past) is set to direct while Damon Herriman ("Justified") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a detective (Dean Winters) and an FBI agent with very different world views who are teamed up to clean up the semi-mean streets of Battle Creek, Michigan. Singer will also serve as an executive producer alongside David Shore, Vince Gilligan and Mark Johnson. Jason Taylor of Bad Hat Harry Productions and Erin Gunn of Shore Z Productions will likewise receive producer credits. Herriman then is set as Detective Niblet, "a nice guy who looks up to Detective Funkhauser and embraces his style." Aubrey Dollar, Edward Fordham Jr., Janet McTeer and Kal Penn also star. (Deadline.com)
BLACK-ISH (ABC/ABC Studios; W: Kenya Barris; D: TBA) - Yara Shahidi ("Scandal") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about Andre "Dre" Johnson (Anthony Anderson), an upper-middle-class black man who struggles to raise his children with some sense of cultural identity despite constant contradictions and obstacles coming from his liberal wife (Tracee Ellis Ross), old-school father (Laurence Fishburne), and his own assimilated, color-blind kids. She'll play teen daughter Zoey, who head is always buried in her iPhone. (Deadline.com)
DEAD BOSS (FOX/Warner Bros.; W: Patricia Breen; D: TBA) - Justine Lupe and Ravi Patel have both been cast in the comedy pilot, about Helen Stephens (Jane Krakowski), an overachiever who is wrongfully convicted of murdering her boss and forced to rely on her train wreck of a sister to prove her innocence. She'll play Laura, "Helen's well-intentioned sister who moves into Helen's condo, takes over Helen's job and finds herself starting to enjoy living Helen's life"; while he's set as Henry, "one of Helen's co-workers who loves and is obsessed with her and is devastated when Helen receives a guilty verdict." Cedric Yarborough also stars. (Deadline.com)
ELLEN MORE OR LESS (NBC/Universal; W: J.J. Philbin; D: Peyton Reed) - Newcomer Stacey McGunnigle has booked the title role on the comedy pilot, about Ellen, an average-size woman who, after losing 100 pounds, begins reinventing herself in life and love. She'll play said role in the project, which has also added Peyton Reed ("The Goodwin Games") as director. He'll work from a script by creator J.J. Philbin. (Deadline.com)
GOTHAM (FOX/Warner Bros.; W: Bruno Heller; D: Danny Cannon) - Drew Powell ("The Mentalist") has been cast in the project, a drama exploring the origin stories of Commissioner James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and the villains that made Gotham famous. He'll recur as Butch Gilzean, "the deceptively clever and ambitious second-in-command to sadistic gangster boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith)." Donal Logue, Erin Richards, Robin Lord Taylor, Sean Pertwee and Zabryna Guevara also star. (Deadline.com)
MATADOR (El Rey; W: Alex Kurtzman, Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie & Roberto Orci; D: Robert Rodriguez) - Gabriel Luna and Nicky Whelan have snagged the lead roles in the upcoming drama, about Antonio "Matador" Bravo, a popular soccer star, who comes to be known as much for his playboy antics off the field as his dynamic moves on it. But what his fans and family don't realize is that it's all a cover--in truth, he is a skilled covert operative executing missions for a little known branch of the CIA. No details were given about Whelan's character. The newcomer will make its debut just following the World Cup competition in July. (Deadline.com)
SALVATION (NBC/Universal; W: Liz Heldens; D: Jeffrey Reiner) - Rob Brown ("Treme") is the latest to be cast in 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'll play Miles Strickland, "the adopted son of Jennifer (Ashley Judd) and Daniel Strickland who returns home after a six-year absence out of a sense of loyalty to the family but does not share in their beliefs." Also starring are Emma Dumont, Jake Picking, Meg Steedle, Stark Sands and Warren Kole. (Deadline.com)
SURVIVOR'S REMORSE (Starz; W: Mike O'Malley; D: TBA) - RonReaco Lee and Teyonah Parris are the first to be cast in the upcoming series, set in the world of professional basketball and explores the comedy and drama of an experience that everyone reads about, but few understand - what truly happens when you make it out. He'll play Reggie Vaughn, cousin and confidant to Cam Calloway (yet to be cast), a basketball phenom in his early 20's who is suddenly thrust into the limelight after signing a multi-million dollar contract with a professional basketball team in Atlanta. She's then set as Reggie's wife Missy, "the kind of gorgeous, put-together woman who commands immediate attention." (THR.com)
WARRIORS (ABC/ABC Studios; W: Chris Keyser; D: Martin Campbell) - Abbie Cobb ("Suburgatory") has snagged a role on the drama pilot, about the best and brightest active duty military doctors and nurses as they practice trailblazing medicine. She'll play Sienna Jones, a young bride whose "friends and family already wonder if she can handle marrying a soldier, and their fears only deepen after her new husband suffers a major medical mishap." Also starring are Courtney B. Vance, Don Hany, Eloise Mumford, Greg Grunberg, Hampton Fluker, Justina Machado, Morena Baccarin and Steve Kazee. (TVLine.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Tara Holt will recur on "Californication" as Melanie, "Rath's (Michael Imperioli) gorgeous assistant whose presence causes a commotion in the writers room" (Deadline.com); and Keith Powell has booked an arc on "About a Boy" as "Will's (David Walton) workaholic friend/accountant/business manager, Richard" (TVLine.com).
|
