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[09/26/14 - 11:26 PM]
Development Update: Friday, September 26
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!


ABANDON (USA, New!) - Blake Crouch's thriller - which "straddles two time periods and centers on a group of explorers who set out to uncover the mysteries of Abandon, a small mining town deep in the mountains of Colorado whose entire population disappeared on Christmas Eve more than a century ago" - is being developed as a drama at the cable channel. Chad Hodge ("Wayward Pines") is spearheading the adaptation, writing the script alongside Crouch for Universal Cable Productions and Amblin Television. The latter's Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will also executive produce the project, which has a penalty attached. (THR.com)


COLONY (USA/Legendary/UCP; W: Carlton Cuse & Ryan Condal; D: Juan José Campanella) - Josh Holloway ("Lost") has been tapped for the lead role on the drama pilot, about a family torn by opposing forces and making difficult choices as they balance staying together with surviving the struggle of the human race. He'll play Will Bowman, "a former FBI agent who - to protect his family - is forced to collaborate with the occupational government to bring down the growing resistance movement inside the Los Angeles colony." In addition, Juan José Campanella ("Halt and Catch Fire") has signed on to direct. (Deadline.com)


CRESCENT HEIGHTS (FOX, New!) - UCB Theatre LA regulars Allyn Rachel and Patrick Carlyle have sold a new comedy to the network about "an ordinary couple who move into an apartment complex where everyone has secrets and a few are evil." Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan and Tracy Katsky will also executive produce for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)


MAIDENHEAD (NBC, New!) - Feature writer Ben Ripley (Source Code) and director James Wan (Fast & Furious 7) are set to team for a new drama about "when a scientist is called to a tiny Connecticut suburb to investigate an ailing teen girl, he discovers that her affliction presents itself as a demonic contagion slowly spreading through the town. His team peels back the secrets and lies buried within the fabric of the community while medically deconstructing the tropes of demon mythology." Sony Pictures Television-based Davis Entertainment is behind the hour, which has a penalty attached, with the company's John Fox and John Davis also executive producing. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED JENNA BANS PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Jenna Bans ("Scandal") has set up a new drama at the Alphabet about "the return of a politician's young son who was presumed dead after disappearing over a decade earlier, sending shockwaves throughout their tight knit community. But as the mysterious young man is welcomed back into his family suspicions emerge - is he really who he says he is?" ABC Studios is behind the hour with David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Laurie Zaks of the studio-based Mandeville Films and Television also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED OL PARKER PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Ol Parker (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) has sold a potential drama to the Alphabet about "the lives of individuals and couples dealing with love in interrelated tales all set within and around a half-century-old bookstore in Pioneer Square, Seattle." Rashida Jones and Will McCormack's Warner Bros. Television-based Le Train Train banner is behind the project, which has a put pilot commitment. All three will executive produce with Jeff Grosvenor as a co-executive producer. (THR.com)


WHO'S STEVE (ABC, New!) - Kourtney Kang ("How I Met Your Mother") has sold a semi-autobiographical comedy at the Alphabet which "explores what happens when your wife's gay ex-boyfriend from high school becomes your nanny." Said project comes from 20th Century Fox Television, home to Kang's overall deal, and has a penalty attached. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Angela Kinsey will recur on TBS's newcomer "Your Family or Mine" as Claire, succeeding Mary Elizabeth Ellis from the pilot (Deadline.com); Rutger Hauer has scored an arc on ABC's "Galavant" as "King Richard's older, bigger and more badass brother who will threaten his little brother's rule" (Deadline.com); Ernie Hudson will guest on "Hot in Cleveland" as "the ex-husband of Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick) who suddenly reappears to help her come to terms with their once-embarrassing legacy" as well as recur on Netflix's "Grace & Frankie" as "the love interest of Frankie (Lily Tomlin)" (Deadline.com); Universal Cable Productions has optioned author Catherine Linka's debut novel "A Girl Called Fearless" to develop as a TV series (Deadline.com); Patricia Richardson will reunite with her "Home Improvement" co-star Tim Allen on "Last Man Standing" as "a recently divorced neighbor of Mike's (Allen) who has gotten into a bit of conflict with Mike's frenemy, Chuck (Jonathan Adams)" (EW.com); and John Ratzenberger will visit "The McCarthys" as the athletics director of Ronny's school (TVLine.com).






  [september 2014]  
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· ABANDON (USA)
· COLONY (USA)
· CRESCENT HEIGHTS (FOX)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FAMILY, THE (ABC)
· GALAVANT (ABC)
· GRACE AND FRANKIE (NETFLIX)
· HOT IN CLEVELAND (TV LAND)
· HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS)
· LAST MAN STANDING (FOX)
· LOST (ABC)
· MAIDENHEAD (NBC)
· MCCARTHYS, THE (CBS)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· UNTITLED OL PARKER PROJECT (ABC)
· WAYWARD PINES (FOX)
· WHO'S STEVE (ABC)
· YOUR FAMILY OR MINE (TBS)





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