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[10/13/14 - 11:40 PM]
Development Update: Monday, October 13
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: Lone Scherfig) - Evan Handler ("Californication") and Wilson Bethel ("Hart of Dixie") have both landed roles on the upcoming 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. The former will play Duncan "Dunk" Pringle, "a former athlete who is a PR officer at NASA"; with the latter as Scott Carpenter, "the most laid-back of the astronauts and husband to Rene Carpenter (Yvonne Strahovski)." Separately, Bethel has inked a blind script deal with Warner Bros. Television to pen a drama project for The CW. Aaron McCusker, Azure Parsons, Bret Harrison, Desmond Harrington, Dominique McElligott, Erin Cummings, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Joel Johnstone, Kenneth Mitchell, Odette Annable and Zoe Boyle also star. (Deadline.com)


BLACK WIDOWS (CBS, New!) - Josh Safran ("Smash") is looking to import the Finnish series "Mustat Lesket," about "two women who kill their abusive spouses and try to get away with it as the FBI, their close-knit community and even their own guilt conspire to take them down." CBS Television Studios is behind the hour with Naegle Ink's Sue Naegle also on board to executive produce. (Deadline.com)


MODERN GOTHIC (CBS, New!) - Adam Karp and David Reed are developing a new drama at the Eye described as "a modern-day reimagining of classic gothic horror stories as contemporary mysteries in which a doctor - Dracula's Abraham "Bram" Van Helsing - investigates the supernatural horrors that modern science fails to explain." CBS Television Studios-based Junction Entertainment is behind the project with Jon Turteltaub and Dan Tischler executive producing and Karp and Reed serving as co-executive producers. (THR.com)


MONSTER-IN-LAW (FOX, New!) - Amy B. Harris ("The Carrie Diaries") and John Riggi ("30 Rock") are spearheading a small screen take on the 2005 Jennifer Lopez/Jane Fonda-led feature, which "explores the fraught world of a happy couple about to learn the joys and horrors of parenthood while managing the most challenging relationship of all - the one between a wife and her husband's mother." Benderpink's Chris Bender and J.C. Spink will likewise executive produce the multi-camera project for Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)


UNNATURAL SELECTION (The CW, New!) - Adam Karp has likewise sold a new drama to the netlet based on Charles Darwin and Captain Robert FitzRoy's five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle, which established the former ahead of his "Origin of the Species." The project, from CBS Television Studios, "focuses on a 21-year-old Darwin, and his childhood friend Capt. Fitzroy's journey through the Amazon to return the woman they both love to her native home." The Kennedy-Marshall Co.'s Frank Marshall and Robert Zotnowski will also executive produce. (THR.com)


UNTITLED MONICA POTTER PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Monica Potter ("Parenthood") is set to star in a new multi-camera comedy for the Peacock, details of which weren't released but may be loosely based on the actress's life. Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer ("I Hate My Teenage Daughter") are penning the half-hour, which has a pilot production commitment. Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman are also on board to executive produce via their Warner Bros. Television-based A Very Good Production. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Netflix is reportedly developing "Care Bears and Cousins," a new animated series based on the famed line of plush toys (CNN.com); Christina Hendricks will guest on Comedy Central's "Another Period" as Chair, "a new servant on the estate who is not who she appears to be" (Deadline.com); Duke Davis Roberts is set to recur on "Justified" as "an ex-military man from Colorado who's powerful and dangerous" (Deadline.com); Gregg Henry's Dr. Arthur Strauss, Joe Carroll's (James Purefoy) mentor, has been upped to series regular on "The Following" (Deadline.com); Zarah Mahler has been cast as Sharon's ballerina daughter, Emily Raydor, on "Major Crimes" (TVLine.com);

Kara Luiz likewise has been tapped as Howard's never-before-seen second cousin Jeanie on "The Big Bang Theory" (TVLine.com); Alex Carter will visit "Stalker" as "a real estate mogul who loses everything as a result of his bad choices" (TVLine.com); Constantin Film to looking bring its film titles "The Mortal Instruments," "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" and "Resident Evil" to the small screen (EW.com); Jamie Bamber and Riley Smith are the latest actors set to recur on "The Messengers" (EW.com); and Tom Fontana is spearheading potential TV series based on "The Negotiator: My Life at the Heart of the Hostage Trade" and "Falling Onto Mars" for Gaumont International Television (THR.com).






  [october 2014]  
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· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· ANOTHER PERIOD (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB, THE (ABC)
· BIG BANG THEORY, THE (CBS)
· BLACK WIDOWS (CBS)
· CALIFORNICATION (SHOWTIME)
· CARE BEARS & COUSINS (NETFLIX)
· CARRIE DIARIES, THE (CW)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· HART OF DIXIE (CW)
· JUSTIFIED (FX)
· MAJOR CRIMES (TNT)
· MESSENGERS, THE (CW)
· MODERN GOTHIC (CBS)
· MONSTER-IN-LAW (FOX)
· PARENTHOOD (NBC)
· SMASH (NBC)
· STALKER (CBS)
· UNNATURAL SELECTION (CW)
· UNTITLED MONICA POTTER PROJECT (NBC)
· UNTITLED WILSON BETHEL PROJECT (CW)





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