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[12/08/14 - 11:29 PM]
Development Update: Monday, December 8
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!


BILLIONS (Showtime; W: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Brian Koppelman & David Levien; D: Neil Burger) - Maggie Siff ("Sons of Anarchy") has booked the female lead on the drama pilot, which takes a forensic look at the world of high finance by tracking the approaching collision between two titanic figures - the hard charging, whip-smart U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhodes (Paul Giamatti), and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king, Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis). She's set as Rhoades' wife, Wendy. "After graduating at the top of her medical school class and training as a psychiatrist, she is now a highly in demand performance coach who works with some of the most powerful and influential figures in the world of high finance." (Deadline.com)


SHANNARA (MTV; W: Al Gough & Miles Millar; D: Jonathan Liebesman) - Austin Butler ("Arrow") has been cast as the male lead in the upcoming drama, based on Terry Brooks's best-selling fantasy novels about the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world. He'll play half human and half elf Wil Ohmsford, who is "self-conscious, he has spent his life trying to hide his pointed ears. Kind, thoughtful, and likable, he has an appealing self-deprecating manner, but his easygoing life is about to be turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of the legendary Shannara family." Aaron Jakubenko and Poppy Drayton also star. (THR.com)


UNTITLED RACHEL FEINSTEIN PROJECT (Comedy Central, New!) - Comedian Rachel Feinstein ("Inside Amy Schumer") is set to star in a new pilot at the cable channel billed as "a field-driven sketch show that focuses on Feinstein out on the street using her social experiments and character-based comedy to explore and skewer gender, class and stereotypical issues in sketch and character-driven pieces." Schumer and Feinstein are executive producing the project with Kim Caramele and Honest Engine's Nick McKinney and Meghan O'Hara. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Margaret Qualley, Chris Zylka, Carrie Coon and Christopher Eccleston are reportedly among the only regulars slated to return for season two of "The Leftovers" (Deadline.com); Pivot is set to pull its flagship nightly program "TakePart Live" (Deadline.com); Mark Hamill will reprise his role of James Jesse, better known as The Trickster, from the 1990s series on "The Flash" (Hitfix.com); Len Goodman will depart "Dancing with the Stars" as judge following the franchise's spring edition (EOnline.com); and Sharif Atkins will visit "Sleepy Hollow" as a "rugged, award-winning photojournalist, grew up in Sleepy Hollow" (@markgoffman).






  [december 2014]  
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· ARROW (CW)
· BILLIONS (SHOWTIME)
· DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FLASH, THE (CW)
· INSIDE AMY SCHUMER (PARAMOUNT PLUS)
· LEFTOVERS, THE (HBO)
· SHANNARA CHRONICLES, THE (SPIKE TV)
· SLEEPY HOLLOW (FOX)
· SONS OF ANARCHY (FX)
· TAKEPART LIVE (PIVOT)
· UNTITLED RACHEL FEINSTEIN PROJECT (COMEDY CENTRAL)





[12/03/25 - 12:30 PM]
CBS Announces Second Season Orders for the Top Two New Broadcast Series - #1 "Boston Blue" and #2 "Sheriff Country"
The series average 8 million viewers and 7.6 million viewers, respectively, in Nielsen live plus 7-day multiplatform ratings.

[12/03/25 - 11:59 AM]
"9-1-1: Nashville" Season Premiere Catapults to Over 19 Million Total Viewers
Over 35 days, ABC's Thursday night drama premieres amassed impressive audiences based on competitive cross-platform broadcast series rankings, with all three dramas landing in the Top 10 among Adults 18-49.

[12/03/25 - 11:27 AM]
Star-Studded Cast of Cooking Disasters Take on Culinary Boot Camp in "Worst Cooks in America: Reality Check"
This season, Chefs Jeff Mauro and Tiffany Derry are on a mission to transform an all-star cast from cooking disasters to kitchen masters with an intense culinary boot camp like no other.

[12/03/25 - 11:25 AM]
Fresh Off Successful Theatrical Run, Great American Media Announces "Another Sweet Christmas," Starring Candace Cameron Bure and Cameron Mathison, Streams Exclusively on Great American Pure Flix, Beginning December 18
The sequel to "Home Sweet Christmas" also premieres on Great American Family and GFAM+, Saturday, December 20 (8 p.m. ET).

[12/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
Hulu Renews "Chad Powers" for a Second Season
Glen Powell will return as the titular character.

[12/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
Broadcast Talent Announced for Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games December 17 in Primetime on Golf Channel and USA Network
Current PGA Tour player Keith Mitchell will serve as an analyst for coverage of the Optum Golf Channel Games alongside longtime Golf Channel commentator Steve Sands, who will provide play-by-play commentary.

[12/03/25 - 10:31 AM]
Louis Carr Appointed President of BET
Carr assumes leadership of BET from Scott Mills, who earlier today announced his departure after 23 years at the company.

[12/03/25 - 10:01 AM]
Video: "A Thousand Blows" - Season 2 Trailer - Hulu
It's the dawn of a new era.

[12/03/25 - 10:01 AM]
HBO Original Documentary "Music Box: Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?" Debuts December 18
The film is an intimate documentary chronicling the rise of the band Counting Crows and the unrelenting pressure that followed their breakout success.

[12/03/25 - 09:32 AM]
Get Ready to Hit the Casino with a New Untitled Vegas Television Series
The new series from the creators of "Billions" is executive produced by the legendary Martin Scorsese.

[12/03/25 - 09:00 AM]
The Unbelievable True Story of "Roofman" Premieres on Paramount+ December 9
Channing Tatum stars as the film's titular character, as well as a stellar cast including Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang and Peter Dinklage.

[12/03/25 - 08:57 AM]
Record NFL Viewership Caps Thanksgiving Night on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo
Bengals-Ravens is the most-watched Thanksgiving night NFL game ever with an average of 28.4 million viewers.

[12/03/25 - 08:55 AM]
"NFL on CBS" Shatters Record for Most-Watched Regular-Season Game in NFL History with More Than 57 Million Viewers
Viewership peaked with 61.357 million viewers for the game's thrilling conclusion (7:45-8:00 PM ET).

[12/03/25 - 08:49 AM]
FOX Sports Feasts on Thanksgiving Day with 47.7 Million Viewers for Packers-Lions
Viewership peaked with 57,957,000 viewers from 4:00-4:15 PM ET.

[12/03/25 - 08:47 AM]
Most-Watched NBA on ESPN Thanksgiving Eve in Six Years
The inaugural tripleheader averaged 2,099,000 viewers, up 54 percent from last year's Thanksgiving Eve doubleheader, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.