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[12/19/14 - 11:39 PM]
Development Update: Friday, December 19
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!


BETTER BUSHWICK, A (FOX, New!) - Keith and Kenny Lucas ("The Lucas Bros. Moving Co.") are developing a live-action comedy at the network which "will mirror the real-life story of identical twin brothers Keith and Kenny dropping out of their third year at Duke and NYU law schools, respectively, in order to pursue their dreams." Christian Lander ("Bordertown") is co-writing the single-camera project for 20th Century Fox Television with Marcus Wiley and 3 Arts Entertainment's Michael Rotenberg and Avi Gilbert also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


DIVORCE (HBO, New!) - Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex and the City") is looking to return to the small as part of a new comedy about "a very, very long divorce" in New York City. Sharon Horgan is penning the project with Paul Simms serving as co-showrunner. Parker and Alison Benson then will likewise executive produce via their Pretty Matches Productions banner alongside Simms, Merman Films' Horgan and Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan. (Deadline.com)


FIRST DEGREE (ABC, New!) - Carla Kettner ("The Night Shift") has set up a new drama at the Alphabet based on Linda Fairstein's best-selling Alex Cooper book series about "lawyer Alex Cooper as she searches for the truth behind the death of her husband." The project was previously set up last season with ABC subsequently commissioning a new script. Sony Pictures Television is behind the hour with Brian Gersh and Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


HEARTS AND CLUBS (ABC Family, New!) - Austin Winsberg ("Gossip Girl") has set up a new drama at the cable channel about " a group of Las Vegas entertainers as they fall in and out of love in the ultimate city of Sin." Lionsgate Television is behind the hour, with Christina Aguilera, Matt Rutler and Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


HIGH PROFILE (ABC, New!) - Gwendolyn M. Parker ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") has sold a new drama to the Alphabet about Shauna McDaniel, "the survivor of a high-profile crime as a child, who is now a tough but tormented FBI agent heading up a nationwide unit dedicated to investigating crimes of the century, all while juggling a push-pull attachment to an ex-husband who might be the love of her life and a present girlfriend who seems to accept that Shauna might be too damaged for love." Kerner Entertainment's Jordan Kerner will executive produce alongside Parker for ABC Studios with Ben Harber producing. (Deadline.com)


HUMAN RESOURCES (NBC, New!) - Tom Gormican (That Awkward Moment) has sold a single-camera comedy to the Peacock billed as "an action workplace comedy described as being in the vein of '24' meets Die Hard that follows an unlikely group of heroes who come together to save their co-workers, their jobs and, ultimately, themselves." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the half-hour, which has a penalty attached. Teakwood Lane's Howard Gordon and Hugh Fitzpatrick will also executive produce alongside 3 Arts Entertainment's Oly Obst. (THR.com)


LUMEN (TNT/ABCS; W: Chris Black; D: Joe Johnson) - C.J. Valleroy, Fiona Shaw, Christina Cole, Nadja Bobyleva and Jon Brazier will round out the cast of the drama pilot, about a family of four who finds themselves transported to the mystical alternate world inspired by the work of a missing author's (Wynn Everett) best-selling series of fantasy books. Valleroy will play Charlie Drake, "a teenager whose obsession with a series of fantasy books intensifies when he witnesses the author disappear in a blinding flash right in front of him"; with Shaw as D'Laria, "the imposing Empress of the magical kingdom of Lumen, whose teenage grandson Charlie has just found his way into her surreal world after having been raised on Earth"; Cole as Jamie, Charlie's (Valleyroy) mother; Bobyleva as Nora, "a servant within the Empress' palace who is hiding her loyalty to rebel forces"; and Brazier as Thane, "a powerful sorcerer and advisor to the Empress, whose dark inclinations make him a dangerous force in the surreal world of Lumen." Neil Jackson, Simon Kassianides, Zara Zoe and Sam Jaeger also star. (Deadline.com)


MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE, A (Lifetime, New!) - Feature writer Anthony Jaswinski (Vanishing on 7th Street) has set up a potential horror anthology series at the cable channel which " follows a group whose stay in the remote Northern California redwoods turns from a search for romance and escape to a desperate and terrifying tale of survival from an unexpected danger lurking in the woods." Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry are also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


PATRIARCH (FOX, New!) - Adam Milch (ABC Family's "Twisted") has sold a new drama to the network billed as "a mystery-thriller that kicks off with the murder of a father and the shocking, emotional revelation that he's spent the past three decades living a double life with two different families: One straight and one gay." Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry are also on board to executive produce for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)


TOUGH LOVE (Amazon, New!) - Writer Jeremy Littman ("Drop Dead Diva") and director Tanya Wexler ("Hysteria") are set to team for a new comedy at the digital distributor about kidnap victim Amanda Hart: "five years after she has been reunited with her family, she is still a mess until catching a glimpse of her kidnappers sets her down a new path to recovery with a psychiatrist who is also a dominatrix." Kim Barton is also executive producing alongside said duo and Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED SCOTT SILVER PROJECT (Showtime, New!) - Feature writer Scott Silver (The Fighter) is developing a potential drama at the pay channel set in the world of sports. No other details were given about the project, which also comes from Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry. (Deadline.com)


WE FOUGHT ABOUT (CBS, New!) - Hunter Covington ("Community") is spearheading a potential comedy at the Eye about "a group of friends who care deeply about each other, but also care deeply about things and being right about those things. And that can make things awkward." Said effort is based on the @WeFoughtAbout Twitter account by Alan Linic and Claire Meyer. CBS Television Studios is behind the half-hour with Priscilla Crowe and Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry likewise executive producing. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Embeth Davidtz and Jack Noseworthy have joined the cast of Lifetime's mini-series "Marilyn" (Deadline.com); Ernie Hudson has been tapped to play King Poseidon, father of the villainous Ursula (Merrin Dungey), in ABC's "Once Upon a Time" (Deadline.com); and Joe Anderson is set to succeed Michael Pitt as Mason Verger in the new season of "Hannibal" (TVLine.com).






  [december 2014]  
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· BETTER BUSHWICK, A (FOX)
· BORDERTOWN (FOX)
· COMMUNITY (YAHOO)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DIVORCE (HBO)
· DROP DEAD DIVA (LIFETIME)
· FIRST DEGREE (ABC)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· HANNIBAL (NBC)
· HEARTS & CLUBS (ABC FAMILY)
· HIGH PROFILE (ABC)
· HUMAN RESOURCES (NBC)
· HYSTERIA (AMAZON)
· LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (NBC)
· LUCAS BROS. MOVING CO. (FXX)
· LUMEN (TNT)
· MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE, A (LIFETIME)
· NIGHT SHIFT, THE (NBC)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· PATRIARCH (FOX)
· SECRET LIFE OF MARILYN MONROE, THE (LIFETIME)
· SEX AND THE CITY (HBO)
· TOUGH LOVE (AMAZON)
· TWISTED (ABC FAMILY)
· UNTITLED SCOTT SILVER PROJECT (SHOWTIME)
· WE FOUGHT ABOUT (CBS)





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