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[01/21/15 - 11:39 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, January 21
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) - Kerry Condon and Toby Leonard Moore have both been cast in 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'll play Lara Axelrod, Bobby's wife, with Moore as Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Connerty, "American born, blue collar and smart, but thinks he owes all his success to his ability to outwork the world." Condola Rashad, David Costabile and Maggie Siff also star. (Deadline.com)


GAME OF SILENCE (NBC/Sony; W: David Hudgins; D: TBA) - The David Hudgins-penned drama is heading to pilot at NBC. Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz of Carol Mendelsohn Productions also serve as executive producers on the hour, detailed by the network as follows: "A rising attorney on the brink of success could lose his perfectly crafted life when his long lost childhood friends threaten to expose a dark secret from their violent past."


RED MARS (Spike TV; W: J. Michael Straczynski; D: TBA) - "Babylon 5" creator J. Michael Straczynski has signed on to spearhead the network's small screen take on Kim Stanley Robinson's expansive "Mars Trilogy," which will focus on the core question at the heart of the novels - what is it to be human when we are no longer of earth? Are we not then Martians? NASA has made going to Mars the organizing principal of all their programs. Several private corporations too are establishing footholds in the race to the red planet, as evident in daily news stories. Vince Gerardis also serves as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)


ROADIES (Showtime/WBTV; W/D: Cameron Crowe) - Ron White, Jacqueline Byers and Branscombe Richmond have all landed roles on the pilot, which follows the day-to-day life of a successful rock tour as seen through the eyes of music's unsung heroes - the crew members who get the show on the road. White will play Phil, "the most famous and colorful road manager of all-time, a weathered legend in the rock world"; with Byers as Natalie Shin, "a crazy-eyed, scarily ingenious super-fan/stalker of the band, who will stop at nothing to get close to them"; and Richmond as Puna, "Hawaiian, clairvoyant, in charge of band security, Puna has access to other planes of knowledge." Christina Hendricks, Colson Baker, Finesse Mitchell, Imogen Poots, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Luis Guzman, Luke Wilson, Peter Cambor and Rafe Spall also star. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED PHELAN & RATER PROJECT (CBS/CBSP; W: Joan Rater & Tony Phelan; D: TBA) - Joan Rater and Tony Phelan have scored a pilot order for their new drama, about "a smart, chic, successful defense lawyer at a boutique firm who shockingly gets involved romantically with one of her clients who may or may not be guilty of a brutal crime." Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly also serve as executive producers via their studio-based Timberman-Beverly Productions banner. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED TOMMY JOHNAGIN PROJECT (CBS/WBT; W: Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker & Tommy Johnagin; D: TBA) - The network's Tommy Johnagin-led comedy has been ordered to pilot. The multi-camera project revolves around a stand-up comic raising a family in a small Midwestern town. Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker co-wrote the half-hour alongside Johnagin with Doozer's Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold likewise executive producing and Johnagin as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Lisa Rinna will guest star on "CSI" as Cindy, "an immature and irresponsible parent whose two daughters go missing," in an episode due in February (People.com).






  [january 2015]  
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· BILLIONS (SHOWTIME)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOUBT (CBS)
· GAME OF SILENCE (NBC)
· RED MARS (SPIKE TV)
· ROADIES (SHOWTIME)
· UNTITLED TOMMY JOHNAGIN PROJECT (CBS)





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