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[02/19/15 - 11:41 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, February 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!


BUDS (NBC, New!) - Joe Mande ("Parks & Recreation") has sold a new comedy to the Peacock about "the day-to-day operations of a marijuana dispensary in Denver, Colorado." Actor Adam Scott and his wife Naomi also serve as executive producers on the Universal Television-based half-hour via their Gettin' Rad Productions banner. (Deadline.com)


ENDGAME (NBC/Sony; W: John Rogers; D: TBA) - Philip Winchester ("Strike Back") is the first to land a role on the drama pilot, about a former sniper turned security expert in the high stakes world of Las Vegas who is drawn into a mysterious conspiracy that forces him to complete a series of heroic challenges in order to save innocent lives. He'll play said fellow, Alex. (Deadline.com)


FAMILY OF THE YEAR (ABC/ABCS; W: Casey Johnson & David Windsor; D: Todd Holland) - Jay R. Ferguson ("Mad Men") has scored the lead role on the single-camera comedy pilot, about a picture perfect family that is turned upside down when the youngest son comes out of the closet. He'll play the father, Pat O'Neal, "a good-natured, affable cop with the Chicago police department." Said casting stems from a talent holding deal with the actor signed back in August with ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)


FLESH & BLOOD (ABC/ABCS; W: Jenna Bans; D: TBA) - Liam James (The Way, Way Back) has booked the lead role in the drama pilot, about the return of a politician's young son, Adam Warren, who was presumed dead after disappearing over a decade earlier, sending shockwaves throughout their tight knit community. He's set as the son in question, who "maintains much of the behavior and mannerisms of an 8-year-old boy, which is unsettling and heartbreaking at the same time." (Deadline.com)


LFE (CBS/CBSP; W: Paul Downs Colaizzo; D: David Slade) - Ana Kayne (Another Earth) is the first to board the drama pilot, a high-octane medical procedural centering on second-year residents at New York City's top hospital as they attempt to balance their god complexes with their humanity. She'll play Mae, "a quirky, lovable every-girl who is determined to be a good person and live a good life, but sometimes finds it difficult, despite her best efforts." (Deadline.com)


LIFE IN PIECES (CBS/20th; W: Justin Adler; D: Jason Winer) - Thomas Sadoski ("The Slap") and Angelique Cabral ("Enlisted") have both boared the single-camera comedy pilot, about one family as told through the separate stories of its different family members. He'll play middle sibling Matt Short "who can't catch a break, the most recent being a failed career that has forced him back home with his parents." Cabral then is set as Colleen, "the woman Matt has just fallen in love with who is stuck in a messy breakup with her ex-fiancé." Betsy Brandt, Colin Hanks, Dianne Wiest and Zoe Lister-Jones also star. (Deadline.com)


NEW WORLD (A.K.A. UNTITLED KOHAN & MILLERS PROJECT) (HBO/Lionsgate; W: Bruce Miller, Jenji Kohan & Tracy Miller; D: Gus Van Sant) - The pay channel has greenlit production on the drama pilot, which explores the circumstances surrounding one of the most compelling chapters in American history: the Salem Witch Trials. In addition, Gus Van Sant has been tapped to direct the hour. Kohan, Bruce Miller and Van Sant are executive producing alongside Tara Herrmann with Mark Burley as a co-executive producer and Tracy Miller as a supervising producer. (Deadline.com)


TELENOVELA (NBC/Universal; W: Chrissy Pietrosh & Jessica Goldstein; D: Steve Pink) - Jose Moreno Brooks has been cast in the Eva Longoria-led comedy, about the willful but popular diva Ana Maria, star of Latin America's most beloved telenovela who strives to stay on top in a world where the drama on-camera is nothing compared to the drama off-camera. He'll play Gael Garnica, "a masculine soap star who happens to be gay, married and not in the closet." Amaury Nolasco, Jencarlos Canela and Diana Maria Riva also star. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED MONICA POTTER PROJECT (NBC/WBT; W: Sherry Bilsing-Graham & Ellen Kreamer; D: TBA) - Eddie Cibrian, Josh Hopkins, Donald Faison and Rory Scovel have each landed a role on the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Bridget (Monica Potter), a woman who juggles her busy family life as well as her three ex-husbands, which proves to be difficult when she starts dating again. Cibrian will play Jason, "Bridget's first ex-husband, a slick professional gambler"; with Faison, whose involvement is in first position to "The Exes," as "Bridget's second ex-husband, the very earnest Kevin, who is positive and upbeat at all times, and a staunch protector of the environment who is also accidentally extremely wealthy"; Scovel as Robert, "Bridget's third ex-husband, a pompous writer and college professor, Robert went to Harvard and can't wait to let everyone know it"; and Hopkins as Tom, "a veterinarian in the midst of mutual attraction with Bridget, an animal lover." (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED NBA PROJECT (ABC/ABCS; W: Casey Johnson & David Windsor; D: TBA) - Jami Gertz ("The Neighbors") has been cast in the single-camera comedy pilot, set in the world of the NBA about a rookie, Mo (yet to be cast), who doesn't speak English and a translator, Jason (Skylar Astin), who doesn't speak basketball. She'll play Bonnie, "Jason's good-natured and supportive mother." (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - USA has passed on its Dallas Roberts/Clifton Collins Jr.-led drama pilot "Evil Men" (Deadline.com); Len Wiseman is set to direct the FOX drama pilot "Lucifer" as well as executive produce alongside the newly added Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman with KristieAnne Reed as a co-executive producer (Deadline.com); and Aleksa Palladino and Mark O'Brien have both landed roles on the new season of "Halt and Catch Fire" (Variety.com).






  [february 2015]  
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M
T
W
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F
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· BUDS (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEVIL YOU KNOW, THE (HBO)
· ENLISTED (FOX)
· EVIL MEN (USA)
· EXES, THE (TV LAND)
· FAMILY, THE (ABC)
· GOLDEN STATE (ABC)
· HALT & CATCH FIRE (AMC)
· LFE (CBS)
· LIFE IN PIECES (CBS)
· LUCIFER (NETFLIX)
· MAD MEN (AMC)
· NEIGHBORS, THE (ABC)
· PARKS & RECREATION (NBC)
· PLAYER, THE (NBC)
· REAL O'NEALS, THE (ABC)
· SLAP, THE (NBC)
· STRIKE BACK (CINEMAX)
· TELENOVELA (NBC)
· UNTITLED MONICA POTTER PROJECT (NBC)





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