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[08/21/15 - 11:27 PM]
Development Update: Friday, August 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!


BOURBON KINGS, THE (NBC, New!) - J.R. Ward's novel, "a scorching family saga centered on the Bradfords, an aristocratic Kentucky family who made their fortune in the bourbon industry," is being developed as a drama by the Peacock. David Rambo ("Empire") is penning the Endemol Shine Studios-based project with Entertainment 360's Daniel Rappaport, Ben Forkner and Marcus Blakely also executive producing. (Deadline.com)


DEAD 7 (Syfy, New!) - Nick Carter, Joey Fatone, A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough and Carrie Keagan are set to star in a new original movie at the cable channel "which revolves around a ragtag group of gunslingers as they try to make their way in a postapocalyptic world. The twist to this world is that it's just not barren and dangerous, it's also filled with flesh-eating zombies. The gunslingers will find themselves stranded in a town and forced to make a choice on either to save the citizens of the town or save themselves." Carter himself penned the project, which comes from producer The Asylum. (Deadline.com)


SAWYER & HUCK (CBS, New!) - Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier ("The Blacklist") are spearheading a new drama at the Eye billed as "a reimagining of the iconic characters of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as adults in modern day America at a time that harkens back to the racial and class divides that inspired Mark Twain's books. After a murder case brings them together in St. Louis, Tom Sawyer hires his previously estranged boyhood friend Huck Finn as an investigator for his foundering one-man legal firm and together they take on cases for people who don't have anywhere else to turn." The project, which has a put pilot commitment, comes from CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television with Josh Berman, Marc Taylor and director Anthony Hemingway likewise executive producing. (Deadline.com)


SNOWFALL (FX/FXP; W: Eric Amadio & John Singleton; D: John Singleton) - Andrew Howard and Manuel Uriza have both been cast in the pilot, a one-hour drama set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. The story follows three characters on a violent collision course: Franklin Saint (Damson Idris), young street entrepreneur on a quest for power; Gustavo Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), a Mexican wrestler turned gangster in search of his American dream; and Logan Miller (Billy Magnussen), a prominent family's "black sheep" desperate to escape his father's shadow. Howard will play Avi Drexler, "an unpredictable cocaine dealer operating in the San Fernando Valley"; with Uriza as Manuel Villanueva, "a cocaine distributor who makes it clear that working for him means doing bad things, but he pays well." (Deadline.com)


SPLITSVILLE (ABC, New!) - Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins ("Trophy Wife") have sold a new single-camera comedy to the Alphabet about "the single residents of a suburban cul-de-sac, in the wake of a wave of divorces, who join forces to raise their kids and get through it together." ABC Studios-based Shondaland is behind the project, with the company's Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers also executive producing. Shondaland also has a comedy in the works from Scott Foley and Greg Grunberg, which was rolled from last season. (Deadline.com)


TALENT (NBC, New!) - Shaun Cassidy ("Emerald City") is continuing his relationship with the Peacock with a new drama described as "a family soap that centers around a music prodigy who has a unique way of dealing with the murder of his one true love." Universal Television is behind the hour with The Firm's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED CHERNINS PROJECT (FOX, New!) - John Chernin and Dave Chernin ("It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia") has set up a single-camera comedy at the network about "a coarse, blue-collar woman who moves to affluent Greenwich, CT to raise the outrageously spoiled kids of her wealthy sister and brother-in-law, who have fled the country to avoid prosecution for illegal activities." The 20th Century Fox Television-based project, which has a penalty attached, will also be executive produced by 3 Arts Entertainment's Oly Obst and Nicholas Frenkel. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED IAN EDELMAN PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Ian Edelman ("How to Make It in America") has snagged a put pilot commitment from the Peacock for a new drama billed as "a sexy soapy Cain and Abel story told through the lives of two very different Cuban brothers and their families living in Miami - a world where boxers, models, artists, gangsters and billionaires collide in the pursuit of the American dream." David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) is attached to direct and executive produce alongside Imagine Television's Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - "Chicago Med" showrunner Andrew Dettmann has exited the series as "a result of creative differences" (Deadline.com); Daisy Betts will appear in NBC's "The Player" as Alex's (Philip Winchester) ex-wife Ginny, taking over for Cara Buono from the original pilot (Deadline.com); Antonio Jaramillo will recur on NBC's "Shades of Blue" as Miguel Zepeda, an ex-boyfriend of Jennifer Lopez's Harlee Santos (Deadline.com); Wilson Bethel has scored an arc on ABC's "Blood & Oil" as Finn, "a charismatic but poor businessman, who owns a food truck, and partners up with Kess (Keston John) and Ada (Yaani King)" (Deadline.com); Jackson Rathbone will visit "Finding Carter" as "a charismatic guy with a good business sense" (Deadline.com);

"Black-ish" creator Kenya Barris has inked a three-year overall deal with producer ABC Studios while Tyra Banks will guest star on the series as herself (Deadline.com, TVLine.com); Lance Gross's Daniel Reynolds and Zach Appelman's Joe Corbin have been upped to series regular on "Sleepy Hollow" (THR.com); Mo McRae is bound for three episodes of "Empire" as "a handsome, easygoing guy who is seeing Becky (Gabourey Sidibe)" (Variety.com); and dancer-choreographer Clifford McGhee will guest on NBC's "Crowded" as "the stepbrother of Patrick Warburton's Mike" (Variety.com).






  [august 2015]  
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M
T
W
T
F
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· BLACK-ISH (ABC)
· BLACKLIST, THE (NBC)
· BLOOD & OIL (ABC)
· BOURBON KINGS, THE (NBC)
· CHICAGO MED (NBC)
· CROWDED (NBC)
· DEAD 7 (SYFY)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EMERALD CITY (NBC)
· EMPIRE (FOX)
· FINDING CARTER (MTV)
· HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA (HBO)
· IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (FXX)
· MICK, THE (FOX)
· PLAYER, THE (NBC)
· SAWYER & HUCK (CBS)
· SHADES OF BLUE (NBC)
· SLEEPY HOLLOW (FOX)
· SNOWFALL (FX)
· SPLITSVILLE (ABC)
· TALENT (NBC)
· TOAST (ABC)
· TROPHY WIFE (ABC)
· UNTITLED IAN EDELMAN PROJECT (NBC)





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