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[09/11/15 - 11:29 PM]
Development Update: Friday, September 11
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!


GROUP, THE (TBS/WHT; W: David Jenkins; D: Greg Daniels) - Nancy Lenehan ("How to Be a Gentleman") has booked a role on the comedy pilot, about a support group for people who think they have been abducted by aliens that is the subject of a snarky feature piece by skeptical journalist Wyatt Jones (Wyatt Cenac). She'll play Margaret Flood, "a retiree who is taking full advantage of her newfound sexual freedom after moving into a retirement community in Beacon." She succeeds the originally cast Marylouise Burke. Alice Wetterlund, Ana Gasteyer, Brian Huskey, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Michael Cassidy, Oscar Nunez and Tracee Chimo also star. (Deadline.com)


OVER THE TOP (ABC Family, New!) - Actor-musician Chester See is developing a new dramedy at the cable channel about "a struggling artist (See) trying to make a name for himself in the L.A. music scene. After a record deal fizzles and his hopes of stardom fall apart, he takes to YouTube and starts building a massive audience." Maker Studios is behind the project, which is inspired by See's own experiences. John Strauss will likewise executive produce. (Deadline.com)


ROADSIDE PICNIC (WGN America, New!) - Writer Jack Paglen (Transcendence) and director Alan Taylor (Terminator Genisys) are looking to bring Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's science fiction novel to the small screen. Said effort revolves around "an alien visitation to planet Earth, whose aftermath has led to the creation of Zones in the areas where the aliens had possibly landed. Such zones exhibit strange and dangerous phenomena not understood by humans, and contain artifacts with inexplicable, seemingly supernatural properties." Sony Pictures Television and Tribune Studios are behind the hour with Original Film's Neal Moritz and Vivian Cannon also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED KAT COIRO PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Kat Coiro (And While We Were Here) has sold a single-camera project to the Alphabet billed as "a semi-autobiographical family comedy is set in a South Beach Haitian restaurant." Julie Anne Robinson ("Selfie") is also on board executive produce (and potentially direct) the half-hour alongside 3 Arts Entertainment's David Miner, Tom Lassally and Oly Obst, presumably for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED ROB SUDDUTH PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Rob Sudduth ("Hot & Bothered") is spearheading a new comedy at the Peacock which follows Cathy Cruz, "who after inadvertently catching a serial killer, is recruited by the rough-and-tumble Texas Rangers. Cruz butts heads with her straight-laced macho partner at work as well as her judgmental Mexican family at home, and the biggest question that remains is: which world does she fit into less?" UnbeliEVAble Entertainment's Eva Longoria and Ben Spector will also executive produce for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)


URBAN COWBOY (FOX/20th/Paramount; W/D: Craig Brewer) - Riley Smith ("True Blood") will round out the cast of the network's modern reimagining of the 1980 movie, about star-crossed young lovers Kyle (Alfonso Herrera) and Gaby (Nathalie Kelley) as they pursue their dreams and passions through the sweat of line dancing in honky tonks, the grime of the oil refineries and the glamour of modern Texas. He'll play Wes, "the handsome head of Gilley's security who is helping run drugs through the honky tonk while looking to become a rodeo star." Bryana Salaz, Edward James Olmos, Jim Belushi and Lindsey Gort also star. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - FOX has commissioned a new script for David DiGilio's drama "Warrior," which shot a pilot for NBC during the last development cycle (Deadline.com); Lily Rabe has been cast as Catherine Hooper in HBO's "The Wizard of Lies" (Deadline.com); Patrick Schwarzenegger is bound for FOX's "Scream Queens" (@MrRPMurphy); Vanessa Lengies's Alexa has been upped to series regular on FOX's "Lookinglass" (Deadline.com); Richard Roundtree will recur on NBC's "The Player" as "a mentor to Wesley Snipes' character" (Deadline.com); Aaron Moten has scored an arc on Amazon's "Mozart in the Jungle" as "a wealthy and charming banker bound to shake some things up at the Symphony" (Deadline.com);

Pacific Coast Entertainment is looking film a six-to-eight-part TV series follow-up to upcoming feature "Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter" (Deadline.com); Edwin Hodge has signed onto "Secrets & Lies" as "a charming man who is married to defense attorney Amanda Warner (Mekia Cox)" (THR.com); Jacob Artist will recur on ABC's "Quantico" as "a friendly and confident FBI Agent in Training" (TVLine.com); Shiri Appleby will visit CBS's "Code Black" as "the ex-girlfriend of first-year resident Dr. Malaya Pineda (Melanie Chandra)" (Variety.com); and Chad Michael Collins is slated to appear in an upcoming episode of "NCIS: New Orleans" (TVLine.com).






  [september 2015]  
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· CODE BLACK (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN (CBS)
· MOZART IN THE JUNGLE (AMAZON)
· NCIS: NEW ORLEANS (CBS)
· OVER THE TOP (ABC FAMILY)
· PEOPLE OF EARTH (TBS)
· PLAYER, THE (NBC)
· QUANTICO (ABC)
· ROADSIDE PICNIC (WGN)
· SCREAM QUEENS (FOX)
· SECOND CHANCE (FOX)
· SECRETS & LIES (ABC)
· SELFIE (ABC)
· TELENOVELA (NBC)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· UNTITLED KAT COIRO PROJECT (ABC)
· UNTITLED ROB SUDDUTH PROJECT (NBC)
· URBAN COWBOY (FOX)
· WARRIOR (NBC)
· WIZARD OF LIES, THE (HBO)





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