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[10/15/15 - 11:38 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, October 15
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!


#BLESSED (MTV, New!) - Dan Steele ("Faking It") has set up a new single-camera comedy at the cable channel about "a high school student who has been homeschooled his whole life but wants to go to a public school and secretly starts attending one." Carter Covington also serves as an executive producer on the half-hour. (Deadline.com)


CLICK BAIT (MTV, New!) - Carrie Rosen and George Northy ("Faking It") have likewise sold a single-camera project to the cable channel billed as "a quirky ensemble comedy following aspiring YouTube stars." Carter Covington is also executive producing the project. (Deadline.com)


LITTLE DARLINGS (MTV; W: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson; D: Rebecca Thomas) - Eliza Bennett, Taylor Dearden, Katie Chang, Nick Fink and Brandon Mychal Smith have all been cast in the comedy pilot, about two very unlikely friends taking justice into their own hands and kicking literal ass on their college campus. Bennett will play Jules, who comes off as the perfect sorority dream girl, but little do her red-cup-toting sisters know, she's got a completely different agenda come nightfall. Dearden then is set as Ophelia, your everyday stoner-hacker-hellion, who has officially run out of effs to give, and when she discovers Jules may be the masked vigilante exacting justice on campus her interest in college life is re-energized. Also starring are Chang as Kennedy, "president of the best sorority at South State"; Fink as Tyler, "an intellectual art major who notices Jules reading his favorite book and seeks her out on campus in the hope of getting to know her better"; and Smith as Harris, "a whip-smart law student." Rebecca Thomas has likewise been tapped to direct with Amanda Lasher serving as showrunner. (Deadline.com)


SHUT EYE (Hulu, New!) - Les Bohem ("Extant") is on track for a series order from the streaming serve for a new drama billed as "a darkly comedic look at the underground world of Los Angeles storefront psychics and the organized crime syndicate that runs them. The series revolves around a disgruntled player in the organization who finds his cynical worldview challenged when he starts to experience visions that may or may not be real." Gran Via Productions' Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein also serve as executive producers on the planned 10-episode project, which is set up at TriStar Television. (THR.com)


SQUAD GOALS (CBS, New!) - Lindsey Rosin and Aaron Karo have sold a multi-camera comedy to the Eye about "a group of late 20-something friends who met in college and realize it's time to finally grow up." CBS Television Studios-based Ryan Seacrest Productions is behind the half-hour with the company's Seacrest and Nina Wass serving as executive producers and Rosin and Karo as co-executive producers. (Variety.com)


STAY (CBS, New!) - Luke Schelhaas ("The Good Wife") has sold a potential drama to the Eye about "a stay-at-home dad who has spent years hiding his past in the U.S. Special Forces. When his family is targeted by a crime lord, he is pulled back into his old life in order to protect them." CBS Television Studios-based The Dan Jinks Company is behind the hour, which is based on the book by Victor Gischler. Dan Jinks then will executive produce alongside Schelhaas. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED DAVID RAMBO PROJECT (CBS, New!) - David Rambo ("Empire") has booked a new drama at the Eye about "an enterprising doctor who breaks the boundaries of medicine and crime-solving by creating a team of physicians, detectives and a forensic psychologist at Brooklyn's busiest hospital who work together to heal victims and obtain justice." Said effort is inspired by Dr. Astrid Heger, who created the Violence Intervention Program at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. Dan Jinks is also on board to executive produce via his CBS Television Studios-based The Dan Jinks Company. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED KAPLAN & ELFONT PILOT (MTV; W: Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont; D: Michael Blieden) - Scout Durwood, Jessica Rothe, Kosha Patel, H. Michael Croner and Dan Ahdoot have been tapped for the principal roles on the comedy pilot about Paige (Rothe) and Jordan (Durwood), who may be weed dealers, but in their eyes they are entrepreneurs. Their dope delivery app is quickly gaining popularity with foodies, celebrities and - the most particular and crucial consumer - hipsters. Patel will play Jenee, "an uber-hip blogger who is painfully blasé about everything in her life, including her new book deal and the obscene amount of money she's making from it"; with Croner as Chris, "a sweet but romantically clueless guy who gets more than he bargained for when Paige delivers his weed"; and Ahdoot as Robbie, "a status-obsessed douchebag who fired Jordan from his dispensary and loves to rub his success in the girls' faces." In addition, Michael Blieden has signed on to direct. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - FOX has quietly asked for six additional scripts from its new Tuesday comedies "Grandfathered" and "The Grinder" (Deadline.com); HBO has reportedly ordered its Issa Rae-led comedy "Insecure" to series (Deadline.com); Ali Ahn is bound for Hulu's "The Path" as Nicole, "sister-in-law of Sarah and Eddie and a devoted member of the Meyerist movement" (Deadline.com); Jillian Murray has likewise scored an arc on "Code Black" as "a sexy and smart cardiology resident and love interest to Mario (Benjamin Hollingsworth)" (Deadline.com); Keesha Sharp has been cast as Dale Cochran, "Johnnie Cochran's loyal and loving wife," on "American Crime Story" (Deadline.com);

Priscilla Faia has signed onto DirecTV's "You Me Her" as Izzy Silva, "a Portlandian graduate student in her mid-20s who is coaxed into escorting by a wilder roommate" (Deadline.com); Caryn Mandabach has signed a multi-year overall deal with MGM Television (Deadline.com); ITV Studios America is looking to bring Brian Panowich's debut novel "Bull Mountain" to the small screen (Deadline.com); Dr. Phil McGraw will drop by "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" as "a figment of Rebecca's (Rachel Bloom) imagination" (ETOnline.com); Julie Berman is set to visit "Chicago Med" as "a brilliant, self-assured attending surgeon who does not suffer fools" (TVLine.com); and A.J. Cook will return to "Criminal Minds" for episode seven this season (@ajcookofficial).






  [october 2015]  
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M
T
W
T
F
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· #BLESSED (MTV)
· AMERICAN CRIME STORY (FX)
· CHICAGO MED (NBC)
· CLICK BAIT (MTV)
· CODE BLACK (CBS)
· CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND (CW)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EMPIRE (FOX)
· EXTANT (CBS)
· FAKING IT (MTV)
· GOOD WIFE, THE (CBS)
· GRANDFATHERED (FOX)
· GRINDER, THE (FOX)
· INSECURE (HBO)
· MARY + JANE (MTV)
· PATH, THE (HULU)
· SHUT EYE (HULU)
· SQUAD GOALS (CBS)
· STAY (CBS)
· SWEET/VICIOUS (MTV)
· UNTITLED DAVID RAMBO PROJECT (CBS)
· YOU ME HER (AMAZON)





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