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[01/25/16 - 11:37 PM]
Development Update: Monday, January 25
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!


24: LEGACY (FOX/20th; W: Evan Katz & Manny Coto; D: TBA) - Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) has been tapped as the male lead on the drama pilot, which will revolve around a military hero's return to the U.S. and the trouble that follows him back - compelling him to ask CTU for help in saving his life, and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil. He'll play said fellow, Eric Carter. (Deadline.com)


A.P.B. (FOX, New!) - Writer David Slack and director Len Wiseman have scored a pilot order from the network for a new drama in which a tech billionaire purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one's murder, but can this eccentric and enigmatic figure's cutting edge approach fix the broken ways of these blue blooded veterans? Said effort is set up at 20th Century Fox Television.


CHUNK & BEAN (ABC, New!) - Ed Herro and Brian Donovan have sold a new single-camera comedy to the Alphabet about "the unlikely friendship of two misfits, Chunk and Bean, who benefit from having two very different sets of parents living next door to each other." David Hemingson also serves as an executive producer on the ABC Studios-based half-hour, which has a pilot commitment. (Deadline.com)


CITIZEN/WHEN THE STREET LIGHTS GO ON (Hulu, New!) - Paramount Television and Anonymous Content are on track for a pair of pilot orders from the streaming service. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Josh Pate and Nicholas Schutt are behind "Citizen," billed as "a fresh take on the hero origin story blending elements of magical realism and gritty vigilantism set against the backdrop of a vibrant, supernaturalized Los Angeles." David Kanter, Matt DeRoss and Steve Golin also serve as executive producers. Chris Hutton and Eddie O'Keefe then are spearheading "When the Street Lights Go On," detailed as "a coming-of-age thriller about a sleepy, suburban town that is rocked by the brutal murder of a high school girl and her teacher in the summer of 1983." Brett Morgen will direct and executive produce alongside Chad Hamilton, Tariq Merhab, Michael Sugar and Steve Golin. (Deadline.com)


DEAD OF SUMMER (Freeform/ABCS; W: Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis & Ian Goldberg; D: TBA) - Mark Indelicato, Paulina Singer and Ronen Rubenstein are the first to be cast in the upcoming horror drama, about the counselors at Camp Clearwater circa the late 1980s, a seemingly idyllic Midwestern summer camp, including first loves, first kisses - and first kills. Indelicato will play Blair Raymer, "an openly gay, artsy and teasing new counselor (and longtime attendee) at Camp Clearwater, who's thrilled to see his old friends and ready to get the party started"; with Singer as Jessie Tyler, "a stunningly hot but slightly conceited Clearwater vet returning as a new counselor - and with a new look and newfound confidence"; and Rubenstein as Alex, "a handsome, protective and brave counselor who's described as the classic polo-shirt wearing John Hughes Villain." (TVLine.com)


RECON (FOX, New!) - Caroline Dries ("The Vampire Diaries") has landed a pilot commitment from the network for a new drama about a rookie FBI agent who embeds herself in a suspected terrorist family. Warner Bros. Television is behind the hour with Julie Plec and Outerbanks Entertainment's Kevin Williamson likewise executive producing.


SIX (History/A+E; W: David Broyles & William Broyles; D: Lesli Linka Glatter) - Dominic Adams ("Devious Maids") is the latest addition to the drama series, which follows a brotherhood of modern American warriors, Navy SEAL Team Six, the best of the best, whose 2014 mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan goes awry when they uncover a U.S. citizen working with the terrorists. He'll play Michael, "the antagonist of the series." (Deadline.com)


SQUARE ROOTS (ABC/ABCS; W: Vijal Patel; D: TBA) - Vijal Patel's single-camera comedy - about a young married couple perpetually tormented by the husband's opinionated family of engineers who think they have a solution for every problem in life - is heading to pilot at the Alphabet. (Deadline.com)


SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY (Showtime, New!) - Gary Shteyngart's 2010 novel - "a satire of contemporary American values and trends, including the erosion of American political values, the obsession with youth, and the urge to publish personal information through social networking" - is being developed as a TV series at the pay channel. Writer Karl Gajdusek and director Ben Stiller are behind the project, which has been set up at Media Rights Capital. Said duo will executive produce alongside Shteyngart. (Variety.com)


UNTITLED WOODY ALLEN PROJECT (Amazon; W/D: Woody Allen) - Elaine May and Miley Cyrus have both signed onto the long-in-the-works comedy series. No details were given about their characters in the six-episode project, which will take place in the 1960s. (Deadline.com)


WATERGATE (ABC, New!) - Jon Maas (The Last Debate) is developing a new event series at the Alphabet which "takes place amid the sexual revolution of the 1970s and is told through the eyes of John Dean, then-White House Counsel for President Richard Nixon." Storyscape Entertainment's Bob Cooper as well as Dan Halsted, Eric Hamburg and Jeff Field also serve as executive producers on the eOne Television-based project, which is based on material by Dean, Alden Duer Cohen and Jason Grote (Dean and Grote serve as consulting producers). (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - John Barrowman will guest on the penultimate episode of "Reign" this season as "a dangerous and charismatic Scottish clan leader who harbors a sinister grudge against the Queen of Scots" (EW.com); and J.B. Smoove and Martin Starr are among the latest faces bound for "Life in Pieces" on CBS (EW.com).






  [january 2016]  
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· 24: LEGACY (FOX)
· APB (FOX)
· CHUNK & BEAN (ABC)
· CITIZEN (HULU)
· CRISIS IN SIX SCENES (AMAZON)
· DEAD OF SUMMER (FREEFORM)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEVIOUS MAIDS (LIFETIME)
· LIFE IN PIECES (CBS)
· RECON (FOX)
· REIGN (CW)
· SIX (HISTORY)
· SQUARE ROOTS (ABC)
· SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY (SHOWTIME)
· VAMPIRE DIARIES, THE (CW)
· WATERGATE (ABC)
· WHEN THE STREETLIGHTS GO ON (HULU)





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