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[02/19/16 - 11:35 PM]
Development Update: Friday, 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!


BUNKER HILL (CBS/Universal; W: Jason Katims; D: David Semel) - Brenda Song ("Dads") has been cast in the drama pilot, about a young Silicon Valley tech titan (Augustus Prew) who enlists a veteran surgeon with a controversial past in starting a hospital with a cutting-edge, new school approach to medicine. She'll play Angie, "a programmer at Bunker Hill Hospital." (Deadline.com)


CHICAGO LAW (NBC/Universal; W: Dick Wolf; D: TBA) - Philip Winchester ("The Player") is the first to be cast in the latest incarnation of the "Chicago" franchise. No details were given about his character, which is expected to debut on "Chicago PD" later this season. (Deadline.com)


CHUNK & BEAN (ABC/ABCS; W: Brian Donovan & Ed Herro; D: Chris Koch) - Andy Daly (Comedy Central's "Review") has joined the cast of the single-camera comedy pilot, 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. He's set as "Chuck's dad, Stuart Dawson, who is married to Dr. Connie Dawson (Anna Gunn)." (Deadline.com)


GREAT INDOORS, THE (CBS/CTS; W: Mike Gibbons; D: TBA) - Chris Williams ("One Big Happy") has signed onto the multi-camera comedy pilot, about an adventure reporter (Joel McHale) who must adapt to the times when he becomes the boss to a group of millennials in the digital department of the magazine. He's set as Eddie, "Joel's best friend, who invites him to live in the house he has inherited from his mom." (Deadline.com)


JURY, THE (ABC/ABCS/Sony; W: Mark Bianculli & V.J. Boyd; D: Neil Burger) - Hina Abdullah has snagged a role on the drama pilot, which follows a single murder trial a season as seen through the eyes of the individual jurors, exploring the biases and experiences that influence the jurors' judgment, and how their preconceptions change along the way. She'll play Sobia, "a devout Muslim." (Deadline.com)


LAST TYCOON, THE (Amazon/TriStar; W/D: Billy Ray) - Jessica de Gouw ("Underground") has been tapped for a role on the drama pilot, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's final unfinished novel inspired by the life of film mogul Irving Thalberg, about Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer), Hollywood's first wunderkind studio executive in the 1930s as he climbs to the height of power pitting him against his mentor and current head of the studio Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer), a character based on Louis B. Mayer. She'll play Minna Davis, "the star of the studio who embodies both the glamour and dream that was Hollywood." (Deadline.com)


LETHAL WEAPON (FOX/WBT; W: Matt Miller; D: McG) - Golden Brooks ("Hart of Dixie") has joined the cast of the network's small screen take on the feature franchise, about when Texas cop and former Navy SEAL Martin Riggs suffers the loss of his wife and baby, he moves to Los Angeles to start anew. There, he gets partnered with LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans, Sr.), who, having recently suffered a "minor" heart attack, must avoid any stress in his life. She'll play "Roger's hardworking, perceptive and loving wife Trish, who worries about him and is not thrilled when she hears about his new adrenaline-crazed partner." (Deadline.com)


MIRANDA'S RIGHTS (NBC/Universal; W: Katie Lovejoy; D: Jennifer Getzinger) - Rebecca Breeds ("The Originals") has booked the title role on the drama pilot, about an idealistic group of lawyers who not only work together but live together at their start-up firm. She'll play Miranda Coale, "an attorney who's pretty and smart, but plagued for the past six years by a youthful mistake. Miranda's much-publicized and scandalous affair with a married state Senator in her early 20s changed the course of her life forever. Though she was, in many ways, victimized by the digisphere, she never acts like a victim." (Deadline.com)


PRESENCE (UNLIC) (ABC/ABCS; W/D: John Ridley) - Felicity Huffman is set to appear in the drama pilot, about Presence Foster (Stephanie Sigman), a former Army Counter Insurgency Operative who finds herself navigating a widely divergent and highly colorful cross section of Los Angeles as she unintentionally begins a career as an unlicensed (unlic) Private Investigator. She'll play Duchess Avedon, "a wealthy Beverly Hills shipping heiress who hires Presence to find her son." (Deadline.com)


SEBASTIAN (NBC/CTS; W: Austen Earl; D: Scott Ellis) - Actor Tony Danza and director Scott Ellis have both signed onto the multi-camera comedy pilot, which chronicles comedian Sebastian Maniscalco's old-school values, instilled by his opinionated Italian father, which are constantly put to the test by his new wife, her family, and the absurdities of the modern world. He'll play said father in the project while Ellis will helm the half-hour and executive produce. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED FALK & ESPOSITO PROJECT (FX, New!) - Comedian Cameron Esposito is set to star in a potential comedy at the cable channel about Cameron (played by Esposito) and Eve, "two very different sisters in their early 30s - one straight and one gay." The single-camera project is set up at FX Productions and Brillstein Entertainment Partners with Esposito penned the script alongside Stephen Falk ("You're the Worst"). (THR.com)


UNTITLED KEVIN JAMES PROJECT (CBS/CTS/Sony; W: Bruce Helford, Kevin James & Rock Reuben; D: Andy Fickman) - Leonard Earl Howze (The Lone Ranger) has booked a role on the Kevin James-led multi-camera comedy, about a newly retired police officer looking forward to spending more quality time with his wife and three kids only to discover he faces much tougher challenges at home than he ever did on the streets. He'll play Goody, "Kevin's former partner on the police force and one of his closest friends." (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED TRACEY WIGFIELD PROJECT (NBC/Universal; W: Tracey Wigfield; D: Beth McCarthy-Miller) - Briga Heelan ("Ground Floor") has booked a lead role on the single-camera comedy pilot, which centers on a mother-daughter relationship that is challenged when an overly involved New Jersey mom (Andrea Martin) gets an internship at her daughter's workplace, a cable news network. She'll play the daughter, Katie, in the project. (Deadline.com)


WILL (TNT; W: Craig Pearce; D: Shekhar Kapur) - Olivia DeJonge (The Visit) has scored the female lead on the drama pilot, the wild story of young William Shakespeare's (Laurie Davidson) arrival onto the punk rock theater scene that was 16th century London - the seductive, violent world where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous side-shows. She'll play Alice Burbage, "a rebel who tests the limits of her world with a wit and charm that masks an underlying anger and frustration." (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Danny Cannon is set to helm and executive producer the pilot for "Training Day" at CBS, succeeding executive producer Antoine Fuqua (Deadline.com); Dominique Columbus will recur on "Ray Donovan" as "a street-smart, homeless teen who packs a mean punch and becomes involved with the Donovan family" (Deadline.com); Shaun Toub has booked an arc on "Grimm" as a character that's "passionate, committed, powerful, on the right side of history" (Deadline.com); Jason Ensler and Brad Silberling will direct The CW drama pilots "Transylvania" and "No Tomorrow," respectively (Deadline.com);

Gillian Flynn's novel "Sharp Objects" is being shopped as a TV series by Entertainment One with actress Amy Adams among the auspices (Deadline.com); Tabrett Bethell's Kate has been upped to series regular on "Mistresses" (TVLine.com); Meagan Tandy and Kim Matula are both bound for the new season of "UnReal" (Variety.com); Randall Park will visit "Dr. Ken" as "the seemingly straight-laced leader of the Korean Men's Club that Ken reluctantly joins" (TVLine.com); and Angie Harmon will step behind the camera for the 100th episode of "Rizzoli & Isles" (Variety.com).






  [february 2016]  
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· CHICAGO JUSTICE (NBC)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· CHUNK & BEAN (ABC)
· DADS (FOX)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DR KEN (ABC)
· GREAT INDOORS, THE (CBS)
· GREAT NEWS (NBC)
· GRIMM (NBC)
· GROUND FLOOR (TBS)
· HART OF DIXIE (CW)
· JURY, THE (ABC)
· KEVIN CAN WAIT (CBS)
· LAST TYCOON, THE (AMAZON)
· LETHAL WEAPON (FOX)
· MIRANDA'S RIGHTS (NBC)
· MISTRESSES (ABC)
· NO TOMORROW (CW)
· ONE BIG HAPPY (NBC)
· ORIGINALS, THE (CW)
· PLAYER, THE (NBC)
· PRESENCE (ABC)
· PURE GENIUS (CBS)
· RAY DONOVAN (SHOWTIME)
· REVIEW WITH FORREST MACNEIL (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· RIZZOLI & ISLES (TNT)
· SEBASTIAN (NBC)
· TRAINING DAY (CBS)
· TRANSYLVANIA (CW)
· UNDERGROUND (WGN)
· UNREAL (HULU)
· UNTITLED FALK & ESPOSITO PROJECT (FX)
· WILL (TNT)
· YOU'RE THE WORST (FXX)





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