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[03/04/16 - 11:32 PM]
Development Update: Friday, March 4
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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: Stephen Hopkins) - Dan Bucatinsky, Coral Pena and Charlie Hofheimer have all landed roles in the drama pilot, which will revolve around military hero Eric Carter's (Corey Hawkins) 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. Bucatinsky will play Andy, "a communication analyst at CTU who has enjoyed Rebecca's (Miranda Otto) trust and is unhappily paired with bright, young, self-taught computer analyst Gia (Pena)." Hofheimer then is Marcus, "Eric's former partner in the Army Ranger unit, now suffering PTSD." (Deadline.com)
CHARITY CASE (FOX/ABCS/20th; W: Robert Padnick; D: James Griffiths) - Diona Reasonover ("Clipped") has scored a role on the Courteney Cox-led comedy pilot, about Hailey (Cox) who inherits her late billionaire husband's charity and quickly finds that changing the world is far less glamorous than she had imagined. She'll play Kara, "Hailey's new assistant at the charity foundation's headquarters." (Variety.com)
DEATH OF EVA SOFIA VALDEZ, THE (ABC/ABCS; W: Charise Castro Smith; D: TBA) - Gina Torres ("Suits") has booked the title role in the pilot, a sexy revenge drama with a supernatural twist about a Cuban-American family on the rise as they navigate multiple business ventures in Miami, familial rivalries and dark secrets from the past that come back to haunt them. She'll play Eva Sofia Valdez, "an immigrant who rose from rags to riches and is a celebrated Miami entrepreneur and a champion for immigrant rights. But the success of this modern-day Havana-born Cleopatra is fueled by an insatiable ambition that could destroy her family, a vendetta against the lover who betrayed her, and ghosts from the past who threaten to reveal the dark sacrifices Eva Sofia made to attain the American Dream." (Deadline.com)
DREAM TEAM (ABC/WBT; W: Bill Wrubel & Kari Lizer; D: Marc Buckland) - Comedian Wanda Sykes has signed onto the single-camera comedy pilot, about champion soccer coach Marty Schumacher (Justin Long), who now has to start from scratch with a diverse group of eight-year-olds and their disparate parents. She's set as Leslie, "a competitive ob-gyn who has a passion for sports. The character is excited to help her daughter, Miley, land a spot on a nationally ranked soccer team - and is upset that her wife, the artsy Michaela (Lindsey Kraft), doesn't share her same enthusiasm and is trying to dissuade Miley from playing." (THR.com)
ENDORSED (Amazon, New!) - The streaming service is developing a potential reality series billed as a "behind-the-scenes look at celebrity endorsements." Jason Carbone's Good Clean Fun is behind the project, which stars supermodel Cindy Crawford. "Each episode will focus on pairing a celebrity looking for a brand attachment with a budding business. Crawford, who knows a thing or two about choosing such partnerships and lent her image to endorse products and brands, will meet with a team of leading business and branding moguls to evaluate each celebrity's needs. They'll narrow the field of options down to two businesses. Then begins the process of coming up with an ideal match." (Deadline.com)
ENFORCERS, THE (FOX/WBT; W: Ellen Kreamer & Sherry Bilsing-Graham; D: Gail Mancuso) - Ryan Hansen has been tapped for a role on the single-camera comedy pilot, about M.J. (Niecy Nash) and Nora (Christine Woods), two wildly different single mothers with dreams of being police officers who find themselves partnered as inspectors in the Code Enforcement Department. Instead of fighting crime, they have been relegated to handling petty code breaking, like noise complaints, tree trimming and water misuse. He'll play Sean, "a sexy, charming senior "code cop" in the office who doesn't take the job too seriously." (THR.com)
FURST BORN (A.K.A. UPPER MIDDLE BOGAN) (CBS/ABCS/CTS; W: Dan O'Shannon, Robyn Butler & Wayne Hope; D: Todd Holland) - Kelli Goss ("The Young and the Restless") has been tapped for a role on the single-camera comedy pilot, a domestic take on the Australian comedy about a wife and mother who learns she was adopted and that her birth parents (John Carroll Lynch, Katey Sagal) are a flamboyant but loving family of drag-racers. She'll play Brianna, "the youngest of the three legitimate children of Wayne and Julie, who can add glitz and glitter to a public event just by showing up." (Deadline.com)
HAIL MARY (ABC/ABCS/Sony; W: Brian Gallivan; D: Julie Anne Robinson) - Retta ("Parks and Recreation") and Sarah Baker ("Go On") are the latest to be cast in the single-camera comedy pilot, about Mary Wolf (Casey Wilson), a young small-town mayor who has dysfunctional siblings, a dying father, disgruntled citizens, a nearly bankrupt town and the mafia breathing down her neck. Retta will play Ruthie, Mary's friend; with Baker as "Mary's older sister, Janice, an upbeat mess who doesn't realize she's a mess. She's also highly dramatic." (THR.com)
I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND (CBS/CTS; W: Jackie Filgo & Jeff Filgo; D: James Burrows) - Matt Cook and Grace Kaufman have both been cast in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Adam (Matt LeBlanc), a contractor who learns that raising his kids is more challenging than expected when his wife goes back to work. He'll play Lowell, "a sweet, offbeat intellectual dad at Adam's (LeBlanc) school who is drawn to his alpha male vibe"; with Kaufman as Kate, Adam and Andi's oldest child, a bright but hormonal teenage girl who initially is delighted when Adam takes over as the main caregiver of their family. She quickly learns that if she thinks Adam is going to be the pushover she expected, she has another think coming." (Deadline.com)
JURY, THE (ABC/ABCS/Sony; W: Mark Bianculli & V.J. Boyd; D: Neil Burger) - Brian Howe and Jayne Taini are the latest to be cast in 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. Howe will play Reverend Jim Pyken, "who is obviously a religious man, the kind to say Grace before eating his morning bagel or to reference Scripture in his arguments"; while Taini is set as Maria, "a maternal grandmother who seems a bit dotty and irrelevant, but when people start listening to her, they notice she's a lot sharper than they assumed and makes some more enlightening revelations in the case." (Deadline.com)
MIRANDA'S RIGHTS (NBC/Universal; W: Katie Lovejoy; D: Jennifer Getzinger) - Monique Coleman and Noel Fisher are both bound for 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 Emily Ellison, "one of the founding partners and attorney at YLG (Young Law Group), described as friendly, warm and even-keeled, the resident peace keeper"; while he's set as Jacob Mizrahi, "another partner with YLG. Described as no-nonsense, curt, and the eternal straight-man, he does what he has to in order to rein in his rage (even if that means sitting on zafu pillows and striking meditation bowls)." (Deadline.com)
PEARL (ABC/ABCS; W: Andrew Reich; D: Jim Field Smith) - Richard Masur and Kathleen Rose Perkins have booked roles on the Candice Bergen-led single-camera comedy pilot, about a larger-than-life family matriarch who, after she finds out she has cancer, becomes intent on controlling and orchestrating every aspect of her family's life before she dies. He'll play Len, "Pearl's second and current husband, a retired plastics engineer, a sweet nerd who is interested in everything and everyone he meets. He clearly adores Pearl and is in total denial that she's got six months to live." Perkins then is set as Virginia, "Pearl's daughter who has the not-so-easy task of trying to get along with her mother, given the news about her health." (Deadline.com)
PLEASE DON'T GO (ABC/ABCS; W: Meaghan Oppenheimer; D: TBA) - Blair Underwood, Charity Wakefield and Thad Luckinbill are the latest bound for the drama pilot, about the personal and professional life of Gemma, a ruthless divorce attorney in Dallas, which begins to unravel when her emotionally damaged, love-addicted sister resurfaces triggering self-destructive tendencies and exposing long-hidden family secrets. Underwood will play James, "Gemma's boss and sometime-lover. Gemma's law professor and mentor for years, who instilled in her a sense of cutthroat ambition, he is the one person unafraid to belittle her." Wakefield then is set as Jules, "Gemma's younger sister. Described as manic, emotionally unstable, and lacking any trace of a filter, Jules is the epitome of loneliness gone wrong." And Luckinbill is Oliver, "Gemma's trophy fiance, the preppy trust fund kid with classic good looks. He would be detestable if he weren't such a nice guy." (Deadline.com)
RIVERDALE (The CW/WBT; W: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; D: TBA) - Mädchen Amick has booked a role on the drama pilot, a bold, subversive take on Archie (K.J. Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes) and their friends from the comics, exploring the surreality of small-town life as well as the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale's wholesome facade. She's set as Alice Cooper, "editor of the local paper, described as a steely perfectionist who places exceedingly high expectations on her daughter, Betty." (Deadline.com)
SECOND FATTEST HOUSEWIFE IN WESTPORT, THE (ABC/ABCS; W: Sarah Dunn; D: Ruben Fleischer) - Diedrich Bader has been cast in the single-camera comedy pilot, about Katie (Katy Mixon), a (slightly) larger wife and mother raising her flawed family of three in a wealthy town filled with perfect wives and their perfect offspring. He'll play Jeff Otto, "Katie's husband and father of teenagers Taylor and Harrison and 5-year-old Anna-Kat. Jeff adores Katie and has absolutely no problem with the fact that she's a larger sized woman. He is always reasonable, the voice of logic, and often the only barrier between the rest of the world and Katie's somewhat ill conceived plans." (Deadline.com)
SOLDIER GIRLS (HBO, New!) - Helen Thorpe's non-fiction book, subtitled "The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War," is being developed as a mini-series at the pay channel. Said effort "tells the real-life story of three women who enlist in the National Guard and serve their country during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, which leads them to form life-long friendships." Nicole Riegel is set to pen the adaptation and serve as a co-producer. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall are executive producing. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Rob Corddry's Adult Swim comedy "Childrens Hospital" will end after its current seventh season (Deadline.com); Freeform has passed on a second season of its former ABC Family series "Kevin from Work" (Deadline.com); Patrick Fischler and David Dastmalchian are among the latest faces set to visit Showtime's "Twin Peaks" revival (Deadline.com); Lady Gaga will return for season six of "American Horror Story" (Z100.com); Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas will guest on his fellow namesake Rob Thomas's "iZombie" as himself the show's season finale (TVInsider.com); and Jet Jurgensmeyer has been cast in Nickelodeon's "Legends of the Hidden Temple" as Dudley, "the youngest brother in the family who has the ability to talk to animals" (Variety.com).
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[02/11/26 - 02:34 PM]
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[02/11/26 - 09:33 AM]
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[02/11/26 - 09:01 AM]
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[02/11/26 - 09:00 AM]
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[02/11/26 - 08:06 AM]
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