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[03/16/16 - 11:16 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, March 16
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!


BULL (CBS/CTS; W: Paul Attanasio & Phil McGraw; D: Rodrigo Garcia) - Michael Weatherly ("NCIS") is set as the title role on the drama pilot, based on Dr. Phil McGraw's early days as head of one of the most prolific trial consulting services of all time. He'll play Dr. Jason Bull, "who runs Trial Sciences Inc., a company that analyzes juries to help develop defense strategies. He has a physicality and feral intelligence that make him magnetic to women, and a bruising candor." In addition, Rodrigo Garcia has signed on to direct and executive produce the hour. (Deadline.com)


HAVOC (FOX/20th; W: Chris Case; D: Malcolm D. Lee) - Comedian Bill Bellamy has been tapped as the title role on the single-camera comedy pilot, about Jay "Havoc" Hammond, an African American, ex-NFL lineman who recently moved in with his white wife Christy (Becki Newton) and her two oddball sons, as he struggles to win the most challenging game of his life: fatherhood. He'll play Jay, who "tries to respect Christy's wish that he let her be the disciplinarian, but when he feels like she's allowing the kids to get away with too much, he steps in with comic results - but manages to get through to the kids, too." (Deadline.com)


HIGH RISE (HBO, New!) - Cami DeLavigne (Blue Valentine) is developing a new drama at the pay channel "set in the world of high end New York architecture that follows a brilliant, but struggling architect who gets seduced by a billionaire's daughter as she takes him under her wing and launches his career into the world of celebrity architecture." The Firm's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry also serve as executive producers for The Weinstein Company-based project. (Deadline.com)


REAL GOOD PEOPLE (CBS/CTS; W: Stephnie Weir; D: James Burrows) - Julie White is the latest addition to the multi-camera comedy pilot, set in Texas and centering on a conservative, small town family who is forced to reconcile their family values when they discover their children's lives are less than perfect. She'll play Gloria, "the family matriarch and other half of what is possibly the world's happiest couple." (Deadline.com)


SPEECHLESS (ABC/20th; W: Scott Silveri; D: Christine Gernon) - Minnie Driver and Mason Cook have both been cast in the single-camera comedy pilot, about a family with a special-needs child described as being good at dealing with the challenges it faces and excellent at creating new ones. She'll play the mother, Maya. "Fiercely protective of her non-verbal son J.J., she makes it her mission to find the perfect school for him, repeatedly moving her family from town to town in the process." Cook then is set as Ray, "the youngest of the family's three boys." (Deadline.com)


TRANSYLVANIA (The CW/CTS; W: Hugh Sterbakov; D: Jason Ensler) - Sofia Pernas ("The Young and the Restless") has joined the cast of the period drama pilot, about Victoria Harker (Laura Brent), a headstrong young woman in search of her missing father ventures from NYC to Transylvania where she teams up with wrongfully disgraced Scotland Yard Inspector G. Lestrade (Luke Allen-Gale), and together they witness the births of the most famous monsters and villains in history. She'll presumably replace Amrita Acharia as Coriander, "an exotic gypsy, the leader of the matriarchal Szgany clan that runs the fleshpots of the Old City - the haunted spot where Vlad the Impaler once killed thousands of their tribe." (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED WOODY ALLEN PROJECT (Amazon; W/D: Woody Allen) - Michael Rapaport, Becky Ann Baker, Lewis Black, Margaret Ladd, Joy Behar, Rebecca Schull, David Harbour and Christine Ebersole have all booked roles on the upcoming series, details of which remain under wraps. Elaine May, John Magaro, Miley Cyrus and Rachel Brosnahan also star. Production began in New York this month with Erika Aronson executive producing and Helen Robin producing. (Deadline.com)


ZOOBIQUITY (FOX/20th; W: Jonathan Collier & Stephen Nathan; D: Kevin Bray) - Melissa Tang ("The Goodwin Games") has booked a role on drama pilot, which follows the unlikely pairing of Dr. Kara Martins (Marsha Thomason), a successful, driven cardiologist, as she risks career suicide by teaming with Dr. Lucas Cort (Peter Facinelli), a socially-challenged veterinarian who relates better to animals than people. She's on board as Dr. Diana Hess, "an earthy and free-spirited top resident pathologist at the hospital." (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Richard Brake will recur on "Ray Donovan" as "a dangerous and intimidating man who works for some very powerful people" (Deadline.com); Amin El Gamal is bound for FOX's "Prison Break" revival as Cyclops (Deadline.com); Annabeth Gish is likewise bound for "Halt and Catch Fire" as "a successful venture capitalist and divorced mother of two who is considering an investment in Mutiny" (Deadline.com); Judd Hirsch has been cast as Leonard's father on the season finale of "The Big Bang Theory" (THR.com); and Britt Robertson has scored an arc on Hulu's "Casual" as "Jordon's (Vincent Kartheiser) assistant, who is smart, sarcastic and has an agenda of her own" (THR.com).






  [march 2016]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
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· BIG BANG THEORY, THE (CBS)
· BULL (CBS)
· CASUAL (HULU)
· CRISIS IN SIX SCENES (AMAZON)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· GOODWIN GAMES, THE (FOX)
· HALT & CATCH FIRE (AMC)
· HAVOC (FOX)
· HIGH RISE (HBO)
· NCIS (CBS)
· PRISON BREAK (FOX)
· RAY DONOVAN (SHOWTIME)
· REAL GOOD PEOPLE (CBS)
· SPEECHLESS (ABC)
· TRANSYLVANIA (CW)
· ZOOBIQUITY (FOX)





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