or


[10/06/16 - 11:44 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, October 6
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!


BLUE BOOK (History, New!) - David O'Leary has set up a potential drama at the cable channel billed as "a story about the real-life, U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena from 1947-70." ImageMovers' Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine are also executive producing for A+E Studios. (Deadline.com)
EIGHT, THE (NBC, New!) - Jason Pagan and Andrew Deutschman have sold a new high-concept drama to the Peacock "set inside the High Risk Claims Department of an AIG-like insurance company - a small secret unit that specializes in insuring haunted houses. After the death of the company's enigmatic Founder, the department is forced into a high-stakes race to find The Eight - a mysterious group of properties, hidden across North America, connected by a terrifying and powerful force." Universal Cable Productions is behind the hour, which is based on the short story "The House on Ashley Avenue" by Ian Rogers. Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Michael Connolly will also executive produce. (Deadline.com)
FLAKED (Netflix) - Elisabeth Rohm will recur on the show's sophomore run as Alex, "a smart, divorced, working single-mother whom Chip (Will Arnett) meets at an AA meeting in Santa Monica. They seem to have a mutual attraction." (Deadline.com)
FLIGHT RISK (NBC, New!) - Krista Vernoff ("Shameless") has landed a put pilot commitment from the Peacock for a new drama about Maddie Silva: "Popular, funny and brilliant in a courtroom, her "take no mercy" approach towards the criminals she prosecutes has earned her the nickname "The Shark." But when she loses her temper in a divorce mediation, comically threatening to have her soon-to-be-ex-husband killed and he turns up dead the next day, she has to go on the run and turn to a criminal she has been prosecuting to help her clear her name. Maddie's humanity and sense of humor remain intact as she is forced to compromise every moral she has - and question everything she ever thought she knew." Warner Bros. Television-based John Wells Productions is behind the hour with John Wells also executive producing. (Deadline.com)
FOSTERS, THE (Freeform) - John Marshall Jones has booked an arc on the series as "the wary and diligent Detective Bruckner in the second half of Season 4 premiering in 2017." (Deadline.com)
FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND (MTV, New!) - Writers Geoff Davey and Peter Sattler (Camp X-Ray) and director David Gordon Green are spearheading a small screen take on Steve Niles and Greg Ruth's comic book "set in a rural town in America's heartland that has harbored a terrible secret. Trevor's family had been hiding his deformed little brother Will in the barn, hidden from the world by their father. When the local sheriff discovers Will and kills their father in the subsequent struggle, the boys go on the run, framed for the murder, and uncover that Will isn't the only one, that "freak" children were born to other families in this town, and that the sheriff killed many of them years ago. Now he wants to finish the job, and only Trevor stands in his way. Trevor will do whatever it takes to keep his brother - and all the other innocent freaks still in hiding - out of harm's way." Universal Cable Productions is behind the hour with Green, Dark Horse Entertainment's Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg also executive producing and Davey and Sattler as co-executive producers. (Deadline.com)
GOOD DOCTOR, THE (ABC, New!) - David Shore ("House") is looking to import Park Jae-bum's South Korean drama, about "a young surgeon with Savant syndrome who is recruited into the pediatric surgical unit of a prestigious hospital. The question will arise: Can a person who doesn't have the ability to relate to people actually save their lives?" Daniel Dae Kim, Sebastian Lee and David Kim also serve as executive producers for the Sony Pictures Television-based Shore Z Productions project, which has a put pilot commitment. Erin Gunn co-executive produces. (Deadline.com)
HANNAH ROYCE'S QUESTIONABLE CHOICES (CBS, New!) - Matt Tarses ("Mad Love") is developing a single-camera comedy at the Eye about "a woman who has made some interesting choices throughout her life - namely, having three different kids with three different men - but all have led her to having a very unique, loving, blended family." Said effort comes from Sony Pictures Television with Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling, Dana Honor and Fiona Clark also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
LAST SHIP, THE (TNT) - Peter Weller will recur on the upcoming season as Dr. Paul Vellek, "a world-renowned authority in genetic modification and plant biotechnology. Vellek's expertise will play a critical role in the latest mission for the Nathan James and her crew." (TVLine.com)
MAN SEEKING WOMAN (FXX) - Peter Gallagher has been cast as Joel Greenberg, Josh (Jay Baruchel) and Liz's (Britt Lower) estranged father - "a slick, dashing lawyer with a magical secret." (Variety.com)
MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, THE (Amazon) - Marin Hinkle ("Two and a Half Men") is the latest to be cast in the drama pilot as Rose Weissman, "Abe's (Tony Shalhoub) wife and Midge's (Rachel Brosnahan) mother. Lovely, elegant, and dramatic, Rose is very much about appearances. She firmly believes everything's easier if you're pretty." (Deadline.com)
MATING (Showtime) - Jim Belushi has signed onto the comedy pilot, about "Jay, a recently divorced guy (Taran Killam) who married young and now finds himself completely unprepared for the brave new, frank and fluid world of dating and hooking up. Belushi will play Paul, Jay's father and business partner." (Deadline.com)
ODD COUPLE, THE (CBS) - Busy Philipps will drop by the comedy as Natasha, "a woman Felix (Thomas Lennon) meets in a bar and takes home for what is meant to be his first one-night stand. However, it becomes a standoff when she decides she likes Felix and his amazing apartment so much that she never intends to leave." (EW.com)
QUEEN SUGAR (OWN) - Monica Macer ("Nashville") has been tapped as the showrunner for the show's recently ordered second season. (Deadline.com)
SCORPION (CBS) - Reiko Aylesworth will visit the drama in the recurring role of Allie Jones, "a new romantic interest for the Homeland agent Cabe (Robert Patrick)." Additionally, Lea Thompson will guest in two episodes as Paige's (Katharine McPhee) mother, Veronica Dineen, "an accomplished con artist who comes back into Paige's life after years behind bars during the upcoming Thanksgiving-themed episode." (EW.com, TVInsider.com)
SUCCESSION (HBO) - Writer Jesse Armstrong and director Adam McKay have set the cast to their drama pilot, about the Roys, "a fictional American global-media family that is not only rich and powerful but also powerfully dysfunctional": Brian Cox as Logan Roy, "the tough, powerful, and aging patriarch of the Roy family and head of a family-controlled international media conglomerate"; Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy, "eldest son from Logan's second marriage, currently a Division President at the family firm and the heir apparent"; Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy, "Logan's outspoken, fun-loving son and Kendall's younger brother"; Sarah Snook as Shiv (Siobhan) Roy, "Logan's only daughter and younger sister to Kendall and Roman"; Nicholas Braun as play Greg, "Logan's less than competent nephew and a management trainee at one of the firm's theme parks"; and Matthew Macfadyen as Tom, "Shiv's ambitious partner/fiancé and a senior executive at the firm." Will Ferrell, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick and Ilene S. Landress also executive produce. (Deadline.com)
TYPE-A (FOX, New!) - Lesley Wake Webster ("Life in Pieces") has booked a single-camera comedy at the Eye about "a group of people hand-picked to do a job most of us couldn't handle. They are Achievers. Alphas. But most importantly... Assholes." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the project, which has a penalty attached. Small Dog Picture Company's Jason Winer will likewise executive produce. (Deadline.com)





  [october 2016]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EIGHT, THE (NBC)
· FLAKED (NETFLIX)
· FLIGHT RISK (NBC)
· FOSTERS, THE (FREEFORM)
· FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND (MTV)
· GOOD DOCTOR, THE (ABC)
· HANNAH ROYCE'S QUESTIONABLE CHOICES (CBS)
· HOUSE (FOX)
· LAST SHIP, THE (TNT)
· LIFE IN PIECES (CBS)
· MAD LOVE (CBS)
· MAN SEEKING WOMAN (FXX)
· MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, THE (AMAZON)
· MATING (SHOWTIME)
· NASHVILLE (CMT)
· ODD COUPLE, THE (CBS)
· PROJECT BLUE BOOK (HISTORY)
· QUEEN SUGAR (OWN)
· SCORPION (CBS)
· SHAMELESS (SHOWTIME)
· SUCCESSION (HBO)
· TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS)
· TYPE A (FOX)





[08/10/26 - 12:16 PM]
Grammy Award-Winning Singer and Actress Brandy Norwood Returns to Lifetime to Star in and Executive Produce Sequel to Holiday Movie, "Christmas Everyday"
Norwood reprises her role as Francine "Fancy" Ballantine, which garnered her an NAACP award nomination, alongside real-life daughter Sy'rai Smith who stars as Fancy's younger sister, Belle; Debbi Morgan as their mother, Evelyn; and Robert C. Riley as Fancy's fiancé, Jaylen.

[08/10/26 - 10:37 AM]
Discovery's Shark Week Delivers Best Ratings in Seven Years
Primetime telecasts averaged a 0.77 L3 rating among Adults 25-54, marking the largest year-over-year increase in 13 years and the first year of ratings growth since 2023.

[08/10/26 - 10:01 AM]
Apple TV Reteams with Alfonso Cuaron on New Series "Ascension"
Inspired by the novel "Last Days" by Adam Nevill, "Ascension" is a one-hour psychological horror thriller following Rose, a relentless documentary filmmaker and recently divorced mother who is brilliant at uncovering others' truths but struggling to resolve her own.

[08/10/26 - 10:00 AM]
New Interactive Game "Public Eye" from Wolf Games Now Available in Peacock's Mobile App
Players are Officer Logan Dine, a patrol cop secretly investigating his uncle's murder in the crime-ridden streets of Caldera City.

[08/10/26 - 09:31 AM]
Peacock Drops First Look Images & November 23 Premiere Date for Amy Poehler & Hugh Laurie Comedy "Dig"
The series follows a team of dedicated archaeologists (and less-dedicated college students) who spend their summer working on a dig site in Greece.

[08/10/26 - 09:31 AM]
discovery+ Launches New Play-Listed Channels Experience with Fan-Favorite Programming and Live NASA+ Streams
This new experience features curated channels with themed playlists from discovery+'s most popular franchises like the iconic "90 Day" Universe, "House Hunters," and "Ghost Adventures," plus new live NASA+ programming.

[08/10/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "NFL Hometown Eats" - Official Trailer - The Roku Channel
Super fans Eva Longoria, Joel McHale and Rebel Wilson are joined by football legends DeMarcus Ware, Devon Witherspoon and Davante Adams as they explore the best gameday eats in their home cities.

[08/10/26 - 09:00 AM]
Vice Studios & Starbreeze Entertainment Partner with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and G-Unit Film & Television for "Payday"
Since its launch in 2011, "Payday" has gone from a game to a global phenomenon.

[08/10/26 - 09:00 AM]
Paramount+ Presents Action-Packed Week Ahead of "UFC 330: Makhachev vs. Machado Garry" on Saturday, August 15th with Season 10 Premiere of "Dana White's Contender Series" on August 11
"This Is UFC: Makhachev vs. Machado Garry" premieres this Friday, August 14 on CBS.

[08/10/26 - 09:00 AM]
Disney Entertainment Television Unveils Powerful Multiplatform Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of September 11, 2001
Airing for the first time is "9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan," a one-hour ABC News multiplatform live special on Friday, Sept. 11 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), across ABC, Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic, ABC Owned Television Stations livestreams and ABC News Live.

[08/10/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: MGM+ Releases Official Trailer, Key Art and New Images for "American Hostage" Starring Jon Hamm
Co-created by Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers, the eight-episode series debuts Sunday, September 20 with a two-episode premiere, followed by weekly episodes through the finale on Sunday, November 1 on MGM+.

[08/10/26 - 08:01 AM]
Apple and Major League Baseball Announce September "Friday Night Baseball" Schedule and First-Ever Broadcast in Apple Immersive
For the first time, baseball fans can take in all the action of "Friday Night Baseball" live in Apple Immersive on Apple Vision Pro, leveraging 3D video recorded in 8K with a 180-degree field of view.

[08/10/26 - 07:01 AM]
Netflix Rounds Out Cast of "The Sticks" and Shares a Behind-the-Scenes Sneak Peek
Scott Bakula, Logan Marshall-Green, Alex MacIsaac and more will round out the cast for "The Sticks" (FKA "Untitled Hockey Project"), the official title for the heartwarming and inspirational drama series created by Nick Naveda.

[08/10/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Drawn Together" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
The film premieres September 9 on Prime Video.

[08/10/26 - 07:00 AM]
Disney+, Hulu and iHeartMedia Announce Video Podcast Deal Beginning with Hit iHeartPodcast "Hey Jonas!"
Leading up to the premiere of "Camp Rock 3" on Disney+, "Hey Jonas!" will simultaneously debut on Disney+ and Hulu on August 14 with a new episode highlighting "Camp Rock," and will continue with additional episodes of Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas live at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event that weekend.