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[09/08/17 - 11:45 PM]
Development Update: Friday, September 8
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!
ACCIDENTAL CANDIDATE (NBC, New!) - Dee Johnson ("Nashville") has sold a potential drama to the network based on the life of former Democratic congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. The project "explores what happens when after a small-town mother's passionate town hall confrontation with a politician goes viral and she becomes thrust into the spotlight, opting to launch a career she never saw coming. Armed with smart ideas and sheer determination, she impulsively embarks on a successful campaign for Congress, running as the ultimate outsider against a powerful male incumbent." Sony Pictures Television-based Osprey Productions is behind the hour with Johnson, Sanchez, Josh Berman and Chris King serving as executive producers. (THR.com)
BOYS, THE (Amazon, New!) - Eric Kripke ("Timeless") is spearheading a small screen take on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book about "a superpowered CIA squad, known informally as "The Boys," charged with monitoring the superhero community." Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are also on board to direct and executive produce. The Sony Pictures Television-based project has a script commitment with an eye towards a direct-to-series order. Said effort was originally developed by Cinemax. (Variety.com)
DEADLINE (NBC, New!) - Matt Whitney ("Timeless") has sold a new drama to the Peacock about "a former FBI agent who, after a traumatic experience, takes a job as an investigative journalist at a well-known and widely circulated weekly magazine - reporting on high-profile crimes, seeking justice for victims, their families and the falsely accused." Sony Pictures Television-based Osprey Productions is behind the hour with Josh Berman, Chris King and Jess Cagle also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)
DESIGNATED SURVIVOR (ABC) - Bonnie Bedelia will recur on the upcoming season as Eva Booker, "the President's (Kiefer Sutherland) mother-in-law. Eva was widowed 20 years ago, is fiercely devoted to her daughter (Natascha McElhone) and grandchildren, and is an unabashed fan of her son-in-law. She spent her working life as a secretary to a Department of Defense contracting officer." (Deadline.com)
DYNASTY (The CW) - K.J. Smith will recur on the newcomer as Kori Rucks, a yet-to-be-revealed character. (Deadline.com)
GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, THE (ABC, New!) - Steven J. Cannell's 1981 cult classic series - in which an ordinary man, completely content with being average, wakes up with a superpower suit he never asked for and has to deal with the complications it brings his life - is once again being eyed for a revival, this time by original broadcaster ABC. Said take will focus on Meera, "a 30-year-old Indian-American woman from Cleveland whose talents include tequila drinking, karaoke and not much else. Then some aliens entrust her with a super suit to protect the planet, and the world has never been in more unreliable hands." Rachna Fruchbom is penning the planned single-camera comedy, which has a put pilot commitment. ABC Studios and 20th Century Fox Television are co-producing with Fierce Baby's Nahnatchka Khan and Mandy Summers as well as Cannell's daughter Tawnia McKiernan also executive producing. FOX previously attempted takes in 2014 and 2015 from directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord. (Deadline.com)
GREEN BERET'S GUIDE TO SURVIVING THE APOCALYPSE, THE (Netflix, New!) - Shawn Vance, a former United States Special forces Green Beret, and Daril Fanin, a former combat army medic, are set to topline a hybrid scripted/unscripted comedy described as "a mix of a survival show full of usable survival skills and how-to's as well as smart low-brow humor" with "each episode chronicling its own contained apocalypse as survived by the show's hero, Shawn (Vance)." Netflix has commissioned eight episodes of the series with Pearl Street Films' Matt Damon and Jennifer Todd as well as Film 45's Peter Berg, Matt Goldberg and Brandon Carroll likewise executive producing. (Deadline.com)
MACHINE, THE (Syfy) - The cable channel has passed on the drama pilot, a small screen take on Caradog James's 2013 feature. (Deadline.com)
MAKING FRIENDS (Amazon, New!) - Carter Bays and Craig Thomas ("How I Met Your Mother") have scored a rare multi-camera pilot order from Amazon for a yet-to-be-revealed comedy. Sony Pictures Television is presumably behind the half-hour. (Variety.com)
MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD (ABC) - Nick Blood is set to reprise his role of Lance Hunter during the show's upcoming fifth season. (EW.com)
ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC) - Meegan Warner will guest on the upcoming season as a new version of Rapunzel, who "will find herself magically trapped in a tower by an evil sorceress. Feisty and full of pluck, she will do whatever it takes to break this spell and make the sorceress who imprisoned her pay for those crimes." Alexandra Metz played the original incarnation during season three. The news marks the third such revision this season: Dania Ramirez as Cinderella (succeeding Jessy Schram) and Rose Reynolds as Alice (succeeding Sophie Lowe from the spin-off). (TVLine.com)
OUTSIDER, THE (NBC, New!) - Chuck Rose ("The Art of More") has booked a potential drama at the network based on Anthony Franze's novel "set in the powerful but often secretive world of the Supreme Court as seen through the eyes of their clerks, the young twentysomethings who struggle to balance their messy personal lives against the incredible demands of their jobs." Universal Television is behind the hour, which has a penalty attached, with Parkes + MacDonald's Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Evan Hayes also serving as executive producers and Brendan Deneen of MacMillan Entertainment producing. (Deadline.com)
OZZY AND JACK'S WORLD DETOUR (History) - The series, which stars heavy metal legend, Ozzy Osbourne and his son, Jack, has been renewed for a second 10-episode season, this time on sibling A&E. (Deadline.com)
S.W.A.T. (CBS) - Sherilyn Fenn has been tapped for the recurring role of Karen, the imprisoned mother of Alex Russell's character, Jim Street: "A beauty once but now a weary product of almost 20 years in prison, Karen is doing time for the murder of her abusive husband. On the surface, she appears to be a doting mother with nothing but concern for her son. But her true intentions are revealed after said favor puts Street's life, his career with S.W.A.T. and his relationship with Hondo (Shemar Moore) in danger." (TVLine.com)
SCORPION (CBS) - Tina Majorino is set to recur as Florence, "a chemist who moves in next door to the team. Florence does not initially ingratiate herself to Walter & Co, but once she is accepted by the gang, that will cause even more problems." (TVLine.com)
SPIRITED (ABC, New!) - Laverne Cox is attached to topline a potential drama at the Alphabet about "a fake psychic who realizes she can really communicate with the dead. She decides to put her con-woman past behind her and actually start helping people." Heather Mitchell is penning the script for the Warner Bros. Television-based project, which has a put pilot commitment, with Brownstone Productions' Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman executive producing. (Variety.com)
TONG WARS (Amazon, New!) - Writer Paul Attanasio and director Wong Kar-wai have scored a series order from the streaming service for a drama "set against the Tong Wars of 19th century San Francisco and tells a story spanning a significant period of time about Chinese immigrants and the clashes between organized-crime families in the city's Chinatown." (Variety.com)
UNTITLED ARMISEN & RUDOLPH PROJECT (Amazon, New!) - "Saturday Night Live" alums Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph are set to star in a new single-camera comedy for the streaming service. Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard are penning the script for Universal Television with all four executive producing alongside Dave Becky and Tim Sarkes. No specifics were given about the project other than it has a series order. (Variety.com)
UPLOAD (Amazon, New!) - Greg Daniels ("The Office") has scored a pilot order from the streaming service for a single-camera comedy set in the future. No other details were given. (Variety.com)
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