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[02/28/18 - 11:47 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, February 28
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!


BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (FOX) - Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez will drop by an upcoming episode as "a romantic dalliance for bisexual Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz)." (TVLine.com)
CHARMED (The CW) - Rupert Evans is the latest addition to the netlet's reboot pilot as Harry, "a professor, handsome, grandiose, a raconteur with an infuriating charm and a mysterious interest in the three sisters." (TVLine.com)
CHIEFS (CBS) - Michael Trucco is bound for the Alana de la Garza/Aunjanue Ellis-led cop drama pilot as John Keele, "who works closely with Chief of Police Kendra Downes (Ellis) - and they go way back. A seasoned professional, he's sharp as a tack and devoted to the job. He has his opinions and he's not afraid to share them." (Deadline.com)
DADDY ISSUES (FOX) - Janina Gavankar has been cast in the Erin Foster-led comedy pilot, about Andi (single, 30-something), who refuses to settle down, and her friendship with her playboy dad (Don Johnson). Andi's world is turned upside down when she discovers her dad's fallen in love with her best friend. She'll play Sasha: "smart, funny and Andi's (Erin Foster) best friend. She and Andi tell one another everything... Except for the fact that Sasha recently started dating Andi's father (Don Johnson)."
DEAD INSIDE (The CW) - Freddie Stroma, Joey King and Hayley Marie Norman are set to topline the drama pilot, about an underachieving beat cop who starts seeing the ghost of her hotshot detective big brother, flipping their sibling dynamic on its head and allowing her to truly live her life for the first time, as they work together to help crime victims both living and dead, and figure out the unfinished business keeping his spirit on Earth. Stroma will play Zach Gates, "annoyingly perfect, roguishly over-confident with a rock-star charm. When he returns as a ghost, he learns a few surprising things about the people closest to him." King then is set as Emmy Gates, "tougher and stronger than she thinks she is, and what she lacks in confidence, she makes up for with determination, humor and snark. Emmy's life is turned upside down when her brother dies and returns to her as a ghost, forcing her to team up with him to solve a murder and resolve his unfinished business." And finally, Norman will play Jayla Harris, "the unfiltered motormouth receptionist at the Portland police station. Jayla's one of the few true supporters of Emmy's law enforcement aspirations. As for her own aspirations, it's to be insta-famous." (Deadline.com)
EMPIRE (FOX) - Rhyon Nicole Brown and Porscha Coleman will both recur on the current season. The former is set as Maya, "the daughter of Poundcake, Cookie's (Taraji P. Henson) fellow inmate. Maya was born in prison, stolen from her mother's arms, and adopted by upper middle-class parents. A classically trained dancer, she's beautiful, graceful, and headstrong." Coleman then will portray Mercedes, "Porsha's (Ta'Rhonda Jones) sexy and ambitious cousin. She has a street-hustle mentality and looks to exploit any avenue she can to jumpstart her budding singing/rap career." (Deadline.com)
ENEMY WITHIN, THE (NBC) - Jennifer Carpenter and Morris Chestnut are set to star in the drama pilot, about former CIA agent Erica Wolfe, the most notorious traitor in modern history and most hated woman in America, who is brought out of a federal supermax prison by the FBI to help stop some of the most dangerous acts of espionage threatening the United States today. She'll play said agent, "a highly intelligent codebreaker who learned her craft from her father and disclosed highly sensitive information to a former Russian intelligence agent." Chestnut then will play Will Keaton, "an FBI counter-intelligence agent who had brought down the traitor Erica Wolfe and whose fiancee had been murdered as a result of Wolfe's activities." (Deadline.com)
FALSE PROFITS (ABC) - Shelley Hennig has signed onto the drama pilot, about a team of down-and-out women in suburban Arizona as they fight their way to the top of the cutthroat world of a multi-level marketing cosmetics business. She'll play Hilary Jenkel, "a sharp-tongued, hot-tempered former beauty queen whose glory days were cut short by a nasty drug habit. Now in recovery and single mother of 6 year-old Lila, Hilary hopes to reignite the flame between her and Clark, Lila's father. But when he sues for full custody of their daughter, Hilary needs to whip her life and bank account into shape. She joins her co-workers in a direct-sales cosmetics business, using her pageant know-how as the underdog's team secret sales weapon." (Deadline.com)
FULLER HOUSE (Netflix) - Jeff Franklin has been removed as showrunner of the series amid allegations of inappropriate behavior. Producer Warner Bros. TV reportedly "received complaints about Franklin's behavior in the writers' room and on the set of the series." The recently ordered fourth season will not be affected. (Variety.com)
GET CHRISTIE LOVE (ABC) - Thomas Cocquerel has scored a role on the Kylie Bunbury-led drama pilot as Adam, "one the youngest team members of Christie's counterintelligence unit. He's the young "action movie hero" guy - smooth and just a bit cocky." (Deadline.com)
GOD FRIENDED ME (CBS) - Violett Beane has been tapped for the drama pilot, about Miles Finer (Brandon Micheal Hall), an outspoken atheist whose life is turned upside down when he is "friended" by God on Facebook, unwittingly becoming an agent of change in the lives and destinies of others around him. She'll play Cara Weiss: "Confident, compelling and quick-witted, Cara is a leading writer at an online magazine. Under pressure for her next big story, her life takes an interesting turn when she meets Miles - thanks to God's friend suggestion." (Deadline.com)
GRAND HOTEL (ABC) - Chris Warren is the latest to be cast in the ensemble drama pilot as Jason: "Kind, funny and friends with everyone on the hotel staff, he's worked as a waiter at the hotel since his teens, as his mother is the staff manager." (Deadline.com)
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (ABC) - Creator Pete Nowalk has signed a new three-year overall deal with ABC Studios which will cover his duties on the series as well as any future development. (Deadline.com)
LAST KIDS ON EARTH (Netflix, New!) - Thunderbird Entertainment is set to begin production on a serialized animated series based on Max Brallier's bestselling book series, which "follows 13-year-old Jack Sullivan and a band of suburban middle schoolers who live in a decked-out tree house, play video games, gorge themselves on candy, and battle zombies in the aftermath of the monster apocalypse." Brallier is co-writing alongside Scott Peterson with Atomic Cartoons' Jennifer McCarron and Matthew Berkowitz also executive producing. The project is expected to roll out in 2019. (Deadline.com)
MILLION LITTLE THINGS, A (ABC) - James Roday and Christina Moses have both been cast in the ensemble drama pilot as Gary, "who is known for his deflective humor, a habit of sleeping with everyone, and complete control over his emotions"; and Regina Howard, "a talented chef with dreams of opening her own restaurant one day. She is living proof that there's nothing stronger in this world than a determined woman. She and her husband Rome (Romany Malco) have the marriage we all want for ourselves, but this bond will tested as she helps her husband confront his depression." (Deadline.com)
MURDER (CBS) - Leonard Roberts and Andrea Demetriades are the latest to board the Michael Chiklis/Teyonah Parris-led drama pilot. He's set as Malachi Sandel, "a talented, charismatic homicide prosecutor whose persuasive skills and charm extend from the courtroom to his active social life. But a new case, coupled with a new romantic interest, has him questioning his choices in work and in life." And she's cast as Raquel Bennett, "a Legal Aid defense attorney, who's both highly skilled and deeply passionate about advocating for her clients. A formidable opponent in court, she never goes down without a fight, but her magnetic personality makes even her legal opponents enjoy facing her at trial." (Deadline.com)
SEAL TEAM (CBS) - Dawn Olivieri is slated to recur on the freshman drama as Amy Nelson, "an independent contractor whom Jason (David Boreanaz) meets on the base during deployment." (TVLine.com)
SKINNY DIP (The CW) - Matt Barr ("Valor") has booked the male lead on the drama pilot, in which after her husband tries to kill her on what she thought was a romantic cruise to celebrate their second wedding anniversary, a woman teams with a jaded ex-cop to exact her own twisted brand of revenge on her cheating spouse, and winds up uncovering a wider conspiracy in the process. He'll play Mick Stranahan, "an old soul, unplugged from society, skeptical of the world and cynical beyond his years. A police detective who has been removed from the force, he lives alone on a desert island with a nice dog named Irma - and he's happy to be off the grid. After finding Joey floating in the ocean, he nurses her back to health and reluctantly agrees to help her in her quest for answers." Barr's casting is presumably in second position to "Valor." Additionally, Marc Buckland has been tapped to direct. (Deadline.com)
STATIES (ABC) - Alexander Sokovikov has booked a role on the Annie Ilonzeh/Andy Karl-led cop drama as Senior Trooper Yuri Kinbote, "a gruff Russian trooper who's skeptical of the new statie in town." (Deadline.com)
UMBRELLA ACADEMY, THE (Netflix) - John Magaro has scored a role on the upcoming comic book-turned-drama series as Leonard Peabody, "a sweet Average Joe who begins to take music lessons from Vanya (Ellen Page) and sees something special in this constantly dismissed wallflower, giving her a confidence that she's never had before. Their love story plays out against the larger than life struggles of the Umbrella Academy." (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED TIM DOYLE PROJECT (ABC) - Caleb Foote, Christopher Paul Richards and Jack Gore are all bound for the single-camera comedy pilot, about an Irish-Catholic family with a working class dad (Michael Cudlitz), traditional mom (Mary McCormack) and eight sons as they struggle to cope in the turbulent 1970's. They'll play kids Eddie, Joey and Timmy (whose future self narrates the series). Sam Straley also stars. (Deadline.com)
VILLAGE, THE (NBC) - Lorraine Toussaint and Dominic Chianese are both bound for the ensemble drama pilot, about the residents of a Manhattan apartment building. She'll play Patricia, "a warm, vivacious grandmother figure and social worker who, unable to have her own children, became a caretaker for everyone else. Patricia embraces life to the fullest, and ironically, her journey is to make peace with losing that full life after she finds out she has cancer." Chianese then is on board as Enzo, "an opinionated Brooklyn native who sets his sights on moving out of the nursing home and in with the grandson he dotes on but frequently gives a hard time. Insisting on living life to the fullest, Enzo is irreverent, funny, liberal with advice and not above selling Viagra at the nursing home for extra cash." (Deadline.com)





  [february 2018]  
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· BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (NBC)
· CHARMED (CW)
· CHIEFS (CBS)
· DADDY ISSUES (FOX)
· DEAD INSIDE (CW)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EMPIRE (FOX)
· ENEMY WITHIN, THE (NBC)
· FALSE PROFITS (ABC)
· FULLER HOUSE (NETFLIX)
· GET CHRISTIE LOVE (ABC)
· GOD FRIENDED ME (CBS)
· GRAND HOTEL (ABC)
· HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (ABC)
· KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, THE (ABC)
· LAST KIDS ON EARTH, THE (NETFLIX)
· MILLION LITTLE THINGS, A (ABC)
· MURDER (CBS)
· SEAL TEAM (PARAMOUNT PLUS)
· SKINNY DIP (CW)
· STATIES (ABC)
· UMBRELLA ACADEMY, THE (NETFLIX)
· VALOR (CW)
· VILLAGE, THE (NBC)





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