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[03/07/18 - 11:39 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, March 7
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!


ABBY'S (NBC) - Nelson Franklin, Jessica Chaffin and Leonard Ouzts are set to join Natalie Morales in the multi-camera comedy pilot, set at an unlicensed bar in San Diego where the regulars enthusiastically enforce a unique set of rules that give them a sense of community and allow them to avoid the frustrating behavior found at other establishments. Franklin will play Bill: "Cautious. A worrier, never a risk-taker, he is Abby's (Morales) new landlord, a bit confused and very concerned to discover that Abby is running a clearly illegal business in the backyard - a bar where friends gather to drink, chat, play games and do a little grilling." Chaffin then plays Beth, "a harried mom who lives next door and is a regular at Abby's backyard bar, where she can escape the madness of her home life while still keeping an eye on things from her perch on a bar stool"; with Ouzts as James, "a large, gentle scaredy cat and another die-hard regular at Abby's backyard bar. A security guard at a warehouse, James gets most of the excitement in his life at the bar." (Deadline.com)
BREEDERS (FX, New!) - Martin Freeman is set to star in a potential new series which "mines the comedy of parenting and is in the same ballpark as 'Catastrophe.'" Avalon Television is behind the project, a co-production with BBC, which recently filmed a pilot in London. Michael Gambon and Daisy Haggard also star, while Ben Palmer directed from a script by Freeman and Simon Blackwell. (Deadline.com)
FALSE PROFITS (ABC) - Ben Lawson and Mark L. Young are the latest tapped for roles on the drama pilot, which follows 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. The former will play Jake Amato, "the hot building manager of the TJ Maxx, a cute blue collar guy who has a flirty relationship with Laura (Bellamy Young)." Young then will portray Travis Pitts, "the young manager of the TJ Maxx where Laura, Hilary (Shelley Hennig) and Parvun (Kosha Patel) all work." (Deadline.com)
GET CHRISTIE LOVE (ABC) - Shea Buckner is bound for the Kylie Bunbury-led reboot as Jason Moran, "Christie's (Bunbury) former fiancé." (Deadline.com)
GRAND HOTEL (ABC) - Anne Winters, Bryan Craig and Denyse Tontz have all been cast in the ensemble drama pilot, set against the backdrop of a Miami Beach hotel, centering around the family who owns the business, the staff who run it, and the explosive secrets they hide under the perfect exterior. Winters will play Ingrid, "a beautiful hotel employee who would rather be anything else. She's humorously candid about not liking her job (or any job, really) and spends much of her time trying to find shortcuts to a richer, easier life." Craig then will portray Javi Cardenas, "no-filter playboy who loves to disobey his father (Demian Bichir)." And finally, Tontz will play Paloma Cardenas, "the beautiful, smart, eternally optimistic, and faithful daughter who has spent her life trying to impress and please her mercurial father while taking care of everyone around her and dedicating herself to learning the family business." (Deadline.com)
HOMECOMING (Amazon) - Alex Karpovsky has joined the cast of the upcoming Julia Roberts-led half-hour drama as Craig, "who works at the Homecoming facility and helps coach the clients through various real-life scenarios using improvisation as part of their rehabilitation into civilian life. He's often frustrated when the clients don't take the process seriously, but he's excited to finally put his three years of improv training to use." (Deadline.com)
IN BETWEEN LIVES (NBC) - Yusuf Gatewood has signed onto the Harriet Dyer-led drama pilot, about a mysterious young woman who reluctantly uses her gift of clairvoyance to help a veteran LAPD detective and a damaged ex-FBI outsider solve the most unnerving and challenging cases the city encounters. He's set as Damien Parrish, "the new kid on the LAPD Homicide Squad. Damien used to be a Criminal Analyst with the FBI, and spent the last eight years in Florida." (Deadline.com)
LIKE FAMILY (NBC) - Kether Donohue ("You're the Worst") is set to star opposite fellow alum Brandon Mychal Smith in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about Aubrey (Donohue) and Artie (Smith), two twentysomething friends who met as foster children and now try to figure out what they want from life and each other in New York City. Donohue's Aubrey is further detailed as "optimistic and trusting romantic who, while in foster care, always believed her mom would come and take her back. Currently a nanny, she dreams of being a pastry chef - food is both a passion and an obsession for her." Additionally, James Burrows has been confirmed as directing. (Deadline.com)
MRS. OTIS REGRETS (FOX) - Ian Harding and Jose Pablo Cantillo are both bound for the Katie Holmes-fronted drama pilot. The former will play Sam Gerard, "a preppy and privileged co-worker of FBI Special Agent Hazel Otis (Holmes)"; with the latter as Irish Joe, "an FBI field agent on Hazel's team." (Deadline.com)
ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC) - Beverley Elliott is set to reprise her role as Granny in Episode 20 of the show's current final season. (TVLine.com)
QUEENS (ABC) - Frances Turner, Aubin Wise and Michael Beach are all bound for the drama pilot, about five African-American sisters, all officers in the NYPD, as they face the challenges of their high-risk jobs while juggling the responsibilities of marriage, motherhood and family. Turner will play Lena Kendrick: "Witty and intelligent, Lena relishes being a woman and a cop. The highest ranking of the five Kendrick sisters in the NYPD, Lena is the first African-American woman to be promoted to Assistant Chief in the department." Wise then is set as Serena Kendrick-Archer: "A youthful and wholesome beauty, Serena is a playful but tough NYPD detective who is happily married to her handsome architect husband." And finally, Beach is Langston Graves, "husband to one of the sisters, Sgt. Ella Kendrick Graves (Amirah Vann)." (Deadline.com)
REL (FOX) - Angel Laketa Moore has been cast in the Lil Rel Howrey-led comedy pilot as Tiffany, "Rel's supportive, kind and driven best friend." (Deadline.com)
SALVAGE (ABC) - Catalina Sandino Moreno is the latest to board the drama pilot as Deputy Kate Collins, who "came down from Atlanta with her now-ex-husband and is raising their adopted Asian son, Chip, alone. To keep her job, and for Chip, she's turned a blind eye to the corruption and killings and cover-ups in Bel Grove but now has had enough. Afraid for her life if she tries to stop them alone, she turns to Jimmy for help." (Deadline.com)
SINGLE PARENTS (ABC) - Kimrie Lewis has scored a role on the single-camera comedy pilot, which revolves around a group of single parents who lean on each other as they raise their kids and look for another chance at love (or at least sex). She'll play Poppy, "a single mother in touch with her sexuality and a bit of a hippie who she raises her son to always be himself." (Deadline.com)
SMILF (Showtime) - Raven Goodwin's Eliza, "Bridgette's (Frankie Shaw) bestie, her self-deprecating, oldest friend from high school," has been promoted to series regular for the show's sophomore run. (Deadline.com)
STATIES (ABC) - Justin Johnson Cortez is the latest bound for the drama pilot, about Eliza Cortez (Annie Ilonzeh), a hard-charging NYPD detective who's banished to the boonies after a high-profile mistake and is paired with a new partner, Oregon State Trooper Sam King (Andy Karl). He will play Richard Spruce, "the cop in charge of the robbery at the River Run Tribal Gaming Casino." (Deadline.com)
STEPS (ABC) - Ginnifer Goodwin and Barry Rothbart are the first to board the single-camera comedy pilot, a domestic take on the Swedish format "Bonus Family." She'll play Bea, "a modern hippie, in tune with her spirit, a great listener and a parent coach, who is making her perhaps the most-equipped to handle three kids with her new husband Paul, her ex-husband (Rothbart), and his ex-wife. She has a fantastic ability to understand others (except the odd time when it fails completely)." (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED BOBBY BOWMAN PROJECT (ABC) - Brooke Elliott ("Drop Dead Diva") is the first to be cast in the single-camera comedy pilot, inspired by Bowman's childhood growing up with a father with mental illness. She'll play Keri-Ann, "the mom of this amazing family. If she was a super-low-key, boring, ordinary person, it might help to balance out her husband, Buzz. Instead, she's the furthest thing from boring. She has a bit of diva in her and sometimes has a bit of wine in her, too. After working two jobs to support her husband as he worked on numerous Ph.D.s, she's finally getting a chance to devote time to her own career." (Deadline.com)





  [march 2018]  
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F
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· ABBY'S (NBC)
· BREEDERS (FX)
· CATASTROPHE (UNITED KINGDOM) (AMAZON)
· CRAZY WONDERFUL (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DROP DEAD DIVA (LIFETIME)
· FALSE PROFITS (ABC)
· FINEST, THE (ABC)
· GET CHRISTIE LOVE (ABC)
· GRAND HOTEL (ABC)
· HOMECOMING (AMAZON)
· INBETWEEN, THE (NBC)
· LIKE FAMILY (NBC)
· MRS. OTIS REGRETS (FOX)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· REL (FOX)
· SALVAGE (ABC)
· SINGLE PARENTS (ABC)
· SMILF (SHOWTIME)
· STATIES (ABC)
· STEPS (ABC)
· YOU'RE THE WORST (FXX)





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