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[01/14/19 - 11:48 PM]
Development Update: Monday, January 14
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!


CLAWS (TNT) - Bernard White is the latest to recur on the series as Governor Vikram Patel III: "Equal parts carnality and ambition, Republican Governor Vikram Patel III is near the tail end of a wildly successful 4-year term when he swings into Desna's orbit, providing her with the missing piece to a dangerous puzzle." (Deadline.com)
COUNCIL OF DADS (NBC) - Joan Rater and Tony Phelan's drama - about a man who assembles a unique group of carefully chosen male friends to help his family adjust to a new normal after receiving a potentially terminal diagnosis - has scored a pilot order from the network. The project, based on Bruce Feiler's book of the same name, comes from Jerry Bruckheimer Television and the Universal Television-based Midwest Livestock Productions. (Deadline.com)
HIGHTOWN (Starz) - Riley Voelkel is the latest addition to the James Badge Dale/Monica Raymund-led drama as Renee Shaw: "Born and raised on the Cape, she's a survivor who has been shaped to believe relationships are transactional. Caustic at times, she keeps up an emotional wall only penetrable by her five-year-old son. The child is a product of her ongoing with relationship with Frankie, the biggest drug dealer on the Cape, who is currently serving time, which puts pressure on her from the police, leading her into a developing relationship with Detective Ray Abruzzo (Dale). She keeps her friends close and enemies closer." (Deadline.com)
HOMELAND (Showtime) - Nimrat Kaur and Numan Acar - who played Tasneem Qureshi, a member of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, and Haissam Haqqani, a Taliban leader, respectively, in the show's fourth season - are both due back for the upcoming eighth and final season. (Deadline.com)
HYPNOTIST'S LOVE STORY, THE (ABC) - The Heather Graham-led drama, based on the bestselling book by author Liane Moriarty, has scored a pilot order from the Alphabet. Katie Wech penned the script, which tracks successful hypnotherapist Ellen, who after a string of failed romances is optimistic about her current boyfriend, until he reveals a disturbing truth: a stalker ex-girlfriend Sasha (Graham) who has been following him for years. ABC Studios-based Mandeville Television is producing. (Deadline.com)
PERRY MASON (HBO) - Robert Downey, Jr. took to social media to reveal Matthew Rhys has been cast in the title role of his reboot for the pay channel, set in 1932 Los Angeles. Previously attached to star, Downey remains as an executive producer, alongside Susan Downey, Amanda Burrell, Joe Horaceck and writers Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald. It's understood once a director is attached, the limited series will head straight into production. Rhys will also receive a producing credit. (@RobertDowneyJr)
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: THE PERFECTIONISTS (Freeform) - Phillip Rhys has booked a recurring role on the spin-off series as Michael, "a smart and charismatic businessman who is keeping secrets of his own and has a tie to one of the Perfectionists." (Deadline.com)
RATCHED (Netflix) - The Sarah Paulson-led/Ryan Murphy-produced "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" prequel series has cast Jon Jon Briones, Charlie Carver, Judy Davis, Harriet Harris, Cynthia Nixon, Hunter Parrish, Amanda Plummer, Corey Stoll, Sharon Stone and Finn Wittrock in unspecified roles. Production is set to begin shortly. (@mrrpmurphy)
THIRTEEN (New!) - Writer Stefan Jaworski and director Michael Dinner are spearheading a new small screen take on Daniel Berman and Michael Oeming's Image Comics graphic novel "Six," about "a cold-blooded alien agent who comes to Earth to track down and bring back 12 alien defectors." Circle of Confusion is behind the project, which was previously shot as a pilot for FOX in 2007 titled "Them" by writer David Eick and director Jonathan Mostow. (Deadline.com)
TREADSTONE (USA) - The cable channel's small screen offshoot of the "Bourne" film franchise has cast Omar Metwally as Mr. Edwards, "a CIA agent who was ostracized by his colleagues after making a decision that left a fellow operative dead"; Tracy Ifeachor as Tara Coleman, "an investigative journalist who has turned her back on her career after getting too close to a dangerous truth"; Hyo Joo Han as SoYun, "a wife and mother who must make difficult choices that compromise her quiet family life in North Korea after she starts to learn about her own secret past"; Gabrielle Scharnitzky as Petra, "a no-nonsense Russian patriot who has committed her life to her country but has deep-seated knowledge of Russian tactics that come into play when she is betrayed"; and Emilia Schüle as "a Russian KGB agent who will stop at nothing to promote the agenda of her motherland." (Deadline.com)





  [january 2019]  
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F
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· CLAWS (TNT)
· COUNCIL OF DADS (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· HIGHTOWN (STARZ)
· HOMELAND (SHOWTIME)
· HYPNOTIST'S LOVE STORY, THE (ABC)
· PERRY MASON (HBO)
· PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: THE PERFECTIONISTS (FREEFORM)
· RATCHED (NETFLIX)
· THEM (FOX)
· TREADSTONE (USA)





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