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[09/16/20 - 11:05 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, September 16
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!


HAPPY FACE (CBSAA, New!) - Jennifer Cacicio is spearheading a small screen take on the iHeartMedia podcast of the same name, which "tells the story of Melissa Moore, who at age 15 discovered that her father, Keith Hunter Jesperson, was a serial murderer, known as the Happy Face Killer because he drew smiley faces on his letters to the media and prosecutors. As an adult, Moore has changed her name, guarded her secret and cut off all ties to her father who is currently serving life in prison. But when he contacts her to take credit for more victims, she is pulled into an extraordinary investigation into her father's crimes, the impact they had on his victims' families and ultimately into reckoning with her own identity." The project is set up at the CBS Television Studios-based King Size Productions with Robert King, Michelle King and Jennifer Cacicio likewise executive producing. A writers' room has been opened for the potential series. (Deadline.com)
HAPPY FOR YOU (ABC, New!) - Taylor Cox has sold a single-camera comedy to the Alphabet in which "when the youngest of three sisters announces she's getting married first, it sends her older, unmarried sisters - and their newly separated mother - into an existential tailspin." The project, which has a penalty attached, will also be executive produced by the 20th Television-based Kim Rosenstock. (Deadline.com)
KUNG FU (The CW) - Vanessa Kai has joined the cast of the upcoming drama as Pei-Ling Zhang, "a skilled fighter, spiritual guide, and mentor to Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), one of dozens of monks that lived and trained in an all-female Shaolin temple buried deep in the mountains of Yuanyang province. After her tragic death at the hands of a mysterious assassin, Pei-Ling lives on in Nicky's memory, evoking the lessons and skills her mentor taught her at the monastery. But as Nicky hunts down Pei-Ling's murderer, she will discover her beloved Sifu had her own dark secrets… and will learn that Pei-Ling's past might hold the key to Nicky's future." (Deadline.com)
MINX (HBO Max) - Ophelia Lovibond has booked the lead role on the comedy pilot, which "centers on Joyce (Lovibond), an earnest young feminist who dreams of producing a magazine by, for and about women and joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women." (Deadline.com)
STUMPTOWN (ABC) - The Alphabet has opted not to move forward with the show's previously ordered second season. Said report indicates "a timing issue related to the production start delay made it impossible for the show to be ready for a fall launch when the network had scheduling needs for the 2020-21 season." Adding, "[the new season] would not have been ready until April, which is the end of the broadcast season, ultimately leading to the cancellation. " Producer ABC Signature plans to shop the series elsewhere. (Deadline.com)





  [september 2020]  
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· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· HAPPY FACE (PARAMOUNT PLUS)
· HAPPY FOR YOU (ABC)
· KUNG FU (CW)
· MINX (STARZ)
· STUMPTOWN (ABC)





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