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[01/29/21 - 11:19 PM]
Development Update: Friday, January 29
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!


AMERICAN GIGOLO (Showtime) - Leland Orser has joined the cast of the film-turned-TV series pilot as Richard Stratton, "a self-made tech billionaire who has fallen too deep into the untethered world of the ultra-wealthy, losing the love of his prized wife Michelle (Gretchen Mol), and his grip on morality along the way." (Deadline.com)
BLACK DON'T CRACK (ABC) - The Alphabet has given a pilot order to Regina Hicks's long-in-the-works multi-camera comedy, which "follows three former sorority sisters who lost touch after college and reunite during a pivotal point in their lives. They realize sometimes it’s okay to crack and when you do, no one will be there for you like your friends." Wilmore Films' Larry Wilmore and JuVee Productions' Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will also executive produce for ABC Signature. (Variety.com)
DEXTER LIMITED SERIES (Showtime) - David Magidoff is the latest bound for the revival season as Teddy: "The new guy. Been a cop in Iron Lake for two and a half weeks… really. Good-natured, quirky, hardworking, eager to please; and a little scared of his boss, Police Chief Angela Bishop (Julia Jones). At first glance, he seems timid and inexperienced, but when the rubber hits the road, he's a dependable badass... in his own way." (Deadline.com)
EPIC (ABC) - The network has ordered the Brigitte Hales-penned drama - described as "a romantic anthology series that reinvents fairy tales for a new audience" - to pilot. Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis likewise executive produce for ABC Signature. (Variety.com)
IN TREATMENT (HBO) - Joel Kinnaman has signed onto the Uzo Aduba-led revival season as Adam, "Brooke's long-time on-again, off-again boyfriend who has resurfaced, bringing further complication to Brooke's personal life." (Variety.com)
KATE & ALLIE (NBC, New!) - Erica Oyama is developing a reboot of the 1980s staple starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as "two best friends raising their kids together in one household. Like sister wives, only they don't have to pretend to love the same man with bad hair. Through their unconventional arrangement, the two prove romance isn't necessary to be a successful woman and mother." The network has given the project a put pilot commitment with Fierce Baby's Nahnatchka Khan; Propagate's Howard T. Owens and Ben Silverman; and Rodney Ferrell, Jen Carreras, Peter Principato, Brian Dobbins and Gregory Lipstone also executive producing for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)
MAGGIE (ABC, New!) - Maggie Mull and Justin Adler have scored a pilot order from the Alphabet for a single-camera comedy in which "a young woman tries to cope with life while coming to terms with her abilities as a psychic. She can see everyone's future, but her present is a mess." The project, based on the short film of the same name by Tim Curcio, is set up at 20th Television. Evan Hayes will also executive produce. (Variety.com)
MY BRILLIANT FRIEND (HBO) - Executive producer Jennifer Schuur has renewed her overall deal at the pay channel. (THR.com)
QUEENS (A.K.A. NASTY BITCHES) (ABC) - Zahir McGhee's drama - about "four estranged and out-of-touch women in their 40s reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had as the Nasty Bitches - their '90s group that made them legends in the hip-hop world." - is likewise heading to pilot at the Alphabet. Windpower Entertainment's Sabrina Wind will also executive produce for ABC Signature. (Variety.com)
VERBATIM (HBO Max) - Sara Gilbert, Rob Huebel, Leland Orser, Lyriq Bent, J.R. Cacia, Tate Donovan and Kevin Dunn have been cast opposite Chris Messina in the anthology series pilot. Messina is believed to be playing Rick Singer, with Gilbert as Laura Smith, "the lead FBI investigator on the case who also is narrating the pilot"; and Orser, Donovan and Dunn as "three of the wealthy parents charged in the bribing scandal (Bill McGlashan, Bruce Isackson and John Wilson, respectively)." The others' roles were not specified. (Deadline.com)
WILLOW (Disney+) - Jonathan Entwistle has been tapped to direct the debut installment of the film-turned-TV series. He succeeds Jon M. Chu, who had to bow out earlier this month. (THR.com)
WONDER YEARS, THE (ABC) - Saladin K. Patterson's reboot of the classic 1980s family comedy - "how a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama in the turbulent late 1960s, made sure it was The Wonder Years for them too" - has been given the green light to produce a pilot by the Alphabet. Fred Savage is on board to helm the single-camera pilot as well as executive produce alongside Lee Daniels and Marc Velez for 20th Television. (Variety.com)





  [january 2021]  
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· AMERICAN GIGOLO (SHOWTIME)
· BLACK DON'T CRACK (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEXTER: NEW BLOOD (SHOWTIME)
· EPIC (ABC)
· IN TREATMENT (HBO)
· KATE & ALLIE (NBC)
· MAGGIE (HULU)
· MY BRILLIANT FRIEND (HBO)
· QUEENS (ABC)
· VERBATIM (HBO MAX)
· WILLOW (DISNEY PLUS)
· WONDER YEARS, THE (ABC)





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