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[08/08/25 - 11:31 PM]
Development Update: Week of August 4-8
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!


9-1-1: NASHVILLE (ABC) - Singer Kane Brown will drop by the show's debut in which he "proves heroic in a major storyline." (Variety.com, 8/7)
ANNA PIGEON (USA Network) - The Tracy Spiridakos-led newcomer has tapped Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz as Manny López, "a gentle soul and recovering addict, Manny finds peace in the park as an education park ranger"; Ryan Northcott as Geoff Miller, "the Park Supervisor of Glacier National Park and Anna's boss"; Cooper Levy as Jesse Garland, "a bartender and environmentalist, is Anna's on-again-off-again love interest"; Jordan Sledz as Zach Redhill, "a classically trained actor and a love interest from Anna's past"; Crystle Lightning as Frieda Dierkz, "the dispatcher and backbone of the park, who makes it her business to know everyone else's business"; and Nikki Hallow as Christina Clark, "an admin at the Park and a single mother going through a difficult divorce who takes special pride in caring for the rangers." (Variety.com, 8/6; Deadline.com, 8/8)
CHICAGO FIRE (NBC) - Departing series regular Daniel Kyri's Jake Lockett will return for at least one episode this season. (Deadline.com, 8/4)
CRUEL SUMMER (Freeform) - A third season of the 2021-23 series is in development at the cable channel and sibling Hulu. Olivia Holt would star in and executive produce the new season, reprising her role of Kate Wallis from the show's first season, with Cori Uchida and Adam Lash as showrunners and executive producers. Iron Ocean's Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple would likewise return to executive produce for Lionsgate Television. (Variety.com, 8/8)
CUPERTINO (CBS) - Mike Colter has signed on to star in the proposed drama as "a lawyer fired by a Silicon Valley start-up intending to cheat him out of his stock options. Refusing to back down, he joins forces with another recently fired attorney to represent those taken advantage of by the tech elite, and help them fight back in a high-stakes battle against the Goliaths controlling Silicon Valley." The Eye has commissioned 13 scripts for the project in lieu of a traditional pilot order. (Deadline.com, 8/6)
DO YOU WANT KIDS? (ABC) - The Rachel Bloom-led single-camera comedy has been formally ordered to pilot by the Alphabet. Dan Gregor, Steven Levitan and Danielle Stokdyk are also among the executive producers for 20th Television. (Deadline.com, 8/7)
ELSBETH (CBS) - The Eye has slated the first wave of guest stars this season: Stephen Colbert as "the host of fictitious late-night program Way Late With Scotty Bristol"; Amy Sedaris as Laurel Hammond-Muntz, "the headstrong and devoted head writer and executive producer of the popular late-night talk show Way Late"; Andy Richter as Mickey Muntz, "the hilarious but long-suffering sidekick to Scotty Bristol (Stephen Colbert), the host of Way Late"; and Lindsay Mendez as Grace Hackett, "a hard-working officer and an aspiring stand-up comic when off the clock." (Vulture.com, 8/4; Deadline.com, 8/8)
GILDED AGE, THE (HBO) - Director/executive producer Salli Richardson-Whitfield has signed a two-year extension on her overall deal at HBO. (Deadline.com, 8/6)
GOOSEBUMPS (Disney+) - The streamer has nixed the anthology series after two seasons. (Variety.com, 8/7)
KILLER CLASS (ABC, New!) - Writers Joe Webb, Steven Lilien, and Bryan Wynbrandt are set to team with director Ken Kwapis for a series adaptation of Keith Sharon's article of the same name about "a Tennessee high school social studies teacher who created an after school forensics class. The students in the class were given cold case files and, remarkably, they managed to crack a few. Inspired by true events, Killer Class tracks the unexpected formation of an HS Forensics Club that proves shockingly effective at solving real cold cases." Alex Beattie and Rachel Kaplan will executive produce alongside the quartet for In Cahoots, Absecon Entertainment and 20th Television. Reynolds Anderson co-executive produces. (Deadline.com, 8/4)
LANTERNS (HBO) - Cary Christopher has been added to the DC Comics adaptation as Young Noah, "a polite and charming small-town kid. Quite gifted for his age and effortlessly good at whatever he tries, he's happiest when passing a football." (Deadline.com, 8/6)
MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED (Apple TV+) - The Tatiana Maslany-led comedy series has added Charlie Hall as Rudy, "a fellow fact-checker and Geri's work buddy"; Kiarra Hamagami Goldberg as Geri, "a fact-checker at a prestigious New York publication"; Jessy Hodges as Mallory, "Paula's ex-husband's new wife, and a sharp lawyer"; Jon Michael Hill as Detective Baxter; and Nola Wallace as Hazel, "Paula (Maslany) and Karl's (Jake Johnson) daughter." (Deadline.com, 8/7)
MEMORY OF A KILLER (FOX) - The Patrick Dempsey-led drama has cast Daniel David Stewart as Jeff, "Angelo's (Dempsey) son-in-law, married to his daughter Maria (Odeya Rush)"; and Peter Gadiot as Dave, "a local police detective in sleepy Hudson Springs who has no idea a world class hitman is living there right under his nose, or that Angelo (Dempsey) is that hitman." (Deadline.com, 8/7)
PHONY (Hulu) - The streamer has ordered the Connie Britton/Sam Nivola-led comedy pilot to series: "Phony is a coming-of-age mystery about a teenager who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident to discover his mom - his only parent and his best friend - appears to have been replaced by an impostor." Anthony King has joined the project as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside creator/director Nick Paley, Britton, Charlie Alderman, Drew Goddard and Sarah Esberg for 20th Television. (Deadline.com, 8/7)
PRODIGIES (Apple TV+) - The Ayo Edebiri/Will Sharpe-led comedy series has tapped Tobias Menzies, Reece Shearsmith, Yumi Asō, Andrene Ward-Hammond, Sophia Di Martino, Nabhaan Rizwan, Meera Syal, and Lolly Adefope for unspecified roles. (Deadline.com, 8/6)
TRAILER PARK BOYS, THE (Netflix) - Filming has wrapped on a 13th season of the mockumentary series for "the newly-launched TPB+ streaming service in time for the series' 25th birthday." Deborah Grover, Jordan Prentice, Hal Bissonette, Noah Al Maktoomi, Uppekha Jain and Courtney Gilmour are among the additions for the 10-episode season, which was produced in association with Blink49 Studios. (Deadline.com, 8/6)
TRYING (Apple TV+) - The veteran comedy series has cast Celia Imrie as Harriet, "a stubborn upper-class hoarder who Jason encounters while training for a new job"; Gbemisola Ikumelo as Chrissy, "a ground-down-by-the-job social worker who mentors Jason"; and Colin Morgan as Kerry, "Nikki's handsome co-worker who exudes confidence and a laid-back charm." (Deadline.com, 8/4)
UNACCUSTOMED EARTH (Netflix) - The Freida Pinto-led drama has cast Indraneil Sengupta as Jai; Adi Roy as Kaushik; and Iyla Sundarsingh McKaig as Hema. No other details were given. (Variety.com, 8/7)
UNTITLED EMILY RATAJKOWSKI PROJECT (Apple TV, New!) - Emily Ratajkowski is attached to star in a potential series at the streamer and A24 "exploring female identity and modern motherhood." She'll also co-write the project alongside author Stephanie Danler with Lena Dunham executive producing under her Good Thing Going label. (Deadline.com, 8/8)
VOUGHT RISING (Amazon) - Mason Dye, KiKi Layne, Jorden Myrie, Nicolò Pasetti, Ricky Staffieri, and Brian J. Smith are the latest additions to "The Boys" prequel series. Dye is rumored to be playing "a junkie who was former combat pilot"; with Layne as "a Harlem housewife with ambitions"; and the others as unspecified characters. (Deadline.com, 8/7)
WILL TRENT (ABC) - Star/executive producer Ramón Rodríguez has signed a new multi-year first-look deal with 20th Television. Additionally, Kevin Daniels's Franklin Wilks will return as a regular for the series' fourth season. (Deadline.com, 8/7; Deadline.com, 8/8)
Y: MARSHALS (CBS) - Logan Marshall-Green has boarded the "Yellowstone" spin-off series as Pete Calvin, "a friend from Kayce's (Luke Grimes) time in the military." (Deadline.com, 8/6)





  [august 2025]  
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· 9-1-1: NASHVILLE (ABC)
· ANNA PIGEON (USA)
· CHICAGO FIRE (NBC)
· CRUEL SUMMER (FREEFORM)
· CUPERTINO (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DO YOU WANT KIDS? (ABC)
· ELSBETH (CBS)
· GILDED AGE, THE (HBO)
· GOOSEBUMPS (DISNEY PLUS)
· KILLER CLASS (ABC)
· LANTERNS (HBO)
· MARSHALS (CBS)
· MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED (APPLE TV PLUS)
· MEMORY OF A KILLER (FOX)
· PHONY (HULU)
· PRODIGIES (APPLE TV PLUS)
· TRAILER PARK BOYS (NETFLIX)
· TRYING (APPLE TV PLUS)
· UNACCUSTOMED EARTH (NETFLIX)
· UNTITLED EMILY RATAJKOWSKI PROJECT (APPLE TV PLUS)
· VOUGHT RISING (AMAZON)
· WILL TRENT (ABC)





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