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!
CHA$E (Sci Fi) - Trey Farley has been tapped to host the upcoming game show, which involves a large scale game of tag played out in real time over 60 minutes throughout landmark locations in Los Angeles. The series, from Buena Vista Productions and Realand Productions, rolls out on Tuesday, November 11 at 10:00/9:00c on the cable channel. Rick Telles is the executive producer.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS) - Tribune, Fox and CBS owned-and-operated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston and Washington have all placed bids with Twentieth Television for the show's off-network run. It's believed said offers could drive "Mother's" syndication value to $350 million in its first cycle, due in the fall of 2010. On the cable side, TBS, Lifetime, ABC Family, FX, Comedy Central and Spike TV have all made a play for the show, one (or two) of which could land weekly repeats of the series by the end of the year. It's believed that "Mother's" solid performance among adults 18-49 and the lack of competing series in the genre are the driving forces behind interest in the show.
NIP/TUCK (FX) - Co-stars Julian McMahon, Dylan Walsh, Joely Richardson, Kelly Carlson and Roma Maffia have all entered talks with FX to renegotiate their salaries on the show's final season, which is about to begin production. The group is focusing on FX since, while Warner Bros. Television holds each actor's contract, the network was actually behind the their most recent pay bump, which came in the form of bonuses. McMahon and Walsh both earn about $125,000 an episode and are hoping to double their salaries while Richardson netted around $100,000 per episode and also is looking for a significant bump. Chief among their arguments for an increase: the show's final episodes won't roll out until 2011 and other networks might be reluctant to cast them in new roles while their "Nip/Tuck" characters still appear on FX. In any case, the negotiations aren't expected to derail production. The series returns for the back half of its already completed fifth season in January.
UNTITLED IAN BIEDERMAN PROJECT (FOX, New!) - "Shark" creator Ian Biederman has booked a new drama at the network about a female heart surgeon who's also suffering from schizophrenia. The project, which a script commitment with a modest penalty attached, is set up at former "Shark" producers 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television. Biederman is in the middle of an overall deal at the former studio.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|