 |
 |
[10/01/08 - 06:08 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, October 1
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!
EVERYBODY HURTS (HBO, New!) - Iconic producer Norman Lear is developing a new drama at the pay channel about a family running a pro-wrestling business in 1970s New York, the lives of their wrestlers and their fans. Aaron Blitzstein ("The Riches") is penning the pilot script, which Lear will executive produce alongside Lara Bergthold via his Act III Productions banner. Blitzstein then will serve as a co-executive producer.
GLEE (FOX) - Cory Monteith ("Kaya") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a Spanish teacher (Matthew Morrison) suddenly called upon to coach the glee club at the high school - one of the worst in the nation. He'll play Finn Hudson, who's detailed in the casting notice as follows: "18+ or emancipated to play high school. A handsome jock, who looks too kind to be hanging out with the rest of the slope-browed Neanderthals on the Harrison High football team, Finn in fact has an excellent singing voice, and a slumbering passion for classic 80s rock. A kid who has the collected works of Journey committed to memory, Finn is blackmailed by Will Schuester into joining the Glee Club, and in fact Finn finds music to be more fun than grunting and butting heads with other guys. Mercilessly mocked by his buddies for joining the Glee Club, Finn proves to have an acerbically accurate vision of the nature of high school society, and clearly regards it all as an exercise in futile time-wasting." Jayma Mays and Lea Michele also star in the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which comes from co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.
THE GRAYSONS (The CW, New!) - "Smallville" executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson are set to team with "Supernatural" executive producer McG for a small screen take on the life of DC Comics hero Dick "DJ" Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman. The netlet has given a put pilot commitment to the hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television and McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision banner. Souders, Peterson, McG and Wonderland's Peter Johnson then are the executive producers with Souders and Peterson penning the script. No specifics about the show's mythology however were given.
THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY (NBC, New!)/UNTITLED JEFF RAKE DRAMA PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Jeff Rake ("Cashmere Mafia") has booked a pair of projects at NBC and FOX. First up is a single-camera take on the classic 1970-74 sitcom "The Partridge Family." Reveille, Geffen Records and Sony Pictures Television are co-producing the half-hour, which will be reimagined to feature a struggling, sort of well-meaning mom pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow. Over at FOX, Rake has an untitled hour inspired by the government's real-life Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The project then tracks "a Pentagon-based inventor who decided he couldn't live another day standing on the sidelines while Rome burns and accordingly set out put his inventions to very real use, behind the back of friends, family and the entire U.S. government." Mitch Hurwitz, Eric and Kim Tannenbaum's Sony Television-based Tantamount is behind the hour, which Anthony and Joe Russo are attached to direct. Both projects have a script commitment with a penalty attached should they not move forward.
THE TOWER (CBS) - "K-Ville" alum Cole Hauser has sealed a talent deal with CBS and its studio sibling CBS Paramount Network Television. The pact calls for the pair to develop a new series project for the actor, who starred in the recent CBS pilot "The Tower," or cast him in one of their existing projects in development.
UNTITLED VALERILE BERTINELLI PROJECT (TBS) - Nadia Dajani, Kevin G. Schmidt and Dean Collins are the latest additions to the comedy pilot, which stars Valerie Bertinelli as Claire Peterson, a newly separated woman who is raising two teens while running a lumber business. Dajani will play Lisa Capelli, whom the casting notice details as follows: "Late 30s, all ethnicities, with a larger-than-life personality, Lisa is Claire's next door neighbor, best friend and confidante. A tough-minded single woman who makes a decent living as a magazine photo-journalist, Lisa has held Claire's hand throughout her divorce from the infamously irresponsible Gary Peterson. It's not just a one-way street; Lisa gets to chow down on Claire's vanilla pecan waffles in exchange for her gruff, down-to-earth advice about men and divorce and post-divorce trauma. Lisa's also good in a pinch for a short-term loan to help Claire cover this month's mortgage."
Schmidt then is set as Daniel Peterson - "To play 16 years old, insecure but bright and quick-witted. Daniel is Claire's son, and the divorce will force him to grow up faster than either one of them would like, complicating their relationship. His lousy job at a cheese store is barely tolerable, since it will pay this avid fisherman enough to buy a new dinghy, and let him fish his beloved Wisconsin lakes. Best friends with the mischievous and somewhat unreliable Hunter, Daniel is having a hard time dealing with his parents' divorce, but he's hiding it quite well. When his mom balks at spending money to repair the dryer, Daniel gets fed up with wearing sopping jeans, and buckles down to the grinding task of installing a new motor in the dryer, with Hunter's questionable aid. It's his first decision as the man of the house." with Collins as Hunter - "About 16, all ethnicities. Hunter is Daniel's mischievous, kinda girl-crazy best friend. Not the most dependable guy on Earth, Hunter is just as obsessive about fishing as Daniel -- but with Hunter, fishing is just another of a long series of time-wasters. Not a detail-oriented guy (Hunter would rather ogle than focus), he assists Daniel in the dull task of putting a new motor in the dryer, and Daniel fixes the appliance in spite of Hunter's questionable help." The trio joins the previously cast Anjelah Johnson and Juliette Goglia on the project, which comes from creator Dave Caplan.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [october 2008]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[01/08/25 - 10:15 AM]
"The View" Expands with New Streaming Series "The Weekend View" on ABC News Live, Premiering Jan. 11
The 30-minute weekend expansion will be hosted by the talk show's Friday panel, with moderator Joy Behar and co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro.
|
[01/08/25 - 10:00 AM]
Video: Prime Video Releases Official Trailer for the Highly Anticipated Third and Final Season of "Harlem"
From creator and writer Tracy Oliver, "Harlem" season three will follow the core four women on the precipice of change like never before.
|
[01/08/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "W.A.G.s to Riches" - Official Trailer - Netflix
They're the wives and girlfriends of famous athletes and rap stars, but these stylishly smart W.A.G.s call the shots in this soapy reality series.
|
[01/08/25 - 08:39 AM]
Great American Media Announces Theatrical Film, "Average Joe," Starring Eric Close and Amy Acker, Streams Exclusively on Pure Flix Beginning January 23
Named one of 12 Best Christian films of 2024 by Crosswalk.com, this legal drama and inspiring true story follows a high school football coach who fought for his right to express his religious beliefs publicly, leading to a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
|
[01/08/25 - 08:00 AM]
Video: Prime Video Debuts Official Trailer for "Reacher" Season Three
The eight-episode season will roll out weekly, with the first three episodes premiering on Thursday, February 20, and subsequent episodes dropping every Thursday through March 27, 2025, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
|
[01/08/25 - 07:48 AM]
Nominations Announced for the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
The 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, produced by Silent House Productions in partnership with SAG-AFTRA, will stream live globally on Netflix Sunday, February 23 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.
|
[01/08/25 - 07:31 AM]
Video: "Prison Cell 211" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When a dedicated lawyer is trapped inside a border town prison during a riot, he must navigate a dangerous web of intrigue and violence to survive.
|
[01/08/25 - 06:15 AM]
Video: Apple TV+ Debuts Trailer for Season Four of Hit Workplace Comedy "Mythic Quest"
The new 10-episode season will premiere globally on Wednesday, January 29 on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode weekly through Wednesday, March 26.
|
[01/08/25 - 06:00 AM]
Video: New Trailer - Hulu Original Series "The Best Heart Attack of My Life"
Based on the eponymous book by Argentine author Hernán Casciari and inspired by real events, "The Best Heart Attack of My Life" follows a frustrated writer who survives a heart attack thanks to the help of his hosts at the temporary rental house where he is staying.
|
[01/08/25 - 06:00 AM]
CNN Films Brings the Television Premiere of "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" to CNN on Sunday, February 2 at 9pm ET/PT
CNN Films will broadcast the television premiere of the acclaimed feature documentary, a moving and cinematic account of a man who not only embodied a hero on screen but became a symbol of hope.
|
[01/08/25 - 05:01 AM]
Video: "Mo" Season 2 - Official Trailer - Netflix
Desperate to return to his family, Mo juggles asylum troubles and side hustles as his relationship with Maria is threatened by an unruly rival.
|
[01/07/25 - 04:15 PM]
"Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Demos for the Week of Dec. 30 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw increases year to year in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54) and Adults 18-49.
|
[01/07/25 - 03:01 PM]
Video: "Good Cop/Bad Cop" - Season 1 Trailer - Leighton Meester, Luke Cook, Clancy Brown
The one-hour procedural dramedy centers around Lou (Leighton Meester) and Henry (Luke Cook), an odd couple sister and brother detective team in a small Pacific Northwest police force.
|
[01/07/25 - 01:32 PM]
"Sunday Night Football" on NBC and Peacock Delivers Best Viewership Since 2015 & Pacing to Be Primetime's #1 Show for Unprecedented 14th Consecutive Year
"Sunday Night Football" averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 21.6 million viewers for the 2024 season - the show's best viewership since 2015 and up 1% from last season (21.4 million), according to official national live plus same day data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
|
[01/07/25 - 12:10 PM]
Bravo's Emmy Award-Nominated "Below Deck Down Under" Cruises to the Seychelles as Season Three Premieres on Monday, Feb. 3 at 8 P.M. ET/PT
Capt. Jason Chambers, Chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph and Deckhand Harry Van Vliet will return for the new season.
|
|
|
|
