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[02/27/12 - 11:40 PM]
Development Update: Monday, February 27
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!


THE ASSET (FOX) - Jamie Chung ("Samurai Girl") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about Anna King (Ali Larter), a globe-trotting CIA agent whose cover is that of a renowned photojournalist. She's set as May Kent, a polygraph expert with the CIA. Bradley Whitford also stars in the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which Neil Burger is directing from a script by Josh Friedman. (Deadline.com)


BABY BIG SHOT (CBS) - Janet Montgomery ("Human Target") has booked the lead role on the drama pilot, about a working-class woman who uses her street smarts to compete with her more polished colleagues at a Manhattan law firm. She's set as said woman, Martina Garretti ("sexy, mischievous and 27"), in the hour, which comes from Sony Pictures Television and creator Dana Calvo. (Deadline.com)


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (ABC) - Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham ("Amadeus") has joined the cast of the pilot, a drama set in a mythical city where its princess is tasked with quelling a rebellion. He's on board as Cyril, the palace's Chamberlain, "a wise and trusted but duplicitous man of state." Chris Egan and Darius Campbell also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, from writer Jonathan E. Steinberg and director Yves Simoneau. (Deadline.com)


THE CARRIE DIARIES (The CW) - AnnaSophia Robb ("Soul Surfer") has booked the title role while Katie Findlay and Ellen Wong have also been cast in the drama pilot, a "Sex and the City" prequel based on Candice Bushnell's recent book about the high school years of Carrie Bradshaw. Robb will play the titular role ("quirky, beautiful in an interesting way") with Findlay and Wong as pals Jill "The Mouse" Thompson ("intense, extremely bright and loyal") and Maggie Landres ("overtly sexy and working it"). Amy B. Harris penned the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which Miguel Arteta is attached to direct. (Deadline.com, Deadline.com)


CHICAGO FIRE (NBC) - David Eigenberg ("Sex and the City") has been cast in the pilot, an ensemble drama about the men and women of the Chicago Fire Department. He'll play one of them, Christopher Herrmann ("a tall, salt-of-the-earth family man"), who just lost his home to foreclosure and is now forced to move in with his in-laws. Eamonn Walker, Monica Raymund and Taylor Kinney also star in the Universal Television-based hour, which Jeffrey Nachmanoff will direct from a script by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt. (Deadline.com)


COUNTER CULTURE (ABC) - Emmy-winner Doris Roberts ("Everybody Loves Raymond") is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about three aging sisters running their family diner together in West Texas who find that sibling dynamics are always getting in the way of getting the job done. She'll play their Aunt Lee ("88, a meticulously coiffed belle with a doomsday attitude"), who works as the cashier. Stephnie Weir is behind the project, from ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television. Ted Wass is directing. (Deadline.com)


ELEMENTARY (CBS) - Lucy Liu ("Southland") has landed the female lead on the pilot, a drama which envisions Sherlock Holmes in the present day as a former Scotland Yard consultant who solves crimes for the NYPD. She'll play Joan Watson, a former surgeon who's hired by Holmes's brother to be his personal recovery assistant. CBS Television Studios is behind the hour, to be directed by Michael Cuesta from a script by Robert Doherty. (Deadline.com)


THE GOODWIN GAMES (FOX) - Jake Lacy ("Better With You") has snagged the remaining lead role on the comedy pilot, about three siblings who must heed to the idiosyncratic terms of their father's will to inherit his fortune. He'll play the youngest sibling Jimmy ("all heart, zero impulse control"), a scruffy petty thief who is has just gotten out of jail - yet again. Becki Newton, Felisha Terrell and Scott Foley also star in the 20th Century Fox Television-based half-hour, from director Peyton Reed and co-creators Carter Bays, Chris Harris and Craig Thomas. (Deadline.com)


GUILTY (FOX) - Cuba Gooding Jr., Julian Morris and Eva Amurri Martino have booked three of the principal roles on the drama pilot, about a brilliant, morally questionable defense attorney who, after being falsely convicted of fraud and stripped of his legal license, uses his unorthodox methods to solve the cases he's been prohibited from handling and to ultimately exact revenge on the men who set him up. Gooding will play said man William "Billy" Remz ("brilliant, charismatic -- Steve Jobs with a law degree") with Morris as Alex Sitterson ("he's physically, 25; intellectually, 60; emotionally, 6"), an eager young attorney whom Billy recruits to use as a proxy in the courtoom. Martino then is set as Lily Agostoni ("definitely pretty; Donna Karan pantsuit; multiple piercings; nose ring"), a lawyer at Billy's firm who embraces his brazen style. McG is helming the Warner Bros. Television-based hour from a script by Marc Guggenheim. (Deadline.com, THR.com, Variety.com)


LAST RESORT (ABC) - Robert Patrick ("The Unit") has scored a role on the drama pilot, about the crew of a nuclear submarine, who, after disobeying a suspicious order become fugitives and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. He'll presumably play Master Chief Joseph Prosser, "the rusty nail that holds the boat together; in charge of all the enlisted men; principled; believes in duty, honor, and the chain of command." Also starring in the ensemble are Andre Braugher, Autumn Reeser, Camille de Pazzis, Daisy Betts, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Sahr Ngaujah and Scott Speedman. (@ShawnRyanTV)


MASTERS OF SEX (Showtime) - Caitlin Fitzgerald ("Gossip Girl") has scored a role on the drama pilot, which chronicles the lives and the intriguing, unusual relationship between William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), the pioneers into the science of human sexuality, whose research touched off the sexual revolution. She'll play Masters's wife Libby in the project, which also stars Nick D'Agosto and Teddy Sears. Michelle Ashford penned the hour for Sony Pictures Television, to be directed by John Madden. (Deadline.com)


ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES (ABC) - Comedian Dustin Ybarra has scored a role on the pilot, a multi-camera comedy about two streetwise brothers and their aging grandfather as they concoct outrageous, morally questionable get-rich-quick schemes in their quest to become millionaires. He'll play one of the brothers, Rodney Trotter ("23, tall and dorky"), joining the previously cast John Leguizamo. Brian Bradley and Steven Cragg are behind the ABC Studios-based project, to be directed by Ted Wass. (Deadline.com)


PRAIRIE DOGS (ABC) - Dayo Okeniyi and Charlotte Newhouse have both been cast in the comedy pilot, about Neil (Kal Penn), an uncool cubicle worker at one of the coolest companies in the world, who becomes the victim of identity theft and engages the charismatic conman to help him change his life. They'll play his co-workers Mazi ("an earnest and cheerful African immigrant with an accent") and Charlotte ("has bad hair, bad clothes, but a lot of attitude"), joining the previously cast Dan Fogler and Michaela Watkins. Luke Greenfield is directing the ABC Studios-based half-hour from a script by Jackie and Jeff Filgo. (Deadline.com, Deadline.com)


REVOLUTION (NBC) - Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad") has joined the cast of the pilot, a drama about a group of people struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist. He's set as Captain Neville, "a hard-as-steel military man with a genteel southern manner who may not always be what he seems." Writer Eric Kripke and director Jon Favreau are behind the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which also stars Anna Lise Phillips, Graham Rogers and Tracy Spiradakos. (Deadline.com)


THE SELECTION (The CW) - Ethan Peck ("10 Things I Hate About You") has snagged a role on the pilot, a drama set 300 years in the future about a poor woman (Aimee Teegarden) who is chosen by lottery to compete to become the next queen of a war-torn nation. He'll play Prince Maxon ("25, handsome, and regal"), the fellow whom one young lady from each of its 35 provinces is chosen to come to the Palace and vie for his hand. Mark Piznarski is directing the Warner Bros. Television-based hour from a script by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED KEVIN WILLIAMSON PROJECT (FOX) - Jeananne Goossen ("Alcatraz") has scored the female lead on the drama pilot, about Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and retired FBI profiler Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), who finds himself in the middle of it. She's set as Jennifer Mason ("30's, attractive, all business"), the FBI agent who teams with Hardy. Shawn Ashmore and Valorie Curry co-star in the project, from Warner Bros. Television and director Marcos Siega. (Deadline.com)


THE WIDOW DETECTIVE (CBS) - Elyes Gabel ("Game of Thrones") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about Denny Brennan (yet to be cast), a decorated detective who has lost three partners in the line of duty and serves as the male figure in the lives of his fallen partners' families. He'll play Troy Vargas ("27, brooding good looks; no longer the kid Denny used to know"), the son of one of the widows who requests to be Denny's partner at the LAPD. CBS Television Studios is behind the hour, from writer David Hubbard and director Davis Guggenheim. (Deadline.com)


ZERO HOUR (ABC) - Addison Timlin ("Californication") has scored a role on the drama pilot, about Hank (yet to be cast), a skeptical everyman who gets swept up in one of history's greatest conspiracies: a spectacular mystery surrounding the Twelve Apostles. She'll play Rachel ("22; the ballsy, intellectual queen of parkour & coffee shops"), one of Hank's employees at his magazine, Modern Skeptic. Scott Michael Foster also stars in the ABC Studios-based hour, from writer Paul Scheuring and Pierre Morel. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Alan Ball is set to step down as showrunner of "True Blood" following its upcoming fifth season (EW.com); James Spader will depart "The Office" after the current season, in what was intended to be a single season arc (EW.com); George Lopez has teamed with Debmar-Mercury to develop a comedy series a la Charlie Sheen's upcoming "Anger Management" (THR.com); and "Trisha," Trisha Goddard's syndicated talk show - a spin-off of NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution's "Maury" - has been cleared in more than 80% of the country, including 27 of the top 30 markets (Deadline.com).






  [february 2012]  
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· 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (ABC FAMILY)
· ALCATRAZ (FOX)
· ASSET, THE (FOX)
· BEAUTY & THE BEAST (ABC)
· BETTER WITH YOU (ABC)
· BREAKING BAD (AMC)
· CALIFORNICATION (SHOWTIME)
· CARRIE DIARIES, THE (CW)
· CHICAGO FIRE (NBC)
· COUNTER CULTURE (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· ELEMENTARY (CBS)
· EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (CBS)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
· GOODWIN GAMES, THE (FOX)
· GOSSIP GIRL (CW)
· GUILTY (FOX)
· HUMAN TARGET (FOX)
· KINGS OF VAN NUYS (ABC)
· LAST RESORT (ABC)
· MADE IN JERSEY (CBS)
· MASTERS OF SEX (SHOWTIME)
· MAURY (SYNDICATION)
· OFFICE, THE (NBC)
· PRAIRIE DOGS (ABC)
· REVOLUTION (NBC)
· SAMURAI GIRL (ABC FAMILY)
· SELECTION, THE - 2012 VERSION (CW)
· SEX AND THE CITY (HBO)
· SOUTHLAND (TNT)
· TRISHA GODDARD (SYNDICATION)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· UNIT, THE (CBS)
· WIDOW DETECTIVE, THE (CBS)
· ZERO HOUR (ABC)





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