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[08/07/08 - 07:01 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, August 7
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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!
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? (FOX) - The network has ordered nine additional episodes of the series, bringing its third season total to 22 hours. Mark Burnett Productions and Zoo Productions are behind the project, which shifts to Friday nights starting September 5. Jeff Foxworthy hosts.
THE CONVERSATION (AMC) - Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 feature is once again being eyed for the small screen, this time at AMC. Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") and Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") are penning the latest adaptation, following their previous pass for ABC/ABC Studios in 2006. Tony Krantz and Coppola are also returning via their respective companies Flame Ventures and American Zoetrope for Sony Pictures Television. McQuarrie, Jendresen and Heather McQuarrie then will executive produce alongside Krantz. As for specifics, the new incarnation will center on electronic surveillance expert Harry Caul (played by Gene Hackman in the film) as he works as an eavesdropper with a larger, ongoing storyline about who's monitoring him as he hears conversations he shouldn't be privy to. The AMC version will also bet set in the 1970s, unlike the ABC version which was set in present day. Prior to ABC, Krantz sold a version to NBC in 1995 as an agent, with Ron Bass writing and Kyle MacLachlan attached to star.
DROP DEAD DIVA (Lifetime) - Golden Brooks ("Girlfriends") and April Bowlby ("Two and a Half Men") are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about Deb, a dead aspiring actress-model who is reincarnated in the body of Jane (Brooke Elliott), a chubby, brilliant attorney. Brooks is set as Kim Kastle, who's detailed via the casting notice as: "Late 20s-Mid 30s, all ethnicities, in a Michael Kors suit, with a blue Hermes bag. Kim is a partner at the same law firm as Jane. Confident, savvy, manipulative and rather bitchy, she is not as smart as Jane, or as well liked by the clients, but she does know how to play the office politics game. For Kim, "everything's a competition. Every woman, a threat. Every man, a conquest"." And Bowlby then is playing Stacy Punt: "Early 20s, all ethnicities, "Sports Illustrated swimsuit sexy," a vapid but sweet young woman. She is Deb's best friend. Shallow, but with a gushy, fun personality, she is offended when Deb suggests she get a job and tells her, "I'm a model." Later, Stacy is the only person in whom Jane (Deb) confides about her rather unusual situation." Jackson Hurst and Margaret Cho also star in the Sony Pictures Television-based hour, which James Hayman is helming from a script by Josh Berman.
THE INFORMANT (FOX, New!) - Tom Szentgyorgyi ("Journeyman") is developing a domestic take on the Australian series of the same name, about Richard Button, a regular middle-class suburban dad who works as a police informant for an elite federal investigative agency. Greg Haddrick was behind the original version. 20th Century Fox Television and Alchemy Entertainment are co-producing.
LOVELAND (FOX, New!) - The network is reportedly close to importing the upcoming U.K. dating series, in which participants select their dates based on interactions with computer-generated versions of potential suitors. Jo Pine created the format, which comes from Tom Gutteridge's Standing Stone Productions. Antwerp animation house Nazooka is behind the technology used in the show, which is set to roll out on Sky One later this season, as is a web-based version of the format.
SHAWN RYAN PROJECTS (Various, New!) - "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan has set up three new projects around town - "The Lead Sheet" at A&E, "Millionaires Club" at FOX and an untitled hour at FX. That's in addition to "Confessions of a Contractor" at CBS, which was announced earlier this week. All four stem from his overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. "Sheet," created by author James Ellroy, chronicles the hunt for the infamous Hillside Strangler - a prolific serial killer who tortured, raped and killed young women in 1977-78 in the hills above Los Angeles. The series then follows three police officers and two DAs as they investigate the killer, with each episode of the crime procedural starting with a tip leading to a violent crime that may or may not be related to the Strangler. Ellroy is penning the hour and executive producing alongside his manager Joel Gotler. As for "Club," the single-camera comedy revolves around a ragtag group of wannabe millionaires who keep coming up with ill-fated plots to get rich. "Semi-Pro" helmer Kent Alterman attached to direct the half-hour from a script by Ryan. And finally, Ryan is teaming with "Ocean's Eleven" writer Ted Griffin for the FX project, which is billed as a comedic drama about a private eye. Ryan is executive producing each via his MiddKid Productions banner with 20th producing the broadcast projects and Fox 21 shepherding the cable projects.
TREME (HBO) - Khandi Alexander ("CSI: Miami") and "The Wire" alums Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, a post-Katrina-themed drama which chronicles the rebuilding of New Orleans through the eyes of local musicians. David Simon and Eric Overmyer are behind the hour, which is also executive produced by Nina Noble for Simon's Blown Deadline Productions. As for specifics, Pierce will play Antoine Batiste, "an accomplished jazz trombonist who is now scratching for gigs, trying to support a live-in girlfriend and a new baby, while still carrying a torch for a failed marriage to Ladonna Batiste (Alexander), the mother of his two children, who is single-handedly keeping her bar afloat," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Peters then is set as Albert Lambreaux, a big chief of the White Feather Nation trying to bring the tribe's members home.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[05/17/24 - 10:31 AM]
FOX Entertainment Global Acquires International Distribution Rights to All-New Docu-Soap "Billion Dollar Playground"
FEG will distribute eight one-hour episodes of the program to networks and platforms outside of Australia.
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[05/17/24 - 10:05 AM]
Bazinga! Televisions #1 Comedy for Five Consecutive Years "Young Sheldon" Series Finale Is Most Watched Episode in Four Seasons
The series finale (8:30pm) was the #1 show of the night with 8.95 million viewers.
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[05/17/24 - 10:01 AM]
Emmy-Nominated Series "Off Script with The Hollywood Reporter" Reveals Full All-Star Lineup
Hosted Yvonne Orji, the five episodes feature themed episodes for Comedy Actress, Drama Actor and Comedy Actor, for which guests were previously announced, as well as newly announced panels for Drama Actress and Stand-Up.
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[05/17/24 - 09:13 AM]
Husband and Wife Team Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen to Host "Dinner and a Movie," Returning with New Episodes Every Saturday Beginning June 1 on TBS
Featuring new episodes every Saturday, the longtime off-screen couple will co-host "Dinner and a Movie" beginning June 1 at 8pm ET/PT with the DC blockbuster "Aquaman" starring Jason Momoa.
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[05/17/24 - 08:01 AM]
First Look & Date Announcement: Onyx Collective's "Reasonable Doubt"
Jax Stewart makes her highly anticipated return on August 22 with two episodes.
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[05/17/24 - 03:18 AM]
"Maxton Hall - The World Between Us" Is Being Renewed for a Second Season on Prime Video Following Global Success
The second season of the series has been confirmed, with Damian Hardung and Harriet Herbig-Matten returning in the lead roles as James and Ruby.
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[05/16/24 - 02:39 PM]
ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Schedule Update: First Place Philadelphia Phillies to Host St. Louis Cardinals on June 2
On June 2, the first place Philadelphia Phillies and Bryce Harper will host the St. Louis Cardinals and Nolan Arenado at 7 p.m. ET.
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[05/16/24 - 12:48 PM]
Lifetime's "Theresa Caputo: Raising Spirits" All-New Specials Beginning in June
Starting June 3, Lifetime will premiere the first of four "Theresa Caputo: Raising Spirits" specials from Magilla Entertainment.
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[05/16/24 - 12:35 PM]
Bang! ESPN Platforms to Exclusively Televise 2024 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by AT&T: Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks/Indiana Pacers Winner
A pair of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame broadcasters - play-by-play voice Mike Breen and analyst Doris Burke - team up with analyst JJ Redick and reporter Lisa Salters to call the series.
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[05/16/24 - 12:33 PM]
FX, Hulu and the James Clavell Estate Are Working to Create More Seasons of the Critically Acclaimed Global Hit "Shogun"
The show's key creative partners including Co-Creators, Executive Producers and Writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, Executive Producer Michaela Clavell, and series star and producer Hiroyuki Sanada are on board for the development.
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[05/16/24 - 11:01 AM]
"The Mole" Season 2 - New Host & Release Date Announcement
Ari Shapiro will host the new three-week event beginning June 28.
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[05/16/24 - 10:04 AM]
Video: Paramount+ Reveals Full Trailer and Official Key Art for Upcoming Season of "Criminal Minds: Evolution"!
Produced by ABC Signature and CBS Studios, the 10-episode new season will premiere on Thursday, June 6, exclusively on Paramount+.
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[05/16/24 - 10:01 AM]
Nickelodeon Studios Greenlights All-New Thundermans Spinoff Series, Following the Success of Feature-Length Movie "The Thundermans Return"
The spinoff series will follow Phoebe and Max, who are sent undercover to handle a new threat in the seaside town of Secret Shores and bring Chloe along to develop her superhero talent.
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[05/16/24 - 10:01 AM]
AMC Networks' June Highlights Include "Orphan Black: Echoes," "Domino Day," "My Life is Murder" and "Snowpiercer" Binge
AMC+ continues film premieres every week including sharks on a plane thriller "No Way Up," starring Colm Meaney, Shudder's Korean supernatural horror film "Exhuma" and period psychological thriller "The Devil's Bath."
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[05/16/24 - 09:15 AM]
ABC News Announces Documentary "PRINT IT BLACK" on Local Newspaper's Response to Robb Elementary Shooting to Premiere Friday, May 24, on ABC News Live and Hulu
The premiere follows the film's world premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature.
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