or


[02/08/05 - 12:00 AM]
Development Update: February 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 newly revamped "Series in Development" charts. Visitors can now filter our listings by network, genre and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!

BOBBY CANNON (A.K.A. UNTITLED KEVIN SORBO PROJECT) (ABC) - The Kevin Sorbo-led, Barry Kemp-produced comedy pilot is officially a go, as the Alphabet has greenlit production. The project stars Sorbo as a pro football quarterback nearing retirement who has to mentor his replacement while figuring out what to do with the rest of his life. Kemp ("Coach") is writing and executive producing the project, which is set up at Touchstone Television where he has an overall deal, along with Eric Gold.

BOOK OF DANIEL (NBC) - The pilot's producers have clarified NBC's original description of the project, which reads "['Book of Daniel'] offers a provocative take on a family with a religious bent. An Episcopalian reverend and father [the recently cast Aidan Quinn] finds himself speaking routinely with a hip, modern Jesus, who appears as a vision and offers valuable guidance to help him navigate through family issues, church politics (especially as they involve a rehabilitation clinic run by the church) -- and his own personal issues." Quinn's character actually speaks with just "Jesus," not a "hip, modern Jesus" as NBC's press release indicates.

CRUMBS (ABC, New!) - Marco Pennette ("I'm With Her") has scored a comedy pilot order from the Alphabet for a new comedy about two estranged brothers, one gay and one straight, who wind up running the family business when their parents get divorced. The project is set up at Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin's Touchstone Television-based Tollin-Robbins banner.

IN THE GAME (ABC) - The Alphabet has pulled the plug on the Jennifer Love Hewitt/Ed O'Neill-led midseason comedy following the production of its second pilot episode. The project, about a father (O'Neill) and daughter (Hewitt) who work together at a fledgling sports channel, had previously been given a six-episode order by the network. The show's revamped pilot was shot last month with ABC deciding to shelve the project this week. Touchstone Television and Handprint Entertainment were behind "Game," which was executive produced by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah.

JOINT CUSTODY (ABC, New!) - Joel Stein, the former Time columnist behind last year's failed Colin Hanks-led comedy pilot at ABC, has set up a new project at the network. The new effort - a comedy about a recent college graduate who comes home and discovers that his parents have divorced and realizes that he must now take care of his eccentric family - also comes from writer/producer Regina Stewart ("Still Standing") and director Shawn Levy ("Cheaper by the Dozen"). It's not clear however if the project is set up at 20th Century Fox Television, where Levy has a development pact.

THE LIBERTY (FX, New!) - Actor William Baldwin, producer Robert Cooper ("Medical Investigation") and feature writer Eric Guggenheim ("Miracle") are set to team for a new original movie at the cable channel. Said project revolves around the true story of seven U.S. special forces veterans who escaped wrongful imprisonment in Brazil via the Amazon after being recruited by a former special forces commander to escort weapons bound for pro-U.S. rebels in Ghana. Cooper and Baldwin will executive produce the project, with Guggenheim writing the script and Baldwin attached to star. Integrated Films and Management's Steve Whitney & Andrew Trapani, Landscape Entertainment's Gregg Goldman and Dan Gagliasso are also attached as co-executive producers.

NEIGHBORS (ABC, New!) - Writers Matt Gross ("Joe Somebody") and Michael Caleo ("Rescue Me") have scored a pilot commitment from ABC for a new comedy about dueling neighbors forced to contend with one another when their wives and children become unlikely friends. The project, not to be confused with State Street/Sony Pictures Television's "Neighbors" (also for ABC), is set up at Touchstone Television.

POOL GUYS (FOX, New!) - Writer/producers Alexandra Rushfield and Jennifer Konner ("Undeclared") have booked a comedy pilot at the FOX, about two 21-year-old best friends who live in Tarzana, California, clean pools for a living and share the ultimate dream: to clean the pool at the Playboy Mansion. The project, which the pair will write and executive produce, is set up at Regency Television.

SALLY (A.K.A. UNTITLED SALLY FIELD PROJECT) (ABC) - Holly Hester's ("The Drew Carey Show") comedy pilot at the Alphabet has been given the green light to produce a pilot. The project, stars Sally Field as a middle-aged woman who gets a life makeover, and decides to get divorced and find a job. Field's involvement is understood to be the result of a talent deal she signed with Conan O'Brien's NBC Universal Television-based Conaco banner last year (read the story). Hester and O'Brien will executive produce the project alongside Conaco's A.J. Morewitz and Jeff Ross.

SOCCER MOMS (ABC) - Former "Sex and the City" star Kristin Davis has signed on to star in the drama pilot, about two suburban housewives who team up as private investigators. Davis's involvement - she'll play one of the two leads - lifts the cast-contingency on the pilot's production. In addition, Jeff Kline ("That Was Then") has come aboard as an executive producer on the project, which is set up at Touchstone Television. He'll join current executive producers Don Todd and Marla Ginsburg. As for Davis, the actress had previously signed a seven-figure development deal with HBO back in August (read the story). With Davis now attached to "Moms," it now appears the project that resulted from the pact (from writer Stacy Traub) - about a single woman who supports herself as a poker player in Las Vegas - won't go forward.

Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [february 2005]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· BOBBY CANNON (ABC)
· BOOK OF DANIEL, THE (NBC)
· CRUMBS (ABC)
· DREW CAREY SHOW, THE (ABC)
· I'M WITH HER (ABC)
· IN THE GAME (2004 VERSION) (ABC)
· IN THE GAME (2005 VERSION) (ABC)
· JOINT CUSTODY (ABC)
· LIBERTY, THE (FX)
· MARSHA POTTER GETS A LIFE (ABC)
· MEDICAL INVESTIGATION (NBC)
· NEIGHBORS (ABC)
· NEIGHBORS (ABC)
· POOL GUYS (FOX)
· RESCUE ME (FX)
· SEX AND THE CITY (HBO)
· SOCCER MOMS (ABC)
· STILL STANDING (CBS)
· THAT WAS THEN (ABC)
· UNDECLARED (FOX)
· UNTITLED KRISTIN DAVIS PROJECT (HBO)





[11/26/24 - 03:01 PM]
Video: New Games, New Stakes - "Squid Game" Season 2 Main Trailer and Key Art "Round and Round" Unveiled
With its premiere just around the corner on December 26, the trailer delivers an electrifying glimpse into the deadly games and gripping character dynamics that await fans worldwide.

[11/26/24 - 02:34 PM]
Video: Paramount+ with Showtime Debuts Official Trailer for Showtime's "Dexter: Original Sin"
The series premieres Friday, December 13 on streaming and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan, before making its on-air US debut on Sunday, December 15 at 10pm ET/PT.

[11/26/24 - 01:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week across the board, hitting a 6-week high in overall viewers and 7-week highs in both key Adult demos.

[11/26/24 - 12:03 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of Nov. 18: "The Merry Gentlemen" and "A Man on the Inside" Take the Top Spots
Season 2 of the animated series "Arcane" laid siege to #2 (6.4M views), while Season 1 took #5 with 2.2M views.

[11/26/24 - 11:44 AM]
TNT Sports to Debut "Evolve and Flex" with Lance Fresh Friday, Dec. 6, on truTV and Max
The show is hosted by sports-lifestyle expert Lance Fresh and features candid conversations with guests to discuss how life's events have contributed to their sense of style.

[11/26/24 - 11:19 AM]
MGM+ Announces 2025 Premiere Date for "NFL Icons" Season Four
In the upcoming fourth season, the docuseries will feature Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Montana, DeMarcus Ware, Kurt Warner and Gale Sayers.

[11/26/24 - 10:24 AM]
Video: "Rogue Heroes" (MGM+ 2025 Series) Season 2 Tease
"Rogue Heroes" is a dramatized account of how the world's greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.

[11/26/24 - 10:09 AM]
Video: Acorn TV Releases Official Trailer for Second Season of Hit Australian Drama, "Darby and Joan"
The new season debuts with a two-episode premiere, exclusively on Acorn TV, on December 30, followed by weekly episodes through January 27.

[11/26/24 - 10:01 AM]
ABC News Studios Announces Fourth Season of Hit True-Crime Series "Wild Crime," Streaming Dec. 5 Only on Hulu
"Wild Crime: Eleven Skulls" delves into the haunting 2012 disappearance of Samantha Koenig, an 18-year-old Anchorage barista last seen leaving her place of work with an unknown man on a dark winter night.

[11/26/24 - 08:32 AM]
Bravo Greenlights "Vanderpump Rules" Season 12 with a New Group of SUR-vers
In addition, "Vanderpump Rules" will celebrate the past decade of heartbreaks, friendship rifts and scandals with a retrospective special highlighting the past 11 seasons.

[11/26/24 - 08:30 AM]
Video: Paramount+ and Nickelodeon Reveal Teaser, First-Look Images and Premiere Date for "Henry Danger The Movie"
"Henry Danger The Movie" will be available to stream in the U.S. on Paramount+ Friday, January 17, and premiere on Nickelodeon that same day at 7 p.m. (ET/PT).

[11/26/24 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World" - Official Teaser - Netflix
Makayla is a teenage girl who has spent her life grappling with a rare form of autism that rendered her essentially nonverbal until her parents, filled with unwavering belief in their daughter's potential, embarked on a transformative journey to discover the true depth of Makayla's inner world.

[11/26/24 - 08:01 AM]
HBO Announces Ian Bonhote & Peter Ettedgui's Award-Winning "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story," Debuting December 7 on HBO and Max
The critically acclaimed film had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and recently won six Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

[11/26/24 - 08:00 AM]
HGTV Greenlights Gutsy Las Vegas Renovation Series "Sin City Rehab" (wt) Starring Indomitable Designer Alison Victoria
The eight-episode series will document Alison, best known for her Emmy-nominated series "Windy City Rehab," taking the biggest gamble of her career as she expands her successful design business out West.

[11/26/24 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "The Manny" Season 2 - Release Date Announcement - Netflix
A busy executive hires a cowboy to care for her kids in a moment of panic. Little does she know he'll challenge her views of gender roles - and of love.