LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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THE '70S HOUSE (A.K.A. THAT '70S HOUSE) (MTV) - MTV's latest reality entry has been slated to premiere Tuesday, July 5 at 10:30/9:30c. The series, which is described as "Big Brother" meets "Frontier House," tracks 12 unsuspecting young people who think they're going to live it up "Real World"-style and instead sticks them in a home straight out of the 1970s.
AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL (UPN)/TOMMY LEE GOES TO COLLEGE (NBC) - VH1 has purchased the exclusive off-network rights to UPN's veteran reality series "America's Next Top Model" as well as NBC's upcoming unscripted series "Tommy Lee Goes to College." The cable channel will reportedly pay distributor King World $75,000 per episode for the first six seasons of "Model" (about 77 episodes with the option for additional seasons) bringing the total value of the deal to just under $6 million. VH1 can begin airing the first three seasons immediately (a marathon of season one is set to air this coming Sunday beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern) with season four becoming available in September and seasons five and six three months after their initial runs on UPN. As for "Tommy," VH1 will shell out an estimated $600,000 to NBC Universal Television Studios for the show's six-episode run. The network can begun running "Tommy Lee" the day after its finale airs in September on NBC. Both fees fall between the recent off-network sales of "Survivor" to OLN ($65,000 per episode) and "Fear Factor" to FX ($250,000 per episode).
BOSTON LEGAL (ABC) - Repeats of "The Practice" spin-off will join ABC's summer schedule on August 9 where it will assume its fall time period of Tuesdays at 10:00/9:00c. "Boston" takes over the hour from the limited series "Empire," which wraps its run on July 26 ("CMA Music Festival: Country's Biggest Party" airs on Tuesday, August 2 starting at 9:00/8:00c).
CRUMBS (ABC) - Writer/producer Regina Stewart ("Still Standing") is set to serve as a consulting producer on the Alphabet's midseason comedy "Crumbs." Said development is the result of a two-year, seven-figure overall deal Stewart has signed with Touchstone Television. She'll also develop new series for the studio as part of the pact. Stewart was previously set up at 20th Century Fox Television where she developed the failed comedy pilot "Joint Custody" (also at ABC) with Shawn Levy and Joel Stein.
GROUNDED FOR LIFE (The WB) - Former "Grounded for Life" writer/producers Bill Martin and Mike Schiff have inked a new two-year (with an option for a third), seven-figure overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. The pact reunites the duo with the studio that gave them their big break on FOX's "In Living Color." At 20th, the pair will develop new projects as well as possibly join an existing 20th property.
THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW/THE MAURY POVICH SHOW (Syndication) - In addition to yesterday's pick-ups of "Blind Date, "The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo," "The Chris Matthews Show" and "The George Michael Sports Machine" (read the story), NBC Universal Domestic Television has confirmed both "The Jerry Springer Show" and "The Maury Povich Show" will return for the 2005-06 season. The group will join the previously renewed NBC Universal series "Access Hollywood" and "Starting Over" as well as the soon-to-launch "Martha."
LOOK@LOVE (A.K.A. HOOKING UP) (ABC) - The new documentary series from ABC News, which focuses on several women as they navigate the online dating scene, has been slated to premiere on Thursday, July 14 at 9:00/8:00c. One-hour episodes will air for five weeks with the finale running on August 11. "look@love" comes from executive producer Terence Wrong, who was behind ABC's various "24/7" series, including "Boston 24/7," "Hopkins 24/7" and "NYPD 24/7."
NIP/TUCK (FX) - Bruno Campos ("Century City") has joined the cast of the cable drama, where he'll continue in his role of Dr. Quentin Costa. His character was introduced in the penultimate episode last season as the doctor who repaired the slashed face of Dylan Walsh's character. FX has yet to confirm a premiere date for the new season of "Nip/Tuck," although industry insiders expect the series to inherit the Tuesday, 10:00/9:00c hour from "Rescue Me" in late September.
ONE ON ONE (UPN) - Creator/executive producer Eunetta Boone has inked a new two-year, seven-figure overall deal with Paramount Network Television. The pact calls for Boone to continue with her showrunning duties on "One" and spin-off "Cuts" as well as keep her production company, Daddy's Girl Productions, set up at the studio. Boone is currently developing "Hip-Hop 101" with Queen Latifah. That project is expected to be rolled over to the next development season.
RODNEY (ABC) - The Rodney Carrington-led comedy series will return to ABC's schedule on Tuesday, July 5. Repeats of the series will air in the 9:30/8:30c half-hour following "According to Jim."
UNTITLED POPE JOHN PAUL II PROJECT (ABC, New!) - The Alphabet is understood to be developing its own two-hour biopic on the life of the late Pope John Paul II. Michael Hirst ("Elizabeth") is on board to write the script the project, which has yet to receive a formal green light, with Lorenzo Minoli and Judd Parkin (CBS' "Jesus") serving as executive producers.
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD (ABC) - According to scheduling updates recently released by the network, "Welcome to the Neighborhood" will indeed premiere on Sunday, July 10 at 9:00/8:00c. The series, which was originally believed to open with a 90-minute installment, will instead run as six weekly hours with the finale airing on August 14. "Welcome" tracks a group of families as they compete to join a perfect suburban cul-de-sac with the neighbors themselves acting as judges.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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