LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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THE 4,400/THE DEAD ZONE (USA) - The cable channel has bumped the summer premieres of "The 4,400" and "The Dead Zone" to Sunday, June 11 at 9:00/8:00c and Sunday, June 18 at 10:00/9:00c respectively. Instead on Sunday, June 4 look for a 12-hour marathon of "The 4,400" featuring the "essential episodes" starting at 9:00 a.m. EST followed by the new one-hour special "The 4,400: Unlocking the Secrets" at 10:00/9:00c that night.
BROTHERHOOD (Showtime) - The pay channel has confirmed the drama - about two Irish brothers (Jason Isaacs, Jason Clarke) on opposite sides of the law, determined to protect their neighborhood and what is theirs by whatever means necessary - will bow on Sunday, July 9. The series will presumably take over the 10:00/9:00c hour from "Huff," which wraps its season the previous month.
CABLE RATINGS ROUND-UP (Various) - HBO's "The Sopranos" climbed to 8.5 million viewers on Sunday, once again making it cable's top draw for the week of April 17-23. Lead-out "Big Love" also grew to 4.2 million viewers (#5), its largest audience since its launch last month. Also finishing in the top 15: MTV's "The Real World" with 2.8 million viewers (#13) for its April 18th installment. Outside the top 15, the VH1 premiere of "Love Monkey" drew a miniscule 236,000 viewers on April 18, a fraction of its 7.3 million viewer average from its short-lived CBS run. And over on MTV, the premiere of "Tiara Girls" on Wednesday, April 19 drew a somewhat disappointing 1.8 million viewers.
JAKE IN PROGRESS (ABC) - Jane Espenson, a writer and co-executive producer on the series, has signed a two-year, seven-figure overall deal with NBC Universal Television. As is the case with most overall deals, she'll develop new projects for the studio as well as potentially join one of its current properties.
LET'S ROB MICK JAGGER (A.K.A. UNTITLED DONAL LOGUE PROJECT) (ABC) - Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a down on his luck apartment building janitor (Donal Logue) who - along with a crew of similarly ordinary but frustrated accomplices - tries to rob Jagger's Manhattan penthouse. Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman are behind the Touchstone Television-based half-hour, which also stars Josh Grisetti, Kevin Michael Richardson, Koji Kataoka, Lenny Venito, Maz Jobrani and Sof�a Vergara. Burnett directed the project from a script he co-wrote with Beckerman while David Letterman also serves as an executive producer.
TSUNAMI (HBO, New!) - Tim Roth, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Okonedo, Toni Collette, Hugh Bonneville and Gina McKee are set to star in a new original movie at the pay channel, about the disastrous flood that devastated the Andaman Coast in Thailand in late 2004 as told from the vantage point of survivors, media and relief workers. The project, a co-production between HBO Films and BBC Two, will premiere on the network later this year. Production is underway on "Tsunami" with Bharat Nalluri directing from a script by Abbi Morgan ("Sex Traffic") with Finola Dwyer producing and Jane Featherstone and Derek Wax serving as executive producers.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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