or


[09/30/10 - 06:15 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, September 30
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 BOSS IS COMING TO DINNER (NBC, New!) - The Peacock has given a pilot order to a new reality series in which "a group of job applicants must invite their prospective employer to their home and throw a dinner party," which he or she uses to make a final hiring decision. Zodiak USA, formerly RDF USA, is behind the project, incarnations of which also air in the U.K. and Australia. The company's Grant Mansfield, Natalka Znak and Claire O'Donohoe are the executive producers.


CONFESSIONS OF A BACK-UP DANCER (The CW)/UNKNOWN (FOX, New!) - Feature writer Sascha Penn is developing a pair of dramas at The CW and FOX. At the latter there's "Unknown," "an action series in the vein of 'The Fugitive' that follows a man on a journey to discover who he really is." Brett Ratner, Martha Haight and Bert Salke are executive producing for Fox 21 and Rat Television. Penn, who wrote the hour on spec, will serve as a co-executive producer. Then there's "Back-Up Dancer" at The CW. Said hour, based on Tucker Shaw's novel of the same, revolves around "the glamorous and gritty behind-the-scenes world of a major pop tour from the point of view of the star's troupe of backing dancers." Ilene Chaiken took a stab at the property last season which ultimately didn't move forward. Alloy Entertainment's Les Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo are executive producing alongside Penn and Marcos Siega ("The Vampire Diaries"), who's attached to direct, for Warner Bros. Television.


CONNECTED (FOX, New!) - Nahnatchka Khan ("American Dad!") has landed a put pilot order from the network for a single-camera comedy about "two families linked by their teens' romantic relationship." R.J. Cutler and Mosaic's Ann Blanchard are executive producing the 20th Century Fox Television-based half-hour alongside Khan, who's based at the studio.


COUGAR TOWN (ABC) - Collette Wolfe ("100 Questions") has booked a recurring role on the show's sophomore season. She'll play "a grad student who gets romantically involved with college freshman Travis (Dan Byrd)." Said run is set to begin in November.


THE FRAME (The CW, New!) - The netlet is developing a "Truman Show" reality competition series "in which teams of two are isolated in small rooms, with their life broadcast on TV and the net as they compete against each other." As for specifics, said effort, from production company Armoza, is based on an Israeli format in which the teams are confined into a small space (potentially as little as ten feet by ten feet) for weeks at a time (minus the necessary bathroom/grooming breaks) where they must stay in "the frame" while competing in unspecified challenges, with the viewing audience having some control over who stays and goes.


HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS) - Kyle MacLachlan ("Desperate Housewives") has been cast in a multi-episode arc on the veteran comedy. He'll play the ex-husband of Jennifer Morrison's character - Ted's (Josh Radnor's) latest love interest - in at least two episodes this season.


MEET JANE (Lifetime, New!) - Andi Bushell ("Criminal Minds") has snagged a pilot order from the cable channel for a new drama about Jane Bilinksi, "whose stale life as an unhappily married mother of two daughters in the Washington, DC area is suddenly re-energized and empowered when the FBI enlists her to spy on her husband, a computer technician the government suspects is selling top-secret information to Russia." Bushell penned the hour for Warner Horizon Television and is executive producing alongside Mark Pedowitz and his Pine Street Entertainment.


UNTITLED BRAD GARRETT PROJECT (TLC, New!) - The cable channel has given a six-episode order to a new "Kids Say the Darndest Things"-esque series in which Brad Garrett interviews "youngsters in a combination of in-studio and field segments as well as user-generated content." Ryan Seacrest Productions is behind the project, with Seacrest, Garrett, Glenn Robbins and Doug Wald executive producing.






  [september 2010]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· 100 QUESTIONS (NBC)
· AMERICAN DAD (TBS)
· BOSS IS COMING TO DINNER, THE (NBC)
· CONFESSIONS OF A BACKUP DANCER (CW)
· CONNECTED (FOX)
· COUGAR TOWN (TBS)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FRAME, THE (CW)
· HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS)
· I KID WITH BRAD GARRETT (TLC)
· MEET JANE (LIFETIME)
· UNKNOWN (FOX)
· VAMPIRE DIARIES, THE (CW)





[03/05/25 - 04:01 PM]
Video: "Revelations" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A pastor is convinced that a divine revelation has called him to punish the person guilty of a missing person case, while a detective assigned to the case is haunted by her dead sister’s shadow.

[03/05/25 - 02:53 PM]
ABC News Is the Most-Watched Broadcast Network Across the Board for Second Straight Presidential Address to Congress with 6.3 Million Viewers
The network posted double-digit increases across the board compared to the previous presidential address to the joint session of Congress in 2021.

[03/05/25 - 12:31 PM]
Syfy Renews "The Ark" for Third Season
The network confirmed the news on social media this afternoon.

[03/05/25 - 12:31 PM]
BET Media Group Announces Dates for "BET Awards" 25th Anniversary & "BET Experience" 2025 in Los Angeles
Today, BET Media Group announced that "BET Awards" 2025 will take place live from Los Angeles on Monday, June 9.

[03/05/25 - 11:41 AM]
Matthew Law and Y'lan Noel Will Star in "Nemesis" from Courtney A. Kemp, the Creator of the "Power" Universe
A story of two men on either side of the law and what happens when an unstoppable force (an expert criminal) meets an immovable object (a brilliant police detective).

[03/05/25 - 11:00 AM]
Jamie Foxx and FOX Entertainment Studios Announce Multiyear First-Look Scripted and Unscripted Deal
This expansive deal builds on Foxx's long-standing relationship with FOX, highlighted by the interactive music game show "Beat Shazam," which he co-hosts with his daughter Corinne Foxx, and the heart-pounding police procedural "Alert: Missing Persons Unit," which he executive produces.

[03/05/25 - 10:31 AM]
Video: "Love on the Spectrum U.S." - Season 3 Official Trailer - Netflix
The search for true love continues as newcomers and returning favorites navigate the ups and downs of dating on the autism spectrum.

[03/05/25 - 10:29 AM]
Vice Sports Introduces "The Grudge," A New Series Sure to Hold Your Attention
The new show will relive and unpack many of sports' most intense personal and team rivalries, exploring the egos, history, and high-stakes drama that turn ordinary interaction into unforgettable battles.

[03/05/25 - 10:01 AM]
The CW Network Sets Spring 2025 Premiere Dates for New and Returning Programming
The new mystery thriller series "Sherlock & Daughter," starring Emmy Award-nominee David Thewlis as the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, premieres on Wednesday, April 16 (9:00-10:00pm ET/PT).

[03/05/25 - 09:13 AM]
Video: "Paul American" - Official Trailer - Max
They're reality TV stars now. Haters are fuming.

[03/05/25 - 09:13 AM]
Lifetime Announces New Ripped from the Headlines Movie "Not My Family: The Monique Smith Story" Starring and Executive Produced by Yaya DaCosta
The film is based on the memoir by Monique Smith, who endured a horrific childhood only to discover that her family wasn't actually hers.

[03/05/25 - 09:12 AM]
Academy Award and Golden Globe Nominee Gabourey Sidibe Stars in "Give Me Back My Daughter" Premiering on April 5 on Lifetime
Sidibe stars as Renee, a single mother struggling to make ends meet and who after making a heartbreaking decision, loses custody of her daughter.

[03/05/25 - 09:11 AM]
Lifetime Announces the Documentary Event "The Judd Family: Truth Be Told" Delving Into the Intricate Relationships One of Country Music's Most Revered Families, Premiering Mother's Day Weekend, May 10 and 11
Profiling one of the greatest country music families of our time, the doc examines Naomi Judd's complicated bond with her daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, that both tied them together and drove them apart.

[03/05/25 - 09:10 AM]
A+E Global Media Partners with Tyler Perry Studios and Pantheon Media Group on Multi-Series Unscripted Development Deal
Under this agreement, the companies will collaborate on a slate of unscripted projects spanning multiple genres and platforms across Lifetime and A&E.

[03/05/25 - 09:09 AM]
The History Channel Expands Diverse Storytelling Footprint with New Documentary "Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling" (wt) Exploring the Epic Showdown Between the Legendary Boxing Heavyweight Champions in Continued Partnership with Uninterrupted
The two-hour documentary will join the previously announced project "Jim Thorpe: Lit by Lightning."