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!
BY THE BOOK (NBC, New!) - Dava Savel and Tim Sullivan have set up a new single-camera comedy at the Peacock about a widow with two kids and no idea how to raise them who finds an instruction manual left behind by his late wife. Said effort is based on an unproduced screenplay by Sullivan, who will co-write the TV script with Savel. Universal Television-based Storyline Entertainment is behind the project, with Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Tasha Brown and Mark Nicholson also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)
GREENLEAF (OWN/Lionsgate; W: Craig Wright; D: TBA) - Tye White ("Drumline: A New Beat") is the latest addition to the upcoming drama, which takes viewers into the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. He's on board as Kevin Satterlee, "the son-in-law of the Bishop of Greenleaf World Ministries, James Greenleaf (Keith David)." Lynn Whitfield, Merle Dandridge and Desiree Ross also star. White will also appear as Jason Simpson, O.J. Simpson's son, in FX's "American Crime Story." (Deadline.com)
I'M DYING UP HERE (Showtime/Endemol; W: Dave Flebotte; D: Jonathan Levine) - R.J. Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) is the first to be cast in the Jim Carrey-produced drama pilot, which centers on L.A.'s celebrated and infamous stand-up comedy scene of the 1970s. He'll play Adam, "a struggling comedian willing to do anything - anything - to make it." Cyler will also recur on HBO's upcoming comedy "Vice Principals." (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - TBS has pulled the plug on "King of the Nerds" after three seasons (@curtisisbooger); Anabelle Acosta's Nathalie Vazquez has been upped to series regular on ABC's "Quantico" (Deadline.com); Kaili Vernoff will recur on Hulu's "The Way" as Kerry Ridge, "a hippie-chic believer of The Way who is committed to helping her son above all costs" (Deadline.com); Scott Porter is bound for Cinemax's "Outcast" as Donnie Hamel "an amiable and engaging type-A former jock whose work returns him home to Rome, West Virginia" (Deadline.com); Joe Dinicol will recur on both "Blindspot" and "Grey's Anatomy" in top secret roles (Deadline.com); Carol Barbee has signed onto Lifetime's "UnREAL" as an executive producer while co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and head writer Stacy Rukeyser have likewise been upped to said title (THR.com);
Ever Carradine is set for four episodes of "Shameless" as "an exhausted, nice, suburban mother in her late 30s with terminal cancer" (THR.com); Freddie Stroma has been cast as Dickon Tarly, "Sam's (John Bradley-West) younger and more physically capable brother," in "Game of Thrones" (THR.com); Kelly Rowan will visit "Castle" as "the dean of a prestigious university hit hard by the mysterious death of one of its students" (EW.com); Zoey Dalton will reprise her role as Gunnar's (Sam Palladio) ex-girlfriend Zoey Dalton on "Nashville" (EW.com); and Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld have joined Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" as showrunner and director, respectively, with both series as executive producers (Variety.com).
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