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[01/31/17 - 11:37 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, January 31
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!


DRAMA HIGH (NBC, New!) - Jason Katims ("Parenthood") is back in business with the Peacock for a new drama about "an extraordinary working class high school drama department and the incredible students who come alive under a passionate teacher and family man whose dedication to the program galvanizes the entire town." The project is based on the book of the same name by Michael Sokolove about his high school drama teacher Lou Volpe. Jeffrey Seller and Flody Suarez of Seller Suarez Productions will also executive produce alongside Katims and Michelle Lee via their Universal Television-based True Jack Productions. (Deadline.com)
FRANCIS & THE GODFATHER (HBO, New!) - Andrew Farotte is penning a docudrama at the pay channel which "chronicles the making of Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 feature adaptation of the novel by Mario Puzo." Mike Marcus, Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding will executive produce for Echo Lake Entertainment with Peter Bart serving as a consultant. (Variety.com)
GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC) - Co-star Jerrika Hinton will exit the veteran drama after the current season. The actress landed a starring role on HBO's upcoming drama from Alan Ball. (TVLine.com)
INSATIABLE (The CW) - The Lauren Gussis-penned drama - about "a disgraced, dissatisfied civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach who takes on a vengeful, bullied teenager as his client, and has no idea what he's about to unleash upon the world" - has landed a pilot commitment from the netlet. Ryan Seacrest Productions' Ryan Seacrest and Nina Wass and Storied Media Group's Todd Hoffman and Dennis Kim will also executive produce the project, which is inspired by the life of Bill Alverson, for CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)
LIBBY & MALCOLM (ABC) - Monique Green has been cast in the Felicity Huffman/Courtney B. Vance-led comedy pilot as Malcolm's teen daughter Naya. (Deadline.com)
LIFE SENTENCE (The CW) - Lucy Hale ("Pretty Little Liars") has signed on to star in the newly ordered drama pilot, about "a young woman (Hale) diagnosed with terminal cancer. When she finds out that she's not dying after all, she has to learn to live with the choices she made when she decided to live like she was dying." Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith penned the hour for Warner Bros. Television-based Doozer with Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold likewise executive producing. (Deadline.com)
MANIAC (Netflix) - The Emma Stone/Jonah Hill-led dark comedy is set to begin production August 15 in New York City. Writer Patrick Somerville and director Cary Fukunaga are behind the Paramount Television-based project, which "revolves around the fantasy worlds of Hill and Stone's characters." (Deadline.com)
SALAMANDER (ABC) - The Alphabet's import of Ward Hulselmans's 2012 Belgian series - about "a brilliant but misanthropic engineer who recruits a skeptical Homeland Security agent to help him track a mysterious bank robber whose theft of 66 specific safety deposit boxes, belonging to the elite and powerful, sets in motion a series of blackmails that might be linked to a greater conspiracy" - has scored a pilot order from the Alphabet. Midnight Radio's Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg all co-wrote the hour for ABC Studios and Beta Films with Keshet's Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan likewise executive producing. (Deadline.com)
STREET DREAMS (BET) - Writer/director Jonathan Levine's drama based on the life of rapper Nas has found a new home at BET where it has received a pilot order. Originally developed by XBox Entertainment Studios, the project tracks "the ascent of Nas, a young man from the Queensbridge projects who will go on to become a famous rapper, as he evolves from young man to crack dealer to rapper to adult." Nas, Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell of Electric City Entertainment and Nas' manager Anthony Saleh will also executive produce. (Deadline.com)
SUPERGIRL (The CW) - "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" alum Teri Hatcher has been tapped for a recurring role on the show's current season. No specifics were given. (Deadline.com)
UNIT ZERO (ABC) - The Toni Collette-led drama - about Jackie Fink, "a brilliant but unassuming CIA engineer and single mom, as she leads a team of desk jockeys into the field as secret agents" - is heading to pilot at the Alphabet. Lindsey Shockley penned the hour for ABC Studios with Collette and Kenya Barris likewise executive producing. David Gordon Green is set to direct (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED MENENDEZ BROTHERS PROJECT (Lifetime, New!) - Courtney Love has been tapped to play Kitty Menendez in a new docudrama at the cable channel about the Menendez brothers murder case. The untitled project "explores the inner lives and motivation behind the murders of entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife Kitty at the hands of their sons Lyle and Erik in 1989." Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato will direct from a script by Abdi Nazemian and also executive produce. Production begins next month in Vancouver. (Deadline.com)
ZOO (CBS) - Aleks Paunovic (This Means War) is bound for at least two episodes of the show's third season as Dallas, "the leader of a shadowy group looking to stop the spread of the hybrids. Whether he can be trusted remains to be seen." (Deadline.com)





  [january 2017]  
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F
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· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FRANCIS & THE GODFATHER (HBO)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· HERE & NOW (HBO)
· INSATIABLE (NETFLIX)
· LIBBY & MALCOLM (ABC)
· LIFE SENTENCE (CW)
· MANIAC (NETFLIX)
· MENENDEZ: BLOOD BROTHERS (LIFETIME)
· PARENTHOOD (NBC)
· PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (FREEFORM)
· RISE (NBC)
· SALAMANDER (ABC)
· STREET DREAMS (BET)
· SUPERGIRL (CW)
· UNIT ZERO (ABC)
· ZOO (CBS)





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