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!
DARK SIDE OF THE '90S/DARK SIDE OF THE FOOTBALL (Vice, New!) - The cable channel is expanding its "Dark Side of the Ring" franchise with two new spin-offs due in 2021. Railsplitter Pictures and Insight Productions are behind "Dark Side of the '90s" which "will look at the most captivating pop-culture moments, trends and personalities of the decade through interviews with people who studied the time period. Each episode will dissect the nostalgia, uncovering the surprising dark truths underlying the glitz, the glamour and the headlines." And 44 Blue Productions is producing "Dark Side of the Football," which "will explore the sometimes-flawed men behind the masks; the coaches, teams and leagues who control their fates; and the untold story behind bizarre and tragic off-the-field events - facts that often have been hidden to shield fans from discovering unsettling truths about the game they love." No specific auspices were given. (Deadline.com)
DEAD PLACES (Sundance Now/UMC, New!) - The streaming siblings have acquired the South African horror series, which "centers on an author who has dedicated his career to solving paranormal cases, returning home to South Africa to investigate the biggest mystery of his life: His sister's death in a water canal 20 years ago." Writer/director Gareth Crocker is behind the project, which stars Anthony Oseyemi, Rea Rangaka, Shamilla Miller, David Butler, David James, Luthuli Dlamini, S'Dumo Mtshali and Pallance Dladla. Sean Mik'ael Butler, Patrick Strom, Chris Lawrence and Philip Wolmarans are also executive producers for Motion Story. (Deadline.com)
GENERATION (HBO Max) - Alicia Coppola, Marwan Salama and Marisela Zumbado will recur on the upcoming series, a dark yet playful half-hour following a group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality (devices and all) tests deeply entrenched beliefs about life, love and the nature of family in their conservative community. Coppola plays Carol, "the mother of Riley (Chase Sui Wonders) who is terribly uncool, painfully suburban and obsessed with meddling in Riley's business"; with Salama as Bo, "an under-the-radar high school junior who is direct, utterly unself-conscious and refreshingly comfortable in his own skin"; and Zumbado as Lucia, "a young junior who is confident, bold and queer and loves to shake things up." (Deadline.com)
HOOPS (Netflix) - The streamer has axed the adult animated comedy after one season. (Variety.com)
HOPE CAFÉ (NBC, New!) - Linda Videtti Figueiredo has sold a multi-camera comedy to the network in which "the friendships, lives and loves of the workers and customers are all intertwined at the Hope Café, a coffee shop where the baristas are also trained as mental health counselors." Mayim Bialik and Mackenzie Gabriel-Vaught of Sad Clown Productions and Damon Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow of Two Shakes Entertainment are also on board to executive produce for Warner Bros. Television with Dave Kunicki and Jonny Boucher, whose Hope for the Day's Sip of Hope in Chicago serves as the project's basis, as consultants. (Deadline.com)
HOUSE OF HO (HBO Max) - Katy Wallin and Stephanie Bloch Chambers's Wallin Chambers Entertainment has extended its overall deal with Lionsgate Television where they'll continue to develop new series projects. (Deadline.com)
MINX (HBO Max) - Idara Victor, Oscar Montoya, Jessica Lowe, Lennon Parham, Michael Angarano and Jake Johnson have landed roles on the Ophelia Lovibond-led comedy pilot, about Joyce (Lovibond), "an earnest young feminist who dreams of producing a magazine by, for and about women and joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women." Victor will play Tina, "the publisher's sardonic secretary"; with Montoya as Richie, "the magazine's recently out-of-the-closet photographer"; Lowe as Bambi, "a former centerfold hoping to reinvent herself behind the camera"; Parham as Shelly, "a conventional housewife starting to question her life choices"; Angarano as Glenn, "Joyce's unsupportive and manipulative ex-boyfriend"; and Johnson will guest star as Doug, "the publisher who teams with Joyce to create the magazine." (Deadline.com)
ONE DAY AT A TIME (Pop) - Gloria Calderón Kellett took to social media with the news a new home could not be found for the series following its latest cancellation. (@everythingloria)
PIVOTING (FOX) - Maggie Q is set to star opposite Eliza Coupe and Ginnifer Goodwin in the comedy pilot as Sarah, "a tightly wound doctor, fresh out of a divorce from her wife who cheated on her. This combined with the loss of her childhood friend, Coleen, makes her rethink her life decisions. In the pursuit of an easy, happy life, she leaves medicine and tries to get a job at a local supermarket, which concerns but also excites her best friends Amy (Coupe) and Jodie (Goodwin)." (Deadline.com)
STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS (CBSAA) - Creator Mike McMahan has signed a two-year overall deal with producer CBS Studios. The pact covers his duties on the series as well as any future projects. (Deadline.com)
UNDER THE VINES (Acorn TV, New!) - The streamer is set to team with New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ for a six-part series about "two unlikely city slickers who inherit a failing vineyard in rural New Zealand." Rebecca Gibney stars as "socialite Daisy Munroe, who heads to New Zealand for a vacation at her recently deceased stepfather's winery, which she intends to sell"; while Charles Edwards is "grumpy UK-born lawyer Louis Oakley who also travels to New Zealand to escape a spiraling series of unfortunate events in his life." Dean O'Gorman, Sara Wiseman, John Bach, Matt Whelan, Simon Mead, Sarah Peirse, Cohen Holloway, Carrie Green, Catherine Wilkin, Robbie Magasiva and newcomer Trae Te Wiki also star. Libertine Pictures and EQ Media Group are behind the project, from creator Erin White and executive producers Gibney, Richard Fletcher and Brendan Dahill. Production begins in February with Carmen J. Leonard producing. (Deadline.com)
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