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maandag 15 oktober 2012

Development Update: The 15th of October

CONFESSIONS OF THE BACKUP DANCER (The CW) - Andrew Leeds and David Lampson (NBC's "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer") will take a new crack at the long-in-the-works drama, which "follows a young filmmaker who is hired to make a documentary about a world famous pop star and her controversial tour." Ilene Chaiken penned the original take in 2009 with Sascha Penn trying again in 2010, both of which are based on Tucker Shaw's novel of the same. Warner Bros. Television-based Alloy Entertainment is behind the hour with Gina Girolamo and Leslie Morgenstein executive producing alongside the duo. It's not clear if director Marcos Siega is still attached to the project. (TVLine.com)

CROWNINSHIELD (NBC, New!) - Oscar-winner William Monahan ("The Departed") and actor Kevin Kline are on track to sell a new drama to the Peacock about "a genius investigator-consultant and confirmed bachelor who winds up rooming with compulsive thief." Universal Television and Scott Free Productions are behind the project, which would presumably star Kline and be executive produced by Monahan, Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker. (Variety.com)

ELECTROPOLIS (The CW, New!) - Ken Olin and J.J. Abrams ("Alias") are set to re-team for a potential drama which "revolves around after-hours Los Angeles and the young people who live their lives while most of the city sleeps." Olin's son Cliff and Justin Feil will pen the script to the project, which the elder Olin conceived alongside the duo and is attached to direct. Olin, Abrams and Bad Robot's Bryan Burk then will executive produce for Warner Bros. Television with writers Olin and Feil serving as co-executive producers, as is Kathy Lingg. (Variety.com)

F--- I'M IN MY TWENTIES (NBC, New!) - Emma Koenig's Tumblr blog-turned-book - which consists of hand-drawn musings about the plight of today's millennials - is being developed as a comedy at the Peacock. Jeff Lowell ("Common Law") will co-write the half-hour alongside Koenig, which will track "a woman's experience as a twentysomething living in the big city." Universal Television-BermanBraun is behind the project, with the company's Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein also executive producing. (Deadline.com)

THE GREAT ESCAPE (TNT) - The cable channel has passed on a second season of the reality series, in which teams of competitors try to find their way out of seemingly impossible situations for a chance to take home a cash prize. The show's nine-episode freshman run averaged 1.143 million viewers and a 0.5 rating among adults 18-49, making it the least-watched program on the network this year. Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri were among the executive producers while NFL Network's Rich Eisen served as host. (TVGuide.com)

THE LAST SHIP (TNT) - The ever-busy character actor Titus Welliver has boarded the drama pilot, in which a global catastrophe nearly obliterates the earth's population, forcing the crew of a naval destroyer to confront the reality of their new existence in a world where they are among the only survivors. He'll play Mike Slattery, "second in command to Captain Tom Chandler (Eric Dane) onboard the USS Nathan James, a fair man who cares deeply for his family." Producer Michael Bay, director Jonathan Mostow and writers Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane are all behind the hour, which is based on the novel by William Brinkley. Michaela McManus, Charles Parnell, Travis Van Winkle, Christina Elmore and Sam Spruell also star. (Deadline.com)

MICHAEL BOLTON'S DAUGHTER IS DESTROYING MY LIFE (ABC, New!) - Grammy-winner Michael Bolton is set to star in a potential comedy at the Alphabet about "a naive young writer who moves to the big city and ends up taking a job heading social media for singer-songwriter Michael Bolton only to have her hands full with Bolton and the wild-child daughter he has recently taken in." Tami Sagher ("30 Rock") is penning the Universal Cable Productions-based half-hour, which is based on an idea by actress Allison Miller ("Go On") and her real-life celebrity encounters when she first came to Hollywood. Tagline Television's Willie Mercer, Ron West, J.B. Roberts and Kelly Kulchak also serving as executive producers with Bolton and Miller receiving co-executive producer and producer credits, respectively. (Deadline.com)

PROS & CONS (ABC, New!)
- Alexi Hawley ("Castle") has snagged a script order from the Alphabet about "a young FBI agent who discovers the father she never knew is a master thief and his unique insight into crime proves invaluable to her work." Mark Gordon and Nicholas Pepper also serve as executive producers on the project, which is set up at their ABC Studios-based The Mark Gordon Co. (Deadline.com)

#RESISTANCE (CBS, New!) - Daniel Cerone ("The Mentalist") has booked a new drama at the Eye about an unconventional young female detective for the San Francisco Police Department who's fired from the force for going too far only "to be secretly recruited by the Chief of Police to become an undercover officer posing as a vigilante, allowing her to break the law in order to serve justice." Cerone will write and executive produce alongside McG and Peter Johnson for their Warner Bros. Television-based Wonderland Sound and Vision banner. (Deadline.com)

THE ROYALS (ABC, New!) - Screenwriter Matt Lopez ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice") has sold a new drama to the Alphabet about "a young woman who falls for a prince in foreign country and finds herself wrapped up in palace intrigue and a murder mystery." Sony Pictures Television-based Thunder Road is behind the hour, which has a penalty attached. Lopez then will executive produce alongside the company's Basil Iwanyk ("The Town"). (Variety.com)

THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES (Lifetime) - Callum Blue, Valerie Cruz and newcomer Derek Smith have all been cast in the drama pilot, which explores the unvarnished truth behind the marriages of four different women - Michelle (Kim Raver), Reed (Salli Richardson), Keaton (Amber Clayton) and Jessie (Lauren Bittner), breaking down the creative ways each close friend nurtures, maintains and endures what many see as an impossible convention of modern life. Blue is set as Jessie's husband Dan, "a Lutheran Minister who looks more like a sexy rock star than a pastor"; with Smith as "Keaton's husband of one year, an accountant"; and Cruz as Alyse, "a pretty yet frail girl who's a cancer survivor who claims to have had an affair with Michelle's husband, Wil." Jill Gordon penned the Warner Horizon Television-based hour, which is inspired by the book by Iris Krasnow. (Deadline.com, THR.com)

SEX DIARIES (ABC, New!) - Tom Spezialy ("Chaos") has sold a potential new series to the Alphabet billed as "a sexy and heartfelt dramedy set in New York City that explores the sex lives, loves, and experiences of 10 characters who are interconnected in surprising ways." ABC Studios-based The Mark Gordon Co. is behind the hour, which is inspired by New York Magazine's popular weekly feature. Gordon and Nicholas Pepper also serve as executive producers. (Deadline.com)

THE SIXTH GUN (NBC, New!) - "Lost" alum Carlton Cuse is developing a small screen take on Brian Hurtt and Cullen Bunn's Oni Press comic of the same name, about six pistols of otherworldly power in the Old West, the most dangerous of which falls into the hands of an innocent girl named Becky Montcrief who - alongside shadowy gunfighter Drake Sinclair - must battle vile men thought long dead that have set their sights on retrieving the gun. Said effort was originally eyed as a six-hour mini-series at Syfy. Screenwriter Ryan Condal ("Galahad") will pen the script and executive produce alongside Cuse and Closed on Mondays Entertainment's Eric Gitter and Andy Bourne for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED JOHN LEGEND PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Grammy-winner John Legend is developing a new single-camera comedy at the network about "a guy in his early 20s who becomes the guardian to his own siblings while having to manage his burgeoning career and social life." Said half-hour, from the 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment, is loosely on Legend's upbringing. Tommy Dewey and Greg Bratman ("Sons of Tucson") are penning the script and will serve as co-executive producers. Get Lifted Film Co.'s Legend, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorious then will executive produce alongside Katherine Pope and Peter Chernin. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED RON WEINER PROJECT/WHITES (NBC, New!) - Ron Weiner ("30 Rock") has sold of pair of comedies to the Peacock. First up: an untitled half-hour about "a contentious work marriage in which two people who are total opposites must manage a team together." 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment is behind said effort with Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope also serving as executive producers. Then there's "Whites," based on the short-lived U.K. comedy "set in the kitchen of a country house hotel, following the trials and tribulations of head chef Roland White and his long suffering sous chef Bib." Universal Television is behind the half-hour with 3 Arts Entertainment's Howard Klein also on board as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED RYAN TAVLIN PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Screenwriter Ryan Tavlin ("Counting Backwards") is developing a modern-day take on Bonnie and Clyde at the network about "two sexy, young lovers from struggling families in East Texas, who use their respective skill sets to pair up and fight back, one crime at a time." Sony Pictures Television-based One-Two Punch Productions is behind the hour with the company's Maria Grasso and Deborah Spera executive producing alongside Tavlin. (Deadline.com)

THE CHURCH (NBC, New!) - Feature writer Howard Franklin ("The Big Year") has sold a potential drama to the Peacock which "chronicles the struggles of a family who is part of a seemingly innocuous and upstanding organization that they come to realize is a controlling cult." The Universal Television-based Wolf Films is behind the hour with the company's Dick Wolf, Peter Jankowski and Danielle Gelber executive producing alongside Franklin. (Variety.com)

THE CISKO KID (CBS, New!) - Diego Gutierrez ("Without a Trace") is spearheading a new small screen take on O. Henry's iconic Mexican caballero, which has been adapted into numerous film and TV incarnations - most recently in 1994 as a TV movie with Jimmy Smits in the title role and Cheech Marin as his sidekick Pancho. Gutierrez's take will focus Cisco, an Afghanistan veteran who teams with his best friend/fellow Marine, Sam, to defend the city's disenfranchised after his father is murdered. CBS Television Studios is behind the hour with Ventanarosa's Salma Hayek and Jose Tamez as well as Donners' Company's Lauren Shuler Donner and Jack Leslie executive producing alongside Gutierrez. Separately, Gutierrez is also developing "Flesh and Bones" at FX with producers Eli Roth and Eric Newman. (Deadline.com)

CONTINUING FRED (ABC Family) - Mimi Gianopulos ("What to Expect When You're Expecting") has booked the lead role on the comedy pilot, about 20-something Winifred "Fred" Harris, a newly-graduated slacker with an overbearing family who surprisingly finds purpose when she begins to teach at a local elementary school. Bill Daly is behind the multi-camera project, which was picked up last month. (Deadline.com)

FIVEHEAD (ABC, New!) - "America's Next Top Model's" Tyra Banks and Kenya Barris are set to re-team for a new single-camera comedy at the Alphabet which "chronicles the impressionable teenage years of Banks in the halls of her high school and at home, focusing on her family and the long journey that took Banks from awkward teen to one of the world's most recognizable supermodels." ABC Studios is behind the half-hour which Barris will pen off a story conceived alongside Banks with the duo executive producing for Bankable Productions. (Deadline.com)

GRANNY IS MY WINGMAN (CBS, New!) - Kayli Stollak's blog - which documents the 25-year-old New Yorker's experiences with online dating alongside her 76-year-old grandmother - is being eyed as a potential multi-camera comedy at the Eye. Donald Todd ("Hart of Dixie") is on board to co-write the half-hour, which is set up at the Warner Bros. Television-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television, alongside Stollak. Todd, Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman will executive produce with KristieAnne Reed and Stollak serving as co-executive producer and supervising producer, respectively. (Deadline.com)

LE GRAND (ION) - A deal to import the Jean Reno-led, eight-episode drama, about a tough elite cop who stops at nothing to solve mysterious murder cases in Paris, has become the focus of a $4 million transatlantic breach-of-contract lawsuit. Producer Atlantique Productions has alleged ION Media Networks backed away from a license deal for the series over "creative concerns, such as the 'intelligibility' of Reno's accent." ION has yet to comment on the lawsuit. René Balcer is behind "Le Grand," which was shot in English entirely on location in Paris. (THR.com)

LIFESTYLE LEMONAID (FOX) - Erin Richards ("Breaking In") has been tapped for the lead role on the comedy pilot presentation, based on Nikki Joel's tell-all blog about her marriage to top WME talent agent Brandt Joel. She'll play Nikki in the HBO-turned-FOX project, described as "a life force with a sense of mischief who's sexy, defensive and sometimes argumentative but always protective of her fashionista son." Jordon Nardino penned the half-hour, which is also executive produced by Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson as well as the Joels. (Deadline.com)

SECRET LIVES OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES (NBC) - Laura Allen ("Awake") has booked the final principal role on the drama pilot, based on Josie Brown's book about the secrets and lies of three suburban couples exposed in the aftermath of a murder. She'll play Alison Dunn, "a grounded and levelheaded mother and wife who happens to be hiding the darkest secret of all." Martin Henderson co-stars as her husband with Nicole Ari Parker, Jesse L. Martin, Perrey Reeves and James Tupper playing the other couples, the Cookes and the Deavers. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Mark Pellington and writer Sascha Penn are all behind the hour, which comes from Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)

UNDATEABLE (NBC, New!) - Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle's book, subtitled "311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating Or Having Sex," is being developed as a multi-camera comedy at the Peacock. Adam Sztykiel ("Due Date") is penning the project, which has a penalty attached and is "described as a bromantic comedy about two very different guys who are bonded by their common inability to attract women." Doozer's Bill Lawrence and Jeff Inglod are also on board to executive produce for Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED STEVE CONRAD PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Steve Conrad has booked a potential comedy at the pay channel from Mike White's RipCord Productions ("Enlightened"). No details were given about the project, which will be developed under White's recently signed overall deal with HBO. White and David Bernad then will presumably executive produce the untitled half-hour alongside Conrad. (Deadline.com)

WONDERLAND (NBC, New!) - Screenwriter Whit Anderson is developing a new drama at the Peacock billed as a sequel to Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" centering on a new character, Clara, "who must wage war against Wonderland's reigning Queen, the woman we once knew as Alice." ABC Studios is behind the hour, with Dare to Pass' Anthony E. Zuiker and Matt Weinberg as well as Brillstein Entertainment Partners' JoAnn Alfano and Margaret Riley also among the executive producers. Anderson previously penned the much-ballyhooed feature reboot of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 2010 which didn't move forward. (Deadline.com)