BACKSTROM (A.K.A. UNTITLED EVERT BACKSTROM PROJECT) (CBS) - The Eye has laid claim to 20th Century Fox Television's small screen take on the Backstrom books by renowned Swedish criminologist/novelist Leif G.W. Persson. Said project was originally set up FOX - where it landed a put pilot commitment last year - with Stephen Gaghan attached to pen the adaptation. Hart Hanson ("Bones") has since stepped in to spearhead the hour, about "an overweight, offensive, irascible detective as he tries and fails to change his self-destructive behavior," which now has a pilot production commitment. Hanson will pen the script and executive produce with Persson and his agent Niclas Salomonsson also receiving executive producer credits. (Deadline.com)
CONQUEST (Showtime, New!) - Director Ron Howard and screenwriter Jose Rivera ("The Motorcycle Diaries") are set to team for a potential period drama which "tells the story of famed Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes, who led the Spanish conquest in Mexico, and his clash with Moctezuma II, the last ruler of the Aztec Empire which fell at the hands of Cortes and his men." Fox 21 is behind the hour, which Rivera and Howard will executive produce alongside David Nevins and Francie Calfo for their Imagine Television banner. Hans Beimler ("The Middleman") will also serve as a consultant. (Deadline.com)
LOWE ROLLERS (FOX, New!) - Writer/director Ash Brannon ("Surf's Up") has booked a potential animated comedy at the network about "a family that tries to maintain a semblance of civility while struggling to run a sinking Titanic-themed casino in the heart of Sin City." Mark Torgove and Paul Kaplan ("Outsourced") are also on board to co-write the 20th Century Fox Television-based project, which they'll likewise executive produce alongside Brannon and DarkFire's Ryan Reynolds, Allan Loeb, Jonathon Komack Martin and Steven Pearl. (Deadline.com)
HARD UP (FOX, New!) - The ever-busy John Wells has set up a new single-camera comedy at the network about "four twentysomething, cash-strapped close friends willing to do anything for each other - especially if it means breaking the rules as they fight against the odds to keep their home in a gentrifying neighborhood." Etan Frankel ("Shameless") is on board to co-write the half-hour, which is based on Hanan Savyon and Guy Amir's Israeli series "Asfur." Wells and Frankel then will executive produce alongside Savyon, Amir, Andrew Stearn, Mark Mylod and Mirit Toovi for Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED NOAH HAWLEY PROJECT (ABC, New!) - "My Generation" creator Noah Hawley is back in business with the Alphabet for "a high-script drama revolving around a mysterious game." 20th Century Fox Television-based K.O. Paper Products is behind the hour, which has a script commitment with a penalty attached. The company's Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Heather Kadin then will executive produce alongside writer Hawley. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED MATT MANFREDI/PHIL HAY PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Feature writers Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay ("Clash of the Titans") are developing a new comedy at the network about "a disgraced hotel-industry hotshot who is exiled to a lower-rung airport hotel, where he is forced to manage an oddball staff in his quest to will the hotel (and his life) to 4-star greatness." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the presumably single-camera half-hour, which the duo will executive produce alongside DarkFire's Ryan Reynolds, Allan Loeb, Jonathon Komack Martin and Steven Pearl. (Deadline.com)
THE BRADY BUNCH (CBS, New!) - Mike Mariano ("Raising Hope") is spearheading a revival of the 1969-1974 comedy, in which "a divorced Bobby Brady, with children of his own, is remarried to a woman who also has kids, and together they also share a child. In addition, their ex-spouses are still part of their lives." Vince Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn and Peter Billingsley of Wild West Picture Show Productions are executive producing the multi-camera project alongside Mariano and Lloyd Schwartz, son of the late Sherwood Schwartz, for CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)
FOUNDING FATHERS (ABC, New!) - Feature writer Richard D'Ovidio ("Thir13en Ghosts") has landed a new drama at the network about Nick Keating who, "after serving a third tour in Afghanistan, returns home to find his small Texas town under the control of a militia group led by his older foster brother. After being seduced by the militia's surprisingly community-based motives, he accepts a rare invitation to join the group [where] unbeknownst to his new 'family,' Nick has a secret agenda that will put his life in jeopardy and lead him to question his allegiances." ABC Studios-based Di Bonaventura Pictures Television is behind the hour, with the company's Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott executive producing alongside D'Ovidio. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED DAN HARMON PROJECT (FOX, New!) - "Community" creator Dan Harmon has inked a second blind script deal in as many weeks, this time at the Eye. CBS Television Studios will produce the potential half-hour, also a multi-camera comedy project. Harmon previously signed a similar deal with FOX last week. (Deadline.com)
HANNIBAL (NBC) - Caroline Dhavernas ("Off the Map") has boarded the upcoming drama, a contemporary take on the Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) characters from Thomas Harris's novels. She'll play a psychology professor/consultant profiler who "would like to be Will's friend and fears that his recruitment by FBI agent Jack Crawford's (Laurence Fishburne) will put him in harm's way." Bryan Fuller is behind the project, from Gaumont International Television. (Deadline.com)
LOW WINTER SUN (AMC) - Ruben Santiago Hudson and Athena Karkanis are the latest additions to the drama pilot, a serial which begins with the murder of a cop by a fellow Detroit detective. The former will play Lt. George Torrance, "a 25-year veteran of the force who has, thus far, survived the down and dirty arena of Detroit crime and politics"; with the latter as Dani Kahlil, "a beautiful and highly intelligent detective who is a bright light on the force." In addition, Ernest R. Dickerson ("The Walking Dead") is in talks to direct the hour, from writer Chris Mundy, AMC Studios, Endemol Studios and Tiger Aspect Productions. James Ransone and Mark Strong also star. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED RUSSEL FRIEND/GARRETT LERNER PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner ("House") have booked a potential new drama at the network about the "Upstairs, Downstairs"-esque dynamic on a naval aircraft carrier between the newly enlisted and the veteran officers. 20th Century Fox Television is behind the hour, which has a script commitment with a penalty attached should it not move forward to pilot. (Deadline.com)
HOTEL CALIFORNIA (NBC, New!) - Ol Parker ("The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel") has scored a script order from the Peacock for a new drama about "a high-end Los Angeles hotel and its general manager and permanent resident Jamie Jones, who's determined to keep the property as the place to stay in the city." Universal Television and Working Title Television are behind the project, with Daniel Pipski executive producing alongside Parker. (THR.com)
UNTITLED JOSH MEYERS/SETH MEYERS PROJECT (NBC, New!) - "Saturday Night Live" head writer Seth Meyers is set to team with his younger brother, Josh Meyers, for a new multi-camera comedy at the Peacock. Universal Television-based Broadway Video is behind the half-hour with Lorne Michaels and Peter Grosz ("The Colbert Report") executive producing alongside the duo. No other details were given. (THR.com)
UNTITLED TOM BRADY PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Tom Brady ("Hell on Wheels") is set to pen a potential United Nations-set drama at the Peacock about "an interpreter at the international organization's New York HQ working with ambassadors and politicians from various countries as they deal with political and military crisis around the world." Said hour comes from Parkes-MacDonald Productions with the company's Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Ted Gold serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED CHRIS LEVINSON PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Chris Levinson ("Touch") has landed a script commitment from the network for a new drama about "a major crimes detective who starts slowly losing his memory" and opts to put his entire life under surveillance, creating a world where nothing is ever as it appears. 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment is behind the hour, with the company's Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope executive producing alongside Levinson. (Deadline.com)
THE BEACH (FOX, New!) - Alex Garland's 1996 novel-turned-2000 movie is being developed as a potential drama at the network. Andrew Miller ("The Secret Circle") is spearheading the project, which would track "a group of young people feeling disconnected and disenchanted from society who try to start over in paradise but discover that while creating the perfect world is hard, protecting it is even harder." 20th Century Fox Television, where Miller has a blind script deal, is producing. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED BYRON BALASCO PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Byron Balasco ("Detroit 1-8-7") has landed a put pilot commitment from the Alphabet for a "Romeo and Juliet"-esque drama about "two rival families and a forbidden and dangerous romance emerging between them as the two families battle for control of Venice, California." Warner Bros. Television-based Wonderland Sound and Vision is behind the hour, which the company's McG and Peter Johnson will executive produce alongside Balasco. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED NORMAN MAILER PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Stephen Schiff ("Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps") is spearheading a potential telefilm at the pay channel about the late literary icon Norman Mailer's relationship with prisoner Jack Abbot, who helped the author with his 1980 Pultizer Prize-winning book "The Executioner's Song." Tina Brown is executive producing the project alongside Mailer's son Michael Mailer and Lydia Pilcher while another Mailer son, John, is co-producing with Lawrence Schiller. (THR.com)
UNTITLED RAND RAVICH PROJECT (NBC, New!) - "Life" creator Rand Ravich is returning the Peacock, this time for a new Washington, D.C.-set drama about "an idealistic secret service agent who finds himself at the epicenter of an international crisis on his first day on the job." Ravich will pen and executive produce the project alongside his producing partner Far Shariat for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED SID QUASHIE PROJECT (FX, New!) - Feature writer Sid Quashie ("The Boston College Fix") is set to team with music mogul Andre Romelle Young (a.k.a. Dr. Dre) for a potential drama at the cable channel. The untitled hour "explores present day Los Angeles through the lenses of the music business and the crime business." Quashie will pen the script and executive produce alongside Crucial Television's Dre and Daniel Schnider with Brad Bertner serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)
PARIAH (NBC, New!) - Kevin Fox ("Lie to Me") has booked a new drama at the Peacock in which "the Mayor of San Diego appoints a rogue academic with no law enforcement background to run a task force using alternative methods of policing." Said effort, from Lionsgate Television, features characters inspired by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's book "Freakonomics." Kelsey Grammer, Stella Stolper and Brian Sher of Grammnet Productions will also serve as executive producers alongside Fox with Levitt and Dubner also receiving producing credits. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED JOSS WHEDON PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015. Said pact calls for Whedon to write and direct "The Avengers 2" as well as, according to a statement from the company, "help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel's cinematic universe."(Deadline.com)
BROTHERS-IN-LAW (TV Land) - Jay Mohr and Ellen Woglom have joined the cast of the multi-camera comedy pilot, which revolves around the family dynamic between a husband (Josh Cooke) and the eccentric fiance of his wife's twin sister. They'll play the latter couple in the project, which comes from co-creators Bill Martin and Mike Schiff. Stuber Productions is producing. (Deadline.com)
BUDA BRIDGE (HBO, New!) - Oscar-nominee Michael R. Roskam ("Bullhead") has booked a Belgian-set drama at the pay channel about "a series of violent crimes and strange science that bring mayhem to the dark capital of the European state" after a woman is found dead on Buda Bridge. Roskam will write, direct and serve as a co-executive producer on the potential hour with Michael Mann and Mark Johnson executive producing. (Deadline.com)
CLANDESTINE (Syfy, New!) - Todd Stashwick and Dennis Calero have sold a potential drama to the cable channel "described as a swash-buckling space drama/adventure and revolves around mercenaries who masquerade as part of an Intergalactic fleet." John Shiban is attached to supervise the script and executive produce for Universal Cable Productions with Stashwick and Calero serving as co-executive producers. (Deadline.com)
GUN MACHINE (FOX, New!) - Warren Ellis's upcoming novel, about "a beleaguered New York City detective who stumbles upon a cache of hundreds of guns that trace back to a wide array of seemingly unrelated unsolved murders," of the same name is being developed as a drama at the network. Dario Scardapane is on board to pen the adaptation for the 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment, with Ellis, Scardapane, Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope all serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
I'M NOT DEAD YET (TV Land) - Ben Falcone ("What to Expect When You're Expecting ") has booked the lead role on the comedy pilot, about a man who finds out that he has a rare heart condition that could cause him to die at any moment, and so he decides to finally start speaking his mind and live life to the fullest. Jon Sherman is behind the single-camera project, which is co-produced by DBS Satellite Services and Electus. (Deadline.com)
FAMILY TRADE (GSN, New!) - The cable channel has ordered eight episodes of a new reality series about "the quirky barter system employed by G-Stone Motors, a GMC and Ford dealership in Middlebury, Vermont." Lionsgate Television-based Rogue State Productions is behind the project, with Eli Frankel executive producing. Said effort is targeted for a 2013 premiere. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED SANYA RICHARDS-ROSS PROJECT (WE tv, New!) - The life of Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross is set to be the focus of a potential reality series at the cable channel. Good Clean Fun is behind the project, which also reveals the often intense rivalry between Richards-Ross and her husband, two-time Super Bowl champion Aaron Ross, who recently signed a three-year, $15.3 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. A pilot was shot prior to this year's Summer Games. (Deadline.com)
WHISPER OF FEAR (Lifetime, New!) - Rhonda Saunders's book, subtitled "The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Stalks the Stalkers," is being developed a backdoor pilot telefilm at the cable channel. Said effort would revolve around "a criminal prosecutor who penned the law on stalking in California and is based on the true story of a hot-head cop and polished district attorney who team to bring a stalker obsessed with her former lover to justice." David Wiener is on board to pen the Pilgrim Studios-based project with the company's Craig Piligian executive producing. (THR.com)
