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zaterdag 5 januari 2013

Development Update: The 5th of January


BAD JUDGE (NBC, New!) - Chad Kultgen (ABC's "Southern Discomfort") has sold a single-camera comedy to the Peacock about "a hard-living, sexually unapologetic woman who plays with the law, and whose life on the edge is constantly in balance as she also happens to be a judge in the Criminal Court system." The Universal Television-based half-hour is based on an idea from actress Anne Heche, who will executive produce alongside Kultgen, Jill Messick and Gary Sanchez Productions' Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. (Deadline.com)

BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN (ABC, New!) - Chris Morgan ("Fast Five") and Jason Fuch ("Ice Age: Continental Drift") are set to team for a new drama based on the Disneyland and Disney World indoor/outdoor mine train roller coaster of the same name. Said effort - "a supernatural adventure drama" - is set up at ABC Studios with Morgan and Fuch writing and executive producing. (Variety.com)

GRAVEYARD QUEEN (NBC, New!) - Amanda Stevens's novels - about a beautiful young cemetery restorer cursed with the ability to see the dead who, at great risk to her physical and mental well-being, joins forces with a haunted homicide detective to solve a string of brutal murders in Charleston, South Carolina - are being developed as a drama at the Peacock. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts ("Revenge") are penning the hour, which comes from the ABC Studios-based Mark Gordon Co. The company's Mark Gordon and Nicholas Pepper then will executive produce alongside said duo. (Deadline.com)

HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU (TBS) - The cable channel is the latest to take a stab at importing the U.K. series, in which two teams of celebrities and newsmakers humorously try to answer questions about current events and politics. Sam Seder hosted the recently completed pilot with comedians Sherrod Small and Michael Ian Black as team captains. Jimmy Mulville's Hat Trick Productions is behind the project, which was previously set up at NBC in March 2009. (Deadline.com)

I AM VICTOR (NBC, New!) - Mark Goffman ("White Collar") has landed a potential drama at the Peacock described as "House" as a divorce attorney. Said hour is based on Norwegian novelist Jo Nesbo's book of the same name with Katie Jacobs, Niclas Salomonsson and Television 360's Daniel Rappaport and Meghan Lyvers also serving as executive producers for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) - Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker are the latest additions to the pilot, a drama set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following the small screen adventures of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Henstridge will play "science whiz" Agent Gemma Simmons, while De Caestecker will play Agent Leo Fitz, "a technology guru." They join the previously cast Ming-Na Wen and Clark Gregg in the ABC Studios-based hour, from Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. (THR.com)

SICK (The CW, New!) - Trey Callaway ("CSI: NY") and Sean Hood ("Conan the Barbarian") are set to team for a potential drama at the netlet set in "a world where youths are quarantined after a mysterious virus makes adults allergic to teenagers" and centers on "a band of teens who escape from their containment units and go on the run from authorities." They'll write and executive produce for a yet-to-be-determined studio. (Deadline.com)

TOMORROW PEOPLE, THE (The CW, New!) - Phil Klemmer ("Chuck") is looking to import Roger Price's U.K. series which follows "the story of several young people from around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution, possessing special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with each other telepathically." Greg Berlanti ("Arrow"), Melissa Kellner Berman, Julie Plec ("The Vampire Diaries") and FremantleMedia North America's Tony Optican are also on board to executive produce the hour via the former's Warner Bros. Television-based Berlanti Productions. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED JOSH DUHAMEL PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Actor Josh Duhamel is developing a new drama at the Alphabet which "takes place behind the scenes of a daytime soap and explores the loves, lives, and lunacy at an on-the-bubble series, where the antics of the cast and crew are crazier than any of the plot lines they broadcast." Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts ("Revenge") are on board to pen the hour with the ABC Studios-based Mark Gordon Co. producing. Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Berg, Harberts, Duhamel and Oliver Hudson are the executive producers. (Deadline.com)

GEORGE WASHINGTON (NBC, New!) - Oscar-winning writer David Seidler ("The King's Speech") and director Barry Levinson ("Rain Man") are developing a period drama at the Peacock billed as "an intimate look at the enigmatic leader who became the father of a nation on one side of the Atlantic and a terrorist on the other, a man to be eliminated at all costs by the British Crown." Said hour is based Ron Chernow's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography "Washington: A Life" with Levinson directing from a script by Seidler. They'll likewise executive produce alongside Tom Fontana, Carnival Films & Television's Gareth Neame and Baltimore Pictures' Jason Sosnoff for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

IQUIT (NBC, New!) - Austin Winsberg ("Jake in Progress") has sold a new single-camera comedy to the Peacock about "five friends from UC Berkeley, who - seven years after graduation - find their lives affected in wildly different ways by the Internet: from a guy who made millions selling an app, to a girl who is famous on YouTube (but still works at the local burrito place), to a wannabe politician whose life has been completely ruined by Facebook." Universal Cable Productions-based Hypnotic is behind the half-hour with the company's Doug Liman, David Bartis, Gene Klein and Lindsay Sloane executive producing alongside Winsberg. (Deadline.com)

RAKE (FOX) - "Rescue Me" co-creator Peter Tolan has been tapped to oversee the Greg Kinnear-led drama, about criminal defense lawyer Cleaver Greene (Kinnear), who's "brilliant, iconoclastic and innately self-destructive with a mind-numbing lack of discretion and a total inability to pause before speaking his mind." Peter Duncan, who co-created the original Australian drama, is penning the hour, which has a pilot production commitment. Paul Attanasio was previously attached as the showrunner but had to bow out due to other commitments. Sony Pictures Television and Essential Media are co-producing with Richard Roxburgh and Ian Collie also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)

SAGA (ABC, New!) - Andrew Miller ("The Secret Circle") has booked a potential drama at the Alphabet about "when the author of a best-selling book series goes missing before she can complete the final installment in her epic fantasy saga, a family of fans discovers she's been kidnapped into the very real world of her books and attempts to rescue her." ABC Studios is behind the hour with Full Fathom Five's James Frey and Todd Cohen and Amblin Television's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank executive producing alongside Miller. (Deadline.com)

TEXAS RISING (History, New!) - Ted Mann ("Hatfields & McCoys") is developing a six-hour mini-series at the cable channel about "the formation and rise of the Texas Rangers, the oldest law enforcement organization in North America." He'll write the potential project with fellow "Hatfields & McCoys" alum Leslie Greif executive producing via his Thinkfactory Media banner. It's understood said effort will cover its origins "triggered by a call-to-arms penned by Stephen F. Austin in 1823 as well as its role during Texas' secession from the U.S. during the Civil War." (Deadline.com)

WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (USA) - Bryan Greenberg ("How to Make It in America") and Stephanie Sigman ("Miss Bala") are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about "a Miami businessman (Greenberg) who, contemplating a run for political office, tries to increase his chances of being elected by marrying a Colombian woman (Sigman) who is on the run from her troubled past." Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton are behind the project, which is based Elmore Leonard's short story of the same name. Doug Liman and David Bartis are executive producing via their Universal Cable Productions-based Hypnotic banner alongside Falacci and Heuton. Kevin Bray will helm the pilot, production of which was contingent on casting said leads, with Leonard's granddaughter, Megan Freels, and her producing partner Melanie Donkers serving as consulting producers. (Deadline.com)

BOUNTY BOYS (USA, New!) - Pete Tibbals and Eric Goldberg ("Kickin' It") have sold a potential comedy to the cable channel about "two friends - one who has perfected the slacker lifestyle and the other the ultimate type-A personality - who share an apartment in Venice and take on odd bounty hunting jobs to pay for their activities." They'll write and serve as co-executive producers for Fox Television Studios with Boardwalk Entertainment Group's Gary A. Randall and Timothy Scott Bogart executive producing. (Deadline.com)

LEGACY (FOX, New!) - Jason Ning ("Perception") has landed a potential drama at the network about two cops - Rome McCallan, who is a Texas Ranger, and Aldo Reyes, a Mexican Federale - whose families "have a long and contentious history." Gary A. Randall and Timothy Scott Bogart will executive produce alongside Ning via their Boardwalk Entertainment Group banner for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)

LIFE HAPPENS! (ABC, New!) - Gary A. Randall and Timothy Scott Bogart have sold a potential dramedy to the Alphabet about "the interconnected lives of people who've become forced friends because their children have become best friends in a community created by the inescapable bond born from all having kids in the same school." ABC Studios is behind the hour, which Bogart will pen off a concept he created with fellow executive producer Randall via their Boardwalk Entertainment Group. (Deadline.com)

NEW GUY (FOX, New!) - Newcomer Shawn Wines has sold a single-camera comedy to the network about "a tragically average guy, living with his trust-fund roommate, across the hall from their beautiful neighbor." Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan is executive produce the Warner Bros. Television-based project, which Wines will write and serve as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)

OPPOSING COUNSEL (NBC, New!) - Gary A. Randall and Timothy Scott Bogart have likewise booked a drama at the network about "two new junior associates, each working for opposing warring civil law firms, which are each led by one half of what used to be the most powerful legal couple in town, who find themselves battling law and love." Bogart once again will write the script based on a concept he created with fellow executive producer Randall for Boardwalk Entertainment Group. ABC Studios is producing. (Deadline.com)

REEDS, THE (The CW, New!) - Tony Spiridakis (FOX's "The Heights") has sold a new drama to the netlet about a family band thrust into the limelight who "must learn how to become stars and deal with all the good and bad that comes with fame, while struggling to keep their family intact." He'll write and executive produce alongside Boardwalk Entertainment Group's Gary A. Randall and Timothy Scott Bogart for CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)

BELIEVE (A.K.A. UNTITLED CUARON & FRIEDMAN PROJECT) (NBC) - Casting has begun on Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Friedman's drama pilot, about "a girl in possession of a great gift/powers - which will come into their own in seven years - and the man who is sprung from prison to protect her from those trying to hunt her down." The search for said role - 10-year-old Bo ("innocent and beautiful, a regular girl who has a depth and mystery to her") plus the adult male lead as well as another older character - comes in anticipation of a formal green light. The Warner Bros. Television-based Bad Robot is behind the hour with the company's J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk executive producing alongside Friedman and Cuarón, the latter of which is attached to direct. (Deadline.com)

DEATH BECOMES HER (Bravo, New!) - Robert Zemeckis is developing a small screen take on his 1992 film, about two rival women (Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn) who both attain eternal youth, a development that only serves to escalate their foibles. Said hour is set up at Universal Cable Productions with Jack Rapke, Jackie Levine and Zemeckis executive producing via his Lupara Productions banner. No writer was indicated. (Variety.com)

HUMAN ERROR (Starz, New!) - British screenwriter Philip Gawthorne is developing a new sci-fi drama at the pay channel about two detectives - one human, one artificial - who are tasked with a seemingly simple case that ultimately leads to a larger conspiracy. Adam Schroeder and Bryan Zuriff will executive produce alongside Gawthorne. No studio was indicated. (THR.com)

TROPHY WIFE (ABC) - Ryan Lee ("Super 8") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about reformed party girl Kate (Malin Akerman), "who finds herself with an insta-family when she falls in love with Brad (Bradley Whitford), a successful charmer with a quirky sense of humor who has three manipulative kids and two judgmental ex-wives (Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins)." He'll play one of said children in the ABC Studios-based half-hour, which Jason Moore is directing from a script by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins. (Deadline.com)