UNTITLED ROGES AILES PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Gabriel Sherman's planned book, tentatively titled "The Loudest Voice in the Room: An Inside Account of the Rise of Fox News," has been optioned for a potential telefilm about Fox News Channel president Roger Ailes at the pay channel. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were set to executive produce the project, which ultimately has been tabled by HBO Films President Len Amato. "It had become clear to us before even receiving a script that due to our company's CNN affiliation the film could never be seen as objective," the executive said in the report. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED PETER PAIGE/BRAD BREDEWEG PROJECT (ABC Family, New!) - Peter Paige and Brad Bredeweg have booked a potential drama at the cable channel about a lesbian couple - one's a cop, the other a private school teacher - "who suddenly have their already child heavy household turned upside down when a wayward teenage girl moves in." Said clan includes a biological son and adopted teen twins, one a boy, the other a girl. Jennifer Lopez and Simon Fields of Nuyorican Productions are also on board to executive produce alongside the duo, as is Greg Gugliotta. (Deadline.com)
CASSANDRA FRENCH'S FINISHING SCHOOL FOR BOYS (MTV) - Rose McIver ("The Lovely Bones") has been cast in the title role of the drama pilot, about a 22-year-old overachiever who decides to lock a guy up in her basement in order to train him to become the perfect gentleman. Steve Talley also stars as said fellow, Owen, with Abby Pivaronas and Lyndon Smith as her best friends, Lexi and Claire. Michael Lehmann is directing the hour from a script by Eric Garcia based on his novel. Krysten Ritter also serves as an executive producer. (THR.com)
GRASS VALLEY (AMC, New!) - Taylor Sheridan has booked a potential drama at the cable channel about "two brothers whose lives and livelihoods are inextricably tied to the marijuana boomtown of Ukiah, California." Sony Pictures Television-based One-Two Punch Productions is behind the hour, with the company's Deborah Spera and Maria Grasso presumably executive producing alongside Sheridan. (Deadline.com)
THE TASTE (UNTITLED BOURDAIN & LAWSON PROJECT) (ABC) - The Alphabet has given an eight-episode order to the project, in which four culinary experts - including Nigella Lawson and Anthony Bourdain - "each coach a team of cooks who compete individually and together, facing elimination at the end of each show." Kinetic Content is producing. (Variety.com)
EX MEN (A.K.A EX LIFE) (CBS) - Rob Greenberg's single-camera comedy, about "a young guy who finds camaraderie living among the more experienced guys he meets in a short-term rental complex," has been ordered to pilot by the network. The CBS Television Studios-based half-hour originally received said commitment back in February of 2007 and was rolled to the following season before being shelved. The Tannenbaum Co.'s Eric and Kim Tanenbaum will executive produce alongside Greenberg, who's also attached to direct. (Variety.com)
THOSE WHO KILL (A&E) - Glen Morgan's drama, about a police detective and a forensic profiler who possess a deep understanding of the serial killers they hunt, has likewise landed a pilot commitment from the network. Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Jonas Allen and Peter Bose are executive producing the project, a Danish format based on the bestselling work of author Elsebeth Egholm, alongside Morgan for Fox 21 and Imagine Television. (Deadline.com)
TWO KISSES FOR MADDY (Lifetime, New!) - Matt Logelin's memoir - about his courtship and marriage to wife Liz, who died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Madeline - is being developed as an original movie at the cable channel. Marta Kauffman is executive producing the project alongside The Lucky One's Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan. No writer is currently attached. (THR.com)
THE JONESES (Bravo) - Liz Tigelaar's drama, a small screen take on the 2009 film about a seemingly perfect family that are actually guns-for-hire cast to play family members and do stealth product marketing among their neighbors, has found a new home at Bravo. ABC Studios and Echo Lake Productions are behind the project, which was originally set up at ABC last year. Gary Fleder and Mary Beth Basile of Mojo Films are executive producing alongside Tigelaar. (Deadline.com)
MALICE (FX, New!) - Brannon Braga ("Terra Nova") and Adam Simon ("The Haunting in Connecticut") have booked a potential drama at the cable channel billed as "a psychosexual paranormal thriller that redefines the events of the Salem Witch trials." Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry will executive produce alongside Braga and Simon for Fox 21. (Variety.com)
SLEEP NO MORE (Showtime, New!) - "Hung" co-creators Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson are developing a supernatural thriller at the pay channel which "tells the tale of a town where the dead keep returning to life." Fox 21 is behind the project, where said duo recently inked a two-year overall deal. (Deadline.com)
