ABOUT A BOY (NBC) - Jason Katims's single-camera comedy - a small screen take on Nick Hornby's famed book-turned-movie about "the relationship between a bachelor man-child and the young boy who moves in next door with his kooky single mother" - has landed a pilot order from the Peacock. Katims penned and will executive produce the half-hour, which comes from his Universal Television-based True Jack Productions with the film's Working Title and Tribeca Productions also co-producing. Patrick Dempsey and Max Kirsch toplined the previous effort to import the property over at FOX in 2003. (Deadline.com)
JOE & JOE & JANE (NBC) - Joe Port and Joe Wiseman's multi-camera comedy - about "a conflict-avoidant children's book author caught in an ongoing tug of war between his wife and his co-author/best friend" - has likewise received a pilot commitment from the network. 20th Century Fox Television is behind the half-hour, which said duo wrote and will executive produce. (Deadline.com)
TRUE DETECTIVE (HBO) - Michelle Monaghan, Alexandra Daddario, Elizabeth Reaser, Wood Harris and Michael Potts have all been cast in the Woody Harrelson/Matthew McConaughey-led drama, about "two detectives, Rust Cohle (McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Harrelson), whose lives collide and entwine during a 17-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana." Monaghan will play Hart's wife, Maggie Hart, "a woman who makes a hard decision that has long-reaching and devastating consequences"; with Daddario as Lisa Tragnetti, "a sexy court reporter whose relationship with Hart takes a dark turn for them both." Rounding out the group are Reaser as Laurie Perkins, "Cohle's pretty, refined girlfriend, a surgeon who works at the hospital with Maggie, and has dated Cohle for 4 years"; Potts as Maynard Gilbough, "a cerebral detective"; and Harris as Thomas Papania, Gilbough's partner. Writer Nic Pizzolatto and director Cary Fukunaga are behind the eight-episode project. (Deadline.com)
UNDER THE DOME (CBS) - Colin Ford ("We Bought a Zoo") is the first to be cast in Stephen King's upcoming drama, about a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. He'll play Joe, "a teenager living in Chester's Mill, a very smart kid who's understandably freaked out when he discovers that the mysterious barrier covers the whole town - and both his parents are outside of it." Niels Arden Oplev is helming in the debut installment from a script by Brian K. Vaughan. CBS Television Studios and Amblin Television are co-producing. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED JESSICA SIMPSON PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Jessica Simpson ("Fashion Star") is set to topline a potential single-camera comedy at the Peacock inspired by her own life. Nick Bakay will pen the proposed pilot presentation off a story he conceived with his wife, Robin. He'll also executive produce alongside Simpson, her father/manager Joe Simpson and Electus' Ben Silverman for Universal Television with the latter's Jimmy Fox also serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)
GATES, THE (NBC) - Christina Kirk ("Girls") is the latest to board the comedy pilot, about the hijinks that ensue when parents drop off and pick up their kids at school each day. She'll play Sarah, "a neglected, hot, depressed stay-at-home mom." Diana Maria Riva, John Grisetti, Justin Chon and Kathleen Rose Perkins also star in the single-camera project, from 20th Century Fox Television, director Marc Buckland and writers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. (Deadline.com)
HELIX (Syfy) - The Ronald D. Moore-produced drama - about "a team of scientists investigating a possible disease outbreak at an Arctic research facility who find themselves trying to protect the world from annihilation" - is reportedly close to a 13-episode straight-to-series order. Cameron Porsandeh created the Sony Pictures Television-based hour and serves as a co-executive producer with Moore and Lynda Obst executive producing. (Deadline.com)
MURDER IN THE FIRST (A.K.A. UNTITLED STEVEN BOCHCO MURDER MYSTERY PROJECT) (TNT) - Steven Bochco and Eric Lodal's crime drama - which intimately dissects a single murder case over an entire season - has been ordered to pilot by the cable channel. The San Francisco-set hour tracks "the murder of a Silicon Valley wunderkind who is a celebrated CEO of a cutting edge tech firm." Bochco is executive producing with Lodal serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED DANA MIN GOODMAN/JULIA WOLOV PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov ("Good Vibes") have sold "a female buddy comedy set in high school" to the cable channel. No details were given about the project, which Goodman and Wolov will presumably executive produce. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED MICHAEL J. FOX PROJECT (NBC) - Katie Finneran, Conor Romero and Jack Gore have been cast in the upcoming comedy, which stars Michael J. Fox as Mike Burnaby, a husband and father of three from New York City dealing with family, career, and challenges - including Parkinson's - all loosely drawn from Fox's real life. Finneran will play Mike's "narcissistic, single and jobless sister" with Romero as his college dropout son and Gore as his younger, seven-year-old son. Wendell Pierce also stars in the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, from co-creators Will Gluck and Sam Laybourne. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED ROB COHEN/OWEN BURKE PROJECT (USA, New!) - Rob Cohen and Owen Burke are developing a talk show that's being billed as "a morning show in late night." The proposed project, to feature a male-female hosting team, would air live at 12:01am ET, making it the first "morning show" of the day. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions is behind the series, which they'll executive produce alongside said creators. (TVGuide.com)
WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (USA) - Kumail Nanjiani, Jordi Vilasuso, John Pankow and Aisha Hinds have all landed roles on the drama pilot, about "Miami businessman Billy (Bryan Greenberg) who, contemplating a run for political office, tries to increase his chances of being elected by marrying a Colombian woman named Lourdes (Stephanie Sigman)." Nanjiani will guest as Alfred Dalton, "an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agent and K-1 Visa Specialist"; with Vilasuso as Mario Morales, "Miami's youngest District Attorney ever who's married to Billy's ex-fiance Margaret (Amanda Schull)"; Pankow as Herman Mackey, "an old-school Miami real-estate developer"; and Hinds as Rosie, "the senior employee at Billy's mother's house cleaning business which he's been struggling to run since her death." Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton are behind the hour, which is based on Elmore Leonard's short story of the same name. (TVLine.com)
