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dinsdag 1 januari 2013

Development Update: The 1st of January


HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS) - The Eye and producer 20th Century Fox Television are reportedly set to move forward with a ninth season of the veteran comedy. Said development is the result of deals being worked out with its five principal cast members - Jason Segel, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan - as well as co-creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays. All parties were game for another season, save for Segel who "got turned around today at the last second." Due to the holiday weekend however, no formal announcement is expected until next week at the earliest. (Deadline.com)

SHORELINE (E!, New!) - Carolyn Ingber ("The Mentalist") has sold a new drama to the cable channel about "the golden child of a small coastal town in South Carolina who, after a scandal in New York, returns home to see that a major Hollywood primetime soap, The Shore Line Yacht Club, is the biggest employer in town." Fox Television Studios is behind the hour, with Becky Hartman Edwards ("Switched at Birth") on board as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)

WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (USA) - Stephen Root and Cotter Smith have both boarded the drama pilot, about "a Miami businessman (Bryan Greenberg) who, contemplating a run for political office, tries to increase his chances of being elected by marrying a Colombian woman (Stephanie Sigman)." The former will play Avery Boomer, "a savvy political power broker, long-time Miami campaign manager, and family friend who decides to take on Billy's political aspirations"; while Smith will guest as Pruitt, "a wealthy U.S. senator and the father of Billy's ex, Melody (Amanda Schull)." Universal Cable Productions-based Hypnotic and executive producers Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton are behind the hour, which is based on Elmore Leonard's short story of the same name. (TVLine.com)

CHOSEN (FX, New!) - "Eastbound & Down" executive producers Danny McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green are set to re-team for a new animated comedy about "a rapper who comes out of the joint with a new message and new skills - which he will use in his quest for redemption and domination." Grant Dekernion will pen the script to the project, which has a pilot commitment, as well as voice the lead role. Floyd County Productions and FX Productions will co-produce alongside the aforementioned trio's Rough House Pictures banner. (Deadline.com)

L.A. COMPLEX, THE (The CW) - The netlet has formally passed on a third season of the Canadian import. Original broadcaster Bell Media pulled the plug earlier this month, however producer Epitome Pictures had hoped to continue the series on The CW. The show's final two episodes aired on September 24, averaging a modest 520,000 viewers. (Deadline.com)

LEGENDS (TNT) - Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff ("Eleventh Hour") has been tapped as showrunners of the potential drama, about a deep-cover operative named Martin Odum (Sean Bean), who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. They'll serve as executive producers alongside Howard Gordon, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Alexander Cary and Jonathan Levin for Fox 21. Steve Harris, Amber Valletta, Rob Mayes, Tina Majorino and Lux Haney Jardine also star. (Deadline.com)

SHERWOOD (The CW, New!) - Tze Chun ("Cashmere Mafia") has sold a period drama to the netlet "set in 1072 England and revolves around a young noblewoman who sets out to free her serf boyfriend, who has been wrongfully imprisoned by ruthless Norman occupiers. Seeing help from the vanished Robin of Locksley, she inadvertently reunites - and joins - the fabled Robin Hood and his Merry Men, inspiring new hope for the oppressed people of Nottingham." CBS Television Studios is behind the hour with Dan Jinks executive producing. (Deadline.com)

SUPER FUN NIGHT (ABC) - John Riggi ("30 Rock") is set to helm the comedy pilot's single-camera incarnation. Rebel Wilson, Lisa Lapira and Lauren Ash star in the project, about three nerdy female friends on a quest to have "super fun" every Friday night. Wilson penned the half-hour, which comes from the Warner Bros. Television-based Conaco Productions. Kelen Coleman and Kevin Bishop also star. Mark Cendrowski helmed the original multi-camera version for CBS during the last development cycle. (Deadline.com)

GATES, THE (NBC) - Kathleen Rose Perkins, Diana Maria Riva, John Grisetti and Justin Chon are the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, based on the U.K. series about the hijinks that ensue when parents drop off and pick up their kids at school each day. Perkins will play the type-A Helen (Perkins), "who just moved to town with her husband Mark and their eight year-old daughter for her big new job"; with Riva as Lindsay, "the head of the PTA who is very easily pissed off"; Grisetti as Nat, "the young-ish school principal, who thinks he's beloved"; and Chon as a "manny" who serves as a buddy/confidant to Mark. Marc Buckland is helming the 20th Century Fox Television-based half-hour from a script by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. (Deadline.com)

S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) - Chloe Bennet ("Nashville") will round out of the cast of 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. She'll play Skye, "a confident woman who is slightly obsessed with superhero culture and the shadow organizations that exist within it." Ming-Na, Clark Gregg, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge and Ian De Caestecker also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, from Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen and director Joss Whedon. (THR.com)

TWILIGHT ZONE, THE (New!) - Bryan Singer ("Mockingbird Lane") is looking to revive the anthology franchise, pending a deal with creator Rod Serling's estate. He'll executive produce and potentiall direct the project, which has yet to be pitched to the networks, for CBS Television Studios. The search is underway for a writer to pen the script. Concurrently, director Matt Reeves and writer Jason Rothenberg are spearheading a feature incarnation at Warner Bros. Pictures. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED MICHAEL J. FOX PROJECT (NBC) - Wendell Pierce ("Treme") has joined the cast of the Michael J. Fox-led comedy, about 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. He'll play Mike's boss Harris, "a slick, twice divorced man." Will Gluck is helming the pilot, which was ordered directly to series back in August. Sam Laybourne co-wrote the script alongside Gluck. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED SEAN HAYES PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Sean Hayes ("Will & Grace") has inked a new deal with the Peacock to star in a potential multi-camera comedy at the network. Victor Fresco ("Better Off Ted") is penning the half-hour, which "centers on Sean (Hayes), who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter, who just moved in, while navigating a temperamental new boss at work." They'll both also executive produce alongside Todd Milliner for the Universal Television-based Hazy Mills Productions. (Deadline.com)

STICK FLY (HBO, New!) - Lydia R. Diamond's play - about "the secrets of prejudice, hypocrisy and adultery that are exposed during an African-American family's weekend at Martha's Vineyard" - is being developed as a drama by the pay channel. Diamond herself is set to pen the hour and executive produce alongside Alicia Keys and Nelle Nugent. Dule Hill, Mekhi Phifer and Tracie Thoms starred in the Broadway production, which wrapped back in February. (THR.com)

TURF (Starz, New!) - Patrick Macmanus has sold a new drama to the pay channel "charting the birth of hip-hop from the violence of gang life in 1970s Bronx." He'll write and executive produce the hour. No studio was indicated. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED NATASHA LYONNE PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Natasha Lyonne ("New Girl") is set to star in a potential comedy at the network about Stella (Lyonne) "who, fresh out of rehab and committed to starting a new life as a sober, responsible adult, is forced to move in with her conservative brother and young family." Alex Barnow and Marc Firek ("Mr. Sunshine") are penning the half-hour for Sony Pictures Television where they'll executive produce alongside 3 Arts Entertainment's Dave Becky and Jonathan Berry. Lyonne will also receive a producing credit. (Deadline.com)

AMERICAN GUNS (Discovery) - The cable channel has pulled the plug on the reality series, about a family of gun makers in Denver, after two seasons. Said decision reportedly was made a while ago, but only made public after Friday's elementary school shooting in a Connecticut. The show's 16-episode sophomore run averaged 1.135 million viewers and a 0.5 rating in adults 18-49. Gurney Productions was behind the series. (FoxNews.com)

BETWEEN TWO KINGS (ABC, New!) - Jeff Kahn has sold a new comedy to the Alphabet about "a divorced and devoted father with sole custody of his 11-year-old son who moves into his narcissistic father's house to care for his ailing dad and finds himself torn between the constant needs of both his self-centered father and his demanding son." The project is set up at Ben Stiller's ABC Studios-based Red Hour Television with Stiller, Debbie Liebling and Stuart Cornfeld executive producing alongside Kahn. (Deadline.com)

GALLERINA (E!, New!) - Michelle McGrath has sold a new drama to the cable channel about "a young woman determined to make her name at the Bettencourt Gallery, which symbolizes L.A. as the prestigious new center of the art world." FremantleMedia North America is behind the hour with Watermark Pictures' Mark Waters and Jessica Tuchinsky as well as Tollin Productions' Mike Tollin among the executive producers. The latter company's Ben Spector also serves as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)

HOT MESS (MTV) - Jake Sandvig ("Weeds") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about Amanda Marshall (Annabelle Stephenson), "who is caught between her current and former boyfriend, and her close circle of friends from college." He'll take over for Matthew Atkinson as Nick, "a member of Amanda's crew who is a veteran womanizer with no problems getting girls to fall in his lap." No reason was given for the change. Production on the pilot, from Lauren Iungerich, starts today. Johnny Pacar, Mathew Botuchis and Shoshana Bush also star. (Deadline.com)

LEGENDS (TNT) - Steve Harris ("Awake") has boarded the drama pilot, about a deep-cover operative named Martin Odum (Sean Bean), who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. He'll play Yates, "the director of the DCO Task Force who reinstates Martin to an undercover job." Amber Valletta, Lux Haney Jardine, Rob Mayes and Tina Majorino co-star in the Fox 21-based hour, from director David Semel, writers Howard Gordon, Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Mark Bomback and based on a book by master spy novelist Robert Littell. (Deadline.com)

SUPER FUN NIGHT (ABC) - Kevin Bishop is set to reprise his role on the comedy pilot, about three nerdy female friends - Kimmie (Rebel Wilson), Helen-Alice (Lisa Lapira) and Marika (Lauren Ash) - on a quest to have "super fun" every Friday night. He'll play Richard, "a recent transplant to Kimmie's office who ignores her to focus on her attractive co-worker Felicity (Kelen Coleman)." The Warner Bros. Television-based Conaco Productions is behind the single-camera project, which was shot as a multi-camera effort during the last development cycle at CBS. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED TOM GORMICAN/RICHIE KEEN PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Tom Gormican and Richie Keen have booked a new comedy at the network about Richie, "a mediocre professional tennis player who returns to his college town, the scene of his greatness, in order to reboot his life, only to be caught between a lifestyle he never got to live - embodied by his carefree, bar-owning, younger brother Tom - and Kirsten, the love of his life he will have to grow up in order to get." Universal Television-based Deedle-Dee Productions is behind the half-hour with Greg Daniels and Tracy Katsky executive producing alongside 3 Arts Entertainment's Howard Klein and Oly Obst. (Deadline.com)

YOU'RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT (ABC, New!) - Michael Ian Black is set to topline a potential comedy at the Alphabet about "modern marriage and parenting and takes a hard look at what happens when you wake up, look around, and don't recognize the life you are living as your own." Said effort, to be penned by Black, is based on his recent book of the same name, subtitled "Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations." ABC Studios-based Red Hour Television is behind the single-camera project with Ted Schachter, Ben Stiller, Debbie Liebling and Stuart Cornfeld executive producing alongside Black. (Deadline.com)

ALMIGHTY JOHNSONS, THE (Syfy, New!) - The cable channel is looking to import James Griffin and Rachel Lang's New Zealand drama, about Axl Johnson, "who on his 21st birthday discovers he and his family members are reincarnated Norse gods." Chris Dingess ("Chaos") is spearheading the project, which is set up at Entertainment One. All3Media's South Pacific Pictures was behind the original incarnation. (Deadline.com)

FOSTERS, THE (NBC, New!) - Gary Anthony Williams ("Boston Legal") is set to star in a potential comedy at the Peacock about a father with numerous foster children. He'll also co-write the half-hour alongside Sindy McKay based on an idea they conceived with Larry Swerdlove and Scott Ward, all of whom will serve as co-executive producers. Al Roker is also on board to executive produce via his Al Roker Entertainment banner, as is Tracie Brennan. No studio was indicated. (Deadline.com)

HELIX (Syfy, New!) - Ronald D. Moore ("Battlestar Galactica") is developing a new drama at the network about "a team of scientists investigating a possible disease outbreak at an Antarctic research facility." Said effort is set up at Sony Pictures Television, home to Moore's overall deal. (Deadline.com)

HOW THE F--- AM I NORMAL (ABC) - Writer Adam F. Goldberg and director Seth Gordon's project - "a family comedy set in the '80s that centers on an in-your-face mother and hot-tempered father who love their three eccentric kids so much, they can't bear to see them grow up" - has formally been ordered to pilot by the Alphabet. Said duo is executive producing alongside Doug Robinson for the Sony Pictures Television-based Happy Madison Productions. Bill Wee is co-executive producing. (Deadline.com)

LEGENDS (TNT) - Amber Valletta, Rob Mayes, Tina Majorino and Lux Haney Jardine have all been cast in the drama pilot, about a deep-cover operative named Martin Odum (Sean Bean), who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. Valletta will play Martin's ex-wife and mother to preteen Aiden (Jardine) with Mayes as Troy, "a former Special Ops guy with a mission-first mentality," and Majorino as Maggie, "the newest member of the field support team." Fox 21 is behind the hour, with Howard Gordon, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Alexander Cary and Jonathan Levin executive producing. David Semel is directing. (Deadline.com)

LINDA GREEN (FOX, New!) - Alex Borstein ("Shameless") is looking to import Paul Abbott's U.K. dramedy, about a thirty-something woman who works as a car saleswoman by day and sings in a club at night. Sony Pictures Television is behind the hour, which will now be set in Boston and revolve around "the eponymous character and her four best friends as they navigate their way through their 30s, tackling love, marriage and stability." Abbott himself is on board to executive produce alongside Borstein and BBC Worldwide Productions' Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner. (Deadline.com)

LORIMER (HBO) - The pay channel has given the Michael Lannan-penned comedy - about "three thirty-something friends living in San Francisco who grapple with all the options in contemporary life and the complexities of the modern gay experience" - a pilot order. David Marshall Grant, Sarah Condon and Andrew Haigh serve as executive producers on the half-hour, the latter of which will direct, with Lannan as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)

PEOPLE IN NEW JERSEY (HBO, New!) - Bruce Eric Kaplan ("Girls") has scored a pilot order from the pay channel about an adult brother and sister living in New Jersey, "struggling to get through the day, asking themselves the big questions, the little questions, and everything in between." Right of Way Films' Jason Reitman and Helen Estabrook as well as Broadway Video Television's Andrew Singer and Lorne Michaels are on board to executive produce the half-hour, with Reitman also attached to direct. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED JUSTIN BIEBER PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi ("Entourage") have sold a new single-camera comedy to the Alphabet based on pop superstar Justin Bieber's life. Bieber himself will executive produce the project with his manager, Scooter Braun, for ABC Studios and Scooter Braun Films. Said half-hour, about "a future pop star's awkward teenage years and his unorthodox family," was originally set up at the network last year and has subsequently been revived. (TVGuide.com)

Z (USA, New!) - Whit Brayton and Zack Rice have sold a potential "Zorro" revival to the cable channel set in modern-day Los Angeles, about "the rise of Diego Moreno from an orphaned teen and raising his sister with little supervision, to an infamous hero fighting to save the city." Naren Shankar ("Grimm") and Louis Leterrier ("Clash of the Titans") are on board to executive produce the hour - the latter of which will direct - which would be ordered directly to series should its pilot script merit. Georgeville Television and Zorro Productions are co-producing with John Gertz also serving as an executive producer. (Variety.com)