Development News - January 24, 2014
ABC's Exposed, Forever, Untitled Goldman/Donovan, Untiled Jeff Lowell & The Visitors; FOX's Dead Boss, Empire, Here's Your Damn Family, The Middle Man & Sober Companion; FX's The Comedians; NBC's Odyssey & Tin Man; and TNT's Agent X.
FOX's HERE'S YOUR DAMN FAMILY
- Malcolm in the Middle star Jane Kaczmarek is returning to FOX with a starring role in the half-hour pilot from writer Ricky Blitt and executive produced by The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki. Her casting formally lifts the cast-contingent order on the pilot. She will play Carol Gordon, a single mother who is a warm, attractive, bright, witty and principled woman but a little insecure when it comes to the opposite sex - almost forgetting after all these years, just how great a catch she really is.
FOX's DEAD BOSS
- Pilot Ordered - Comedy (Single Camera)
- From writer Patricia Breen and based on the BBC3 series created by Sharon Horgon and Holly Walsh, Dead Boss is a comedic mystery that finds overachiever Helen Stephens wrongfully convicted of murdering her boss and forced to rely on her train wreck of a sister to prove her innocence. Warner Bros. Television and Kapital Entertainment will produce with Breen, Horgon, Walsh and Aaron Kaplan set as executive producers.
FOX's SOBER COMPANION
- Pilot Ordered - Comedy (Multi-Camera)
- From CBS Television Studios and writers David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman, Sober Companion centers on a charming, but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a court-appointed, and highly unconventional, sober companion takes control of his life.
FOX's EMPIRE
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- Reuniting the duo behind hit feature Lee Daniels' The Butler, writer Danny Strong and director Lee Daniels, Empire is described as a unique family drama set in the world of a hip-hop empire. 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television will produce. Strong, Daniels, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo will executive produce.
ABC's THE VISITORS
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- Based on a Ray Bradbury short story called Zero Hour, The Visitors chronicles the race against the clock to defeat an unseen alien enemy out to destroy the world using our most precious resource against us - children. ABC Studios and Amblin Television produce. Writer Soo Hugh, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Grady Girl Productions' Dawn Olmstead will executive produce.
ABC's FOREVER
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- From Matthew Miller, Forever centers on Dr. Henry Morgan, New York City's star medical examiner. But what no one knows is Henry studies the dead for a reason - he is immortal. With the help of Detective Jo Martinez, we will peel back the layers of Henry's colorful and long life through their cases. Warner Bros. Television and Lin Pictures are producing. Miller, Dan Lin and Jennifer Gwartz will executive produce.
ABC's EXPOSED
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- Adapted from the best-selling novels by Liza Marklund, Exposed centers on an investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth including making questionable alliances. Universal Television, TBD Entertainment and Yellow Bird Entertainment will produce. Writer Charles Randolph, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Jenny Gilbertsson and Berna Levin serve as executive producers.
ABC's UNTITLED NEIL GOLDMAN & GARRETT DONOVAN PROJECT
- Pilot Ordered (Cast-Contingent) - Comedy (Multi-Camera)
- Based on Kevin Hart's life and stand-up, the project takes a candid look at the post-divorce life of a couple trying to forge a friendship for the sake of their kids, despite differences. Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan will write the pilot. 20th Century Fox Television is producing with Hart, Goldman, Donovan and Dave Becky executive producing. If the series goes forward, Hart will likely play a recurring role.
TNT's AGENT X
- Oscar-nominee Sharon Stone has signed on to star in this TNT action-drama drama penned by William Blake Herron (The Bourne Identity). She will play Natalie Maccabee, a woman with brains, beauty and a cool composure that belies a restless mind. After the death of her husband, a Senate candidate, Natalie opted to run in his place, and after a rapid political rise, she now finds herself as the newly elected Vice President of the United States. Initially apprehensive that her job will be ceremonial in nature, she soon learns that it comes with a top secret duty: protecting the Constitution in times of great crisis with the aid of her Chief Steward and a secret operative designated "Agent X."
NBC's TIN MAN
- Kara Killmer has joined the cast of this drama pilot as a series regular. She will play Athena True, Charles Vale's synthetic robotic companion, a gorgeous and provocative seductress modeled to exactly resemble Vale's late wife. She claims to be an eyewitness of Adam Sentry (Patrick Heusinger) murdering Vale, but the truth may be a lot more complicated.
NBC's ODYSSEY
- Lost alum Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has been added to the cast of this drama pilot starring Anna Friel. He will play the commanding officer of a private military operator working with the U.S. Army who is ordered into Mali to clean up after a unit stumbles on and kills Abdule Abbas.
FX's THE COMEDIAN
- Matt Oberg (30 Rock), Stephnie Weir (MADtv) and Megan Ferguson (Mad Men) have signed on to co-star on this comedy pilot opposite Billy Crystal and Josh Gad. Oberg will play Mitch, the head writer of the sketch show who's eager even when he's being bulldozed by Billy (Crystal). Weir will play Kristen, the anxiety-ridden producer of the show who frequently finds herself caught in the middle of Billy and Josh's (Gad) arguments. Ferguson will play Esme, a no-nonsense PA who is mostly over it all, including Billy.
FOX's THE MIDDLE MAN
- Plans have changed for this high profile drama project at FOX - which was given a pilot order and has been on track to series under the network's new development model. Oscar winner Ben Affleck was set to make his pilot directorial debut on the drama - but now, he has had to pull out of those duties due to scheduling issues with the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie. Affleck will remain as executive produce. The network is still trying to decide if the pilot should move forward on schedule with a new director coming onboard or if production should be delayed until late summer when Affleck can return to the director's chair.
ABC's UNTITLED JEFF LOWELL PROJECT
- Former America's Next Top Model finalist Analeigh Tipton has been tapped for the female lead role on this comedy pilot. She will play Dana, half of the series main couple and is described as pretty and friendly - unlike most New Yorkers.
