Development News - January 30, 2014
ABC's Damaged Goods, Sea of Fire & Selfie; CBS's Madame Secretary, More Time with Family & Untitled Nikki Toscano; The CW's Identity, iZombie & Jane the Virgin; and TNT's Public Morals.
CBS's MADAME SECRETARY
- Tea Leoni (The Naked Truth) has been cast in the leading role in this drama pilot from Barbara Hall and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman. She will play Elizabeth Faulkner McGill, a teacher turned secretary of state who is described as striking in every way and full of passion for everything she does.
THE CW's IDENTITY
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- Inspired by the Israeli feature script Dance of the Hours by Orna Raiz, Identity centers on a young woman in need of a transplant who learns she is related to a powerful family whose son is her only hope for a donor organ. However, the CIA approaches her to investigate the family's involvement in domestic terrorism and to infiltrate their rarefied world. Her loyalty, morality and ethics are tested as she's forced to slowly build a case against the family who saved her life. Corinne Brinkerhoff penned the pilot and will executive produce with Alex Kurtzman, Bob Orci, Heather Kadin, Rob Golenberg and Alon Aranya. CBS Television Studios, K.O. Paper Products and Scripted World will produce.
THE CW's JANE THE VIRGIN
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- Written by Emily Owens, M.D. creator Jennie Snyder Urman, Jane the Virgin centers on Jane, a hardworking religious girl who, due to a series of outrageous events, is accidentally artificially inseminated. Based on the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, Urman, Ben Silverman, Gary Pearl and Jorge Granier will serve as executive producers. CBS Television Studios and Electus will produce.
THE CW's iZOMBIE
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- Based on the characters created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, iZombie is a supernatural crime procedural that centers on a med student-turned-zombie who takes a job in the coroner's office to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat to maintain her humanity, but with each brain she consumes, she inherits the corpse's memories. With the help of her medical examiner boss and a police detective, she solves homicide cases in order to quiet the disturbing voices in her head. Veronica Mars alums Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero co-wrote the pilot and will executive produce with Danielle Stokdyk and Dan Etheridge.
CBS's MORE TIME WITH FAMILY
- Pilot Ordered - Comedy (Multi-Camera)
- Based on the stand-up of comedian Tom Papa and the experiences of actor Matt Damon, More Time with Family centers on a husband and father (to be played by Papa) making a career change to spend more time with his family. Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith wrote the pilot. Executive producers include Papa, Damon, Ben Affleck, Yuspa, Goldsmith, Dave Becky and Josh Lieberman. 20th Century Fox Television, Pearl Street and 3 Arts Entertainment will produce.
ABC's SEA OF FIRE
- After spending eight seasons in law enforcement on Showtime's Dexter, Jennifer Carpenter is returning to the same profession for her next gig - a starring role on this ABC drama pilot from Jenna Bans. She will play Leah Pierce, a driven, eccentric and blunt FBI agent with a secret in her past - who has few people skills compared to her partner, Marty. She's called in by Marty's deputy to investigate the disappearance of a young girl and winds up alienating the town with her raw and uncompromising questions.
TNT's PUBLIC MORALS
- Patrick Murney has been cast on the the period drama pilot to be written, directed and starring Ed Burns. He will play Petey "Mac" Mackenna, a young and hip Irish cop.
ABC's DAMAGED GOODS
- Pilot Ordered - Comedy (Single Camera)
- From Awkward creator Lauren Iungerich, Damaged Goods is described as a comedy about the sexual politics that have changed between men and women in this post-feminist era. Warner Bros. Television will produce the pilot.
ABC's SELFIE
- Pilot Ordered - Comedy (Single Camera)
- From Suburgatory creator Emily Kapnek, Selfie tells the story of a self-obsessed 20-something woman who is more concerned with "likes" than being liked. After suffering a very public and humiliating breakup, she becomes the subject of a viral video and suddenly has more social media followers than she ever imagined - but for all the wrong reasons. She enlists the help of a marketing expert at her company to help repair her tarnished image. Warner Bros. Television and Piece of Pie Productions will produce.
CBS's UNTITLED NIKKI TOSCANO PROJECT
- Pilot Ordered - Drama
- From Bates Motel writer Nikki Toscano, the project centers on a retired CIA operative who, when a terrorist event rocks Washington, D.C., is pulled back into action, forced to investigate closer to home where the next generation of terrorists are being bred. Kerry Ehrin supervised the script and will consult on the pilot. Universal Television and CBS Television Studios will produce.
