TV SALES
ABC and Eric Stonestreet are developing BIG STOP, a comedy project written by Jerry Collins. The multi-cam comedy follows a small town family as seen through the lens of a Kansas truck stop where the characters and stories intersect. Stonestreet and Collins are on board to executive produce the project with ABC and 20th Century Fox TV.
The CW will adapt FIRST LADY for American television. Based on the Chilean telenovela “Primera Dama,” the project centers on a rags to riches journey from illegal immigrant to the White House as First Lady where her past quickly catches up with her. Jennifer Garner and Tariq Jalil will executive produce with Vandalia Films and Warner Bros. TV producing the project.
Eddie Izzard is adapting Timothy Hallinan’s comedic JUNIOR BENDER crime novels for NBC. The project, which has been given a script commitment by NBC, centers on a high end thief who moonlights as a private investigator for criminals. Jessica Ball will write the script and executive produce the Universal Television project with Izzard and Sarah Townsend under their Ella Communications banner.
Fox and Len Wiseman are developing an event miniseries ST. PATRICK about the patron saint of Ireland. Penned by Dan Frey and Russell Sommer, the project is a historical epic chronicling the transformation of Patrick from rebellious teen to legendary figure and saint. After being abducted by Irish pirates, Patrick was taken to Ireland and enslaved for years before escaping to become a Christian missionary. Wiseman will executive produce with David Bernardi.
Fox has given a put pilot deal to THE GRINDER, a single camera comedy centering on two brothers from Andrew Mogel, Jarrad Paul and Nick Stoller. Mogel and Paul will write and executive produce the project for 20th Century Fox TV, while Stoller will serve as executive producer and will possibly direct.
Fox has also handed out a put pilot commitment to STUDIO CITY, a drama from Krista Vernoff and John Wells. Set in Studio City, CA, the project is being pitched as “The O.C.” meets “Shameless,” and will focus on the daughter of drug dealers to the stars. John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. TV are producing.
NBC has purchased THE FAMILY BUSINESS from writer Matt Wheeler, The Dan Jinks Company and CBS Television Studios. The project centers on a young Godfather figure who realizes as an adult that his father is part of the underground world of the New York City mob. Wheeler and Jinks will serve as co-executive producers on the project.
Starz is developing mystery thriller project THE DISAPPEARANCE from Nick Antosca and Amblin Television. Penned by Antosca, the project follows a family whose missing son shows up seven years after being kidnapped, which becomes linked to a rash of local murders that could threaten to pull the fragile family apart once more. Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Antosca will all executive produce the project.
Fox has given a put pilot commitment to THE GRINDER, a new single-camera comedy series from “Allen Gregory” creators Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul. The series focuses on the antics of two brothers. Mogel and Paul will serve as executive producers along with Nick Stoller, who may direct the pilot.
Will Arnett’s Electric Avenue has sold HOW NOT TO CALM A CHILD ON A PLANE to CBS. The comedy concerns a pair of unconventional parents who attempt to raise their children their own eccentric way. The show is based on the book by Johanna Stein, who will write the pilot along with Adam Barr. Barr will executive produce along with Arnett and Peter Principato, while Stein will serve as co-executive producer.
Syfy is finalizing a deal to develop the drama series FIVE GHOSTS, based upon the comic by Frank J. Barbiere and artist Chris Mooneyham. The series concerns a treasure hunter who possesses the ability to summon the ghosts of five literary characters, each with various powers. Evan Daugherty will write and serve as executive producer along with Benderspink’s Chris Bender and Jake Weiner. Jake Wagner will produce for Universal Cable Prods. and BenderSpink.
ABC has purchased the single camera comedy JUVIE. The series concerns a privileged “golden boy” who takes a job at a juvenile hall and discovers that he knows very little about the real world. “The Michael J. Fox Show” co-creator Sam Laybourne will write the pilot episode while Sue Naegle will produce for Naegle Ink.
Fox has ordered a script commitment for the half-hour single-camera comedy project 48 HOURS TILL MONDAY. “The Mindy Project” exec producer Charlie Grandy and Peter Traugott sold the project about a man who desperately attempts to salvage his weekends. Grandy will write and executive produce while Traugott and Rachel Kaplan will executive produce for TBD Productions.
ABC has put an adaption of UNCLE BUCK into development. The multi-camera comedy will be based on the iconic John Hughes film starring John Candy. Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley will write the project. Cragg, Bradley and Will Packer will executive produce with Korin Huggins co-ececutive producing for Will Packer Productions.
DirecTV has partnered with Alcon Television Group for a straight-to-series order for ICE. The drama series explores the unforgiving and dangerous underworld of diamond traders in downtown LA. The project was co-written by Ron Bass and Vince Gerardis. Antoine Fuqua is set to direct the pilot. Bass and Gerardis will executive produce along with Alcon heads Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson and Sharon Hall. Chris Long and Bart Peters will executive produce for DirecTV. Alcon TV’s Ben Roberts will produce.
NBC has set up a script commitment for TAKE IT FROM US. The multi-camera/hybrid half-hour comedy centers around a middle-aged couple telling their engaged son about their mistakes in life and love. The show will primarily be told through flashbacks. Former “How I Met Your Mother” executive producer Greg Malins will co-write with Barry Schwartz. Malins and Schwartz will serve as executive producers along with Arts’ Michael Rotenberg and Jonathan Berry.
Carnival Films is partnering with Libertine Pictures to develop BAY OF PLENTY for BBC. The drama series centers on an ex-Metropolitan police officer who, following a personal accident, relocates her family to Rotorua, New Zealand, where she discovers an abundance of mysteries and secrets. “Luther” creator Neil Cross will write and develop the series as well as serve as an executive producer along with Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant, Richard Fletcher and Paul Davis. Phil Temple will act as development producer.
Lifetime has greenlit the fourth sequel to “Flowers in The Attic,” SEEDS OF YESTERDAY. Based on the acclaimed book series, the fourth film centers around a middle-aged Cathy and Chris, with now adult children, attempting to escape their family’s legacy. A+E Studios will produce for Lifetime. Dan Angel, Jane Startz and Jocelyn Freid will executive produce while Harvey Kahn and Rick Arredondo will produce. Shawn Ku will direct the script written by Darren Stein.
CBS has put into development the police procedural series BLOODHOUNDS. Based on the french show of the same name, the drama series focuses on a group of hand-picked US marshals, exempt from police protocol, who are assigned to track down fugitives and criminals. Brandon Camp will write and serve as executive producer. Chris Henze and Ron West will executive producer for Tagline.
Showtime has fast-traked IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT for development. the present-day drama series, based upon the film of the same name, centers on a detective that must navigate his way through a southern town crawling with racism and violence whilst attempting to solve a murder. The Help writer/director Tate Taylor will write and direct. Warren Littlefield will produce with MGM TV.
IDW Entertainment and Entertainment One Television have partnered to develop COBB. Based on the comic-book miniseries “Cobb: Off The Leash,” the thriller series focuses on a secret service agent who is dishonorably discharged after uncovering a dangerous conspiracy, and now must fight to win back his honor and save the newly elected POTUS. Thania St. John will write and serve as showrunner.
NBC has ordered a script commitment for the currently untitled NBC MAGAZINE COMEDY. The series centers around a failed political blogger who kickstarts her life as the “Sex” editor for a provocative women’s magazine. Leslye Headland will write and executive produce along with Ruben Fleischer, David Bernad and Joanna Coles for Universal Television, The District and Cosmopolitan. Cosmo’s editor-in-chief Holly Whidden will act as a co-producer.
Fox has given a put-pilot commitment to the currently untitled LEN WISEMAN SCI-FI DRAMA. Sleepy Hollow co-creator Len Wiseman has partnered with Scott Rosenbaum, who will both serve as executive producers for Sketch Films and 20th Century Fox TV . The show centers around a mercenary search and rescue team that encounters a great threat when answering a distress signal on an uncharted planet. Rosenbaum will write and serve as showrunner while Wiseman set to direct.
ABC has bought the comedy SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE. Based upon the book, the series will focus on a recently widowed 36-year-old woman who meets her 17-year-old daughter for the first time, and the two form a unique kind of family. Kat Coiro will write and executive produce. Eva Longoria and Ben Spector will executive produce for UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and Universal TV.
DHX Media has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Animation to adapt CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS for television. DHX will develop and produce twenty six half-hour episodes for the animated series. A continuation of the film franchise, the series will follow a wacky inventor that designed a machine that transformed weather into food.
ABC has put the legal drama PARIAHS into development. The series centers around two infamous “pariahs” who run out of options and partner together to form a law firm. Kathryn Price and Nichole Millard will write and executive produce. Mark Gordon and Nick Pepper will executive produce for The Mark Gordon Co. and ABC Studios.
Legendary TV has ordered development for a remake of LOST IN SPACE. The series will be a remake of the 1965 cult television series. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have signed on to write the adaption as well as executive produce alongside Kevin Burns of Synthesis Entertainment. Peter Johnson will oversee for Legendary.
TV RENEWALS
AMC is renewing THE WALKING DEAD for a sixth season ahead of its fifth season premiere. Scott Gimple will be back as showrunner/executive producer with Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero and Tom Luse returning to the zombie drama as producers.
Amazon has already renewed TRANSPARENT for a second season, the dramedy about and LA family with serious boundary issues have their past and future unravel when a dramatic admission – family patriarch comes out as transgender causes everyone’s secrets to spill out. Jeffrey Tambor stars with Judith Light, Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, and Amy Landecker.
CBS has renewed Amblin TV’s UNDER THE DOME for a third summer season. Based on the Stephen King novel, the series follows what happens when an invisible and mysterious force field descends upon a small fictional town in the United States, trapping residents inside, cut off from the rest of civilization. Given the ratings, the renewal is no real surprise.
CBS also renewed sci-fi drama EXTANT for a second summer season. Starring Halle Berry, the drama (also from Amblin TV) centers on an astronaut in the near-future who struggles to learn how she became pregnant while on a 13-month-long solo space mission.
IFC has renewed THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET for a third season. After a three year hiatus, the series will return with six new episodes. Series creator, writer, executive producer and star David Cross will return. The series is produced for IFC by UK production company Merman Films. Cross, Shaun Pye and Mark Chappell will write with Clelia Mountford producing.
MTV has renewed AWKWARD for a fifth and final season. The comedy series, currently airing the second half of its fourth season, centers around a teenage girl with identity issues who deals with the problems one faces in high school.
TV CANCELLATIONS
BET is cancelling THE GAME after nine seasons. The series was just renewed for an eighth season earlier this year. The series was picked up by BET after being cancelled at the CW after three seasons.
CBS has canceled RECKLESS after just one season. The series was set in Charleston and centered on a Yankee litigator and a southern City Attorney who struggle to hide their intense attraction while clashing over a police sex scandal that threatens to implode the city.
TNT will not be moving forward with a fourth season of DALLAS. The series, based on the 1980s primetime soap opera, centered on the next generation of the Ewing clan.
TV Land has cancelled JENNIFER FALLS, the comedy series starring Jaime Pressly after its freshman season. The series centered on a career woman and mother forced to move back in with her mother after being fired from her high profile job.
TV ATTACHMENTS
Barry Levinson will direct Jennifer Lopez in NBC’s SHADES OF BLUE. The pilot, penned by Adi Hasak, cetners on a single mother and police detective who is recruited by the FBI’s anti corruption task force. Jack Orman will serve as showrunner/executive producer, while Lopez Ryan Seacrest will executive produce under their Nuyorican Productions and Ryan Seacrest Productions banners. Levinson is repped by ICM and Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.
Jamie Mathieson has signed on as head writer for the reboot of the French sci-fi series METAL HURLANT CHRONICLES. Atlantique Productions and WE Productions will co-produce the project, which is set to go into production in early 2015. The original series is based on the comic anthology created by Jean Giraud and Philippe Druillet. Mathieson is repped by Principato-Young Entertainment.
TV GREENLIGHTS
ABC has given full season orders to both HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER and BLACK-ISH. Murder will get a 15 episode order, while black-ish has been ordered for the standard 22 episodes.
Amazon has ordered HAND OF GOD and RED OAKS to series. Written by Ben Watkins and directed by Marc Forster, Hand of God centers on a married judge who suffers a nervous breakdown and goes on a vigilante spree to find the rapist who tore his family (and his life) apart. Without any clues to speak of, he listens to the messages send by God through his ventilator-bound son. Red Oaks, directed by David Gordon Green and executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, stars Craig Roberts as an assistant tennis pro at a suburban New Jersey country club. The coming of age comedy set in the 80s follows Roberts’ last hurrah before his looming future comes to pass.
Tony Marchant has signed on to write HOLDING ON, a drama series from Headline Pictures and Odeon Film. The project will follow a network of cyber criminals and terrorists who go up against law enforcement who are cracking down on identity theft, piracy and online terrorism. The drama series will air on TV but will also be adapted for social media platforms.
