TV SALES
Dan Kopelman’s THE HENCHMAN has been given a put pilot commitment by Fox. The comedy centers on a middle-aged henchman to the world’s worst super villain as he deals with his job and his personal life. Aaron Kaplan will exec produce. Kopelman is repped by UTA.
GORGEOUS MORONS from Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky and Danny Chun has been picked up by CBS. the project centers on two very handsome brothers, one a model and the other a personal trainer, who must adapt to living with their new roommate, a beautiful female PHD. The writing trio will exec produce and are repped by WME.
Fox has put NOONE into development. Written by Jason Horwitch, the project follows a female detective in San Francisco and her unlikely ally. Horwitch is repped by CAA.
Seth Grahame-Smith’s script for PARADISE has been picked up by NBC. The project is set in the future, where Las Vegas has been converted into a massive maximum-security prison called Paradise. The prison’s newest inmate, a man wrongfully convicted of murder, attempts to escape. Grahame-Smith will executive produce with Greg Berlanti, Melissa Kellner Berman and David Katzenberg. Grahame-Smith is repped by WME.
DirecTV is looking to pickup the 10-episode series NAVY ST. The project is a drama based around a mixed martial arts gym. Byron Balasco wrote the script and will serve as showrunner. He is repped by ICM.
ABC has set up an untitled comedy from Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, written by Christine Pietrosh and Jessica Goldstein. The project centers around a group of friends brought together by an unexpected turn of events. The four women will executive produce. Pietrosh and Goldstein are repped by ICM.
THE HOUR OF PERIL, a nonfiction book written by Daniel Stashower, has had its rights picked up by The Weinstein Co. to be developed into a mini-series. The project centers on Allan Pinkerton and Kate Warne (America’s first female private eye) as they team up to thwart an assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln before he was sworn into office. Brendan Deneen and Charles Spicer will exec produce.
NBC has purchased an untitled comedy from Colleen McGuinness. The project centers on a woman who tries to reconnect with her father on Fire Island. McGuinness will executive produce with Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. McGuinness is repped by WME.
ABC has picked up LIMELIGHT from writer Kelly Masterson. The project centers on a murder trial that becomes a media sensation, thrusting everyone involved into the national spotlight. Masterson will exec produce with Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry. Masterson is repped by WME.
Nahnatchka Khan has sold FRESH OFF THE BOAT to ABC. Khan is writing the project, based on the memoir by Eddie Huang that centers on a Chinese family that moves to Orlando. Khan is repped by WME and will executive produce with Jake Kasdan.
SPARKS is being put in development by NBC. Gwyn Lurie and Gary Marks wrote the script, which centers on the life of neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks. The writing duo will executive produce the project with Glenn Gordon Caron, Michael London and Dr. Sacks himself.
An UNTITLED ED HELMS COMEDY PROJECT has found a home at ABC. “Archer” scribe Mike Arnold penned the script and Ed Helms is acting as executive producer. In addition to writing, Arnold will also executive produce alongside Helms and Mike Falbo. The show will follow an intelligent and strong-minded attorney who loses her fiancé and her job at the city’s most respected law firm. She is then forced to take a position at a firm comprised of rejects and misfits. This project marks a reunion between Helms and ABC, as the studio produced the work place comedy “The Office”. Both Arnold and Helms are repped by CAA.
ABC has nabbed the pilot FOREVER. Former “Chuck” executive producer Matthew Miller has created the show which follows Dr. Henry Morgan, a pathology expert who seems to have caught a nasty case of immortality. Morgan works alongside NYPD Detective Jo Martinez to uncover the cause of his unending existence. Miller will pen the script in addition to his exec producing work. Lin Pictures’ Dan Lin and Jennifer Gwartz will executive produce as well. This deal marks a reunion between Miller and ABC, since he served as showrunner on the network’s supernatural drama “666 Park Ave” for the first season. Miller is repped by WME.
Fox has shelled out for a drama entitled ST. NICK. The show, created by “House M.D.” executive producer Thomas Moran, follows a young catholic priest who starts down an morally wrong road, but for good reasons. Moran is best known for his executive producing talents on all 8 seasons of the Fox medical drama “House M.D.” and his producing talents on the CBS crime drama “NCIS.” Moran is repped by The Shuman Company.
TV Land has grabbed the single camera comedy pilot YOUNGER from “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star. Based on Pamela Redmond Satran’s 2005 novel of the same name, the show will follow a single mother living in New Jersey who decides to lie about her age to gain a job at the city’s biggest publishing company. Star is best known for his writing talents on all 6 seasons of the HBO romantic comedy “Sex and the City”, all 10 seasons of Fox’s romantic drama “Beverly Hills, 90210” (the 90’s version) and all 7 seasons of Fox’s drama “Melrose Place”. He also wrote for all 5 seasons of CW’s “90210” and both “Sex and the City” feature films. Star is repped by UTA.
Lifetime has purchased Nicholas Sparks’ romance series DELIVERANCE CREEK. The show will be set in a “Civil War Era” America and will follow Belle Barlowe, a strong-willed woman protecting her land from a sinister bank. Sparks is best known for writing the novels from which films such as “The Notebook”, “Dear John”, “The Lucky One” and “The Last Song” are adapted. The most recent adaption of his work was Lasse Hallström’s romantic mystery “Safe Haven.” Next year J. Mills Goodloe will be adapting his book “The Best of Me” into a feature film. In 2015, an adaption of his book “The Longest Ride” will be produced by Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey. Sparks is repped by UTA.
Amazon has nabbed two new pilots BOSCH and TRANSPARENT. The former is based on a series of novels from author Michael Connelly centering on LAPD detective Harry Bosch, the first of which is titled “The Black Echo”. The latter is a pilot starring Jeffrey Tambor. Amazon is also keeping a watchful eye on THE AFTER, a series from Chris Carter, and MOZART IN THE JUNGLE, penned by Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola and centering on the classical music scene in NYC. Carter is repped by CAA. Both Schwartzman and Coppola are repped by WME.
Lauren Graham will be adapting her novel SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY, MAYBE for television and will be directing the project as well. The series centers on a woman who has six months left in her three year plan to make it as an actress in New York City. Graham, who is repped by ICM, will exec produce with Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman.
TV RENEWALS
Lifetime has renewed DEVIOUS MAIDS for a 2nd season. The 2nd season will consist of 13 episodes.
TNT has placed a 15 episode renewal for RIZZOLI & ISLES. The show, which will now move forward on a 5th season, ranks as basic cable’s top series in terms of total viewers, averaging 8.4 million viewers.
TNT’s “The Closer” spinoff MAJOR CRIMES has been picked up for another 15 episodes. The show which averages 6.7 million viewers, will go into its 3rd season with this order after the 2nd season concludes in August.
TNT has ordered another 15 episodes for its new crime drama PERCEPTION. The show which averages 5.6 million viewers, will head into its 2nd season once its summer run ends in August.
TV DEALS
Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael have signed a blind script deal with ABC Studios. Under the pact, they will develop a comedy series for Raphael to star in. They are both repped by UTA.
Siblings Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux have signed a two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV to develop and produce new projects. The duo write for the Fox series “Bob’s Burgers” and their script “The Day I Turned Uncool” is currently in development. They are repped by WME.
Dan Fogelman has inked an overall deal with ABC Studios. Under the pact, he will continue to serve as executive producer and creator on “The Neighbors”, which will be heading into its 2nd season this September, and will also develop new projects for the studio. Fogelman is repped by WME.
TV ATTACHMENTS
John Hamburg will be directing the pilot episode of THE HENCHMAN. Hamburg wrote and directed the comedy “I Love You, Man” and has helmed episodes of “Stella” and “New Girl.” He is repped by WME.
David Slade will be directing the first episode of the pirate drama CROSSBONES. The project centers on the infamous pirate Blackbeard on the island of New Providence. Slade is the director behind “Hard Candy”, “30 Days of Night” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” and is directing an episode of the TV series “Helix.” He is repped by WME.
Richard Shepard will direct all 13 episodes of WGN America’s SALEM, which centers on the supernatural witchcraft happenings of the 17th century titular town. Shepard has previously directed episodes of “Criminal Minds” and “Girls” and is repped by WME.
David Frankel, director of “The Devil Wears Prada”, has jumped aboard the NBC comedy pilot GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA as director. The show, based on Douglas Coupland’s book of the same name, follows a girl named Karen who awakens from a coma, only to discover she has a 17 year old daughter. Frankel is best known for his work on “The Big Year”, “Marley & Me” and “The Devil Wears Prada.” He most recently directed “Hope Springs” from scribe Vanessa Taylor, and executive produced Josh Greenbaum’s “The Short Game”. We’ll be seeing his work back on the big screen this year with “One Chance” and the comedic crime drama “The Lizard King.” Frankel is repped by WME.
“Community” actor Donald Glover has set up shop at FX with the series ATLANTA. Not much has been released about the show’s premise, but we do known that Atlanta’s music scene will provide the backdrop. Glover will be writing, directing and executive producing the series. Glover is best known for his role as Troy Barnes in the NBC comedy “Community” and his appearance in James Bobin’s “The Muppets” as a Junior CDE Executive. He most recently appeared in the supporting role of Derrick in Maggie Carey’s “The To Do List” and wrote, composed and starred in his own short film “Clapping for the Wrong Reasons.” Glover has an unknown role in David Gelb’s “Reawakening” which is still in pre-production. He is repped by CAA.
“Horrible Bosses” director Seth Gordon has jumped aboard the series MARRY ME as helmer. From “Happy Endings” creator David Caspe, the show will follow a young couple who have recently become engaged and quickly discover all the issues that come from traveling down the road to marriage. Gordon will also be acting as executive producer for the series. Gordon is currently serving as director of ABC’s comedy “The Goldbergs” and as executive producer on Greg Whiteley’s biopic “Mitt.” We’ll be seeing his directing work back on the big screen with “One Night on the Hudson”, “The Has-Beens”, “Wargames” and “The King of Kong”, a remake of the 2007 film “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” which Gordon also directed. He is repped by WME.
