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TV Pilots |OT| The Season's Dead, But Development Hell is Forever

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
HBO Adapting ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ Novel As Comedy Series

HBO has put in development Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a comedy project based on David Shafer’s darkly comedic debut novel.

Chuck alum Zev Borow will write and executive produce the adaptation, a half-hour comedy about three young adults grappling with the usual thirtysomething problems – boredom, authenticity, and omnipotent online oligarchy. Shafer will serve as a co-executive producer.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Archery Pictures Takes Aim With Neil Jordan On TV Series ‘Riviera’

Archery Pictures has come on-board to produce the Cote d’Azur-based TV crime drama Riviera with Neil Jordan (The Borgias) set to write, direct and showrun. The project is the brainchild of Paul McGuinness, rock group U2’s longtime former manager, with John Banville (Albert Nobbs) co-writing.

A family crime drama set in the sexy-glamorous-sleazy world of the French Riviera, the project, designed to be a returning series, is attracting much interest from broadcasters with multiple offers currently on the table.
 
American Gods greenlit by Starz with Hannibal producer on board.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/neil-gaiman-american-gods-bryan-fuller-starz-1201520765/

Starz is moving forward with plans for a series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel “American Gods,” to be shepherded by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.

Fuller and Green are writing the adaptation and will serve as showrunners and exec producers. Gaiman will also exec produce for FremantleMedia North America.


Neil Gaiman:

"I am thrilled, ‎scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation. The team that is going to bring the world of American Gods to the screen has been assembled like the master criminals in a caper movie: I’m relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands. Now we finally move to the exciting business that fans have been doing for the last dozen years: casting our Shadow, our Wednesday, our Laura..
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Aaron Paul To Star In Hulu Drama Series ‘The Way’

In his follow-up series to Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul has been tapped as the male lead opposite Michelle Monaghan in the Hulu original drama series The Way (working title), from Jason Katims.

The Way examines a couple, Eddie (Paul) and Sarah Cleary (Monaghan), at the center of a controversial movement struggling with relationships, marriage and power, with each episode taking an in-depth look at what it means to choose between the life we live and the life we want. Paul’s Eddie suffers a crisis of faith when all that he’s come to accept as truth in his life is fundamentally challenged.

Nice get for Hulu!
 

berzeli

Banned
Okay so remember way back when I talked about a Swedo-French series which might be happening and how excited I was about the prospect of it?
It is happening. And the initial details makes it even more exciting;

CILhEfhWsAADq_M.jpg

Canal + and SVT have greenlit high-concept, multi-lingual thriller Midnight Sun/Jour Polaire from Mårlind&Stein (Underworld Awakening). The series, which shoots this summer on location in Sweden’s Arctic region, is being produced by Atlantique Productions, Nice Drama and Filmpool Nord. Starring Leila Bekhti (A Prophet) and Gustaf Hammarsten (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Midnight Sun/Jour Polaire reps the first ever French-Swedish co-production. Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein (The Bridge) are set to direct all 8 episodes of the series.

Created by Mårlind&Stein, and based on a idea by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer and Patrick Nebout, Midnight Sun/Jour Polaire starts with the brutal murder of a French citizen in a struggling mining community in the far north of Sweden. A French detective is sent to investigate the case along with a local Swedish prosecutor and quickly finds herself confronting a ruthless serial killer, a macabre plan and her own painful past. The multi-lingual series will feature English, Swedish and French. Canal + previously made bilingual/cross-border series The Tunnel with Sky Atlantic.
(as per Deadline)

Gustaf Hammarsten is a terrific actor, who I guess is mainly known for being the assistant in Brüno. I've only seen Leïla Bekhti in Un Prophète, but she was good in it so that's promising. Mårlind & Stein have been a bit hit and miss for me but their latest film (which I don't think opened outside of the Nordic countries) was really, really good and well directed. No mention of Ulf Ryberg though, which is a shame.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Edit: You son of a bitch! I was putting this together and interrupted by a meeting.

Countdown til US remake rights are sold and the story is relocated to Alaska/Canada...
 

berzeli

Banned
Edit: You son of a bitch! I was putting this together and interrupted by a meeting.

Countdown til US remake rights are sold and the story is relocated to Alaska/Canada...

sorrynotsorry. <3


Oh god. That totally is going to happen, isn't it?
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
- Deadline: Jason Katims Romantic Drama 'Us' Scores HBO Pilot Order

The Parenthood and Friday Night Lights mastermind has landed a pilot order at HBO for a romantic drama titled Us., The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Based on an original idea from Katims, the drama is described as a sweeping examination of the often baffling, sometimes unexpected but ultimately heart-wrenching ways love and human connection can be found today through a vast web of seemingly unconnected people.

Katims will pen the script and executive produce alongside his True Jack Productions topper Michelle Lee.
 
Katims? I'll check that out if/when HBO airs it along with all their other dramas they can't seem to get out the door in like 20XX or whatever.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
AMC Gives Straight-To-Series Order To Clyde Phillips Drama ‘Broke’

AMC is continuing its push in straight-to-series orders with a pickup of Broke (working title), from former Dexter and Nurse Jackie showrunner Clyde Phillips. The project has received a 10-episode order for a 2016 premiere.

An adaptation of the Danish series Bankerot created by Kim Fupz Aakeson and produced by DR Broadcasting, Broke is a drama about two best friends who take one last shot at their dream of opening a restaurant together. One is a brilliant chef in trouble with the Mob and the law, and the other is the best sommelier in the city who is the widowed father of a teenage son. Broke is the story of friendship, fatherhood, grief, larceny, arson, drugs, adultery, murder, love – and blazingly original cooking.

Sounds good!
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
- Deadline: &#8216;To Live And Die In L.A.&#8217; Series From William Friedkin & Bobby Moresco In Works At WGN America
To Live and Die In L.A., the cult 1985 MGM movie written and directed by William Friedkin, is headed to the small screen. In a competitive situation, WGN America has landed a drama series adaptation of the action thriller, with Oscar winner Friedkin directing and executive producing. Friedkin has created the TV adaptation with another Oscar winner, Bobby Moresco (Crash). Moresco will write the script and will executive produce. I hear the project, from MGM Television (Fargo) and Tribute Studios, has received a script-to-series commitment and is expected to go straight to series upon script approval.

To Live And Die In LA is a reimagining of Friedkin&#8217;s influential film, which helped launch the careers of its principal cast of then-unknowns, Willem Dafoe, William Petersen, John Pankow, Jane Leeves and John Turturro.

Like the film (you can watch a trailer below), the TV adaptation is based on the novel by former U.S. Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich and centers on a fearless Secret Service agent who will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner. The series is described as an intense immersion into the inner workings of the Secret Service and a cat-and-mouse chase through the dark underbelly of the City of Angels.
I wish this involved someone other than Robert Moresco, the man who co-wrote Crash with Paul Haggis. Ick. Or maybe that movie would have been even worse without Moresco's input.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Horror Anthology Series From Max Landis & Nick Antosca In Works At Syfy

Each season of Channel Zero will focus on a new story.

The first season of the series will be based on Candle Cove by Kris Straub, a short story that originates from the user-generated Internet horror phenomenon known as creepypasta. It tells the story of a mysterious children’s television show from the 1980s and the show’s role in a series of murders and one man’s dark secret.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
‘Foodies’ Comedy In the Works At AMC

I’ve learned that the cable network has put in development Foodies, a half-hour comedy written by Duncan Birmingham and executive produced by Michael London of Groundswell Prods.

Set in Los Angeles’s fast-paced culinary world, Foodies follows a group of obsessive foodies who’ll go to any length to indulge their favorite pastime.

Culinary madness over at AMC!
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
A&E Picks Up 1990s L.A. Crime Drama ‘The Infamous’ To Pilot

A&E Network has picked up The Infamous, a hip-hop crime drama set in Los Angeles to be written and executive produced by Joshua Zetumer, the film scribe whose credits include the Robocop remake and the upcoming X-Men spinoff Gambit starring Channing Tatum and to be directed by Rupert Wyatt.

The Infamous is a centers on centers on two complicated men on a collision course: an ambitious reformed gangster poised to break out of South Central and the LAPD detective hell-bent on taking him down. It will be set against real events in turbulent 1990s Los Angeles leading up to the LA Riots.

‘You Me Her’ Comedy Gets Straight-To-Series Order At DirecTV

DirecTV has made a straight-to-series order for the Entertainment One TV comedy You Me Her, created by John Scott Shepherd and inspired by the Playboy Magazine article “Sugar on Top” by John H. Richardson.

The series is described as a twist on the indie rom-com, a “polyromantic” comedy that centers on a three-way relationship — two of the parties a suburban married couple.
 
- Showtime Pilot ‘Roadies’ To Recast Female Lead Played By Christina Hendricks
Deadline has learned that the female Christina Hendrickslead role of Shelli, played by Christina Hendricks in Showtime’s Roadies pilot, written, directed and executive produced by Cameron Crowe, is being completely revamped and will be recast. The decision to re-conceive the character was made after the pilot was shot, and Crowe is currently in the process of re-writing, according to industry sources close to the production. The source emphasized that it was a creative decision to revamp the character and the parting was amicable.
I knew something was wrong when they shot a pilot back in January-February, and there were no news. So they are rewriting the pilot and recasting one of the roles. Well at least they are working on it, and not just passed on the pilot.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
‘Brooklyn Animal Control’ Comic Gets USA Drama Pilot Order

Brooklyn Animal Control follows the inner workings of a secret subdivision of the NYPD that functions as social services for some of the city’s most unique citizens — werewolves. Delving into the lives of both the Case Officers, and the secretive, highly insular Kveld-Ulf, a community of werewolves living deep in the borough, the drama will examine city politics, immigrant communities, and families divided by ambition, secrecy, and tradition.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Antonio Banderas to Star in Starz Detective Drama Havana Quartet

Starz is developing Havana Quartet, a detective series set in the balmy island nation and starring Antonio Banderas (Evita, The Expendables 3), the network announced Friday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills.

Based on a Cuban novelist Leonardo Padura’s four-book series — Havana Blue, Havana Gold, Havana Red and Havana Black — the series will focus on Banderas’ Mario Conde, a hard-drinking, romantic fella who longs to be a writer but settled for a job as a police detective.

Eduardo Machado (Magic City, Hung) will write the pilot and executive-produce with Banderas and others.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
AMC Orders Docudrama 'The West' From Robert Redford

The West hails from from executive producers Stephen David Entertainment (The Men Who Built America) and Robert Redford's Sundance Productions. The eight hourlong episodes will air alongside the finale seven installments of similarly themed Western drama Hell on Wheels in summer 2016.

Production on The West will begin in August.

The West will be a blend of dramatic scenes and documentary footage and visual effects and explore the world of cowboys, Indians, outlaws and law men and chronicle the little-known stories of Western legends like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. The limited series will span from 1865-1890.

Additionally, AMC has renewed docuseries The Making of The Mob, which also hails from Stephen David Entertainment. Season two will consist of eight episodes and explore organized crime in Chicago, including the rise and fall of Al Capone. (Season one explored mob history in New York.)
 

berzeli

Banned
BBC America picks up their first co-production with BBC proper since the acquisition by AMC:

Undercover, a six-part limited series from writer Peter Moffat (Silk, Criminal Justice) stars Sophie "Raisin In The Sun" Cast Press PreviewOkonedo (Criminal Justice) as Maya, who is about to become the first black woman to hold the highest-ranking public prosecutor role in England. Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny she discovers her husband Nick (Adrian Lester) has been lying to her for years. Moffat described it as a thriller about the struggle to lead a morally principled personal and professional life, &#8220;while working up close with the police, press, politicians and criminals who have so corrupted and damaged public life over the last 20 years.&#8221; Hilary Salmon, Head of BBC Drama Production England, for BBC One and BBC America, is exec producing.

Criminal Justice was great so looking forward to this.

They also unveiled their slate of scripted dramas in development

Dirk Gently, an adaptation of Douglas Adams&#8217; (Hitchhiker&#8217;s Guide To The Galaxy) comic novel Dirk Gently&#8217;s Holistic Detective Agency, is an anthology series set in the unexpected world of the hyper, absurd, ridiculous Dirk Gently. With an utterly fresh, comically self-aware tone, this series is equally sincere in its danger, humor, violence and drama. Penned by Max Landis &#8211; the mind behind Chronicle &#8211; this series is produced by IDW, Circle of Confusion and Ideate for BBC America.
...
The Greater Good from filmmaker Dana Shapiro (Murderball) is the provocative, fictionalized story of Cora Jones, lone survivor of the Jonestown massacre in which 918 of her fellow cult members died. She believes she survived to rid the world of false prophets but, as her own fame as an atheist preacher grows, she begins to morph into the very thing she&#8217;s been railing against. This compelling drama about faith, family, hubris, paranoia and healing is also a cautionary tale about the rise and fall of an American leader. It is produced by Lakeshore Entertainment (Underworld).
...
An untitled project from Anna Winger. A family drama, an amped-up adventure, and a celebration of the city of Berlin today, this journey is a darkly humorous exploration of colliding worlds, the unifying bonds of loss, and the dangerous pursuit of answers in a utopian city. Winger is the creator of international series Deutschland &#8217;83.

Didn't want to quote the entire thing, but it seems like BBC America has some interesting series going forward.
 
I remember watching a pilot earlier this summer or spring about a guy who is hired as a tennis instructor at a country club, does anyone remember its name?
 

BluWacky

Member
Nooo, they can't redevelop Dirk Gently for America! They only made about three episodes of it originally!

If they could remake it with Stephen Mangan in it again that would be nice.
 
- Carla Gugino To Star In Cameron Crowe&#8217;s Showtime Pilot &#8216;Roadies&#8217;, Replacing Christina Hendricks
Carla Gugino (San Andreas) is set to star in Showtime&#8217;s reworked hourlong comedy pilot Roadies, from Cameron Crowe and J.J. Abrams.
In the original pilot, the role of Shelli was played by Christina Hendricks. The character has since been reconceived by series creator Crowe. He did some rewrites of the pilot, which will now undergo reshoots with Gugino. The project is expected to go to series.
Awesome.
 

TheOddOne

Member
Cameron Crowe is probably going to ruin the show though, seeing as he has lost his touch since that god-awful Elizabethtown. So, there is that consolidation prize.
 
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