Exclusive: In a late buy, NBC has put in development The Fosters, a comedy co-written by and starring Gary Anthony Williams (Weeds) and executive produced by one of the network’s top personalities, Today co-host/producer Al Roker. The project, which Williams will co-write with Sindy McKay based on an idea by Williams, McKay, Larry Swerdlove and Scott Ward, would have him starring as a father with numerous foster children. Roker, who became involved with the project because of his personal experience with foster kids, will executive produce with his executive at Al Roker Entertainment Tracie Brennan; McKay, Swerdlove, and Ward will co-executive produce. This marks Wiiliams’ return to NBC, where he co-starred in Greg Daniels’ comedy pilot Friday Night Dinner last season. Williams, who has also recently sold projects to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, recurs on Fox’s Raising Hope and TV Land’s Soul Man. He will next...
- 12/15/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Tony Shalhoub is set to co-star opposite Chris Smith and Kal Penn in Rob Greenberg’s single-camera comedy pilot for CBS. The project, from CBS TV Studios and the Tannenbaum Co., centers on a young guy (Smith) who finds camaraderie living among the more experienced guys he meets in a short-term rental complex, including Gil (Penn) and Frank (Shalhoub). According to TVLine, Frank is a four-time divorcé who still fancies himself a ladies man and dwells in the complex’s bachelor pad. Emmy-winning former Monk star Shalhoub did Greg Daniels’ comedy pilot Friday Night Dinner this past season.
- 8/16/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Update: I hear speculation that NBC’s Friday Night Dinner is unlikely to go forward, which would open up a slot for another comedy pilot. The chances of the network’s freshman Whitney to return also appear slim. Previous: Brace yourself: a wave of new series pickups and existing show renewals are coming our way this week. NBC, which is first off presenting its fall lineup next Monday morning, is expected to lead the way, followed closely by Fox, which is holding its upfront Monday afternoon. NBC is expected to order about 6 new comedy series and 4-5 dramas. The network, which has been very secretive about its testings and screenings this year, gave an indication of some of its favorites when it allowed several pilots to start making staffing offers last week. The list includes five comedy pilots: the single-camera 1600 Penn, The New Normal, Save Me and Friday Night Dinner...
- 5/7/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
2Nd Update Friday: Another NBC comedy frontrunner, 1600 Penn, has been given permission to begin making staffing offers, moving it closer to a series pickup. Update Thursday Pm: I hear Greg Daniels’ comedy pilot Friday Night Dinner also has been given permission to start making staffing offers. But I’ve learned that those offers are backed by Daniels’ veteran NBC series The Office, meaning that the writer-producers signed for Fnd would segue to The Office if the pilot doesn’t go. Previous 11 Am Thursday: About halfway through the broadcast networks’ screenings this week, it doesn’t look like there have been major surprises, with most early frontrunners solidifying their positions. NBC, which is looking to launch a number of series in August, right after the end of its coverage of the Summer Olympics, has been moving the fastest, picking up the first pilot to series, the Matthew Perry-starring single-camera comedy Go On,...
- 5/5/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
In a few short weeks, the broadcast networks will storm Madison Avenue with a whole new crop of shows that will either have the power to blow the roof off Nielsen — or give cable another opportunity to crow about their greatness. Will the (near) future of broadcast TV rest on the shoulders of more beauties and beasts? Do viewers want an updated Sherlock Holmes?
Here is the complete list of pilots that are currently under consideration for fall. As usual, not every project will make the cut — but we certainly have our suspicions about the ones that will (here’s looking at you,...
Here is the complete list of pilots that are currently under consideration for fall. As usual, not every project will make the cut — but we certainly have our suspicions about the ones that will (here’s looking at you,...
- 4/27/2012
- by Lynette Rice and James Hibberd
- EW - Inside TV
In a few short weeks, the broadcast networks will storm Madison Avenue with a whole new crop of shows that will either have the power to blow the roof off Nielsen — or give cable another opportunity to crow about their greatness. Will the (near) future of broadcast TV rest on the shoulders of more beauties and beasts? Do viewers want an updated Sherlock Holmes?
Here is the complete list of pilots that are currently under consideration for fall. As usual, not every project will make the cut — but we certainly have our suspicions about the ones that will (here’s looking at you,...
Here is the complete list of pilots that are currently under consideration for fall. As usual, not every project will make the cut — but we certainly have our suspicions about the ones that will (here’s looking at you,...
- 4/25/2012
- by Lynette Rice and James Hibberd
- EW - Inside TV
In less than one month, the five broadcast networks will storm Madison Avenue in New York with a whole new crop of shows that will either have the power to blow the roof off Nielsen — or give cable another opportunity to crow about their greatness. Will the (near) future of broadcast TV rest on the shoulders of more beauties and beasts? Do viewers want an updated Sherlock Holmes? Is primetime really the place for Hannibal Lecter?
Here is the complete list of pilots that are currently under consideration for fall. As usual, not every project will make the cut — but...
Here is the complete list of pilots that are currently under consideration for fall. As usual, not every project will make the cut — but...
- 4/25/2012
- by Lynette Rice and James Hibberd
- EW - Inside TV
Universal Television has closed about a half-dozen overall deals over the past few weeks, with several more in the works. The completed pacts include renewals for Peter Berg & Sarah Aubrey’s production company Film 44 and writers Alexandra Cunningham and Michael Pennie and first-time agreements with Victor Fresco new Sarah Watson. The brisk deal-making comes months after NBC announced its plans to reestablish its production arm into a full-fledged studio, renamed it Universal Television and tapped Bela Bajaria to run it. Bajaria said the replenishing of the studio’s talent roster is part of “the long-term goal to rebuild Universal Television into a major supplier of quality, ground-breaking, successful dramas and comedies.” Last summer, the studio stepped up to re-up The Office and Parks & Recreation executive producer Greg Daniels and sign a pod deal with Peter Traugott. Both pacts resulted in pilots this season — Daniels wrote and executive produces comedy...
- 3/27/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
NBC's slate of pilots run the gamut from hospitals and fire department to trailer parks and prison and even the White House. Here are the NBC pilots of the 2012-13 television season.
Dramas
"Bad Girls": Amy Smart ("Shameless") and Jurnee Smollett ("Friday Night Lights") star in this drama about women in federal prison and their scandalous female warden. John Wells ("Shameless," "The West Wing") is the executive producer. It's based on a British series.
"Beautiful People": This drama set in the near future features a society where humans co-exist with mechanical androids, who are treated as second-class citizens. Until the androids begin to awaken. Frances Conroy, David Conrad and Ernie Hudson have been cast.
"Chicago Fire": A new action drama that focuses on the men and women of the Chicago Fire Department, starring "House" alum Jesse Spencer, "Vampire Diaries" Taylor Kinney and executive-produced by "Law & Order's" Dick Wolf.
Dramas
"Bad Girls": Amy Smart ("Shameless") and Jurnee Smollett ("Friday Night Lights") star in this drama about women in federal prison and their scandalous female warden. John Wells ("Shameless," "The West Wing") is the executive producer. It's based on a British series.
"Beautiful People": This drama set in the near future features a society where humans co-exist with mechanical androids, who are treated as second-class citizens. Until the androids begin to awaken. Frances Conroy, David Conrad and Ernie Hudson have been cast.
"Chicago Fire": A new action drama that focuses on the men and women of the Chicago Fire Department, starring "House" alum Jesse Spencer, "Vampire Diaries" Taylor Kinney and executive-produced by "Law & Order's" Dick Wolf.
- 3/14/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
This season, we had Eddie Cibrian (The Playboy Club), Jason O’Mara (Terra Nova), Hank Azaria (Free Agents), Kevin Dillon (How to Be a Gentleman), Mather Zickel (Man Up!), and Amaury Nolasco (Work It).
It didn’t work out too well for those guys, did it?
Fortunately, the failures of yesterday don’t seem to be quashing hopes for the (potential) successes of tomorrow. An excellent crop of new (and familiar) male stars are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Jim Caviezel (who’s truly nailed it on Person of Interest this season) and Henry Czerny (the very underappreciated...
It didn’t work out too well for those guys, did it?
Fortunately, the failures of yesterday don’t seem to be quashing hopes for the (potential) successes of tomorrow. An excellent crop of new (and familiar) male stars are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Jim Caviezel (who’s truly nailed it on Person of Interest this season) and Henry Czerny (the very underappreciated...
- 3/13/2012
- by Lynette Rice
- EW - Inside TV
• Friday Night Lights vet Zach Gilford has joined the cast of the untitled Fox medical drama pilot from Drop Dead Diva’s Josh Berman. The former Off the Map star will play a doctor alongside a thoracic surgeon (Jordan Spiro) who moonlights as a “mob doctor” in Chicago. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• More pilot news: 2 Broke Girl’s Nick Zano has landed a plum role in ABC’s Prairie Dogs as the thief who steals the identity of a cubicle worker (Kal Penn), who then hires Zano’s character to help him create a real life as fulfilling as his imposter’s fake one.
• More pilot news: 2 Broke Girl’s Nick Zano has landed a plum role in ABC’s Prairie Dogs as the thief who steals the identity of a cubicle worker (Kal Penn), who then hires Zano’s character to help him create a real life as fulfilling as his imposter’s fake one.
- 3/12/2012
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW - Inside TV
Angela Bassett and Julian McMahon are in final negotiations to star in Fox's untitled Karyn Usher drama. The program focuses on Jane Forsythe, a 14-year-old orphan of a CIA operative who finds a surrogate father in McMahon's rogue agent. Bassett will play the shrewd political director of the CIA who also takes Jane under her wing. [Deadline]
Wendy Crewson, last seen on ABC's "Georgetown" pilot in 2011, is joining the cast of "Beauty and the Beast" as Mara, a member of the Emperor's (F. Murray Abraham) cabinet and a friend of the titular beauty. [ABC]
ABC has also added two actors to pilots - Luis Guzman has been cast as a worker at the Texas diner run by Margo Martindale and her as-of-yet uncast siblings in "Counter Culture," while Rade Serbedzjia has joined "Penoza," the drama focusing on a woman who must take over her dead husband's role in a crime syndicate in order to protect her family.
Wendy Crewson, last seen on ABC's "Georgetown" pilot in 2011, is joining the cast of "Beauty and the Beast" as Mara, a member of the Emperor's (F. Murray Abraham) cabinet and a friend of the titular beauty. [ABC]
ABC has also added two actors to pilots - Luis Guzman has been cast as a worker at the Texas diner run by Margo Martindale and her as-of-yet uncast siblings in "Counter Culture," while Rade Serbedzjia has joined "Penoza," the drama focusing on a woman who must take over her dead husband's role in a crime syndicate in order to protect her family.
- 3/12/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Gary Anthony Williams has been added to the cast of Greg Daniels’ comedy pilot Friday Night Dinner. The single-camera project, based on the British format, centers on a quirky family that has dinner together every Friday night and stars Allison Janney and Tony Shalhoub as matriarch Jackie and patriarch Martin. Williams, repped by Don Buchwald/Fortitude, Roar and attorney Lev Ginsburg, will play Mr. Marley, the neighbor who frequently shows up at the family’s front step and appears infatuated with Jackie. The character was originally named Koechner and written for actor-comedian David Koechner. In January, NBC signed Koechner in a talent holding deal with NBC. Under it, he was to do Friday Night Dinner or do more episodes of The Office, where he has appeared occasionally since the second season. When Fnd was officially picked up to pilot a week later, the neighbor character was not put out for casting.
- 3/11/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
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