EXCLUSIVE: Briga Heelan is making a return to NBC/Warner Bros.’s midseason series Undateable, re-joining the Bill Lawrence comedy as a recurring. She will reprise the role of Nicki she played in the pilot as a guest star. The bromantic comedy centers on Danny (Chris D’Elia) and Justin (Brent Morin) — two very different guys who are bonded by their common inability to attract women. Heelan first came into the Lawrence/Warner Bros. family in March when she was cast as the female lead in the TBS comedy pilot Ground Floor. A month later, she was brought in as a last-minute replacement of originally cast series regular Aly Michalka in the Undateable pilot. Because of her commitment to Ground Floor, Heelan did the NBC pilot as a guest star. Then on May 10, within a few hours both Ground Floor and Undateable were picked up to series. Lawrence wanted Heelan for both shows, and the studio tried to make things work but ultimately the verdict was that the dates could not be worked out, and Megan Park was cast in the Nicki role as a new regular. But meanwhile, the schedules for Ground Floor and Undateable were synched up enough for Heelan to be able to do the NBC comedy on a recurring basis without interfering with her starring duties on the TBS sitcom. (Both comedies are multi-camera, which require fewer production days than single-camera shows.) For now Heelan, repped by Gersh and Thruline, has been booked for three episodes on Undateable playing the warm-hearted but tough Nicki, the waitress in Justin’s (Morin) bar who feels protective of all the guys who hang out there but doesn’t know that Justin has had a sweet spot for her since the day they met. She replaces Park.
Briga Heelan Back On NBC Comedy ‘Undateable’ As Recurring
Christopher Egan To Star, Alan Dale & Tom Wisdom To Co-Star In Syfy Pilot ‘Dominion’
EXCLUSIVE: Christopher Egan (NBC’s Kings) has been tapped as the lead in Dominion, Syfy‘s supernatural action drama pilot based on characters from the 2010 feature Legion that starred Paul Bettany. Alan Dale (Ugly Betty) and Tom Wisdom also have been cast in the project set 25 years after the events of the movie. Dominion picks up in the aftermath of a catastrophic war between an army of angels and mankind that has transformed the world. Set against a backdrop of the ultimate celestial battle as it touches down on earth, the series follows the
perilous journey of Alex Lannen (Egan), a rebellious young soldier who discovers he’s the unlikely savior of humanity. Dale, repped by APA and Management 360, plays Rysen, the general who led the humans to victory against the angels during the Extermination War. Read More »
Thriller Drama From Writer Sarah Thorp & David Shore’s Company Sells To ABC
In the first season since hiring Imagine TV veteran Erin Gunn as a development executive, David Shore‘s Sony TV-based Shore Z is beginning to function as a full-fledged pod. The company is co-producing with Sony a drama … Read More »
MTV Comedy Pilot ‘Happyland’ Sets Cast
EXCLUSIVE: Bianca Santos (The Fosters) will lead the cast of MTV‘s comedy pilot Happyland. Also cast in the project, written by Ben Epstein, directed by Lee Toland Krieger and executive produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, are Zulay Henao (Love Thy Neighbor), Shane Harper (Awkward), Katherine McNamara (Contest) and Cameron Moulene (Raising Hope). Happyland is a soapy teen comedy exploring the underbelly of one of the country’s most popular theme
parks and those who work there. It centers on Lucy (Santos), a cynical teen working as a greeter at the park where her single mother (Henao) has played a fairytale princess for 15 years, and explores the realities of growing up and falling in love while living in a make-believe world. Harper will play Ian, the handsome son of the park’s new president, a new hire at the park who is smitten by feisty Lucy. Read More »
CBS Buys Legal Drama From David Hudgins & Universal TV
EXCLUSIVE: The corporate walls are truly coming down this season, with broadcast networks’ affiliated studios selling to competing nets more actively than ever before. The latest example is an untitled drama project from former Friday Night Lights executive … Read More »
Son & Father Writers Team With Greg Malins For NBC Comedy Helped By Crowdfunding
In a competitive situation, Half, a half-hour single-camera comedy from 22-year-old actor-writer Matt Angel, has been bought by NBC with Sony TV producing. Veteran Greg Malins (Friends) is set as showrunner, and Matt’s dad Dan Angel (TNT’s Door To Door) is attached to exec produce. Based on a true story, Half centers on the journey of Riley Young, a quirky 13-year-old conceived through artificial insemination, who convinces her dysfunctional family into embarking on a search for all of her half siblings.
Read More »
Writer Joshua Safran Sells Drama Projects With Fake Empire & Chernin Entertainment
Former Smash executive producer/ showrunner Joshua Safran has sold two hourlong projects, one to ABC with Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage‘s Fake Empire and one to Fox with Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment.
ABC’s Social Circle, … Read More »
Elizabeth Hurley To Topline E! Pilot ‘The Royals’
EXCLUSIVE: British actress Elizabeth Hurley is set for regal duty with a starring role in the hourlong E! pilot The Royals, from Lionsgate TV and the One Tree Hill team of creator Mark Schwahn … Read More »
NBC Nabs Comedy From J.J. Philbin & Jason Katims With Production Commitment
EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of the success last season of their comedy project About A Boy, which went to series at NBC, Jason Katims and his True Jack Prods. are
back in half-hour development with another high-profile project at NBC. The network has handed a pilot production commitment to Former Fat Girl, from Universal TV where True Jack is based. Written by J.J. Philbin (New Girl), the single-camera comedy is loosely inspired by 10 Lessons from a Former Fat Girl, a nonfiction book by former Biggest Loser contestant Amy Parham, which True Jack optioned earlier this year. It is a comedic “adult coming-of-age” story of a formerly obese thirtysomething woman who has just recently shed the weight and is now experiencing life and relationships from her very unique perspective. Philbin is executive producing with True Jack’s Katims and Michelle Lee. Read More »
Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage Team With Young Writing Duo For ABC Comedy
EXCLUSIVE: A half-hour project, First Timers, has sold at ABC in a competitive situation, and it couldn’t have had a more perfect title. Because it marks the first sale for Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage‘s Fake Empire under the company’s rich three-year overall deal with ABC Studios. It also marks the first sale for
up-and-coming writing duo Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger, currently serving as producers on the ABC/ABC Studios comedy The Neighbors. Penned by Aptaker and Berger loosely based on their own relationship, First Timers centers on twentysomething male/female business partners. The two will executive produce alongside Fake Empire’s Schwartz, Savage and Len Goldstein.
Starting their ABC Studios relationship with a comedy sale is symbolic for Fake Empire as expansion into half-hour comedy under the new deal has been a priority for the company, known primarily as a drama series producer. ABC Studios introduced Aptaker and Berger to Schwartz and Savage who had been tracking the duo’s career for a while (Aptaker and Berger previously staffed on I Just Want My Pants Back, Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous and Friends With Benefits) and went after the young writers after reading their adaptation of the book The Future of Us. Read More »
WGN America Orders Drama Series About The Manhattan Project From Skydance TV, Tribune Studios & Lionsgate TV
EXCLUSIVE: WGN America is quickly ramping up its original portfolio. The cable network has greenlighted its second scripted series, 13-episode drama Manhattan, for a summer 2014 premiere. The show, from writer Sam Shaw and director Thomas Schlamme, is being produced by Skydance Television, Tribune Studios and Lionsgate Television. Its pickup comes two months after WGN ordered its first original drama series, Salem, and
four months after the network signaled its plans to become a player in the space with the hire of Matt Cherniss as president. Created by Shaw (Masters of Sex) and to be directed by The West Wing alum Schlamme, Manhattan is set against the backdrop of the clandestine mission to build the world’s first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico and follows the brilliant but flawed scientists and their families as they attempt to co-exist in a world where secrets and lies infiltrate every aspect of their lives. “Sam and Tommy’s passion for the world of Los Alamos, the Manhattan Project, and the characters who populate it came through from the moment we all sat down to discuss the project,” said Cherniss. Read More »
Judge Greg Mathis’ Life Inspires Comedy For Fox Produced By Ellen DeGeneres
EXCLUSIVE: Two top Warner Bros syndication personalities, Ellen DeGeneres and Judge Greg Mathis, are teaming for a scripted comedy inspired by Mathis’ life. … Read More »
Fox Buys Comedy From Ricky Blitt, Johnny Galecki & Stephen McPherson With Penalty
EXCLUSIVE: Comedy writer Ricky Blitt has teamed with The Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki and producer Stephen McPherson for Here’s Your Damn Family, a multi-camera comedy produced by Warner Bros TV, the studio behind Big Bang. The project has sold to Fox, where McPherson has a first-look deal, with penalty. It marks Galecki’s first sale as a producer. Here’s Your Damn Family centers on a stunted, set-in-his-ways thirtysomething man living with his mom who finds his perfectly organized world upended when his mother/roommate gets married, and her new husband plus his three teenage children move in.
Blitt created the project on spec and then further developed it with Galecki. The two have been friends for more than a decade, since working together on another Blitt-written Fox comedy project, 2002 pilot Becoming Glen. Galecki played the title character in the project, who draws some parallels to the lead in Here’s Your Damn Family — a thirtysomething guy living with his parents. (Fox later remade Becoming Glen as the 2007 series The Winner starring Rob Corddry.) Because of his relationship with Warner Bros through Big Bang, Galecki took Here’s Your Damn Family to the studio. McPherson then joined up with them, and the project was taken to Fox. (The comedy falls outside of his first-look deal at Lionsgate TV.) Read More »
Jennifer Finnigan To Star In FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’
EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Finnigan is set as the female lead in the high-profile FX drama pilot Tyrant, from Homeland executive producers Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff and Six Feet Under alum Craig Wright. It tells the … Read More »
‘American Horror Story: Coven’ & ‘Horizon’ Add To Casts
EXCLUSIVE: Newcomer Alexander Dreymon has landed a major recurring role on the upcoming American Horror Story: Coven. On the witch-themed, New Orleans-set installment of the FX horror franchise, Dreymon will play the handsome young man … Read More »
ABC Nabs Comedy From ‘Awkward’ Creator Lauren Iungerich With Pilot Production Commitment
EXCLUSIVE: In her first her broadcast development cycle after departing her MTV series, Awkward creator Lauren Iungerich has commanded one of the biggest comedy commitments this year. Damaged Goods, a single-camera comedy created/executive … Read More »
Pilots ‘Line Of Sight’ & ‘Strain’ Add Regulars
Samantha Mathis has been cast in AMC‘s pilot Line Of Sight, from creator Blake Masters and director Jonathan Demme. It tells the story of Lewis Bernt (David Morrissey), a National Transportation Safety Board investigator who survives a mysterious plane crash, bringing him on an emotionally disorienting quest to discover the accident’s cause. Mathis, repped by Paradigm and the Schiff Co, will play Tony’s (Kai Lennox) wife. She comes off a recurring role on CBS’ breakout Under The Dome.
Canadian actress Natalie Brown (Being Human) has booked the FX pilot The Strain, directed by Guillermo del Toro. It tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), the head of the Centers for Disease Control Canary Team who are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. Brown will play Eph’s ex-wife Kelly Goodweather fails to heed her husband’s warning about the contagion spreading in Manhattan. She replaces Lauren Lee Smith who was originally cast in the role. Brown, repped by Thruline and Amanda Rosenthal Talent, recurs on Canadian series Cracked and Bitten. Read More »
NBC & Electus Ink 3-For-1 Series Deal For Telenovelas To Air Multiple Nights A Week
NBC has inked a deal with Ben Silverman’s IAC-owned company Electus to develop three telenovelas with an eye toward airing one as a 13-episode series — with multiple episodes running each week, following telenovelas’ traditional air pattern. That would mark a rare stripped primetime run for an original scripted series on a U.S. English-language network. “We believe there is huge potential for telenovelas to be adapted and developed for American viewers,” said NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke. “These stories clearly have resonance across all cultures and nationalities.”
NBC and Electus have identified the first project to be developed under the pact, The Black Widow, from writer Sri Rao (General Hospital: Night Shift). It is an adaptation of the hit Venezuelan telenovela La Viuda Joven, which premiered in 2011 and aired 142 episodes around the world. (See the Spanish-language trailer below.) Created by Martin Hahn, it centers on the stunning Rojas aka Baroness, who is investigated in the mysterious deaths of all four of her husbands. Read More »
ABC Nabs Imagine Drama Based On Andrew Gross Novel ‘No Way Back’ As Put Pilot
No Way Back, a drama series project based on the 2013 mystery/thriller novel by best-selling author Andrew Gross, has landed at ABC with a put pilot commitment. 20th Century Fox TV and studio-based Imagine TV are producing the project, written by Jessica Sharzer, currently co-executive producer on FX/20th TV’s American Horror Story. Sharzer and Imagine TV’s Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo executive produce. No Way Back centers on two women who join forces and embark on a dangerous odyssey to find the truth and save their lives. One is a suburban mother and ex-cop, whose chance meeting with a stranger in a hotel ends when the man is murdered and she’s the only witness. The other is a young woman from Mexico who has a deadly secret that has driven her into hiding until she can prove her innocence. It’s a desperate hunt that leads them into a nefarious web of treachery, lies and corruption involving drug lords, arm dealers and shadowy figures in the highest echelons of government. Read More »
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