1/24 development news

from the futon critic

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THE 12TH MAN (A.K.A. UNTITLED TIM STORY COMEDY PROJECT) (FOX) - FOX
has given a pilot order to director Tim Story ("Fantastic Four") and
writer Dan Fogelman's ("Like Family") comedy project for the network.
The single-camera half-hour revolves around a pro basketball player
who's not quite good enough to get much court time and feels
marginalized as a result. Fogelman is writing the pilot script to the

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project, which is based on former pro basketball player Paul Shirley's
blog "My So-Called NBA Career" on ESPN.com. Story then will direct and
executive produce the 20th Century Fox Television-based half-hour
along with Fogelman. Shirley himself will also serve as a producer.

ENEMIES (ABC) - Sean Bailey's ("Push, Nevada") long-in-the-works drama
project for the Alphabet has been given the green light to produce a
pilot. Said hour revolves around two Chicago-based best friends who
grow up to become mortal enemies - one's a top player at the F.B.I.
while the other's a mob boss. Bailey wrote the pilot and will

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executive produce the project for Touchstone Television along with Ken
Olin ("Alias").

LOST (ABC) - The show's 11 remaining original cast members - Naveen
Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway,
Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Terry
O’Quinn and Harold Perrineau - will all reportedly receive a pay bump
next season, with each raking in almost $80,000 an episode. The news
marks a significant jump from their current salaries, which are said
to range from $20,000-$40,000 per installment. In addition, each actor
is expected to agree to a one-year extension on their standard
five-year contracts as part of the deal with Touchstone Television
however there are no guarantees about the length of their tenure on
the show. Finally, recent Golden Globe nominee Fox is also understood
to have earned an extra bonus of at least $250,000. To date this
season, "Lost" has averaged a whopping 16.76 million viewers as well
as finished 2005 as the second-best-selling TV-DVD with 1.04 million
units sold and 1.5 million downloads off of Apple's iTunes music
store.

MY NAME IS EARL (NBC) - Production on the hit NBC comedy has been
suspended as series star Jason Lee recovers from the chicken pox. The

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break, which is expected to last a few weeks, won't affect the show's
air schedule as the Peacock is preparing to launch its 17-day coverage
of the Winter Olympics starting February 10.

NINE LIVES/SIX DEGREES (ABC) - Rodrigo Garcia, who's helmed the pilots
to both "Big Love" and "Carnivale" at HBO, has signed on to direct
both ABC drama pilots. The former, which comes from producers Hank
Steinberg, K.J. Steinberg and Warner Bros. Television, follows the
lives of nine strangers who share a bond after experiencing a 52-hour
hostage crisis that stems from a bank robbery that goes bad. The
latter centers around a group of six young college grads whose lives
intertwine in various ways. Raven Metzner, Stu Zicherman, J.J. Abrams,

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Bryan Burk and Thom Sherman are behind "Degrees," which is set up at
Touchstone Television and Bad Robot.

OCTOBER ROAD (ABC, New!) - Feature writer Scott Rosenberg ("High
Fidelity") is set to team with Andre Nemec ("Fastlane") and Josh
Appelbaum ("Alias") for a new drama at the Alphabet and Touchstone
Television about a Manhattan-based screenwriter who moves back home to
his small New England hometown, where he becomes a teacher and must
readjust to life with his family and old friends. Gary Fleder ("Don't

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Say a Word") is also on board to direct and executive produce the
project (via his Mojo Films banner), which ABC has given a pilot
order.

PRIMARY (A.K.A. UNTITLED TIM STORY DRAMA PROJECT) (FOX) -
Writer/producer Craig Silverstein ("The Dead Zone") has scored a pilot
order for "Primary," a new drama which centers on a man and a woman
who dance around their budding relationship while focusing on their
jobs as hostage negotiators. Feature director Tim Story ("Fantastic

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Four") is on board to direct and executive produce the 20th Century
Fox Television-based hour along with Silverstein.

UNTITLED SHONDA RHIMES PROJECT (ABC, New!) - "Grey's Anatomy" creator
Shonda Rhimes is developing a new drama at ABC and producers
Touchstone Television and the Mark Gordon Co. about four female
journalists from different media who travel the country. The project,

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which is being targeted for midseason next year, is said to be derived
from a script Rhimes penned during the 2002-03 development season.
Rhimes and Gordon then will executive produce the hour along with
Betsy Beers and Julie Lynn.

Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters