New to TV

Lifetime orders Amazing, CBS picks up CRU action drama

by Cheril on August 10th, 2008

From a new show on Lifetime where a supermarket manager mom becomes governor of New Jersey to a new drama for CBS based on a character from a James Patterson book, there are many shows in development.

Variety is reporting the following being developed:

• Lifetime has ordered The Amazing Mrs. Novak. The show is a one-hour drama based on the six-part U.K. series The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, which first aired in 2006. In the series, a supermarket manager, wife and mother becomes the governor of New Jersey through a series of unexpected events.

• CBS has picked CRU action drama project from CSI alumni Josh Berman featuring James Patterson’s “Step on a Crack” character. The book “Step on a Crack” centers on a homicide detective who is put in the role of a negotiating team leader when hostages are taken at the funeral of a former first lady. CRU stands for Catastrophic Response Unit.

• NBC greenlights Lost and Found, a new pilot from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf and writer Chris Levinison. The show would be a one-hour drama about an unconventional female detective who identifies anonymous murder victims and then solves their crimes.

• 24 co-executive producer Carlos Coto and Brett Ratner are teaming up on an one-hour action comedy for FOX. Wild Boys is about ex-soldiers turned suburban dads who are forced to become guns for hire after the economic downturn puts them out of work.

• Britain’s Alex Harcastle will direct Comedy Central’s live-action period comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. The show, set to premiere in early 2009, will star Sean Maguire as Krod Mandoon in the Middle Ages comedy about a reluctant hero.

• HBO has optioned the “Conversations with the Fat Girl” book by author Liza Palmer.

• Fox greenlights Glee! pilot from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy. The one-hour comedy is being fast-tracked with the hopes of it being on air by March 2009 as a companion for American Idol. The show would follow the world of high school glee clubs and center on a Spanish teacher who is called upon to teach one of the worst glee clubs in the nation. The network has ordered for additional scripts beyond the plot.

MyNetwork will launch a celebrity roast series called Shaken Not Stirred in the fall featuring celebrities such as Bobby Brown, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Ice T and Pamela Anderson.

• Josh Lucas will start in Side Effects, a one-hour pilot for Showtime scheduled to start production in the fall. Lucas will play Max Hunt, who runs a family-owned pharmaceutical business.

Media Week is reporting the following being developed:

• CBS is developing the Contractor drama, partnering with The Shield creator Shawn Ryan and author and screenwriter Richard Murphy. The drama will follow a Los Angeles housing contractor who falls for two of his wealthy female clients.

• Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy is developing a comedy for NBC based on the novel “Hyperchondriac: One Man’s Quest to Hurry Up and Calm Down” by author Brian Frasier. The show will be about a pharmaceutical salesman who has many illnesses.

James Patterson photo courtesy Newscom

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POSTED IN: CBS, Contractor, FOX, Glee!, HBO, In Development, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, Lifetime, NBC, Shaken Not Stirred, Showtime, Side Effects, The Amazing Mrs. Novak, Wild Boys