COVID-19 Vaccine Drama in Development at HBO, Adam McKay to Produce

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock has landed the series reboot of “Clueless” centered on the character Dionne for development, Variety has learned exclusively.The untitled comedy series is described a baby pink and bisexual blue-tinted, tiny sun-glasses wearing, oat milk latte and Adderall-fueled look at what happens when queen bee Cher disappears and her lifelong number two Dionne steps into Cher’s vacant Air Jordans.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO has set an all-star lineup of featured performers in the adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me.”The HBO version’s cast will include Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, “Black Lives Matter” founder Alicia Garza, Joe Morton, Phylicia Rashad, The Roots’ Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Courtney B. Vance, Pauletta Washington, and Susan Kelechi Watson.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNBC has announced the premiere date for “Transplant,” the Canadian medical drama acquired by the broadcast network back in May.The 13-episode series will begin airing on NBC on Sept. 1 at 10 p.m.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA dramatic reboot of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” is in the works, Variety has confirmed.It will be based on Morgan Cooper’s viral video that reimagined the NBC comedy series as a drama titled “Bel-Air.” The trailer, which Cooper posted online last year, has racked up over five million views on YouTube alone.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSara Bareilles has been cast in a lead role of the upcoming Tina Fey-Robert Carlock produced Peacock comedy series “Girls5eva.”In the series, when a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 90’s gets sampled by a young rapper, its members reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot.Bareilles will star as Dawn, a former member of Girls5eva, who is now a bit restless in life managing her family’s small Italian restaurant in Queens.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterWarner Bros. Television has optioned the upcoming Diane Cook novel “The New Wilderness” for Matt Reeves’ production company, 6th & Idaho, to develop as a television series.Cook will write the pilot and executive produce the series.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Star Trek: Lower Decks” premieres today on CBS All Access, marking the first true “Star Trek” comedy series to ever air. But series creator Mike McMahan, the franchise has always been rich in comedy.“I don’t even really consider myself to be the first one doing it,” McMahan tells Variety.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has given a straight-to-series order to a drama that hails from Adam Perlman as well as Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey production company.The Downeys and Amanda Burrell will executive produce on behalf of Team Downey, with Robert also potentially playing a supporting role.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA new iteration of “Who’s the Boss?” is in development.Variety has confirmed that a sequel series to the classic sitcom is in the works at Sony, with original stars Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano onboard to reprise their roles.The new show will take place 30 years after the events of the original series and be centered around former major-league baseball player and retired housekeeper Tony Micelli (Danza) and his relationship with his daughter Samantha Micelli (Milano),

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmy Adams and Adam McKay are coming together again for a Netflix limited series about a class action lawsuit against Walmart.Titled “Kings of America,” the series is based on real events and centers on the stories of three women whose lives were inextricably intertwined with the world’s largest company: a Walmart heiress, a maverick executive, and a longtime Walmart saleswoman and preacher who dared to fight against the retail giant in the biggest class action lawsuit in

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHeather Morris has come onboard at Aline Brosh McKenna’s production company, Lean Machine, to serve as vice president of development and production.In her new role, Morris will help identify and develop projects for Lean Machine.

In maybe the most absurd recent example of the ongoing national compulsion to immediately dramatize the news, HBO and Adam McKay are developing a limited series about the hunt for a vaccine for coronavirus (even though there’s no telling when such a thing will exist).

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: The search for a vaccine for COVID-19 is one of the biggest news stories around the world right now.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAMC’s upcoming animated drama “Pantheon” is filling out its main cast.Paul Dano, Taylor Schilling, Aaron Eckhart and Rosemarie Dewitt have all been cast in the series, Variety has confirmed. It was picked up for two seasons back in March.The one-hour show is based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu about Uploaded Intelligence, or human consciousness uploaded to the cloud.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDenis Leary has signed a broadcast development deal with Fox Entertainment.Under the deal, Leary and his production company, Amoeba, will develop and produce series for Fox. Leary may also star in any series developed under the agreement, which encompasses comedy, drama, and animation.“Everyone at Amoeba is excited about this partnership and we look forward to creating new, cutting-edge content at Fox,” Leary said.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNina Dobrev and Bruna Papandrea are teaming to adapt the Greer Macallister novel “Woman 99” for television.Dobrev will star in and executive produce the series, with Papandrea also executive producing under her Made Up Stories banner. Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver will also serve as executive producers with Janice Park serving as producer.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterElisabeth Moss is attached to star in and executive produce a series adaptation of the 2013 Lauren Beukes novel “Shining Girls,” which has been ordered to series at Apple.Moss will star as a Chicago reporter who survived a brutal assault only to find her reality shifting as she hunts down her attacker.Silka Luisa will write the adaptation and serve as executive producer and showrunner.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterVince Vaughn is attached to executive produce an animated comedy series in the works at Fox, Variety has learned exclusively.Fox has given Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn, and Peter Billingsly’s Wild West Picture Show production company a blind script deal for an animated series. No writer is currently attached, but Fox Entertainment will produce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has optioned the rights to Curtis Sittenfeld’s alternative history book “Rodham,” which takes place in a world in which Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton.The series is described as telling the story of an ambitious young woman, developing her extraordinary mind in the latter part of the 20th century, moving from idealism to cynicism and all the way back again.Sarah Treem is attached to write and executive produce the project.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC is developing a drama series with both Eva Longoria and Forest Whitaker attached as executive producers.Titled “Chicano,” the series is inspired by the novel of the same name Richard Vasquez. It tells the multi-generational story of the Sandovals, a Mexican-American family that immigrates to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American Dream.