‘Mom’ Star Anna Faris Exits CBS Series Ahead of Season 8

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCBS All Access has given out a series order to the comedic documentary series “For Heaven’s Sake.”Created by and starring Mike Mildon and Jackson Rowe, the series will follow the search for Harold Heaven, who mysteriously disappeared from his remote cabin in Ontario, Canada, in the winter of 1934. While local police searched the nearby woods and dredged the adjacent lake, Harold was never found nor heard from again.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDemi Moore is attached to star in a series adaptation of the QCode podcast “Dirty Diana” that is currently in development at Amazon.The erotic drama podcast debuted in August, with Moore lending her famous voice to the leading role.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLiv Tyler will not appear in the upcoming second season of “9-1-1: Lone Star” on Fox, Variety has confirmed.According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Tyler approached producers over the summer about exiting the show, despite having a multi-year contract. Her decision was due at least in part to concerns about traveling back and forth from her home in the U.K.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterStarz is in early development on a drama series titled “The Venery of Samantha Bird,” Variety has learned exclusively.The project hails from writer and executive producer Anna Moriarty. Should the show get ordered to series, it would mark her first TV writing credit.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTatiana Maslany is near a deal to play the lead role of the upcoming “She-Hulk” series at Disney Plus, Variety has learned from sources.The series centers on Jennifer Walters (Maslany), cousin of Bruce Banner who inherits his Hulk powers after she receives a blood transfusion from him. Unlike Bruce, however, when she hulks out, Jennifer is able to retain most of her personality, intelligence, and emotional control.Reps for Maslany declined to comment.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRobert and Michelle King are attached to executive produce a series adaptation of the iHeart Media true crime podcast “Happy Face” currently in development at CBS All Access, Variety has learned.“Happy Face” is inspired by the true story of Melissa Moore, who discovered at age 15 that her father, whom she loved dearly, was the prolific serial killer known as Happy Face.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Walking Dead” will end after the upcoming Season 11 on AMC, with the network also ordering a spinoff series built around the characters Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier, Variety has learned.Season 11 of AMC’s flagship show, which was originally meant to air this year but was delayed due to the pandemic, will air over two years and consist of 24 episodes in total beginning in late 2021.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock has picked up two seasons of the planned drama series reboot of the classic sitcom “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”Will Smith made the announcement Tuesday on YouTube, which can be viewed below. The series, titled “Bel-Air,” will be based on Morgan Cooper’s viral video that reimagined the NBC comedy series as a drama.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix has ordered a comedy series starring Jamie Foxx titled “Dad Stop Embarrassing Me,” Variety has learned.The multi-camera series is inspired by Foxx’s relationship with his daughter, Corinne Foxx. The series will also star David Alan Grier, Kyla-Drew, Porscha Coleman, and Jonathan Kite.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterEmma Roberts and her Belletrist TV banner have signed a first-look TV deal with Hulu.The deal will focus on literary adaptations, as Belletrist was originally founded by Roberts and Karah Preiss as a book club.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJohn Ridley and Carlton Cuse are set to adapt Sheri Fink’s novel “Five Days at Memorial” for Apple as a limited series, Variety has learned.The book chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans, LA, hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix has ordered a drama series based on the award-winning Chinese book series “The Three-Body Problem” with David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo set to write and executive produce.The series order covers all three books in the trilogy — “The Three-Body Problem,” “The Dark Forest,” and “Death’s End,” all of which were written by Liu Cixin.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon is developing a series about human rights lawyer Jared Genser with Orlando Bloom attached to executive produce, Variety has learned.The untitled series is inspired by Genser and his firm. He and his team work to free prisoners of conscience (Human Rights prisoners) in high-risk areas throughout the world’s most difficult Hot Zones.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAn animated “X-Files” comedy series is in the works at Fox, Variety has confirmed.The project is currently titled “The X-Files: Albuquerque.” It has received a script and presentation commitment at the broadcaster. The show would revolve around an office full of misfit agents who investigate X-Files cases too wacky, ridiculous or downright dopey for Mulder and Scully to bother with.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has given a series order to the limited anthology series “Women of the Movement,” which will tell the story of key female figures in the Civil Rights Movement.The show was first announced as being in development in August 2019. The first six-episode season is slated to debut in 2021.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNicolas Cage is attached to voice the lead character of and executive produce a series adaptation of “Artemis Fowl” author Eoin Colfer’s novel “Highfire” in development at Amazon, Variety has confirmed.Cage will play the titular Highfire, described as a vodka-drinking, “Flashdance”-loving dragon who lives an isolated existence in the bayous of Louisiana.In the series, dragons once ruled the earth and Lord Highfire ruled the dragons from his eyrie.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJohn Harlan Kim has been upped to series regular on the upcoming fourth season of “9-1-1-” at Fox, Variety has learned exclusively.Kim recurred last season as Albert Kim, the younger half-brother of firefighter Howie “Chimney” Kim (Kenneth Choi). The brothers had never met until Albert surprised Chimey by showing up on his doorstep from Korea.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCBS Television Studios and production companies Rideback and Thinking Hat are again partnering on the Rideback/Thinking Hat Campfire writer’s room.Three new creators have been selected for the second year of the room. They are writer Jeff Buhler, multi-hyphenate Gbenga Akinnagbe, and writer Katrina O’Gilvie.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA live-action “Resident Evil” series has been picked up at Netflix.The streamer has given an eight episode order to the one-hour series, which is based on the Capcom video game franchise of the same name. Constantin Films, which produced the six-film franchise based on the games, will serve as the studio behind the series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMargaret Qualley has been cast in the lead role of the upcoming Netflix dramedy series “Maid,” Variety has confirmed.The series will be based on Stephanie Land’s “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive.” It will chronicle a single mother who turns to housekeeping to—barely—make ends meet as she battles against poverty, homelessness, and bureaucracy.Qualley’s past TV credits include appearing in the critically-acclaimed HBO series “The Leftovers.” She