Variety says Stephen Dorff has signed on to his first dramatic TV series role, starring in the CBS pilot “Skip Tracer,” from “The Sopranos” alums Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess.
CBS also said yes to the U.S. version of U.K. hit “Viva Blackpool” (from Hugh Jackman), while ABC ordered the intriguingly titled entries “Cashmere Mafia” (executive-produced by Darren Star) and “Women’s Murder Club” (directed by Brett Ratner).
Also, NBC is once again moving forward with “Lipstick Jungle” and a project from “House” czar David Shore, while The CW picked up the South Africa-based “Wild at Heart.”
In “Skip Tracer,” Dorff will star as a good-hearted man who searches for people as a skip tracer in Los Angeles’ seedy underworld.
Over at ABC, Star and Gail Katz (“The Perfect Storm”) are executive producing “Cashmere Mafia,” an hourlong drama from writer-executive producer Kevin Wade (“Working Girl”). The potential series focuses on a tight-knit group of four female friends who went to business school together and now find themselves trying to balance their work, family and personal lives in New York.
ABC also made it official for “Women’s Murder Club,” greenlighting production on the 20th Century Fox TV drama from helmer Brett Ratner. Liz Craft and Sarah Fain — who’ve worked together as writers-producers on “The Shield” — wrote the pilot script and will executive produce with Ratner, who’s attached to direct. Based on the James Patterson novels, the project revolves around four women — a detective, a reporter, a medical examiner and a government lawyer — who track down killers in San Francisco.
Candace Bushnell’s “Lipstick Jungle” has been in the works for more than a year, and even snagged a production order last year. NBC ultimately opted not to shoot the original script and put the project back in development. DeAnn Heline and Elaine Heisler (“Committed”) wrote the third and most recent draft and will serve as executive producers. Based on Bushnell’s novel of the same name, “Jungle” is a sort of older, more dramatic “Sex and the City,” dealing with powerful women in their 40s.
Then there’s “Wild at Heart,” the second drama pilot officially to be picked up at The CW. The project, set to be shot in South Africa, revolves around an American family that moves to the country to open a wild game preserve.
As for “Viva Blackpool,” the drama (from Sony Pictures TV and CBS Paramount Network TV, as well as BBC and Seed Prods.) is now being called “Viva Laughlin.” The musical drama revolves around a man who has big dreams for his little casino in Laughlin, Nev.
