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Marvel Readies Properties for TV, Including New ‘Hulk’

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The old Incredible Hulk series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno is arguably Marvel’s most successful and most respected foray into live-action TV. So it should come as no surprise that now that Marvel has created its own TV division, Marvel Television, that the House of Ideas sees a new Hulk series as its key first property.

The original Hulk series aired on CBS, but since Marvel is now wholly owned by Disney, naturally they’re utilizing some synergy with the mouse’s very own network, ABC. Comic book scribe and former producer on such series as Lost and Heroes, Jeph Loeb, is heading up Marvel Television, and is currently on the hunt for a showrunner for ABC’s new Hulk. Another major property on his to-do list is Cloak & Dagger for ABC Family, about two runaways who team up after they’re injected with a powerful drug that gives them superpowers. In the comics, they’ve spent the majority of their crime-fighting days waging war on illegal drugs and those who traffic them.

The Hulk will also be hitting the big screen soon in Marvel’s big superhero team-up  film, The Avengers, which is being written and directed by genre icon Joss Whedon. Mark Ruffalo is taking over the film role from Edward Norton, but it’s unknown if the TV show will have any connection to the movies. (I’ll watch it — as long as they do the Planet Hulk storyline at some point.)

Other Marvel properties being considered for live-action TV series include Heroes for Hire, The Eternals, Agents of Atlas, Alter Ego (based on the Alias comic book by Brian Michael Bendis, a TV series about which Bendis has been trying to get off the ground for years, so very interesting that it’s now landed back in Marvel’s hands), Moon Knight, The Hood, Ka-Zar, Daughters of the Dragon, and The Punisher (presumably for a pay cable network, which would let the show go all out with adult content).

The spy game comes to ABC Family

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Shadows is the title of a new show that’s been ordered by ABC Family. It’s being described as “Hogwarts for espionage,” as it depicts a secret program at Harvard University where spies are covertly trained.

Created and produced by Jesse Peyronel, Shadows follows both students and faculty of this unique study program. Peyronel most recently sold a yet-to-be-aired show called Illuminati to ABC last year. He has precious few other credits under his belt, so for him to have sold a show to a major network at this point in his career says a lot about the quality of his work.

No word yet on cast, crew, or when the show might go into production.

Chloe King runs out of lives

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The Nine Live of Chloe King was recently reported to have been axed by ABC Family as it failed to deliver the kind of ratings the network was expecting from the series.

The series, which was based on the popular young adult novels written by Liz Braswell involving the aforementioned Chloe King, who discovers she has cat-like powers and that she is actually a warrior involved in a battle between human beings and an ancient race of beings.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King had an impressive debut, racking up more than two million viewers for the first episode. The relatively strong showing could be attributed to the fact that the novels had a strong following. But show wasn’t able to successfully hold on to its viewers. By the time the finale episode was aired the show was only being viewed by one million viewers – compare it to one of ABC Family’s top new series Switched at Birth, which was already drawing an average of three million viewers every episode.

But while The Nine Lives of Chloe King got axed, another series in the ABC Family roster was given a new lease on life. The Lying Game, which is also based on another young adult novel series, was asked for another order of 12 episodes, to extend the previous 10-episode order to 22. The show is not showing a strong performance ratings wise as well, as it only gets 1.3 million viewers per episode. So it’s kind of a strange move that while Chloe King was cancelled, The Lying Game was renewed.

Photo Credit: spoilertv.co.uk