PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Will Clarissa explain it again? Nickelodeon is in talks for a reboot of 1991-1994 series Clarissa Explains All, starring original Clarissa Melissa Joan Hart as Clarissa’s mom. Hart will EP via her Heartbreak Films.
Top 10 Weekend Domestic Box Office Estimates: March 16-18, 2018
Black Panther (BV) $27.0 million (week 5), cume revenue $605.4 million
Tomb Raider (WB) $23.5 million, opening weekend
I Can Only Imagine (Roadside Attractions) $23.5 million, opening weekend
A Wrinkle In Time (BV) $16.6 million (week 2), cume revenue $61.1 million
Love, Simon (Fox) $11.5 million, opening weekend
Game Night (WB) $5.6 million (week 4), cume revenue $54.2 million
Peter Rabbit (Sony) $5.2 million (week 6), cume revenue $102.4 million
Strangers: Prey at Night (Aviron) $4.8 million (week 2), cume revenue $18.6 million
Red Sparrow (Fox) $4.5 million (week 3), cume revenue $39.6 million
Death Wish 2018 (MGM) $3.4 (week 3), cume revenue $29.9 million
Source: comScore
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, premieres on Showtime Saturday, May 12 at 9p. Limited series, based on the novels by Edward St. Aubyn, is part of Showtime’s move to expand to a new night of original programming. “Offering original content on Saturdays not only enables us to fully service our subscribers with diverse offerings, it gives viewers enough time to enjoy them all,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks. “A series with the ambition and quality of Patrick Melrose is the perfect place to start.”
The grandson of a serial killer explores his relative’s gruesome acts in It Was Him: The Many Murders of Ed Edwards. Six-part docu-series premieres on Paramount Network Monday, April 16 at 10p.
Backcountry builders use nothing but recycled parts and ingenuity for builds like souped-up monster trucks and survival pods – in Alaska – in Discovery Channel’s Last Outpost, launching Tuesday, April 17 at 10p.
TLC’s Long Island Medium is back with new episodes Sunday, April 8 at 8p. But it’s not all about the hereafter – in a 2-hour premiere, Theresa and Larry confront the problems in their marriage.
BBC America picked up UK format Sounds Like Friday Night. The 6-episode music show from Fulwell 73 launches Friday, March 16 at 11p.
ID’s Disappeared reappears Sunday, April 1 at 8p, following families hoping to find missing loved ones.
Epix introduces Deep State on Sunday, June 17 at 9p. Espionage drama centers on an ex-spy whose past comes back to haunt him.
A new 13-episode season of Food Network’s Vegas Cakes debuts Monday, April 2 at 10p, focused on Sin City staple Freed’s Bakery.
COMING UP
Ferocious viruses are the subject of three-parter Invisible Killer, premiering on Discovery Channel and Science Channel on Thursday, March 29 at 8p. Two more episodes follow on Science, at 9p and 10p.
Univision Communications is launching Edicion Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Edition), an anchorless daily news show for the Puerto Rican community, premiering tonight, March 19 on local UniMas stations in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Raleigh and on local Univision stations in Puerto Rico and Entravision Communications affiliates in Boston, Hagerstown, Hartford, Orlando and Tampa. Edicion Puerto Rico will broadcast in the morning in Atlanta, Boston, Hagerstown, Hartford, Chicago, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Tampa and Raleigh (check local listings) and at 11pin Puerto Rico.
ADVERTISING
Turner International has created a new ad division, London-based T1, focused on connecting global advertisers with audiences across Turner’s portfolio. A team of sales, consultancy and operations experts will help marketers target specific audience segments like sports, kids and news.
DIGITAL DATA
Facebook suspended political data analytics company Cambridge Analytica, which worked on the presidential campaign for Donald Trump, saying it lied about deleting user data sent to it by makers of an app called thisisyourdigitallife. Facebook alleges the maker of the app sent data to Cambridge Analytica without informing users, and the information was manipulated for political use. Responded Cambridge in one of a series of tweets, “This isn’t a spy movie. We’re a data analytics company.”
About 26 million people watch video through Amazon’s Prime Video, according to Reuters, placing the streaming service behind YouTube and Netflix. Reuters’ calculations were based on Amazon data on viewership and subs.
Netflix acquired docu-series Bobby Kennedy For President, launching globally April 27. Four-parter marking the 50th anniversary of RFK’s presidential run includes rare and never-before-seen archival footage.
A matter of Time: Netflix hasn’t renewed comedy reboot One Day At a Time for season 3 yet, so the National Hispanic Media Coalition is giving the streaming service a nudge. In an open letter, the NHMC urged continued support for a show that “is not only pro-actively shifting the public narrative of Latino Americans, but simultaneously setting the standard for positive and equitable representation of Latinos in television.”
CASTING
Doctor Who alum David Tennant will star opposite Jennifer Garner in HBO’s upcoming Camping. Comedy comes from Girls’ Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner….Bradley Whitford (Get Out), Steve Zahn (The Crossing) and Lamorne Morris (New Girl) will star in National Geographic 6-part limited series Valley of the Boom, pulling back the curtain on the dotcom boom of the 90s…. Paula Newsome (NCIS) will play Henry Winkler’s love interest in HBO’s upcoming comedy Barry, starring Bill Hader as a low-rent hitman….Jonny Coyne (Turn) will recur in season 3 of AMC’s Preacher….Mouna Traore (Murdoch Mysteries) won a series regular role in upcoming BET legal drama In Contempt.
Jake McDorman (Limitless) and Nik Dodani (Atypical) have boarded next season’s CBS revival of Murphy Brown. McDorman will play Avery, Murphy’s millennial journalist son, and Dodani will play the director of social media for the news show, tasked with bringing Murphy and the gang into the 21st century.
GOING GLOBAL
Armoza Formats announced the acquisition of new Swedish scripted comedy Sunday League. Produced by Anagram, the series is set to air soon on Sweden’s TV3.
UK’s Icon Films has been commissioned by Channel 4 to produce a third season of observational documentary Animal Airport for More 4. Previously produced for Discovery Networks International by Icon Films, the series follows the surreal challenges faced on a daily basis by the staff at Heathrow’s Animal Reception Centre.
