Richard Hammond, host of The Grand Tour and former Top Gear star, will explore the world’s biggest structures and machines for Discovery and the Science Channel in the US in 10-episode series Richard Hammond’s Big!, produced by his indie Chimp Productions. Victoria Noble is senior director and executive producer; Oliver Wilson is exec producer. Series is slated to air on Discovery Channel in the UK, Netherlands and France; Science Channel in the US and additional channels across EMEA.
Time is running out to nominate your colleagues and company for the Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards. Get your nominations in before the late deadline midnight tonight. Nominate now.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Launching this week on Facebook Watch, Authentic Entertainment and Complex Networks’ nine-ep series Sydel Takes On – featuring the sister of NBA stars Stephen and Seth Curry – delves into the world of fellow younger siblings and family members of such famous household names as Issa Rae, Chance The Rapper and Alicia Keys.
Activision Blizzard, A+E Networks, Crown Media, NBCUniversal, United Esports and Viacom are just a few of the companies looking for new talent. Make sure to review the current openings below and on our handy jobs site.
NESN will debut its 18-part series My Story, presented by BuyaToyota.com and Sullivan Tire, on Saturday, April 27 at 8p following Red Sox post-game coverage. Series chronicles various Red Sox players’ journeys to the big leagues, from their youth baseball beginnings to the people, places and events that had the biggest influence on them.
Ava DuVernay is joining host Ben Mankiewicz for the new season of The Essentials, Turner Classic Movies’ franchise showcasing “must see” classic films. The two will introduce a hand-picked film each week and offer commentary on its cultural significance, its influence, behind-the-scenes stories and personal reflections when the new season bows Saturday, May 4 at 8p.
It’s order up at A&E Network, which will premiere the 10th and final season of Wahlburgers on Wednesday, May 15 at 9p. Final season will continue to chronicle the lives of Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg as they balance family and their business, which started with one location in Hingham, MA, and expanded to more than 30 restaurants.
MTV’s How Far Is Tattoo Far? is ready for more ink in its second season, debuting Thursday, May 23 at 9p with back-to-back episodes. Hosted by Nico Tortorella and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the series follows blindfolded duos as they learn the unexpected reasoning and outrageous stories behind the tattoo designs and unveils the aftermath of the shocking reveal.
Starz released the official season 2 key art of Vida, which premieres Sunday, May 26 at 9p. Second season finds Lyn and Emma beginning the monumental task of rebuilding their mother’s business while navigating financial constraints, competing developers and growing anti-gentrification.
TNT dropped a new, extended trailer for drama Animal Kingdom, which returns for season 4 Tuesday, May 28 at 9p.
The Chattering Order of St. Beryl, an ensemble of professional a cappella-singing satanic nuns who generated some significant buzz at this year’s SXSW, released a music video featuring Good Omens co-author/showrunner Neil Gaiman as part of the official marketing campaign ahead of the May 31 premiere of the Amazon series Good Omens.
Oxygen Media probes another murder case in the new limited series Death At The Mansion: Rebecca Zahau, premiering Saturday, June 1 at 6p. Zahau was found dead, hanging naked, bound and gagged, in the courtyard of her billionaire boyfriend’s Coronado mansion in 2011, just two days after his six-year-old son suffered a fatal accident while under Rebecca’s care.
Unusual objects, strange phenomena, mind-boggling feats and more are explored in Travel Channel’s reboot of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, premiering Sunday, June 9 at 9p. The 10-ep, hour-long series is hosted and exec-produced by actor Bruce Campbell.
Summer’s heating up at Lifetime, which announced a slew of series premiere and return dates. New Dance Moms returns with a three-hour debut June 4 at 8p that looks at Abby’s struggles while undergoing chemotherapy and keeping the Abby Lee Dance Company alive and showcases the newest kids of the ALDC; new series Ms. T’s Music Factory, starring former recording artist Temmora Levy and her quest to find budding stars, debuts Thursday, June 6 at 10p; Cheerleader Generation, another newcomer, drops Tuesday, June 11 at 10p, followed by the season 9 debut of Married at First Sight, this year originating in Charlotte, NC, Wednesday, June 12 at 9p.
COMING UP
Four Sharks – Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Matt Higgins and Rohan Oza – from ABC’s entrepreneurial reality show Shark Tank will play Who Wants To Be A Millionaire opposite host Chris Harrison, during the network’s “Shark Tank Week,” May 6-May 10.
Dan Rather will sit down with Cyndi Lauper in a new episode of The Big Interview, airing Tuesday, April 30 at 8p.
Apollo 11, director/producer Todd Douglas Miller’s feature doc capturing the days and hours of the first landing on the moon, will have its TV premiere Sunday, June 23, at 9p and 11p on CNN, with encore presentations June 29 and July 20.
DIGITAL DATA
In a move to connect dots among its film and TV programming and the gaming universe, Universal Games and Digital Platforms, in collaboration with Endless Entertainment, launched Series: Your Story Universe, a mobile game and platform through which players engage with original content inspired by NBCU’s portfolio of properties. Vanderpump Rules, Saved by the Bell, Law & Order, The Breakfast Club, Bridesmaids, Sixteen Candles and Xena: Warrior Princess are among the titles being mined. Series also will launch original stories and characters, beginning with Legacy & Love, which centers on a rags-to-riches tale. Game is free to download now on the App Store and Google Play, with in-app purchases.
Comcast’s management team steered clear of offering specifics on the company’s impending streaming service, but they mused on the general market during their Q1 earnings call. “Video over the internet is more friend than foe,” CEO Brian Roberts said. “We wish every bit was our bit but as people consume more bits… that’s in the sweet spot of where this company is going to grow.” Added NCU CEO Steve Burke, “We actually think it’s very, very early innings and in some ways reminiscent of cable in the ‘70s or ‘80s. We think there will be a lot of entrants and a lot of companies will try to enter with their own unique strengths, leveraging their own unique assets. You’re starting to see that.”
The Shade Room, which has 15 million-plus Instagram followers, is launching a slate of original programming set to debut later this year on the Gram. Series include a courtroom show Petty Court; Struggle Chef, a cooking competition featuring celebrity guests including Ray J, Joseline Hernandez (Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta) and Tami Roman (Basketball Wives); and an investigative look into guys known as “F-boys.” The Shade Room was founded by Angelica Nwandu; all new shows are produced by the two-woman team of showrunner Tarvenia “T” Jones and producer Judith Nwandu. Angelica Nwandu will serve as exec producer on the three series.
Viacom networks BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1 will launch Tuesday, April 30 as part of fuboTV’s base “fubo” package of 85-plus channels. An expanded suite of Viacom channels will also be available in other fuboTV packages and add-ons.
Netflix snagged worldwide rights to Circus of Books, Rachel Mason’s doc chronicling her childhood next to the iconic West Hollywood gay porn book store run by her parents. The film will world-premiere today (April 26) at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Streaming documentary service MagellanTV launched with 2,000-plus factual titles curated in sections including history, biography, space and crime and mystery. Created by Alliant Content and available via Apple iOS, Google Play, Roku and Fire TV, the service offers monthly, quarterly or annual payment plans that start at $4.99/month.
TECH TALK
Fitness tracking app Google Fit, redesigned on Android last year, launched for iOS and enables an integration with Apple Health-compatible apps including Nike Run Club, Sleep Cycle, and Headspace.
According to new Pew Research data, 10 percent of Twitter users are responsible for 80 percent of all tweets created by US adults. The median user in this group tweets 138 times per month. By contrast, the median user in the other 90 percent creates two tweets per month… In other Twitter news, the platform is adding a dedicated reporting option for content aimed at misleading voters. The new addition will bow in India and the European Union.
Amazon’s 1Q19 results beat Wall Street estimates, with $3.6 billion in net income marking a quarterly record. Sales increased 17%, with the AWS cloud division revenue up 41%.
Cox Cable began testing a new Elite Gamer Service, aimed at speeding up connections between gamers and games, in Arizona this week. The service “automatically finds a faster path for your PC game data, reducing the lag, ping spikes, and jitter that stand in the way of winning,” said the service’s web site, also noting that users will experience up to 34% less lag, 55% fewer ping spikes, and 45% less jitter than regular Cox internet users.
KIDS NEWS
New episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood are headed to PBS Kids Monday, May 20-Wednesday, May 22. New stories will address relatable preschool experiences including being sad when a parent has to travel for work and worrying about doing something new.
French animation studio Xilam Animation is rebooting its property Oggy and the Cockroaches via a preschool comedy series, Oggy Oggy. Series, which follows the adventures of an enthusiastic kitten, marks Xilam’s first CGI animated series; the studio will start production next summer with a 2020 launch being eyed.
New guidelines from the World Health Organization advise against exposing children age 1 and below to screens in any capacity, and recommend no sedentary screen time for kids under 2. For children ages 2-4, “sedentary screen time should be no more than 1 hour; less is better,” the organization advises.
CASTING
Bechir Sylvain (Grace and Frankie, Chicago P.D.) landed a recurring role on the upcoming third season of TNT’s Claws… Meg Steedle (Code Black, I’m Dying Up Here) will recur on the upcoming third season of AT&T Audience Network’s Mr. Mercedes… Amber Midthunder, who recurred in season 1 of the CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, landed a series regular slot on the second season… Abraham Rodriguez (Power Rangers Beast Morphers) will guest as the Gold Ranger in this week’s ep “The Cybergate Opens” on April 27 on Nickelodeon.
