|
PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
A meteorologist dark comedy from Steve Yockey (“The Flight Attendant) is in development at Fox. “Cindy Snow” follows a popular weather reporter whose life takes some bizarre twists and turns after she has a freak injury at work. Yockey will write, exec produce and serve as showrunner for the project, which is produced by Warner Bros Television and Fox Entertainment.
Peacock handed a straight-to-series order to “Apples Never Fall,” a limited series based on Liane Moriarty’s (“Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers”) upcoming novel. Melanie Marnich (“The OA”) is onboard to write the adaptation for the show, which follows the Delaney family, who from the outside appear to have everything but whose four adult children are forced to take a new look at their parents’ marriage when their mother disappears.
BritBox North America will produce a trio of Agatha Christie adaptations, a clue to the streamer’s success as it plans to double its output on co-productions and originals. BritBox chief Emily Powers revealed the news at yesterday’s TCA event, where she said the company struck a deal with Agatha Christie Limited and Mammoth Screen that will see three as-yet-unannounced shows, each helmed by a different director, debuting over the coming years. Endeavor Content will handle international sales outside of the UK, Ireland and the Americas for all three projects. BritBox is also co-producing ITV’s “The Confessions of Frannie Langton,” and acquired ITV’s “The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe” and BBC One’s “The Responder,” both of which will be badged BritBox Originals. Separate from the Christie trio, Hugh Laurie is adapting the mystery author’s “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” for BritBox, with a spring debut planned.
“Futurama” fans, rejoice. The cult-favorite series is being revived for another season on Hulu, with at least most of the OG voice cast. After months of negotiations, the streamer sealed the deal for 20 new eps of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s animated sci-fi comedy for a 2023 premiere.
Yara Shahidi (“Black-ish,” “Grown-ish”) will exec-produce and star in Amazon Studios feature “Sitting in Bars With Cake.” Based on the blog and true-story book of the same name by Audrey Shulman, the film follows a shy young woman whose life takes unexpected turns after she seems to uncover the secret to finding love and commits to a year of bringing baked goods to bars.
Netflix emerged victorious after a heated bidding war for rights to adapt the short story “Backwards” into a feature film. Shawn Levy (“Free Guy”) is onboard to direct, and he and Dan Cohen will produce the movie—about a dying father who opts to extend his life by going through an anti-aging process in exchange for becoming caretaker for his estranged daughter—for 21 Laps. Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell will produce for Safehouse.
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network started production for season 3 of courtroom drama “All Rise,” slated to debut in June. The upcoming season welcomes back its ensemble case plus two new recurring cast members: Roger Guenveur Smith (“Do the Right Thing”) and Christian Keyes (“All the Queen’s Men”).
Maggie Mull, co-creator of Hulu’s upcoming comedy series “Maggie,” inked a multiyear overall deal with Twentieth Television. Under terms, Mull will continue as exec producer and writer on “Maggie,” produced by Twentieth Television, create new series and supervise other writers’ comedies for all platforms for Twentieth TV, a part of Disney Television Studios.
Michael Dorman-fronted drama series “Joe Pickett” is returning for a second season on Spectrum. Spectrum Originals renewed the show about a game warden and his family who navigate the shifting sociopolitical climate of a rural town, which it says is Spectrum’s most-watched series ever. An audience of more than 1 million households tuned in for season 1. The series, produced by Paramount Television Studios, will also launch on Paramount+ at a later date.
Production is under way at Showtime on “I Love That For You,” a half-hour comedy series starring and exec-produced by Vanessa Bayer and featuring Molly Shannon and Jenifer Lewis. The eight-ep series is inspired by Bayer’s own story of overcoming childhood leukemia and is co-created and exec-produced by Bayer and Jeremy Beiler. Jessi Klein serves as showrunner and exec producer along with Michael Showalter.
Macro Television Studios enlisted “Bad Boys For Life” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to direct the pilot of its new drama “Cordoba.” The duo also will serve as exec producers of the series, which is currently in search of a network or streamer home. “Cordoba” follows a soldier in the Moorish army who rises to conquer medieval Spain and faces painstaking decisions after he creates one of the most advanced societies in the world at the time.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
“American Idol” will pick back up the mic at ABC on Sunday, February 27 at 8p. The series returns for its fifth season on the network, and 20th season overall, with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie in tow. This season the series touches down in Nashville, Austin and LA.
Love is in the air at discovery+. The streamer is debuting two reality dating shows this month. “The Cabins,” which debuts Saturday, February 12, brings together couples for an extended first date in luxurious log cabins where, after 24 hours, they’ll decide whether to stay another night. The series follows “Secret Crush,” which launched last night (February 9) and gives in-love singletons the chance to confess their true feelings to the object of their affection.
Pamela Adlon’s series “Better Things” is headed into its fifth and final season, and FX unveiled a trailer for the show, which returns Monday, February 28 at 10p and also will stream on Hulu. The final run will see each of the Fox women—Aldon’s alter ego Sam Fox and her three daughters—re-evaluating their lives and finding their own direction—as hinted at in a new trailer.
HBO dropped a trailer for the eight-ep, third season of “My Brilliant Friend.” The new iteration, “My Brilliant Friend: Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay,” is based on the third book in Elena Ferrante’s quadrilogy and debuts Monday, February 28 at 10p.
Starz dropped the trailer for “Shining Vale,” its horror comedy mashup starring Courteney Cox, Greg Kinnear and Mira Sorvino. The series, described as part family dramedy and part classic horror homage, centers on a couple who move their family to a new town for a fresh start after one of them has an affair. As it happens, their new home is the sight of multiple past murders, and the wife begins to see the ghost of the murderer, a ‘50s housewife whom no one else can see. “Shining Vale” premieres with two eps Sunday, March 6 at 10:20p.
Also hitting the court March 6, at 9p, is HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” The 10-part series highlights the professional and personal lives of the ‘80s LA Lakers, basketball team, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties.
Tuesday, April 19 is the return date for the fourth go-round for “Mayans M.C.” on FX. The new season, which debuts at 10p, continues to dig down into s the life of Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo), a member of the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border.
R&B artist Bobby Brown is the center of two upcoming projects from A&E which the network teased at the Television Critics Assn. Documentary “Biography: Bobby Brown,” a two-night event, will air Monday, May 30 and Tuesday, May 31 at 8p. New series “Bobby Brown Every Little Step,” which provides an intimate look at the Grammy winner’s past, present and future, debuts Tuesday, May 31 at 10p, with subsequent new eps airing Tuesdays at 9p.
COMING UP
PBS’ “Independent Lens” will spotlight documentary “Bulletproof” on Monday, February 14 at 10p. Airing on the three-year anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, the doc takes a provocative look at fear, violence and what it means to be safe in the classroom in the age of mass shootings.
Wall Street legend Carl Icahn is the subject of HBO Documentary Films’ new “Icahn: The Restless Billionaire,” slated to air Tuesday, February 15. The network released a trailer for the special, which examines the life of the trailblazer who famously identified public companies he thought were undervalued, purchased their stock and proceeded to shake things up.
“Destination Fear” fans will finally get the chance to witness the beginning and experience the maiden road trip that kickstarted it all with “Destination Fear” Trail To Terror.” The two-hour documentary, directed and hosted by Dakota Laden, debuts on Discovery+ on Thursday, February 24.
Steven Spielberg’s newly Oscar-nominated film “West Side Story” heads to the small screen on Disney+ on Wednesday, March 2. The debut is preceded by ABC one-hour special “Something’s Coming: West Side Story – A Special Edition of 20/20,” available now on the streamer.
“The Weekend Away,” the Leighton Meester-starring thriller about a the efforts of a woman who’s accused of killing her best friend during a weekend trip to uncover the truth, debuts on Netflix Thursday, March 3.
Taylor Tomlinson is returning to Netflix with her second comedy series, “Look At You.” Set to premiere Tuesday, March 8, the special was filmed at the Wilbur Theater in Boston in December 2021 and features Tomlinson sharing an intimate, comical look at her struggles with mental health, grief and dating.
The History Channel set a Memorial Day premiere date for its fourth Presidential miniseries, “Theodore Roosevelt.” Exec-produced by Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin and based on her book “Leadership: In Turbulent Times,” Appian Way’s Jennifer Davisson and Leonardo DiCaprio and RadicalMedia, the two-night special will air Monday, May 30 and Tuesday, May 31 at 8p. A trailer is out now.
STREAMING
Streaming hours for Tubi skyrocketed 40 percent in 2021 from the prior year, to hit 3.6 billion hours streamed. This from an annual report from the Fox Corp. streamer, which also noted AVOD viewing is poised to overtake SVOD this year as viewing continues to migrate from the subscription to free, ad-supported model. Fox execs shared the news during yesterday’s Q2 earnings call, where Fox reported a 9 percent overall jump in revenue during the quarter. Tubi’s library now comprises 41,000 film and TV titles; its SVOD audiences grew by 8 percent in 2021, while AVOD increased by 16 percent.
Over at Disney, flagship streamingservice Disney+ reached 129.8 million subs during the company’s first fiscal quarter, which helped the company beat Wall Street expectations. The current subscriber tally is 11.8 more than at the end of the previous quarter and ahead of analysts’ predicted 125.4 million. Revenue at the parent company climbed 34 percent to $21.8 billion.
StackTV, Corus Entertainment’s multichannel streaming service, is expanding distribution with carriage on Canada’s Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite Smartstream. The service is also adding Lifetime to its suite of networks.
While big streamers invest billions annually in new content, super-aggregators like Struum, JustWatch, and Reelgood are not investing in content, but helping mid and small streaming services find audiences. Lauren Devillier, CEO And Co-Founder of Struum, focuses on the next trend in streaming, in Cynsiders.
TECH TALK
Podcaster Joe Rogan is taking a passon exiting his Spotify deal. He told an audience member at a stand-up performance in Austin, TX, he will not be bringing his popular, and highly controversial, “The Joe Rogan Experience” to Rumble, a video platform that targets right-wing personalities and had offered Rogan $100 million to make the switch.
Entertainment Weekly is among the publications that will cease appearing in print form. Parent Dotdash Meredith is also ending monthly print publications for InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Espanol. The publications went all-digital effective yesterday.
Short-form video app Rizzle will premiere the first four episodes of its original series “Is This a Bit?” on Friday, February 11. Created by comedian/writer Abby Govindan, the series provides an inside look at Govindan’s creative process that transforms comical concepts into viral moments.
Moonbug Entertainment acquired Little Angel, among the fastest-growing kids YouTube channels with nearly 100 million subscribers. The acquisition is Moonbug’s first since it became a part of Candle Media. The company’s portfolio alrady includes shows “CoComelon” and “Blippi,” among others.
CASTING
At Netflix, Zack Snyder is rounding out the cast for his next film, “Rebel Moon,” with the addition of Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Ray Fisher and Doona Bae… Anthony Ramos (“In the Heights”) is entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a key role in Marvel’s “Ironheart” series for Disney+… Adrien Brody is joining the cast of Apple Original Films’ Chris Evans-starring film “Ghosted.”
GOING GLOBAL
James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, the former CEO of Star India and president of Walt Disney Asia Pacific, are making moves in the Southeast Asia market. The two formed Bodhi Tree, a company that will invest in media and technology opportunities in the region and is backed by the Qatar Investment Authority with a commitment of up to $1.5 billion.
Discovery and Aussie network Foxtel struck a multiyear partnership that will see thousands of hours of content from TLC, Investigation Discovery, Discovery Turbo and Animal Planet headed to Foxtel.
|
