PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
CBS gave a series pickup to The World’s Best, placing the network in the ring of talent competitions. Series is from Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, the duo s behind The Voice and American Idol.
Kat Coiro will direct Daddy Issues, the Fox comedy pilot from 20th Century Fox TV, and actress/writer Erin Foster and New Girl creator Liz Meriwether.
Bryan Fuller is out over creative differences as showrunner of Apple’s upcoming reboot of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. Fuller had been onboard with the project since it initially was at NBC two years ago.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
On February 18, TV One will premiere new series, Uncensored, which gives viewers a behind the scenes look at the lives of influential comedians, musicians, actors and moguls. Series will premiere with Tiffany Haddish, with future eps covering Snoop Dogg, Ne Ne Leakes, Rick Ross and others.
It’s truck vs. terrain, as 50 truck owners from across the U.S. compete in challenges that test their ingenuity and driving ability in History’s new 10-ep competition series Truck Night in America, premiering Thursday, March 8 at 10p.
Home renovators Bristol and Aubrey Marunde return to tackle more house flips, dilapidated properties and major design overhauls in season 2 of HGTV’s Flip or Flop Vegas, which debuts Thursday, March 15, at 9p.
Teyana & Iman, an eight-episode series that provides a peak into newlyweds Teyana Taylor, a singer, model and actress, and Iman Shumpert, a pro athlete and musician, debuts Monday, March 26 at 9p.
In a first for the brand, MTV will debut Jersey Shore Family Vacation day and date across MTV channels in nearly 180 countries across the globe. Series features original housemates Deena Nicole Cortese, Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio, Jenni “JWOWW” Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, who reunite in Miami for the vacation of a lifetime. In the US, it will premiere Thursday, April 5 at 8p.
Imposters returns to Bravo for a second season on Thursday, April 5 at 10p. The net is preceding the season 2 premiere with a marathon of season 1 on Monday, February 19 from 8a-6p. Uma Thurman will be back for round two.
Robot-fighting series BattleBots will return with new eps set to premiere this spring on Discovery Channel and Science Channel. BattleBots features next-generation robots from around the world as they duke it out for supremacy in the rapidly exploding world of Robot Combat Sports.
COMING UP
Cozi TV will air a 13-hour tribute to late actor John Mahoney on Saturday, February 10 beginning at 9a, with a “Frasier-Best of Martin” marathon.
A&E has two specials on tap this month: Warren Jeffs: Prophet of Evil, about the self-proclaimed religious prophet now imprisoned for child sexual assault, bows February 19. Jonestown: The Women Behind the Massacre premieres February 26.
This Valentine’s Day, Syfy will help superfans celebrate their love with the return of the Geek Love Chapel, which will stream in real time starting at 2p via Facebook Live on the Syfy page as genre-obsessed couples cosplay down the aisle to tie the knot or renew their vows. The event is hosted by actor Orlando Jones (American Gods), who officiated the event live last year at CCSD. “Officiating at Syfy’s Geek Love Chapel at San Diego Comic-Con last summer was an incredible experience, so I jumped at the opportunity to re-open the chapel for Valentine’s Day,” Jones tells Cynopsis. “I’m a fangirl at heart. I love all the squees and all the feels. The opportunity to be a part of this very special moment in a couple’s life is not lost on me. I’m a fan first and fans love without borders or boundaries. Let love rule.”
Crackle’s new film In the Cloud starts streaming today. The sci-fi thriller takes place in the near future, following 2 estranged tech geniuses who, brought together by the mysterious death of their mentor, inadvertently create an AI so powerful it may change the very meaning of life and death for the future of humanity.
Beginning Sunday, February 11, INSP will celebrate famous guest stars of Gunsmoke with a star-studded marathon.
OLYMPIC FEVER
With the 2018 Pyeongchang Games happening a mere 50 miles from the Demilitarized Zone, Nat Geo is headed to the Olympics to delve into North Korea’s saga of global tensions and politicking, viewed through its controversial Olympic legacy. A special Bob Woodruff-hosted Inside North Korea: Live from the Games airs Sunday, February 11 at 9p, combining live, pre-taped and archival footage with insights from leading dignitaries and experts.
fuboTV, in agreement with NBCUniversal, announced a multiplatform content offering for NBCU’s coverage of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. Coverage will begin today (February 8) and run through Sunday, February 25. Subscribers to the fuboTV live streaming TV service will have access to NBCU’s 2,400 hours of Olympic programming, including coverage of all competition sessions, on-demand. fuboTV also launched a new feature, updating its Sports navigation bar to include a break-down of Olympic programming, sorted by sport, in order to help viewers find specific live events more easily.
DIGITAL DATA
Revelations of Waco, a series of six mini documentaries produced by Emergent Order, is streaming on ParamountNetwork.com as a topical complement to Paramount’s current TV miniseries, Waco, starring Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the siege of the Branch Davidians’ religious sect compound in Waco, TX.
Food Network going bite-sized, bringing cooking clips, recipe roundups and additional content to users’ fingertips with the launch of a “Stories” feature for its In the Kitchen app. The Stories, available for iPhone and iPad, are the latest evolution for the 70,000-recipe In the Kitchen, which during the past year has introduced more interactive video functions, augmented reality features and an iMessage extension.
SVOD service Brown Sugar, which is operated by TV net Bounce and houses movies aimed at African-American audiences, is adding exclusive original content beginning this month. The service’s first exclusive original will be documentary Am I Black Enough?, available for streaming Monday, February 12, timed to coincide with Black History Month.
First Look Media’s entertainment studio Topic Studios acquired exclusive streaming rights for Oscar-nominated documentary short Edith+Eddie for its digital storytelling site Topic.com.
Vibrant TV is expanding distribution with a new deal with FlixOn TV, an OTT service making its US debut this month. Vibrant TV is currently available via Sling TV, Roku TV, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, among other services.
The season 2 finale of Amazon Prime Video’s The Grand Tour drops February 16. The ep is titled “Feed the World” and features an attempt to end world hunger by the protagonists’ gleaning inspiration from a journey across Mozambique.
KIDS NEWS
Book it: The Jim Henson Co. optioned classic children’s book properties Harriet the Spy, from author Louise Fitzhugh, and The Kissing Hand, penned by Audrey Penn, for development as TV series in partnership with Rehab Entertainment and 2 Friends Entertainment. Both properties have been shepherded by Rehab Entertainment’s John Hyde and Terissa Kelton, and 2 Friends Entertainment’s Wendy Moss-Klein and Nancy Steingard, alongside Henson’s Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford.
Casting is under way for a live-action Kim Possible movie for the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise. The movie is ramping up 16 years after Kim—a typical high school girl who, in her spare time, saves the world from evil villains—debuted in an animated series hit for the network that spawned two animated movies. Original team Mark McCorkle and Robert Schooley (Kim Possible, Big Hero 6: The Series, The Penguins of Madagascar), and Josh Cagan (The Duff, Bandslam) are helming the new movie.
Nickelodeon is showing its SpongeBob SquarePants love with “I Love SpongeBob” Week, beginning Monday, February 12. The net will showcase fans’ love for SpongeBob with talent including Nick Cannon, JoJo Siwa, Fall Out Boy and real kids sharing their favorite series moments. Fan-fave episodes will marathon daily from 4p-6p, with new eps premiering each night at 6p through Friday, February 16.
Big Bad Boo is starting production on new series The Bravest Knight, based on the digital storybook The Bravest Knight That Ever Lived by author Daniel Errico. The first, 13-episode season will debut on Hulu later this year while the original storybook is a narrated short currently streaming exclusively on Hulu. Both the short, as well as the new series, are first-of-its-kind projects in children’s programming to feature a hero that is an LGBTQ character.
CASTING
Eric Winter (Rosewood, Secrets & Lies) and Afton Williamson (The Night Of, The Breaks) will co-star opposite Nathan Fillion in crime drama The Rookie, for ABC.
Allison Dunbar (Quick Draw) got a recurring role on the third season of Sony’s Crackle series StartUp.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The Great Canadian Baking Show will return for season 2 on CBC as the public broadcaster kicks off a countrywide search for Canada’s best amateur bakers. Based on the hit British format and produced by Proper Television, the second round begins production in Toronto this summer.
