PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Showtime ordered 12 episodes of City on a Hill, starring Kevin Bacon (The Following) and Aldis Hodge (Underground). Created by Chuck MacLean (Boston Strangler) and based on an original idea by Ben Affleck, the series exploring the criminal justice system premieres in 2019.
A documentary series about gifted and controversial Argentinean soccer player Maradona was commissioned by Amazon. Project from BTF Media, the Miami and Spain-based production company founded by Mexico’s Francisco Cordero and Ricardo Coeto, looks back on Maradona’s early life and prolific career.
Amazon also landed The Hunt, a Nazi-hunting series, handing it a 10-episode straight-to-series order, according to Deadline. Project is executive produced by Get Out writer/director Jordan Peele and produced by his Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment.
Acorn Media Enterprises partnered with RTE and Treasure Entertainment on Finding Joy. Created, starring and written by Amy Huberman (Striking Out, The Clinic), the six-part comedy follows a single woman who looks for happiness in all the wrong places. Series will make its North American premiere on Acorn TV in late 2018.
A second season of Big City Greens was ordered ahead of its series premiere on Monday, June 18 by Disney Channel. Animated comedy centers on a mischievous and optimistic country boy who moves to the big city with his wildly out of place family.
AT THE UPFRONTS
The CW celebrated its expansion to Sunday nights during its New York City Center Upfront yesterday morning. Supergirl will anchor the night at 8p, followed by a rebooted version of Charmed at 9p.
Among the network’s new series are dramas All American, which centers on a real-life high school football star from South Los Angeles, and Legacies, set in the world of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.
Midseason dramas include Roswell, New Mexico, a new version of Roswell, which takes place at the ground zero location for those who seek proof that aliens exist. In the Dark centers on a disaffected, hard-drinking 20something with a penchant for cigarettes and casual sex, who is also blind.
Three series are coming to a close at the network. Jane the Virgin will end after its upcoming fifth season, while Crazy Ex-Girlfriend wraps following its upcoming fourth. In addition, the net revealed that the upcoming fifth season of iZombie will be its last.
Supernatural spinoff Wayward Sisters won’t be moving forward. In a phone call with press before the Upfronts presentation CW chief Mark Pedowitz said, “We are big fans of the characters and the women who played the characters in the series, but we did not feel creatively the show is where we wanted it to be.”
COMING UP
NBC will honor The King with The 50th Anniversary of the Elvis Comeback Special, slated to air in 2019. The tribute will take a look back at the net’s 1968 special that put Elvis Presley back on the map. During the two-hour event, music superstars will recreate performances of Presley’s greatest songs.
The Paley Center for Media announced two events as part of its PaleyLive Spring 2018 season. Creating Great Characters: Dick Wolf & Mariska Hargitay in Conversation will be held on Monday, June 4, and An Evening with Dear White People will take place on Tuesday, June 5.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Becca Kufrin begins her search for “The One,” when ABC’s The Bachelorette premieres on Monday, May 28 at 8p. Celebrity appearances slated for the season include Fred Willard, Wayne Newton, former NFL star Keyshawn Johnson, rapper Lil Jon, Australian country star Morgan Evans and The Baha Men.
Questionable courtroom convictions are delved into when Reasonable Doubt returns to Investigation Discovery on Wednesday, June 13 at 10p.
Oxygen Media debuts original series Buried in the Backyard, which explores true crime stories of victims buried in the most unsuspected places, on Sunday, June 3 at 7p. A Wedding and a Murder, examining engagements, weddings and honeymoons that turned deadly, immediately follows at 8p. The Price of Duty, featuring detectives recounting cases that changed their lives, premieres on Saturday, June 9 at 6p.
Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger bows with a two-hour event on Thursday, June 7 at 8p on ABC. Series is based on the beloved comic characters.
HBO announced summer premiere dates for two series. Season 4 of Dwayne Johnson’s Ballers returns on Sunday, August 12 at 10p, followed by the third season debut of Issa Rae’s Insecure at 10:30p.
CASTING
The X-Files’ Gillian Anderson was tapped to star as a sex therapist in Netflix’s Sex Education. Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game) has also boarded the original series…. Charlotte Hope (Game of Thrones) landed the lead role in Starz’s The Spanish Princess, the third installment following The White Princess and The White Queen.
KID STUFF
Clifford The Big Red Dog is getting a reboot. The Scholastic Entertainment produced series will launch on Amazon Prime Video and PBS KIDS in fall 2019.
People announced new weekly podcast series Cover-Up, which investigates Senator Ted Kennedy’s tragic car accident on Chappaquiddick. Show premieres Thursday, May 31 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and wherever podcasts are available.
FuboTV continues adding local stations, with 8 more now live, giving the live streaming TV service for sport fans a total of 284. Included are stations owned and operated by or affiliated with CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW and Telemundo.
Quiddity, a first-of-its-kind, video-based review and lifestyle site that celebrates shopping, was launched by ad agency Figliulo&Partners on Thursday. The multimedia platform features buyers’ guides, researched product pages and original aspirational articles and video series to inspire and inform and audience of urban millennials.
GOING GLOBAL
Globo licensed limited series The Formula and Doomed and telenovela Rising Sun to the MBC Group. The programs will air in Middle Eastern and North African countries.
