A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM SCRIPPS NETWORKS

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Today’s Premieres
Discovery+: The Book of Queer
AMC+: This Is Going To Hurt

Today’s Finales
WEtv: Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars at 9p

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM THE STACK

THE FASTEST GROWING GROUP OF
OTA TV NETWORKS
COMET TV
CHARGE!
TBD.
Extend your reach with the
– THE STACK –
familiar TV franchises – blockbuster movies

Contact Joe Dugan [email protected]

IN THE NEWS

More executive shuffling at Warner Bros. Discovery. Toby Emmerich is exiting as the head of Warner Bros. motion picture studio, and will be launching his own production company at the studio. He’ll be replaced by Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who recently exited the helm of MGM.

The Television Academy is eliminating the Hanging Episode Rule beginning with the 2023 Emmy competition. The rule allows a series, including limited and anthology series, which premieres current-season episodes after the May 31 eligibility deadline but prior to the start of nomination-round voting, to post those eps on a platform where Academy members can view them by May 31 for episode eligibility. Beginning with the next eligibility year, only eps that premiere on a platform available to a national audience by May 31 will be Emmy-eligible.

Sheryl Sandberg is headed for the door at Meta Platforms. Sandberg is departing as COO at the company formerly known as Facebook and will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of the company, which of late has been weathering tumultuous times. Meta’s chief growth officer, Javier Olivan, will take over as COO after a transition period. Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008 as founder Mark Zuckerberg’s No. 2 in the line of command.

Melissa McCarthy, Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Kevin Bacon, H.E.R., Ethan Hawke, Jon Stewart, Hasan Minhaj, Riz Ahmed, LeVar Burton, Jenny Slate, Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Scott are among presenters for the 82nd annual Peabody Awards. The 30 winners will be announced on the Peabody Awards’ social media channels for four days, June 6-June 9, between noon and 1:30p each day.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

FX greenlit comedy pilot “English Teacher,” which follows a gay high school English teacher and his peers at a school in Austin, TX, as they try to balance the demands of the students and their parents in a world where the rules seem to change daily. Series is from exec producers Brian Jordan Alvarez (“Will & Grace”) and Paul Simms (“What We Do in the Shadows”); Alvarez will also write and star in the pilot.

Apple TV+ ordered two additional seasons of Gary Oldman-starring espionage series “Slow Horses.” Seasons 3 and 4 will be adapted from the next two novels in the Mick Herron spy series “Slough House.” The darkly comedic drama follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who’ve been relegated to a dumping ground department of MI5 led by the brilliant but irascible Jackson Lamb. Season 2 of the series is set to premiere later this year.

“Our Flag Means Death” got a second season pickup at HBO Max. The comedy series, from creator/showrunner David Jenkins, exec producer and star Taika Waititi and exec producer Garrett Basch, is very loosely based on the true adventures of 18th century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet, who traded in the life of a gentleman for one of a swashbuckling buccaneer as captain of the pirate ship Revenge.

Hearst Media Production Group and Curiosity are partnering on an original unscripted program that will premiere later this year on Curiosity’s flagship streaming service Curiosity Stream. “Oddly Satisfying Science” is a 10-ep series that features STEM-focused social influencers and is hosted by Nick Uhas, an accomplished chemist whose TV credits include“Big Brother.”

Taylor Zakhar Perez (“The Kissing Booth” franchise) and Nicholas Galitzine (“Cinderella”) will topline Amazon Prime Video’s romantic comedy “Red, White & Royal Blue,” based on Casey McQuiston’s novel of the same name. Playwright Matthew Lopez will direct the film, about a Mexican-American who, upon his mother’s election as President, is cast as the American equivalent of a young royal before an army of handlers are called in to do damage control when US-British relations head downhill after tabloids print a photo of his altercation with his royal counterpart nemesis across the pond.

On the heels of its season 3 premiere on Acorn TV, Danish crime series “The Sommerdahl Murders” has been renewed for a fourth season on the streamer. Based on Anna Grue’s book franchise, the Nordic drama is a co-production between Dynamic Television, ZDF, ndF, Sequoia Global Alliance and Danish broadcaster TV2. Season 4 began production this May and is expected to premiere in March 2023.

PRIDE MONTH PROGRAMMING

Showtime is kicking off its Pride campaign with “Queer To Stay,” which expands the QTS small business preservation initiative with $250,000 in grants in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign. The network is also offering 50-plus hours of LGBTQ+-focused content—including episodes from “The L Word, “The L Word: Generation Q” and “Queer as Folk”—for free sampling. In celebration of queer artists, Showtime also recruited singer/songwriter Vincint for a new single, “Believer,” released exclusively for the net’s Pride 2022 and Queer To Stay.

Disney+ released the trailer for the upcoming “Trevor: The Musical,” a film version of the off-Broadway production that follows a 13-year-old force of nature struggling to navigate his own identity and determine how he fits in a challenging world. Produced by RadicalMedia, the musical and film are based on the 1995 Academy Award-winning short film “Trevor,” which ultimately inspired the founding of LGBTQ youth suicide prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project. “Trevor: The Musical” debuts on the streamer Friday, June 24.

Comcast is helping its customers find LGBTQ+ programming across its platforms including Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex and XClass TV. The year-round LGBTQ+ Film & TV destination is at the forefront of navigation devices and includes a new collection titled “Can’t be erased: an abridged history of LGBTQ+ representation” that comprises 36 entertainment milestones related to LGBTQ+ in entertainment.

NEW + RETURNING SERIES

Drag star Trixie Mattel is expanding her empire into the hospitality industry in her new Discovery+ series “Trixie Motel,” which begins streaming Friday, June 3. Eight-ep series follows Trixie and her team as they tackle the massive overhaul of a ramshackle mid-century motel in Palm Springs, with help from guests including Lisa Vanderpump, Zooey Deschanel, Jonathan Scott, Iggy Azalea and Belinda Carlisle.

YouTube Kids & Family dropped the trailer for “The Guava Juice Show,” the animated comedy series from creator of the Guava Juice YouTube channel, Roi Fabito. Series follows the adventures of 14-year-old Roi and his best friends as they work at a mysterious boardwalk curio shop and jet through the multiverse in a dimension-hopping bathtub. Series debuts Saturday, June 4, at 10a on the Guava Juice YouTube channel and the YouTube Kids app.

Showtime is launching half-hour anthology series “Spotlights: A Showtime Short Film Series” on Sunday, June 12. All 5 episodes will be available to stream and watch on-demand for Showtime subscribers, and will also air weekly Sundays at 7:30p. Produced by Jax Media, episodic series features the works of various emerging filmmakers, with each ep comprising two to three short films that vary in timely subject matter and perspective.

A fantastical prehistoric world awaits preschoolers in new animated series “Kiri and Lou,” premiering for the first time in the US on Monday, June 13, at 6p on Nick Jr. The New Zealand stop-motion series follows the friendship between a feisty little dinosaur and her best friend, a gentle and thoughtful creature, as they explore the world of feelings through laughter, song, and outdoor adventure. Nickelodeon acquired seasons 1 and 2 from Cake, with season 3 (42 x 5-min eps) premiering on Nick Jr. later this year.

Season 2 of Peacock comedy “Rutherford Falls” debuts Thursday, June 16 with life-long best buds Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding) back to help each other tackle work, romance and major changes to their small town and the Native American reservation it borders.

HBO original docuseries “Mind Over Murder,” directed by Nanfu Wang and produced by Vox Media Studios, debuts Monday, June 20 at 10p. Six-ep series chronicles the bizarre and psychologically complex story of six individuals who were convicted for the 1985 murder of a beloved 68- year-old, Helen Wilson, in Beatrice, Nebraska.

WWE is headed back to A&E, with nine weeks of joint content that kicks off Sunday, July 10. The new Sunday night programming block will include the second season of “Biography: WWE Legends” and new series “WWE Rivals” and after-show “WWE Smack Talk” airing back-to-back. A total of 130 hours of new WWE-themed series and specials will air exclusively on A&E platforms and be distributed globally by parent company A+E Networks.

Paramount+ will debut YA comedy “Honor Society” on Friday, July 29. Produced by Awesomeness Films, the coming of age film follows an ambitious high school senior whose sole focus is getting into Harvard, if she can secures the coveted recommendation from her guidance counselor.

COMING UP

Ovation TV produced a half-hour documentary about Cheech Marin’s immense art collection and will debut “Cheech Marin’s Chicano Art Tour” on Wednesday, June 15 at 11p. Doc gives viewers a close look at the actor/comedian’s collection as he teams up with the Riverside Art Museum and the City of Riverside to open The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum on Saturday, June 18.

ESPN yesterday kicked off Fifty/50 month in honor of the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding, and gave women the equal opportunity to play sports. During June, ESPN and The Walt Disney Co. will present content and experiences that explore stories at the intersection of women, sports, culture and the fight for equality across various Disney platforms.

Antenna TV is inviting viewers to a Father’s Day Feast, featuring a marathon of favorite TV dads on Sunday, June 18, beginning at 8a. The smorgasbord of classic sitcoms includes Darrin from “Bewitched,” George from “The Jeffersons,” Jim from “Father Knows Best” and Steven from “Family Ties.”

Netlflix will debut The Man From Toronto on Friday, June 24. Directed by Patrick Hughes and starring Kevin Hart, the film centers on a case of mistaken identity that arises after a screw-up sales consultant and the world’s deadliest assassin—known only as The Man from Toronto— run into each other at a holiday rental.

Doja Cat scored a leading six nominations for the 2022 BET Awards, and Drake and Ari Lennox are next with four noms apiece. The awards event, hosted by Taraji P. Henson, will air live Sunday, June 26 at 8p.

“Yellowstone” will receive the ACM Film Award at the 15th annual “Academy of Country Music Honors,” slated to stream Wednesday, August 24 live from Nashville on Prime Video.

Owen Wilson superhero comedy “Secret Headquarters” is changing lanes from a theatrical debut to a premiere exclusively on Paramount+ this August in the US and Canada. The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie, which follows a teen and his friends who discover the headquarters of the world’s most powerful superhero hidden beneath his home, until recently had a theatrical release date of August 5.

TECH TALK

NESN, longtime cable home of MLB’s Boston Red Sox and the NHL’s Boston Bruins, is the first regional sports network to offer viewers streaming access to live games without a pay-TV subscription. NESN 360, the new outlet, carries a $30/month fee and is available only in New England.

FOX Weather, News Media’s free ad-supported streaming television weather service, is partnering with the Tennis Channel to provide weather forecasts for three tournaments this summer: The French Open, the Western & Southern Open and US Open.

Gracenote, the content solutions pillar of Nielsen, introduced Distribution Dynamics and Program Availability Archive, new datasets to help content owners and buyers optimize program licensing and acquisition strategies. The syndicated datasets provide the content marketplace insights into characteristics of programming that drives consumption and historical availability enabling data-driven decision-making.

IAB Tech Lab announced the launch of Global Privacy Platform, a single protocol that enables advertisers, publishers and technology vendors in the digital advertising industry to adapt to regulatory demands across markets.

CASTING

Will Arnett is set to voice the main character Sweet Tooth in Peacock’s “Twisted Metal,” the live-action adaptation of the video game… Amanda Peet joined the cast of “Fatal Attraction,” Paramount+’s series that reimagines the ‘80s thriller film… Patrick J. Adams (“Suits”) and Karine Vanasse (“Cardinal”) are in as leads in an English-language adaptation of time travel drama “Plan B” for Canada’s CBC… Augustus Prew (“The Morning Show”) and Mark Gatiss (“Sherlock”) joined the cast of ITV drama “Nolly.

MEASUREMENT & DATA CONFERENCE

You won’t want to miss this session on
June 7th:

Measuring Diversity

Presented by: Latha Sarathy, ANA; Stephanie Yates, AMC Networks; Federico Garza, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises; Audrey Cochran, TV One

FIND OUT MORE

RATINGS

Hallmark Channel’s original series “When Calls the Heart” recently wrapped its ninth season on a high note, earning the No. 1 spot among original scripted series on entertainment cable while on air and in the year-to-date. Further, the series boosted Hallmark Channel to be the most-watched entertainment cable network in Weekend Primetime and Weekend Total Day among Women 18+. On a L+3 basis, the season averaged 2.9 million Total Viewers, 291,000 Women 25-54, and reached more than 8.6 million unduplicated Total Viewers.

In the session ended May 22, which was the week leading up to the last dance for “Ellen DeGeneres,” the talk show scored the strongest increase of any program of any type in syndication. The strip also racked up the largest year over year improvement of any strip in original production, advancing 22 percent. The winner of 61 Emmys, “Ellen” ended its run on May 26 after more than 3,200 episodes. For the week, the No. 1 talker for the second straight session was “Dr Phil”; “Live with Kelly and Ryan” was a close second. The only other show in the top five moving up was the recently renewed “Tamron Hall.” Court shows were led as usual by “Judge Judy,” with “Hot Bench” a strong No. 2. “Jeopardy” continued to set the pace among game shows. with “Family Feud” next in line.

Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of May 22 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Jeopardy (CMV) 5.3 AA
Family Feud (CMV) 5.1 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 4.7 AA
Judge Judy (CMV) 4.5 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.1 AAEntertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.0 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 1.9 AAThe Dr. Phil Show (CMV) 1.6 AA
Live With Kelly and Ryan (DAD) 1.5 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.4 AA

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, May 30
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: “Zootopia” 1.39 (0.2), “The Conners” 0.84 (0.1)
CBS: “The Neighborhood” 3.08 (0.3), “Bob Hearts Abishola” 2.81 (0.2), “NCIS” 3.18 (0.2), “NCIS: Hawaii” 2.98 (0.2)
CW: “World’s Funniest Animals” 0.48 (0.1), “World’s Funniest Animals” 0.53 (0.1), “World’s Funniest Animals” 0.53 (0.0)
FOX: “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” 1.67 (0.3), “Beast Shazam” 1.77 (0.3)
NBC: “American Ninja Warrior” 2.29 (0.3), “Weakest Link” 1.65 (0.2)
Telemundo: “Casa De Famosos” 1.04 (0.3), “Amor Valiente” 0.77 (0.2), “Pasion Galivanes” 0.63 (0.2)
Univision: “Soltero Con Hijas” 1.42 (0.4), “Mi Fortuna es Amarte” 1.52 (0.5), “Ultimo Rey” 1.15 (0.3)Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Brightcove appointed David Beck as its first chief strategy and corporate development officer. Beck most recently served as EVP, head of content strategy and business operations at AMC.

Mary Coleman joined London-based CG animation studio Locksmith Animation as Chief Creative Officer. Most recently, Coleman was head of creative development at Pixar Animation Studios.

Allen Media Group promoted Michael Senzon to president of digital from his role as AVP, digital, and GM of Local Now.

Jonathan Bing is joining Vice Media Group as Chief Communications Officer. He previously served as director of communications for Netflix.

Viamedia elevated Jim Loughran to SVP of Convergent Video Partnerships. Loughran joined Viamedia in 2020 as SVP of digital.

Univision Los Angeles appointed Octavio Valdez as anchor of Univision Los Angeles’ newscast “Noticias 34.” Valdez has served as a reporter and host for Televisa in his native Michoacan, and held roles at Foro TV and Noticieros Televisa for the Canal de las Estrellas.

This Day in History
1835 – P.T. Barnum launched his first traveling show. The main attraction was Joice Heth, who was reputed to be the 161-year-old nurse of George Washington.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who was Samantha’s neighbor in “Bewitched” (1964-1972)? Gladys Kravitz. Kudos to: Eric Emeric-Showtime Networks/NY; Bill Graff-beIN Sports/Miami; Creed Heilskov-Im-On Communications/Cedar Rapids. MI; James Maxim-Disney Ad Sales/NY; Erik Rankin-CoxReps/NY; Rick Rosenfelt-New York Red Bulls/Harrison, NJ; Rhonda Seaton-AccuWeather/State College, PA; Linda Walker-Smith-Comcast Cable/Orlando; Will Allmendinger-WLEY-FM/Chicago; Sally Sluss-Spectrum Reach/St. Louis; Ray Giacopelli-MI7: Media Intel/Sonoma CA; Patti Rodriguez-Sinclair Broadcast Group/Colorado Springs; Greg Stewart/LA; Lauren Watt-Direct To U/Citrus Heights, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
What partially improv’d comedy series featured Zach Galifianakis, A.D. Miles and Andrea Savage? Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)

Cynopsis Team