PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Paramount Network, the upcoming new incarnation of the current Spike TV, is in development on half-hour comedy The Interventionist. Series – exec-produced by Tom Arnold and Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment, and written by Steve Pink (High Fidelity) – is based on Arnold’s life as a recovering addict and interventionist for those with substance abuse problems. Alex Hardcastle (Grace and Frankie, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), who also serves as an EP, is on to direct the potential pilot.
Jermaine Fowler (Superior Donuts) has joined the cast of first-time writer/director Boots Riley’s film Sorry to Bother You, which centers on the travails of a black telemarketer. Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi of Significant Productions are producing alongside Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, and Kelly Williams.
ABC Studios is the new home of Laurence Fishburne and his Cinema Gypsy Productions (black-ish). Fishburne signed a two-year overall deal under which he and manager/producing partner Helen Sugland will continue to develop projects for the studio. Melissa Gelineau, most recently VP of television & development at Sofia Vergara and Luis Balaguer’s Latin World Entertainment, is heading to Cinema Gypsy as head of television.
DIY Network renewed Stone House Revival, starring Jeff Devlin, and Salvage Dawgs, starring Robert Kulp and Mike Whiteside, each for new 13-episode seasons.
Storied Media Group will begin packaging new and archived articles appearing in UK’s The Guardian’s newspapers for film and television projects. The publisher owns UK newspapers The Guardian and The Observer, and will have a stake in projects based on the content it generates.
Kilburn Television acquired global rights to develop and produce a docuseries chronicling the first human head transplant surgery, scheduled be performed later this year by Dr. Sergio Canavero and an international team of doctors and scientists.
Shawn Ryan signed a third three-year contract with Sony Pictures Television, where he has been based since 2011. At the studio, Ryan is co-creator, exec producer and co-showrunner of NBC drama Timeless, and is executive producer and showrunner on new CBS series S.W.A.T.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt is onboard to anchor a new Saturday morning MSNBC news show, slated to debut June 24 at 8a. Additionally, MSNBC is extending its live programming into the weekend beginning in July, providing breaking news coverage until 9p on Saturdays and Sundays.
Nat Geo Wild is bringing back its top-rated series The Incredible Dr. Pol on Saturday, July 1 at 9p. The new season promises more dramatic cases with animal patients at the good doctor’s clinic in rural Michigan and via house calls.
TV One’s longest-running series, Unsung, will launch its 11th season on a new night – Sunday, July 9 at 9p – with a new lineup of music and stories featuring Wyclef, Marvin Sapp, Switch and Ice-T, among others.
Spike TV is teaming with Emmy-winning documentarian Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost trilogy) for an eight-hour series about the recent deaths and disappearances of six young women in southern Ohio. Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio premieres Saturday, July 22 at 9p.
Social media influencer Hannah Hart is taking a flavor-filled journey to some of the country’s favorite regional food spots in new six-episode Food Network series I Hart Food. Series premieres Monday, August 14 at 10p.
KIDS NEWS
Sprout greenlit two new original animated series, Powerbirds and Norm, both slated to premiere in 2019. The two shows are the first new series the network added since announcing its rebrand to Universal Kids on September 9. Powerbirds was created by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Breen and follows two pet parakeets who live secret superhero lives.
Nickelodeon’s new one-hour TV special Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling, based on the net’s ‘90s hit series Rocko’s Modern Life, will reunite the original voice cast members. The special is written and executive produced by the series’ original creator Joe Murray and will premiere on Nickelodeon in 2018.
COMING UP
Investigation Discovery will premiere one-hour special Black and Blue, a timely exploration of the current state of police affairs and race relations, this Saturday, June 24 at 8p. The special also will be available on ID’s TV Everywhere app ID GO beginning Sunday, June 25.
Hallmark Channel’s original “June Weddings” programming event culminates this Saturday, June 24, with the premiere of My Favorite Wedding at 9p.
AXS TV will live-broadcast New Japan Pro Wrestling’s first-ever US event, the G1 Special in the USA, on Saturday, July 1 at 8p.
CASTING
In: Alexis Bledel will return as a series regular for the second season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale… Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) will lead the voice cast for Sprout’s new animated series Kody Kapow, which is scheduled to bow July 15….Sharon Leal (Dreamgirls) has joined the cast of upcoming CBS drama Instinct.
Out: Virginia Madsen will not return for the planned season 2 of ABC’s Designated Survivor.
DIGITAL DOINGS
TV Land series Younger will simulcast in all time zones for its season 4 premiere on Wednesday, June 28 at 10p ET/7p PT, with a re-airing on the west coast at 10p. Why? To fete new live aftershow Getting Younger, premiering on Facebook @YoungerTV (simulcast on Instagram @YoungerTV) right after the first ep ends. The season premiere will also feature live cut-ins during commercial breaks of the cast getting ready for the aftershow.
The new season of Big Brother, which returns to CBS with a two-night premiere on Wednesday, June 28, will involve bigger cross-platform programming than ever. The series’ 24/7 live feeds return for the third year to the CBS All Access subscription service, and the series will offer live-feed Houseguest Eviction Interviews, featuring evicted houseguest talks with host Julie Chen during the Thursday live show and a candid interview with Jeff Schroeder at the house. The exclusive CBS All Access interviews will happen in the live feeds on most Thursdays, beginning July 6. Additionally, Pop’s exclusive television broadcast of Big Brother After Dark kicks off Thursday, June 29, with live late-night airings until 3a throughout summer.
CBS Television Stations and ReachMe.TV announced a 10-year exclusive partnership to coincide with the upcoming launch of ReachMe.TV’s In-Airport Entertainment Network. The network will appear on thousands of screens across airports in the US and Canada with a reach of more than 70 million viewers per month.
Comedy Central International is expanding its shortform, digital-first content slate through a partnership with digital media powerhouse DEFY Media for the production and distribution of programming under DEFY brands SMOSH and ScreenJunkies.
DISTRIBUTION & SYNDICATION
Outdoor Channel acquired the exclusive cable syndication rights from Twentieth Television to air the first seven seasons of Wicked Tuna. The deal for the series, which originally aired on Nat Geo, includes 95 episodes.
GLOBAL GOINGS-ON
Turner Asia Pacific invested in POPS Worldwide, a move that sees Turner take a significant minority stake in the leading Vietnamese digital media and creator network.
Musical stars Will Young and Leona Lewis, TV personality RuPaul, and YouTuber Doug Armstrong are among the talent who have agreed to support Out in 60, a new Viacom UK TV and digital media campaign aimed at raising awareness of LGBT issues and celebrating the act of ‘coming out’ in the lead up to the Pride in London Parade on July 8. The campaign runs June 24 for two weeks.
