PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Mason Dixon, from Lee Daniels (Empire), is in development at Fox. Hour-long drama from 20th Century Fox Television centers on a black politician’s wife and good-ol’-boy who form an unlikely alliance after their spouses cheat. Writer is Julian Breece (The First).
44 Blue Productions inked a deal with Dr. Joel and Dr. Ian Gold across broadcast, cable and digital for their book, Suspicious Minds, about how culture shapes madness. 44 Blue’s digital media division, Ovrture, optioned The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notes from the Apocalypse as a VR mini-series based on the book by Dr. Steven Schlozman.
Showtime Networks is teaming with executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter of SpringHill Entertainment and filmmaker Gotham Chopra for a project examining the modern history of the National Basketball Association and its impact on global popular culture. Three-part documentary film series is slated to premiere on Showtime in 2018.
Adaptive Studios was created to “breathe new life into stories that have essentially fallen through the cracks,” says Perrin Chiles, CEO and founder of the company. Taking the scavenger approach to acquisition and development is paying off – learn more in the new Cynsiders.
NEW SERIES
CBS News is launching CBSN: On Assignment, airing 4 consecutive Mondays starting July 31 at 10p. Series will feature experiential reports on stories ranging from grassroots efforts to combat gun violence to investigations into new terrorist threats. “This is an opportunity to showcase the voices and original storytelling from CBSN to an entirely new audience,” said Nancy Lane, senior executive producer for CBS News Digital. “Our long-form programming enhances our live, anchored coverage throughout the day.” The show will air simultaneously on CBS, CBSN and CBS All Access.
Celebrity scandal series Under the Influence debuts on Reelz Friday, July 7 at 9p, with the tragic stories of Heath Ledger and River Phoenix.
Cartoon Network’s OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes will launch with a one-hour premiere on Tuesday, August 1 at 6:30p.
BBC America’s Top Gear America revs up Sunday, July 30 at 8p, with team members William Fichtner (Mom), Top Fuel Drag Racing Champion Antron Brown, British car journalist Tom “Wookie” Ford, and Stig.
PBS’s RARE- Creatures of the Photo Ark follows National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore as he documents threatened species. Three-parter premieres Tuesday, July 18 at 9p.
Mr. Mercedes, based on the Stephen King novel, premieres on AT&T Audience Network Wednesday, August 9 at 8p. David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies) wrote and adapted for television.
RETURNING SHOWS
FXX’s You’re the Worst is back for season 4 on Wednesday, September 6 at 10p. Sister net FX brings back Better Things for season 2 on Thursday, September 14 at 10p.
Bravo’s Flipping Out returns for season 10 on Thursday, August 17 at 9p. This time around, house flipper Jeff Lewis has a new project: fatherhood.
The hunt for good deals on great food is back on Wednesday, July 12 at 10p, with the return of Cooking Channel’s Cheap Eats. First stop, with just $35 to pay for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack, is Annapolis, Maryland.
Showcasing secret beaches, private waterfalls and hidden caves, Travel Channel’s Top Secret Swimming Holes returns Sunday, July 23 at 9p and 10p.
Velocity’s Iron Resurrection returns for season 2 on Tuesday, July 11 at 10p, offering new life to rusted wrecks.
Amazon original series Tumble Leaf will spend a third season helping preschoolers understand the world around starting August 15.
Grace Vanderwaal will have her dream come true when Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters returns Friday, August 4 at 9p. After triumphing on season 11 of America’s Got Talent, the singer-songwriter said she hoped to use her winnings to have a “sick treehouse” built by treehouse builder Pete Nelson. Done!
Viceland will air an update of eight-part 2014 Vice News web series Last Chance High, focused on a Chicago school for troubled kids, starting Monday, July 17 at 10:30p. The net is also offering a week-long run of comedy documentary series Funny How?, hosted by Kliph Nesteroff, from July 10-14 at 11:30p.
COMING UP
El Rey Network is serving up 96 hours of stomps and slaughter during its “Kaijuly Roarth” Godzilla marathon starting Saturday, July 1 at 6a. First up: Gojira.
Jon Stewart will present the Pat Tillman Award for Service to disabled veteran and Invictus Games gold medalist Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro during the 25th ESPYS. Live telecast airs on ABC Wednesday, July 12.
Elian, a documentary exploring the fallout following the 1999 sea rescue of Elian Gonzalez, will premiere in simulcast on CNN/US and CNN en Espanol on Thursday, August 24 at 9p. “At a moment when Americans are once again debating the country’s relationship with Cuba, Elian’s story is a powerful reminder of how ordinary Cubans in both countries have so often been trampled in the geopolitical battles between Washington and Havana,” said director Tim Golden.
CASTING
Sundance TV and BBC One drama The Split begins production in the UK next week with Nicola Walker (River), Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me), Stephen Mangan (Episodes), Fiona Button (Lip Service), Deborah Findlay (Leaving), Annabel Scholey (Being Human) and Barry Atsma (Hector and the Search for Happiness).
Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel) landed the role of Becky Sharp in the ITV/Amazon Studios adaptation of the classic novel Vanity Fair. Mammoth Screen is producing.
Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, Sky Deutschland and Sonar Entertainment announced the international cast for upcoming event series Das Boot: Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex), August Wittgenstein (The Crown), Rainer Bock (Inglourious Basterds), Rick Okon (Tatort), Vicky Krieps (Colonia Dignidad), Jonathan Zaccai (Robin Hood), Leonard Scheicher (Finsterworld), Robert Stadlober (Summer Storm), Franz Dinda (The Cloud) and Stefan Konarske (The Young Karl Marx).
This Is Us’ Alexandra Breckenridge (Sophie) and Jon Huertas (Miguel) have been upped to series regulars.
Jodie Comer (The White Princess) has been cast opposite Sandra Oh in BBCA’s upcoming scripted series, Killing Eve, debuting in 2018.
Cory Hardrict (American Sniper) landed a role in Crackle original drama The Oath, arriving in 2018.
Wes Bentley (American Beauty), Kelly Reilly (Flight), Luke Grimes (American Sniper) and Cole Hauser (Tigerland) have joined Kevin Costner in the cast of upcoming Paramount Network drama Yellowstone, premiering in summer 2018.
Ne-Yo (The Wiz), Naya Rivera (Glee) and Faizon Love (Elf) are set to star in YouTube Red drama Step Up: High Water, based on the film franchise.
Kathy Baker (The Ranch) and Greg Gunberg (Heroes) landed leading roles in HBO’s untitled movie about the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Al Pacino is playing Joe Paterno.
DIGITAL DEVELOPMENTS
Food Network has updated its Alexa skill for the new Amazon Echo Show. Users can say “Alexa, ask Food Network for chicken parmigiana recipes,” or “Alexa, what’s on Food Network now?” and the Echo Show will display the response to the question on the screen. Users can browse through Alexa’s top picks for their search, select their recipe, and view a video of the recipe being made, then have the full recipe emailed to them. “The visual and video components will provide consumers with more information to help them make better and quicker cooking decisions and adds an entertaining aspect to their recipe browsing,” said Liesel Kipp, Vice President of Product Management at Scripps Lifestyle Studios.
Sports-centric live streaming service fuboTV is branching out, with the additions of Scripps Network Interactive’s HGTV, Food Network and Travel Channel to its “Fubo Premier” line-up, starting July 1. “Partnering with Scripps Networks allows us to round out our basic bundle nicely, complementing our core sports offering with some of the most popular programming on TV,” said David Gandler, fuboTV co-founder and CEO.
Amazon Prime Video inked an exclusive premium subscription licensing agreement with CBS for serialized suspense thriller Salvation, premiering on CBS Wednesday, July 12 at 9p. Prime members will be able to access the show four days after initial broadcast.
The Media Ratings Council released a draft of its Digital Audio Measurement Guidelines, which aims to clarify and standardize definitions and reporting methods. The draft, developed with the involvement of digital players as well as the Radio Advertising Bureau, the National Association of Broadcasters’ Committee on Local Radio Audience Measurement, the IAB and the IAB Tech Lab, will have a 45-day public comment period.
Hulu grabbed streaming rights for time-travel series Find Me in Paris, from France’s Cottonwood Media with Germany’s ZDF and ZDF Enterprises.
Showtime has launched its streaming service on Xbox One. New subscribers will be offered a 7-day trial, after which the price of on demand access to Showtime content is $10.99/month.
Premier Boxing Champions on Bounce, headlined by world champion Robert Easter battling top challenger Denis Shafkov, will be available to be streamed live tomorrow, June 30 via Bounce’s new subscription-video-on-demand service Brown Sugar.
Netflix animated comedy F Is for Family was renewed for season 3. Co-creator Bill Burr shared the news on Wednesday via Twitter.
GOING GLOBAL
Poland’s Polsat has licensed Germany’s version of Armoza Formats’ Curvy Supermodel on RTLII, as well as their own local adaptation.
Quintus Media struck a deal with Blue And Media for pop science series Evil Knows – In the Name of Science. Canada’s T+E grabbed exclusive rights for the series, produced by Germany’s Maximus Film.
UK’s Icon Films announces a commission from Sky Arts to produce a documentary film exploring the life of Philip Larkin, exploring the poet’s life and work.
Amazon Prime Japanese series FACE: Cyber Crime Special Investigation Unit launches Tuesday, July 11.
Pest control expert Billy Bretherton heads to the UK and Ireland in Billy Goes North, on A+E branded channel Blaze. Proper Television produces.
