Friday August 13, 2021

Today’s Finales
Apple TV+: Home Before Dark
PBS: Icon: Music Through the Lens at 10p

Saturday’s Premieres
Adult Swim/Crunchyroll: Fena: Pirate Princess
Animal Planet: The Zoo: San Diego at 8p
History: Pawn Stars at 9p

Sunday’s Premieres
A&E: Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America at 9p
AXS TV: Rock My Collection at 8p
CW: Wellington Paranormal at 9p
Food: Battle of the Brothers at 10p
Hallmark Channel: Chesapeake Shores at 8p
Starz: Heels at 9p

Sunday’s Finales
AMC: A Discovery of Witches at 10p
CBS: Love Island at 9p
HBO: The White Lotus at 9p
PBS: Unforgotten on Masterpiece at 9p, Professor T at 10p
Showtime: The End at 9:30p

IN THE NEWS

Rachel Maddow is mulling an exit from MSNBC in 2022. The network’s most-watched anchor is considering a departure next year when her current contract ends, according to sources familiar with the matter. Maddow, who has dominated MSNBC’s 9p time slot since September 2008, is being counseled in her talks with the network by Mark Shapiro, president of Endeavor, and Ari Emanuel, Endeavor CEO. “Nothing has been decided,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We are deep into it with NBCUniversal and Rachel has an excellent relationship with them.”

Tom Hanks-starring film “Finch” will have its Apple TV+ debut Friday, November 5. The movie, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (“Game of Thrones”), features Hanks as a robotics engineer who builds a world of his own to share with his dog and a robot after he is one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar tragedy. Ivor Powell penned the script with Craig Luck.

Disney bested Wall Street forecasts for its Q3 financials, delivering adjusted earnings per share of 80 cents, up from just 8 cents in the Covid-saturated period a year ago. Disney+ was a large contributor to the receipts; the streaming service reached 116 million subscribers as of the end of the quarter July 3, twice the number of subs one year ago. ESPN+ also experienced velocity, rising 75 percent from a year earlier to 14.9 million subscribers. Total revenue of $17 billion was up 45 percent over the 2020 quarter.

Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” will reveal a new look and feel beginning Monday, September 13 at 11p. New and original content from the news team including field packages, sketches and explainers will be featured alongside the show’s bio films on notable figures.

WarnerMedia will require all US employees or anyone entering one of its offices to be vaccinated against Covid-19. The company announced yesterday that along with its vaccine policy, the division of AT&T will reopen its offices September 6. Per a memo from WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, there will be “no expectation” for workers to be in offices.

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Discovery Inc. formally notified the Polish government it will take legal action under the bilateral investment treaty between the US and the Republic of Poland, following what it refers to as Poland’s discriminatory campaign against Discovery’s TVN. Poland has refused to renew TVN24’s broadcasting license and its government voted this week to pass legislation that would ban upstream foreign media ownership in the country.

Debbie Allen will receive the 2021 Governors Award during the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast September 19 on CBS and Paramount+. The prolific dancer, choreographer, actress and writer who recently received the 2020 Kennedy Center Honor, is being recognized “for her unprecedented achievements in television and her commitment to inspire and engage marginalized youth through dance, theater arts and mentorship,” according to the Television Academy.

Netflix and Adobe named winners of their first short film contest, The Great Untold, who each will get to bring their shorts to life with mentors and receive grants of $10,000, along with access to Adobe experts and tools. Jonathan Morales-Moreno will be producing “The Refugee,” with Ryan O’Connell; Keara Anderson will produce “Last To The Wild”; and Samba Diop will produce “The Game.”

Nat Geo nixed plans to hold a two-day Emmy showcase featuring “Genius: Aretha” star Cynthia Erivo this weekend at a mall in LA as concern grows over a rise in Covid-19 infections and Delta variant cases. The network said it will continue with virtual elements of its Emmy campaign.

How can local TV stations remain vital in a streaming world? How should they capitalize on opportunities? On Sept. 21, we’ll look at the smartest ways stations can invest in the future with leaders from NY Interconnect, BIA Advisory Services, Allen Media Broadcasting, & the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

REGISTER

Emily Blunt is reteaming with Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions (“Jungle Cruise”) for an Amazon Studios movie about Kate Warne, the first woman to become a detective at the Pinkerton Agency. Blunt will star in the project, scripted by Gustin Nash (“Youth in Revolt”), and will co-produce.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carol Leonnig’s book “Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service” is being adapted as a television series with Thomas Tull, with Bobby Cohen (“Jarhead”) set to exec-produce the series with Leonnig. Wynn Wygal will also produce the project, an account of the scandals and security failures of the Secret Service. A writer is not yet attached.

Filmmaker Robert Rodríguez signed a two-year first-look deal with HBO and HBO Max. The founder of Troublemaker Studios will bring projects for potential development as original series; his son Racer Rodríguez will serve as lead development exec under terms of the new deal pact.

Warner Music Entertainment, the film and TV division of Warner Music Group, is partnering with Lightbox (“Tina”) to develop, produce and finance nonfiction television and film projects. The deal provides Lightbox with access to Warner Music’s vast catalog.

Grammy-winning rapper T-Pain is headed to the second season of TBS’ “Go-Big Show” as a member of the judging panel. The series, which has showcased supersized talents including monster trucks, alligator trainers and stunt archery, is currently in production on season 2.

“Sort Of,” an eight-ep series, is in the works at HBO Max with plans for a late-fall debut. Created by Bilal Baig (“Acha Bacha”) and Fab Filippo (“Save Me”), the comedy follows the journey of “Sabi Mehboob” (Baig), a gender fluid millennial who straddles various identities from sexy bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore/bar to the youngest child in a large Pakistani family to the de facto parent of a downtown hipster family.

Estrella Media is auditioning for the 25th season of talent competition show “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento,” slated to air on EstrellaTV this fall. The series is the longest-running talent competition in US Spanish-language television.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Circle Network is collaborating with Gibson TV, the instrument brand’s online network, for “Gibson: The Scene.” The new series, which will showcase historic music venues and locations across America, premieres Thursday, August 19 at 10p.

Netflix dropped a trailer for “Titletown High,” which follows the nation’s winningest high school football team as they tackle rivalries, teenage romance and real-life drama while vying for a championship title. Series debuts Friday, August 27… The streamer also teased “Q-Force,” which debuts Thursday, September 2. The storyline follows Steve Maryweather, aka Agent Mary, who was once the golden boy of the American Intelligence Agency until he came out as gay. When the Agency sends him to West Hollywood to “disappear” he assembles a misfit squad of LGBTQ+ geniuses. Sean Hayes, Patti Harrison and Wanda Sykes star.

The Smurfs are headed to Nickelodeon in a new series premiering Friday, September 10 at 7:30p. “The Smurfs” marks the return of the small blue characters with big personalities to television for the first time in nearly 40 years.

Comedian Mamrie Hart hosts new Discovery+ competition series “Tiny Food Fight,” debuting Thursday, September 16. Three talented cooks will be put to the test in tiny food-themed challenges, from fair foods to birthday celebrations and bar foods to international dishes.

“Colin in Black & White,” the limited series from Ava DuVernay and Colin Kaepernick that chronicles Kaepernick’s coming of age story, tackling the obstacles of race, class and culture as the Black adopted child of a white family, debuts on Netflix on Friday, October 29. Series stars Jaden Michael as young Colin, Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker as his parents, and Kaepernick himself as the present-day narrator of his story.

Showtime will air “Buried,” a four-part docuseries about Eileen Franklin, whose long-repressed memory of her childhood best friend’s murder sparked a national debate about the power and limitations of memory in the court of law, on Sunday, October 10, at 9p. The legal thriller spotlights the reverberations of this first criminal case based on a recovered memory and analyzes how fallible and malleable the mind can be.

CLEO TV inked a multiyear deal with Kin, to bring its digital series “Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix” to TV via the TV One sister network. Beginning in October, CLEO TV will roll out 80 episodes of the YouTube digital series that has accrued more than 3 million subscribers across social platforms.

Disney+’s “Home Alone” revival will debut on the streamer on Friday, November 12. From 20th Century Studios, holiday-themed “Home Sweet Home Alone” stars Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney and Archie Yates. True to formula, Yates plays a mischievous and resourceful young boy who has big adventures after he’s left behind while his family is in Japan for the holidays.

Part two of HBO Max’s new original series “Gossip Girl” will debut on the streamer in November. The final six episodes of the first season continue to immerse viewers in the extension of the pop culture classic, which heads back to the Upper East Side with a generation of NY private school teens being introduced to social surveillance.

COMING UP

The laughs are in session when Bugs, Daffy, Porky and the Looney Tunes head back to class in the “Looney Tunes Cartoons Back to School Special,” premiering Thursday, August 19 on HBO Max.

A boxing pay-per-view event featuring the battle between undefeated pro boxer Jake “The Problem Child” Paul and former MMA world champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley, will stream on the Showtime app in the US on Sunday, August 29 at 8p. The event features five fights, and is available globally on a variety of digital streaming, cable, satellite and telco providers.

AMC’s streaming service Shudder will debut “Superhost,” an amalgam of horror, thriller and the supernatural, on Thursday, September 2. The film, written and directed by Brandon Christensen (“Z”), follows travel vloggers who uncover a horrifying truth about one of their hosts.

AccuWeather Network and AccuWeather.com will air “Living with Wildfires” beginning Monday, September 6. As wildfires have become more of a year-round threat across the US, the series looks at the damage and destruction record-breaking fires have had on homes and businesses.

Timed to coincide with the 20-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, TLC will air “Long Island Medium: In Memory of 9/11” on Thursday, September 9. Medium Theresa Caputo visits the sites of the horrific attacks and meet with families of the departed to deliver messages.

Bad Bunny tops the list of nominees for the 2021 “Billboard Latin Music Awards,” airing Thursday, September 23 at 7p on Telemundo, with 22 entries. Maluma, J Balin, Karol G, Anuel AA and Black Eyed Peas are also multiple nominees.

MTV Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights to “Ascension,” Jessica Kingdon’s look at the economic growth of China and the class chasms this expansion exposes. The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival where it won for best documentary and best new documentary filmmaker, is slated for release Friday, October 8.

Discovery+ will debut “Introducing, Selma Blair,”director Rachel Fleit’s intimate feature about the actress as she reckons with the next chapter of her life after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, on Thursday, October 21. The doc premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award.

TECH TALK

Jukin Media, supplier of a slate of viral user-generated videos, has been acquired by Trusted Media Brands, whose media portfolio includes Reader’s Digest. Terms were not disclosed, but Forbes valued the deal at more than $100 million.

The life work of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry will be catalogued in a new digital archive from tech company OTOY. Among digital assets planned from The Roddenberry Archive are holographic and digital renderings of the famous Starship Enterprise vessel, and TV and movie sets. The archive is also expected to generate NFTs for Trekkies.

Reddit announced it is raising up to $700 million in a new series of funding, which gives the site a post-money valuation of more than $10 billion, the company said. The company is also considering an IPO now that it has hired its first-ever CFO, Drew Vollero, who oversaw Snap’s IPO in 2017.

CASTING

Calum Worthy has been cast as a lead opposite Keegan-Michael Key and Johnny Knoxville in Hulu comedy pilot “Reboot”… Tony winner Ali Stroker (“Oklahoma!”), Karen Robinson (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Rosanny Zayas (“The L Word: Generation Q”) landed roles as series regulars opposite Michelle Monaghan, Matt Bomer and Daniel Sunjata in Netflix psychological thriller limited series “Echoes”… Netflix is also casting up its upcoming “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley and Dallas Liu have joined for the live-action series.

In a recasting move, Billy Zane (“True Story”) joined the cast of “MacGruber,” Peacock’s action comedy series. Joseph Lee Anderson and Timothy V. Murphy also join the series alongside leads Will Forte, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe.

COMPLETE YOUR ENTRY BY 8/17

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Jennifer Mitchell and Tom Canedo have been named the presidents of CBS Stations, sharing the title with newly hired Adrienne Roark. Mitchell joins the network after 22 years at ABC’s station group; Canedo has been with CBS Stations for 22 years, and has been general manager of WUPA for the past six years.

IN MEMORIAM

English actress Una Stubbs, the mainstay of British television and stage for six decades who played Mrs. Hudson in “Sherlock” and starred in “EastEnders” among numerous credits, died August 12 following an illness. She was 84.

This Day in History
1784 – The US Legislature met for the final time in Annapolis, Maryland.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
The Bundys on “Married … with Children” (1987-97) lived in a suburb of which city? Chicago. Kudos to: Heather Allen-WWE Corp./Stamford, CT; Erin Barry-CNBC/Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Stephanie Bonk-ESPN/Disney Advertising Sales/NY; Kathy Bryson-Charter Communications/Charlotte, NC; Rob Casalaina-ITN/NY; Greg Conner-Sinclair Sports Group/NY; Eric Dunefsky-Crossmedia/NY; Scott Jenkins-Gracenote/Queensbury, NY; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Anthony Salerno-Horizon Media/NY; Holli Sarner-Home Team Sports/Playfly Sports/NY; Brian Traynor-Endeavor/NY; Tom Boyd-WGN/Chicago; Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago; Brianne Maciejowski-Odyssey/Grand Junction,CO; Randall Bosley-Studio Talent Group/Santa Monica, CA; Bob Telford-SAG*AFTRA/Ventura,CA; Luke Watson-Entertaining Concepts/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
No Googling Week: Which talent left “Silver Spoons” (1982-87) after one season to star in two other sitcoms? 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.)