NEW & RETURNING SERIES
CNBC is launching new series The Job Interview, following real employers conducting interviews, on Wednesday, October 25 at 10p. The show joins season 6 of returning series Secret Lives of the Super Rich (Thursday, September 28 at 10p), season 2 of Adventure Capitalists (Tuesday, October 10 at 10p) and season 5 of The Profit (Tuesday, November 21 at 10p). Greenlights for 2018 were given to Billion Dollar Buyer from Endemol Shine North America, The Deed and The Deed: Chicago from Cineflix, and American Greed from The Intellectual Property Corporation.
ABC’s The $100,000 Pyramid and Match Game were renewed for third seasons, and Celebrity Family Feud was picked up for season 4, with hosts Michael Strahan, Steve Harvey and Alec Baldwin onboard. ABC Studios also inked a two-year first-look deal with Baldwin to develop scripted and unscripted projects.
USA’s Mr. Robot returns for season 3 on Wednesday, October 11 at 10p. The premiere date was revealed via a social media scavenger hunt, courtesy of the network.
Still in the Game with Roland Martin is premiering in syndication this month. The RLTV-commissioned show focuses on the second careers of professional athletes.
Bug Juice is back. Production is underway in Maine for a new installment of the Disney Channel docu-series following kids at summer camp, which originally launched in 1998 and ran for three season. New version is slated to premiere in early 2018.
TALK AT TCA
2017 TCA Award winners included The Handmaid’s Tale for Outstanding Achievement in Drama and Program of the Year, Atlanta for Comedy, and This Is Us for Outstanding New Program. Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath won for Reality Programming. “I had always hoped to win something for comedy,” joked the King of Queens alum.
NBC former head of programming Warren Littlefield accepted the Heritage Award for Seinfeld. “27 years ago we decided to stiff Bob Hope on a birthday episode and fund 4 episodes of Seinfeld,” he said. “I guess it was a good call.”
“Dan is very much alive,” revealed ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey at TCA on Sunday, of John Goodman’s Roseanne character. Although Dan appeared to have died of a heart attack in the show’s 1997 finale, his heart will be beating for the revival, set for a midseason premiere. “I’m confident it will return to the show we knew and loved,” said Dungey.
As for The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki reprising the role of David on the 8-episode Roseanne return, ‘”Those conversations are still in progress,” said Dungey.
Asked about the expense of having Katy Perry as a judge on ABC’s American Idol reboot, to the tune of $25 million, Dungey said, “To have somebody like her on the panel is fantastic…We make sure we make the right decisions to make that show financially viable.”
During The “Transgender Trends on TV Today” panel at TCA, Rhys Ernst, producer/director on Amazon’s Transparent, emphasized the importance of relating the individual experience to keep stories human. “There’s a responsibility, but you don’t want it to become handcuffs on how to express creativity,” he said. “By being more specific and human, it becomes universal. Increasing representation and complexities makes for a more kaleidoscopic view.”
Out of home viewing was a hot topic at Nielsen’s presentation at TCA. The measurement company reported that while, not surprisingly, sports had the most OOH viewing (between January and May, viewers watched an extra 2 hours and 37 minutes), news also grabs eyeballs outside the living room (with an added two hours and 20 minutes January-May). In fact, the testimony of axed FBI director James Comey gave broadcast an 11% boost, and cable 17% among A18-49.
A small screen adaptation of film franchise Karate Kid is headed for YouTube Red. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprise their roles in Cobra Kai, a 10-episode series slated for 2018.
Asked about YouTube Red subscriber numbers at TCA, YouTube global head of content Susanne Daniels would say only that the $10/month service launched in late 2015 was “on track” to make its target. Daniels did, however, open up about broadening its customer base. “While we will continue to work with YouTube stars, we want to expand the slate, expand it to 18-49 and to the non-heavy user as well.” And while about half of YouTube’s viewers watch on mobile, usage as an app and on smart TVs “is growing.”
COMING UP
The NAACP’s 49th annual Image Awards, typically held during February, Black History Month, next year will air live on TV One Monday, January 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Nominations for the awards, honoring the accomplishments of people of color in TV music, literature and film, will be announced the week of November 13.
This week, The Weather Channel is honoring “hurricane heroes” who stepped up when danger struck. Spotlights will be included throughout each day, starting at 7:40a today through 7:40p on Friday. Featured heroes include first responders, a USCG rescue swimmer, nurses and more.
CASTING
Isabelle Huppert (Elle), and Mad Men alums Christina Hendricks and John Slattery have joined the cast of Amazon anthology series The Romanoffs, from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, premiering on Prime Video in 2018.
Abigail Spencer, a regular on NBC’s canceled-then-not Timeless, will squeeze in time for a story arc on season 14 of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Spencer will play the role of Megan Hunt, replacing Bridget Regan (The Last Ship), out due to scheduling conflicts. “@abigailspencer is an incredible actor, tip top lady and will be a BRILLIANT Megan,” tweeted Regan. Grey’s launches with a 2-hour premiere on Thursday, September 28.
Upcoming Showtime comedy White Famous will have a familiar face and character in Meagan Good, guest starring for 2 episodes as her Californication character, Kali.
SHORT FORM VIDEO
Stage 13, the digital content brand from Warner Bros. Digital, is slated to launch in October on YouTube, Facebook and Stage13.com, as well as have 2 series on the go90 platform, anthology Two Sentence Horror Stories and horror comedy Snatchers. “We were looking for an opportunity to super-serve the young, multicultural audience and we saw premium digital content with an authentic, relevant and fearless voice as the path,” said Diana Mogollon, SVP and GM of Stage 13. “Warner Bros., which has a long history of cultivating new talent, got behind the idea and encouraged us to move forward with our vision of a short form premium content brand celebrating youth culture.”
The video for Jay-Z’s “Midnight” sends up a season 3 episode of 1994-2004 NBC comedy Friends, opening credits (umbrella, dancing, couch) and all. Playing Ross, Joey, Rachel, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe: The Carmichael Show’s Jerrod Carmichael and Lil Rel Howery, Insecure’s Issa Rae, Atlanta’s Lakeith Stanfield, Thor: Ragnarok’s Tessa Thompson and Girl Trip’s Tiffany Haddish. Of course, the video takes a turn, which you can catch on Tidal.
DIGITAL DATA
Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud comedy streaming service debuted Friday. In addition to serving as a platform to launch new comedians and shows, the mobile service offers all seven seasons of Def Comedy Jam. “We want to give people one destination for comedy instead of searching all over the Internet,” said Hart. “My goal is to make the world laugh. I want this to be a representation of comedy from all new talent whomever you are, wherever you come from.”
Amazon is planning a home makeover show featuring YouTube stars in which retailers’ products can be purchased by viewers by clicking on them. Amazon is partnering with Kin Community to produce Overhaul, a six-episode show hosted and co-produced by Christiane Lemieux, founder of DwellStudio. The show is scheduled to premiere in September.
AMC Networks’ streaming service Shudder acquired North American and UK/Ireland rights to German thriller The Valley.
Streaming service Brown Sugar, featuring African-American movies, is now available on Roku.
