PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Production on Hallmark Channel‘s The Christmas Train, a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation film, has begun. The film, which adapts David Baldacci‘s novel and stars Dermot Mulroney, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Joan Cusack and Danny Glover, is the story of a disaffected journalist on a cross-country journey to get home for Christmas, and will air Saturday, November 25 at 8p.
CBS has agreed to a put pilot commitment for an untitled family legal drama written by Blindspot creator/executive producer Martin Gero and executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. Drama will focus on five multiracial adopted siblings pursuing legal careers, while diving into a family tragedy.
Fox has given a put pilot commitment to a single-camera romantic ensemble comedy that will be executive produced by Fresh Off the Boat creator and EP Nahnatchka Khan. The untitled project will be written by Grace and Frankie executive producer Billy Finnegan and is based at 20th Century Fox TV and Khan’s Fierce Baby.
Edward Burns‘ Marlboro Road Gang Productions has linked with Radar Pictures to develop author Tosca Lee‘s The Progeny as a TV series. Lee’s books put a modern twist on a 16th Century countess considered the most notorious female serial killer ever, and her descendant Audra.
COMING UP
Jerry Before Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld‘s first stand-up special since 1998’s I’m Telling You for the Last Time, will premiere on Netflix on Tuesday, September 19. The special will show the comedian returning to The Comic Strip in New York City, where he began his career. Special is part of a $100M deal he made with Netflix.
Animal Planet‘s annual “You Watch, We Give” special for Pit Bulls & Parolees will air Saturday, August 26 at 9p, to coincide with National Dog Day. Based on the episode’s viewership, the channel will donate money to Villalobos Rescue Center, the largest pit bull rescue center in the United States.
CNN Films will present The Reagan Show, an all-archival footage documentary of President Ronald Reagan‘s eight years in the White House, on CNN on Monday, September 4 at 10p and Sunday, September 10 at 2:30a. It will also stream live for subscribers on the CNNgo platform and apps, and on demand on Tuesday, September 5.
HITN and Wildlife Conservation Network have paired up to create two-minute long interstitial videos that will provide information from WCN about at-risk animals. The capsules will be part of HITN’s Tue Planeta block, which airs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays starting at 5p, and began airing Wednesday, August 23.
Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America premieres on Friday, September 1 on Logo at 8p. The documentary follows immigrant and gay man Moises Serrano, who was born in Mexico and raised in North Carolina, as he pursues the American dream.
CYNOPSIS SHORT FORM AWARDS
Submissions are now open for Cynopsis Short Form Video Awards! Winning videos will be screened at the Short Form Video Festival on March 7, 2018, along with thought-provoking panel discussions with producers, directors, actors, marketers, and more. Submit your video by October 20, 2017 and be a part of this recognition of outstanding short form video.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Aaaay! Universal Kids Network (formerly Sprout) is bringing back Hank Zipzer, a comedy/drama series based on the children’s book series about a boy with learning difficulties written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. The series, which ran for three years on the Children’s British Broadcasting System, returns on Saturday, September 9.
Decades network is bringing legendary host Ed Sullivan back to TV with The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show, which will air weekdays at 12p, 5p and 11p starting Monday, September 4. Episodes will feature select performances and bits taken from the iconic variety series, including performances by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and The Doors.
Don’t Be Tardy… returns to Bravo with a double episode premiere on Friday, October 6 at 8p, as a family trip leads to a brush with danger and an underscoring of the strength of the Biermann clan.
TV One held a special Los Angeles premiere for its upcoming original film When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story on Tuesday. The story of a teen mom from Atlanta who falls in with very bad company airs on the network Monday, August 28 at 9p.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency will open its doors again for a second season on BBC America starting Saturday, October 14 at 9p. The series, starring Samuel Barnett and Elijah Wood, is adapted from the novels by Douglas Adams.
Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry has been renewed for a third season on E!, ahead of its Wednesday Season 2 finale.
Born this Way, A&E Network‘s original docuseries looking at women and men born with Down Syndrome, has been picked up for a fourth season with eight new episodes scheduled.
Epix has renewed its original series Get Shorty for a second season; the dark comedy is based in part on Elmore Leonard‘s novel by the same name. The show will return in 2018 with 10 new episodes.
CASTING
Netflix hopes Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton will scare up viewership for its modern re-imagining of the Shirley Jackson classic novel The Haunting of Hill House. The 10-episode straight-to-series drama has Paramount TV and Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin TV attached as producers.
Heather Morris (Glee, Dancing With the Stars) and Joan van Ark (Knots Landing) will star in Psycho Wedding Crasher, a thriller airing on Lifetime on Sunday, September 3.
Elisabeth Harnois (CSI) is set to star as a pregnant woman in danger of having her baby kidnapped in My Baby Is Gone, which premieres on Lifetime Monday, September 4.
Maria Menounos and former Miss America Nina Davuluri have been added to the celebrity judges panel for the final night of the 2018 Miss America Competition, which will air on ABC on Sunday, September 10 at 9p.
Whether ya think Rod Stewart is sexy or not (we do!), he’s set to perform at MTV‘s VMAs on Sunday, August 27 at 8p. The classic rocker will perform his 1978 hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” with DNCE in a re-imagined version. In addition, Demi Lovato has signed on to perform her tune “Sorry Not Sorry” at the VMAs as well.
GOING GLOBAL
Entertainment One has paired with Taiwanese broadcast partner Yoyo TV to launch PJ Masks-related toys. Pro & Pacific will distribute the toys from Just Play, and they will debut exclusively at Toys ‘R’ Us stories starting in late September 2017.
Season 14 of The X Factor UK will premiere in the US on AXS TV beginning Sunday, September 3. This will be the fourth consecutive year the show, which includes judges Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne, has aired on the network.
HBO and Sky have acquired a minority stake in and seats on the board of Bad Wolf (The Night Of), the UK/US production company founded by Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner in 2015. Sky and Bad Wolf are already working on a Sky original production called A Discovery of Witches.
BBCTwo has acquired John Singleton‘s LA-set period drama Snowfall and confirmed that The League of Gentlemen will be returning, according to controller Patrick Holland, who spoke at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. Snowfall is an acquisition from 20th Century Fox Television and will air in the fall; the series premiered in the US on FX, which renewed it for a second season earlier in August.
DIGITAL DATA
Snapchat is getting closer to moving into original programming with Snap Inc., according to Nick Bell, vp of content. He said shows should be happening “by the end of the year” during a keynote session at the Edinburgh International Television Festival with a move to scripted “the next juncture for us.” The messaging service signed deals with NBCUniversal, Turner, Discovery, the BBC, ABC and MGM over the past year, all of whom hope to reach Snap Inc.’s young audience.
Time Inc.‘s free streaming network People/Entertainment Weekly Network is launching People Crime, a new programming franchise to use investigative reporting within the People brand. The premiere episode, People Crime: Prep School Sex Abuse Scandal, is currently available at People.com/PEN.
Z Living says it’s going to the mat with a new docu-soap called Yoga Girls, which will follow elite yoga instructors in Los Angeles as they build client rosters. The series, from Charlie Ebersol‘s The Company, premieres Sunday, September 24 at 8p.
