Tonight’s Finales
The CW: Coroner at 9p
Motortrend: Rest My Ride at 10p
NBC: America’s Got Talent at 10p

IN THE NEWS

After making 2020 Emmy Awards history, nabbing all seven of the major categories, Schitt’s Creek is heading to national syndication. Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury announced a deal to launch the series across US broadcast markets on Monday, September 28.

Supergirl is hanging up her cape. The CW, producers Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions announced that the series’ upcoming sixth season will be its last. Production on the show’s final season begins late this month and will air in 2021.

There will be lots more Justice for All – through Fall 2027. Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios renewed Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez for seven more seasons. Launched in September 2012, the daily syndicated courtroom series features the first Latina judge to cross over from Spanish to English language television.

Yesterday was an amazing first day of our virtual Big TVconference, If you weren’t able to join us, it was full of brand safety advice, actionable takeaways about AVOD, how to create amazing lifestyle content, and our first sweepstakes winner, Jennifer from Bloomin Brands, will receive an Apple watch in her mailbox next week. Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to “The OTT Roadmap for Reaching Audiences at Scale” where Cynopsis’ editorial director Lynn Leahey interviews Premion’s John Vilade. You can register for the event here.

Derek Hough struck an overall deal with ABC Entertainment to host and develop entertainment specials and other programs for the network. The former Dancing With the Stars pro dancer recently returned to ABC as a new judge on the series, after his stint as a judge on NBC’s World of Dance.

Add the iHeartCountry Festival Presented by Capital One to the list of events that are going virtual. Originally scheduled for May 2 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX, it will now be a virtual streaming on-air radio special on Friday, October 23 at 7p

Discovery, Inc. acquired AdSparx, a company offering a cloud-based technology platform that provides in-stream ad insertion across live and on-demand streaming.

Paramount Network is rebranding as Paramount Movie Network with an eye toward focusing on television movies. It’s the latest move at ViacomCBS since the merger and follows the reveal that the company’s upcoming streaming service will be called Paramount+.

ELECTION 2020

The cast of The West Wing will reunite for the first time in 17 years for a special on HBO Max dropping Thursday, October 15. It benefits When We All Vote, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization co-chaired by Michelle Obama, and will feature cast members Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen and more reprising their roles for a special stage presentation of a 2002 episode of the show. Creator Aaron Sorkin and EP/director Thomas Schlamme will also be on hand.

CBS News is launching new series across platforms in advance of the 2020 election. America Decides: Counting Your Vote will examine the voting process and how states are preparing for potential complications in November; America Decides: Misinformation will delve into the use of misinformation to influence the election process; and America Decides: Every State Has a Story delves into CBS News’ polling with analysis and interviews.

Vice Media Group went dark from 12 to 1p on Tuesday in honor of National Voter’s Registration Day in an effort to direct US audiences to register to vote. Websites and channels simply said Register. Vote. with a link to VMG’s IAmAVoter.com.

Oprah Winfrey and OWN teamed with the NAACP and national voting rights leaders to host OWN Your Vote: Our Lives Depend on It. The virtual conversation is aimed at teaching voters and community leaders how to register to vote, request absentee ballots and mobilize viewers throughout their community. It’s slated to take place on Thursday, September 24 at 8p via bit.ly/OprahZoom.

The Paley Center for Media and the James P. Jimirros Media Impact Series present Debating the Debates: A Paley Town Hall on Wednesday, September 23 at 8p on Paley Center’s YouTube Channel. Participants include James Carville, Michael Goodwin, Frank Luntz, Michael Steele and moderator Marie Hardin.

The run-of-show for our most inspirational awards event of the year is live! Visit our Top Women in Media Awards website to see who’s being honored – and when – the week of October 13-16. You can register here for free, too!

Patricia Arquette and Ben Stiller, who collaborated on Escape at Dannemora, are reteaming on half-hour comedy, High Desert, for Apple TV+. Arquette is starring in the series, while Stiller will direct and serve as executive producer. Created and written by Nancy Fichman (Nurse Jackie), Katie Ford (Miss Congeniality) and Jennifer Hoppe (Grace and Frankie), the show follows Peggy (Arquette), a former addict who makes a life-changing decision to become a private investigator.

Carpenter, crafts, and designer Ty Pennington will headline new HGTV series, Ty Breaker. The project will follow Pennington as he helps families decide whether to overhaul their property or renovate a new one to better meet their needs. It’s slated to premiere in early 2021.

There’s more about the virtual Big TV Conference than we can possibly include in a cynopsized-paragraph. Sign up for this afternoon’s experience – so much great stuff we’re starting earlier, at 12:20p, when NY Interconnect’s CEO Ed Renicker talks shop with Carat CEO Angela Steele. Registration info is here

Blake Shelton has inspired a series based on his hit song, God’s Country. NBC is developing the drama of the same name, which hails from Shelton, Las Vegas creator Gary Scott Thompson and Universal Television. Written by Thompson, it explores the mysterious death of the patriarch of a Midwestern farm family via a car crash that leads his children to discover he was keeping a devastating secret.

HBO Max is moving forward with Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s Jane Doe Films limited docuseries Not So Pretty, from Entertainment One. The four-episode investigation-driven project will bring awareness to the lurking dangers in makeup, skin care, nail and hair products.

Jenny Slate (Big Mouth) has been tapped to host Sex Plants, a travel docuseries for Quibi, reports Deadline. She’ll also serve as an EP with Richard Perello and Stacey Offman, while Jigsaw Productions will produce the show. It follows Slate as she speaks with researchers and botanical experts to learn about the most natural aphrodisiacs on Earth.

After a record-setting series premiere, Starz ordered a second season of Power Book II: Ghost. From executive producers Courtney A. Kemp and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Ghost drew nearly 7.5 million multiplatform viewers in its debut week and was the most-watched new series in the net’s history.

Parisa Fitz-Henley (Midnight, Texas) is set to star in Triage, ABC’s medical pilot from longtime Criminal Minds showrunner Erica Messer, Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu and writer David Cornue. The drama follows pioneering surgeon Finley Briar (Fitz-Henley) over three decades at the same hospital.

Discovery Channel will go inside the fight against California wildfires with those on the front lines in Cal Fire. The new series centers on the men and women have been trying to save lives and property over the past three months.

Production is underway on a third season of original documentary series 4th and Forever. CuriosityStream is once again teaming with Jupiter Entertainment for an eight-episode season, this time exploring Alcoa High School as its football team pursues an unprecedented 19th state football championship.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet returns to Animal Planet on Saturday, September 26 at 9p. With 30 years in his field, the good doctor will continue to treat mysterious pet ailments, severe injuries and accidents.

The Graham Norton Show is back in studio. The BBC America late-night talker returns with new episodes on Friday, October 9 at 11p.

HBO Europe’s Patria premieres its eight-episode season on Sunday, September 27, across the US, HBO Europe and HBO Latin America territories, telling the three-decade story of the Spanish Basque Country threatened by the separatist terrorism of ETA, through the eyes of two families divided by the violent conflict.

COMING UP

American Masters – Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is debuts Friday, October 23 at 9p on PBS. (Check local listings.) The special explores the life and career of the 11-time Grammy-winning artist.

Morticia and Gomez are heading to FETV. The Addams Family begins airing on the network on Monday, October 5 at 1p, as well as Saturday and Sunday at 11p. In addition, there will be two scare-a-thons: “Lurching Toward Halloween” on Sunday, October 18 from 2 to 8p and “They’re Creepy and They’re Kooky” on Saturday, October 31 from 2 to 8p.

David Byrne’s American Utopia bows Saturday, October 17 at 8p on HBO. Filmed during its Broadway run, the show features Byrne and an ensemble of 11 musicians from around the globe.

STREAMING

AMC Network’s Shudder has surpassed one million subscribers. The streamer saw a surge in usage and new memberships that began with the debut of its original series Creepshow, last September, and continued throughout 2020 with its second original series, Cursed Films.

Latin Music Queens premieres on Facebook Watch on September 24 at 6p. The original docuseries features Latin music superstars, Thalia, Farina and Sofia Reyes.

Abacus Media Rights sold Australian true crime story The Night Caller, to AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now in the US and Canada. The series depicts a killer’s harrowing legacy of tragedy, grief, responsibility and redemption, as seen through the eyes of the filmmaker, who spent time with those closest to the killer and his victims.

According to a Samsung Ads Europe report, streaming on Samsung TVs in the UK now tops viewing on linear TV. Data from January to June 2020 revealed streaming time had risen by 59%, overtaking linear viewing for the very first time. That represents an increase of 38 minutes more streaming viewing time per day. Samsung Ads Europe conducted its first European “Behind the Screens” report on viewership habits across its TV devices in UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

TECH TALK

Microsoft announced the launch of Azure Communication Services. The new set of features in its cloud enables developers to add voice and video calling, chat and text messages to their apps, as well as telephony. It’s the first fully managed communication platform offering from a major cloud provider, making it more of a competitor to the core features of Twilio.

CASTING

Holly Taylor (The Americans) is joining the upcoming third season of NBC’s Manifest as a series regular… John Hoogenakker (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) nabbed a series regular role on Hulu limited series Dopesick… Empire alumna Nicole Ari Parker is joining NBC’s Chicago PD in a major recurring role for its upcoming eighth season.

GOING GLOBAL

The Format People secured two more international adaptations of reality cooking show Chef in Your Ear. Following deals by distributor Warner Bros International TV Production, a locally titled Senti Chi Mangia debuted on Italian television, while Oye Al Chef! is set to debut in Chile on September 24.

Xilam Animation will launch CGI kids’ non-verbal slapstick comedy series, Trico, as a Netflix Branded Original in 2022. Xilam retains second window global linear television distribution and merchandising rights to Trico.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
In which series did Sally Field and Diahann Carroll play Supreme Court Justices? The Court (2002). Kudos to: James Maxim-Disney/NYC; Anne Thomason-Canvas Worldwide/Atlanta, GA; Charles Lore/NYC; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing, Inc./NYC;
Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station/TX; Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, CA; Susan Nessanbaum Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/Los Angeles, CA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University, Playa Vista, CA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/Los Angeles, CA.

Today’s Trivia Question
What was the name of the TV show where Karen briefly worked on Knots Landing (1979-1993)? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)