PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
History ordered scripted drama The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton. Based on Peter Baker’s New York Times bestseller, the series will depict the unfolding of one of the nation’s biggest political scandals.
Showtime picked up half-hour comedy Kidding, starring Jim Carrey. It’s the first series regular role for Carrey since In Living Color (1990-1994) and reunites him with Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), who is directing the show. Carrey is also exec producer of HBO’s just-renewed I’m Dying Up Here.
CBS gave a put pilot commitment to The Big House, a comedy from former 2 Broke Girls EP Liz Astrof, Kapital Entertainment and Warner Bros. TV. Written by Astrof, the project centers on a newly engaged woman and her son who are settling into life with her fiance, when her ex-con husband gets out of jail.
Sundance TV, UFA Fiction and FremantleMedia International started production on Deutschland86. The second season of the spy thriller drama will film across South Africa and Berlin.
Pond5 has expanded its offerings with the launch of Pond5 Archival collection, a video library from the past 100 years. The licensable royalty-free footage has been digitally converted and restored, and includes material from World War II, the Space Race and other major events, as well as everyday life.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
60 Minutes begins its 50th anniversary season on Sunday, September 24 at 7p on CBS with a story from new special contributor Oprah Winfrey. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will honor the series with a tribute recognizing its contribution to television journalism at its Emmy Award ceremony on October 5 in New York.
The Big Interview With Dan Rather returns to AXS TV for a fifth season on Tuesday, October 10 at 9p. Sharon Osbourne is the first featured guest.
Univision celebrity dance competition Mira Quien Baila bows Sunday, September 17 at 8p, featuring 10 celebs who accepted the challenge to compete for a $50,000 donation to the charity of their choice.
Acorn TV added Doc Martin to its September lineup. Series bows Thursday, September 21, hours after its UK debut. In addition, cop drama 19-2: The Final Season premieres Friday, September 22, while original series Acceptable Risk bows on Monday, October 16.
TeleXitos announced its September programming, too. Shows on the Telemundo Station Group’s national multicast network include The Unit, Law & Order, and the premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
COMING UP
Noticias Telemundo presents Huracanes y Terremotos, Naturaleza en Furia (Hurricanes and Earthquakes, Nature’s Fury) on Sunday, September 17 at 7p. Hosted by Jose Diaz-Balart, the special explores the causes, impact and nature of natural disasters.
Freeform‘s annual “13 Nights of Halloween” kicks off Thursday, October 19. The net will air Halloween classics including an all-day marathon of Hocus Pocus on Tuesday, October 31 and a Tim Burton marathon on Monday, October 23, featuring Edward Scissorhands, Dark Shadows, Sleepy Hollow and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Country superstar Sam Hunt, along with co-writers Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, will be honored with the first-ever “Song of the Year” award for hit Body Like A Back Road at the 2017 CMT Artists of the Year. Music event premieres Wednesday, October 18 at 8p on CMT.
CASTING
Michael Stuhlbarg, Freya Mayor, Nikolai Kinski and Griffin Dunne join Netflix’s Gore, the upcoming bio of Gore Vidal… Brian Letscher (Scandal) and Bryan Craig (General Hospital) nabbed recurring roles in The CW serialized military drama/conspiracy thriller, Valor… Liannet Borrego (The Haves & The Have Nots) booked a recurring role on TNT’s The Last Ship.
DIGITAL DATA
In episode 3 of Animal Planet’s Celebrity Animal Encounters, on Facebook Watch today at 3p, Rob Corddry tells the story of an unusual transaction while he was on location filming HBO’s Ballers that led to a hedgehog becoming part of his family, while Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn) describes his dramatic highway rescue of a dog. Animal Planet was the first Discovery Comm. Net to premiere a series on Watch.
YouTube and Fulwell 73 teamed on a soccer comedy docuseries. Training Day (wt), celebrating soccer and its biggest stars, debuts this spring.
Production began on a 10-episode, third season of AT&T’s You Me Her, from Entertainment One. Filming is taking place in Vancouver; season arrives on Audience Network in 2018.
Maury, hosted by Maury Povich, begins its 20th anniversary season with NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution on Monday, September 18. To celebrate, Povich will expand the exclusive content that will be developed for its social media platforms. In “Maury’s Social Sit-Down,” Povich will venture outside his typical topics to interview individuals tied to current events and pop culture. Povich will also host weekly Facebook Live sessions.
Time Inc.’s free, ad-supported OTT network is rebranding from People/Entertainment Weekly Network to PeopleTV. The announcement included word of green lights for shows including Entertainment Weekly: Hollywood True Crime; Shelf Life, hosted by Oprah Book Club and Special Projects Producer, Jill Adams; and Sizing Up the Dress, among other offerings.
BET Digital enters the horror genre with the launch of The Last One, centering on four friends who get stranded on the side of the road. Show premieres Friday, October 13 on BET.com.
GOING GLOBAL
Poker Central and DOUPAI.TV signed a licensing agreement to bring the World Series of Poker Main Event to China. The Deal runs through 2021 and includes live broadcasting of the WSOP Main Event final table.
Portfolio Entertainment is heading into MIPCOM with a lineup that includes new animated series Bubu and the Little Owls and Cyberchase, and a second season of CBeebies-commissioned live action series, Do You Know?
