PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is teaming with producer Jerry Bruckheimer for Main Justice, a legal drama series that’s set up at CBS. Project is written by Sascha Penn (Survivor’s Remorse) and exec-produced by Holder and Bruckheimer; it’s inspired by Holder’s life and work.
Fox is kicking high after scoring drama Kung Fu, a take on the ‘70s David Carradine-starring TV series that will have a female lead. Series is exec-produced by Greg Berlanti, and received a put pilot commitment.
Fox gave a script commitment plus penalty to The Nice Girls, the contemporary female POV on the Joel Silver-produced 2016 feature film The Nice Guys. The project is from Silver Pictures and will be co-production between Lionsgate TV, 20th TV and Silver Pictures TV.
A 10-episode reality series about rocker Eddie Money and his family is a go at AXS TV. Real Money (working title) will follow Eddie, his wife Laurie, five kids and eight pets.
Twofour America entered a production partnership with ITV America through which future series will be co-produced by ITV Creative, the in-house production infrastructure of ITV America. The deal also brings to the US marketplace Twofour’s newest format, Change Your Tune, now in development with ITV America, following Twofour’s recent sale of the music-competition series to UK broadcaster ITV.
Skydance Television signed a multiyear overall agreement with writer/producers Patrick Massett and John Zinman (Friday Night Lights, The Blacklist). Among projects the studio is developing with the duo is the first live-action series based on Japanese franchise Sword Art Online.
Love Nature, home to the world’s largest library of 4K wildlife and nature content, and UK-based Plimsoll Productions began production on part 2 of 4K natural history project Camp Zambia, due out in summer 2018.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Discussing the new OWN series Released, Lucky 8 TV co-president and series exec producer Kim Woodard tells Cynopsis, “At its core, Released presents stories of hope, through spotlighting the difficult road to redemption. More than 10,000 men and women are released from American prisons every week, and viewers will experience the uphill battles and unique challenges many of them face, alongside the six subjects of the docuseries—hopefully allowing for a deeper understanding of life after incarceration.” Series premieres tomorrow (September 30) at 10p.
Home renovator Nicole Curtis stars in a new season of Rehab Addict premiering Wednesday, October 4, at 9p on DIY. During the eight-ep series Curtis and her team save and restore historic homes in Detroit.
Premiering October 5 on public television stations around the US, the 13-episode My Greek Table With Diane Kochilas stars the cookbook author, television personality, consulting chef, teacher and authority on Greek cuisine.
It’s Halloween all month long on Destination America, beginning with new series Terror in the Woods, premiering Tuesday, October 10 at 10p. Series features stories from real people whose wilderness retreats were cut short by paranormal encounters. A special two-hour ep will air on Halloween: Tuesday, October 31 at 9p… Also new on DA is the premiere of the two-hour special Helltown on Sunday, October 29 at 9p. The project revisits the mysterious evacuation of a small Rockwell-esque town in 1974.
HGTV is gearing up for a swell of new seasons. Property Brothers returns Wednesday, October 11 at 9p; Drew’s Honeymoon House premieres Wednesday, November 22 at 9p, and Flip or Flop heads to Ft. Worth in its latest incarnation, debuting Thursday, November 2, at 9p and starring military veterans Andy and Ashley Williams. A new season of Vintage Flip is slated to drop in November, and Home Town season 2 premieres Monday, January 8, at 9p… Also in the new year, Flip or Flop Nashville premieres Thursday, January 4 at 9p, My Lottery Dream Home gets a new season premiere in February 2018, and Good Bones will rise up in March 2018.
Season 5 of Bravo Media’s Married to Medicine premieres Sunday, November 5 at 10p. New season finds Dr. Jackie busier than ever with a top medical practice a new book, and having to come to terms with the harsh reality that her husband, Curtis, has been unfaithful.
TNT drama Major Crimes returns for its sixth season Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 9p. Series, which this season takes a serialized turn as the squad struggles to solve mysteries and murders surrounded by complex political conflicts, will mark its 100th episode on December 19.
November 5 at 9p, is the premiere date for the return of Starz limited series The Girlfriend Experience. The second season got an exclusive showing earlier this month as an official Primetime selection of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian powers back for season 2 on E! on Sunday, December 10 at 10p. The eight-episode season will again feature the middle sister and a parcel of trainers with advice on committing to a physically and emotionally challenging journey to prove to themselves and those who have been negative forces in their lives that they’re worthy of love and respect.
INSP confirmed that season 2 of The Cowboy Way will drop Thursday, January 4 at 8p.
Up TV renewed reality series Bringing Up Bates for a seventh season after solid growth with season 6 was capped off with its strongest episode of the season 1. On the heels of the 2016-17 broadcast season being the network’s best ever in A18-49 (+10% Live +Same Day), Up ordered 26 episodes, which is the largest season episode order to date. The new season will premiere Thursday, January 4 at 9p.
KIDS NEWS
Saturday Night Live character David S. Pumpkins is returning to NBC for a Halloween-themed animated half-hour special set to air Saturday, October 28 at 11:30p. The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special is based on the “Haunted Elevator” sketch starring Tom Hanks from the October 2016 SNL telecast. The special will feature the voice of Hanks and Peter Dinklage, among others.
Disney Channel is developing TV movie Hocus Pocus, a reimagining of the 1993 Walt Disney feature that starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. The TV reboot is being written by Scarlett Lacey (The Royals), with David Kirschner, producer on the original movie, as exec producer.
Discovery Family is getting into the Halloween spirit with original movie A Witches’ Ball, starring Joey Fatone. premiering Saturday, October 14 at 9p. October 14 is also the new premiere date for new series Zak Storm. And the network also will air a Cake Boss Halloween special, Buddy’s Most Spooktaular Cakes, on Monday, October 30 at 9p, and will run Halloween eps of series including My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and Transformers Rescue Bots on Halloween day.
PBS Kids is serving up a treat of new Halloween-themed programming. Arthur and the Haunted Tree House premieres October 27; Odd Squad holiday program “Haunt Squad/Safe House in the Woods” is also on tap, as is the special Splash and Bubbles episode “Yuck or Treat/The Thing From Above the Reef,” premiering October 16. And a new Halloween ep, “Witches of Halloween Trouble,” marks the premiere of Cyberchase season 11 on Oct. 16.
Guru Studio secured a third-season pickup for Netflix original kids series True and the Rainbow Kingdom. Series is produced by Guru Studio in collaboration with Pharrell Williams’ artist collective FriendsWithYou and Home Plate Entertainment.
COMING UP
48 Hours kicks off its 30th anniversary season with a double feature tomorrow (September 30) on CBS. At 10p, Erin Moriarty investigates the case against Raynella Leath, a Tennessee woman with two dead husbands –who both died under strange circumstances – and the stunning outcome; at 9p correspondent James Brown tackles the impact of the O.J Simpson murder trial.
MTV unveiled another TRL guest for launch week—Lil Yachty, who’s set to perform live on Thursday, October 5…. In related news, pop singer Rita Ora will host and perform at the 2017 MTV EMAs live from London on Sunday, November 12.
E! bucks the Halloween trend next weekend (October 6-8) with a run of movies that are a romantic romp for the senses, including Fifty Shades of Grey, Dirty Dancing and Sex and the City 2.
DIGITAL DOINGS
CBS sealed a multiplatform syndication deal for Madam Secretary, which comes ahead of the drama series’ season 4 premiere October 8. As part of the mulit-pronged pact, WE tv acquired off-network rights beginning in 2018.
CARRIAGE & DISTRIBUTION
DirecTV launched RFD HD, the high-definition feed for RFD-TV, to all of its 18,000,000-plus satellite customers. The system-wide distribution makes the rural lifestyle network’s HD feed available now to nearly all of the 52 million homes reached by RFD-TV on DirecTV.
