Today’s Finales
ID: Suspicious Minds at 9p
Science Channel: Phantom Signals at 10p

CBS News nabbed the first interviews with Barack Obama tied to his memoir, which is set to be released November 17. Gayle King will interview the former president for “CBS Sunday Morning,” while Scott Pelley does the honors for “60 Minutes.”

Netflix renewed Darren Star series “Emily in Paris” for season two. The announcement was made via a “memo” from Emily’s fictional boss, Sylvie: “We hope that by extending her time in Paris, Emily will further the relationships she has already made, delve deeper into our culture, and perhaps pick up a few words of basic French.”

Also landing a season two order was Fox’s “Lego Masters,” with host/executive producer Will Arnett. “I’m looking forward to getting back to the fun with this next block of shows,” said Arnett. “To say that these Lego puns write themselves takes away from the work I’ve done over the last two and a half minutes.”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA are sending four astronauts to the International Space Station via the Falcon 9 rocket, and Discovery and Science Channel will carry the launch live, beginning Saturday, November 14 at 3p. “We are thrilled to once again have such incredible access that can only be found on Discovery and Science Channel,” said Scott Lewers, EVP Multiplatform Programming, Factual & Head of Content at Science Channel. “For this moment of international unity and hope, we will bring our viewers together to witness a spectacular celebration of space exploration.” The first SpaceX/NASA launch aired on the network sibs in May.

Gain exclusive insights from executives at News12, Canvas & NY Interconnect today during our 30-min webinar at 2pm ET focused on how to harness the power of local news. Can’t make it? No biggie, you can register now and view it on-demand at your leisure. Register here.

WPP has merged its digital agency AKQA and creative agency network Grey to form AKQA Group, led by AKQA founder Ajaz Ahmed as CEO, and Grey Worldwide CEO Michael Houston as Global President and Chief Operating Officer. The AKQA and Grey brands will eventually be integrated into a single company. “Our clients want outstanding creativity, powered by technology expertise and delivered at a global scale,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP. “This new company is designed precisely to meet those needs and is another important step forward in building our future-facing offer for clients.”

NBCUniversal’s Advertising & Partnership division and Comcast Military & Veteran Affairs have created a Veterans Residency Program designed for mid-to-senior level veterans, in addition to the dedicated two spots Comcast NBCU has set aside for veterans within their entry level NBCU Ad Sales Associates program. The new Residency program is part of Comcast NBCUniversal’s larger, more inclusive talent strategy and their broader commitment to the military community, which includes the company’s pledge to on-board 21,000 veterans, military spouses, National Guard and reserve members as well as various other established initiatives.

“United States of Al” landed a series order from CBS. The comedy, from Chuck Lorre, David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari, focuses on the friendship between a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to live in Ohio, and an interpreter who served with his unit Afghanistan. “Once again, Chuck, his talented writing team of Maria and David, and an amazing cast brings us a heartfelt and touching comedy that honestly and respectfully reflects the experiences and challenges our veterans deal with upon returning home, and the deep bonds they develop with those serving alongside them,” said Thom Sherman, Sr. EVP, Programming, CBS Entertainment. “’The United States Of Al’ holds up a mirror to ourselves in a unique way by taking a look at American culture through the eyes of an immigrant who is experiencing it all for the very first time.”

Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein, founders of social media phenomenon “Cheap Old House,” will star in an eight-episode HGTV series of the same name slated to premiere in summer 2021. The couple’s Instagram feed racks up views with images of property bargains that are architecturally intact and available for under $150,000. “When HGTV fans told us we needed a show with Ethan and Elizabeth, we listened because we understand how easy it is to fall into the rabbit hole of hunting for cheap old houses,” said Loren Ruch, Group SVP, Programming and Development, HGTV. “Everyone will be astounded by the incredible, inexpensive property treasures that Ethan and Elizabeth find.”

Filming for season 13 of “Doctor Who” is now underway, with Jodie Whittaker reprising her role as the Doctor. “In this strangest of years, the ‘Doctor Who’ production team have worked wonders to get the show back into production,” said showrunner Chris Chibnall. “With new and rigorous COVID working protocols, it’s going to take us a little longer to film each episode, meaning we expect to end up with eight episodes, rather than the usual 11. But rest assured, the ambition, humor, fun and scares you expect from ‘Doctor Who’ will all still be firmly in place.”

Who are you to judge? Actually, you might just the person we’re looking for to join this year’s judging panel for the upcoming Cynopsis Best of the Best Awards. The entry deadline is fast approaching and we will need help identifying the industry’s best work of the year. If interested in joining the panel, please fill out this brief application and we will notify you if you are selected.

Animation and licensing industry veteran Marc Harrington announced the launch of Lucky Helmet, focused on assisting creators, producers, and other intellectual property owners, with commercialization strategies on existing brands as well as with the development of new content-based franchises. “The landscape, for kids’ content especially, has changed dramatically in the past few years; discoverability has become a huge challenge,” said Harrington. “Property owners cannot depend on distribution partners to build their brand, and while retail will surely return in force, rights holders are going to need to take more responsibility than ever before for attracting consumers directly, and for engaging with fans.”

Nat Geo greenlit season two of “The Hot Zone,” its highest-rated scripted series to date. From Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson return as executive producers and showrunners for the next installment, which will focus on the anthrax attacks of 2001.

Netflix ordered “The Netflix After Party,” a weekly comedy aftershow hosted by David Spade, Fortune Feimster and London Hughes, from Free 90 Media. Each episode will be dedicated to a buzzy Netflix movie or TV show. “The Netflix After Party” is not to be confused with…

Apple TV+ murder mystery/comedy “After Party,” the eight-part series set at a reunion after party. Cast members include Tiffany Haddish (“Like a Boss”), Sam Richardson (“Veep”), Zoe Chao (“Downhill”), Ben Schwartz (“Space Force”), Ike Barinholtz (“The Mindy Project”) and Ilana Glazer (“Broad City”), among others.

In more casting news: HBO Max action/comedy “Peacemaker,” a prequel to “Suicide Squad” starring John Cena, has added Danielle Brooks (“Orange Is the New Black”), Robert Patrick (“Perry Mason”), Jennifer Holland (“American Horror Story”), who will reprise her role of Emilia Harcourt from “The Suicide Squad” film, and Chris Conrad (“Patriot”)…Adam Goldberg (“God Friended Me”) has joined Queen Latifah in CBS’s “The Equalizer” reboot.

It’s going to be a creepy couple of months on Travel Channel. “Dark Tales with Don Wildman” premieres Monday, November 30 at 10p. The miniseries offers “twisted tales of the paranormal.” And on Saturday, December 5 at 9p comes new series “Most Terrifying with Jason Hawes,” uncovering horrifying haunts.

BuzzFeed is teaming up with Instagram for a first-of-its kind IGTV social series, “BuzzFeed’s Show Off,” premiering November 18 at 7a on the BuzzFeed Instagram. The 8-episode series featuring the digital media company’s brands and personalities will center on eight rising content creators competing for the opportunity to star in a video alongside their BuzzFeed idols.

Business technology company Deluxe has launched season 5 of “Small Business Revolution.” This go-round focuses on small businesses in Fredonia, New York, led by series creator and host Amanda Brinkman, along with cohost Ty Pennington (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”). Episodes are streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.

The Astronauts, the debut series from Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Kids & Family, is slated to blast off on Nickelodeon Friday, November 13 at 7p. The action follows a group of kids who sneak onto a spaceship and accidentally initiate a launch sequence—with no adults onboard. Imagine’s Howard talks about about the live-action show’s aesthetic—think Apollo 13, not SpongeBob— and what it’s been like creating during Covid, in Cynsiders.

TECH TALK

Beijing-based ByteDance has turned to the federal appeals court to request a 30-day extension to today’s deadline, imposed by President Trump, to find a new owner for TikTok. The company said it is looking to “defend our rights and those of our more than 1.500 employees in the US,” and disagrees with the assessment that TikTok poses a threat to national security.

Twitter released an update to its Carousel ads aimed at driving web traffic and app installs, with between two to six horizontally swipeable images or videos. Advertisers can create the Carousel ads via Tweet Composer in Ads Manager, or via the Ads API, which are available to use organically or promoted.

Canoe Ventures announced its first multi-distributor, linear addressable TV campaign has been launched as part of the On Addressability initiative, founded by Comcast Advertising, Cox Media and Charter’s Spectrum Reach. “AMC is the first national cable network to run multiple ads in a single avail across multiple distributors, using aggregated and deidentified data,” said David Kline, EVP at Charter Communications, and President of Spectrum Reach. “We are excited to help make our network partners’ avails more valuable through On Addressability by allowing them to send more relevant creative, at scale, to households that are most likely to act on it, and therefore make TV more competitive with digital alternatives.”

Beachfront, the convergent TV ad platform, announced details of its work with Canoe. Agencies, brands and demand-side platforms who utilize Beachfront can access and purchase premium VOD ad inventory from TV networks that plays out across Canoe’s 38 million household MVPD VOD footprint. “Unlocking VOD inventory to a new class of ad buyers helps ensure networks get the most value out of their programming, which is particularly helpful at a time when on-demand viewing is on the rise,” said Canoe CRO Ed Knudson

STREAMING

VENN, the live streaming network for gaming and entertainment, announced a new syndication deal for its content. Under the non-exclusive partnership, clips from VENN’s various series will be shared on MSN ESports, a new part of Microsoft’s global content ecosystem. “We are looking forward to providing exclusive content that helps power the exciting new MSN ESports hub, while at the same time continuing our goal of expanding VENN’s footprint through top tier syndication and distribution partners,” said Ben Kusin, VENN’s Co-founder and Co-CEO.

COMING UP

“Jimmy Carter, Rock & Roll President” makes its TV premiere on CNN on Sunday, January 3 at 9p. The film explores how the 39th President of the United States formed bonds with artists Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Rosanne Cash, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Nile Rodgers, and others, and how his love of music has been an asset for his life and career.

Holiday special “A Holly Dolly Christmas” will feature faith-filled hymns and holiday classics performed by Dolly Parton, on Sunday, December 6 at 8:3p on CBS. “When Dolly Parton calls and tells you she wants to do a Christmas show, you don’t hesitate,” said Jack Sussman, EVP, Specials, Music & Live Events/Alternative & Reality for CBS. “A special with the multi-Grammy Award-winning, prolific song-writing, epic live performer of all time? She had us at hello.”

Jeff Dunham is back for more laughs at Comedy Central. The stand-up comic, whose specials rank as the top three among total viewers on the net, has signed on for three more. The first, “Jeff Dunham’s Completely Unrehearsed Last-Minute Pandemic Holiday Special,” premieres Friday, November 27 at 8p.

In a continuation of its partnership with bestselling author James Patterson, who is drawing on true stories from ID’s library of content as inspiration for three book releases, ID will air a stack of programming tied to the release on Tuesday, November 17, of “Murder of Innocence.” The programming will air from 9p-12a on Saturday, November 14.

Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”) will host the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards along with Carlos Rivera and TV host Ana Brenda. The show airs Thursday, November 19 at 8p on Univision.

Two videos to watch for on Vevo: Billie Eilish “Therefore I Am,” out today, November 12, and Lil Nas X “Holiday,” out tomorrow.

“Godmothered,” a Christmas comedy starring Isla Fisher (“Wedding Crashers”) and Jillian Bell (“Brittany Runs a Marathon,”), will debut exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, December 4. The film focuses on Eleanor, a young, inexperienced fairy godmother-in-training, who upon hearing that her chosen profession is facing extinction, decides to show the world that people still need fairy godmothers.

The 18th annual “WWE Tribute to the Troops” will air on Fox on Sunday, December 6, adjacent to Sunday’s regional NFL broadcasts. The event will take place inside the WWE ThunderDome, and include servicemen and women and their families from Marine Corps Air Station New River, US Army Post Fort Hood, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), Naval Air Station Fallon and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. “Supporting the United States military year-round is an essential part of Fox Sports’ mission, and partnering with WWE on their ‘Tribute to the Troops’ is an incredible extension of this ongoing commitment,” said Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer, FOX Sports.

GOING GLOBAL

Red Arrow Studios International’s thriller “Dignity” will be available on Amazon Prime Video for pan-Latin American subscribers beginning on November 13, concurrent with the premiere of the series on the co-commissioning broadcaster MEGA in Chile.

Omar Sharif Jr. (“The Secret Scripture”) is joining the season three cast of Israeli series “The Baker and the Beauty.” Sharif is the grandson of Omar Sharif.

Groundbreaking campaigns
Enthralling series
Social good initiatives
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ENTER BY 11/19

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the first production collaboration between Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling? The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967-69). Kudos to: Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
What is the middle name of Michael Scott on “The Office” (2005-2013)? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)