PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
TV One is in the original movie business. The network announced production of original film Down For Whatever, the 2017 American Black Film Festival Screenplay-winning project written by Tim Folsome. Folsome will direct the project, starring LeToya Luckett (Greenleaf), Hosea Chanchez (The Game) Bre-Z (Empire) and Imani Hakim (Everybody Hates Chris) and slated to premiere at the 2018 ABFF in June and on TV One in July. The film is produced for TV One by Eric Tomosunas, Keith Neal, James Seppelfrick and Darien Baldwin for Swirl Films.
Literary manager and producer Sharlene Martin and her crime writer-focused Martin Literary & Media Management signed exclusively with ITV America. The deal sets development for unscripted projects based on the literary works of Martin’s clients, including best-selling authors Anthony Flacco, who penned Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six, currently in development as a feature for Warner Bros. with Clint Eastwood to direct. Martin also reps Shanna Hogan (Pictures Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story) and Andy Caldwell, whose book Room 1203: O.J. Simpson’s Las Vegas Conviction was the basis for September’s ITV America/Martin collaboration O.J.: Guilty in Vegas.
Tick tock. Fox is reportedly developing a new iteration of 24. The reboot of the Emmy-winning series would take the real-time format of the original show and apply it in the criminal justice realm. It also would have a female lead. The project is from 24 exec-producer Howard Gordon and Imagine’s Brian Grazer, and former The Killing writer-producer Jeremy Doner. It hails from production companies 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV.
Marvel’s New Warriors have stopped in their tracks. The 10-ep series, which Freeform gave a straight-to-series order to in April, is not moving forward at the network and will be shopped elsewhere.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
CBS’ Matt LeBlanc-starring comedy series Man With a Plan will return for its second season Monday, November 13 at 8:30p. Additionally, freshman comedy 9JKL moves to a 9:30p timeslot on November 6, replacing Me, Myself & I, which will return to the schedule at a later date.
Casey Webb returns for the second season of Man v. Food, with back-to-back episodes on Travel Channel beginning Monday, December 4 at 9p.
Into the Amazon, the story of the 1914 journey taken by President Theodore Roosevelt and legendary Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon, will open the 30th season of American Experience on Tuesday, January 9 on PBS.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, the second installment of the acclaimed FX limited series, will premiere on Wednesday, January 17 at 10p.
COMING UP
Xscape: Still Kickin’ It premieres on Bravo on Sunday, November 5 at 9p. Four-part special follows Kandi Burruss, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, LaTocha Scott and Tamika Scott, the four original members of the multiplatinum 90s girl group, as they return to the stage after nearly 20 years apart.
Bravo Media’s The Real Housewives of Dallas delivers a two-part reunion, Monday, November 6 and November 13 at 10p. Host Andy Cohen will sit down with the Housewives as they revisit this season’s most defining moments.
Syndicated series Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has a series of specialty weeks and celebrity contestants in store this month: November 6-10 is “Victories for Veterans week,” with contestants from the U.S. Armed Forces, followed by “Whiz Kids Week,” and then a series of guests including Cameron Mathison, Sherri Shepherd and Ben Higgins.
Outdoor Sportsman Group has some holiday-hunting-style programming in store. “Racksgiving” kicks off November 20-22 and November 24-25 featuring special eps from MeatEater (November 20, 8 –8:30p), McMillan, Rival Wild and more. Then, December 9 comes Coldest Hunts, featuring hunts, all in frigid temperatures. Caribou Christmas, airing December 23, features caribou hunts.
Syfy’s graphic novel adaptation of Happy! comes to life on Wednesday, December 6 at 10p carrying a TV-MA rating.
On Dasher and Dancer… Freeform offered some details on this year’s “25 Days of Christmas,” the programming event’s 21st outing. From December 1-25, the network will air continuous days of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family; new this year are specials Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic, on December 18, and a holiday special of forthcoming unscripted series Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings: Holiday Magic on December 11.
Music Choice is kicking off the holiday season with its most robust-ever holiday offering, beginning November 1 and running through January 7, with new content being rolled out each week across Music Channels, On Demand, and the Music Choice App. Highlights include the Sounds of the Season, Holiday Hits and Yule Video Log channels. A sprinkling of holiday music also will air on additional music channels starting December 1.
Up TV will light up its annual Christmas festivities beginning with 50 days of holiday programming that comprises seven U.S. premiere movies and a “Gilmore the Merrier” binge-a-thon of all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls that begins November 23. The holiday action kicks off Sunday, November 5, with the premiere movie Second Chance Christmas.
SOCIAL GOOD
Investigation Discovery’s fifth annual Inspire a Difference honors, cohosted by People, will recognize Padma Lakshmi, Julianna Margulies, Alonzo Mourning and Gabrielle Union, as well as their charity partners tonight (November 2). As part of the event, ID will air a programming marathon featuring episodes that address issues such as violence against women, domestic abuse, social and civil rights, mental health, bullying and sexual assault on Sunday, November 5 from 4-11p, including the season 5 finale of Deadline: Crime With Tamron Hall and a new ep of On the Case with Paula Zahn.
CARRIAGE & DISTRIBUTION
Nexstar, Mission and White Knight, along with new partners Shield Media, Tamer Media and Vaughan Media, have agreed to add the networks Bounce, Escape, Grit and Laff on 43 more channels. They’ve also renewed affiliation agreements for 21 current stations with all affiliations extending well into the next decade. Once the new launches are in place, Katz networks will be available on more than 200 channels from these broadcasters across the country.
The new multi-year agreements cover 52 stations in 41 markets that are now owned or programmed by Nexstar following its acquisition of Media General in January 2017.
