| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
CBS is developing “Five Point,” a drama from “FBI” co-creator Craig Turk and Muse Entertainment. Co-written by Turk and Ryan Hooper, series follows the action after a legendary US marshal goes missing and his daughter steps in as head of the service’s most elite team. Turk exec-produces with Hooper.
CBS also renewed freshman drama “CSI: Vegas” for a second season to premiere during the 2022-23 season. Series star William Petersen won’t be back in his on-screen role for season 2 but will remain an exec producer. It’s TBD whether co-star Jorja Fox will reprise her role.
Alison Bennett and Melvin Mar, the duo behind “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” are setting up their new workplace comedy “XYZ” at ABC. The series, about a Gen Z, a millennial, and a Gen X woman who work together in the marketing department of a corporation, is housed at 20th Television, where Bennett is under an overall deal.
The film and TV arm of Quality Control, the record label hip-hop artists including Lil Yachty and Migos call home, formed an unscripted TV partnership with Critical Content., the studio behind shows including “Catfish and “Celebrity Game Face.” The companies will jointly develop unscripted series for Quality Control artists and athletes the company represents.
Apple TV+ is enhancing its music documentary slate with “The Sound of 007,” a project that unpacks the music of the legendary movie franchise. Feature will dive into the history of six decades of James Bond music and is set to debut to mark the film series’ 60th anniversary in October 2022.
Eva Longoria is traveling to CNN+ as the network expands on its original series “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” with “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico.” Six-part series is produced by RAW, which is also behind the Tucci project, and will spotlight Longoria as she traverses Mexico exploring one of the most popular, and arguably misunderstood, global cuisines. CNN+ is set to launch in Q1 2022.
Netflix also has Mexico on its mind and in its belly. The streamer ordered “Heavenly Bites” (“La Divina Gula”) from Vice Studios, which just appointed “Last One Laughing: Mexico” exec producer Edgar Jaramillo as senior director of unscripted for the region. Six-part food series will dive deep into cuisine from various Mexican regions. It’s directed by Juan Marquez, an alum of Mexico City’s prestigious Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica.
HBO Documentary Films’ “Music Box” will be back on HBO for a second season. Upcoming edition will continue to explore essential moments in music for an artist or band, an album or the music industry as a whole, with each film helmed by a different director. Season 1 of “Music Box” debuted in July 2021 with “Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage and concludes with “Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss” today (December 16).
Also at HBO, “Perry Mason” named the directors for season 2 of the classic drama series reboot. Fernando Coimbra (“Narcos”), Jessica Lowery (“Heels”), Marialy Rivas (“La Jauría”) and Nina Lopez-Corrado (“A Million Little Things”) each will direct two episodes of the Matthew Rhys-starring series.
The “Goonies-inspired” film drama has landed at Disney+. The project, originally housed at Fox, is now known as “Our Time” and hails from Sarah Watson and the Gail Berman-run SideCar, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin, and Warner Bros. In its original incarnation, project follows Stella Cooper as she returns to her distressed automotive hometown to substitute teach and help film students who want to create a shot-for-shot remake of their favorite film, “The Goonies.”
“The Witchverse,” an animated anthology series celebrating the international cultural phenomena of witches and their magic based on Baobab Studios’ Emmy-winning VR experience and animated short film “Baba Yaga,” is taking flight at Disney. Disney Television Animation is overseeing development of the project, exec-produced by Eric Darnell, writer/director of “Baba Yaga” and “Madagascar” among films, and Baobab’s co-founder and chief creative officer.
Also at the House of Mouse, a green light for a sixth season of summer camp comedy “Bunk’d.” The new installment of the show, which recently celebrated its 100th episode, will have a wild west theme and will premiere on Disney Channel in 2022.
Paramount+ handed a season 3 renewal to “Why Women Kill,” the anthology series from “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry, Imagine Television Studios and CBS Studios.
AMC Network’s Shudder set “Brooklyn 45,” a supernatural thriller written and directed by Ted Geoghegan (“We Are Still Here”) as its latest commission. The streaming service will premiere the film, set on a night December 1945 as five military veterans gather together in an ornate Brooklyn brownstone, in 2022. Geoghegan penned the screenplay with assistance from his late father, a disabled Air Force Veteran-turned-history teacher.
Andrew Nunnelly is adapting “The Lost Voices From The Titanic: The Definitive Oral History” as a limited series titled “Dead Reckoning.” The “Chambers” producer is basing his thriller set in the aftermath of the great ship’s sinking on the nonfiction book by Dr. Nicholas Barratt, for Sreda Global. The project combines horror and supernatural elements with a never-told story revealing what really sunk the ship, and the haunting details that defy explanation to this day. Nunnelly will pen the script; the search is on for a director.
NEW + RETURNING SERIES
“Cookin’ With Brooklyn,” featuring Brooklyn Beckham preparing a variety of dishes and exploring culturally packed cuisine, premieres this week on Facebook Messenger and Instagram. The project, from Beckham and Wheelhouse DNA, will debut new eps every Wednesday.
HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” caps another season with a roundtable review of this year’s most memorable moments from the show on Tuesday, December 21 at 10p.
“Slugfest,” the docuseries that dives into the rivalry between comic book companies Marvel and DC, will debut on Roku Friday, December 24. The streamer unleashed a trailer for the 10-episode series, exec-produced by the Russo Brothers is narrated by Kevin Smith. Originally commissioned by Quibi in November 2019, “Slugfest” initially was set to launch on Jeffrey Katzenberg’s short-lived short-form service. It’s inspired by Reed Tucker’s book “Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle Between Marvel and DC.”
Season 2 of Netflix’s “Crime Scene” anthology series, the three-part “The Times Square Killer,” debuts Wednesday, December 29. Filmmaker Joe Berlinger returns to direct and exec-produce the new season, which begins as firemen respond to a call at a seedy hotel in the middle of Times Square in December 1979.
Apple TV+ dropped a trailer and announced the premiere date for “El Deafo,” a three-part animated family series based on the graphic memoir. All episodes of the show, which follows an insightful young woman Cece as she loses her hearing and finds her inner superhero, will debut on Friday, January 7. Protagonist Cece is voiced by Lexi Finigan, who is also deaf. Series features a new original song by indie artist Waxahatchee.
Alex Warren, co-founder of TikTok’s “The Hype House,” stars in Netflix series “Hype House,” set to debut January 7. Series also features Larry Merrit, Lil Huddy, Thomas Petrou, Vinnie Hacker and Kouvr Annon.
Six luxury real estate brokers showcase megamillion-dollar listings and lifestyles in new Discovery+ series “Selling the Hamptons.” Eight-ep series, available to stream Thursday, January 20, captures the 2021 real estate selling season characterized by record-breaking sales and agents jockeying for top listings.
Exploring nature, ecology, science and tech, wildlife adventurer Patrick Aryee sets out to bring humanity’s future into focus in “Evolve,” a six-part docuseries debuting January 27 on Curiosity Stream. Filmed on four continents, series probes how humanity can solve many of the fundamental issues facing us today by “mimicking” the innovations found in nature.
Anthology drama “State of the Union” returns with a second installment of Monday, February 14 at 10p on SundanceTV, Sundance Now and AMC+. Starring Brendan Gleeson (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Patricia Clarkson (“Sharp Objects”) and Esco Jouley (“High Maintenance”), short-form series will unfolds across 10 eps, each 10 minutes in length, during 10 nights starting. Writer/director duo Nick Hornby (“Brooklyn,” “An Education”) and Stephen Frears (“The Queen,” “A Very English Scandal”) return to explore relationships and the human experience.
Hulu unveiled a first look at “The Dropout,” its limited series starring Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews, slated to debut Thursday, March 3. Story is billed as a tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong.
COMING UP
A trailer is out for “Beanie Mania,” a doc about the ‘90s Beanie Babies craze that debuts Thursday, December 23 on HBO Max. Film looks at both the collecting craze around the stuffed toys created by Ty Warner, and how it spawned an unprecedented investment bubble and a frenzy of American greed.
Holiday fare headed to PBS this season includes “Christmas at Belmont,” debuting Monday, December 20 at 9p and featuring alumnus country/gospel singer Josh Turner and Belmont University students in concert. “Call The Midwife Holiday Special” premieres Saturday, December 25, at 9p, as Lucille and Cyril prepare for their wedding while the Nonnatus House team are faced with their busiest Christmas Day ever.
The dynamic duo of Anderson Cooperand Andy Cohen are returning to co-host “CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live” for the fifth consecutive year, beginning at 8p. The hosts will then hand the mic to the net’s Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota, and comedian Dulce Sloan, at 12:30a.
HBO Max revealed official key art for “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” its retrospective special set to premiere on Saturday, January 1. Special reunites Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and other cast members and filmmakers across all eight Harry Potter films for the first time to celebrate the anniversary of the franchise’s first film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network will debut three new episodes of OWN Spotlight series “Speak Sis” as part of a two-night programming event January 4-5. New conversations on physical, financial, and sexual & relationship health will feature guests Kym Whitley, Tia Mowry, Garcelle Beauvais, and author Bevy Smith.
Alyssa Milano stars as a prominent mystery writer crime expert who ignores warnings and gets involved in the case when her sister is murdered in “Brazen,” which premieres Thursday, January 13 on Netflix.
STREAMING SNIPPETS
Indian streaming platform ZEE5 Global, which specializes in South Asian content, inked a multishow deal with Applause Entertainment that will see Applause create multiple Hindi shows for the streamer. A dramedy is already in the works as the first project under the agreement.
Canela.TV, the AVOD streaming service geared for the US Hispanic audience, is joining Xumo’s growing roster of more than 200 channels.
TECH TALK
Creators have received more than $250 million in payouts from Snap Inc.’s Spotlight monetization program, which the social platform introduced last November. Snap says since the program’s debut, creators are posting three times as often, with 65 percent of submissions using one of Snapchat’s creative tools.
Polaris, the Black-owned television, digital and social media platform, is launching an ad-supported streaming TV channel on Vizio’s SmartCast platform. Polaris aims to uncover and share stories created by BIPOC creators and authentically share hip-hop and Black culture with the world.
Disney+ updated its Apple app suite, adding support for Apple’s SharePlay feature that enables subscribers to watch content with friends and family while connected via FaceTime. Disney+ subscribers with an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV can watch content together with up to 32 other subscribers to the streaming service.
Rachel Brosnahan and her Scrap Paper Pictureswill exec-produce scripted Audible original “The Miranda Obsession,” a drama inspired by the true story of Hollywood enigma Miranda Grosvenor. The “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star also toplines as Grovsner in the Vice Studios and Wingate Media project.She’ll be joined by a cast including Milo Ventimiglia, Josh Groban and John Benjamin Hickey.
Insight TV this week is launching Insight TV 4K across Comcast’s entertainment platforms. The service, which is accessible by saying “Insight TV 4K” into each device’s voice remote, will feature some of Insight TV’s most popular titles including “Close Proximity,” “Epic Exploring” and “King of the Hammers.”
CASTING
John Patrick Amedori (“Dear White People”) is set as a series regular opposite Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise and Gabrielle Creevy in Showtime drama “Three Women.”
GOING GLOBAL
The BBC will pump $4 million into Screen Scotland via a renewed a partnership that will further boost the Scottish TV industry during the next three years. The partnership will support the production of an array of TV drama, entertainment, scripted comedy, documentary and factual projects on the BBC’s TV services from Scotland as the two entities work to meet the BBC’s commitment to invest 8 percent of its programming spend in Scotland.
ITV commissioned a second season of “The Masked Dancer” for Argonon indie Bandicoot Scotland. The order for the eight-sp South Korean spinoff format comes as ITV preps to air the third run of “The Masked Singer UK.”
|
