Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Hap and Leonard has been given a third season order by SundanceTV. (The Hollywood Reporter)

FOX has officially canceled the baseball-themed drama Pitch after only one season. (Variety)

Hulu has given The Handmaid’s Tale a second season renewal. (Variety)

Emerald City has been official canceled by NBC after only one season. (Variety)

Netflix has given a second season renewal to the streaming series 13 Reasons Why. (Variety)

EARLY UPFRONT ANNOUNCEMENTS

NBC has given season orders to the network’s first two 2017-2018 pilots: For God and Country and Rise. For God and Country will look into the complex world of the country’s bravest military heroes who make personal sacrifices while executing the most challenging and dangerous missions behind enemy lines. The cast includes Anne Heche (Men in Trees and Aftermath), Demetrius Grosse (Justified and Game of Silence), Mike Vogel (Under the Dome) and Tate Ellington (Quantico). Rise is inspired by the true story of high school drama teacher Lou Volpe, centering around the incredible students who come alive under a passionate teacher and family man whose dedication to the program galvanizes the entire town, starring Auli’i Cravalho (the voice of Moana), Rosie Perez and Marley Shelton (The Lottery). (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Will Chase (Nashville and Smash) will be joining the cast of the second season of the Netflix streaming series Stranger Things. He will play Neil Mayfield, the father of a family of recent transplants to Hawkins Indiana from California. The series is slated to return on October 31. (TV Line)

DETAILS ON NEW DRAMAS

Syfy has picked-up the paranormal action series Ghost Wars for a 13-episode debut season that will be set in a remote Alaskan town that has been overrun by paranormal forces, focusing on local outcast Roman Mercer (Avan Jogia from Twisted and the mini-series Tut) who must overcome the town’s prejudices and his own personal demons if he’s to harness his repressed psychic powers and save everyone from the mass haunting that’s threatening to destroy them all. The cast will include Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil), Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy) and Kristin Lehman (Motive). The show will debut later this year. (Deadline)

Hulu has picked up two drama series: Marvel’s Runaways and The First. Runaways tells the story of six diverse teenagers who can barely stand one another, but must unite against a common foe: their parents. The First explores the challenges of taking the first steps toward interplanetary colonization in the near future. The series will go into production later this year for a premiere on Hulu in 2018. (Deadline)

Actress Kristin Kreuk (Smallville and Beauty And the Beast) will star in the untitled small-town legal drama that will debut on the Canadian Broadcasting Company (and will perhaps air here in the States) that centers on Joanne, a fast-rising attorney who leaves her fancy big-city corporate job to tackle a controversial case in her hometown; and she ends up staying put. (TV Line)

MINI-SERIES NEWS

PBS will adapt the classic Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women into a three-part mini-series. (TV Line)

Starz will air a four-hour mini-series small-screen adaptation of the classic E.M. Forster novel Howards End sometime next year, starring Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) and Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street). (TV Line)

TRAILERS

Marvel’s The Defenders

The Dark Tower

Teen Wolf Final Season Teaser

That’s it. Enjoy!