Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWAL

EPIX has given the thriller series From a second season renewal. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Grey’s Anatomy will welcome Jesse Williams back as Jackson and April in the long-running drama’s season finale set to air on May 26. (TV Line and Deadline)

Emily VanCamp will return to The Resident for the drama’s upcoming season finale. She will appear in several flashbacks set for the final episode set to air on FOX on May 17. (TV Line)

Idirs Elba will star in and executive produce the 7-part Apple TV+ thriller Hijack. He will play accomplished business negotiator Sam Nelson, whose fast-talking skills are called upon when a plane he is riding is hijacked. (Variety)

Matt Bomer will star in the Showtime8-episode limited series Fellow Travelers that is based on the novel by Thomas Mallon. Bomer will play handsome, charismatic Hawkins Fuller, who maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the scenes career in politics. Hawkins avoids emotional entanglements – until he meets Tim Laughlin, a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith. They begin a romance just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” initiating one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history. (Variety)

John Slattery has joined the cast of season 6 of The Good Fight on Paramount+. (The Hollywood Reporter)

ANOTHER ONE JUMPING SHIP

In a VERY surprising move, Hallmark “Queen” Candace Cameron Bure is moving to GAC Family where she signed on with that network to develop, produce and star in movies and TV. It would appear she will no longer appear in anything at Hallmark, including her long-running Aurora Teagarden Mysteries movies. (TV Line and Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Taylor Cole has signed an exclusive multi-picture deal with Hallmark Channel. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jason Momoa is in negotiations to star in the live-ction adaptation of Minecraft based on the popular video game, which allows players to use blocks to create structures and worlds. The game became a sensation, reaching 100 million users just a few years after launch. (The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad) is to create a suite of shows for Paramount+ outside the US. She will create, develop and produce scripted and documentary programs that will focus on equality, climate and health. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

When season two of The Gilded Age happens, actor Thomas Cocquerel (Tom Raikes) will not be returning. (TV Line and Deadline)

Teri Polo (The Fosters) will appear in a recurring role on NCIS. She will play Vivian Kolchak, the ex-wife of Alden Parker (Gary Cole) and former FBI agent, who left the FBI following their divorce and took a Defense Department job as a paranormal investigator. (Deadline)

Disney+ will air an eight-episode limited drama called A Small Light that will tell the true story of Miep Gies (Bel Powley from The Morning Show), who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis. A 20-something secretary Miep didn’t hesitate when her boss Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber from Ray Donovan) asked her to hide him and his family during World War II. For the next two years, Miep, her husband Jan (Joe Cole from Gangs of London) and several other everyday heroes watched over the eight souls hiding in the secret annex. It was Miep who found Anne’s diary and preserved it so that she and Otto could later share it with the world. (Variety)

Long-time The Flash cast member Jesse L. Martin is ending his run as a series regular on the show. He will, reportedly, appear in multiple episodes of season 9 that will air next season. (TV Line)

Elijah Kelley (2007’s Hairspray) will play Sammy Davis Jr. in the long-gestating biographical Hulu series about the legendary singer. The untitled eight-episode series will explore Davis’ life through the lens of his racial identity and his complex relationship with the Black community. (Variety)

New cast members for season 3 of The Witcher have been announced. Robbie Amell (Upload) will play Gallatin, a born fighter, who leads an army of guerrilla Scoia’tael fighting on behalf of Nilfgaard. Meng’er Zhang (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will play as Milva, a human adopted by the dryads of Brokilon Forest. Hugh Skinner (Harlots and Fleabag) will play Prince Radovid, a royal playboy and younger brother to King Vizimir. And newcomer Christelle Elwin will play Mistle, a member of The Rats, a gang of misfit teenagers who steal from the rich and give to themselves – and sometimes the poor. (TV Line)

Young actor Walker Scobell (The Adam Project) has landed the lead role in the small screen adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians at Disney+. The live-action show will tell the fantastical tale of the titular 12-year-old modern demigod, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus. (Variety)

Justin Bartha will reprise his role as Riley Poole in the small screen adaptation of National Treasure that is coming to Disney+. (The Hollywood Reporter)

SERIES PICK-UP

Netflix has given a series order to the drama Glamorous [which was previously set as a pilot at The CW]. The 10-episode series will star Miss Benny (Fuller House, Love, Victor and American Horror Stories), a non-binary performer born in Dallas. The show will tell the story of Marco Mejia, a young gender non-conforming queer man whose life seems to be stuck in place until he lands a job working for legendary makeup mogul Madolyn Addison. It’s Marco’s first chance to figure out what he wants out of life, who he actually is, and what it really means for him to be queer. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Grammy winner Jon Batiste will be adding acting to his resume. He has joined the cast of the upcoming latest adaptation of The Color Purple. He will play Grady, husband to Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson). (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Andrew Walker has signed an exclusive multi-picture deal with Crown Media Family Networks, the folks behind the Hallmark Channel and its franchise networks. (Deadline)

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries has released information on one of its new upcoming made-for-TV movies. Color My World With Love will chronicle the romantic story of a woman named Kendall (Lily D. Moore from Netflix’s Never Have I Ever), a skilled painter who has Down syndrome, who meets Brad (David DeSanctis from the 2014 movie Where Hope Grows). Erica Durance (Smallville and Supergirl) will play her mother Emma and Benjamin Ayres (The Chronicle Mysteries franchise). (Today.com)

KJ Apa (Riverdale) and Isabel May (1883) have landed the alien sibling lead roles in The Wonder Twins , a live-action DC comedy that will air on HBO Max. Apa will play Zan and May will play Jayna. The plotline of the movie is under wraps, but Jayna is known for her talent of transforming into an animal, while Zan is a shapeshifter of sorts. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Severence has been renewed by Apple TV+ for a second season. (TV Line)

FOX has renewed The Cleaning Lady for a second season. (TV Line)

Winning Time will be back for another season on HBO. (TV Line)

The Amazon dramedy With Love has been renewed for a second season. (Variety)

COMING TO AN END

Locke & Key will come to an end after its upcoming third season. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Maya Erskine (PEN15) will star opposite Donald Glover in the upcoming Amazon series Mr. and Mrs. Smith that will be based on the Doug Liman feature film. They will play rival spies that discover they have been contracted to assassinate each other. Erkskine takes over the role from Phoebe Waller-Bridge who left the series due to creative differences. (Variety)

Star Trek: The Next Generation alums LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn will reprise their roles in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard. (TV Line)

Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break and Hightown) and Nathan Owens (Devious Maids and Batwoman) will appear in upcoming episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star. Nolasco will play Morris, a fellow widower Tommy (series regular Gina Torres) meets in her grief group. He becomes Tommy’s first date since her husband’s death. Meanwhile, Owens will play Tommy’s brother-in-law Julius Vega, a musician with some gigs in Austin, who surprises Tommy by showing up to his nieces’ birthday party. (TV Line)

Tom Hiddleston (Loki and the Avengers franchise) will star in the Apple limited series The White Darkness that will be based on the nonfiction book by David Grann that is inspired by the true life account of Henry Worsley (Hiddleston), a devoted husband and father, a former soldier, a man of deep honor and sacrifice, but also a man deeply obsessed with adventure, manifesting in an epic journey crossing Antarctica on foot. (Variety)

Jessica Alba (L.A.’s Finest and Dark Angel) will star in the series Confessions on the 7:45, based on the book by Lisa Unger, that is currently in development at Netflix. It will be a psychological thriller about a working mom (Alba) who meets a stranger on a train as she is commuting home who upends her life. As her life unravels and betrayals are revealed, she questions whether we can ever truly know the people closest to us. (Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO Max is developing a series version of You Brought Me the Ocean, the young adult graphic novel that is focused on the origins of DC’s Aqualad. The live-action, one-hour dramedy will explore the life of Jackson “Jake” Hyde, a gay teenager living in New Mexico who has had a strange attraction to the water and yearns to escape his desert surroundings for the ocean. As he explores his abilities, including breathing under and controlling water, he also finds himself falling in love with his classmate, high school swim captain Kenny Liu. Charlize Theron will be one of the executive producers. (Variety)

TV NEWS

Jason Momoa will star in, write and executive produce the drama series Chief of War for Apple. The series will follow the story of the unification and colonization of Hawaii from an indigenous point of view. Apple has given the show an 8-episode order. (Variety)

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will be among the executive producers on the TV expansion of the Sherlock Holmes film universe. The potential shows would be set in the world of 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. No details about the characters the projects would focus on have been revealed yet. (Variety)

It looks like Orphan Black will be back with Orphan Black: Echoes, a new series set in the world of the original BBC America cult favorite. The 10-episode first season will be set in the near future, exploring the scientific manipulation of human existence. It will follow a group of women as they weave their way into each other’s lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unraveling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal. (TV Line)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Yet another Hallmark Channel star has signed an exclusive multi-picture overall deal. This time its actor Jonathan Bennett (who has appeared in The Christmas House franchise movies for the network). (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Captain Marvel star Brie Larson has joined the cast of Fast and Furious 10. (Variety)

Actress Elizabeth Marvel (The Dropout) has joined the cast of the upcoming musical movie adaptation of The Color Purple. She will play Miss Millie, the unpleasant and overbearing mayor’s wife who hires Sofia (Danielle Brooks) to be her maid. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

ABC has given renewals to both The Good Doctor and The Rookie. (TV Line)

Hallmark Channel has given Chesapeake Shores a sixth and final season renewal. (TV Line)

CBS has renewed NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS Hawaii for new seasons. (TV Line)

REBOOT PLANS

Netflix is moving forward with a reboot of the action-adventure Spy Kids movie franchise. The still-untitled movie will premiere on a yet-to-be-determined date. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Veteran actor Richard Gant (Greenleaf) will appear as Sam Hanna’s father on the 300th episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. (TV Line)

Ed Speleers (Outlander and Downton Abbey) has landed a series regular role on the upcoming 4th season of You on Netflix. He will play Rhys, an author whose memoir garnered him acclaim and pressure to launch a political career. Born into poverty, Rhys lived a traumatic early life before he came into money, going to Oxford and making all the right friends. Now, he moves easily in any social circle, while also seeing through those around him. (Yahoo Entertainment)

Ella Purnell (Sweetbriar and Yellowjackets) has landed the lead role in the upcoming Amazon series Fallout (based on the video game) that is set in a world where the future envisioned by Americans in the late 1940s explodes upon itself through a nuclear war in 2077. She joins previously announced Walton Goggins (Justified and The Unicorn). (Variety)

Rome Flynn (How to Get Away With Murder) is joining Grey’s Anatomy in the recurring role of Wendell Ndugu, the brother of Winston (Anthony Hill), a typical younger sibling with a mischievous sense of humor who he’s hoping to impress with his new sales rep role at a medical technology company. (Variety)

Victoria Pedretti (You and The Haunting of Hill House) will play the lead role in the upcoming Hulu drama Saint X based on the novel by Alexis Schaitkin and is described as a psychological drama told via multiple timelines and perspectives. It’s about how a young woman’s mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth. Pedretti will star as Emily, a sharp and ambitious woman whose carefully constructed, seemingly perfect life begins to crumble. The series has received an eight-episode order at Hulu. (Variety)

Joel Edgerton will star in the 9-episode Apple series Dark Matter, adapted from the Blake Crouch novel. The show will follow Jason Dessen (Edgerton), a physicist, professor, and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his life. (Variety)

Carrie Preston (True Blood and Claws) will return as socially-stunted attorney Elsbeth on The Good Fight for the show’s upcoming 6th season. (TV Line)

SEQUEL NEWS

Bridgerton is getting a Queen Charlotte-centric spin-off, that is as-yet untitled. It will focus on young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio from Sex Education) who arrives in London bethrothed to the king only to realize she was not exactly what the royals were expecting. Bridgerton cast members Golda Rosheuval (Queen Charlotte), Adjoa Andoh (Lady Agatha Danbury) and Ruth Gemmell (Lady Violet Bridgerton) will all reprise their roles along with Game of Thrones alum Michelle Fairley as Princess Augusta. (TV Line)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

The CW has given series renewals to the following dramas: All American, The Flash, Superman & Lois, Riverdale, Walker, Kung Fu and Nancy Drew. (TV Line)

HBO Max has given a second season renewal to And Just Like That. (TV Line)

BET has given season renewals to Tyler Perry’s Sistas’ and The Oval. (TV Line)

Netflix has pulled the plug on Archive 81 after only one season. (TV Line)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Hallmark has begun production of the first movie under its new Mahogany banner. The film, titled Unthinkably Good Things, will star Karen Pittman (Luke Cage and The Morning Show) and will air on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. The movie sees a woman named Allison (Pittman) at a crossroads in her career and love life, in need of the love and support of her two friends Melina (Joyful Drake) and Reesa (Erica Ash). When they visit her in Tuscany, the reunion causes each woman to reexamine the state of her own life and relationships. While they have different personalities and perspectives, they know each other’s truths and help to make life-changing decisions. Jermaine Love and Lance Gross also star. (Variety)

Actors Ian Bohen and Khylin Rhambo will be returning for the upcoming Teen Wolf revival movie. (Variety)

Holly Robinson Peete has signed a multi-picture deal that includes exclusivity on holiday movies with Crown Media Family Networks (aka Hallmark). (Deadline)

STAGE ADAPTATION

Award-winning movie CODA is going to be developed into a stage musical adaptation at Deaf West Theatre, which is based in Los Angeles. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actress-singer Mae Whitman (Good Girls) will play the female lead in Up Here, the upcoming Hulu musical romantic comedy series that will follow the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple, Lindsay and Miguel, as they fall in love and discover that the single greatest obstacle to finding happiness together might just be themselves – and the treacherous world of memories, obsessions, fears and fantasies that lives inside their heads. Whitman will play as Lindsay. (Deadline)

Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets and The Addams Family) will have a mystery role in the upcoming live-action Netflix small screen adaptation of The Addams Family entitled Wednesday. Jenna Ortega (Jane the Virgin and You) will play the title role. (Variety)

Betty Gilpin (GLOW) has landed the lead role in the upcoming Peacock drama Mrs. Davis that will be an exploration of faith vs. technology with Gilpin playing a nun who goes to battle against an all-powerful A.I. (Variety)

The Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters have cast John and Mary Winchester (the parents of Sam and Dean). Drake Rodger (The In Between) will play John and Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) will play Mary. (TV Line)

HBO is developing a 7-part series based on the critically acclaimed novel A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. The story will center on a rich widow, two tailors and a young student from vastly different parts of Indian society whose lives intersect in a tiny apartment — traverses the political landscape in India from the country’s independence in 1947 through to the 21-month state of emergency called by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi between 1975 and 1977. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

New Amsterdam will end after its fifth season. The show is currently in its fourth season on NBC. (TV Line)

TV SERIES ORDER

Amazon has picked up the series adaptation of Shelter by Harlan Coben. The YA thriller will star Jaden Michael (Colin in Black and White) as Mickey Bolitar as he navigates his new life with a mom in rehab, a dead father, an annoying aunt, and a new school in New Jersey with a camel as its mascot. When a creepy old lady who may or may not be a ghost tells Mickey that his father isn’t dead, Mickey is sure he’s losing his mind on top of everything. Mickey finds a grounding force in Ashley Kent, another new student who’s lived through her own tragedy. But then Ashley goes missing, and as Mickey searches for her, he learns that everything she told him was a lie—and that he is in serious danger unless he gets to the bottom of what happened to her and his father. Mickey’s search thrusts him into a world of conspiracy, lies, and the darkest aspects of humanity. (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Hallmark veteran Brennan Elliott has signed an exclusive multi-picture deal with the folks over at Hallmark Channel. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Veteran actor Frankie Faison (The Wire) has joined the proposed spin-off from The Rookie that will be set at the FBI that will star Niecy Nash. Faison will guest star in a two-episode arc in the current fourth season of The Rookie, which will serve as a backdoor pilot for the potential spin-off. (Deadline)

Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) has joined the cast of the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – which will debut on Paramount+ on May 5. He will play iconic Captain James T. Kirk. (TV Line)

Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) will play the lead role in the AMC series Mayfair Witches that is based on the Anne Rice novel The Lives of the Mayfair Witches. She will play Rowan, a brilliant doctor who grapples with her fate as the heir to a family of powerful witches. (Variety)

Lincoln Younes (a rising Australian star) has been cast in the lead role of Last King of the Cross, a biographical series about a notorious nightclub owner and gangster being produced for Paramount+. The series is an operatic story of two brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organize the street but lose each other in their ascent to power. (Variety)

Comedy actors Amy Sedaris and Neil Flynn will join the cast of the second season of the Peacock hit comedy Girls5Eva. They will play the parents of Summer Dutkowsky (Busy Philipps), one of the members of the titular girl group fighting for a comeback. (Variety)

The forthcoming Amazon Studios drama Anansi Boys – based on the Neil Gaiman novel – has added more members to his cast. They include Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter franchise and Killing Eve), CCH Pounder (NCIS: New Orleans) and Jason Watkins (Around the World in 80 Days and The Crown). The series will follow Charlie Nancy (Malachi Kirby), sometimes known as Fat Charlie (it was his father’s nickname for him), a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father. But when his father dies, Charlie discovers that his father (Delroy Lindo) was Anansi, the trickster god of stories, and that he has a brother. Now that brother, Spider (to also be played by Kirby), is entering Charlie’s life, determined to make it more interesting, but making it a lot more dangerous instead. Wakings will play Grahame Coats, a successful theatrical agent and self-made man who is Charlie’s boss; Shaw will play Maeve Livingstone, a retired dancer and widow of famed comedian Morris Livingstone; and Pounder will play Mrs. Higgler, the matriarch of her clan, and an old family friend of Charlie’s. (Variety)

Season 2 of the HBO Max comedy-drama Hacks has added Laurie Metcalf (The Conners) and Ming-Na Wen (Agents of SHIELD and The Book of Boba Fett) will have recurring roles; and comedian Margaret Cho will guest star. Descriptions of the characters they will be playing are being kept under wraps, though. (Variety)

Laysla De Oliveira (Locke & Key) has joined the cast of the upcoming Paramount+ drama series Lioness that is based on a real-life CIA program and follows Cruz Manuelos (De Oliveira), a young Marine, who is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Zoe Saldaña will play Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives. The series is set to go into production in June. (Variety)

Veteran actor Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future franchise) will appear in season 3 of The Mandalorian in a guest starring role, but no details on his character are being provided. (Deadline)

Adina Porter (Underground) and Clark Backo (Letterkenny) will star opposite LaKeith Stanfield in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama The Changeling, based on the best-selling book by Victor LaValle. The series is an adult fairytale; a horror story, a parenthood fable and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you didn’t know existed. Porter will play Lillian, the mother of Apollo, who will be played by Stanfield. Backo will play Emmy, Apollo’s wife. (Deadline)

Natalie Martinez (Ordinary Joe) will star opposite Vince Vaughn in the Apple TV+ drama Bad Monkey that is based on the Carl Hiaasen 2013 novel. The series tells the story of Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a onet-ime detective demoted to restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist out fishing pulls Yancy into the world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in both Florida and the Bahamas. And yes, there’s a monkey. Martinez will Rosa, a Miami medical examiner who is starting to realize she may not be cut out for her job, so is happy to ditch work and help Yancy try to figure out the story of the severed arm he brings into her lab. The cast includes Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith and Meredith Hagner. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

Netflix has announced that Never Have I Ever has been given a fourth season renewal, which will be its last season. The third season of the show will premiere later this year. (TV Line)

Vikings: Valhalla have been renewed for two additional seasons. (Screen Rant)

Power Book IV Force has been renewed for a second season by Starz. (Variety)

The Baby-Sitters Club will have to find a new way to make some spending money: Netflix has cancelled the middle school dramedy after two seasons. (Deadline and TV Line)

TV SERIES NEWS

HBO Max has given a spin-off series order to The Penguin based on the character played by Colin Farrell (who will appear in the series) from the box office movie The Batman. The limited series will, of course, focus on Oswald Cobblepot as he rises through the ranks of Gotham’s criminal underworld. (Variety)

AMC has given a greenlight to Isle of the Dead, another The Walkind Dead spin-off series, that will be centered around Maggie (Lauren Cohen) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The series, which is set to premiere in 2023, will follow the unlikely pair into what is being described as a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. (TV Line)

A new murder mystery drama from Shondaland (the Shonda Rhimes production company) has been given a series order at Netflix. The Residence, inspired by the Kate Andersen Brower book, will be a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion. The show has received an eight-episode order. (Variety)

Hulu has picked up the drama series Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem. The 10 episode, one-hour drama asks the question, “how do you solve a murder in a post-fact world?” (Variety)

FOLLOW THE YELLOWSTONE ROAD

There has been some confusion (lately) about the future of the Yellowstone spin-off series 1883, as there have been stories that the western has been renewed for a second season while other stories have said it was only meant as a 10-episode limited series. The truth is when this: Yellowstone returns for the start of its 5th season this summer with 7 episodes airing; when it goes on its break, Paramount+ will air “additional episodes” of 1883 (how many episodes is unclear). Then the final 7 episodes of Yellowstone will air at the end of the year, at which time the new spin-off 1932 will air its first two episodes before moving over to Paramoount+. (Cheat Sheet)

TV MOVIE NEWS

Heather Hemmens (Roswell, New Mexico) has signed a deal to star in multiple original films with the Hallmark Channel. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

As fans of the small screen adaptation of Teen Wolf, which aired from 2011 to 2017 on MTV, know there will be a reunion movie airing with nearly all of the cast returning EXCEPT it has been confirmed that break-out star Dylan O’Brien will NOT be returning. (TV Line)

Hot on the heels of her small screen starring role in the NBC drama The Thing About Pam, Renee Zellweger will star in the Peacock drama Avenger Field that tells the story of those that established a clandestine all female US Airforce program called the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) to battle Hitler from home. Inspired by the true story of WASP leader Jackie Cohran (Zellweger) and the diverse group of women who fought the system, skeptics and even sabotage to bring everyone home safely. (Variety)

Giancarlo Esposito will star and executive produce in the 6-episode new drama series The Driver that will focuse on a taxi driver (Esposito) whose life is turned upside down when he agrees to chauffer a New Orleans-based Zimbabwean gangster notorious for exploiting undocumented immigrants at the U.S. southern ports. The show is expected to debut on AMC and AMC Plus in 2023. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Florence Pugh (Black Widow and Little Women) is expected to join the cast of Dune, Part 2 where she will play Princess Irulan Corrino, a royal who becomes romantically entangled with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hi All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATIONS

Starz has given a 3rd season renewal to Hightown. (Variety)

FOX has cancelled The Big Leap after only one season. (TV Line)

NBC has pulled the plug on Ordinary Joe after only one season. (TV Line)

SERIES ORDER

AppleTV+ has given a series order to Metropolis, inspired by the Fritz Lang 1927 German sci-fi film which was based on the 1925 novel by Thea von Harbou that takes place in 2026 when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic cidy of splendor. The new drama comes from SamEsmail, the creator of Mr. Robot. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Skylar Astin (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and the Pitch Perfect franchise) has joined the cast of Grey’s Anatomy in the recurring role of Todd Eames, a charming, gentel soul who holds a PhD in environmental sciences whose sister is a pregnant patient at Grey Sloan Memorial. Also, Richard Flood has left the series after three seasons. (Variety and TV Line)

Kal Penn has joined the cast of the Disney+ limited series Santa Clause that finds Tim Allen reprising his role of Santa alongside Elizabeth Mitchell who is back as Mrs. Claus. Penn will play Simon Choksi, an ambitious game inventor and product developer, who is a devoted single father. (Variety)

Spectrum Originals has ordered the 8-episode dramedy Panhandle that will star Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Tiana Okoye (The Good Place and Nancy Drew). The series will be set in the Florida panhandle, following agoraphobic arm-chair detective Bell Prescott (Kirby) and reluctant traffic cop Cammie Lorde (Okoye) as they wrestle with personal demons, shocking twists and a few Florida gators on their journey to heal themselves and their town. (Variety)

ABC has given a straight-to-series order to the drama Avalon that takes place in the main city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where LA Sheriff Department Detective Nicole “Nic” Searcy heads up a small office. The show is slated to debut during the 2022-2023 broadcast season from David E. Kelley based on a short story by Michael Connelly. (Variety)

Peacock has given a series order to the series Twisted Metal that will star Anthony Mackie (who will also executive produce. The series is based on the video game franchise; the half-hour action comedy will feature Mackie as John Doe, a smart-ass milkman who talks as fast as he drives. With no memory of his past, he gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his wish of finding community come true, but only if he can survive an onslaught of savage vehicular combat. With the help of a trigger-happy car thief, he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck. (Variety)

Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey and Brave New World) and Anthony Welsh (Master of None) will star in the 6-episode Paramount+ drama Flatshare that will tell the story of two twentysomethings trying to get by – by sharing not only an apartment but a bed. Brown Findlay will portray Tiffany, a minimum wage worker employed by a clickbait news site, while Welsh will portray Leon, who works night shifts in a hospice. To save money, they capitalize on their opposing timetables and time-share their apartment and their bed, with Tiffany sleeping through the night, while Leon is working, and Leon catching up on his sleep during the day, when Tiffany is at her desk in the office. They communicate entirely by Post-It note. Despite never meeting, however they soon start to develop feelings for each other. (Variety)

Veteran actor Michael Douglas will star as Benjamin Franklin in a new limited series for Apple that will explore the story of one of the greatest gambles of Franklin’s career. At age 70, without any diplomatic training, Franklin convinced France – an absolute monarchy – to underwrite America’s experiment in democracy. By virtue of his fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers and hostile colleagues, all while engineering the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the final peace with England of l783. The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin’s most vital service to his country, without which America would not have won the Revolution. (Variety)

FILM NEWS

Jordan Fisher (The Flash) and Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) will play the leads in the new Netflix teen rom-com entitled Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between that centers around Claire (Ryder) and Aidan (Fisher) who after making a pact that they would break up before college, find themselves retracing the steps of their relationship on their last evening as a couple. The epic date leads them to familiar landmarks, unexpected places, and causes them to question whether high school love is meant to last. (Variety)

SAG Award winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) has joined the cast of the upcoming superhero action-adventure movie Kraven the Hunter that will feature Aaron Taylor Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron) as one of Spider-Man’s most deadly antagonists. DeBose will play Calypso, a voodoo priestess who is the on-and-off lover of Kraven. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

NBC has given The Blacklist a 10th season renewal. (TV Line)

Netflix has pulled the plug on the sci-fi Katee Sackhoff-led series Another Life after two seasons. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

An Outlander prequel series is in development at Starz with current executive producer and showrunner Matthew B. Roberts attached to write and executive producer. There are no specific plot details for the prequel just yet. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Dan Stevens (Legion and Downton Abbey) will star in the Hulu limited series Immigrant [which is the working title] that will tell the true story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani from The Big Sick and Eternals), the Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales. The series will detail the insane, darkly comedic, crime-ridden story behind the unique male revue that became a cultural phenomenon. Stevens will play Paul Snider, a hustler and serial schmoozer, who stumbles upon the opportunity of a lifetime in the form of Banerjee and his struggling LA backgammon club. Through their unlikely partnership, the iconic male stripping institution Chippendales is born. (Deadline)

Lyric Ross (This Is Us) has joined the cast of the Disney+ series Ironheart, joining Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk) and Anthony Ramos (Hamilton and In the Heights). Throne will play Riri Williams, a brilliant teenage inventor who builds her own version of the Iron Man suit in an MIT dorm. Ross will play Williams’ best friend. While the character that Ramos will play is being kept under wraps, it is believed he will play the villain. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Ashley Reyes (American Gods and How I Met Your Father) will join the cast of The CW series Walker as Walker’s new partner Cassie Perez, a Texas Ranger who previously served as a Texas state trooper for eight years. (Deadline and TV Line)

Emma Rossum (Shameless and The Day After Tomorrow) will star opposite Tom Holland (Spider-Man and Uncharted) and Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia and The Dropout) in the Apple anthology series The Crowded Room that will explore inspirational stories of those who have struggled with mental illness and learned to live successfully with it. The cast will also include Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown) and Sasha Lane (Loki). (TV Insider and Deadline)

FILM NEWS

Social media influencer and lead of the recent Netflix flick He’s All That (the sequel of sorts to the box office hit She’s All That) Addison Rae will star in the film Fashionista. Details on the movie, however, are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Simu Liu (Shang-Chi And the Legend Of The Ten Rings) will star alongside Sam Worthingon, Jordana Brewster, Robbie Amell and Alicia Sanz in the thriller film Hello Stranger that will follow Faye, a woman who attempts to replace her newly deceased husband, Evan, with an android simulant (SIM). Although SIM Evan appears like human Evan in every way, Faye does not feel the same love for SIM Evan as it does for her. SIM Evan tries to win Faye back while at the same time being on-the-run from a government agent chasing down SIMs who have become “conscious” and could potentially be a threat to humankind. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Fargo has been renewed for a 5th season by FX. (TV Line)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will end after its newly ordered fifth season on Amazon. (TV Line)

Stranger Things has been given a fifth season renewal in advance of its 4th season premiere; but that 5th season will be the show’s last season on Netflix. (TV Line)

HBO has given The Gilded Age a second season renewal after only 3 episodes of the debut season having aired. (Variety)

Billions has been renewed for a 7th season by Showtime. (Variety)

Paramount+ has given a second season renewal to the Halo, the small screen adaptation of the popular video game, in advance of the show’s upcoming debut). (Variety)

Peacemaker has been given a second season renewal by HBO Max. (TV Line)

The anthology series Super Pumped has been given a second season renewal in advance of its upcoming series debut on Showtime. (Variety)

Paramount+ has also given a second season order to the Yellowstone prequel series 1883. (Variety)

The Canadian medical drama Transplant has been given a 3rd season renewal. Season 2 of the series will premiere here in the US on NBC starting on March 6. (TV Insider)

SERIES ORDER

Paramount+ has given a series order to a live action adaptation of Dora the Explorer. (Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NCIS is heading to Australia. NCIS: Sydney will debut in 2023 in the land down under, featuring local stories with Australia actors and producers. (Variety)

SERIES ORDER NEWS

The new drama series The Girls on the Bus that includes Julie Plec (of The Vampire Diaries fame) as one of its executive producers is moving from The CW to HBO Max. The show will be a comedic character-driven drama chronicling four female journalists who follow every move of a parade of flawed presidential candidates, while finding friendship, love, and scandal along the way. AND, Melissa Benoist (Supergirl and Glee) is nearing a deal to star in this new drama. (Variety and TV Line)

TV MOVIE NEWS

Paramount+ has announced there will be a SEAL Team movie coming up. Also, the streamer has announced that the upcoming Teen Wolf: The Movie will find original series cast members Tyler Posey (Scott McCall), Holland Roden (Lydia Martin), Shelley Hennig (Malia), Crystal Reed (Allison Argent), Orny Adams (Coach Bobby Finstock), Linden Ashby (Sheriff Noah Stilinski), JR Bourne (Chris Argent), Seth Gilliam (Dr. Alan Deaton), Colton Haynes (Jackson Whittemore), Ryan Kelley (Deputy Jordan Parrish), Melissa Ponzio (Melissa McCall) and Dylan Sprayberry (Liam Dunbar) all returning FIVE years after the thriller went off the air. Missing from the cast list include Dylan O’Brien (Stiles), Superman and Lois‘ Tyler Hoechlin (Derek) and Arden Cho (Kira). The movie, which will be written by franchise creator Jeff Davis, will find a full moon rising in Beacon Hills along with a terrifying evil emerging. The wolves are howling once again, calling for the return of banshees, werecoyotes, hellhounds, kitsunes and every other shapeshifter in the night. But only a werewolf like Scott McCall (Posey), no longer a teenager yet still an alpha, can gather both new allies and reunite trusted friends to fight back against what could be the most powerful and deadliest enemy they’ve ever faced. (Deadline; TV Line and Variety)

Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor will not only star in but also executive produce a new feature film at Amazon Studios. The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne will be a futuristic thriller set in a fragmented future England where gunfights and monsters collide, and where the formidable outlaw Scarlett McCain fights daily against the odds. When she discovers a wrecked coach on a lonely road, there is only one survivor: the seemingly hapless youth Albert Browne. Soon, new and implacable enemies are on their heels and a relentless pursuit continues across the broken landscape of England. Scarlett must fight to uncover the secrets of Albert’s past — and come to terms with the implications of her own. (Variety)

ANOTHER ONE JUMPS THE SHIP

Another Hallmark actor is jumping ship to rival network GAC Family. Jessica Lowndes has signed a four-picture deal where she will not only star in and write but also direct and executive produce original movies for the network. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

The Young and the Restless alum Victoria Rowell will play a key recurring role on the new CBS medical drama Good Sam, playing Tina Kingsley, a high-powered, sophisticated, chairwoman of the hospital board with the kind of power that does not assert itself. Alienated from her son Malcolm (Edwin Hodge), Tina possesses a strong will to take what’s in her sights, even when it means navigating complicated relationships from her past. (Deadline)

Walton Goggins will star in the small screen adaptation of the video game Fallout that is set in a world where the future envisioned by Americans in the late 1940s explodes upon itself through a nuclear war in 2077. There is no confirmation on what character he will play, but is possible he MIGHT play a ghoul, humans who have been horribly disfigured due to exposure to radiation, but are also largely immune to radiation and nuclear fallout as a result. (Variety)

Actress Caitlin Carver (The Fosters and Dear White People) will recur on Chicago Fire during the second half of season 10 playing a paramedic Emma. (TV Line)

Amanda Seyfried will star opposite Tom Holland in the upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series The Crowded Room that will explore inspirational stories of people who have struggled and learned to successfully live with mental illness. Seyfried will play Rya, a clinical psychologist faced with the most challenging case of her career. She cannot help but put her patients first, all the while trying to balance her life as a single mother. (Variety)

Keri Russell (Felicity and The Americans) has landed the lead role in the upcoming Netflix series The Diplomat. In the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat (Russell) lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future. (Variety)

Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series The Mosquito Coast has added new season regulars to its upcoming second season. Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and Mayans M.C.), Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials and Carnival Row) and Ian Hart (Harry Potter franchise and The Last Kingdom) will join returning stars Justin Theroux, Melissa George, Logan Polish, and Gabriel Bateman. There are no details what characters they will be portraying, however. (Deadline)

Peacock has made a straight-to-series order for the scripted drama A Friend of the Family. The true crime drama will focus on the harrowing story of the Broberg family, whose daughter was kidnapped multiple times. The cast will include Anna Paquin (True Blood) as Mary Ann Broberg, a mother of three who realized too late that she missed warning signs and became close to her charismatic neighbor, Robert Berchtold, and trusted him around her oldest daughter, Jan; Jake Lacy (The White Lotus and Being the Ricardos) as Robert, a businessman, Mormon father, husband and expert manipulator who plots the abduction of Jan; and Colin Hanks as Bob Broberg, Mary Ann’s husband, who begins to fear that something is amiss with their neighbor. (The Hollywood Reporter)

TV CRITICS ASSOCIATION WINTER PRESS TOUR NEWS

Paramount+ has ordered another Taylor Sheridan-created origin-story following the Dutton Family from Yellowstone and 1883. This series entitled simply 1932 will follow a new generation of Duttons during the time of western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression. The streaming service also has the new series Lioness on tap to debut in 2023. The series, which will star Zoe Saldana, is based on a real-life CIA program, following a marine recruited to befriend the daughter of a terrorist to bring the organization down from within. Saldana will play Joe, a strong-willed, hard-nosed, station chief of the CIA’s Lioness Program, tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives working to assassinate the world’s most dangerous terrorists. Among the executive producers on the show are box office veteran Nicole Kidman and Hallmark alum Jill Wagner. The streamer is also still developing a series, potentially slated for a 2022 start, on Bass Reeves, the legendary lawman of the wild west who is believed to be the inspiration for The Lone Ranger. Box office actor David Oyelowo is attached to star as the title character as well as serve as one of the executive producers. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Tom Welling (Smallville and Lucifer) will star in the action-thriller film Deep Six in which he will star as Terry, who is released early from prison only to be forced to go undercover to take down the Cosa Nostra in Italy. On his first day, his fellow six-man undercover unit is taken out. Terry must then ride shotgun all day with a psychopath killer who may know he is working for the police. Cam Gigandet (the original Twilight film and Without Remorse) will co-star. (Deadline)

The 4th film in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise expects to see cast members Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho and Simon Pegg [hopefully] reprising their roles. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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