Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

RENEWAL/CANCELLATIONS

Netflix has given a third season order to Sweet Magnolias. (TV Line)

Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDbTV) has given a season two pick up to Bosch: Legacy. (Variety)

The Equalizer has been given a two season renewal by CBS. (TV Line)

ABC has pulled the plug on Queens after only one season of the drama; and the official cancellation of the drama Promised Land has been announced. (TV Line)

DROPPED

TNT and TBS will no longer air the SAG Awards. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Apple TV+ is developing a series version of The Prince of Tides, based on the box office movie, which was based on the 1986 novel by Pat ConroyThe Prince of Tides. The series would follow Tom Wingo, who travels to New York after his sister attempts suicide. While there, he develops a relationship with his sister’s therapist, Susan Lowenstein, while also delving into painful memories from his childhood. (Variety)

STREAMING MOVIE CANCELLATION NEWS

Two weeks ago it was announced that K.J. Apa (Riverdale) and Isabel May (1883) landed the lead roles in the upcoming HBO Max movie about the Wonder Twins. It looks like the recent merger of Warner Bros and Discovery has put the kabosh on the whole production. (ComicBook.com)

SERIES ORDER

The reboot of Quantum Leap has been given an early series order by NBC. In this version Raymond Lee (Here and Now) will star as Dr. Ben Seong, who is both a man of faith and a world-renowned physicist working on the time-travel project known as Quantum Leap. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

A new Doctor Who has been announced. Taking over for the soon-to-depart Jodie Whittaker will be Rwandan-born Scottish actor Ncuti (pronounced Shoo-tee) Gatwa (from the series Sex Education). (TV Line)

Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) has joined the TV adaptation of the AMC drama Mayfair Witches, based on the Anne Rice novel “Lives of the Mayfair Witches.” The series focuses on intuitive young neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario) who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations. Huston will play Lasher, one of most mysterious and sensual characters, a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for hundreds of years. (Variety)

The revival of Justified on FX has added new cast members, including Aunjanue Ellis (NCIS: Los Angeles and King Richard), Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Adelaide Clemsn (Rectify), Vondie Curtis Hall (Harriet), Marin Ireland (The Umbrella Academy) and Norbert Leo Butz (Bloodline). (Variety)

Charles Vandervaart (Lost in Space and The Craft: Legacy) has joined the cast of Outlander for season 7 as the grown up version of William Ransom, Jamie’s son). (MSN.com)

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) will star opposite Jennifer Garner (Alias) in the upcoming Apple limited series The Last Thing He Told Me, based on the novel by Laura Dave. The show follows Hannah (Garner), a woman who forms an unexpected relationship with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter Bailey (Rice) while searching for the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared. Coster-Waldau will star as Owen, Hannah’s husband. (Variety)

Viola Davis (The First Lady) just might be returning to the role of Amanda Waller in a Peacemaker spin-off that is currently in the works at HBO Max. Exact details about the proposed show are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes) has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple psychological thriller series Disclaimer that will star Cate Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kevin Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past. Partridge will play Jonathan Brigstocke, a teenager on his gap year traveling through Italy who allows himself to give in to his deeper desires with unexpected consequences. (Variety)

Jeff Daniels has landed the lead role in the upcoming Neftlix drama A Man in Full based on the Tom Wolfe novel that focuses on Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Daniels) as he faces sudden bankruptcy. Political and business interests collide as Croker defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. Croker is further described as polarizing and robust, crude, rude, and irresponsible. (Variety)

Alycia Debnam-Carey (The 100 and Fear the Walking Dead) has taken over the lead role in the Hulu drama Saint X from Victoria Pedretti (You). The show is a psychological drama told via multiple timelines and perspectives. It’s a show 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. Debnam-Carey will star as Emily, a sharp and ambitious woman whose carefully constructed, seemingly perfect life begins to crumble. (Variety)

NEW HALLMARK DEAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Two more Hallmark stars have signed exclusive, multi-picture contracts with the network. They are Aimee Teegardena and Luke Macfarlane. (Deadline and Cinema Blend)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Meg Ryan will direct and star alongside David Duchovny in the romantic comedy film What Happens Later, which follows ex-lovers Willa (Ryan) and Bill (Duchovny) who are reunited for the first time since their split decades prior when they both find themselves snowed in, in-transit, at an airport overnight. Willa is still the wilful, independent spirit she once was, free of any ties, while the recently separated Bill is reassessing his life and his relationships with his estranged wife and daughter. All each of them wants is to get home but over the course of the night they find themselves at first reluctantly drawn together yet compelled to revisit their past, along with what could have been and what might well be again. But when the versions of their shared history don’t quite add up, where do they go from there? (Variety)

Gemma Chan and Harry Shum Jr. are set to star in the spin-off movie to Crazy Rich Asians that will focus on a new love story between Nick’s cousin Astrid and Charlie Wu based on the book by Kevin Kwan. A sequel to the original is also still in the works. (People and Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS AND CANCELLATIONS

Netflix has pulled the plug on Raising Dion after two seasons. (TV Line)

CBS has given Blue Bloods a 13th season renewal. (TV Line)

Peacock has given Wolf Like Me, which stars Isla Fisher and Josh Gad, a second season renewal. (Variety)

Batwoman has been cancelled by The CW after three seasons and the network also cancelled DC’s Legends of Tomorrow after 7 seasons as well. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Hayley Atwell just might be getting her own show in a Captain Carter live-action series based on the Disney+ multiverse version of the story from What If… that centered on how Steve Rogers died in the run-up to World War II, which led to Peggy taking the super-soldier serum instead. Atwell voiced the character in the episode too. (Giant Freakin Robot)

TV CASTING NEWS

Jesse Spencer will return as Matt Casey on Chicago Fire for the show’s upcoming season 10 finale. (TV Line)

Kelly Bishop will reprise her guest-starring role as Benedetta on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and recurring guest stars Alfie Fuller (who plays Dinah Rutledge) and Jason Ralph (who plays Mike Carr) have been promoted to series regulars. (TV Line)

Andrea Martin, who plays Sister Andrea, on Evil, the Paramount+ drama (formerly a CBS drama) has been promoted to series regular. (TV Line)

Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven, The Haves and the Have Nots and P-Valley) has landed the lead role in the upcoming HBO drama Demimonde from J.J. Abrams. The series is expected to focus on Olive Reed (Deadwyler), a woman who is torn away from her husband and daughter in a brutal scientific accident where she is forced to unravel a conspiracy to reunite with her family, now lost to a dark, distant other world. (Variety)

The untitled Netflix spy series set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Monica Barbaro (who will be seen in Top Gun: Maverick) has added to its cast. The 8-episode drama is about a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter ( Barbaro), who learn they’ve each secretly been working as CIA Operatives for years. New cast members include Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon franchise) as Carter, the sweet and unsuspecting boyfriend of Emma (Barbaro); Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate and Matador) as Boro, an incredibly charismatic, Oxford-educated businessman, who’s chosen to apply those skills to a career in the illegal arms trade and Travis Van Winkle (The Last Ship) as Aldon, a great CIA officer and world class wise-ass, who is a kind and sweet man under it all. The 100 alum Devon Bostick will have a recurring role as Oscar, an aspiring app developer. (Variety)

TV NEWS

Melissa McBride will no longer be involved in The Walking offshoot series that was to center on Carol and Daryl. (TV Line)

Warner Bros. Discovery is halting scripted series development at TNT and TBS. (Variety and TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is being developed into a film. The story takes place decades before the adventures of Katniss Everdeen, centering on young Coriolanus Snow, who eventually becomes the tyrannical president of Panem. As an 18-year-old, Snow is chosen to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12, during the 10th Hunger Games. (Variety)

The Batman is getting a sequel with Robert Pattinson set to return. (Variety)

The upcoming film adaptation of the musical Wicked – set to be directed by Jon M. Chu – will be split into two films; the first on December 25, 2024 and the second one year later. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will play the lead roles. (Variety)

Filmmaker Neil LaBute and Maggie Q are teaming up for Fear the Night, a new action-thriller that will center on an Iraqi war veteran named Tess as she prepares for her sister’s bachelorette party. As the festivities unfold, the party is abruptly interrupted by a group of home invaders who quickly take the house under siege looking for a hidden fortune. Surrounded by the frightened party-goers, Tess soon discovers that the ruthless attackers are hellbent on not leaving any witnesses behind. That’s when Tess strikes back. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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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!

Read Full Post »

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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