| | | | What's news: A brutal Thursday saw over a dozen broadcast network shows get canceled. There were also a raft of renewals and pilot pickups yesterday. Elon Musk has paused his bid for Twitter. A Netflix memo is advising staff to be more frugal with budgets. Norm Macdonald recorded a self-shot comedy special before he died. Plus: Francis Ford Coppola's $100m indie Megalopolis has set its cast — Abid Rahman |
Bloodbath: CBS, NBC and The CW Rack Up the Cancellations ►So long. CBS has canceled its Magnum P.I. reboot after four seasons. The series is among four cancellations the network announced Thursday; second-year comedy B Positive and rookies Good Sam and How We Roll are also done. The four join another second-year comedy, United States of Al (which like B Positive comes from Chuck Lorre), in getting the ax from CBS. THR's Rick Porter writes that barring an out-of-left-field shocker, Magnum P.I. will likely be the highest-rated series canceled this season. The story.
—Farewell. NBC has canceled second-year comedies Kenan and Mr. Mayor as well as freshman drama The Endgame. Additionally, the network’s last remaining comedy pilot, Hungry — which underwent recasting with Modern Family’s Ariel Winter stepping in for lead Demi Lovato — has been passed over. The story.
—Auf wiedersehen. The CW continues to thin the ranks of its scripted roster as the network is currently in the process of a possible sale to station group Nexstar. The broadcaster has canceled Charmed, Dynasty, Roswell New Mexico and rookies The 4400 and Naomi. The news follows the cancellations of Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow last month. The story.
—Goodbye. The CW's Legacies, the second spinoff to stem from The Vampire Diaries, has also been canceled after a four-season run. The series, from creator Julie. Plec, was the last connective tissue to Vampire Diaries, which at the time the flagship series launched in 2009, was the network's most-watched scripted series. The story. |
New, Renew: CBS Plays It Safe, NBC Goes In-house, The CW Leans On the Familiar ►Corporate synergy. NBC has set its comedy lineup for the 2022-23 season. The network has renewed second-year series Young Rock and rookies American Auto and Grand Crew. The three shows — all produced by NBC’s sister studio Universal Television — will join new half-hours Lopez vs. Lopez and Night Court on the schedule next season. The story.
—Tried and trusted. CBS is staying in its drama wheelhouse with its new series orders for the 2022-23 season. The network has picked up a trio of shows — a police series called East New York, first-responder drama Fire Country and a legal dramedy titled So Help Me Todd. On the flip side, however, sources say the network has passed on all of its comedy pilots, which will leave CBS with just four comedies on its roster headed into next season. The story.
—Leaning on the familiar. All three of The CW's pilots — Gotham Knights, Walker: Independence and The Winchesters — are going to series for the 2022-23 season. Gotham Knights comes from the writers of Batwoman though it’s not a spinoff of the canceled series. Independence is a Walker prequel set in the late 1800s, and The Winchesters is a Supernatural prequel centered on John and Mary, the parents of the original series’ main characters, Sam and Dean. The story.
—No surprise. The CW is keeping All American: Homecoming on its schedule. The spinoff of the flagship Homecoming series from creator Nkechi Okoro Carroll and Greg Berlanti Productions has been renewed for a second season after launching in late February to warm reviews. The story.
—Keeping track. After a bewildering day of announcements on Thursday, here’s Lesley Goldberg's handy guide of scripted broadcast shows that are coming back, what’s canceled (or ending) and what’s been added to the 2022-23 schedule at ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW. The scorecard. |
'This Is Spinal Tap' Sequel In the Works ►Getting the band back together. In news that should cheer everyone, a sequel to This Is Spinal Tap is coming in 2024. Original stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer also reprising their roles as the fictional English heavy metal band. Rob Reiner is returning to direct and will also once more play documentarian Martin “Marty” DeBergi. The 2024 release coincides with the 40th anniversary of the original. The story.
—Out of this known universe casting. Christopher Walken has nabbed the plum role of Emperor Shaddam IV in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two. Walken, who joins Florence Pugh and Austin Butler among the newcomers to the franchise, will play the ruler of the known universe who initially sends the Atreides family to Arrakis in order to cause their downfall. The story.
—Better late than never. Netflix is advising its employees to be fiscally responsible, while facing a loss of subscribers that has sparked fears about the viability of streaming services. The employee directive comes in an updated culture memo. Under the “Judgment” section of the memo, Netflix tells employees to “spend our members’ money wisely.” The story.
—"The material's fantastic." Norm Macdonald, who died last September at the age of 61, privately shot an unreleased one-hour stand-up special to be released in the event of his death. Netflix will release the surprise program, Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special‚ on May 30. The story.
—All star cast. Francis Ford Coppola has set his cast for his self-funded movie Megalopolis. Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Voight will star in the project that is written and directed by the Godfather filmmaker. Coppola is independently producing the movie, which is budgeted at just under $100 million. The story.
—Dipping into the Universal library. THR's Lesley Goldberg has the scoop Peacock developing a “reframing” of the 1994 Gen-X classic Reality Bites, with original screenwriter Helen Childress attached to pen the update. Like the film, the Peacock take is centered on the driven, idealistic Lelaina Pierce and her three best friends as they leave college and try “adulting” in the 1990s. The story.
—Not "a sequel or a prequel." Mads Mikkelsen is returning to his role as hitman Duncan Vizla, aka as The Black Kaiser, in a film of the same name, based on Victor Santos’ Dark Horse graphic novel Polar. Jonas Akerlund, who directed Mikkelsen as Vizla in the 2019 Netflix action comedy Polar, will get behind the camera for The Black Kaiser as well. The film will be a new take on the character. The story.
—"Deal temporarily on hold." Elon Musk tweeted that his deal to acquire Twitter is temporarily on hold "pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users." Twitter reported 229m users who were served advertising in Q1, that would mean 5 percent of those users would amount to 11.45m. Musk later tweeted: "Still committed to acquisition." The story.
—Ahead of expectations. Endeavor topped Wall Street expectations in Q1, beating on revenue and earnings per share as the company’s segments continue to see growth return in a world with significantly fewer COVID-19 restrictions. The company reported revenue of $1.47 billion and net income of $517.7 million. The results. |
TV Review: 'The Essex Serpent' ►"Excellent performances and an eye for beauty anchor the genre shifts." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews Apple TV+'s The Essex Serpent. Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston star in this drama of young widow investigating reports of a mythical beast in a small seaside village in this adaptation of Sarah Perry's novel, set in late 19th-century England. The review.
—"A damp squib." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Keith Thomas' Firestarter. Zac Efron and Ryan Kiera Armstrong star in this remake of the 1984 horror film based on Stephen King's book. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. — TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. This week the guys begin by running through the headlines including renewals for Amazon's Upload and Starz's Shining Vale and the TV side exec shakeup at Warner Bros. Discovery. They explain Hell Week and what's shaping up to be particularly brutal round cancellations. The Time Traveler’s Wife showrunner Steven Moffat drops by for a chat. And Dan reviews HBO Max’s Hacks , Apple’s The Essex Serpent, Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, Amazon’s The Kids in the Hall and more. Listen here. — Awards Chatter. Awards analyst Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott speaks to Mike Myers. The legendary funnyman, in a rare interview, reflects on how his childhood shaped his comedy, the challenges and rewards of playing multiple characters in the same project and how a line he spoke in a 1993 film inspired his new Netflix comedy series The Pentaverate. Listen here. In other news... —Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation debut teaser trailer for Luck —Netflix releases intense Resident Evil trailer for live-action zombie drama —Anton, Range Media Partners strike pact on European film slate —NBC taps Maria Taylor as host of Football Night in America —Peacock sets premiere date for Kevin Bacon’s They/Them slasher pic —Colleen Hoover’s Maybe Someday novel acquired by eOne for TV —Kelly Osbourne expecting first child with Slipknot’s Sid Wilson —Spotify r evamps podcast leadership, promotes Bill Simmons and Max Cutler —Katherine Nelson joins Disney branded television —Twitter pushes out two execs ahead of Elon Musk deal close —Director Bruce Brown’s Santa Barbara ranch listed for $4.75m —Lance Bass reveals he has psoriatic arthritis What else we're reading... —Josef Adalian sings the praises of CBS and its recents successes and makes a compelling case for Paramount+ [ Vulture] —Missed this Michael Hiltzik column when it first posted: "Disney allegedly has cheated hundreds of writers out of pay for Star Wars and other properties" [ LAT] —Fun read from Jodi Walker as she laments the most famous Mr Darcys (Matthew Macfadyen and Colin Firth) besmirching their Darcyness by playing dicks in HBO dramas [ Ringer] —I'm not a crypto person, but this whole Terra-Luna thing screams scam no? This Kevin T. Dugan explainer seems to suggest it's a Ponzi scheme [ Intelligencer] —It's Friday, so here's a nice easy listicle to read, oh yeah: "Paul Verhoeven’s 10 best films – ranked!" [ Guardian] Today... ...in 1964, 20th Century Fox unveiled the Shirley MacLaine-starring musical comedy What a Way to Go! in New York. The film went on to be nominated for two Oscars at the 37th Academy Awards, for art direction and costume design. The original review. Today's birthdays: Stevie Wonder (72), Stephen Colbert (58), Harvey Keitel (83), Robert Pattinson (36), Samantha Morton (45), Lena Dunham (36), Brian Geraghty (47), Iwan Rheon (37), Zoë Wanamaker (73), Debby Ryan (29), Siobhan Fallon Hogan (61), Frances Barber (64), Sunny Leone (41), Tom Verica (58), Joe Johnston (72), Jake Borelli (31), Alan Ball (65), Franklyn Ajaye (73), Simon Duggan (63), Darius Rucker (56) |
| Bruce MacVittie, the veteran character actor who was a mainstay on and off-Broadway for 40 years and a guest star on TV series starting with Barney Miller in 1981, has died. He was 65. The obituary. |
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