| | | | What's news: The broadcast Black Thursday became no drama Friday as ABC kept things steady with a raft of renewals and Fox made some expected cuts. CBS has ordered a True Lies TV adaptation to series. An animated version of Married... With Children is in the works. Netflix was the most watched outlet of the 2021-22 TV season — Abid Rahman |
'Wonder Years,' 'Conners,' 'Big Sky' Renewed at ABC ►Same, same. ABC has handed out renewals for five shows ahead of next week’s upfronts — dramas Big Sky and A Million Little Things and comedies The Conners, Home Economics and The Wonder Years. The pickups put a bow on ABC’s current scripted shows and cap a season with a very low cancellation rate. The story.
—Steady ship. As well as the renewals, ABC has added two new dramas — Alaska and The Rookie: Feds — and the Gina Rodriguez-led comedy Not Dead Yet to its schedule. The trio will fill the voids created this season by the conclusion of Black-ish and failed freshman dramas Promised Land and Queens. Even with the loss of Dancing With the Stars to Disney+ and addition of four NFL games, ABC keeps its scripted volume on par with the 2021-22 cycle. The story.
—Case closed. ABC’s efforts to revive NBC’s Emmy-winning legal drama L.A. Law have come to an end. The network has passed on the sequel that featured original cast members Blair Underwood and Corbin Bernsen. Additionally, Jo Koy comedy Josep will also not move forward this season, though sources say the network remains high on the concept and could redevelop the comedy. The story.
—Solidifying the unscripted lineup. ABC has renewed five veteran series for next season: America’s Funniest Home Videos, American Idol, The Bachelor, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and Shark Tank. Supermarket Sweep remains in limbo. ABC will make decisions on The Bachelorette, which debuts in July, and its summer game shows later in the year. Dancing With the Stars is moving to Disney+ in the fall. The story. |
The "Red Wedding" at The CW: Blame Streaming and Corporate Structure ►Method behind the madness. On a brutal Thursday, The CW canceled more shows (10) than it renewed (eight) as its total volume of originals slid to its lowest level since 2012. THR's Lesley Goldberg explains why it has all gone pear-shaped at the youth-skewing network since its corporate parents, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios, put The CW up for sale and what its future looks like. The analysis.
—One and done. Fox has canceled Our Kind of People and Pivoting, with both shows lasting a single season at the network. Our Kind of People, from Lee Daniels and Karin Gist was one of Fox’s first straight to series orders. The comedy Pivoting earned a midseason berth and drew a decent premiere audience following an NFL broadcast but quickly fell off in linear numbers. The story.
—No lies here. CBS, which has spent the past year-plus adapting James Cameron’s 1994 feature True Lies for television, has handed out a series order to the update that counts the filmmaker as an exec producer. Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga step into the roles famously played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. The story.
—Keeping track. Getting lost with all the chaos in TV land in the last week? Help is at hand! Here again is Lesley'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. |
Marta Kauffman on 'Grace and Frankie' and Her Hopes Amid a Shifting Industry ►"The show may be ending, but they aren’t." THR's Jackie Strause spoke to Grace and Frankie co-creator and sitcom legend Marta Kauffman about the legacy of the Netflix comedy, that broke the mould and records at the streamer with its longevity and her hope that the end of the show doesn’t cap an era for long-running shows. Warning spoilers. The interview.
—The Bundys to return? An animated version of Fox’s iconic sitcom Married…With Children is in the works at Sony Pictures Television. The studio has signed the show’s core cast — Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate and David Faustino — to reprise their roles in voiceover. Family Guy writer and exec producer Alex Carter is set to serve as showrunner on the project, which will be taken to potential buyers in the near future. The story.
—Limited no more. Hulu's star-studded Nine Perfect Strangers is nearing a season two renewal. Sources tell THR's Lesley Goldberg that the streamer will submit the David E. Kelley show as an ongoing drama rather than in the presumed limited series category for the Emmys. Details on season two are still being firmed up ahead of an expected formal renewal announcement. The story.
—First up. Onyx Collective, the Disney banner focused on underrepresented audiences, has picked up its first comedy series. The Tara Duncan-led division has greenlit eight episodes of Unprisoned, inspired by the life of creator Tracy McMillan with Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo set to star. The series will be available on Hulu, ABC Signature is the studio. The story. |
Josh Brolin On Amazon's Sci-fi Western 'Outer Range,' Talks 'Dune 2' ►"I would’ve spoken out had they not backed us up." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Josh Brolin about his new Amazon show, the sci-fi western Outer Range, and what it took for him to return to television after nearly two decades. The actor also teases the fate of Dune character Gurney Halleck after the reading the script for part two. Warning spoilers. The interview.
—There's no such thing as cancel culture. Kevin Spacey’s return to movies after sexual assault and misconduct allegations derailed his career in 2017 has led to his latest gig, Peter Five Eight, now heading to the market in Cannes. THR has learned that the mystery thriller is completed and Spacey is the lead, and the film will screen in the Cannes market for buyers. The story.
—Still number one. Netflix drew more TV viewing time than any other outlet during the 2021-22 TV season, nearly matching the combined total of the two most watched broadcast networks. Among the broadcasters, CBS captured the biggest share of viewers’ time. Nielsen data showing total minutes viewed for the season so far (Sept. 20, 2021-May 8, 2022) show that Americans spend a staggering amount of time in front of screens. The story.
—Scary monsters and possibly super creeps. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Sam Claflin nabbing the lead in Bagman, a supernatural thriller from Lionsgate. Colm McCarthy, who helmed season two of Peaky Blinders, is directing the feature that was written by John Hulme. The story centers on a father who desperately struggles against his deepest inner fear when the childhood monster he once vanquished returns to haunt him. The story. |
Fred Ward 1942-2022 ►Authentic strength. Fred Ward, the erstwhile lumberjack known for playing no-nonsense men of action in such films as Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Tremors and The Right Stuff, has died. He was 79. The obituary. — "When it came to battling underground worms, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner." On Friday, Kevin Bacon honored his late Tremors co-star, Fred Ward. Bacon and Ward played the loveable handymen Valentine and Earl in the 1990 Universal cult classic. The story. In other news... —CBS’ Fire Country taps Tia Napolitano as showrunner —Tyler Hoechlin joins Teen Wolf movie cast — Mrs. Doubtfire to end Broadway run in May after third engagement —Hot Docs 2022 film review: Nils Gaup's Images of a Nordic Drama —Cineplex shrinks Q1 loss amid box office recovery —International Cinematographers Guild elects new president —Juliette Binoche to receive San Sebastian Film Festival honor —Louis Vuitton draws stars for Dune-worthy cruise show at the Salk Institute What else we're reading... —Sam Adams wonders why the quirks and style of David E. Kelley's recent works seem to be missing [ Slate] —Carly Wanna on Nielsen facing the greatest threat to its dominance in TV ratings in 72 years [ Bloomberg] —Dave Itzkoff on the strange online afterlife of George Carlin, who is claimed by people across the political spectrum [ NYT] —Felix Salmon's explainer on the Musk-Twitter endgame [ Axios] —Christopher Mims writes that "flying cars" are here but the problem is they have nowhere to land [ WSJ] Today... Today's birthdays: George Lucas (78), Robert Zemeckis (70), Cate Blanchett (53), Miranda Cosgrove (29), Alexandra Park (33), Sofia Coppola (51), Amber Tamblyn (39), Tim Roth (61), Francesca Annis (77), Danny Huston (60), Greg Davies (54), Siân Phillips (89), Deanne Bray (51), Sasha Spielberg (32), David Byrne (70), Joseph Zito (76) |
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