Keely's Korner

CELEBRITY NEWS: JULY 9, 2020
http://www.imdb.com/news/celebrity

Kiely Williams (The Cheetah Girls) – 34 years old
Christina El Moussa (HGTV’s Flip or Flop) – 37 years old
Fred Savage (The Wonder Years) – 44 years old
Jack White (The White Stripes) – 45 years old
Enrique Murciano (Without A Trace) – 47 years old
Scott Grimes (ER) – 49 years old
Courtney Love (Rock Singer) – 56 years old
Jordan Belfort (Author of “The Wolf of Wall Street”) – 58 years old
Kevin Nash (Wrestler, “Magic Mike” movies) – 61 years old
Kelly McGillis (“Top Gun”) – 63 years old
Tom Hanks (“Toy Story” movies/ “Forrest Gump”) – 64 years old
Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue) – 65 years old
Kevin O’Leary (Shark Tank) – 66 years old
John Tesh (former host of Entertainment Tonight) – 68 years old
Chris Cooper (“Adaptation”) – 69 years old
Nigel Lythgoe (Creator & Producer of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance) – 71 years old
Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”) – 78 years old

FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news

ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 7/9/20)
AXS TV: The Song – Recorded Live (Premiere) at 8:30pm
HBO MAX: Expecting Amy (Premiere)
USA: Cannonball (Premiere) at 8pm
USA: Chrisley Knows Best (Premiere) at 9pm
CW: Burden of Truth (Finale) at 8pm
CW: In the Dark (Finale) at 9pm
ID: Dead Reckoning (Finale) at 9pm

Facebook said it removed more than 100 accounts and pages linked to Roger Stone and his associates across the social network and sister Instagram because they violated its policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior. Stone is slated to begin serving a 40-month prison sentence next week. The move comes hours after the release of the third and final report from a two-year audit of Facebook led by civil rights attorney Laura Murphy that included interviews with hundreds of civil rights organizations and activists. In short, audit concluded Facebook’s espoused efforts in recent years to stem the spread of harmful and divisive rhetoric that amplifies hate speech and threatens civil rights have been “reactive” and “piecemeal” at best. “The prioritization of free expression over all other values, such as equality and non-discrimination, is deeply troubling to the Auditors,” the report concludes.
(Source: Cynopsis)

NBCU is heralding the Wednesday, July 15 launch of Peacock with free access to all NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage. Four matches, including newly crowned champion Liverpool visiting Arsenal, are slated for that day. Peacock Premium is currently available at no additional cost to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex customers. At launch, Peacock will offer a free tier featuring 7,500 hours of movies, shows, and live and on-demand content.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Although Covid-19 canceled the 2020 live induction live ceremony for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, HBO will air a special honoring this year’s inductees on Saturday, November 7 at 8p. This year’s class includes Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The board of directors SAG-AFTRA’s LA Local voted to oppose ratification of the union’s new film and TV contract. The vote by the union’s largest local, representing more than 50 percent of the collective membership, is the opposite of that of the national board.
(Source: Cynopsis)

A new incarnation of ‘80s family dramedy The Wonder Years, which centers on a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, AL in the turbulent late ‘60s, scored a pilot production commitment from ABC. From exec producer Saladin K. Patterson, Lee Daniels, the original series’ star Fred Savage and 20th Century Fox TV, new series is inspired by Patterson’s childhood. Savage will direct the potential pilot.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Tether, a supernatural drama from The Black List writers Kevin Hamedani and Travis Betz, and Daniel Dae Kim, is in development at Amazon Studios. Tether centers on a woman—now a ghost tethered to the house she died in—who’s on a mission to find her kidnapped husband and son, and seek revenge on those who hurt them and murdered her.
(Source: Cynopsis)

British quiz show Weakest Link is heading for another run in the US, with Jane Lynch set to host and exec produce for NBC. The network greenlit 13 eps of the series, co-produced by BBC Studios’ LA production arm and Universal Television Alternative Studio. Latest version promises a few modern twists, says NBC.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Lionsgate and Oprah Winfrey are working with 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times to develop Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project and the NYT podcast 1619 into a portfolio of films, TV series and documentaries, unscripted programming and other formats. The 1619 Project, launched in 2019 on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies, is a continuing series connecting slavery with the racism that endures in current aspects of American life. Winfrey will produce along with Hannah-Jones and Caitlin Roper, NYT’s head of scripted entertainment and editor of The 1619 Project.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Showtime is on board for a limited series about the life of entertainer and activist Lena Horne, in conjunction with Alex Kurtzman and Horne’s granddaughter Jenny Lumet. Blackbird: Lena Horne and America will detail Horne’s life from dancing at the Cotton Club when she was 16, stardom at MGM, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement and her return to the stage.
(Source: Cynopsis)

It’s a new Day for Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald, who are reuniting for a sequel to their 2010 YouTube feature Life In A Day. The original production, filmed in July 2010 to mark YT’s fifth birthday, relied on user-generated footage to create a portrait of the world in one day. Life In A Day 2020 will follow the same format on July 25 with plans to debut at the Sundance Film Festival and on YouTube in 2021.
(Source: Cynopsis)

ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group signed Emmy winner Darren Star to an overall production and development deal. Star, the creator, exec producer and writer of TV Land’s Younger, Sex and the City, Beverly Hills 90210 Melrose Place, will create projects through MTV Studios, which will be overseen by Keith Cox, president of E&Y Studios.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Oscar-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino will write and direct The Hand Of God for Netflix. This latest film from Sorrentino, who recently helmed HBO series The New Pope, will film in his hometown of Naples and be produced by Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle company, with Sorrentino.
(Source: Cynopsis)

New on the scene is virtual production shingle Bron Digital, launched by Bron Media Corp. to develop and produce long-form animation for TV, short-form content and motion pictures. Jason Chen will lead production and technology, as head of digital.
(Source: Cynopsis)

FX and Hulu are teaming for documentary series The New York Times Presents, which will feature 10 standalone documentaries on stories via NYT journalists. From the team behind FX’s The Weekly, series will air monthly on both networks Fridays at 10p beginning July 10 with the episode They Get Brave, about the resolve of doctors and nurses helping patients battle coronavirus.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Cleo TV will unleash new episodes of All Things Adrienne with Adrienne Houghton on Saturday, July 11 at 9p. Series delves into Houghton’s lifestyle and the ways she optimizes her Latin heritage.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Two decades after The Sims came onto the gaming scene, the enduring title is headed for television. Slated to debut Friday, July 17 on TBS under the Turner Sports’ ELeague esports and gaming umbrella, as well as on BuzzFeed Multiplayer, four-ep series from Electronic Arts will see 12 contestants vie in a virtual world for a $100,000 grand prize.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Netflix is bringing back The Umbrella Academy for a 10-ep second season Friday, July 31, and dropped a trailer hinting of the family drama to ensue.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Backyard Envy returns to Bravo for season 2 on Tuesday, August 4 at 10p. James DeSantis, Garrett Magee and Melissa Brasier are all returning for the second go-round.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Amazon Prime Video teased a trailer for the second season of The Boys, which returns to the platform Friday, September 4. Based on the comic book by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Darick Robertson, series puts an irreverent lens on the scenario of superheroes abusing their powers rather than using them for good.
(Source: Cynopsis)

UPtv will premiere the movie Love in Harmony Valley on Sunday, July 12 at 7p. Story follows the drama as Emma, who’s waited to reunite with her best friend since she was in a serious accident, realizes her friend’s brother won’t allow it because he blames her for the accident.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Outdoor Sportsman Group and exhibitors from the ICast Online 2020 fishing trade show will deliver a review of the latest products from the fishing industry in the multiplatform ICast New Fishing Gear Guide event, July 13-18.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Disney+ dropped a trailer for Disney film The One and Only Ivan, which debuts on the streaming service Friday, August 14. Based on the book by Katherine Applegate, story follows a silverback gorilla who learns that life isn’t defined by place and circumstance—Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant (Angelina Jolie), Bob the dog (Danny Devito), and various other animals.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Farewell Play will launch exclusively on BET+ on Thursday, August 27. In Perry’s final stage run as Madea, he pulls together some of his audience’s favorite characters for a family gathering.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Amazon Fire TV is stepping up its live programming showcase by directly integrating heavy hitters Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and Sling TV into Fire TV’s live discovery features. The three services join close to 20 other integrated apps with live components, including Amazon’s own Prime Video Channels, Philo and Pluto TV.
(Source: Cynopsis)

A Twitter job posting that found its way into the social stream prompted speculation the company is eyeing a move into subscription platform business. The buzz about an ad seeking a developer to work on a new internal team called Gryphon, “building a subscription platform, one that can be reused by other teams in the future,” sent Twitter share up nearly 9 percent yesterday afternoon.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Demi Moore will topline and produce the scripted Dirty Diana podcast, which bows Monday, July 13. Created during lockdown by Run Sweetheart Run and Shana Feste, and touted as “a new form of erotica,” six-ep series details the story of a dying marriage and how two partners find their way back each other through perseverance and sex. Sex and desire will be portrayed from a female POV.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Walton Goggins (The Unicorn) is set to star in a true crime podcast from Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries. Launching Monday, July 13, Deep Cover: The Drug Wars, is a nine-part series that follows the experiences of a Detroit FBI agent as he goes undercover in an outlaw motorcycle gang that inadvertently lead to the US invasion of a foreign country. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern narrates and exec produces alongside Jeff Singer at Stowaway Entertainment.
(Source: Cynopsis)

In syndication news, with just two original shows and three encore eps, newcomer Tamron Hall (0.8 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 14 percent from the week before) was easily syndication’s biggest gainer in the session ended June 28. While most strips were stymied in the first week of summer, Hall brushed aside a ton of preemptions for a NASCAR race June 22 and coronavirus coverage throughout the week.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Dr. Phil (1.8, down 5 percent) was the talk leader for a second straight week and the 186th time in the past 199 weeks, despite being completely in repeats. Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.7, down 6 percent) began its June hiatus with repackaged shows on most days but still snared second place. Ellen DeGeneres (1.2, unchanged) hung on to third place among gabfests. Judge Judy (5.6, down 2%) topped all daytime shows by a wide margin with Judy’s creation Hot Bench (1.9, down 5 percent) tying Dr. Phil as the second highest show in daytime, behind only Judy.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Among magazines Entertainment Tonight (2.4, up 4 percent) was the only show moving up, into a first place tie with stable-mate Inside Edition (2.4, down 8 percent). Also making a big effort was Extra (0.8, steady), despite having its primary runs blown out in five of the top six markets by the June 22 NASCAR race. Extra jumped into a tie with Daily Mail TV (0.8, down 11 percent).
(Source: Cynopsis)