FIRST LOOK
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ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 12/7/22)
HULU: Connect (Premiere)
NETFLIX: I Hate Christmas (Premiere)
NETFLIX: The Most Beautiful Flower (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Smiley (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Too Hot to Handle (Premiere)
CW: DC’s Stargirl (Finale) at 8pm
SYFY: Reginald the Vampire (Finale) at 10pm
“The D’Amelio Show” has been renewed for a 10-episode season threeon Hulu. The docuseries follows the D’Amelio family as they deal with the pressures of sudden fame.
HBO Max has canceled “Legendary” after three seasons. The voguing competition was produced by Scout Productions.
“The 71st Miss Universe Competition” has found a streaming partner in The Roku Channel. The broadcast will stream live on Saturday, January 14, and in Spanish on Telemundo.
AXS TV has joined forces with Spectrum to launch “AXS TV’s Band Together For Music Education,” a new initiative connecting AXS TV with affiliates, local communities, and schools to support music education programs. “AXS TV’s Band Together” is set to launch this month in five markets across California, Florida, New York, Ohio and Texas.
Between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Hershel Walker, $412.6 million has been spent on Georgia’s 2022 midterm race, according to data from OpenSecrets.org. The candidates’ campaigns spent $181.2 million, with $213.4 million coming from outside groups.
Buzzfeed is cutting its staff by 12%, citing “challenging macroeconomic conditions” and the move by viewers to short-form, vertical video. The restructuring is expected to be substantially completed by 1Q23.
With Trevor Noah signing off, guest hosts for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” starting January 17 will include Al Franken, Chelsea Handler, D. L. Hughley, Leslie Jones, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minhaj, Kal Penn, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Marlon Wayans along with TDS correspondents and contributors. “As we enter Trevor’s final week, we want to thank him for his many contributions,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO Paramount Media Networks. “Trevor redefined the show, as did Jon Stewart before him, and as we look to the future, we are excited to reimagine it yet again.”
PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Cineflix Productions and executive producers Valerie LoCascio, Anne Kenny, and Amrita Gandhi announced the development of “The Descendants,” a four-part documentary anthology that explores what it’s like to honor and uphold the legacies of legends through the perspectives of descendants in the family line. The families of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr will share private collections of archival materials and untold stories.
Dynamic Television announced that ZDF has joined season two of Acorn TV’s Irish mystery thriller “Harry Wild,” and Acorn TV has extended the season’s episode order, which will now consist of two six-episode seasons. The series is produced by Dynamic Television and Metropolitan Films with Dynamic handling worldwide distribution.
There’s more than one Taylor (that would be “Yellowstone” co-creator Sheridan) heading West. Taylor Kitsch (“Waco”) will star in Netflix limited series “American Primeval,” an exploration of the American West from Pete Berg (“Friday Night Lights”), Eric Newman (“The Watcher”) and Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”). “We are very appreciative that Netflix is trusting us to take a big swing with ‘American Primeval,’” said Berg. “I’m looking forward to taking viewers into the most dynamic, intense, and heart pounding survival tale humanly possible. We are going into the belly of the beast.”
Newly formed production house Fireworks Media Group, helmed by CEO Jesse Fawcett, has entered into a co-production partnership with home-renovation series creator and CEO Paul Taylor at Lucky Stars Media. Fawcett and Taylor created and produced HGTV titles including “No Demo Reno” and “Selling the Big Easy.”
Hugh Grant will guest on HBO’s “The Palace.” The limited series follows the unraveling of an authoritarian regime.
Changes at CNBC, effective December 19: Anne Tironi has been named Senior Executive Producer in charge of “Squawk Box”; Rebecca White has appointed Supervising Producer and will move from “Power Lunch” to “Squawk Box,” replacing Anne as second-in-command; Executive Producer Maria Boden will move from “The Exchange” and “Power Lunch” to “TechCheck”; Senior Executive Producer Matt Quayle rejoins the daily ranks of Business News by taking the helm of “The Exchange” and “Power Lunch”; and Senior Executive Producer Max Meyers will begin work on a new 7pm business news program.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
The ninth and final season of CW’s “The Flash” premieres Wednesday, February 8 at 8p, leading into the midseason debut of “Kung Fu” at 9p. “’The Flash’ will be remembered as one of the greatest shows in the history of The CW, and everyone involved in its excellent nine-season run should be very proud,” said Brad Schwartz, The CW’s President of Entertainment. “The team has delivered an epic final season, filled with plenty of twists, guest stars and surprises that will delight every fan.”
Season 35 of “American Experience” kicks off Tuesday, January 3 at 9p on PBS. First up is “The Lie Detector,” tracking the “good intentions, twisted morals and unintended consequences” of the device.
A three-episode second season of “I Hate Suzie Too” premieresThursday, December 22 on HBO Max. The British dramedy focuses on child star-turned-actress Suzie Pickles (Billie Piper).
“Daisy Jones and the Six,” adapted from the bestseller by Taylor Jenkins Reid, makes its debut March 3 on Prime Video. Riley Keough (“The Girlfriend Experience”) stars as the lead singer of a fictional ‘70s band.
“Ready to Love” returns to OWN for season seven on Friday, January 6 at 8p. The dating series features 16 ready-to-mingle singles in Miami.
COMING UP
“Puppy Bowl “returns for its 19th year on Sunday, February 12 at 2p on Animal Planet. The three-hour event will showcase Team Ruff and Team Fluff as they take to the gridiron in the Puppy Bowl stadium to win the Wayfair “Lombarky” trophy.
Can’t wait til February for a canine fix? “AKC Heroes: 2022 Awards for Canine Excellence” airs on ESPN2 on Sunday December 11 at 10p. The show, honoring dogs who’ve provided extraordinary service to people, is done in participation with ESPN’s V Week to raise funds and awareness for life-saving cancer research. “AKC Heroes” is sponsored by Eukanuba, YuMOVE and Tractor Supply.
The lineup of performers for ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2023” will include (pre-taped at Disneyland) Ciara; Maddie & Tae; Shaggy; Ben Platt; Aly & AJ; Halle Bailey; TXT; Bailey Zimmerman; and Lauren Spencer Smith. Performers at the LA party will include Wiz Khalifa; Finneas; Armani White; Betty Who; Dove Cameron and Nicky Youre.
HBO will air the 1996 film “If These Walls Could Talk,” examining abortion through three stories set in 1952, 1974 and 1996, on Friday, December 9 at 8p. Directed by Cher and Nancy Savoca, the film stars Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, Cher, Xander Berkeley, Hedy Burress, Anne Heche, Jada Pinkett Smith, Shirley Knight, and CCH Pounder.
“Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair” begins streaming exclusively on Peacock Monday, December 26. “Many stories have been told about The Nature Boy over the past 50 years,” said WWE Hall of Famer Flair. “I’m thrilled to have partnered with WWE and Peacock to produce the most accurate depiction of my life to date and hope audiences enjoy the ride. Woooo!”
DECADES will remember the late Kirstie Alley with special episodes featuring the actress in her breakout role of Rebecca Howe in “Cheers,” during the regular weeknight time slot for the series at 11p and 11:30p, through Friday. This weekend, the net will air a tribute Weekend Binge with back-to-back episodes airing Saturday and Sunday.
“The 54th NAACP Image Awards” airs Saturday, February 25 at 8p on BET. Three new submission categories have been added: Outstanding Hairstyling, Make-Up and Costume Design.
CBS Sports and Nickelodeon will deliver a slime-filled presentation of the National Football League’s Christmas Day game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, December 25, at 4:30p. The “Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas Game” will air alongside CBS Sports’ coverage, which will be broadcast on CBS and stream live on Paramount+.
WBD Sports will present the seventh edition of live golf event “Capital One’s The Match,” featuring Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas andJordan Spieth, on Saturday, December 10. Coverage will center on TNT, with simulcasts available on TBS, truTV and HLN, along with content available across Bleacher Report’s platforms leading up to and during the competition. The evening’s programming will start at 6p with “The Conversation Presented by Deloitte,” a 30-minute roundtable discussion with Woods, McIlroy, Thomas and Spieth. “The Capital One’s The Match Pre-Match Show presented by ZipRecruiter” will follow at 6:30p, leading into the live competition.
HBO Max is back on Prime Video. HBO Max left the platform in September 2021 when a distribution deal could not be reached. But now, “Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to making HBO Max available to as broad an audience as possible while also advancing our data-driven approach to understanding our customers and best serving their viewing interests,” said Bruce Campbell, WBD’s Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer. “We are thrilled to take an important step forward by announcing that HBO Max is returning to Prime Video Channels.”
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