FIRST LOOK
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ON TELEVISION (MONDAY 5/9/16)
Z LIVING: Birth Days (Premiere) at 4pm
A&E: Damien (Finale) at 10pm
TRU TV: Truinside (Finale) at 10pm
One to go. The FCC on Friday voted to approve, with additional forthcoming conditions, Charter Communications’ bid to purchase Time Warner Cable for $78 billion and Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion. The last necessary approval is that of the California Public Utilities Commission, which is scheduled to meet May 12. Among conditions Charter already has agreed to: the company will refrain from anything that would deter a programmer from licensing content to an online service, will not impose data caps or tie Internet rates to usage and will elevate the number of “customer locations” with high-speed connections to 2 million.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS gave a full season renewal to veteran drama Criminal Minds for 2016-17, marking the series’ 11th season. Criminal Minds is a top 10 drama in Total Viewers (12.04 million), A18-49 (2.8/9) and A25-54 (3.8/10). It also ranks as CBS’ second-highest rated drama in those demographics.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Tim Matheson (The West Wing) will star in Killing Reagan, National Geographic Channel’s upcoming two-hour scripted movie and the fourth in the partnership among Nat Geo, Scott Free Productions and Bill O’Reilly. Matheson will portray the actor turned California governor turned President. Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) will play first lady Nancy Reagan. Rod Lurie (The Contender) is directing the script written by Oscar winner Eric Simonson. The previous Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy and Killing Jesus, are Nat Geo’s three most-watched programs of all time.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS’ yet-be-be-renewed Supergirl may be heading north. Warner Bros. TV, the studio behind the freshman drama, is contemplating moving production from LA to Vancouver next season, according to Deadline, as a means of reducing costs.
(Source: Cynopsis)
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network‘s docu-series Livin’ Lozada, featuring reality star Evelyn Lozada, returned with new episodes on Saturday, May 7 at 10p. The premiere season of the series in July 2015 brought younger viewers to the network and was the highest-rated freshman season ever for an OWN docu-series for W18-49.
(Source: Cynopsis)
TLC will launch the new season of Little People, Big World on Tuesday, May 10 at 9p, followed by the series premiere of Outdaughtered, about a couple who defy the odds and give birth to the first set of all-girl quintuplets in the US.
(Source: Cynopsis)
SundanceTV’s new genre drama Cleverman will premiere Wednesday, June 1 at 10p. The six-ep series, starring Iain Glen (Game of Thrones) and Frances O’Connor (The Missing), is set in the very near future and centers on a group of extraordinary beings from ancient mythology who battle for survival in a world where humans feel threatened by them.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Animal Planet is going whole-hog for law-enforcement on Thursday nights. On Thursday, June 2, the network will air the season premiere of Maine’s North Woods Law at 9p, back on patrol throughout the 18 million acres of rugged woods of the Pine Tree State, followed at 10p by the series debut of Lone Star Law, which follows Texas’ elite game wardens who protect the state’s wildlife and more than 27 million citizens. Investigating large-scale poaching cases, saving victims from flash floods, disrupting illegal smuggling operations along the Gulf of Mexico and rescuing injured wildlife all factor in to the action.
(Source: Cynopsis)
AMC has shifted the premiere of Feed the Beast to Sunday, June 5 at 10p, following the second episode of new series Preacher. The move brings viewers two hours of Feed The Beast two days later when it arrives at its regular Tuesday night time slot on June 7. Feed The Beast originally was scheduled to premiere May 31.
(Source: Cynopsis)
USA Network is suiting up again. The network’s legal drama Suits is set to return for its sixth season on Wednesday, July 13 at 9p, picking up immediately after the season 5 cliffhanger. The series will be the lead-in to the previously announced second season of Mr. Robot.
(Source: Cynopsis)
If ABC drama Castle is renewed for a ninth season, Seamus Dever will be onboard to continue as a show regular. Dever joins star Nathan Fillion, who also has committed to the series for another season. Series status is still in limbo.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Carlos Bardem joined the cast of AMC drama The Son. The series, based on the Philipp Meyer novel of the same name, is an account of the rise US as a superpower as seen through the dramatic story one Texas family. Production is set to begin in Austin, TX, in June; series will premiere in 2017.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Starz’s American Gods, the straight-to-series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel, is getting a new leading man. Mad Sweeney has been recast in one of the main roles after British actor Sean Harris pulled out for personal reasons. Additionally, original director of photography Brendan Glavin has been replaced with Jo Willems (Hunger Games: Catching Fire).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Sesame Workshop launched Sesame Studios, a YouTube channel that will showcase new non-Muppet characters, shortform series and original stories. The channel aims to build off the success of the Sesame Street YouTube Channel, which has 2 million subscribers and almost 3 billion views. The new channel will feature videos one to five minutes long, focusing on a range of curricular areas such as literacy, health, and social-emotional development.
(Source: Cynopsis)
ABC hit a high note at 8p Friday, May 6, as its Beyond the Tank surged by 1.7 million viewers (to 3.6 million) from its most recent telecast the previous Tuesday (5/3/16) at 10p and held even in A18-49 (0.6/3), marking the show’s most-watched telecast since January.
(Source: Cynopsis)
John Nuzzi, formerly of Initiative and most recently managing director of Carat, passed away May 4 from cancer. He leaves his husband Jeff Troyer and family.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Rickey E. Smith Jr., 36, a season 2 finalist on Fox’s American Idol, was killed in an automobile crash in Oklahoma on May 6. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Smith was driving eastbound on Interstate 240 when he was hit head-on by a pick-up truck driving the wrong way on the road.
(Source: Cynopsis)
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Captain America: Civil War – $182 million
The Jungle Book – $22 million
Mother’s Day – $9 million
The Huntsman: Winter’s War – $3.6 million
Keanu – $3 million
(Source: Box Office Mojo)
Keely's Korner 