FIRST LOOK
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ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 5/12/16)
HISTORY: Mountain Men (Premiere) at 10pm
ID: Las Vegas Law (Premiere) at 10pm
SHOWTIME: Submission (Premiere) at 10pm
ABC: Scandal (Finale) at 9pm
CBS: The Big Bang Theory (Finale) at 8pm
CBS: 2 Broke Girls (Finale) at 9:30pm
TRU TV: Impractical Jokers (Finale) at 10pm
WE TV: Sisters In Law (Premiere) at 10pm
Morley Safer, 60 Minutes’ longest-serving correspondent, is retiring this week after 46 seasons. Following the Sunday, May 15 broadcast of the news show, CBS will air tribute Morley Safer: A Reporter’s Life. “It’s been a wonderful run, but the time has come to say goodbye to all of my friends at CBS and the dozens of people who kept me on the air,” said Safer, 84. “But most of all I thank the millions of people who have been loyal to our broadcast.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS renewed freshman comedy Life in Pieces. The series, produced by 20th Century Fox Television in association with Kapital Entertainment, is averaging 10.53 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among A18-49.
(Source: Cynopsis)
NBC announced holiday special sequel Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, based on the singer’s life, for 2016. Original cast members Jennifer Nettles, Ricky Schroder, Gerald McRaney and Alyvia Alyn Lind will return, as will director Stephen Herek. “The response to our first movie was overwhelming, both in terms of the size of the audience and outpouring of love for a film with family values and faith,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment.“So it felt like a no-brainer to bring this talented cast back together and tell another compelling holiday story culled from Dolly’s own life growing up.” Nearly 16 million viewers tuned in for chapter one, with a Live+7 rating of 2.45 among A18-49, making it the most-watched film on broadcast or cable in nearly seven years.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The FCC approved the Charter Communications merger with Time Warner Cable, subject to conditions to “reduce the risk of public interest harms.” Specifically, New Charter would be prohibited from imposing data caps or charging usage-based pricing for residential broadband service for seven years; commit to interconnect with qualifying companies for free; and be prohibited from entering or enforcing contractual terms that prevent or penalize programmers from distributing content online. The company will also be monitored to ensure it keeps to the “letter and spirit of the conditions,” and be required to build out a program that will deploy high-speed broadband to 2 million more homes and a low-income broadband program, said the FCC.
(Source: Cynopsis)
A Sons of Anarchy spinoff, Mayans MC, is officially in development with a script order at FX Networks. Co-created by Anarchy’s Kurt Sutter and Elgin Games (Little Birds), the dark drama focuses on a Latino family.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The series premiere of TNT’s Animal Kingdom has moved from June 7 to a two-hour opener on Tuesday, June 14 at 9p. Drama stars Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman (The Strangers), Shawn Hatosy (Reckless), Ben Robson (Vikings), Jake Weary (Pretty Little Liars), Finn Cole (Peaky Blinders), Daniella Alonso (Revolution) and Molly Gordon (Ithaca).
(Source: Cynopsis)
CMT’s first Concert of the Summer special aims to take fans backstage during Jason Aldean’s tour, with behind-the-scenes access across screens. Going forward, the net will name one festival or event as the concert of the summer, amplified across TV, online and social. As for viewers of the inaugural event, “We’re going to slap an all-access pass on them for the day and play until they pull the plug,” said Aldean.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Joan Baez 75th Birthday Celebration airs on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances in June on PBS stations (check local listings). Artists who performed with Baez during the event, which took place in January, included Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Judy Collins, David Crosby, Emmylou Harris, Paul Simon and more.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Madonna will pay tribute to Prince, who died last month at age 57, at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards Sunday, May 22 at 8p. Ludacris and Ciara host the show, broadcast live from Vegas.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas will perform on the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, broadcast live from Boston on Monday, July 4 at 9p on CBS.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Alicia Keys and OneRepublic pop into NBC’s The Voice to perform their new singles on Tuesday, May 17 at 8p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The cast and creator of Orange Is the New Black convene for a Paley Center for Media event on Thursday, May 26. Discussion will include the evolution of the series, and its ability to straddle comedy and drama.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Steven Spielberg will present composer John Williams with the American Film Institute’s 44th Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala tribute on June 9 in Hollywood. Televised special AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to John Williams will air in TNT Wednesday, June 15 at 10p, encoring on sister net Turner Classic Movies on September 12.
(Source: Cynopsis)
BBC America’s Top Gear returns Monday, May 30 at 9p, with hosts Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc, Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris, Eddie Jordan, Rory Reid and The Stig. New this lap – in addition to hosts – is after-show Extra Gear, steered by Reid.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Meanwhile, former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May announced the name of their upcoming show on Amazon Prime: The Grand Tour. Each episode will feature the hosts driving through a different country. The BBC Two didn’t renew Clarkson’s Top Gear contract last year after a “fracas” with a show producer; Hammond and May left soon after.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Kristen Hager (Being Human) will play Joan Kennedy in Reelz’ The Kennedys – After Camelot, starring Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy and Matthew Perry as Ted Kennedy. Principal photography on the four-hour miniseries began yesterday.
(Source: Cynopsis)
History docu-drama Barbarians Rising, featuring true stories of nine of history’s greatest warriors, includes Nicholas Pinnock (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Hannibal; Ben Batt (The Edge of Love) as Spartacus; Kirsty Mitchell (River City) as Boudica; Tom Hopper (Merlin) as Arminius; Emil Hostina (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II) as Attila; Gavin Drea (What Richard Did) as Alaric; Steven Waddington (The Imitation Game) as Fritigern; Richard Brake (Game of Thrones) as Geiseric, and Jefferson Hall (Vikings) as Viriathus. U.S premiere is Monday, June 6.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Pablo Schreiber (Orange Is the New Black) landed a role in Starz straight-to-series American Gods, adapted from the fantasy novel. Schreiber replaces UK actor Sean Harris.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Looks like passive-aggressive anti-Mom sentiment on Mother’s Day may have hit a peak in early afternoon – right around lunch/early dinner – based on ratings for IFC‘s Mommie Dearest 24-hour programming stunt. The marathon of seven repeat airings of the Faye Dunaway cult classic on Sunday hit a peak of more than 200,000 viewers during the noon-to-3p installment, then held firm through the afternoon and evening and dipped after midnight – when dishes had been washed and wire hangers put away.
(Source: Cynopsis)
ABC newcomer The Real O’Neals delivered a best-yet 100 percent lead-in retention of .9 among A18-49 following Fresh Off the Boat on Tuesday, steady week to week.
(Source: Cynopsis)
VH1 Mother’s Day event Dear Mama drew 1.5 million total viewers for its 9:30p and 11:30p encore, and bested its time period by 132 percent among A18-49 in Live+SD.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Spanish-language HITN-TV reported a 1Q16 ratings hike of 23 percent in prime time and late fringe viewing, according to Rentrak figures. Beginning in late 2015, HITN inked deals with BBC, Discovery, Nat Geo, AccuWeather and Chef Oropeza, among others, with a renewed focus on educational programming.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Sunday’s Premiere Boxing Champions – The Next Round on Bounce TV reached 1.2 million viewers. The 9p live telecast HH average was up 6 percent over January’s previous PBC – The Next Round while also posting a 15 percent lift in African-American Homes.
(Source: Cynopsis)
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