FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 1/30/19)
AT&T AUDIENCE: Undeniable with Dan Patrick (Premiere) at 8pm
HGTV: Property Brothers (Finale) at 9pm
HISTORY: Vikings (Finale) at 9pm
TURNER: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Finale) at 10:30pm
The Empire cast and crew and community at large are reacting to news that Empire star Jussie Smollett was attacked early yesterday morning in Chicago in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime. The attackers reportedly punched Smollett, then poured an unknown chemical substance over him and wrapped a rope around his neck before fleeing the scene. Well wishes for the openly gay black actor as well as grief and outrage at the attack have been pouring out via social media, including this statement from 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment: “The entire studio, network and production stands united in the face of any despicable act of violence and hate – and especially against one of our own.” In a bitingly raw Instagram video, Empire co-creator Lee Daniels expressed love for Smollett and his anger at the men and the hatred that landed Smollett in the hospital, ending his message with this: “It’s just another f**king day in America.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS renewed freshman drama God Friended Me for the 2019-20 broadcast season. It’s the network’s second-most-watched new series and the most-watched scripted series on Sunday, averaging 10 million viewers.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Lauren Greenfield, the documentarian and commercial director behind the viral ad #LikeAGirl, and partner Frank Evers launched Girl Culture Films. Production company will focus on commercial projects, branded content opportunities, nonfiction and fiction film content to amplify female and diverse voices in the advertising world. Greenfield will serve as creative director; Evers, president. Among storytellers on the roster are Catherine Hardwicke (Miss Bala, Twilight), Karyn Kusama (Destroyer, Girlfight) and Marina Zenovich (Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind). The company’s advisory board includes creative leaders from advertising, brands, entertainment and finance.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Television Academy yesterday released new, formalized regulations around the Emmy Awards. Among them, programs will be allowed to switch categories (e.g., from drama to comedy) only once before they are locked in. The Academy also clarified eligibility for voice-over performance vs. narration, streamlined the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category to Outstanding Competition Program and determined “an eligible entrant may use their legal name or a pseudonym, but whatever name is used must appear in the credits or be verified by the production.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Former Arizona Republican senator Jeff Flake won’t seek a spot in the White House but he has joined CBS News as a contributor. Flake appeared yesterday on CBS This Morning, where he discussed his new role and confirmed he will not be a candidate in the 2020 Presidential race.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Entertainment One snagged all international rights, excluding the UK, to Inside the Crown, a documentary series that explores the British royal family, produced by UK indie Spun Gold for ITV.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix emerged victorious over competitors in landing Indian anthology drama series Delhi Crime. Season one is inspired by the notorious December 2012 investigation by the Delhi Police into the gang rape of a young woman.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The late Jim Robbins, former CEO of Cox Communications, will be honored with the 2019 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award at the Cable Center’s 22nd annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration May 2 in NYC.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Inspired by the untold rise of iconic music and dance program Soul Train, BET Networks original series American Soul debuts Tuesday, February 5, at 9p. Series stars Sinqua Walls (Power, The Breaks), singer Kelly Price, Jason Dirden (Greenleaf) and Iantha Richardson (This Is Us) in a story of battles with record labels, off-camera drama and the struggle for substantial funding as thirstysomething Don Cornelius sacrifices all that he loves to follow his dream.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Project Runway returns to its original home, Bravo, with a 90-minute ep on March 14 at 8p. After 11 seasons on Lifetime, the newest iteration of the series features supermodel Karlie Kloss as host with former Project Runway champ and fashion designer Christian Siriano as mentor. Elle Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia returns as a judge along with fashion designer Brandon Maxwell and former Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief Elaine Welteroth. Original production company Magical Elves is producing alongside new Weinstein Co. owner Lantern Entertainment.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Verizon is producing a 30-minute doc focusing on the backstories of the first responders featured in its Super Bowl Campaign. Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) with Gary Sinise as the narrator, it will air on CBS Sports Monday, February 4, at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The impact of the #MeToo movement in television was parsed during NBC’s “Women of Drama” panel yesterday as the Television Critics Assn. winter tour got under way. “Last season, when everything was coming out, we had a lot of male guest stars actually ask us questions, which we found interesting and nice,” Good Girls star Retta said. Referencing an on-set This Is Us meeting to discuss inappropriate behavior, actor Susan Kelechi Watson noted, “There was a consciousness about that that I found really respectful.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty) scored a lead role opposite Matt Walsh and JoAnna Garcia Swisher in ABC comedy pilot Happy Accident… Sasha Lane (American Honey) will headline Utopia, Amazon’s adaptation of the British series… Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary) and Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) top the ensemble cast in Urban Myth Film‘s TV reimagining of sci-fi tale War of the Worlds. Lea Drucker (Le Bureau Des Legendes), Natasha Little (Silent Witness), Daisy Edgar Jones (Cold Feet), Stéphane Caillard (Marseille), Adel Bencherif (The Prophet) and Guillaume Gouix (The Returned) are also on board.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CNN said its Monday-night event featuring Kamala Harris, the Democratic senator from California who recently threw her hat into the 2020 Presidential election, was “the most-watched cable news single-candidate election town hall” ever among the A25-54 news demo. Town Hall with Sen. Kamala Harris scored 712,000 A25-54 from 10-11p. In Total Viewers it averaged 1.96 million.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hallmark Channel was the most watched and highest rated across cable in primetime for the entire month of January, excluding news and sports nets. Driven by its annual “Winterfest” programming, featuring four consecutive Saturday-night movie premieres, the net was also number one every weekend throughout the month. The four consecutive Saturday-night premieres averaged a 2.8 HH rating, 2.9 million Total Viewers and 428,000 W25-54.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Last Saturday’s 48 Hours: Was Kevin Cooper Framed? ep garnered CBS the program’s largest audience this season and was the night’s top primetime program with viewers, according to Nielsen Live+SD ratings for January 26. At 10p, 48 Hours delivered 4.83 million viewers and a 0.9/04 with A25-54, the show’s largest audience since February 3, 2018.
(Source: Cynopsis)
From Monday through Friday the week of January 21, Univision delivered week-over-week audience growth among Total Viewers 2+ (+4% to 1.5 million), A18-49 (+5% to 596,000) and A18-34 (+11% to 242,000).
(Source: Cynopsis)
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