FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 3/11/20)
E!: The Funny Dance Show (Premiere) at 10:30pm
HISTORY: Eating History (Premiere) at 10pm
Execs overseeing CBS Sports’ and Turner Sports’ annual telecast of the NCAA March Madness men’s college hoops championship are continuing on track as if the event would not be affected by the spread of coronavirus, but are ready to flex to a shift if the NCAA deemed it necessary. “As of now, everything is proceeding as scheduled,” Jeff Zucker, chairman of WarnerMedia’s news and sports operations, said yesterday during a conference call. “This is their decision to make to the degree that any decision needs to be made.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Dr. Phil joined the growing list of shows filming episodes without studio audiences due to COVID-19 concerns. Beginning yesterday, the talker hosted by Dr. Phil McGraw taped sans the 300 audience members who typically watch live in the Paramount lot studio Mondays through Wednesday. Exec producer Carla Pennington said she hopes to resume audience-tapings the week of March 23. Game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel Of Fortune are taping without studio audiences for the foreseeable future.
(Source: Cynopsis)
There’s more… Snap shifted its second Snap Partner Summit, planned to gather developers, content creators and advertisers, April 2 in LA, to an online-only streaming presentation amid the spread of the coronavirus… Britain’s Royal Television Society Program Awards will be held without an audience on Tuesday, March 17. While venue London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, holds 2,000 people, only nominees and RTS reps will be in the room. Fleabag, Chernobyl, The Circle, Love Island and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK are among contenders… The Gridiron Club & Foundation, which gathers media and political elite, canceled its annual white-tie dinner scheduled for Saturday, March 14, because of coronavirus fears.
(Source: Cynopsis)
SXSW, whose TV, digital, film and music fest was canceled by the City of Austin due to the novel coronavirus, laid off 50 employees, nearly one-third of its staff. “We are in the unimaginable position of reducing our workforce,” SXSW said in a statement. “Today we said goodbye to approximately one-third of our full-time staff. Those of us in the business of live events know the level of trust required to execute an event of SXSW’s scale, and we are deeply sad to let people go this soon. We are planning for the future and this was a necessary, but heartbreaking step.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Investigation Discovery and Random House are partnering on the ID Book Club. Collaboration unites books with the small screen, with Random House publishing two new crime/mystery/thriller books each quarter and ID will serving up corresponding content on its TV Everywhere platform, ID GO.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Chicago, LA, Atlanta, NYC and Dallas will serve as host cities for 2020 StandUp NBC auditions, a nationwide search for standup comedians of diverse backgrounds. All five cities on the 2020 tour will also offer online video submissions where comics can submit a recent two-minute performance in lieu of attending the first round open call.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Creator/exec producer Callie Khouri, producer Michael Lohmann and music producer T Bone Burnett are reteaming for another music-driven drama series, this time based on Jake Brennan’s Disgraceland music and true crime podcast launched in 2018. Kapital Entertainment acquired the rights to Disgraceland for a TV series written by Khouri, Lohmann and Brennan, with Burnett overseeing the music. Plot will center on musicians getting away with murder and engaging in bad behavior.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix snapped up Deb Spera’s novel Call Your Daughter Home to develop as a potential series. Spera is penning the TV adaptation of the book, which follows three women in 1924 South Carolina who unite to stand up to injustices that have plagued their town.
(Source: Cynopsis)
AMC gave a two-season order to primetime animated drama series Pantheon. It’s a new avenue for the network, and a big endorsement for the hourlong project, from Turn creator/executive producer Craig Silverstein and AMC Studios.
(Source: Cynopsis)
HBO Max greenlighted eight-episode doc series Wahl Street, which offers fans a glimpse into the life of Mark Wahlberg as he juggles his film schedule and an ever-growing network of diverse businesses spanning a line of activewear, sports nutrition supplements, television and film production companies and even a Chevrolet dealership.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Quibi will be engaging subscribers in some spring cleaning via Squeaky Clean (working title), a new cleaning competition series from Endemol Shine Group set to debut at Quibi’s April 6 launch. Series features three contestants battling it out to be crowned a champion of the black light/white glove test.
(Source: Cynopsis)
In other company news, Endemol Shine Brazil commissioned season 2 of Best.Cover.Ever. From beer brand Brahma and Brazilian music fest VillaMix, reality show seeks to find Brazil’s new sertanejo star.
(Source: Cynopsis)
John Boyega (Star Wars) is partnering with Netflix via his UpperRoom Productions. He’ll develop non-English-language films for the streamer centered on West and East Africa.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The trailer for Tiger King, which debuts on Netflix on Friday, March 20, dropped yesterday teasing the disturbingly eccentric cult of personality Joe Exotic, a mulleted, gun-toting polygamist and big cat owner who presides over an Oklahoma roadside zoo.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Acorn TV will debut mystery drama Deadwater on Monday, April 6. Created and written by Daisy Coulam (Grantchester, Humans) and directed by Lynsey Miller (The Boy with the Topknot, Eve,) four-part psychological mystery drama explores the cause and aftermath of a horrific crime in a small Scottish community.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Country lifestyle net Circle will premiere a new season of the Dailey & Vincent Show on Tuesday, April 7 at 9:30p. Featuring Grand Ole Opry members Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent, show features country, bluegrass, Americana and gospel music artists.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Brothers Scott are expanding their HGTV empire. Celebrity IOU, debuting Monday, April 13 at 9p, features Hollywood A-listers expressing gratitude to the individuals who’ve impacted their lives by surprising them with big, heartwarming home renovations. Twins Drew and Jonathan Scott are on the scene to help celebrities—including Brad Pitt, Melissa McCarthy, Viola Davis, Rebel Wilson and Michael Buble—with a renovation.
(Source: Cynopsis)
HDNET Movies will present a day of cinematic stooges on Wednesday, April 1, including Jeff Bridges in The Amateurs and Artie Lange’s Beer League… On Sunday, April 5, the net will celebrate the work of Robin Williams with a movie marathon featuring Popeye, The Big White, Awakenings and The Fisher King.
(Source: Cynopsis)
New two-part PBS documentary American Experience: The Vote, premiering Monday, July 6, explores the protracted battle that led to the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Doc is narrated by Kate Burton and features the voices of Mae Whitman, Audra McDonald, Laura Linney and Patricia Clarkson.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Shelley Hennig (Teen Wolf) will topline NBC dating comedy Crazy for You, and Alice Lee (Brittany Runs a Marathon), Tiana Okoye (Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens) and Nick Cafero (Pitch Perfect) have been cast as series regulars… Lucca De Oliveira (The Punisher) and Devyn A. Tyler (Out Of Blue) scored leads opposite Rebecca Breeds in CBS’ crime drama pilot Clarice… Meaghan Rath (Hawaii Five-0) scored a lead role on CBS ensemble comedy pilot Jury Duty… Nabhaan Rizwan (1917) and Philippine Velge (Ete ’85) are in as series regulars in HBO Max’s drama series Station Eleven.
(Source: Cynopsis)
A bunch of new castings at ABC: Natalie Alyn Lind (Tell Me A Story) will topline opposite Katheryn Winnick and Ryan Phillippe in straight-to-series drama The Big Sky, created and exec-produced by David E. Kelley… Andy Garcia nabbed the male lead opposite Katey Sagal in ABC drama pilot Rebel, inspired by the life of activist Erin Brockovich… Also at ABC, Diana Maria Riva (Dead To Me) and Dale Dickey (Palm Springs) booked roles as series regulars opposite Hunter King and David Alan Grier in comedy Prospect, and Lulu Wilson (The Haunting Of Hill House) scored a lead role opposite Jason Lee in private school comedy Valley Trash.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Rock doc Suzi Q, a doc about early ‘70s singer Suzi Quatro, has been picked up for North America by Utopia. The film will have a one-night theatrical release July 1, followed by digital distribution two days later.
(Source: Cynopsis)
ABC’s The Bachelor was No. 1 in OOH viewing on March 9.
(Source: Cynopsis)
While most of syndication suffered sliding ratings in the session ended March 1 due in part to coverage of the coronavirus press conference by President Trump, talk show leader Dr. Phil (new season high 2.8 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 8 percent from the week before) had complete immunity and topped all talkers by a healthy margin. Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.0, steady) broke out of a tie in the prior frame and secured sole possession of second place. Ellen DeGeneres (1.9, down 5 percent) took third. Also in the hunt were Wendy Williams (1.3, unchanged), Maury (1.1, down 8 percent), Rachael Ray (1.0, down 9 percent) and Steve Wilkos (1.0, unchanged).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix topped the Most-Binged ranking the week of March 2, with The CW and NBC close behind.
(Source: Cynopsis)
POWERBALL
Saturday’s Jackpot is $110 million.
Powerball is played in 43 states.
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