FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 5/19/21)
BRAVO: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Premiere) at 8pm
PBS: Life at the Waterhole (Premiere) at 8pm
SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL: Malawi Wildlife (Premiere) at 9pm
ABC: The Goldbergs (Finale) at 8pm
ABC: Home Economics (Finale) at 8:30pm
ABC: The Conners (Finale) at 9pm
ABC: Call Your Mother (Finale) at 9:30pm
Amazon is in talks to buy MGM, according to reports that set an offer price at somewhere between $7 billion and $10 billion. The studio – on the block since December – has a library of 17,000 hours of television and 4000 films, content that would bolster Amazon Prime Video offerings as the streaming wars heat up.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Back under the Disney umbrella, ABC’s fall lineup has the first of two 2021 seasons of “The Bachelorette” taking the Tuesday-at-8p slot, followed by new girl group series “Queens.” The reboot of “The Wonder Years” lands at 8:30p on Wednesdays, with “Home Economics” relocated to a new time, 9:30p. “Big Sky” has moved to Thursdays at 10p, following “Grey’s Anatomy.” …Season ten of FX’s “American Horror Story” and FX on Hulu spinoff “American Horror Stories” will debut this summer. Season three of FX’s “Atlanta” is in production in Paris, after a pandemic delay….“The Captain,” a docu-series focused on New York Yankee Derek Jeter is in the works at ESPN Films, for a 2022 premiere on ESPN and ESPN+.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Announcements made during Nat Geo’s upfront presentation on Tuesday included three-night event “The Hot Zone Anthrax,” starring Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn, to premiere Thanksgiving weekend; natural History Series “National Parks,” narrated by Garth Brooks; and renewals of “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted”; “Running Wild with Bear Grills”; “Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller”; “Life Below Zero,” “Life Below Zero: Next Generation,” and “Port Protection, Alaska.” New unscripted shows on the way include “The 80s: Top Ten”; and “Brain Games on the Road.” The renewal and tenth anniversary of summer stunt “Sharkfest” was announced, as well as a collaboration with Minorities in Shark Science that makes MISS experts available as talent and experts for “Sharkfest” shows.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Nat Geo WILD’s upfront slate includes a new season of “The Incredible Dr. Pol”; new seasons of the “Secrets of the Zoo” franchise, featuring Tampa and Columbus locations; and returns of “Critter Fixers: Country Vets,” “Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet” and “Heartland Docs, DVM.” “Over the past year, families have found comfort in and strengthened the bonds with the animals in their lives,” said National Geographic Global Television Networks President Courteney Monroe. “Nat Geo WILD has always celebrated the human-animal connection and remains the leading destination for programming about animals and the people who love them.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Kardashians are on the move. “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” is wrapping up its 20th and final season on E!, but Kris Jenner was on hand at the Disney upfront to promote a new family show coming to Hulu and Star later in 2021. “I can’t say much about what’s coming but spoiler, we’re going to look fabulous and everyone’s going to watch,” said the momager.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Discovery+ ordered docu-series “Chasing Ghislaine,” reporting on Ghislaine Maxwell, accused accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, from executive producer James Patterson and Blackfin.
(Source: Cynopsis)
David Nutter ( “Game of Thrones”) has joined HBO’s “The Time Traveler’s Wife” as an executive producer and will direct the six-episode first season. The series is in production in New York.
(Source: Cynopsis)
A revival of “Project Greenlight,” which will focus on aspiring female filmmakers, is a go. From Issa Rae (“Insecure”), HBO Max and Miramax, the series will feature Rae in every episode as an executive producer and mentor. “At HBO Max, we are committed to providing a platform for diverse, up-and-coming talent. Issa is uniquely skilled in this space,” said Jennifer O’Connell, EVP of non-fiction and live-action family at HBO Max. The original series ran on HBO from 2001-03 and in 2015, and on Bravo in 2005.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Welcome to Wrexham” landed a two-season order from FX. The docu-series tracks the dreams and people of Wrexham, a working-class town in North Wales, UK, as two Hollywood stars – Rob McElhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) and Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool”) – take ownership of the town’s historic yet struggling football club.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Discovery Channel has hit the gas for “Hustle and Roll” (wt), from executive producer Jamie Foxx, Propagate and its subsidiary Big Breakfast. The series will offer a behind the scenes look into the life of the world’s most successful celebrity car dealers. “We are so excited to welcome Jamie Foxx to the Discovery family, and through his show we are getting access to a rarely-seen business of sourcing and selling luxury cars,” said Nancy Daniels, Chief Brand Officer, Discovery & Factual.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hulu handed a straight-to-series order to a limited series about Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an Indian American entrepreneur who started the Chippendales stripper troupe. Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”) will executive produce and play Banerjee.
(Source: Cynopsis)
On a related note, “Curse of the Chippendales”, a four-part true crime series from Lightbox, has nabbed an order from discovery+. “The Chippendales are cultural icons, but there are many scandalous stories hidden beneath the surface that will leave even the most seasoned true crime viewer shocked,” said Lisa Holme, Group SVP Content and Commercial Strategy, DTC.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Producer, rapper and DJ Lil Jon offers unconventional renovation ideas in “Lil Jon Wants To Do What?”, greenlit by HGTV and slated to air this summer. “I don’t love following design trends – I would rather be the trendsetter,” said Lil Jon.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Love Nature announced a new original series, “Otter Dynasty.” Produced by Beach House Pictures, in association with Love Nature and Animal Planet, the six-parter will examine the urban wildlife story of three otter families in Singapore.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“The Mighty Underdogs” offers an inside look at the world of Junior Dog Shows, where teen handlers compete for spots at the Westminster Dog Show. “This is an opportunity to highlight the highs and lows of the competitive show world in addition to shining a light on these confident, bold teen handlers who are dedicated to being the best of the best in their group,” said Amy Introcaso-Davis, EVP, Development and Production, Factual Programming, Discovery. The show will be available across Discovery platforms in 4Q21.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Scripted comedy “Everything’s Fine,” following a college student coping with a bipolar diagnosis, drops Saturday, May 22 on Snapchat’s Discover.
(Source: Cynopsis)
HBO’s “Betty” is back for season two on Friday, June 11 at 11p. The series follows five women in the NYC skateboarding scene.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers” will premiere Wednesday, August 18, while the streamer’s comedy starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building,” makes its debut Tuesday, August 31.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Comedian/actress/mom Michelle Buteau takes a break from home life in “Weekend Getaway with Michelle Buteau,” traveling to locales across the country. Executive produced by Queen Latifah and produced by her and Shakim Compere’s production company Flavor Unit Entertainment, the three-episode series begins streaming Thursday, June 10 on discovery+.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Telemundo Deportes is Super-sizing its football programming with exclusive Spanish-language coverage of Super Bowl LVI, live on Telemundo on February 13. This will mark the first time ever that a Super Bowl will be televised on a Spanish-language broadcast network in the US. Telemundo Deportes will be the Spanish-language home of “Sunday Night Football” for the next 13 seasons. Under the new agreement, Telemundo Deportes will continue to present the “NBC Sunday Night Football” package, including all Sunday night regular-season games, the NFL Kickoff game, the annual Thanksgiving prime time game, two Wild Card games, and one Divisional Playoff Game.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hallmark Channel’s May 15 premiere of “Sweet Carolina” was the #1 most-watched cable program of the week among Women 18+, elevating the network to be #1 across entertainment cable on Saturday and in Weekend Primetime among Households, W18+, and total viewers. The film averaged 2.4 million total viewers, 2 million Homes, and 273,000 W25-54 in Nielsen Live+SD numbers.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Judge Judy” (10-week high 5.5, up 8% from the week before and up 28% from the week before that) vaulted into first place among all syndicated shows in the session ending May 9. Finishing second and third were “Family Feud” (5.3, down 4%) and “Jeopardy” (5.2, up 8%) with guest host Bill Whitaker.
(Source: Cynopsis)
During the week of May 10 through May 16, Fox News Channel was the highest-rated cable news network in both total day and primetime viewers, according to Nielsen. From 8-11p, FNC earned 2.3 million viewers, 369,000 among A25-54 and 227,000 in the A18-49 demo. Fox News Digital closed out the month of April with a total of over 3.5 billion total multiplatform minutes, according to Comscore.
(Source: Cynopsis)
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