FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 2/16/23)
ALLBLK: Double Cross (Premiere)
ESPN2: Player 54: Chasing the XFL Dream (Premiere)
FOX: Animal Control (Premiere) at 9pm
NETFLIX: The Upshaws (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Aggretsuko (Premiere)
PARAMOUNT+: Star Trek: Picard (Premiere)
UP FAITH & FAMILY: Hudson & Rex (Premiere)
ABC: The Parent Test (Finale) at 9pm
HGTV: Christina in the Country (Finale) at 8pm
AMC Networks named Kristin Dolan as CEO. The longtime board member and wife of AMC owner James Dolan most recently served as CEO of audience measurement and data analytics firm 605, and will assume her new role on February 27. “Kristin is a proven executive and operational leader with a track record driving organizational change, a history managing subscription-based businesses, and a deep understanding of audience engagement and advertising,” said James Dolan. “These are areas of critical importance as we transform our company and monetize our high-quality content.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
No lie: “Poker Face” scored a second season renewal. The Peacock original series from creator Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne follows Charlie, a human lie detector who uses her gift to solve crimes. Johnson’s T-Street Productions and MRC Television, along with Lyonne under Animal Pictures, will continue to produce.
(Source: Cynopsis)
NBCUniversal has partnered with The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture. The social impact initiative commissions apprentices from nonprofit agencies to develop marketing assets for nonprofit partner organizations. The Alliance will receive a $119,000 grant from NBCUniversal, as well as support for their workforce development program.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Spoiler alert: The trailer for “You” season 4 part 2 revealed a shocking twist. (Skip this item if you want to be surprised.) Joe Goldberg’s deceased wife, Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), was injected with a lethal poison at the end of season 3, yet in the newly-released trailer she sits in the glass cage where Joe keeps his victims, alive. Part 2 of “You” drops on Netflix on March 9.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Roku reported a 5% year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter advertising revenue. Reaching an ad revenue total of $731.3 million, Roku delivered $867.1 million in total sales for Q4, after previously announcing its active user jump by 4.6 million at CES in January.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Jake Tapper executive producer Federico Quadrani will leave CNN after an accusation of sexual misconduct. Evidence of Quadrani allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer was brought to the attention of Tapper last Wednesday, and the anchor relayed the message to CNN’s human resources department. Quadrani exited on Friday.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Boardwalk Pictures sold its “Chef’s Table” minority share to Shamrock Capital. Founded by Andrew Fried, director of the documentary “We Are Freestyle Love Supreme,” Boardwalk Pictures will explore more genres in the non-scripted space, according to Fried.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has accepted an invite to “The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige.” Airing March 1 on BET and BET Her, the special will feature conversations between stars, including Jackson and previously announced guests Taraji P. Henson, Caresha “Young Miami” Brownlee” and more.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix renewed “The Mole” for a second season. The 10-part competition series based on the Belgian “De Mol” centers on 12 contestants working together to win challenges, expect for one designated mole who sabotages their efforts. The first season was hosted by MSNBC’s Alex Wagner; her participation in season 2 is unconfirmed.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Dale Moss and RadicalMedia will develop a Special Olympics docuseries. The former NFL wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, also known for his role on season 16 of “The Bachelorette,” along with Frank Scherma and Jonathan Meyers will produce a series on how athletes train for and compete in the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS ordered a pilot based on the “JumpStart” comic strip. The project will follow two young Black parents with old-school values. An adaptation has been in the works since 2014, and is the second comedy pilot order CBS has made this season.
(Source: Cynopsis)
NEO Studios inked a deal with TwentyOne14. The global production studio will develop and co-produce multiple unscripted projects with the content company, the first being “All Hip-Hop” – a four-part series from Quincy Jones III telling the story of the hip-hop news site, AllHipHop.com. Said NEO Studios U.S. President Melanie Capacia Johnson, “We first planted our flag as sports-centric producers, and now, like sports, we’re expanding into all areas of culture and entertainment.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Wild West Chronicles” will premiere on INSP on April 6. The third season of the anthology series follows Bat Masterson, a sheriff-turned-newspaper reporter tracking down witnesses of the Old West, such as Billy the Kid, Bass Reeves, Burton Mossman, Sister Blandina, Calamity Jane and others. The season will consist of thirteen episodes.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Apple TV+ series “The Big Door Prize” makes its debut on March 29. The 10-episode comedy from David West Read of “Schitt’s Creek” will star Chris O’Dowd, Gabrielle Dennis, Ally Maki and more, following the story of a small town forever changed when a machine promising to reveal each resident’s true life potential appears in the local general store.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Season two of “Run the World” premieres Friday, May 26. Starring Amber Stevens West, Bresha Webb and Corbin Reid, the half-hour comedy from STARZ is centered on the lives of three friends in their thirties living in Harlem.
(Source: Cynopsis)
New limited series “A Small Light,” focused on the real-life story of Miep Gies, who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam, premieres Monday, May 1 at 9p on National Geographic with two back-to-back episodes.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Peter Berg-directed docuseries “Player 54: Chasing the XFL Dream” premieres tonight. Taking viewers behind the scenes of building a league and its teams, the series will highlight the league’s motto: “Where dreams meet opportunity.” The nine-parter docuseries will follow the creation of the USFL under a new leaderboard, featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia, and air on ESPN2, and Saturday on ABC before the Vegas Vipers vs. Arlington Renegades game.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Running throughout Women’s History Month, The Africa Channel will feature new programming highlighting Black women who have broken barriers in the fields of sports and entertainment. First up will be “The Rising: Naomi Osaka” on March 1 at 5p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
OWN celebrates 100 episodes of “Ready to Love” with a one-hour special. Hosted by Tommy Miles, the OWN original show challenges Black singles to find love across Atlanta, Houston, DC and Miami. Premiere date: February 24 at 8p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Mean Girl Murders” and “Killer Cheer” will premiere Mondays on Investigation Discovery. “Mean Girl Murders” explores the inner workings of cutthroat cliques, backbiting and cruel intentions, while “Killer Cheer” shows how crimes among young women can turn deadly. The series will run for six weeks, beginning on March 13 at 9p and 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Maya Rudolph, Daniel Radcliffe and Jane Lynch have joined Andy Samberg’s “Digman!”. The adult animated series, the first written and produced by Samberg, will take place in a world where archaeologists are stars. Said Samberg and co-creator and showrunner Neil Campbell, “As kids we were led to believe that archaeologists are all bad-ass, adventure-seeking rock stars, but after spending 20 long years pursuing careers in archaeology, we now see that was a lie perpetuated by Big Hollywood. So we created ‘Digman!’ to finally bring our childhood dreams to life.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Kaitlin Olson will lead a new drama series based on “HPI (High Intellectual Potential). Olson will also serve as producer on the pilot of the procedural detective drama from film and TV writer Drew Goddard and ABC Signature.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Disney+ cast young versions of classic Disney characters for “Pocketwatch” (working title). The “Descendants” franchise spinoff will star Sam Morelos, Anthony Pyatt, Peder Lindell, Mars, Tristan Padil, Kabir Bery, Grace Narducci and Aiza Azaar joined previously announced cast members Kylie Cantrall, Rita Ora, Malia Baker and more.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” cast Mexican actress Angélica María in a starring role. María will play Elena, a film and TV actress and mother to Mickey (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). The 10-episode series based on “The Fifth Witness,” the fourth book in “The Lincoln Lawyer” bestselling series by Michael Connelly, will follow Mickey as he finds success after recovering from addiction.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Tara Reid will star in and produce an on-screen adaptation of “The Pet Sitter’s Tale.” Based on the book by Laura Vorreyer, “Walking in LA” will follow a woman and her love of pets.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Puppy Bowl XIX” was the #1 non-sports related telecast on Super Bowl Sunday. Simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS, HBO Max and discovery+, the event reached more than 13.2 million viewers, and 7.6 million canines – marking the largest reach for the event in five years. The special topped the charts among key demos, including P25-54, P18-49 and P18-34. Among P25-54, the game averaged a 0.71, 0.58 and 0.28 rating on Animal Planet, TBS and Discovery Channel, respectively.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Keely's Korner 