FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 3/29/23)
APPLE TV+: The Big Door Prize (Premiere)
CW: Riverdale (Premiere) at 9pm
FUSE: Like a Girl (Premiere) at 10pm
NETFLIX: Wellmania (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Emergency: NYC (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Unseen (Premiere)
TBS: All Elite Wrestling: All Access at 10p
Season two of buzzy Showtime drama “Yellowjackets” premiered with nearly 2 million viewers across platforms, the best season two premiere for the network in more than 10 years and nearly double the series premiere audience. “By tapping into our proven strategy of promoting series across our full portfolio of brands at Paramount Media Networks, we successfully broadened the reach and brought new viewers into this incredible series,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Also off to a great start is HBO’s “Succession.” The season four premiere delivered a series high 2.3 million viewers across linear and HBO Max. Total viewing for Sunday night was up 62% compared to last season’s premiere (1.4 million) and 33% compared to last season’s finale (1.7 million), with season 3 episodes going on to average 7.2 million viewers per episode across platforms.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Disney division tasked with developing metaverse strategies has been laid off, reports The Wall Street Journal. About 50 team members lost their jobs, part of a restructuring that is expected to eliminate 7000 jobs in total. Mike White, promoted in February 2022 by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek to head the unit, remains at the company.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Adult Swim ordered a second season of “Royal Crackers,” ahead of the animated comedy’s premiere this Sunday. “Television has done a great job exploring how families clash over the fate of oil, media or cattle empires, but until now, no one has had the courage to address the savory snack food industry,” said Michael Ouweleen, President of Adult Swim and Cartoon Network.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has been renewed for season threeand “Star Trek: Lower Decks” for season five by Paramount+. “Strange New Worlds” is set to return June 15, while animated “Lower Decks” is expected in late summer.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Dominion Voting Systems wants to call Fox News executives and hostsas witnesses in its $1.6 billion defamation case against FNC, according to court filings. Among those on the potential list are Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott; Fox News President Jay Wallace; hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham, and Bret Baier; former executive Bill Sammon and politics editor Chris Stirewalt; and former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who alleged Fox News lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony. Both Fox News and Dominion have asked Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis to be declared the winner without going to trial.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Will season 12 of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” be its last? In a since-deleted tweet, producer Jon Hayman posted a behind-the-scenes photo from the comedy along with the message, “Maybe you love the show. Maybe you hate the show. Maybe you don’t give a s–t. In any event, shooting the last scene of the last episode of the final season.” Robert B. Weide, a director and producer during the show’s first five seasons, also posted on Twitter, with two photos, captioned, “1st day: March 1998. Last day(?): March 27, 2023. These 25 years have flown by…What a trip.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Universal Television is developing a series adaptation of the Diane Marie Brown novel Black Candle Women, following four generations of women with a family curse. Jenna Bush Hager (“Today”) and her Thousand Voices are teaming with Carla Banks Waddles (“Bel Air”) and Jenna Bans (“Good Girls”) on the project.
(Source: Cynopsis)
For his next act, former “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah will host Prime Video’s remake of “LOL: Last One Laughing,” the streamer’s first South African original. Produced by Rapid Blue and Noah’s Day Zero Productions, the updated format will have South African talent compete for charity.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Tomorrow Studios has acquired the just-released Jeannette Walls novel Hang the Moon, set amid secrets and scandals in a small town. Boo Killebrew (“Physical”) will write the television adaptation.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix has ordered “Man on Fire,” from writer/executive producer Kyle Killen, New Regency Productions, and Chernin Entertainment. The drama series adaptation is based on A.J. Quinnel’s Man on Fire and The Perfect Kill. Denzel Washington played the lead role in the 2004 film.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Showrunner Bruce Miller is stepping down for the sixth and final season of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” to work on the TV adaptation of author Margaret Atwood book sequel “The Testaments.” Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang, executive producers and writers on “The Handmaid’s Tale, have been elevated to co-showrunners.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Mike Fleiss is leaving ABC’s “The Bachelor” after 21 years. Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich, and executive producer Bennett Graebner take the reins as executive producers and showrunners. “I want to thank WBTV and ABC for 21 extraordinary years,” said Fleiss, who created the reality show. “They’ve found the perfect creative team for me to entrust ‘The Bachelor’ franchise and keep this lightning in a bottle bold and moving forward. Let the journey continue.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
ViX and Reconexión Productions have partnered for travel docuseries “Reconexión: Mexico,” hosted by Mexican-American actor Aarón Díaz (“Quantico”) in his quest to visit all states in Mexico. The 10-episode docuseries is produced by Aarón Díaz, Tim Sexton, and Fernando Mills, co-founders of Reconexión Productions.
(Source: Cynopsis)
British TV and film producer Richard Johns, founder of Argo Films, has established a new production label with director E. Elias Merhige. UK-based Promethean Pictures launches with a slate of TV and film projects in development, the first of which is survival story “Howl.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
WildBrain has signed an agreement to acquire animation pre-production company House of Cool. House of Cool co-founders Wes Lui and Ricardo Curtis will be joining WildBrain Studios in the newly created roles of Co-General Managers of House of Cool, reporting to Josh Scherba, President of WildBrain, who heads up the Company’s content and studio business.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Sky has canceled historical drama “Brittania” after three seasons – leaving fans with a whopper of a cliffhanger, with Cait joining Aulus in Rome. Season one aired on Prime Video in the US, while seasons two and three were streamed by Epix.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Belfast-based studio Sixteen South and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvanahave optioned and are co-developing and co-producing “A Horse Named Steve”, a new 2D animated series based on the picture book by Kelly Collier. The series will show the importance of friendship, teamwork and appreciating one’s true self.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The benefits of live viewing, integrations, and original programming are selling points for Game Show Network and Sony Pictures Television this Upfront season. GSN boasts over 275 hours of shows, up 26% versus the year prior, with orders for new strip series “Split Second,” hosted by John Michael Higgins (“America Says”); comedic game show “Blank Slate,” hosted by Mario Lopez (“Access Hollywood”); “Riddiculous” (w/t), based on the UK game of riddles; and “Hey Yahoo!”, hosted by Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”). “Game Show Network continues to deliver live viewing levels that rival both sports and news,” said Stuart Zimmerman, EVP, Ad Sales for Sony Pictures Television and GSN. “The benefit to our advertisers is that game shows as a genre have over a 90% completion retention when viewing commercials, and Game Show Network is the destination for viewers. There’s no breaking news or split screens to disrupt this experience. Clients expect a safe harbor in a trusted environment and Game Show Network delivers.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
The first Casamigos Tequila MLB Network Showcase telecast will be on Opening Day presented by Chevrolet featuring the San Francisco Giants visiting the New York Yankees on Thursday, March 30 at 1:05p, with Matt Vasgersian (play-by-play), Tom Verducci (analyst) and Jon Morosi (reporter) on the call from Yankee Stadium.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Bleacher Report is holding two sponsored shows from Houston as part of its coverage of the Final Four. On Sunday at 8:30p, House of Highlights will wrap up the inaugural season of the Creator League with the Creator League 2v2 Finals sponsored by Samsung Galaxy. The event will be streamed live on YouTube from Houston. And for both the Final Four and National Championship game B/R will produce a l livestream watch-along in the B/R app and B/R YouTube channel hosted by Adam Lefkoe. Wendy’s Final Four CouchCast will feature Lefkoe alongside Tyler Hansbrough and Robbie Hummel for a live reaction show streamed from NRG Arena. On Monday, the team will be joined by Ashley Shahamadi for the Wendy’s National Championship CouchCast.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Professional wrestler and fitness superstar Natalie Eva Marie has joined the TYR Sport roster as an official athlete ambassador for the brand. Marie is the only wrestler to make it to the main roster of Monday Night Smackdown almost immediately after being discovered through a Diva Search.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Starting April 15, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in Twitter’s “For You” discovery feed. “It’s the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over,” tweeted Elon Musk. “It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
FX’s “The Secrets of Hillsong,” a docuseries that explores the megachurch, will feature the first interviews with former pastors Carl and Laura Lentz since they were removed from the church. The show launches Friday, May 19 at 10p with the first two episodes; the final two air May 26.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fresh TV, CAKE, Corus Entertainment’s Cartoon Network Canada and Cartoon Network US have teamed for a new Total Dramarama special, “A Very Special Special That’s Quite Special.” The 40-minute adventure premieres on Cartoon Network in the US on April 15 at 10a and on Cartoon Network and Teletoon+ in Canada April 22 at 7p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hallmark Channel’s Spring into Love stunt kicked off on Saturday night with the film “A Picture of Her,” helping establish Hallmark Channel as entertainment cable’s #1 most-watched network of the weekend among Women 18+. The film was entertainment cable’s #1 most-watched program of the week among Women and Persons 18+ on a Live+SD basis.
(Source: Cynopsis)
In syndication the week of March 23, “The Kelly Clarkson Show”delivered a 0.9 National Household rating for the second consecutive week and the third time in the last four weeks and increasing +13% (0.9 vs. 0.8) vs. the same week last year. The show averaged 1,363,000 Daily Viewers for the week increasing +8% (1,363,000 vs. 1,259,000) vs. the prior week and increasing +18% (1,363,000 vs. 1,156,000) vs. the same week last year.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The season one finale of HBO’s “The Last of Us” has reached more than 3 million Sky viewers, the biggest finale audience for a freshman US series ever on the net. The series is the most-watched HBO Max show ever in Europe and Latin America.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fox Business Network posted year-over-year growth across the board in 1Q23, up 2% in business day viewers and 4% in market hour viewers (207,000) year-over-year. The net’s total day viewership averaged 130,000 total viewers, up 5% year-over-year.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Royal Blakeman, former president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, died March 26. He was 99. Blakeman served as national president of NATAS from 1966-68. “Our Academy has lost a member of its founding generation,” said NATAS chairman Terry O’Reilly. “Royal Blakeman was a part of the fabric of the broadcasting industry at its most burgeoning time. He helped shape how several academies celebrate excellence across media today and for generations to come.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
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