FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (TUESDAY 5/16/23)
BRAVO: Dancing Queens (Premiere) at 9pm
FPX SPORTS 1: Dirt: The Last Great American Sport (Premiere) at 7pm
HBO: Angel City (Premiere) at 9pm
HULU: La Chica Invisible (Premiere)
FOX: 9-1-1 Lone Star (Finale) at 8pm
HISTORY: The Curse of Oak Island (Finale) at 9pm
Once high-flying Vice Media has filed for bankruptcy protection, a victim of the financial realities of digital publishing. A group of Vice’s lenders has submitted a bid of $225 million to acquire the company out of bankruptcy; the lenders include Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management. Co-founder Shane Smith is expected to stay with the company – once considered to be worth $5.7 billion – along with co-chief executives Hozefa Lokhandwala and Bruce Dixon, who said, “We look forward to completing the sale process in the next two to three months and charting a healthy and successful next chapter at Vice.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Ready for disruption? Startup Telly plans to give away an initial batch of 500,000 smart TVs with a second screen that can display sports, weather and more, as well as a square box on the right that runs ads. Telly founder Ilya Pozin, co-founder of Pluto, is betting that consumers will trade their data and that commercial box for 55-inch sets with 4K HDR picture quality and a built-in premium sound bar. “When I co-founded Pluto TV, we created an entirely new model that offered amazing TV content to viewers for free,” said Pozin. “Now, with Telly, we are providing the actual television for free as well.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Reba McEntire has joined NBC’s “The Voice” as a coach, alongside returning coaches John Legend, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani for season 24. McEntire served as a mega mentor for the show’s current season 23.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix renewed “Outlast” for a second season. The Alaskan survival series is the first unscripted series from Jason Bateman’s Aggregate Films.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Why did Fox cancel “9-1-1,” its highest-rated scripted series? “The business model wasn’t right for us,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade during a pre-upfront call. “We felt moving forward into what is really a new era of television, the economics weren’t going pan out for this show for us.” Not all is lost for fans, since ABC picked up the series. But the future for crossovers between the sister shows looks dim. “Crossovers have always been really hard on the ‘9-1-1’ franchise because they’re such ambitious schedules,” noted President of Scripted Programming for Fox Entertainment Michael Thorn. “We weren’t able to do it every year when both shows were on our network.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Prime Video greenlit a feature documentary film from Religion of Sports and The Ringer centered on the NBA G League. The doc is an immersive, character-driven film that features behind-the-scenes access to some of basketball’s future stars competing in the NBA’s developmental league over the course of the 2022-23 season.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Asylum Entertainment has struck a first-look co-production deal with guitarist Tom Morello and his recently formed company Comandante Productions. The partnership is aimed at creating a slate of premium documentary films and series that draws on Morello’s musical legacy, social consciousness and dedication to activism.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Vuelve a Mi,” a romantic drama about a woman involved with one of the owners of the company she works for, is headed for Telemundo. The announcement was made at NBCU’s upfront presentation on Monday.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Africa Channel has reached several new content and renewal partnership agreements, including with BBC Africa, Cardova Trading Ltd, eTV, FilmOne, Inverleigh and M-Net. “Through a combination of licensing, minimum guarantees and generous revenue sharing arrangements, The Africa Channel continues to provide additional revenue streams to African content owners via the world’s most lucrative market,” said Ava Hall, Head of Content & Brand. “We are honored to be participating in these win-win content partnerships.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Casting notes: Luke Evans (“The Pembrokeshire Murders”) has joined the cast of BBC drama “The Way.”…Nolwenn Leroy is starring in French drama series Brocéliande, for TH1.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Season one of “Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators”premieres on Ovation TV on Saturday, June 24 at 7p, followed by the season two launch on Saturday, July 29 at 7p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Crime drama “Happy Valley’s” third and final season arrives Monday, May 22 on Acorn TV, AMC+ and BBC America. The six-episode season sees Siobhan Finneran (“Downton Abbey”) returning to her role as Clare Cartwright, the devoted sister of Catherine.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Painting with John,” starring musician, actor, director, painter, and The Lounge Lizards founder John Lurie, is back for a third season on HBO starting Friday, June 2 at 11p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Season five of Peacock’s “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy” reunites former New York Housewives Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Luann de Lesseps, Dorinda Medley, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer and Kristen Taekman, who jet off to the house on Saline Beach featured in season five of “RHONY.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Speaking of, Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York City“ season 14 premieres Sunday, July 16 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Toonstar animated comedy “Space Junk,” starring Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) and Tony Cavalero (“Righteous Gemstones”) premieres Friday, May 19 on spacejunkies.xyz.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Warner Bros. Discovery has asked talent not to show up for its Upfronts event on Wednesday, so they don’t have to cross WGA strikers’ picket line, reports Variety. Stars will still be part of the presentation, but not in person.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fox’s Upfront presentation at the Manhattan Center opened with Michael Strahan and Gordon Ramsey. The hosts of Fox News’ “The Five” were in the house, and soccer star Carly Lloyd was introduced as a new member of the Fox Sports lineup. As far as programming, the net is adding two new dramas, two new animated comedies and two new unscripted series to its lineup. Joining returning dramas “9-1-1: Lone Star,” “Accused,” “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” and “The Cleaning Lady” are medical drama “Doc, “and action-drama “Rescue: HI-Surf,” from executive producer John Wells. New animated comedies “Krapopolis,” from “Rick and Morty” and Grimsburg, starring and executive-produced by Jon Hamm join returning series “Bob’s Burgers,” “Family Guy,” “The Great North” and “The Simpsons. “
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fox is also adding game shows “Snake Oil,” hosted and produced David Spade (“Just Shoot Me”) and executive-produced by Will Arnett (“LEGO Master”), through his Electric Avenue Productions, and music guessing game show “We Are Family,” hosted by Jamie Foxx and co-hosted by his daughter, producer and activist Corinne Foxx. Returning to the unscripted lineup are “Farmer Wants a Wife,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “I Can See Your Voice,” “LEGO Masters,” “The Masked Singer”, “Name That Tune,” “Next Level Chef” and “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.” In addition, Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares” is returning to the network after 10 years.
(Source: Cynopsis)
How might the writers’ strike impact Fox’s schedule? “Nobody wants this strike and our thoughts go out to the writers at the moment,” said Rob Wade.” But we feel very confident in our schedule and our ability to pivot as and when necessary.” As for a third season for comedy “Welcome to Flatch,” that decision is expected after the strike ends,” said Michael Thorn, President of Scripted Programming.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing, and Vanderpump” starts streaming Monday, May 22 on Hulu. The doc from ABC News Studios and LA Times Studios investigates allegations of race discrimination and workplace abuse against Hollywood producer Randall Emmett.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Comedy special “John Early: Now More Than Ever” premieres Saturday, June 7 at 10p on HBO. It’s Early’s first HBO comedy special.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment has signed a deal with AMC Networks to add 12 FAST channels that include The Walking Dead Universe, the sketch comedy series Portlandia, and sports fan-focused MSG SportsZone. “The Walking Dead and Portlandia are some of AMC Networks’ most iconic series, and the ability for our consumers to watch them 24 hours a day will be an immediate hit,” said Laura Florence, SVP and GM of digital for Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. “Our Redbox Free Live TV app continues to scale with brands and series our viewers know and love. We should quickly reach 200 channels by summer and have plans to scale even further later this year.” CSSE also struck an agreement with Rome-based social media platform TaTaTu, which rewards users with coins for social media activities and viewing content.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The first five seasons of “S.W.A.T.”, renewed for a seventh and final season on CBS, will be available on Netflix starting tomorrow.
(Source: Cynopsis)
James Cameron 2022 meghit “Avatar: The Way of Water” debuts Wednesday, June 7 on Max and Disney+. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max launches May 23.
(Source: Cynopsis)
MEGA MILLIONS
Today’s Jackpot is $113 million.
You can now play in 43 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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