FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
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Be careful about terminating too many employees at once; they might just become your competition. At least, that’s what could happen if former “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Bill Owens has his way, according to the New York Post.
-Owens resigned from CBS last year in response to how parent company Paramount handled its lawsuit with President Trump. Sources suggest that Owens wants to raise $50 million for a rival investigative news program.
-Another source claims that the recently fired “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley is also on board, and that his fiery rant against current heads Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton on his way out the door was actually a publicity ploy.
-People close to Owens have denied the rumors, however. And even if the rumors are true, a new production would likely involve a massive pay cut for any ex-”60 Minutes” correspondents who sign on – a fate that’s unfortunately pretty typical for laid-off media workers who pivot to independent projects.
–The Takeaway: Starting a new TV show is a trickier prospect than a new Substack newsletter or worker-owned website, which is where many journalists end up after losing positions at legacy outlets. Still, the possibility is an interesting one, particularly in a world where online streaming video is increasingly lumped together with television as a medium.
(Source: Cynopsis)
More like Multi-Camazon. Amazon just greenlit its first-ever multi-camera sitcom – and it’s also going to be entirely improvised.
–“DINKS” (meaning, “dual income, no kids”) is the brainchild of “Friends” creatorMarta Kauffman. The sitcom will star real-life comedy power couple Paul Scheer(“The League”) and June Diane Raphael (“Grace and Frankie”).
-Improv isn’t the only thing that makes this show unique. It’s also being co-produced by Publicis Media Content Innovation (PMCI), an offshoot of the massive agency holding company Publicis Groupe. According to Chief Creative Officer Eric Levin, the show will be brought “exclusively” to Publicis clients and represents a new model of television financing that’s “driven by partnerships.”
–The Takeaway: Branded content is a time-honored entertainment tradition that started long before television did. (Example: Procter & Gamble started funding “Guiding Light” when it was still a radio show in the late ‘30s, long before it moved to TV in 1952.) But it’s rare to see an ad agency footing the bill for a TV series – especially without pitching it to a specific brand first.
(Source: Cynopsis)
No, it’s not a marketing stunt. Wonder Man has died and resurrected several times in Marvel Comics lore, so fans of “Wonder Man” might be forgiven for assuming that the Emmy-nominated Disney+ show hasn’t actually been canceled after all.
-Showrunner and co-creator Andrew Guest confirmed to fans on TikTok that the surprising cancellation news from last week was real after all. Production was supposed to begin next year and everyone involved had been excited to continue the series, Guest claimed.
–Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Simon Williams, also reacted on Instagram over the weekend. “Thank you for watching,” he wrote in the caption. “And uhh… See you at the EMMYS.”
–The Takeaway: It’s possible that the cancellation of such a beloved show reflects a change in strategy for Marvel Studios, which rapidly expanded its TV production schedule in 2019 to coincide with the launch of Disney+. Since then, the films have declined at the box office (with the exception of the still record-breaking “Spider-Man” franchise), causing some to speculate that the studio stretched itself too thin.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Freeform’s new true crime documentary series, “Somebody Knows Something,” will premiere on Aug. 10. Starring survivor advocate Kara Robinson Chamberlain, each episode of the show will focus on a different unsolved murder or missing persons case.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Also on Aug. 10, former weekend “Today” host Peter Alexander is launching a new 11 a.m. morning show on MS Now, called “State of Play.” The program will deliver original reporting and analysis related to “the biggest political and national stories shaping the day,” according to Senior VP of Programming Greg Kordick.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Amazon MGM Studios, Blur Studios (“Secret Level”) and Games Workshop ordered an animated “Warhammer 40,000” event series based on the British miniature wargame of the same name, developed by Games Workshop. British actor and notable “Warhammer” superfan Henry Cavill (“The Witcher”) will executive produce the animated series, in addition to the previously announced live-action series that Cavill will also star in.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Finally, Hulu gets its hands on some new romantasy fodder. The streaming network is teaming up with 20th Television to develop a series based on “The Poison Daughter,” a best-selling novel by Sheila Masterson that was self-published in 2025.
-This is not either studio’s first attempt at capturing the increasingly popular literary genre. Hulu and 20th TV previously optioned an adaptation of Sarah J. Maas’ “A Court Of Thorn And Roses” with “Outlander” showrunner Ronald D. Moore, which fell apart in 2025 after four years of development.
-Other studios are also moving forward with their own romance-fantasy book-to-show series. Prime Video has “Fourth Wing” (by Rebecca Yarros) and Sony Pictures Television has “From Blood and Ash” (by Jennifer L. Armentrout).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Shadowbox Studios is taking over management of Kaufman Astoria Studios, known as the filming location for hit TV shows like “Succession,” “And Just Like That” and “Sesame Street.” Kaufman Astoria Studios was established in 1920 as the East Coast home of Paramount Pictures.
-The management switch comes on the heels of a foreclosure complaint that Deutsche Bank filed against Kaufman Astoria Studios and its prior owner, Hackman Capital Partners. The complaint alleges that the studio failed to repay a $340 million loan, which was due in the fall.
-As part of the proceedings, the court appointed a new operator for the Queens-based studio. Shadowbox Studios intends to integrate existing staff into its own workforce.
-Shadowbox Studios vocalized intentions to meet today’s production needs, and is currently building a production studio in Australia. However, the loan repayment details for Kaufman Astoria remain unclear.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Dave Bautista is in talks to play Kratos in “God of War,” the video game adaptation series from Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television. He would be replacing Ryan Hurst (“Sons of Anarchy”), who was injured during filming in late June. Once the role is officially recast, production will pick back up this fall in Vancouver.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The latest season of Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” reached more than 2.4 million P2+ viewers across platforms, marking the best season kickoff for the series since 2019, based on demographic ratings for viewers ages 25-54.
(Source: Cynopsis)
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