FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 10/1/26)
BBC AMERICA: The Graham Norton Show, Season 34 (Premiere) at 11pm
CRUNCHYROLL: FX Fighter Kurumi-Chan (Premiere)
CW: Scrabble, Season 3 (Premiere) at 8pm
CW:Trivial Pursuit, Season 3 (Premiere) at 8:30pm
FREEFORM: Coven Academy (Premiere) at 8pm
HBO: War (Premiere) at 9pm
SUNDANCE: Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena (Premiere) at 10pm
NETFLIX: Chumbak (Premiere)
NETFLIX: East of Eden (Premiere)
NETFLIX: The Ramparts of Ice, Season 2 (Premiere)
It’s official. After a brief delay last week, US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin finally approved a consent decree to settle an antitrust lawsuit between Paramount Skydance and 12 state attorneys general, thus clearing the way for Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
-Per CEO David Ellison, the merger is set to close in as little as two weeks – possibly even sooner, in fact, because starting Thursday (a.k.a., today), Paramount will need to start paying its long-dreaded “ticking fee” to WBD shareholders for every day the deal isn’t finalized.
-In the meantime, Paramount is already forging ahead with huge staffing decisions. In a surprise move, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz is joining Paramount as co-CEO to David Ellison. Under Kreiz, Mattel majorly expanded its IP strategy and saw its first major theatrical releases with 2023’s “Barbie” and 2026’s “Masters of the Universe.”
-On Tuesday, Paramount direct-to-consumer head Cindy Holland announced to staff that she would be leaving the company, stating that CEO David Ellison was “optimizing for HBO stability.” It’s largely assumed that HBO CEO Casey Bloys will be taking over her role at the combined company.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Peacock announced the premiere date for “Ted: The Animated Series,” a new installment in Seth MacFarlane’s franchise that features Mark Wahlberg (“Entourage”), Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”) and Jessica Barth (“Along Came the Devil”) reprising their original movie roles. Episode 1 premieres Dec. 7.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“CNN All Access” is launching a new eight-episode streaming series about overlooked and misunderstood aspects of women’s health, hosted by “The Situation Room” co-anchor Pamela Brown. “Body Language by CNN” will premiere its first four episodes Oct. 8, with the remaining four coming in November.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“The Lowdown” Season 2, starring Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”), Keith David (“Community”), Betty Gilpin (“Death by Lightning”) and Tommy Lee Jones (“The Sunset Limited”), premieres Oct. 14 on FX.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Barbershop,” an upcoming comedy series based on the film franchise of the same name, will premiere all eight episodes on Prime Video Feb. 10. This is the second iteration of a “Barbershop” TV series; the first, starring Omar Gooding (“Saturdays”), ran for one season in 2005.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Netflix announced that production has wrapped for “Wednesday” Season 3. The series will return next year, although the season premiere date is still to be determined.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Vanderpump Rules” star Ariana Madix is in talks to executive produce and star in an original scripted drama at Peacock. The series, called “Future Housewives,” is a riff on the popular Bravo “Real Housewives” franchise, of which “Vanderpump Rules” is a spinoff.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hearst Networks bought the UK rights to “Orange County Choppers Originals,” the revival of the “American Chopper” unscripted series. The new show first aired in the US via Discovery in February and has already secured a second season.
(Source: Cynopsis)
HBO Max greenlit a Spanish drama series from “Querer” screenwriters Fran Araújo and Eduard Sola, executive produced by “La Bola Negra” creators Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. The series is based on real-life unsolved crimes that took place in Tor, a small village in the Pyrenees mountains.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS is ordering three unscripted series: “Stacks of Cash,” a quiz-based game show hosted by Emmy Award-nominated actor Mike O’Malley (“Glee,” “Yes, Dear”); “24 Hour Millionaire,” a competition series from the executive producers of “Big Brother”; and an updated edition of the Emmy Award-winning series “Undercover Boss,” hosted by Drew Carey (“The Price Is Right,” “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”).
(Source: Cynopsis)
More drag races, anyone? (No, not that kind of drag race.) The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) inked a multiyear deal with sports-focused media company FloSports. The agreement makes FloRacing – FloSports’ subscription-based service dedicated to motorsports – the exclusive streaming hub of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, starting with the 2027 season.
(Source: Cynopsis)
It’s almost time for midterms. Ahead of election season, political ad intelligence platform Kinetiq Political Insights (KPI) is teaming up with ad operations company XR (Extreme Reach) to improve campaign effectiveness. The collaboration will help US political advertisers pair KPI’s ad spend data with XR’s ad delivery data to fine-tune campaigns while they’re still active.
(Source: Cynopsis)
