The TCAs: blah blah blah
HBO has some news:
House of Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel that they are actually going forward with, will debut sometime in 2022. I can wait two years. By then my disappointment will have surely worn off.
HBO also explained the decision to ditch the other Game of Thrones prequel starring Naomi Watts:
“The Jane Goldman one was a bit of a bigger swing because there was a lot more invention,” the exec explained. “House of the Dragon, George has text and history for that era, so there is a bit more of a road map. You understood the history and what the story would be, so it’s easier to [visualize as a series].”
HBO really wants another season of Watchmen, but it’s in Lindelof’s hands now.
As for more seasons of:
- His Dark Materials: Maybe.
- Big Little Lies: Everyone is too busy right now
- Mrs. Fletcher: If Tom Perotta comes up with the right story.
- The Night Of: They’re kicking around a couple of story ideas.
- True Detective: Nothing is in the works.
Bong Joon Ho and Adam McKay discussed turning Parasite into a series, but I only skimmed the article because I haven’t seen the movie yet and LA LA LA NO SPOILERS LA.
Steven Soderbergh has signed a three-year overall deal with HBO and HBO Max.
Mark Ruffalo discussed the process he went through playing identical twins in the upcoming miniseries I Know This Much is True and it sounds like A LOT:
Ruffalo first portrayed Dominick, the more mentally stable and socially adjusted twin. Then, he shaved his beard and gained 30 pounds and came back more than a month later to shoot as Thomas, the twin who has schizophrenia.
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant also discussed their upcoming dark psychological miniseries The Undoing. I will just say that this is one of those frustrating articles that says a bunch of words without actually telling you what the show is actually about, I guess because they are trying to avoid spoilers.
Josh Gad compares Avenue 5 to “the Game of Thrones of comedies” because creator Armando Iannucci is willing to kill off characters at any time.
The one thing Stephen King would not allow to be changed in The Outsider.
Zoe Kazan, who stars in the upcoming miniseries The Plot Against America, based on Philip Roth’s book, discussed her own family’s history, specifically what her grandfather Elia Kazan, experienced. Elia Kazan was a director who named names to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, a dark moment in American history.
HBO has announced its documentary slate, and that they are working on a documentary from Ronan Farrow about how reporters are under attack from governments, corporations, and other institutions.
DATES:
- Insecure returns on April 12.
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver returns on February 16.
- The Plot Against America will debut on March 16.
- I Know This Much is True will premiere in April.
- The Undoing will debut in May.
- Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes will air February 11.
- We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest will air February 18.
- Axios season three will air in March and May.
- After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News will air in March.
- Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America’s Elections will air in March.
- The Atlanta Child Murders will air in April.
- Autism: The Sequel in April.
- The Art of Political Murder in April.
- Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind will air in May.
- Welcome to Chechnya in June.
- Transhood in June.
- Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn will air in June.
- Night of Too Many Stars: America Unites for Autism Programs will air on April 18.
Confederate, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ poorly considered follow-up project, is officially dead.
HBO Max also had some news:
Hey, remember that Friends reunion HBO Max hinted at a few months ago? Yeah, don’t hold your breath.
Here’s what we know about Greg Berlanti’s Green Lantern series.
While HBO Max will launch with some 500 classic movies, the Harry Potter films will not be amongst them, because NBCUniversal signed an exclusive deal for those movies, a deal which doesn’t expire until 2025.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, an animated series, is set to debut in 2021.
There’s no word on the future of Audience Network’s Condor or Loudermilk, but maybe there will be room for them on HBO Max? As for Mr. Mercedes … ¯\
As for Cinemax originals like Jett and Warrior, not only will they not be a part of HBO Max, but Cinemax is no longer going to make originals.
Upcoming projects in development:
- HBO Max has greenlit The Unimaginable Earth, a climate change anthology series from Adam McKay. “The series will be comprised of stand-alone fictional stories covering a wide range of genres and possible futures that could result from the rapid warming of our planet.”
- Wolfgang Puck is getting a reality series based on his catering company called The Event.
- Aquaman: King of Atlantis, a three-part animated miniseries, has been ordered. James Wan will executive produce.
Also part of the TCA presentation was TBS/TNT as they are also a part of WarnerMedia, but there were only a couple of items to note:
After a LOT of drama involving showrunners and shifting networks, Snowpiercer will premiere on May 31 on TNT.
Nasim Pedrad talked about her upcoming series, Chad, in which she plays a 14-year-old Persian boy and how she wanted to play a Middle Eastern character who wouldn’t be fighting Jack Bauer on 24.
In other TV News
M. Night Shymalan and Apple are being sued for copyright infringement by the director Francesca Gregorini who claims they stole the idea for Servant from her film The Truth About Emanuel.
Evil is promising a “mind-boggling” last shot for the season. Considering how bonkers (and quite good) the season has been so far, it must be really something.
Fear the Walking Dead is going to make some structural changes next season, but this writer, who has stuck with the series, God bless him, seems skeptical.
NBC is adding a live studio audience to Hoda & Jenna and Friends.
This article is super-spoilery for season two of YOU, so tread super carefully, but this is what we know about season three.
Impeachment corner!
Just a quick pop-in to the corner because today was mostly about technicalities. Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi — IN A PINK SUIT — HORROR OF HORRORS! signed the impeachment resolution WITH COMMEMORATIVE PENS (which happens pretty much every time a President signs a bill but whatever) and handed over the House’s Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Jenius Trump to the Senate so that they can officially begin their trial. Or “trial” as the case may be.
“President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States,” Schiff said as he finished reading from the articles.
As I am writing this, Supreme Court Chief Justice was sworn in to preside over the trial, and the senators are signing an oath to uphold the GODDAMNED CONSTITUTION and serve “impartial justice.” Since McConnell and Lindsey Graham have already publicly announced their intention to do no such thing, this is truly something. Nothing more is set to happen until Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Lev Parnas had his interview on The Rachel Maddow Show last night and he implicated ALLLLLLLL of them: Pompeo, Barr, Pence, Nunes, Trump, “THEY ALL KNEW.” Now, Parnas is not exactly … trustworthy. But he’s bringing the receipts he has and it’s not looking good for any of these fuckers.
And in short, it’s been a real rough 24 hours for Republicans who want to continue to pretend there’s no there there.
Mr. Parnas’ public interviews and documents shed light on the origins and key players in Trump's scheme.
His information, Bolton's offer to testify, and the GAO's finding of Trump's illegality all underscore the need for a fair trial.
The American people deserve all the facts.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 16, 2020
Renewals
- Sex Education has been renewed for a third season at Netflix.
- American Dad has been renewed two more seasons at TBS.
Cancellations
- OH NO. Mindhunter is not OFFICIALLY canceled, but Netflix is letting the cast out of their contracts because David Fincher’s schedule isn’t allowing filming any time soon. BOO.
In Development
- La Brea, a drama about a sinkhole, is in development at NBC.
- The Dark Tower series is not going forward at Amazon.
- Beastie Boys Story, a documentary by Spike Jones, has been ordered by Apple TV+.
- Lost Resort has been ordered at TBS.
- Beef House has been ordered by truTV.
- Deadwater Fell has been picked up by Acorn TV.
- Tirdy Works has been set at truTV and will debut sometime soon.
- Dark Money has been ordered by BET+.
- Liz Tigelaar has signed a deal with ABC.
Casting News
- Yvonne Orji is joining the cast of Vacation Friends on Hulu.
- Jason Biggs and Leah Remini will guest judge on The Masked Singer.
- Reba McEntire will guest star on Young Sheldon.
- Ana Gasteyer will guest star on Prodigal Son on Fox.
- Shaian Jordan, Marque Richardson, Pauletta Washington, Steven Norfleet, and Omar J. Dorsey have joined Genius: Aretha Franklin on Nat Geo.
Mark Your Calendars
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will return on Netflix on January 24.
- Hot Ones will debut on truTV on February 18.
- The Road to F9: Fast & Furious Fan Fest will air on NBC on January 31.
- Expedition Unknown returns on Discovery Channel on February 5.
- Expedition X will premiere on Discovery Channel on February 12.
- Shahs of Sunset returns on Bravo on February 9.
- Outcry will debut on Showtime on April 3.
- Tacoma FD returns on truTV on March 26.
- It’s Personal with Amy Hoggart will debut on truTV on February 26.
- HLN announced the premieres of five new shows: Forensic Files II on February 23; Vengeance: Killer Coworkers on January 5; Sex & Murder on March 9; The Killer Truth and Vengeance: Killer Families later this year.
R.I.P.
Rocky Johnson, WWE Hall of Famer and father of The Rock
WATCH THIS
Supernatural: Dean and Cass work together to try to get ahead of Chuck in the winter premiere. 7 p.m., The CW
Everything’s Gonna Be Okay: A neurotic twenty-something is left to take care of his teenage sisters — one of whom is on the autism spectrum — when his father dies in this new dramedy from the creator of Please Like Me. It looks really sweet. Series premiere. 7:30 p.m., Freeform
grown-ish: The gang goes to a homecoming party on the season premiere. 7 p.m., Freeform
Legacies: Alaric enlists Landon’s help in the winter premiere. 8 p.m., The CW
The Last Days of Richard Pryor: A look at the groundbreaking comedian’s life and contributions to comedy. 8 p.m., ABC
Late Night:
- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: The cast of “Schitt’s Creek”, Finn Wolfhard, Justin Willman
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Josh Gad, Tamron Hall
- The Late Late Show with James Corden: Bradley Whitford, Brett Gelman
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Al Pacino, Florence Pugh, Nicky Jam featuring Daddy Yankee
- The Daily Show: JB Smoove
- Conan: Ilana Glazer
- Lights Out with David Spade: Lizzy Cooperman, Guy Branum, Joel McHale
- Watch What Happens Live: Karlie Kloss, Martha Stewart
- A Little Late with Lily Singh: Susan Kelechi Watson, Tig Notaro
| THUR | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Conners (repeat) |
The Conners (repeat) |
The Last Days of Richard Pryor (new) |
| CBS | Young Sheldon (new) |
The Unicorn (new) |
Mom (new) |
Carol’s Second Act (new) |
Evil (new) |
| CW | Supernatural (new) |
Legacies (new) |
News/Local |
| FOX | Last Man Standing (new) |
Deputy (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Super-store (new) |
The Good Place (new) |
Will & Grace (new) |
Perfect Harmony (new) |
Law & Order: SVU (new) |