TAGGED AS: Amazon Studios, Prime Video, streaming, television, TV
Prime Video will host another series tied to a big film franchise with Blade Runner 2099. New Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae and Manny Jacinto will lead Star Wars series The Acolyte. HBO Max is passing on the Constantine reboot and Madame X series in development by Warner Bros. Television and Bad Robot. BBC America will cover Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral live and without interruption. Plus, new trailers include Evan Peters as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and more of the biggest news in TV and streaming this past week.
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(Photo by Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection)
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner saga will continue via the live-action limited series Blade Runner 2099 ordered by Amazon Studios. Scott will serve as the executive producer of the series, which will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) will serve as an EP and the showrunner of 2099, which follows Scott’s 1982 original classic film, starring Harrison Ford (pictured above) as a hunter of synthetic humans called replicants in a dystopian 2019 Los Angeles and considered one of the most influential science-fiction movies of all time. Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 follow-up, Blade Runner 2049, starred Ford and Ryan Gosling and became one of the best-reviewed sequels of all time with a Certified Fresh Tomatometer score of 88%. Anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, set in 2032, premiered last year on Adult Swim.
“We are honored to be able to present this continuation of the Blade Runner franchise, and are confident that by teaming up with Ridley, Alcon Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, and the remarkably talented Silka Luisa, Blade Runner 2099 will uphold the intellect, themes, and spirit of its film predecessors,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television, Amazon Studios.
Alcon Entertainment co-CEOs and co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson added, “We are delighted to continue our working relationship with our friends at Amazon. And we are beyond excited to continue to extend the Blade Runner canon into a new realm with the provocative storyline that Silka has created. Audiences first discovered Ridley Scott’s brilliant vision for Blade Runner 40 years ago … So, we recognize that we have a very high bar to meet with this next installment. Together with Silka and our partners at Amazon, and Scott Free Productions, we hope that we can live up to that standard and delight audiences with the next generation of Blade Runner.”
No word yet on whether Ford or Gosling are involved in the Prime Video series.
The most contested moment of Monday’s Emmy Awards wasn’t about who won a category; it was about how it was presented. When Abbott Elementary star and creator Quinta Brunson accepted the Emmy for comedy writing, she was upstaged (or downstaged?) by comedian and talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Brunson handled the scene graciously in the moment. But her Abbott co-stars did not hold back their feelings.
“Oh, the disrespect, Jimmy,” fellow Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was awarded that night in the supporting actress in a comedy category, lamented to journalists Wednesday during the show’s panel at ABC’s fall TCA press day.
She added, “He was lying on the floor during her wonderful acceptance speech,” and that “I told him to his face. I did, and he understood.”
Brunson was more charitable, telling journalists, “I have talked with Jimmy since and, no matter what, it is important to just showcase that Abbott Elementary is premiering next week.”
Brunson did get the last laugh, though. She appeared on Kimmel’s show Wednesday night, and there, she not only interrupted his monologue to continue her abbreviated acceptance speech while wielding her Emmy statue, but also got an apology from him for his “dumb comedy bit.”
• In Alaska Daily, the new ABC drama series from Spotlight writer Tom McCarthy, Hilary Swank plays Eileen Fitzgerald, an ace investigative reporter who has a very public fall from grace and then moves to Anchorage to investigate a major story involving Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
McCarthy told journalists during his show’s press day on Wednesday that “the significance of this show is local reporting.”
“That’s something I wanted to drill down on and why it’s important; why it matters; why these sort of news deserts that are evolving across our country– where there’s no more local journalists or local papers — are really detrimental,” he said, adding that this is harmful “not just to a democracy and politics, but just to the communities that they represent. These small papers, in many ways, identify the kind of personality of these communities and the identities of these communities.”
Alaska Daily premieres at 10 p.m., October 6 on ABC.
• NBC’s Quantum Leap is meant to be a continuation of the story set up from the classic Scott Bakula sci-fi series where the lead character could “leap” into other peoples’ bodies to change the course of history. So does this mean that the new jumper, Raymond Lee’s physicist Ben Song, could jump into previous cases? Or even into Bakula’s Sam Beckett, who is MIA in the space-time continuum?
Showrunner Martin Gero teased during NBC’s press day on Thursday that, while Ben can jump into people of any gender, nationality or ethnicity, he didn’t want to discuss whether prior plots will resurface because “that’s too deep in the season.”
Bakula himself answered the question of whether Ben can jump into Sam later that day. The actor wrote on social media that “I have no connection with the new show, either in front of the camera or behind it.”
Quantum Leap premieres at 10 p.m., September 19 on NBC.
• In the new SYFY series Reginald the Vampire, Spider-Man: No Way Home actor Jacob Batalon plays Reginald Andres — the titular Everyman who accidentally stumbles into a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires and then has no choice but to become one of them. The series is based on Johnny B. Truant’s Fat Vampire book series.
But executive producer Jeremiah Chechik told journalists during the show’s press day on Thursday that “the sum total of all of the tropes of all of the vampire shows that we’ve watched culturally, and taken in over our lives, really provoked a kind of synergy with Johnny Truant’s books.”
He added that this “really helped us push and turn all of the normal vampire tropes on their heads,” be it casting or even the “culture of vampirism as we historically have known” it.
Reginald the Vampire premieres at 10 p.m., October 5 on Syfy.
From creators and executive producers Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story stars Evan Peters (American Horror Story) as the infamous serial killer who killed 17 people between 1978 and 1991. The series examines the crimes and points to “systemic racism and institutional failures of the police that allowed one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.” The series also stars Richard Jenkins (Lionel Dahmer), Molly Ringwald (Shari Dahmer), Michael Learned (Catherine Dahmer), and Niecy Nash (Glenda Cleveland). The series premieres Sept. 21 on Netflix.
More trailers and teasers released this week:
• Ramy season 3 sees the family of Egyptian-American Ramy Hassan (Ramy Youssef) forced to confront having lived a life dedicated to worldly concerns — and in some cases, lies — while Ramy all but abandons his spiritual journey, instead dedicating himself to him and his uncle’s diamond business. The series also stars Laith Nakli, Hiam Abbass, Amr Waked, May Calamawy, Dave Merheje, Mohammed Amer, and Steve Way, and guest stars Bella Hadid. Premieres Sept. 20. (Hulu)
• A Friend of the Family is the terrifying true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped multiple times over a period of a few years by a charismatic, obsessed family “friend.” Starring Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, Colin Hanks, Lio Tipton, McKenna Grace, and Hendrix Yancy. Premieres Oct. 6 (Peacock)
• Exception is the sci-fi anime horror series about the far future, where humanity has been driven from Earth and forced to relocate to another galaxy. The scouting crew, created by a 3D printer “womb,” malfunctions, letting loose a monster on their ship. The English and Japanese cast includes Nolan North, Chikahiro Kobayashi, Robbie Daymond, Takahiro Sakurai, Ali Hillis, Yuko Kaida, Eugene Byrd, Takanori Hoshino, Nadine Nicole, and Atsumi Tanezaki. Premieres Oct 13. (Netflix)
• Tudum returns for another Netflix global fan event, a day of exclusive news, never-before-seen footage, trailers, and first looks, as well as interviews with Netflix’s biggest stars and creators. The free virtual event celebrates fandom and features more than 120 Netflix series, films, specials, games, and more than 200 Netflix talent. Spans five global events in 24 hours on Sept. 24. (Netflix)
• In Chucky season 2, the killer doll seeks revenge on those he holds responsible for the failure of his diabolical plan to invade America’s children’s hospitals: surviving teens Jake (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), along with his ex Tiffany, now his sworn enemy. Meanwhile, can “Jevon” make it as a couple in the face of adversity at their new Catholic school? Premieres Oct. 5. (USA and Syfy)
• The School for Good and Evil, based on the book of the same name by Soman Chainani and directed by Paul Feig, finds best friends Sophie and Agatha on opposing sides of an epic battle when they’re swept away into an enchanted school where aspiring heroes and villains are trained to protect the balance between good and evil. Stars Sophia Anne Caruso, Sofia Wylie, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Flatters, Kit Young, Peter Serafinowicz, Rob Delaney, Mark Heap, Patti LuPone, and Rachel Bloom, with Kerry Washington and Charlize Theron. Premieres Oct. 19. (Netflix)
• The Curse of Bridge Hollow is a movie about a father (Marlon Wayans) and his teenage daughter (Priah Ferguson), who are forced to team up and save their town after an ancient and mischievous spirit causes Halloween decorations to come to life and wreak havoc. Also stars Kelly Rowland, Rob Riggle, John Michael Higgins, Nia Vardalos, and Lauren Lapkus, Premieres Oct. 14. (Netflix)
• With Entergalactic, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi and Kenya Barris join forces to present the an original, immersive, animated movie about a young artist named Jabari (voiced by Mescudi) as he attempts to balance love and success in New York. Also features the voices of Jessica Williams, Ty Dolla $ign, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Harrier, Vanessa Hudgens, Christopher Abbott, 070 Shake, Jaden Smith, Keith David, Teyana Taylor, Arturo Castro, and Macaulay Culkin. Premieres Sept. 30. (Netflix)
• The Lincoln Project is a five-part docuseries directed bv Fisher Stevens and Karim Amer, that follows a veteran group of former GOP operatives and strategists as they take on the task of “saving democracy” and defeating their own party’s sitting president. While working to accomplish their stated goal of “defeating Trumpism,” the group is shaken by internal upheaval, a sexual harassment scandal, and a tidal wave of negative press. As one fight ends, another is afoot – and this time it’s personal. Premieres Oct. 7. (Showtime)
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(Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, who won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series earlier this week, will play the lead role in Disney+’s Star Wars series The Acolyte, a mystery/thriller about the “emerging Dark Side powers in the final days of the High Republic era,” Deadline.com reports. The Lucasfilm series will be the actor’s first major project for an American studio, and he will co-star with Amandla Stenberg and Jodie Turner-Smith in the Leslye Headland-directed/written/produced/showrun series, which was announced in 2020. The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto has also joined the cast as one of the three main leads along with Stenberg and Lee, Variety reports.
Timothy Olyphant will star with Claire Danes and Zazie Beetz in Steven Soderbergh’s HBO Max limited series Full Circle, about an investigation into a kidnapping that reveals secrets and connects multiple characters and cultures in New York City. Soderbergh will direct all six episodes of the series, written by Ed Solomon. Olyphant, next up in the limited series sequel Justified: City Primeval at FX, will play the husband of Danes’ attorney character. (Deadline)
Paramount+ has announced additional cast for 1923, the upcoming Yellowstone spin-off starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. James Badge Dale, Marley Shelton, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Julia Schlaepfer, Darren Mann, and Michelle Randolph will join the latest Taylor Sheridan-created series that will be set in Montana and introduce a new generation of the Dutton family and explore the early 20th century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition, and the Great Depression all plague the mountain west, and the Duttons who call it home. Ford and Mirren play family leads Jacob Dutton, brother of 1883’s James Dutton (Tim McGraw), and Jacob’s wife Cara. Variety reports that Robert Patrick and Brandon Sklenar have both also joined the cast.
More good news at Paramount+: Friday Night Lights alum Zach Gilford will be a recurring guest star on Criminal Minds: Evolution, the upcoming comeback season of the 2005-20 CBS procedural. Gilford will play Elias Voit, an operations analyst for a global cyber-security firm who has a dark side and obsession with death. He will join original Minds cast members reprising their roles, including Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, and Paget Brewster.
Showtime announced Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Mustafa Shakir will star and Terry Pheto and Lerato Mvelase will guest star in the new series King Shaka, an epic drama about one man’s personal journey from stigmatized childhood to the titular legendary king (Charles Babalola).
MTV Entertainment announced the cast of its new adult, animated adventure-comedy series, Digman!, written and produced by Andy Samberg and showrunner Neil Campbell. Joining Samberg in the cast are Mitra Jouhari, Tim Robinson, Dale Soules, Guz Khan, Melissa Fumero, and Tim Meadows, set in a world where archaeologists are massive celebrities and the coolest people on the planet, led by Samberg’s Rip Digman.
Still few details on plot or characters, but Peacock has added a trio of new cast members to Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson’s detective series Poker Face: Brandon Michael Hall (God Friended Me), Colton Ryan (The Girl From Plainville), and Megan Suri (Never Have I Ever) have joined the line-up, which already includes Adrien Brody, Chloë Sevigny, Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Clea DuVall, Dascha Polanco, Ellen Barkin, Jameela Jamil, Lil Rel Howery, Luis Guzmán, Niall Cunningham, Nick Nolte, Ron Perlman, and Stephanie Hsu. (Variety)
Bosch star Titus Welliver, a DC Comics superfan, will play Lex Luthor in the upcoming fourth season of Titans on HBO Max, which premieres in November. (EW)
The second season of Halo has begun production in Iceland, with Joseph Morgan and Cristina Rodlo joining the cast as series regulars and season 1 cast members Fiona O’Shaughnessy and Tylan Bailey returning as series regulars on the Paramount+ series.
Tori Spelling will host the MTV relationship series Love at First Lie. The mystery/competition series will unfold across 12 episodes and challenge viewers to figure out which couples are real and which are faking their relationships. The series premieres Oct. 12. (Variety)
Rachel Bloom has joined the season 2 cast of HBO Max’s Julia, about Julia Child and her iconic cooking show The French Chef. Bloom will play the recurring role of Elaine Levitch, who leaves a job at CBS to go work with Child at WGBH. (Variety)
Rodrigo Santoro will star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in Paramount+’s new drama Wolf Pack, based on Edo Van Belkom’s book series of the same name that follows a teenage boy and girl whose lives are forever changed when a California wildfire awakens a terrifying supernatural creature. Gellar will play arson investigator Kristin Ramsey, an expert authorities hope will catch the teenage arsonist who started a massive wildfire which may have also led to the reawakening of a supernatural predator. She will also be a producer on the series. Santoro plays Garrett Briggs, a Los Angeles park ranger dedicated to protecting the environment, and adoptive father to the aforementioned teenagers. A man of strong values, he is also someone with dark secrets and deep suspicions, especially towards anyone questioning the relationship with his children, who were found in the wildfire years earlier.
(Photo by Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
HBO Max is passing on the Constantine reboot series and Madame X series that were in the works, though both could be resurrected elsewhere, Variety reports. Warner Bros. Television and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robots Productions were developing the series and are keen to find a new home for them. Four scripts had been written for the Constantine adaptation set in contemporary London and HBO Max had been in talks with an actor for the lead role, according to Variety. On the bright side, Keanu Reeves and director Francis Lawrence will return for a sequel to the 2005 film, which also starred Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou, and Tilda Swinton.
BBC America will air Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey, live and without commercial interruption starting at 4 a.m. ET on Monday, September 19. The network will also air the special A Tribute to Her Majesty The Queen starting at 8 p.m. ET the evening before. Cable news networks and broadcast news programs all have plans to cover the funeral, which world leaders, including President Joe Biden, will attend.
Lionsgate Television has signed Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg to a three-year first-look deal for unscripted projects. The couple’s new company Work Baby Productions will develop projects including unscripted and reality programming, documentaries, short form productions, and non-fiction podcasts. (Variety)
SEASON 48 pic.twitter.com/Nclu3uluGk
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) September 12, 2022
Saturday Night Live will kick off its 48th season on Oct. 1, Oct. 8, and Oct. 15 with three consecutive weeks of new episodes and a very different cast following the 2022 departures of Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney, as well as repertory players Melissa Villaseñor and Alex Moffat and featured player Aristotle Athiras.
Most Talkative, the memoir from Real Housewives exec and Watch What Happens Live! host Andy Cohen, is in the works as a coming-of-age comedy at NBC. Produced by Blumhouse Television, the series will revolve around a fictional version of gay teen Andy, who loves soap operas, the St. Louis Cardinals, and being the life of the party. (Deadline)
Starz will produce a pilot for an interview series/docuseries hosted by Fat Joe, and produced by Fat Joe, Sean “Diddy” Combs, LeBron James, and Maverick Carter. The series marks the culmination of the Bronx’s native’s evolution into becoming a media personality. In March 2020, Joe launched The Fat Joe Show, a nightly Instagram Live talk-show where he interviewed politicians, musicians, athletes, actors, entrepreneurs, and influential personalities such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Floyd Mayweather, Dwyane Wade, Jamie Foxx, and Alicia Keys.
NBC is set to report as early as this week that the Golden Globe Awards will return to the network for a Jan. 10, 2023 ceremony return. (The Wrap)
(Photo by Showtime)
Discussions are happening about the possibility of Showtime ending its platform as a standalone premium content provider, and instead moving its programming to a merger with Paramount+, Variety and The Wall Street Journal report. Showtime is home to critically-acclaimed series including The Affair, Billions, Californication, Dexter, Escape At Dannemora, Homeland, Penny Dreadful, Ray Donovan, Shameless, The Tudors, and Yellowjackets.
(Photo by Hulu)
The Paley Center in New York has announced its programming for PaleyFest NY, the October 6-11 panels that will feature An Evening with Seth Meyers and Amber Ruffin; a Q+A with the cast of Queen Sugar; a screening and Q+A with the cast of The Walking Dead, as the series prepares to air it series finale; a screening and Q+A with the cast of The Gilded Age; and screening and Q+As with the casts of The Handmaid’s Tale and Manifest.
(Photo by NBC)
For the first time ever, the viewership for the Emmy Awards fell below six million people tuning in. That means a whole lot of TV fans missed such live gems as Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph and The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge singing and dancing their ways through acceptance speeches for their first-ever Emmy wins, while Ted Lasso and Succession took home statues for Best Comedy and Best Drama Series. For those who missed other faces who left the NBC event carrying gold statues, see the winners from the 74th annual Television Academy celebration here, find out what the highlights were here, and see the red-carpet fashion here.
