TAGGED AS: Hulu, streaming, television, TV
Will the star of John Wick and Matrix grace us with his first major TV role as a serial killer from 1893? We can hope. Fans and friends said goodbye to comedian and actor Bob Saget this weekend, WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS eye The CW sale, series creator teases a Squid Game renewal (again), and more of the biggest news in TV and streaming.
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(Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images)
Keanu Reeves is in talks to bring his big-screen star power to TV: The Matrix star could be the lead in Hulu’s upcoming limited series adaptation of author Erik Larson’s 2003 bestselling book The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair That Changed America.
The book, based on real characters, tells the story of the man credited as being the first modern serial killer, H.H. Holmes, and Daniel Burnham, the architect being the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The book tells both stories in an intricate format. Leonardo DiCaprio bought the film rights to the book in 2010, and it was originally planned as a Paramount big screen project.
Hulu announced they would film it as a series in 2019. Reeves would play Burnham, who overcame a number of struggles to build the historic fair. DiCarpio and Martin Scorsese will executive produce the series. (Deadline)
(Photo by Bob Saget)
Bob Saget, known for his role as Danny Tanner on Full House and as host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, passed away on Sunday in Florida while on a stand-up comedy tour. Saget was 65. His passing was mourned by colleagues, friends, and fans on social media on Sunday.
““I am broken. I am gutted. I am in complete and utter shock. I will never ever have another friend like him,” John Stamos, Saget’s Full House costar, wrote on Twitter. “I love you so much Bobby.”
Reports indicated that Saget was found unresponsive in his hotel room and local authorities did not find evidence of foul play or drug use, but a cause of death has not yet been announced. (Associated Press)
The Peacemaker season 1 red band trailer introduces viewers to John Cena’s Suicide Squad, uh, titular hero, and his colleagues, including his best friend, Eagley the, um, eagle. Also stars Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Steve Agee, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, and Chukwudi Iweuji. Premieres Jan. 13. (HBO Max)
More trailers and teasers released this week:
• Peaky Blinders, Season 6, is the end of the road for the BBC period drama, but good news: Anya Taylor-Joy returns as Gina Gray to help wrap up the series, and a Peaky Blinders movie will continue the story after the series finale. Also stars Cillian Murphy. Premieres early 2022. (Netflix)
• We Need to Talk About Cosby is a four-part docuseries that explores Bill Cosby’s career as comedian and beloved TV dad through the allegations of decades long sexual abuse of women that led to jail time for the iconic celebrity. Includes interviews with comedians about Cosby’s global influence, as well as cultural commentators, journalists, and women who share their personal, harrowing experiences with Cosby. Directed by W. Kamau Bell. Premieres Jan. 30. (Showtime)
• Pam & Tommy is the eight-part limited series about the infamous sex tape starring Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan), which went viral after being stolen from the former couple’s home by a disgruntled contractor (Seth Rogen) in 1997. Also stars Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling, and Andrew Dice Clay. Premieres Feb. 2. (Hulu)
• Single Drunk Female is the comedy from Jenni Konner (Girls) about twentysomething alcoholic Samantha (Sofia Black-D’Elia) who publicly flames out in her job at a New York media company, and has to move back home with her overbearing mother (Ally Sheedy) in Boston to get sober and avoid jail time. But old triggers – like her best friend now dating her ex – aren’t going to make Samantha’s comeback journey a smooth one. Premieres Jan. 20. (Freeform)
• JANET is the two-night, four-hour documentary about Janet Jackson, covering her iconic music, her controversial family, and the fallout of the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show “Nipplegate” scandal, which unfairly and unevenly impacted her career. Includes never before seen footage and extensive interviews with Janet Jackson. Premieres Jan. 28. (Lifetime)
• Black Market with Michael K. Williams, Season 2, is the final documentary project by the late Williams, the beloved star of The Wire, who continued to examine the underground economics of the black market, including in fashion, credit card scams, drugs, stolen goods, body modification, and drinking water. Premieres Jan. 10. (VICE TV)
• Wolf Like Me is a romantic dramedy about a new couple trying to navigate their relationship with all the baggage they bring into it: Gary (Josh Gad) is an emotional wreck and struggles to provide for his daughter since the death of his wife, while Mary (Isla Fisher) has a secret she can’t bring herself to share with anyone. Premieres Jan. 13. (Peacock)
• The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is a dark comedy series about heartbroken Anna (Kristen Bell) for whom every day is the same. She sits with her wine, staring out the window, watching life go by without her. But when a handsome neighbor (Tom Riley) and his adorable daughter (Samsara Yett) move in across the street, Anna starts to see a light at the end of the tunnel. That is until she witnesses a gruesome murder… Or did she? Premieres Jan. 28. (Netflix)
• Sex Appeal is a teen comedy movie about Avery Hansen-White, who doesn’t do things she isn’t excellent at. So when her long-distance boyfriend hints at wanting to take their relationship to the next level, she sets out to master her sexuality, employing her oldest friend, Larson, as a test subject. Avery’s study results in the realization that there’s more to sex, and love, than mechanics. Stars Artemis Pebdani, Fortune Feimster, Margaret Cho, Paris Jackson, Mika Abdalla, Jake Short, and Mason Versaw. Premieres Jan. 14. (Hulu)
• Archive 81 is the found footage horror/supernatural mystery series based on the podcast of the same name . Premieres Jan. 14 (Netflix)
• Fraggle Rock: Return to the Rock is Apple TV+’s 13-episode reboot of the beloved Jim Henson series, featuring the return of Gobo, Red, Boober, Mokey, Wembley and Uncle Travelling Matt. Premieres Jan. 21. (Apple TV+)
(Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Outlander star and The Crown Emmy winner Tobias Menzies will star in Apple TV+’s limited series Manhunt, an adaptation of author James Swanson’s bestselling book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, about Edwin Stanton (Menzies), Lincoln’s war secretary, who nearly went mad trying to catch Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth. (THR)
Sopranos Emmy winner Michael Imperioli will return to HBO as a star in the second season of Mike White’s social satire series The White Lotus. The second season, which follow a new group of vacationers at a new location of the White Lotus resort will feature Imperioli as Dominic DeGrasso, a man travelling with his elderly dad and recent college graduate son. White will return as writer, director, and executive producer of the series. (Deadline)
Saturday Night Live is losing Anna Drezen, one if its four head writers, as she leaves the late-night comedy series to work on her Freeform animated comedy Praise Petey, about a New York City “it girl” whose life falls apart, leading her to take on the task of modernizing her father’s small-town cult. Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner and Kevin Can F**k Himself star Annie Murphy voices the former it girl. (Variety)
The career fallout continues for Sex and the City star Chris Noth after he was accused by at least five women for sexual assault: he was fired from CBS’s The Equalizer series, and the SATC HBO Max sequel series And Just Like That, which killed off his character, Mr. Big, in its series premiere, cut a cameo return by Noth in the series’ upcoming finale.
Following a cameo by her husband, Tom Hanks, in an earlier episode of the Yellowstone prequel series 1883, Rita Wilson will make a guest appearance on the Paramount+ drama, playing a storekeeper in a scene with series star Faith Hill on an upcoming episode. Hanks and Wilson agreed to appear on 1883 requests by their friends Hill and her co-star/real-life husband Tim McGraw. (Variety)
Howie Mandel will host Netflix’s series Bullsh*t The Game Show, in which contestants can win by answering questions correctly, or by convincing other people their incorrect answers are right. (Deadline)
Craig Ferguson and Donald Faison will voice Doorknob and Harry the March Hare, respectively, in Disney Junior’s upcoming animated series Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, an Alice in Wonderland story in which 13-year-old newbie actress Libby Rue voices Alice, a pastry-baking descendent of the original Alice.(LA Times)
(Photo by Netflix)
The massive success of the first season of Netflix’s international hit Squid Game left little question that the streaming service was likely to pursue a sophomore season of the Korean drama, but the Korean drama’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, said in an interview with Korean broadcaster KBS that he’s in talks with Netflix about Season 2 and 3.
Among the top 100 telecasts of 2021: lots of NCIS, FBI, 60 Minutes, and Yellowstone, as well as the Super Bowl, The Masked Singer, and lots of NFL playoff games. Nowhere in the top 100: the 2021 Oscar ceremony. (Variety)
CNN anchor, and recent tipsy New Year’s Eve host, will host a new series on CNN’s streaming network, CNN+: Parental Guidance with Anderson Cooper, a weekly show in which he will consult experts about being a working father and dealing with parenting challenges like sleep schedules and negotiating screen time.
Two new ways to celebrate the late Betty White: the #BettyWhiteChallenge, the social media plan for fans to donate $5 to local animal recues or shelters in the name of the star whose love of animals and tireless philanthropy on their behalf is as much a part of her legacy as her acting career, and on Jan. 8, beginning at 9 am ET, Game Show Network will air an eight-hour marathon on Match Game episodes featuring White as a guest.
Mike Judge confirmed in a tweet that Beavis and Butt-Head – the middle-aged version of the BFFs – will return later this year, in a movie and new episodes on Paramount+.
WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS confirm they are exploring the possible sale of The CW, The two companies, which jointly own the network of Riverdale, Walker, and All American, may sell the whole network or a significant stake, The Wall Street Journal reports. Nexstar Media Group, the country’s biggest broadcaster and already the owner of a large number of CW affiliates, is among those interested in purchasing The CW, as per WSJ sources.
