TV Talk

The Doctor Is Out, HBO’s Godfather Drama Is in, Sneak Peek at Rihanna in Bates Motel, Star Trek: Discovery Footage, and More TV News

by | February 2, 2017 | Comments

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This week in TV news: HBO orders behind-the-scenes The Godfather drama; pilot orders abound at the networks, including series starring Toni Collette and Courtney Love; Peter Capaldi says goodbye to Doctor Who; Emma Stone and Jonah Hill go to work on their Netflix series Maniac; Oprah Winfrey heads to 60 MinutesTeri Hatcher plays a villain on Supergirl; and production begins on The Shannara Chronicles second season. Plus, new footage of Rihanna in Bates Motel, behind the scenes of Star Trek: Discovery, and from the final season of Broadchurch.


HBO Preps Godfather Drama, HIMYM Creators Head Back to CBS, More Deals

THE GODFATHER, Al Pacino, James Caan (Paramount Pictures)

A new HBO movie is in the works about the making of the classic 1972 Francis Ford Coppola mafia drama The Godfather, according to Variety. The feature script was on the 2015 blacklist and follows the behind-the-scenes story of the film, including casting Al Pacino and Marlon Brando and researching the real mafia in New York City.

  • Emma Stone and Jonah Hill’s Netflix series Maniac will begin production August 15, Deadline reports. The series, a 10-episode dark comedy, is directed by Cary Fukunaga (True Detective).
  • CBS has ordered to pilot a drama about a team of investigators who handle hate crimes, produced by Katie Couric and written by Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married).
  • How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are teaming up with Hilary Winston (Bad Teacher) for a new “hybrid” comedy on CBS about a relationship between coworkers on opposite coasts who end up in the same office.
  • Over at ABC, United States of Tara star Toni Colette will next star in a new ABC spy dramedy, Unit Zero, from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, according to Deadline, and the network picked up police drama Salamander, based on the 2012 Belgian series.
  • The Agent Carter team’s new project The Gospel of Kevin about “a down-on-his-luck man who is tasked by God with a mission to save the world” marks ABC’s 14th pilot order of the season.
  • Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller and Friday Night Lights showrunner Jason Katims will produce Drama High, which follows a high school drama department in a working-class neighborhood.
  • Pretty Little Liars alum Lucy Hale will star in Life Sentence, a dramedy on the CW from Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence. The network also picked up Insatiable, a drama about “a disgraced, dissatisfied civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach who takes on a vengeful, bullied teenager as his client.”
  • Street Dreams, a drama about the life of rapper Nas, heads to pilot on BET.
  • Fox sent workplace comedies Type A and L.A. to Vegas to pilot. The network also gave the greenlight to Antone Fuqua (Training Day) drama The Resident and Controversy, produced by the This is Us team.
  • Lifetime will air a made-for-TV version of the Menendez Brothers’ story, starring Courtney Love.
  • And — surprise! — principal photography on Sharknado 5 (working title) has begun.

First-Look Footage of Star Trek: Discovery in Production

Go on set with a quick sneak peek at the new CBS All Access show Star Trek: Discovery.


Peter Capaldi Is Leaving Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who (Simon Ridgway / BBC AMERICA)

Doctor Who will soon be looking for its 13th Tardis traveler. Peter Capaldi, who has starred in the BBC series since replacing Matt Smith in 2013, is leaving the show, BBC America announced this week in a statement. His last episode will be the 2017 Christmas episode. “One of the greatest privileges of being Doctor Who is to see the world at its best,” Capaldi said in the statement. Writer Steven Moffat added that Capaldi’s time as the Doctor isn’t quite over: “Peter’s amazing, fiery, turbulent Doctor is still fighting the good fight, and his greatest adventures are yet to come. Monsters of the universe, be on your guard — Capaldi’s not done with you yet!”


Rihanna Checks into Bates Motel

Pop superstar Rihanna gets a room at the Bates Motel in her guest turn as Marion Crane on the A&E series.


Oxygen Rebranding as Crime Network

It Takes A Killer (Oxygen)

Cable network Oxygen will switch to a crime-focused programming slate this summer, Deadline reports. The network is already home to the long-running true-crime drama Snapped and hosts a weekend block of “Crime Time” programming. Deadline added that the network will focus on “original unscripted series” as well as potentially adding more scripted syndicated shows to its lineup of NCIS and CSI reruns.


Casting News: Marvel Announces Runaways Cast, The Voice Adds John Legend and Celine Dion, Teri Hatcher to Play a Baddie in Supergirl, Oprah Joins 60 Minutes, and More

Marvel's Runaways (Marvel.com)Marvel Television announced Thursday that it has cast its upcoming Hulu series Marvel’s Runaways: Rhenzy Feliz as loud-and-proud nerd Alex Wilder; Lyrica Okano as tough, intelligent, and independent goth Nico Minoru; Virginia Gardner as privileged and model-perfect Karolina Dean; Ariela Barer as purple-haired riot grrrl Gert Yorkes; Gregg Sulkin as high school jock and heartthrob Chase Stein; and Allegra Acosta as peppy, young, and innocent Molly Hernandez. The series is “the story of six diverse teenagers who can barely stand each other but who must unite against a common foe–their parents.”
  • John Legend, Celine Dion, Snapchat superstar DJ Khaled, and country crooner Luke Bryan are joining NBC’s The Voice as team advisers. Legend will support Adam Levine, Dion will work with Gwen Stefani’s team, Khaled will team up with Alicia Keys, and not surprisingly, Bryan will join fellow country star Blake Shelton.
  • From Lois Lane to the villain? Teri Hatcher, who starred in ’90s super series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, will join the cast of Supergirl for an arc as the big bad to Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl.
  • Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson will make her acting debut in an episode of the Fox drama Star.
  • Tamron Hall left NBC News this week following the unit’s decision that Megyn Kelly would take over the third hour of Today that Hall cohosted. Al Roker will continue to cohost the morning show until the new morning lineup begins in fall, Deadline reported.
  • In other news news, Oprah Winfrey will become a contributor on 60 Minutes.
  • And the Dynasty reboot on The CW casts Nathalie Kelley (The Vampire Diaries, UnREAL) to star as Cristal.

Broadchurch Trailer Teases Final Season

The most crime-ridden town in England has David Tennant and Olivia Colman back at it to investigate a sexual assault in the third and final season of Broadchurch, which premieres on BBC America this year.


Production Begins on Season 2 of The Shannara Chronicles

Austin Butler as Wil in The Shannara Chronicles (MTV)

After a silence that seemed to last an eternity, MTV announced this week that production has begun on the second season of The Shannara Chronicles, the network’s adaptation of Terry Brooks’ fantasy book series. No word yet on the expected premiere date, but here’s the official synopsis:

A year after the events of last season, The Four Lands is in chaos. The re-emergence of magic has the populace terrified, and an organization called The Crimson is hunting down magic users, using fear and intimidation to sow discord among the races. Wil, scarred by the loss of Amberle and his separation from Eretria, has turned his back on his magical destiny to become a healer. But when a mysterious woman named Mareth saves Wil from a Crimson attack, he is forced to rejoin the fight. After reuniting with Eretria, Wil and Mareth seek out Allanon, only to learn that the Druid’s former protégé, Bandon, is on a mission to resurrect a creature of darkest evil: The Warlock Lord. Together, our heroes must band together to take down The Crimson and prevent Bandon from unleashing an even greater threat upon the Four Lands, before it’s too late.

Returning for season 2 are Austin Butler (Wil), Ivana Baquero (Eretria), Manu Bennett (Allanon), Aaron Jakubenko (Ander), and Marcus Vanco (Bandon). The series has added actors Malese Jow as Mareth, a volatile and unpredictable young woman with magical abilities; Vanessa Morgan as beautiful and mysterious Lyria; Desmond Chiam as turncoat General Rigam, leader of The Crimson organization, which hunts magical people; Gentry White as sly bounty hunter Garet; and Caroline Chikezie, as Queen Tamlin, the powerful ruler of the only remaining human kingdom.