This Week in TV:
NBC announces a summer premiere for Hannibal season 3; Broad City earns a season 3 renewal from Comedy Central; John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings) joins the cast of Shannara; development begins on an adaptation of Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes; and the debut trailer for The CW’s The Messengers is released.
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At the Television Critics Association winter press tour, NBC announced that Hannibal season 3 will premiere this summer.
The summer return date is later in the calendar year than both of Hannibal‘s previous season premieres (April and February), but any delay shouldn’t reflect a lack of confidence in the show from its network.
Said NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt:
“It’s a show we love, it’s critically acclaimed, we love it. And we also love summer. We have exciting plans for summer.”
It’s safe to say fans of the dark drama are also eagerly anticipating Hannibal‘s return after the devastating season 2 finale left the lives of several main characters hanging in the balance.
Hannibal season 3 will premiere on NBC this summer.
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Comedy Central renewed its hit series Broad City for season 3 on the same day of the show’s season 2 premiere (Wednesday, Jan. 14).
The comedy, which follows two best friends navigating the urban jungle that is New York City, performed well beyond expectations in its rookie season, ranking as the number one cable comedy among men 18-34 in 2014. Even more impressively, season 1 of the series also ranked at the top of all cable shows – comedies, or otherwise – in its timeslot among the same demographic.
The series from Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson has also scored high marks with critics, including our own Kevin Yeoman, who called Broad City the “flat-out funniest show Comedy Central currently has in its line up” in his list of The Best TV Shows of 2014.
If the show’s impressive list of guest stars is any indication, Broad City will only improve during its sophomore run. Season 2 of the Comedy Central hit will include comedy heavyweights such as Susie Essman, Janeane Garofalo, Kumail Nanjiani, Seth Rogen and David Wain; while promoting Hannibal Buress and John Gemberling to series regulars.
Broad City season 2 continues with “Mochalatta Chills” on Wednesday, January 21 @10:30pm on Comedy Central.
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MTV’s upcoming fantasy drama Shannara added John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) to its cast.
Best known for his role as the dwarf warrior Gimli in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings adaptations, Rhys-Davies will play King Eventine Elessedil in the upcoming series that follows a magical family thousands of years after the destruction of civilization. Interestingly, the Terry Brooks book series from which Shannara is based has often been compared to Lord of the Rings, meaning Rhys-Davies should feel right at home in the show’s fantastical world.
Rhys-Davies joins a youthful cast that includes Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth), Austin Butler (The Carrie Diaries) and Poppy Drayton (Downton Abbey).
Shannara will begin shooting in February, so we should expect a few more casting announcements before then, as well as an official premiere date. So far, MTV has commissioned 10 episodes of the series.
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Sonar Entertainment announced development on a limited series based on Stephen King’s novel “Mr. Mercedes“.
Published last June, King’s source material about a retired detective’s hunt for a psycho killer whose murder weapon is a Mercedes has already attracted some top TV talent, including Ally McBeal and Boston Public creator David E. Kelley, who has signed on to write the series.
Said Kelley:
“This is an amazing opportunity to adapt a script from material penned by one of the world’s most acclaimed and accomplished authors. ‘Mr. Mercedes’ is a great story that will translate beautifully to the screen if I don’t mess it up.”
Joining Kelley on the project will be director Jack Bender, who is known for his work on Lost, and most recently, the CBS adaptation of King’s Under the Dome. Kelley and Bender will also executive produce, alongside King and Sonar CEO Gene Stein.
We’ll pass along updates on the potential Mr. Mercedes series as they come in.
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The CW unveiled the first trailer for its upcoming drama The Messengers. Take a peek at the clip below.
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The trailer, which introduces the story of five strangers who are mysteriously chosen to battle an evil threat, certainly packs a lot of action and suspense into four minutes – along with the necessary exposition scenes, most of which will likely be seen in the premiere. At first glance, production values seem to be on par for a CW show, but the premise is undeniably intriguing.
The Messengers stars Shantel VanSanten (One Tree Hill), Jon Fletcher, JD Pardo (Revolution), Sofia Black-D’Elia (All My Children), and Joel Courtney (Super 8) as the five “Messengers”; and Diogo Morgado (The Bible) as “The Man.” The series premieres on April 10, 2015 on The CW.
