This Week in TV:
Banshee Season 4 delayed; Sesame Street gets a new trailer; Michelle Yeoh joins Marco Polo; Wicked City unaired episodes now available; and Narcos showrunner departs.
–
Cinemax has delayed the fourth and final season of Banshee from January to April.
The series was set to begin its final season on January 29th, 2016, but fans will now have to wait until April 1st to explore the fallout of the incredible third season finale. Alongside news of the delay, Cinemax released the above teaser trailer — which will undoubtedly make the wait feel even longer for the show’s fanbase.
Banshee follows a nameless ex-con (Antony Starr), who assumed the identity of Lucas Hood, a deceased sheriff in a small town. The trailer doesn’t promise a happy ending for Hood, but it does offer a brief glimpse Eliza Dushku as FBI Agent Veronica Dawson, who will be teaming up with Hood to track down a serial killer in the final season.
Banshee returns to Cinemax on Friday, April 1st, 2016.
–
HBO has released the first trailer for the upcoming 46th season of Sesame Street.
The trailer promises a return to the familiar world of Sesame Street, albeit in the series’ new half-hour format. All of the old favorites, from Elmo to Oscar, make an appearance in the new trailer, as well as a number of the previously announced celebrity guests — including John Hamm, Tina Fey, and Gwen Stefani. There’s even a perfectly-timed Star Wars reference, featuring the Cookie Monster as Han Solo along with his loyal Cookie copilot.
The new season of Sesame Street debuts with two half-hour long episodes on HBO, but the channel will also make the classic episodes available on streaming services HBO Now and HBO Go. For those without access to the premium cable channel, the 46th season will air on PBS in the fall.
Sesame Street premieres on January 16th, 2016 on HBO.
–
Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has joined the season 2 of the Netflix original series Marco Polo.
The martial arts expert will be playing a mysterious figure with connections to the past of Hundred Eyes (Tom Wu). Little else is known about her role, but the series’ creator John Fusco promises she will add “intrigue, mystery, and Asian martial arts” to the world of Marco Polo.
“Michelle Yeoh is not only a screen legend and one of the greatest action stars of all time, she’s one of the best actors of her generation. So we are thrilled to have her join one of the most diverse ensembles in television and bring her unique talents to ‘Marco Polo.'”
This marks Yeoh’s second collaboration with John Fusco, as she is set to reprise her role as Yu Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.
–
The unaired final episodes of ABC’s drama Wicked City are now available online.
Wicked City starred Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) and Erika Christensen (Parenthood) as a pair of serial killers terrorizing 1980s Los Angeles. The series failed to make a splash earlier this year, both in terms of ratings and critical reception. After two consecutive ratings drops, ABC pulled the series and replaced it with episodes of Shark Tank. The crew was in production on the eighth episode of the season at the time, and ABC confirmed it would be completed as the final episode.
Executive producer Laurie Zaks confirmed that the unaired episodes 4-7 were recently added to the streaming site Hulu. Zaks also added that post-production on the eighth episode was completed on December 24th and should be available in the near future.
–
Adam Fierro, the showrunner for season 2 of Narcos, has stepped down.
Fierro (The Walking Dead) was brought on board after Chris Brancato, the showrunner for the second half of the first season, left the series in April after signing a new overall deal with ABC Studios. Brancato entered the series halfway through production on the first season and was credited as series co-creator alongside the original writing team of Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro.
There was no reason given for why Fierro has stepped down, though Netflix stated the producer had fulfilled his obligations to season 2. José Padilha, who served as a director and producer on the first season, has returned to the series along with producer Eric Newman to take Fierro’s place.
Narcos enjoyed positive critical reception and was recently nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.
