This Week in TV:
Netflix orders a Green Eggs and Ham series; Angela Bassett returns for American Horror Story: Hotel; Heroes Reborn adds two more cast members; original X-Files writers James Wong and Glen Morgan sign on for the miniseries revival; and Showtime announces Homeland season 5 will shoot entirely on location in Germany.
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Netflix announced it has ordered 13 episodes of Green Eggs and Ham, based on the classic children’s book by Dr. Seuss.
Executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres, the animated series will follow a standoffish inventor and the character of Sam-I-Am on a cross country trip that ultimately tests their friendship as they learn to try new things. The story will be adapted for television by The Internship (2013) and Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011) scribe Jared Stern.
DeGeneres shared the news with viewers of her daytime talk show, saying:
“It’s going to be cutting-edge animation that’s never been done on television before. It’s very, very cool. It’s going to be streamed all over the world, and I’m excited about it.”
Stay tuned for more details on Netflix’s Green Eggs and Ham.
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American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy confirmed that Angela Bassett is returning for the FX anthology series’ fifth season, American Horror Story: Hotel.
Like he has with other casting announcements in recent weeks, Murphy spread the news to his Twitter followers, and included a little tease about Bassett’s season 5 character.
In October, Angela Bassett will be making lots of trouble with Lady Gaga in the ballroom and elsewhere. #ahshotel— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) April 30, 2015
In AHS: Hotel, Bassett joins returning series veterans Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Chloe Sevigny, Wes Bentley and Sarah Paulson, as well as AHS newcomers Matt Bomer (White Collar) and Lady Gaga (Machete Kills). It’s not clear whether Bassett’s character will be a regular or recurring player, but apparently, she will be very involved – and possibly at odds – with Lady Gaga’s character in the upcoming season.
American Horror Story: Hotel is set to premiere on FX this October.
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The NBC event series Heroes Reborn added Francesca Eastwood (Jersey Boys) and Pruitt Taylor Vince (True Blood) to its cast.
Details on the two newcomers’ characters are currently being kept under wraps, but we do know they will be appearing in the 13-episode Heroes follow-up miniseries in recurring roles. At this point in her young acting career, Eastwood is perhaps best known as a star of the E! reality series Mrs. Eastwood & Company (and for being the daughter of actor/director Clint Eastwood), while Vince – a recognizable character actor – was seen most recently as Dr. Finn in the sixth season of HBO’s True Blood.
The two join a talented ensemble that includes returning stars Jack Coleman, Masi Oka and Jimmy Jean-Louis; along with a new set of characters to the Heroes universe portrayed by Zachary Levi (Chuck), Robbie Kay (Once Upon a Time), Ryan Guzman (Step Up: All In), Judith Shekoni (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II), Danika Yarosh (Shameless), Rya Kihlstedt (Dexter) and Gatlin Green.
Heroes Reborn is expected to premiere on NBC this fall.
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Original X-Files writers/producers James Wong and Glen Morgan have signed on for FOX’s upcoming six-episode X-Files revival miniseries.
The two celebrated X-Files alums are each set to write and direct one episode of the six that will bring Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) back to network television. While story details on the anticipated continuation series are still scarce, Wong and Morgan’s involvement should give fans hope for a solid follow-up that was worth the wait. Unfortunately, one original X-Files writer who confirmed he will not return is none other than Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, who is now the uber-busy co-creator of AMC’s Better Call Saul and CBS’s Battle Creek.
Along with Wong, Morgan, Duchovny, Anderson and X-Files creator Chris Carter, Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis are returning as Walter Skinner and the Cigarette-Smoking Man, respectively.
The X-Files limited series is set to begin filming this summer. We expect to see it premiere on FOX in 2016.
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Showtime announced that Homeland season 5 will shoot all 12 of its episodes on location in Germany.
With production on season 5 scheduled to begin in June and continue throughout the summer, Homeland will become the first American television series to shoot an entire season in Germany. The new season – which will film at the famed Studio Babelsberg in Berlin – will pick up two and a half years after the events of season 4’s finale with Carrie (Claire Danes) working for a private security firm.
After what many critics considered to be a successful reinvention of itself in season 4, Homeland appears to be challenging its audience once again by entering some new terrain – not just geographically, but also narratively – as Carrie finds herself overseas living in self-imposed exile from the CIA. We’ll certainly be interested to see how things play out when the drama returns.
Homeland season 5 will premiere this fall on Showtime.
