This Week in TV:
The Get Down trailer; Rocky Horror Picture Show casting update; Love teaser; Sherilyn Fenn to return to Twin Peaks; Rush Hour TV series to premiere in March; TNT to reduce commercial interruptions; Girls ends with season 6; Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks working on animated comedy; TV Land orders Nobodies; Netflix orders Gypsy; and Special Correspondents gets a release date.
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Netflix Releases the first trailer for The Get Down
Set in the South Bronx in the 1970s, The Get Down follows a group of teenagers in the midst of New York City’s economic decline, at the brink of bankruptcy. It’s a broken city — yet it’s on on the cusp of an artistic revolution, giving birth to hip hop and disco and an all new art scene. At the center of it all are Ezekial (Justice Smith) and Mylene (Herizen Guardiola), both attempting to make their mark on the world through their music.
The Get Down marks director Baz Luhrmann’s television debut, a project co-created with Shawn Ryan (The Shield). Grandmaster Flash will serve as an advisor and associate producer on the musical drama. The 13-episode first season is produced by Sony Pictures Television and will be released sometime in 2016.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Casting Updates
Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan will play the project’s two young leads, Janet and Brad, respectively. FOX also announced that they’ve found their Rocky in newcomer Staz Nair. Penny Dreadful‘s Reeve Carney will also be joining the cast as Riff Raff. The newcomers will star opposite Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) who was the first cast member announced. Cox will be playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the show’s main antagonist, originally portrayed in the film by the magnificent Tim Curry.
The TV remake will be filmed prior to airing, as opposed to NBC’s recent successful broadcast of The Wiz Live! The production will be choreographed, written, and directed by Kenny Ortega (This Is It). Ortega has gone on record to say that his version of the film will stay true to the original, utilizing the same B-movie inspirations as the original film.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show premieres on FOX sometime in 2016
Netflix Releases a teaser trailer for Love
The Love teaser doesn’t feature any footage from the upcoming series, instead offering a to-do list full of helpful(ish) dating advice. The series follows the beginnings of a relationship between the nerdy Gus (Paul Rust) and jaded Mickey (Gillian Jacobs). The two will attempt to navigate the pitfalls of a new relationship as they begin to fall in love.
The upcoming comedy was created and written by Judd Apatow, Paul Rust, and Lesley Arfin. The series promises to provide an honest take on modern relationships, similar to the recently released Netflix series Master of None.
Love premieres on Netflix on Februrary 19th, 2016.
Sherlyn Fenn to return to Twin Peaks?
The casting information has not yet been confirmed by Showtime, but there’s talk that Fenn has signed on for a major role in the upcoming Twin Peaks revival. Fenn originally played Audrey Horne, a troublemaking teen who had an infatuation with Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). Horne goes on to become an activist towards the end of the series, eventually chaining herself to a bank vault to protest deforestation. This act inadvertently puts her life in grave danger when a bomb goes off in the bank, leaving Audrey’s fate in the series ambiguous.
So far, MacLachlan is the only cast member officially returned to be returning to the series. David Lynch has already begun production on the revival, directing from a script co-written with Mark Frost. Fenn’s addition to the cast was questionable, as she’s currently featured in a recurring role on Showtime’s Shameless.
Twin Peaks airs on Showtime sometime in 2017.
Rush Hour television series will premiere on March 31st, 2016
The series is based on the popular film franchise of the same name, wherein LAPD Detective Carter, considered to be a bit of a loose cannon, is forced to work with the more restrained Detective Lee from Hong Kong. Justin Hires (21 Jump Street) replaces Chris Tucker as Carter and Olympus Has Fallen stuntman Jon Foo replaces Jackie Chan as Detective Lee. There’s no word on whether the former stars will make an appearance in the series.
Rush Hour will air from 10:00-11:00 pm EST, replacing Elementary, which will now air on Sundays beginning on March 20th. The believed reasoning behind this is that Rush Hour, itself an action-comedy, will pair well with CBS’ two-hour comedy block on Thursdays. Elementary, on the other hand, will be right at home on Sunday nights with shows like The Good Wife.
Rush Hour premieres on Thursday, March 31st, 2016.
TNT to cut commercial time by 50%
TNT president Kevin Reilly announced the move earlier this week, promising to cut the ad load by 50 percent for the first seasons of The Alienist, Good Behavior, and Animal Kingdom. The three projects are owned by TNT, allowing them greater freedom in manipulating the episode’s run times to accommodate the new advertising model. Paid advertisement times during shows on cable networks are at an all time high, approximately 20 minutes per hour.
“We have overstuffed the bird,” Reilly announced during the Television Critics Association press tour. He went on to explain the decision:
“We have to do it, we have to do deeper partnerships. People do watch ads, but there are so many and there is such clutter, I think it will be a better TV environment for advertisers and a better viewing experience for consumers… The problem is that it is a multibillion-dollar issue for us, so we can’t just wave a wand. I can reduce the ad load tomorrow, but if i do it, a billion dollars will go off my book. So we are not going to do that, but the way we are selling the network in general is changing as we get more data-based.”
The decision is a risky business move, but the basic idea is that if there are fewer commercials during a program, the advertisers might be more inclined to pay a premium to get better exposure. That, coupled with an increase in viewers attracted by a potentially better live-viewing experience, would help counter some of the costs. Still, it’s going to take time to eventually implement the new advertising structure, as the network continues to research the best way to reduce ad time.
Girls Renewed For Sixth and Final Season
As Lena Dunham, the show’s creator, previously speculated, Girls will be coming to an end after its sixth season. The decision to end the show was reportedly nearly unanimous, with the creators and HBO agreeing that the show has reached a good ending point. Protagonist Hannah Horvath (Dunham) has grown in parallel with Dunham, and the creator claims as she enters her 30s, she’s ready to move on to new projects.
HBO begins airing season 5 of Girls this February. The official end date has not been announced, but HBO confirmed it will be in 2017.
Girls returns to HBO on February 21st, 2016.
Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks Creating New Animated Series
Little is known about the currently untitled project, but C.K.’s production company Pig Newton will be producing the project for FX. Both C.K. and Brooks will serve as executive producers on the series, along with providing voice talent for the two main characters.
Should the series come to fruition, it will mark Brooks’ television premiere. C.K. is no stranger to television, having won multiple Emmy Awards for his work on FX series Louie. The two comedians can be heard together in the upcoming film The Secret Life of Pets.
TV Land orders Nobodies pilot
The series comes from Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone. Originally titled Friends With Melissa, the series focuses on what it’s like to be friends with well-established Hollywood talent. The series is written by and stars Rachel Ramras, Larry Dorf, and Hugh Davidson, all of whom write and provide voice work for Mike Tyson Mysteries. The three will be playing fictionalized versions of themselves, each trying sell their more famous friends on a feature script they’ve developed, so the project can propel them to stardom.
Keith Cox, TV Land’s executive vice president of development and original programming, had the following to say:
“Hugh, Larry, and Rachel tell stories that are so funny, you honestly can’t believe they’re true. It’s their unique take on exactly what it’s like toiling away in Hollywood – and it is that unfiltered comedy that we’re looking for.”
Netflix orders a full season of Gypsy
Gypsy tells the story of therapist Jean Holloway as she forms relationships with the people in her patients’ lives. Crossing ethical boundaries, Holloway forms these intimate relationships and exposes herself to potentially dangerous consequences. The series is being written and executive produced by Lisa Rubin, with Liza Chasin (We Are Your Friends), Tim Bevan (Hail, Caesar!) and Eric Fellner (Fargo) serving as co-executive producers.
Netflix is rapidly expanding their collection of original programming, with this year already seeing the premiere of Luke Cage, Fuller House, The Get Down, David Fincher’s Mindhunter, and Judd Apatow’s Love. 2016 will also see the return of popular series such as Daredevil and House of Cards. The streaming service is consistently offering high-quality original content, tempting more people away from their cable subscriptions.
Gypsy premieres on Netflix sometime in 2017.
Netflix announces release date for Special Correspondents – April 29th, 2016
Special Correspondents tells the story of New York radio journalist Frank Bonneville, whose career is hindered by his own arrogance and hedonistic lifestyle. When he is threatened with losing his job, the reporter makes a bold choice — to cover a currently raging war from the front lines. However, unwilling to actually report from the front lines, the protagonist makes the decision to fake the reports from the comfort of his hideout in Queens.
The new movie is a remake of the 2009 French film Envoyés très spéciaux. The feature was written and directed by Ricky Gervais (Derek), who also stars in the film across Eric Bana (Lone Survivor). Bana will play the role of the Bonneville with Gervais playing Ian Finch, Bonneville’s right-hand man. The film also Stars Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), and Benjamin Bratt (Modern Family).
Special Correspondents premieres exclusively on Netflix on April 29th, 2016.
