‘Heels’ Season 2 Trailer Grapples With Family, Feuds, and the Future

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The nominations for the 75th Emmy Awards are out and HBO is once again dominating. The premium cabler’s shows “Succession,” “The Last of Us,” and “The White Lotus” represent the three most-nominated shows of the year. See the full list of nominations. “Succession” came out on top with 27 total nominations, including a record-setting three nominations in the best actor in a drama category. “The Last of Us” was second with 24 total nominations, including best drama series and best actor and actress nods for Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Season 2 of “The White Lotus” was third with 23 nominations, which includes five nominations in the best supporting actress in a drama category.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter ESPN Films is working on a docuseries about the legendary Gracie family, Variety has learned exclusively. Titled “Gracie,” the series will delve deep into the family’s history and dissect how they became the founders of Brazilian jiu jitsu, which serves as a major cornerstone of modern mixed martial arts (MMA). The official description of the series states: “Featuring larger-than-life personalities, triumphs and tragedies, deep loyalties, passionate loves and deadly feuds, ‘Gracie’ will explore the essence of family, honor, legacy, and humanity’s innate desire to fight. Told through the eyes of key Gracie family members, the series will dive deep into an epic family saga that takes audiences from Scotland and Japan, to Brazil and America.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The 2023 installment of WWE’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view has officially become the highest-grossing arena event in WWE history, the company announced Wednesday. In addition, the episode of “Friday Night SmackDown” that preceded the July 1 pay-per-view is now the highest-grossing “SmackDown” of all time. Both shows took place at the famed O2 Arena in London and collectively grossed more than $5.4 million, per WWE. Money in the Bank 2023 also set new records in a number of other areas, including a nine percent jump in sponsorship revenue compared to the record set in 2022. Viewership, meanwhile, was up 17% from last year’s record, while the event generated the highest gross for venue merchandise in WWE history. It also set a record for On Location fan experience packages, making it the higest-grossing non-WrestleMania event for such packages in company history.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Sex Education” will now end with the upcoming Season 4 at Netflix. The final season of the popular series will debut on the streamer on Sept. 21. Netflix has also released the first teaser trailer for the new season, which can be seen below. Series creator, lead writer, and executive producer Laurie Nunn wrote in a letter to fans, “We are incredibly proud of ‘Sex Education’ and feel indebted to our brilliant writers, cast and crew who put so much heart into making every episode. They have worked tirelessly to bring you the final series, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Insecure” is now officially available to stream on Netflix, the first HBO original to launch on the streamer under a new licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. It was first reported on June 20 that WBD was in talks to license some of their original shows to Netflix. In addition, the streamer has confirmed that “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Ballers” will be coming to the service at a later date. “True Blood,” which also currently streams on Hulu, will be available to Netflix subscribers outside the U.S. All of the shows remain available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max) as well. The deal marks the latest shift in content strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery under the David Zaslav regime. In January, Warner Bros. Discovery made licensing moves by partnering with Roku and Tubi to launch free, ad-supported channels with HBO shows. The FAST channels included all seasons of shows like “Westworld,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Legendary,” “FBoy Island,” “The Nevers,” “Finding Magic Mike,” “Head of the Class,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and more. In 2014, HBO and Amazon reached an exclusive licensing deal to stream shows like “the Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “True Blood” and more on Amazon Prime Video.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Showtime is not moving forward with a number of projects, including a “Gattaca” series adaptation as well as the Mandy Patinkin-led series “Seasoned.” “Gattaca” was first reported as being in development at Showtime back in March, while “Seasoned” was ordered to series at the network in April. In addition, Showtime is also no longer moving forward on development of the projects “Split” and “Sweetness.” All of the projects were produced by outside studios, which sources say was the reason they were scrapped. Those studios will all have the option to now shop the projects to other outlets.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Kevin Bacon is attached to star in a new Blumhouse Television series that has been ordered straight-to-series at Amazon’s Prime Video, Variety has learned. The action series is titled “The Bondsman.” The official logline states that it centers on Hub Halloran (Bacon), “a backwoods bounty hunter who comes back from the dead with an unexpected second chance at life, love, and a nearly-forgotten musical career — only to find that his old job now has a demonic new twist.” Amazon has ordered eight half-hour episodes. Production on the series will not begin until all guild negotiations have been resolved.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Reservation Dogs” will end with its upcoming third season. The FX series airs on Hulu, with Season 3 set to debut on Aug. 3 Series creator Sterlin Harjo made the announcement on his Instagram. “Aho young and old warriors!” he wrote. “Here it is: the coming third season of ‘Reservation Dogs’ will be the final season.” “That’s a difficult line to write and a more difficult decision to make,” he continued. “However, it’s the correct decision creatively for the show. I always knew what the end of this story would be, I just didn’t know when it would arrive. As we continued to break stories and write scripts this season, it became clear to the producers, Taika and me that the season three finale is the perfect series finale. When we came up with the idea for ‘Reservation Dogs,’ I didn’t think the show would ever get made, but thankfully it did.”

UPDATE, 10 AM: Starz has released the official Season 2 trailer for its wrestling drama Heels. You can watch it above.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “From” has been renewed for Season 3 at MGM+. The news comes just four days after the Season 2 finale. The third season will consist of 10 episodes, like the previous two seasons, and is expected to premiere in 2024. Per MGM+, “From” is the second-most watched series in network history, behind only “Godfather of Harlem.” “The first two seasons of ‘From’ captivated critics and terrified and engaged fans, who have formed a thriving online community that is trying to put the pieces together week by week as the secrets of the nightmarish town—and possibly beyond—are slowly revealed,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “We can’t wait for fans to see the surprises ahead in Season Three, which promises more scares and mysteries, but also more answers.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Squid Game” Season 2 at Netflix is rounding out its cast, with the addition of eight new cast members. New additions to the second season of the international hit series are: Park Gyu-young (“Sweet Home”), Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim (“Be Melodramatic,” “Move to Heaven”), Lee David (“The Fortress,” “Svaha: The Sixth Finger”), Lee Jin-uk (“Sweet Home,” “Miss Granny”), Choi Seung-hyun (“Tazza: The Hidden Card,” “Commitment”), Roh Jae-won (“Missing Yoon,” “Ditto”), and Won Ji-an (“D.P.”). A picture of the new cast members can be seen below. Netflix previously announced that Yim Si-Wan, Kang Ha-Neul, Park Sung-Hoon, and Yang Dong-Geun would also be joining the new season alongside returning cast members Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Gong Yoo, and Wi Ha-jun.

Ethan Shanfeld “The Other Two” will not return for a fourth season, as series creators Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider announce that they “always knew” Thursday’s Season 3 finale is “where we wanted to end” the stories of Brooke and Cary Dubek. Debuting on Comedy Central in 2019 before moving to HBO Max (and now Max), the series offered a scathing satire of Hollywood and the corruptive nature of fame. It starred Heléne Yorke and Drew Tarver as disillusioned millennial siblings Brooke and Cary, who attempt to make it in New York City after their teenage brother becomes a Justin Bieber-esque pop star and their mother a daytime TV host. In Season 3, Cary, an actor, finally works his way up to C-list celebrity status, while Brooke, after talent managing her famous family members, decides to leave the industry to “do good.”

The Other Two, the comedy series starring Heléne Yorke, Drew Tarver and Molly Shannon, is coming to a close with its third season on Max.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Gillian Anderson has signed on to star in Kurt Sutter’s upcoming Netflix Western series “The Abandons,” Variety has learned exclusively. Anderson joins previously announced star Lena Headey in the show, which was first picked up to series at the streamer in October 2022. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Anderson’s deal was in the works prior to the beginning of the writers’ strike but only recently closed. The official series description states: “As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, “justice” is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter An “Among Us” animated series is in the works at CBS Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. The studio, via CBS Eye Animation Productions, has partnered with Innersloth, the independent game studio behind “Among Us,” to develop the series. Owen Dennis will serve as creator and executive producer on the project under his overall deal with CBS Studios. Per the official logline, the series is based on the premise of the game, namely, “Members of your crew have been replaced by an alien shapeshifter intent on causing confusion, sabotaging the ship, and killing everyone. Root out the ‘Impostor’ or fall victim to its murderous designs.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large If this year’s Emmy ballots are any indication, the era of Peak TV may truly be over — which FX boss John Landgraf has of course been predicting for some time. There are 163 dramas, 95 comedies and 51 limited/anthology series that have been submitted — down from 171 dramas, 118 comedies and 61 limited/anthology series last year. That’s still a lot of TV, but with fewer contenders comes the possibility of more dark horses getting noticed.

Josh Segarra is known as humble hunk Lance on The Other Two, but the actor makes it clear he’s just “Dad” at home while taking Us Weekly through a day in his life.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Game,” “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” “Star Trek: Prodigy,” and “Queen of the Universe” have all been canceled at Paramount+. In addition, all four shows are set to be removed from the streaming service in the coming days. “The Paramount+ series ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,’ ‘Star Trek: Prodigy,’ ‘Queen of the Universe’ and ‘The Game’ have completed their runs on Paramount+ and will not be returning to the service,” a Paramount+ spokesperson said. “We want to extend our thanks to our tremendously talented cast and crew and our producing partners for their passionate work and dedication on these programs, and we wish them all the best on their future endeavors.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter As WGA pickets continue to mobilize at the remaining TV shows in both New York and Los Angeles, at least one Ryan Murphy-produced show was the focus of striking writers’ efforts on Wednesday: “American Horror Story: Delicate.” The show is currently shooting on 52nd street in Manhattan, according to several WGA East member Twitter feeds — including one person who posted video of star Kim Kardashian entering the production. “It doesn’t appear that @KimKardashian is a friend of the labor movement. She just now crossed our picket line to work on Ryan Murphy’s @AHSFX Hamptons, shooting here on 52nd in NYC,” wrote “The Blacklist” exec producer and WGA strike captain T Cooper on his Twitter account.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Dan Stevens is officially taking over the lead voice role in Hulu’s “Solar Opposites” from Justin Roiland. Roiland, who co-created the animated series, was fired from the show in January after it was revealed he was being charged with domestic violence. He was also removed from the Hulu animated show “Koala Man” at that time. The charges against Roiland were dismissed in March. Stevens will play Korvo, described as “a grouchy alien who always wears ceremonial robes and professes to hate Earth. He desperately wants to fix their spaceship so he can escape to a new planet.”