Hulu Orders Comedy Series ‘The Other Black Girl’ With Rashida Jones Producing

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Scott Foley has joined the cast of the upcoming HBO Max series “The Girls on the Bus,” Variety has learned. Foley joins previously announced cast members Melissa Benoist, Christina Elmore, and Natasha Behnam in the show, which was ordered straight-to-series at HBO Max in February after having been set up at both Netflix and The CW. “The Girls on the Bus” is inspired by a chapter in Amy Chozick’s book “Chasing Hillary.” It is described as a comedic character-driven drama that chronicles four female journalists who follow every move of a parade of flawed presidential candidates, while finding friendship, love, and scandal along the way.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has given a series order to the spy drama “The Company You Keep” starring “This Is Us” alum Milo Ventimiglia, Variety has learned.The series was originally ordered to pilot as part of ABC’s 2022 pilot season slate. It will now debut at midseason on ABC in 2023.The show is based on the Korean series “My Fellow Citizens” from Korean Broadcasting System. In the American version, a night of passion leads to love between con-man Charlie (Ventimiglia) and undercover CIA officer Emma (Catherine Haena Kim), who are unknowingly on a collision course professionally.

Exclusive: Filmmaker Ben Cory Jones (Black Spartans) has signed with Cultivate Entertainment Partners for representation.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteven Pasquale is set to star opposite Neve Campbell in the upcoming ABC series “Avalon,” Variety has learned.The announcement of Pasquale’s casting comes just one day after Campbell’s, with Campbell set to play the lead role in the show. It hails from co-creators David E. Kelley and Michael Connelly, with the show based on a short story that Connelly wrote.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterKirby Howell-Baptiste has signed on to star opposite Colin Farrell in the Apple series “Sugar,” Variety has learned.The project was first ordered to series in June. Exact plot and character details for the show remain under wraps, aside from the fact that it is described as a genre-bending contemporary take on the private detective story set in Los Angeles.Howell-Baptiste was most recently seen in the Netflix series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” playing the role of Death, one of the seven Endless.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA rebooted version of the reality series “The Mole” has been ordered at Netflix, Variety has learned.The new version of the former ABC series is expected to bow on Netflix this fall. Like the original American version, the Netflix version is based on the Belgian format “De Mol” created by Bart De Pauw, Michel Vanhove, Michiel Devlieger, and Tom Lenaerts and distributed by Primitives.The streamer has given the new show a 10-episode order.

Tubi continues to expand its adult animated programming, giving a green light to Breaking Bear, an adult animated comedy series from The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia director Julien Nitzberg, Creepshow producer Cartel Entertainment, and Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge’s To The Stars Media (Monsters of California).

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRon Perlman, Nick Nolte, Charles Melton, and Tim Blake Nelson have all joined the cast of the upcoming Peacock series “Poker Face,” Variety has learned exclusively.Perlman (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Hellboy”), Nolte (“Warrior,” “Graves”), Melton (“Riverdale,” “American Horror Stories”), and Nelson (“Watchmen,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) join the show’s already expansive cast. Natasha Lyonne will lead the series, with previously announced cast members including: Adrien Brody, Audrey Corsa, Benjamin Bratt, Chloe Sevigny, Danielle MacDonald, Dascha Polanco, Ellen Barkin, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Lil Rel Howery, Niall Cunningham, Nicholas Cirillo, S. Epatha Merkerson, Simon Helberg and Tim Meadows.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLucy Liu is the latest addition to the cast of the upcoming Netflix limited series “A Man in Full,” Variety has learned exclusively.Liu will star in the series alongside previously announced leads Jeff Daniels and Diane Lane as well as cast members William Jackson Harper, Aml Ameen, Tom Pelphrey, Sarah Jones, Jon Michael Hill, and Chanté Adams.The series is based on the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name. Variety exclusively reported the show had received a straight-to-series order at the streamer in November 2021. It hails from David E.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered the limited dramedy series “Land of Women” with Eva Longoria and Carmen Maura set to star.The six-episode series is based on the Sandra Barneda novel of the same name. Longoria will star as Gala, a New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties, and she is forced to flee the city alongside her aging mother (Maura) and college-age daughter.To escape the dangerous criminals to whom Gala’s now vanished husband is indebted, the three women hide in the same charming wine town in Northern Spain that Gala’s mother fled 50 years ago, vowing never to return.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe drama series “Will Trent” has officially been ordered at ABC, Variety has learned.The show was originally ordered to pilot at ABC in February as past of the broadcaster’s 2022 pilot season slate. The show will debut at midseason for ABC during the 2022-2023 broadcast season.Based on Karin Slaughter’s “Will Trent” novel series, the show follows Special Agent Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO has ordered a comedy pilot about the making of a superhero movie, Variety has learned.The half-hour pilot is titled “The Franchise.” It follows a hopeful crew trapped inside the dysfunctional, nonsensical, joyous hellscape of franchise superhero movie-making. If and when they finally make the day, the question they must face — is this Hollywood’s new dawn or cinema’s last stand? Is this a dream factory or a chemical plant?The pilot story was written by Jon Brown, Keith Akushie and Armando Iannucci, with Brown and Akushie writing the pilot.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock has given a straight-to-series order to the coming-of-age thriller “Hysteria!”The series hails from writer and executive producer Matthew Kane. Chris Bender and Jake Weiner of Good Fear will also executive produce.

It’s official: Keanu Reeves will star in the long-gestating adaptation of Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City for Hulu.

Hulu has given a series order to The Other Black Girl, an adaptation of Zakiya Dalila Harris’ novel of the same name.

What are the laws of attraction? For some, it can be no more than toxic traits. The Hulu series “Tell Me Lies” delves into a college student finding enticements in the darkest corners of sexual magnetism.

TV series set in the universe of the “Alien” franchise, as well Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s prodigious reboot of the famed 1980 miniseries “Shogun.” During the Television Critics Association summer press tour, FX Networks chief John Landgraf offered an update on both ambitious projects. “We wrapped physical production on limited series ‘Showgun’ in June, which was by far our biggest and most ambitious production,” Landgraf revealed.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Netflix limited series “A Man in Full” has added six new cast members, Variety has learned.William Jackson Harper, Aml Ameen, Tom Pelphrey, Sarah Jones, Jon Michael Hill, and Chanté Adams have all joined the show opposite previously announced leads Jeff Daniels and Diane Lane. The series is based on the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name. Variety exclusively reported the show had received a straight-to-series order at the streamer in November 2021.

FX has ordered The Veil, a new limited series thriller for Hulu from Steven Knight and starring Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale). 

Since its premiere at SXSW in March, Daniels‘ “Everything Everywhere All At Once” has become A24‘s highest-grossing movie ever. The film crossed the $100 million mark at the global box office this past weekend, passing Ari Aster‘s “Hereditary” in the process.