Lifetime Sets Two New Films Inspired by Ann Rule Novels (TV News Roundup)

Michaela Zee editor The third season of Tom Clancy’s political action thriller series “Jack Ryan” is set to premiere on Prime Video Dec. 21. Starring John Krasinski as Jack Ryan, the eight-episode season follows Ryan on the run after being implicated in a larger conspiracy. While trying to stay alive as the CIA and an international rogue faction hunt him down, Ryan must also prevent a massive global conflict. Wendell Pierce and Michael Kelly return for the third season, with new series regulars Nina Hoss and Betty Gabriel joining the cast. “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” is co-produced by Amazon Studios, Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television. The series is executive produced by Andrew Form, Allyson Seeger, Krasinski, Vaun Wilmott, Brad Fuller and Michael Bay. Tom Clancy and Skydance Television’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost serve as executive producers on the third season, along with Mace Neufeld and Carlton Cuse.

EJ Panaligan editor In her first major gig since TBS canceled “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” comedian Samantha Bee will host the New York Public Radio’s annual gala later this fall. The event, which takes place Wednesday, November 9 at The Plaza Hotel, will honor WNYC’s “On the Media” host and managing editor Brooke Gladstone. The evening will also include a musical performance from Kronos Quartet. NYPR’s annual gala is its largest fundraising event of the year, celebrating the vital work produced across New York Public Radio. Also in today’s television news: Adult Swim animated series “YOLO: Silver Destiny” has set a premiere date of Sunday, January 15 at midnight ET on the network, with streaming availability following the next day on HBO Max. The new season is set to have a two-episode premiere, with new episodes premiering weekly after.

David E. Kelley’s investigative drama series “The Calling” were released Monday by Peacock, offering a glimpse into the show ahead of its Nov. 10 debut on the streamer. Adapted from a series of novels by author Dror Mishani, the show’s plot follows a New York Police Department detective named Avraham Avraham (Jeff Wilbush), who typically relies on spirituality to guide his pursuit of truth until one investigation makes him rethink his beliefs. The series stars Wilbush, Juliana Canfield, Karen Robinson and Michael Mosley. One image highlights a particularly tense, yet slightly absurd moment where Wilbush is locked hands with a man wearing a hotdog suit in what looks like the context of an interrogation.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” the streamer announced as production begins on the new season. The new season will take a meta turn, with the Principal Gutierrez character announcing that Disney has decided to make the long-awaited “High School Musical 4: The Reunion” movie on location at their in-show high school. Bleu, Coleman, Grabeel, Johnson, Reed and Kaycee Stroh will play themselves, resurrecting their “High School Musical” roles within the show, while the students will play featured extras in the in-universe movie.

EJ Panaligan editor Fresh off his gig hosting this year’s Primetime Emmys, comedian and “SNL” veteran Kenan Thompson is back on stage Thursday night in Atlanta, as he kicks off the 13th edition of his “Kenan Presents The Ultimate Comedy Showcase” — and this time with a few new technological wrinkles. The stand-up comedy search, which leads off at the Atlanta Comedy Theatre on Sept. 22, follows Thompson as he scouts for adult comedians and talented kids in more than 50 cities. Among the new elements, all around the country (50+ major cities).  Thompson has teamed up with Rendered Talent to include a virtual reality option for participants to partake in the metaverse through the “Failed To Render Comedy Club.” In addition, Thompson partnered with Proto to be able to join live shows through the metaverse as a digital hologram, attending showcases digitally to accommodate his busy schedule via Proto’s 4K hologram device.

Great American Family, actor Danica McKellar is slated to executive produce her debut holiday feature for the channel, “Christmas at the Drive-In,” this holiday season. McKellar will also co-star in the film alongside fellow actor Neal Bledsoe, both of whom previously worked together in the Hallmark Channel original “The Winter Palace.” The script was written by Rick Garman, whose filmography is largely dominated by other holiday TV movies like “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” or more recently, “A Christmas… Present.” The premiere of “Christmas at the Drive-In” is part of the network’s Great American Christmas celebration, a holiday programming marathon that lasts from Oct. 21 to the end of 2022.

Michaela Zee editor Sandra Oh is set to narrate the upcoming PBS documentary “Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March,” slated to premiere Oct. 17. “Rising Against Asian Hate” explores the fight against anti-Asian hate following the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings that killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent. The documentary features interviews with former Georgia State Rep. Stacey Abrams, Rep. Grace Meng, Georgia State Sen. Michelle Au, Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen, Georgia State Rep. Samuel Park and Byung J. “BJay” Park, former Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney and legislator, among others. “With this documentary, we hope to examine this troubling escalation of racism against the AAPI community, pay respect to the lives lost and impacted by the violence, and champion those coming together to fight against the hate,” executive producer Gina Kim said in a statement.

The Real Love Boat” and a new animated holiday special titled “Reindeer In Here.” Three crew members and twelve singles will join hosts Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell on a luxury Princess Cruises ship through the Mediterranean, with the series set to premiere on October 5. The ship’s crew members – Captain Paolo Arrigo, Ezra Freeman and Matt Mitcham – will play pivotal roles in the matchmaking, similar to how the original scripted “Love Boat” series operated.

EJ Panaligan editor Iliza Shlesinger’s latest comedy special with Netflix titled “Hot Forever” — her sixth for the streamer — has set a release date for October 11. The special was filmed at the Connor Palace in Cleveland this past July. The special was directed by Steven Paley, with Shlesinger serving as executive producer alongside Kara Baker and David Martin. Her previous specials with Netflix include 2019’s “Unveiled,” 2018’s “Elder Millennial,” 2016’s “Confirmed Kills,” 2015’s “Freezing Hot” and 2013’s “War Paint.” Also in today’s television news: Bravo’s “Winter House” is set to premiere its second season on the network on Thursday, October 13 at 9 p.m. PT/ET.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In today’s podcast news roundup, Katy Perry’s retrospective about Elizabeth Taylor as “the original influencer” is set to hit next month; Remi Adeleke gets a two-series podcast deal with Tenderfoot TV; John Allen (aka MrBallen) hires Nick Witters as CEO of Ballen Studios and signs with UTA; and more. “Elizabeth the First,” a 10-episode podcast series narrated by Katy Perry, will premiere on Monday, Oct. 3. The series comes from Imperative Entertainment, House of Taylor, which oversees the late actor’s estate, and Perry’s Kitty Purry Productions. “Elizabeth the First” will be available on all major podcast platforms and the Imperative Entertainment Premium Channel on Apple Podcast Subscriptions. Originally, it was slated to debut this spring.)

EJ Panaligan editor ABC announced a slew of news regarding their fall programming at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on September 14, headlined by guest star announcements for the second season of recently-anointed Emmy-winner “Abbott Elementary.” Read below for a summary of ABC’s announcements from the TCA press conferences. Debuting on Wednesday, September 21, the second season of Quinta Brunson’s hit show will feature recurring guest roles from actor Leslie Odom Jr., Lauren Weedman and Keyla Monterroso Mejia. Odom Jr. will play Draemond, the owner of a batch of charter schools in the area who visits Abbott. Weedman will play Kristin Marie, a hard-shelled teacher from a neighboring school that strikingly resembles one of Abbott’s own teachers. Monterroso Mejia plays a teacher’s aide whose lax personality contributes to classroom chaos at Abbott.

Netflix is set to introduce a wide variety of films, documentaries and comedy specials to its offerings over the coming fortnight. A combination of new feature-length movies and old classics have already been added to the streaming platform this month.

EJ Panaligan editor The Harlem Globetrotters will return to television after more than 40 years with “Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward,” in partnership with Hearst Media Production Group. Actor and comedian Craig Robinson will host the educational show, which will air on NBC. The series centers on the players’ achievements both on and off the court as ambassadors of goodwill, focusing on topics like space exploration with NASA, financial responsibility and literacy, female empowerment and more. For the new series, the players will explore ways to help the communities in each city they visit through volunteerism, fundraising and one-on-one connections.

Saturday Night Live’s” 48th season, which will return on October 1. The premiere episode’s host and musical guest will be announced at another date. Though the show typically operates on a fluid weekly schedule throughout the season, new episodes are expected to air on the following two weekends, October 8th and 15th, after its premiere. Creator Lorne Michaels continues as executive producwe. Following the show’s 47th season finale, the cast saw its largest exodus in recent memory, with the departures of tenured members Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney announced shortly before the season’s final show. In early September, three more cast members — Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari — departed the show.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Laika, the animation studio behind “ParaNorman” and “Coraline,” has announced a six-part series exploring the costumes, props and sets from its iconic films. Titled “Laika Archives,” the series will be released on Sept. 13 via the company’s YouTube channel and features artisans like costume designer Deb Cook, head of model-making Keith McQueen and writer-director Chris Butler. Says Butler, “There’s something truly magical about walking into a room and seeing a table full of gorgeous sculpts, gorgeous artwork that’s been created by very talented people.” David Burke, Laika chief marketing officer and SVP of operations, adds: “Laika creates movies that matter. It takes a community of talented artists, artisans and technologists to make a Laika film. Because they are crafted in the stop motion animation medium, the studio has many physical assets from each film.”

Michaela Zee editor Spectrum Originals has released the official trailer for the crime dramedy series “Panhandle.” The release date of the series’ first two episodes on Spectrum is Sept. 26. The eight-episode series follows armchair detective Bell Prescott (Luke Kirby) and traffic cop Cammie Lorde (Tiana Okoye) as they investigate a murder in their small Florida town. Along with Kirby and Okoye, the series stars Forrest Goodluck, Lorenza Izzo, Wallace Smith, Glenn Morshower and Lesley Ann Warren. Recurring guest stars include Melanie Minichino, Landon Chase DuBois, Mo Gallini, David De Vries, Deja Dee, Paulina Gálvez, Scott Takeda and Grant Freely.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Audible has ordered four more comedy podcasts from “Saturday Night Live” producer Broadway Video and has renewed its LGBTQ action-comedy “Hot White Heist” — with an all-queer cast led by “SNL” cast member Bowen Yang — for a second season. The new slate of shows, set to hit Audible through starting later this month and into 2023, bring the number of Broadway Video projects at the Amazon-owned audio platform to 13 since they first began working together more than three years ago. The comedy podcasts feature performances from actors including Chloe Fineman, David Harbour, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, Nick Kroll, Seth Meyers, Janelle James, Joshua Jackson, Matt Bomer, John Corbett, Rob Riggle, Tim Robinson and Nia Vardalos.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In today’s podcast roundup, CNN’s Anderson Cooper delves into how to move forward after losing a love one; NPR sets “Invisibilia” Season 9 premiere date; and more. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper hosts limited-series podcast “All There Is With Anderson Cooper,” premiering Sept. 14. In the series, Cooper embarks on a “deeply personal and emotional exploration” of loss and grief and how to move forward without forgetting the people we miss. According to CNN, he began recording the podcast alone during his final weeks packing up the apartment of his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, who died in 2019. Among his mother’s keepsakes and secret journals, Cooper found unopened boxes belonging to his father and brother, both of whom died decades ago. Feeling overwhelmed, Cooper began to record conversations with others about their experiences with grief.