NBC Orders Two Female-Led Drama Pilots, Including One Produced by Julie Plec

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Young Rock” and “Kenan” have both been renewed for Season 2 at NBC.“It has been a true joy to watch Dwayne Johnson & Kenan Thompson on NBC every week and see families connect with their relatable, entertaining and heartwarming stories,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted programming for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Last Kingdom” will end with its upcoming Season 5 on Netflix.The announcement comes as the show begins production on its fifth season in Budapest, Hungary.“I love this job,” series star Alexander Dreymon said. “Playing Uhtred for 5 seasons has been a wonderful journey.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGreg Kinnear and Sepideh Moafi have been cast in the upcoming Apple drama series “In With the Devil,” Variety has learned.The pair joins previously announced series leads Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser as well as Ray Liotta. The six-episode series was ordered at Apple in January.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJulie Ann Emery has been cast in Apple’s upcoming Hurricane Katrina series, “Five Days at Memorial.”The series is based on the Sheri Fink novel of the same name. It chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans, LA, hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterFox has ordered the dramedy “The Big Leap” to series for the 2021-2022 broadcast season.The one-hour show was originally ordered to pilot last year, but production was shutdown by the pandemic.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Ironheart” series at Disney Plus has tapped Chinaka Hodge to serve as head writer, Variety has learned exclusively from sources.“Ironheart” will star Dominique Thorne as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and the creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“NCIS: Los Angeles” has been renewed for Season 13 at CBS, with the broadcaster also ordering “NCIS: Hawaii” to series.“NCIS: Hawaii” was first announced as being in development back in February. Matt Bosack, Jan Nash, and Chris Silber are co-writing and executive producing, with Larry Teng attached to direct and executive produce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTracey Ashley is developing a comedy series inspired by her life and stand up at Fox with Wanda Sykes and Tiffany Haddish onboard as executive producers, Variety has learned exclusively.Title “Tracey’s Life Matters,” the single-camera show follows Tracey, a savvy, independent black woman, who moves with her white husband to his hometown in rural Indiana. There she must deal with a challenging career in sales and a mother-in-law who has “Karen-like” tendencies.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series at Disney Plus has cast Maya Erskine, Variety has confirmed.Details on Erskine’s role are being kept under wraps. She joins previously announced series lead Ewan McGregor as well as Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA “How I Met Your Mother” sequel series titled “How I Met Your Father” has been ordered at Hulu with Hilary Duff attached to star.In the near future, Sophie (Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Wings of Fire” books by Tui T. Sutherland are being adapted into an animated series at Netflix with Ava DuVernay set to executive produce.The “Wings of Fire” books have sold more than 14 million copies around the world to date.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon Studios has ordered a YA pilot based on the Harlan Coben novel “Shelter,” Variety has learned exclusively.Shelter” is the first novel in Coben’s Mickey Bolitar book series. MGM has acquired the rights to all the other books in the Mickey Bolitar series as well.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCecilia Suárez and Augusto Aguilera have joined the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned.The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterOlivia Colman is in negotiations to join the “Secret Invasion” series at Disney Plus, Variety has confirmed with sources.Should Colman join the series, she would join previously announced cast members Samuel L.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJohn Ortiz has been cast in a leading role of the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned.The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. Ortiz joins previously announced cast members Christina Ochoa and Mariel Molino.Ortiz will star as Joe Sandoval, the patriarch of the Sandoval family, a wealthy vineyard-owning family in the Sonoma Valley.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe horror comedy “Shining Vale” starring Courteney Cox, Greg Kinnear, and Mira Sorvino has been ordered to series at Starz, Variety has learned.The half-hour show had originally been picked up to pilot back in 2019. The premium cabler has given the series an eight-episode order.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Animal Kingdom” is adding four recurring stars to its cast for the TNT drama’s sixth and final season.Jasper Polish, Kevin Csolak, Darren Mann, and Stevie Lynn Jones will all join the show alongside stars Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary, Finn Cole, Leila George, Rigo Sanchez, and Jon Beavers.Polish (“Forces of Nature,” “Locked In”) plays young Julia, described as beautiful, intelligent, and edgy.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNBC has given out a pair of comedy pilot orders, including one starring music superstar Demi Lovato.The Lovato project is titled “Hungry.” NBC had previously given the single-camera show a put pilot commitment back in January.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMcKenna Grace and Lexi Underwood will star in their own standalone episodes of the upcoming Disney Plus anthology series “Just Beyond,” with Nasim Pedrad set to join Grace in a guest starring role.The horror-comedy series is based on the RL Stine graphic novels of the same name. Disney Plus ordered eight episodes of the show last year.