‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Nears Deal for Season 2 at Hulu, Will Compete in Emmy Drama Categories

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix has renewed “Is It Cake?” for Season 2.The show is a cooking competition in which master bakers work to create hyper-realistic cakes that look exactly like everyday objects. The cakes are then presented before a panel of celebrity judges along with an array of actual objects to see if the judges can tell which of them is in fact cake. If the bakers are able to successfully fool the judges, they win a cash prize.Mikey Day hosts the series and is expected to return for Season 2.

Billy Porter (Pose) and Luke Evans (Nine Perfect Strangers) have signed on to star in the drama Our Son, from director Bill Oliver (Jonathan).

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Slow Horses” has been renewed for two more seasons at Apple, Variety has learned. The show will now run through Season 4 at the streamer.The series is based on the “Slough House” spy book series by Mick Herron.

Many remember Regina Hall from her legendary role as Brenda in the Scary Movie series. Her career didn’t start there, though. She starred in Best Man, and Love and Basketball. Both films are hallmarks of Black American Cinema and she hasn’t stopped since. On the film side, Hall has starred in the Scary Movie, The Best Man and Think Like A Man franchises. 

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSusan Sarandon and Fat Joe are set to lead the voice cast of the animated comedy series “The Movers” in development at Fox, Variety has learned exclusively.The series is based on an original idea by Sarandon, her son Jack Henry Robbins, and Danielle Uhlarik. All three are credited as co-creators and executive producers, with Robbins and Uhlarik writing the script.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterOmar Sy has signed a first-look television deal with HBO Max.Under the deal, the French actor and producer will develop series for the streamer for multiple markets around the globe.“I am very happy to be partnering with HBO Max who share my dreams of developing globally appealing content for audiences around the world, including French speaking Africa, France and the United States,” Sy said.Sy broke out with his starring role in the French film “The Intouchables,” for which he earned a César for best actor. He was the first Black actor to win the award.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorTuesday night’s red carpet premiere of “Physical” Season 2, starring Rose Byrne and Murray Bartlett, has been scaled back in the wake of today’s deadly shooting in Texas that left 18 students and one teacher dead.“Out of respect for today’s tragedy in Texas, tonight’s screening of ‘Physical’ Season 2 will be a private event with no press,” reads an email sent to members of the press on Tuesday afternoon that was signed by the Apple TV+ show’s cast and creative team. “We thank you for wanting to be there with us, and know that you join with us in our heartfelt support for all of the families affected by today’s event.”In addition to Byrne and Bartlett, the guest list also includes co-stars Rory Scovel, Dierdre Friel, Della Saba and Paul Sparks, as well as showrunner Annie Weisman and executive producers Marty Adelstein, Alissa Bachner and Becky Clements.

Wilson Chapman editorThe 2022 Sundance Film Festival featured a Regina Hall double bill: “Master,” a thriller following three Black women at a predominantly white college; and “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul,” a mockumentary exploring the inner workings of a Southern Baptist megachurch.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterStephanie Leifer is stepping down from her role as executive vice president of current programming at ABC Signature, Variety has confirmed.The announcement marks the end of Leifer’s time across both the studio and ABC, where she originally began working in 1994. She switched over to the studio side in 2006.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Riverdale” will end with Season 7 at The CW, the broadcaster has announced.The news was part of The CW’s 2022 fall schedule release, which stated that the popular series will debut its seventh and final season at midseason in 2023.The show was renewed for Season 7 back in March among a slew of other CW shows like “The Flash,” “All American,” “Kung Fu,” and “Walker.” It is now the latest long-running CW shows to come to an end, with the network having recently canceled “Legends of Tomorrow” after seven seasons, “Dynasty” after five seasons, and “Legacies” after four seasons.CLICK HERE to follow Variety’s coverage of Upfronts 2022“Riverdale” proved to be a major hit for The CW upon its debut. The show debuted to solid ratings by the network’s standards, but exploded in popularity once it became available on Netflix.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe NBC drama pilot “Found” has cast Kelli Williams, Variety has learned exclusively.Williams joins previously announced series lead Shanola Hampton in the project along with fellow cast member Mark-Paul Gosselaar.The show is built around the fact that, in any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. Public relations specialist Gabi Mosley (Hampton) — who was once herself one of those forgotten ones — and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people.

Selome Hailu While “Ozark” Season 4 continues in the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s newly released Top 10 rankings with 48.6 million hours viewed, David E.

Reba McEntire has joined David E. Kelley’s ABC drama Big Sky as a series regular for the upcoming third season.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“9-1-1: Lone Star” has been renewed for Season 4 at Fox, Variety has learned.The announcement was made ahead of Fox’s upfronts presentation to advertisers on Monday afternoon. At the time of this publishing, there is still no word on a renewal for “Lone Star’s” companion series, “9-1-1,” though an announcement is expected soon.CLICK HERE to follow Variety’s coverage of Upfronts 2022“9-1-1: Lone Star” stars Rob Lowe as Owen Strand, who moves with his son (Ronen Rubinstein) to Austin, TX, to rebuild a firehouse after it experienced a tragedy.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe Marvel stop-motion animation series “M.O.D.O.K” has been canceled after one season at Hulu, Variety has learned.The series debuted back in May 2021 with 10 episodes. Patton Oswalt voiced the title character M.O.D.O.K, which stands for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing.In the show M.O.D.O.K has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, he has run his evil organization A.I.M.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“A Million Little Things” has been renewed for Season 5 at ABC.The drama series originally debuted on ABC back in 2018. The plot revolves around a group of friends who reconnect after one of them unexpectedly dies.

Hulu is expected to announce that their hit limited series, Nine Perfect Strangers, will actually get a second season!