Phoebe Waller-Bridge Sets New Comedy Series at Amazon

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe Apple series “Dear Edward” from creator Jason Katims has added eleven new cast members, Variety has learned.Audrey Corsa, Eva Ariel Binder, Idris Debrand, Amy Forsyth, Brittany S. Hall, Carter Hudson, Maxwell Jenkins, Jenna Qureshi,, Anna Uzele, Ivan Shaw, and Dario Ladani Sanchez will all star in the series alongside previously announced cast members Connie Britton, Taylor Schilling and Colin O’Brien.Full character descriptions and rep info for the new additions can be found below.“Dear Edward” is based on the book of the same name by Ann Napolitano.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBetty Gilpin will star in the lead role of Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez’s upcoming Peacock drama series “Mrs. Davis,” Variety has learned.The series was originally ordered in May 2021.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“East New York,” the drama pilot currently in the works at CBS, has added four new cast members.Ruben Santiago Hudson (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Broadway’s “Lackawanna Blues”), Richard Kind (“Argo,” “A Serious Man”), Lavel Schley (“Barriers,” “Tell My Family I Love Them”), and Olivia Luccardi (“The Thing About Pam,” “The Deuce”) have all joined the pilot alongside previously announced series lead Amanda Warren.In the pilot, Regina Haywood (Warren) is the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, an impoverished, working-class will neighborhood at the eastern edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting during the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAdina Porter and Clark Backo have been cast opposite LaKeith Stanfield in the upcoming Apple drama series “The Changeling,” Variety has learned.The series is based on the book of the same name by Victor LaValle. It is descirbed as a horror story, a parenthood fable, and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you didn’t know existed.Stanfield stars as Apollo. Porter will play Lillian, his mother.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has ordered a new pilot for the drama about the National Parks Investigative Services Branch, Variety has learned.The broadcaster commissioned a pilot for the project last year as well with a different creative team, though it ultimately did not go forward. The original team included Kevin Costner as co-writer and executive producer, but Costner is no longer attached to the project in any capacity.Instead, Rashad Raisani is writing and executive producing the pilot, which is described as a propulsive, soapy procedural set in the stunning world of National Parks.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLaysla De Oliveira will star alongside Zoe Saldaña in the upcoming Paramount Plus series “Lioness” from Taylor Sheridan, Variety has learned exclusively.The series is based on a real-life CIA program and follows Cruz Manuelos (De Oliveira), described as a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, who is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Saldaña will play Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives. The series is set to go into production in June.De Oliveira currently stars in the Netflix series “Locke & Key,” with the third season of that series set to debut later in 2022.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA scripted series about legendary rock band U2 is in early development at Netflix, Variety has confirmed with sources.J.J. Abrams is attached to executive produce the project under his Bad Robot banner, with “Bohemian Rhapsody” writer Anthony McCarten onboard to write the script.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon is developing a baking competition series inspired by the works of Dr. Seuss, Variety has learned.In the unscripted series, bakers will be tasked with crafting incredible confectionary creations tied to beloved Seuss characters like The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, and more. In each episode, the bakers will be given a challenge based on Seuss characters and stories, with their creations then being judged based on taste, creativity, and storytelling.The show is currently casting.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has cast Paul Wesley in the iconic role of James T. Kirk for the Paramount Plus show’s upcoming second season.“Strange New Worlds” is due to premiere on Paramount Plus on May 5. It was renewed for a second season back in January, with that season already in production.The show follows the adventures of Captain Christopher Pike prior to Kirk becoming captain of the Enterprise.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterChris Sullivan is set to star in the ABC comedy pilot “The Son-in-Law,” Variety has confirmed.Sullivan will star as Jake, a divorced dad with one 21 year old daughter. Jake never thought he would love again, until Asha came along.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has picked up the series adaptation of Harlan Coben’s “Shelter,” Variety has learned.The show was ordered to pilot at Amazon in 2021. Based on the first novel in Coben’s Mickey Bolitar trilogy, the YA thriller series stars Jaden Michael as Bolitar as he navigates his new life with a mom in rehab, a dead father, an annoying aunt, and a new school in New Jersey with a camel as its mascot. When a creepy old lady who may or may not be a ghost tells Mickey that his father isn’t dead, Mickey is sure he’s losing his mind on top of everything.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has ordered the comedy pilot “Bammas” written by and starring Opeyemi Olagbaju and Biniam Bizuneh, Variety has learned.The show follows a pair of young Ethiopian- and Nigerian-American best friends as they struggle to overcome their loser reputations in a magical realist version of Washington DC.Olagbaju and Bizuneh serve as executive producers in addition to starring and writing. Danny Chun (“The Office” “The Simpsons”), who mentored the pair at the Sundance Lab in 2019, will serve as showrunner and executive producer.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGiancarlo Esposito is staying in business with AMC, with the renowned actor set to star in the newly greenlit drama series “The Driver” for the basic cabler.The six-episode first season is based on a U.K. format created by Danny Brocklehurst and Jim Poyser. Brocklehurst and Sunu Gonera developed the new series for U.S.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMia Katigbak has been cast in the upcoming ABC comedy pilot “Josep.”Katigbak will appear opposite previously announced series lead Jo Koy and Rory O’Malley. The show follows a recently divorced Filipino American nurse (Koy) attempting to navigate dating, fatherhood and a very Filipino mother who loves to “help.”Katigbak will star as Lorna, Jo’s mom. She is described as a little Filipino force of nature.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Netflix comedy series “Blockbuster” has added five new cast membersTyler Alvarez (“Never Have I Ever,” “American Vandal”), Madeline Arthur (“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” “Devil in Ohio”), and Olga Merediz (“In the Heights,” “Encanto”) have all joined the show as series regulars. JB Smoove (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home”) and Kamaia Fairburn (“Overlord and the Underwoods,” “Endlings”) will appear in recurring guest star roles. Full character descriptions can be found below.The new cast members join previously announced leads Randall Park and Melissa Fumero.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSam Esmail’s “Metropolis” series has been greenlit at Apple, Variety has learned.The drama series is inspired by the 1927 Fritz Lang sci-fi film of the same name. Hailed as one of the greatest and most influential films of the silent film era, the story takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis.While the city’s wealthy elite enjoy a lavish life of comfort and ease in penthouses and pleasure gardens, scores of workers labor at dangerous machinery in the bowels of the city to keep everything running. Freder Fredersen, the son of the most powerful man in Metropolis, has an awakening after meeting a young worker named Maria and witnessing a number of workers die in an industrial accident.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTim Robinson and Zach Kanin have set up the comedy pilot “Computer School” at HBO Max, Variety has learned.In the pilot, a recent high school grad and his uncle attend the same computer class in suburban Michigan. Robinson will star as the uncle. Robinson and Kanin are writing and executive producing the pilot.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA&E and WWE have signed a multi-year extension of their programming partnership.Under the terms of the deal, A&E has ordered more than 130 hours of new programming centered on the sports entertainment giant.“A&E is an amazing partner with an impressive lineup of signature series across its networks,” said Nick Khan, WWE president. “The expansion of our partnership will allow us to continue creating a massive slate of new content with a trusted partner, while further establishing A&E as a destination for WWE fans for years to come.”The partnership includes 35 new episodes of “Biography: WWE Legends,” which was A&E’s most-watched series of 2021.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSpectrum Originals has ordered the dramedy series “Panhandle” starring Luke Kirby and Tiana Okoye, Variety has learned.Set in the Florida panhandle, the series follows agoraphobic arm-chair detective Bell Prescott (Kirby) and reluctant traffic cop Cammie Lorde (Okoye) as they wrestle with personal demons, shocking twists, and a few Florida gators on their journey to heal themselves and their town.Spectrum has ordered an eight-episode first season of the series, which will shoot in Savannah, GA. It will have a nine month exclusive ad-free run on Spectrum before an ad-supported second window on The Roku Channel.Nicholas Stoller and Carla Kettner created the series and will serve as executive producers.