Samantha Morton to Return as Alpha in ‘Tales of the Walking Dead’

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Genius” Season 4 will now focus on both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.When the fourth season was originally announced in December 2020, it was reported that it would solely focus on King.

Can you believe it’s already been a year since the HBO Max series Hacks premiered?!

HBO Max has set a May premiere date for Season 2 of the Emmy-winning, critically acclaimed comedy series Hacks, starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. The sophomore season will debut on Thursday, May 12 with two episodes. The eight-episode season continues with two new episodes a week, wrapping up on June 2, two days after the 2022 Emmy eligibility period ends. We’re also getting a first look at the new season in the teaser trailer (you can watch it above).

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe action series “The Ledger” starring Xolo Maridueña has been set up at HBO Max for development, Variety has learned exclusively.The half-hour series was first reported as being shopped to networks and streamers back in October. It follows the trials and travels of Gabriel (Maridueña), a young man who sets out into the world to right the wrongs of the deadly man who trained him.

Simon Cowell has been pictured with his arm in a brace after he was involved in his second bike accident in 18 months.The Britain’s Got Talent star, 62, only started riding again late last year after breaking his back in Malibu in August 2020 after revving his e-bike by accident.The star then broke his arm in the second crash earlier this year, which took place near his home in West London, and later called himself a “nutter” and vowed to “wear a helmet” in future. It looks like the music industry boss is still on the mend as he made an appearance at the Kid’s Choice Awards in Santa Monica over the weekend while sporting a black and grey arm brace.

return his award for best actor.Veteran screen and stage actor Harry Lennix compared Smith’s penalty for smacking Chris Rock over a joke “an extended time out for a playground bully” that “lays bare the shallowness of Hollywood morals” in a scathing Variety op-ed Saturday.Lennix, a prolific character actor best known for his role in “The Five Heartbeats,” said it was “galling” for Smith to have been allowed to accept his “King Richard” Oscar and refer to the “will of God” in his speech.“Smith’s brutality stripped the entire evening of its prestige,” Lennix, 57, wrote. “That was proven when stunned Oscar attendees gave a standing ovation to someone who’d just committed an assault in front of their eyes.”Rock had cracked a bald joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia.

Fans of celebrity humiliation got their money’s worth at the Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2022,  which emanated live this evening from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.

Harry Lennix The Motion Picture Academy’s decision to ban Will Smith from Oscar ceremonies and events for 10 years as discipline for slapping Chris Rock is little more than an extended time out for a playground bully. It’s a toothless penalty that lays bare the shallowness of Hollywood morals.At this point, the only person who can redeem the integrity of the Oscars is Smith himself.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJessica Alba will star in a series adaptation of the book “Confessions On the 7:45,” which is currently in development at Netflix.The show will be based on the Lisa Unger book of the same name. It is described as a psychological thriller about a working mom (Alba) who meets a stranger on a train as she is commuting home who upends her life.

Wilson Chapman editorNickelodeon will feature TikTok stars, recent Oscar winners and Grammy nominated artists at the 35th Annual Kids Choice Awards, the channel announced on Thursday.Peyton List, Xavier Woods, Ralph Macchio, Unspeakable, Charli D’Amelio, Dixie D’Amelio, Jordan Fisher, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Heidi Klum, Terry Crews, Sofia Vergara, Jace Norman, Charlie Puth, Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Isaiah Crews, Isla Fisher have all been announced as participants for the show, which honors achievements in television, film, music and sports, as voted on by viewers of the Nickelodeon channel.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMaya Erskine will star opposite Donald Glover in the upcoming “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” series at Amazon.Erskine takes over the co-starring role from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who had originally been set to star alongside Glover but departed the project last year due to creative differences. Glover revealed the new casting in an interview with himself in Interview Magazine.The series is based on Doug Liman’s feature of the same name starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

“Walking Dead” villain Alpha, played by Samantha Morton, will return for one episode. Norman Reedus, who plays fan favorite Daryl Dixon, suffered a concussion last month while filming the final season of the flagship series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRob Lowe and his son, John Owen Lowe, have teamed with Victor Fresco on the Netflix comedy series “Unstable,” Variety has learned.The Lowes will star in the series and also co-created it with Fresco, with all three serving as executive producers. It is set in a cutting-edge biotech research company, following an introverted, socially-challenged son who goes to work for his very successful, wildly eccentric father in order to save him from disaster.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGeorge Lopez and Mayan Lopez’s NBC comedy pilot “Lopez vs. Lopez” has added three new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively.Selenis Levya, Brice Gonzalez, and Matt Shivley will star alongside the Lopezes in the multi-cam pilot.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe ABC comedy pilot “Not Dead Yet” starring Gina Rodriguez has found five new series regulars, Variety has learned.Josh Banday (“Pam & Tommy,” “Upload”), Jessica St. Clair (“Playing House,” “Avenue 5”), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Licorice Pizza”), Angela Gibbs (“Black Jesus,” “Hacks”), and Rick Glassman (“Old Dads,” “A Futile and Stupid Gesture”) will all appear alongside Rodriguez.In the single-cam pilot, Nell Stevens (Rodriguez) is broke, newly single and feeling old. Nell – a self-described disaster – works to restart the life and career she left behind 10 years ago.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterWest Duchovny has signed on to star in the upcoming Hulu drama series “Saint X,” Variety has learned.Duchovny joins previously announced cast members Victoria Pedretti and Josh Bonzie in the show, which is based on the Alexis Schaitkin novel of the same name. It is described as a psychological drama, which is told via multiple timelines and perspectives.

The Walking Dead spin-off Tales Of The Walking Dead.According to Entertainment Weekly, Alpha will feature in a single episode of the six-part anthology series. Plot details are currently unknown.Morton marks the first The Walking Dead veteran cast member confirmed for the spin-off.