Showtime Orders Sex Trafficking Drama Pilot ‘Coercion’ From Susannah Grant, Sydney Chandler to Star

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteve Howey has been cast in one of the lead roles in the CBS drama pilot based on the movie “True Lies,” Variety has learned exclusively.Howey will star as Harry, the role played in the film by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The character is described as a benign, play-it-safe, seemingly risk-averse computer salesman and devoted family man, married with two kids.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCountry music star Trace Adkins has been cast in the upcoming Fox drama series “Monarch.”Adkins joins recently announced cast members Susan Sarandon and Anna Friel. In the series, “Texas Truthteller” and reigning king of country music Albie Roman (Adkins), along with his insanely talented, but tough as nails wife, Dottie Cantrell Roman (Sarandon), have created a country music dynasty.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDan Harmon’s upcoming animated comedy “Krapopolis” at Fox has cast Hannah Waddingham, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Pam Murphy and Duncan Trussell in the lead roles.The series, which was picked up to series in February, centers on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each other.In the series, Ayoade voices Tyrannis, the mortal son of a goddess.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSusan Sarandon and Anna Friel have been cast in the upcoming Fox country music drama series “Monarch,” Variety has learned.In the series, the Romans are headed by the insanely talented, but tough as nails Queen of Country Music Dottie Cantrell Roman (Sarandon). Along with her beloved husband, Albie, Dottie has created a country music dynasty.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMatt Bomer is attached to star in and executive produce a series adaptation of the Thomas Mallon novel “Fellow Travelers” that is currently in development at Showtime, Variety has learned exclusively.Ron Nyswaner is adapting the book for the screen and will also serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series. “Fellow Travelers” is described as a political thriller and epic love story that unfolds in the era of McCarthyism and resolves in the age of AIDS.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe Showtime anthology “Super Pumped,” the first season of which will chart the rise of Uber, has cast Bridget Gao-Hollitt, Variety has learned exclusively.Gao-Hollitt joins previously announced cast members Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kyle Chandler, Kerry Bishé, Babak Tafti, Mousa Hussein Kraish, Jon Bass, and Hank Azaria.Planned as anthology, the first season of “Super Pumped” is based on Mike Isaac’s book of the same name.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO Max has ordered a pilot for a potential “Dead Boy Detectives” series, Variety has learned exclusively from sources.Based on the DC Comics characters created by Neil Gaiman, the one-hour series would follow the Dead Boy Detectives — Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine — who decided not to enter the afterlife in order to stay on earth and investigate crimes involving the supernatural.Sebastian Croft and Ty Tennant are set to play Rowland and Paine respectively in the

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Reservation Dogs” has been renewed for Season 2 at FX on Hulu.The critically-acclaimed comedy series is still airing its first season, with the sixth episode set to debut on Sept. 6.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Republic of Sarah” has been canceled after one season at The CW.In the series, a small town in New Hampshire discovers that there is a large vein of an incredibly valuable mineral underneath it. A mining company plans to take it all and destroy the town in the process.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Star Trek: Picard” Season 2 will see Jean-Luc squaring off against an old adversary: the Borg Queen.Variety has confirmed with sources that Annie Wersching will play the Borg Queen in the second season of the Paramount Plus series. Wersching will now be the third actress to take on the role after Alice Krige played the leader of the Borg Collective in the film “Star Trek: First Contact” and in “Star Trek: Voyager” series finale.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Netflix drama series “Breathe” has cast Austin Stowell, Variety has learned exclusively.In the series, Melissa Barrera stars as Liv, a razor-sharp Manhattan attorney who finds herself profoundly out of her comfort zone when her small plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness and she must battle for survival.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRainn Wilson has joined the cast of the upcoming AMC series “Dark Winds.”He joins previously announced series leads Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon. “Dark Winds” is based on the Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Big Shot” has been renewed for Season 2 at Disney Plus.The dramedy series centers around Marvyn Korn (John Stamos) after he is ousted from his position as head coach for an NCAA basketball team. He is given a chance at redemption with a coaching position at Westbrook, an elite private high school for girls and soon learns that the teenage players require empathy and vulnerability – foreign concepts for the stoic Coach Korn.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” drama reboot series at Peacock has cast newcomer Jabari Banks in the lead role, Variety has learned.Banks will play the role of Will, who was played by Will Smith in the original 90’s sitcom. Banks was informed by Smith himself that he had landed the part in a video which can be seen above.Banks currently lives in West Philadelphia, also the birthplace of his character.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Batwoman” has found its Poison Ivy. The CW series has cast Bridget Regan as the iconic DC supervillain for the show’s third season, Variety has learned.Poison Ivy, a.k.a Pamela Isley, is as former botany student of Gotham University described as a passionate, brilliant scientist with a mind for changing the world for the better.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJesse Williams has joined the cast of the Hulu drama pilot “Olga Dies Dreaming.”Williams joins previously announced series leads Aubrey Plaza and Ramón Rodríguez in the pilot, which is based on the yet-to-be-released novel of the same name by Xóchitl Gonzalez.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Tom Swift” has been ordered to series at The CW, Variety has learned.The show is a spinoff of the CW series “Nancy Drew.” Tian Richards made his first appearance as the character in the “Nancy Drew” episode “The Celestial Visitor” during that show’s second season. It served as a backdoor pilot to the “Tom Swift” standalone series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock is developing a one-hour drama series about millennial nuns from “The Thing About Pam” creator Jessika Borsiczky, Variety has learned exclusively.The series is titled “Called” and is based on the Huffington Post article “Behold, The Millennial Nuns” by Eve Fairbanks.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterShowtime’s co-presidents of entertainment, Gary Levine and Jana Winograde, addressed moving the “Halo” series to Paramount Plus during a virtual TCA session on Tuesday.“The truth is that [“Halo”] was always a bit of an outlier for us in terms of its fit in the Showtime universe,” Winograde said. “And we did an amazing job of imbuing into the series, the character drama that we’re so well known for.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Your Honor” has been renewed for Season 2 at Showtime, Variety has learned.Originally set up as a limited series, Season 2 will see Bryan Cranston return as respected New Orleans judge Michael Desiato. In Season 1, Desiato’s son is involved in a hit-and-run that leads to a high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices.