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.
25.04.2022 - 22:01 / variety.com
Joe Otterson TV ReporterWhen Jamie Hector heard the true story of the dirty cops at the heart of the new HBO limited series “We Own This City,” it wasn’t the corruption that surprised him.“What surprised me was how well-documented it was,” Hector told Variety.“We Own This City” is based on Justin Fenton’s book of the same name. It tells the true story of the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force, who routinely robbed drug dealers and citizens alike while also re-selling drugs they confiscated on the job.
The show reunited Hector with David Simon and George Pelecanos, the creators of “We Own This City” with whom Hector previously worked with during his time playing the brilliant, ruthless drug dealer Marlo Stanfield on “The Wire.” “When I read the book, it blew me away, and it blew me away because it’s like, ‘OK, this has been happening. This is nothing new,'” Hector said.
“But it was to the degree that these guys did it, and then it was the source material that Justin was able to capture and people that he was able to interview — and the fact that he was able to pull in that they were investigated, and wiretapped and tracked. Now you’re like, ‘Oh, well, so all of this is bonafide true…You’re doing all of this under the badge.’ So that really surprised me.
Just the fact that it was so well documented, and also that they paid the price for it.”Hector said he had just finished playing an LAPD detective for seven seasons on Amazon’s “Bosch” when Pelecanos reached out about playing Det. Sean Suiter in the new series.“Out the gate when George calls you, David calls you, Nina [Noble, executive producer] calls you, without question it’s already a go, right? Because I know they’re gonna put out quality material.
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.
Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Big Sky” has been renewed for Season 3 at ABC.In addition, Jensen Ackles will join the show’s third season as a series regular. He recently guest starred in the Season 2 finale as Beau Arlen, described as a confident and charming good ol’ boy from Texas who steps in as temporary Sheriff as a favor to his friend, Sheriff Tubb (Patrick Gallagher).This is the second good piece of broadcast TV news for Ackles in as many days, as the “Supernatural” prequel “The Winchesters” was just ordered at The CW. Ackles will narrate the series and serves as an executive producer.Jamie-Lynn Sigler has also been upped to series regular for Season 3.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “True Lies” series adaptation has been ordered at CBS for the 2022-2023 broadcast season.The series order comes after the show was originally ordered to pilot at CBS in February 2021 before it was pushed off-cycle for consideration during this year’s pilot season.In the series, an unfulfilled suburban housewife (Ginger Gonzaga) is shocked to discover that her bland and unremarkable computer consultant husband (Steve Howey) is a skilled international spy. She is propelled into a life of danger and adventure when she’s recruited to work alongside him to save the world as they try to revitalize their passionless marriage.Along with Howey and Gonzaga, the cast includes Erica Hernandez, Omar Miller, Mike O’Gorman, Annabella Didion, and Lucas Jaye.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterKerry Washington and Delroy Lindo are set to star in a new comedy series set up at Onyx Collective on Hulu, Variety has learned.The series is titled “Unprisoned” and has received an eight-episode order. It is inspired by the life of series creator Tracy McMillan. In the show, a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom (Washington) has her life turned right-side-up when her dad (Lindo) gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterCBS has ordered three new drama shows for the 2022-2023 broadcast season. According to sources, the network has decided not to move forward with any of its four comedy pilots.The network has picked up the police drama “East New York,” the firefighter drama “Fire Country” (formerly known as “Cal Fire”), and legal drama “So Help Me Todd.” The comedies “Rust Belt News,” “Unplanned in Akron,” “Sober Companion,” and “The Hug Machine” have been passed over.“East New York” follows Regina Haywood (Amanda Warren), the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, a working-class neighborhood at the 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 in the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterGarrett Hedlund has joined the cast of the Sylverster Stallone-led Paramount+ series “Tulsa King,” Variety has learned exclusively.The series follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone) just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, OK. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.Hedlund will appear in the series regular role of Mitch Keller, an Oklahoma native and ex bull-rider who retired prematurely after injuries led to addiction.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterStephanie Hsu is set for a guest starring role in Disney+ series “American Born Chinese,” Variety has learned exclusively.The role reunites Hsu with previously announced cast member Michelle Yeoh, with whom Hsu starred in the hit film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, the series follows Jin Wang (Ben Wang), a teenager juggling his high school social life with his immigrant home life. When Jin meets foreign exchange student Wei-Chen (Jim Liu) on the first day of school, their worlds collide as Jin becomes entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Justified” revival at FX is filling out its main cast with the addition of eight new actors.Along with returning star Timothy Olyphant, the series will also star: Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard,” “When They See Us”), Boyd Holbrook (“Narcos,” “The Sandman”), Adelaide Clemens (“The Great Gatsby,” “Rectify”), Vondie Curtis Hall (“Harriet,” “The Night House”), Marin Ireland (“Y: The Last Man,” “The Umbrella Academy”), Norbert Leo Butz (“Bloodline,” “Fosse/Verdon”), Victor Williams (“The Good Lord Bird,” “The King of Queens”), and Vivian Olyphant.Olyphant will once again play the role of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens.
Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” breaks new ground among the more recent “Trek” shows by going back to the old ways — that is to say that the show is much more episodic as compared to the heavily serialized “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Picard.”In an interview with Variety, series star Anson Mount said that the idea of the show following that format was always the intention of its creators and allowed the cast to “get ourselves out of the way a little bit.”“I like to think that Pike is not the star of the show,” said Mount, who plays Captain Christopher Pike. “The star of the show is the Enterprise.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterViola Davis is eyeing a return to the role of Amanda Waller in her own spinoff series currently in the works at HBO Max, Variety has learned from sources.Exact plot details are mostly under wraps at this point, but sources say the show will build off of Waller’s appearance at the end of the “Suicide Squad” spinoff series “Peacemaker.”SPOILER ALERT: In the Season 1 finale of “Peacemaker,” Waller’s daughter and spy Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) outs her mother publicly for her work with Task Force X and the Suicide Squad. Davis made brief cameo appearances in the first and last episodes of the show.Davis would executive produce the series in addition to starring.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterLouis Partridge has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple psychological thriller series “Disclaimer,” Variety has learned exclusively.Partridge joins previously announced series leads Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline and cast members Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Hoyeon.Based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight, “Disclaimer” will star Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has ordered a limited series adaptation of the Georgia Hunter novel “We Were the Lucky Ones” with Joey King attached to star, Variety has learned.Hulu has given the show an eight episode order. It is inspired by the true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II, determined to survive—and to reunite.Erica Lipez is adapting the book for the screen and will executive produce. Thomas Kail will direct and executive produce via Old 320 Sycamore.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterMelissa McBride is no longer going to star in a Daryl-Carol “Walking Dead” spinoff at AMC, Variety has confirmed with sources.The show was originally announced in September 2020 with McBride and Norman Reedus set to star. The pair have long been praised for their characters’ onscreen chemistry, with Reedus and McBride currently being the only two cast members of the flagship show who have been onboard since Season 1.
Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Succession” breakout Nicholas Braun and Chris Buongiorno are developing a series together at HBO, Variety has learned exclusively.The half-hour series is titled “One for the Road.” It is described as candid and intimate story of a talented but dysfunctional band struggling to survive the rapidly changing landscape of independent music in the early 2000s. Braun and Buongiorno will co-write the series in addition to serving as executive producers.Braun has received widespread acclaim for his role on the hit HBO series “Succession,” on which he has played Cousin Greg in each of the show’s three seasons to date.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe Netflix spy series led by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Monica Barbaro has set its main cast, Variety has learned.Appearing in series regular roles in the series are: Jay Baruchel, Aparna Brielle, Andy Buckley, Milan Carter, Fortune Feimster, Barbara Eve Harris, Gabriel Luna, Fabiana Udenio, and Travis Van Winkle. Additionally, the following actors will appear in recurring roles: Devon Bostick, David Chinchilla, Rachel Lynch, Stephanie Sy, and Scott Thompson.Full character descriptions for all the new cast members can be found below.The untitled spy drama was ordered at Netflix in May 2021, with the streamer giving the one-hour show an eight episode order.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterIlana Glazer is in talks to star in and executive produce a comedy series currently in the works at Amazon, Variety has learned exclusively.The series is titled “The Suck” and hails from writer and executive producer Ally Israelson. The show asks the question “What if the last year on earth was the best year of your life?” It follows Lydia (Glazer) to London, in search of an other-worldly end.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterDavid Castañeda is the latest addition to the cast of the Natasha Lyonne & Rian Johnson series “Poker Face” at Peacock, Variety has learned exclusively.Lyonne will lead the drama series, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Stephanie Hsu also set to appear along with Castañeda. Plot and character details for the series are being kept largely under wraps, though sources say the show will follow a procedural format and see Lyonne’s character working to solve different murders in each episode.Castañeda is best known for his role in the hit Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy,” on which he plays Diego. The third season of the show is due out on June 22.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterDominique Fishback has been cast in the lead role of Donald Glover and Janine Naber’s upcoming Amazon series.Plot details for the show are being kept under wraps, though it has previously been reported that it will focus on a “Beyonce-like figure,” presumably played by Fishback. Glover had previously spoken to Variety about the project during the “Atlanta” premiere red carpet, which can be seen below.Fishback has been on a hot streak of late, currently starring in the Apple series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” alongside Samuel L.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterLee Daniels’ long-gestating Sammy Davis Jr. biographical series has been ordered at Hulu, with Elijah Kelley set to play the lead role.The untitled series has received an eight-episode order at the streamer.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has commissioned a new Canadian original comedy series titled “The Sticky,” Variety has learned.The series is inspired by the true story of “The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.” The English language half-hour series will be set in Quebec.It revolves around Ruth Clarke, a tough, supremely competent middle-aged Canadian maple syrup farmer who’s had it with being hemmed in by the polite, bureaucratic conventions native to her country’s identity. Especially now that that very bureaucracy is threatening to take away everything she loves: Her farm, her comatose husband, and her right to manifest destiny.