OZY Sets Dating Reality Series At Lifetime, Presidential Campaign Special At History Under A+E Networks Deal

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios, the commercial arm of U.K. broadcaster BBC, has revealed a first look and development deal with London-based talent and entertainment company Diving Bell Group.Founded by Kim Butler and Justin Girdler in 2017, Diving Bell represents creators and innovators in the purpose-led space including model, trans activist and cultural figure Munroe Bergdorf; feminist author, illustrator and influencer Florence Given (“Women Don’t Owe You Pretty,” “Octopus”); Gina Martin, who successfully led the national campaign to make upskirting illegal; and Emma Gannon whose careers podcast “Ctrl Alt Delete” has amassed over 10 million downloads.The deal gives BBC Studios a first look at content ideas from Diving Bell clients for the purpose of collaborating to develop these ideas and pitch for commissions.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVThe five broadcast networks in May and June unveiled their “fall” 2020 schedules, with Fox and the CW opting for pandemic-proof lineups featuring predominantly original and acquired series already in the can, while NBC, CBS and ABC bet on regular  schedules featuring new and returning series yet to be filmed with the caveat that some launches could be delayed by the COVID-related production shutdown.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersFaced with uncertainty as the majority of new and returning series are yet to start shooting, NBC, ABC and CBS have started to adjust their fall plans.NBC today announced a Sept.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Freeform has ordered an election-themed series hosted and executive produced by Kal Penn.The untitled project, from Michael Davies’ Embassy Row, is described as a smart, irreverent unscripted comedy series that explores issues and topics relevant to Millennial and GenZ voters.The series was created by Penn and Romen Borsellino who also serve as executive producers with Dan Spilo as well as Michael Davie and Julia Cassidy of Embassy Row.Penn and Borsellino met in 2007 when Penn visited Borsellino’s Roosevelt High School in Des Moines for a campaign event on behalf of Young Americans for Obama. Borsellino introduced Penn and the two developed a friendship.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Young actress Maggie Elizabeth Jones (Ben and Kate) has been cast as one of the leads of CBS’ new Chuck Lorre-Marco Pennette multi-camera comedy series B Positive, headlined by Thomas Middleditch and Annaleigh Ashford.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersJones has joined the series in a recasting; a different teen actress played the role in the James Burrows-directed B Positive pilot, the only 2020 broadcast pilot that was completed before the coronavirus-related production shutdown started in mid-March.Created by Pennette, B Positive is about a therapist and newly divorced dad (Middleditch) who is faced with finding a kidney donor when he runs into a

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVThe Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air is making a dark return with Bel-Air, an hourlong series based on Morgan Cooper popular fan film that reenvisions the 1990s Will Smith sitcom as a drama. The project, from Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Universal Television, is currently being pitched to streamers, drawing strong interest and big commitments, including multiple straight-to-series orders, to set up a bidding war, I hear.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersCooper will direct and co-executive produce the potential series, which he is co-writing with Chris Collins (The Man in the High Castle, The Wire).

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: SpongeBob‘s partner in crime is getting his own show. I have learned that Nickelodeon is finalizing deals for The Patrick Star Show, a SpongeBob SquarePants animated spinoff centered on SpongeBob’s best friend Patrick Star, voiced by Bill Fagerbakke.I hear voiceover recordings already have started for the project, which is expected to receive a 13-episode order and comes from the creative team behind the mothership series.According to sources, The Patrick Star Show is in the vein of The Larry Sanders Show and Comedy Bang! Bang!, with Patrick (Fagerbakke) hosting his own late-night talk show.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVNBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock continues to build up its original comedy slate with a straight-to-series series order to MacGruber, starring and co-written by Will Forte.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersThe action comedy, which stems from Forte’s recurringMacGyver parody sketch on Saturday Night Live, was part of Peacock’s inaugural development slate. It has received an eight-episode order.Forte will reprise his role as MacGuber and also write and executive produce.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVCBS’ CSI event series has been quietly moving forward, I have learned. William Petersen and Jorja Fox are in negotiations to star in CSI: Vegas, which serves as a sequel to the mothership CSI series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVThe upcoming fourth installment of Noah Hawley’s FX anthology series Fargo, headlined by Chris Rock, will debut Sept. 27 with its first two episodes, directed by Hawley, airing back-to-back.Originally slated to premiere April 19, Season 4 of Fargo was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down production on the show in mid-March.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation with 10 bidders, Searchlight Television, along with Darren Aronofsky and his Protozoa Pictures, have won the television rights to David Gauvey Herbert’s New York Magazine article “Boss of The Beach” for series development.Search is underway for a writer to pen the adaptation, which Herbert will executive produce.Herbert’s June 23, 2020 article, published in New York Magazine‘s Intelligencer, chronicles the hopes, dreams and scandals of the New York City lifeguard corps over the last 40 years. The article has a particular focus on the tumultuous career of Peter Stein, who has run the NYC lifeguard corps for four decades.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVThe Flight Attendant HBO Max limited series, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco, was just a couple of days into shooting Episode 6 of its eight-episode order when in early March it shut down production due to the fast-spreading coronavirus.“We are looking to get back up and running at the end of August,” The Flight Attendant executive producer/co-showrunner Steve Yockey said Wednesday during the show’s panel during CTAM’s virtual press tour. “We are all feeling very positive about it but of course the health and safety of our cast and crew are the top priority.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVOne of the biggest reality series of the past decade is coming back. Chip and Joanna Gaines are reviving their hugely popular HGTV series Fixer Upper for a new season on a new network.The Fixer Upper reboot will air exclusively on Magnolia Network, Discovery’s joint venture with the Gaineses, and will premiere at the network’s launch, currently eyed for early 2021.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: In one of the largest orders ever, Lifetime has picked up six new seasons — Seasons 12-17 —  of its flagship reality series Married at First Sight.Additionally, Lifetime has greenlighted a new spinoff series, Married at First Sight: Unmatchables with an eight-episode order and has given a blind commitment to another series from the Married at First Sight franchise producer, Kinetic Content. Along with the recent pickup of 16 additional episodes from new offshoot Married at First Sight: Couples Cam, this brings the total order to Kinetic Content to almost 400 hours.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVSoap fans should mark Aug. 10 on their calendars.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Euphoria‘s Sydney Sweeney has launched her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, and has set her first project as a starring vehicle. Sweeney has teamed with Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross’ Crazyrose and Endeavor Content on The Players Table, a TV series adaptation of Jessica Goodman’s forthcoming debut novel They Wish They Were Us.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Dania Ramirez (Tell Me a Story, Devious Maids) is set to co-star in Sweet Tooth, Netflix’s new drama series based on the DC Vertigo comic, which hails from Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey, Jim Mickle, Beth Schwartz and Warner Bros.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and spinoff Station 19 have been building an unified, seamless universe under executive producer/showrunner Krista Vernoff. Now the two Thursday dramas are making their cast promotions in unison, with one recurring player who started on the mothership series becoming a full-time cast member on the offshoot.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersRichard Flood and Anthony Hill have been promoted to series regulars on Grey’s Anatomy for the medical drama’s upcoming 17th season.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVNBC’s This Is Us ended a five-year Emmy drought for broadcast in the Outstanding Drama Series category when it landed a nomination for its breakout first season in 2017. It had been nominated in the top drama category  for each of its three seasons — as the only U.S.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Another legacy broadcast reality series, ABC’s Shark Tank, is heading back to production after a coronavirus-related shutdown.The popular family-friendly unscripted show, which traditionally shoots on the Sony lot in Culver City, will film its upcoming 12th season in Las Vegas, I have learned. I hear the show, already in pre-production at an undisclosed location in Sin City, is employing a quarantine bubble, keeping the stars and crew within a single facility with COVID-19 safety protocols, including testing, in place.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVThe Ellen DeGeneres Show‘s workplace environment is a subject of an inquiry launched by Warner Bros. TV Group, which includes the show’s producer Telepictures and distributor Warner Bros.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Showtime is developing an hourlong drama from Brian Grazer, Terence Winter and Nicholas Pileggi.