Bel-Air to end with Season 4 / Ella Purnell's Sweetpea renewed for Season 2 / Jersey Shore turns 15
PLUS: Philomena Cunk will be back on Netflix with Cunk on Life.
Bel-Air to end with Season 4
Peacock's dramatic take on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which premiered in 2022, has been renewed for a fourth and final season. In Season 3, which ended on Sept. 5, Jabari Banks' Will and Colly Sholotan's Carlton became "closer as Carlton looked to put his life of addiction behind him and rebuild his reputation — but the newfound partnership also revealed fundamental differences in their experiences and worldviews," per The Hollywood Reporter. “I think the most rewarding thing has been watching people be on the journey with us and start from this position of skepticism and ‘I don’t know about this,’ to watching it,” showrunner Carla Banks Waddles told The Hollywood Reporter midway through Season 3. “And then seeing them be on the journey of hating Carlton at first, like, ‘What the heck have they done with Carlton?’ to really him being a beloved character and people rooting for him, understanding him, wanting the best for him. And he and Will and their dynamic duo together, just watching Will in this new space being this fish out of water in a very different, more dramatic way, that’s been fun.”
Ella Purnell's Sweetpea earns a Season 2 renewal
Starz and Sky have ordered a second season of the darkly comic thriller that premiered in October. Purnell plays Rhiannon Lewis, "an ignored and under-appreciated young woman who eventually snaps and takes it upon herself to murder those who have wronged her." “Being part of Rhiannon’s coming-of-rage journey has been a career highlight for me, and to see fans engage with and relate to our oddball Rhiannon, in all her complexity, feels truly special,” said Purnell in a statement. “I cannot wait for audiences to see what she does next. Stay tuned.”
Noah Centineo's The Recruit to return to Netflix in January for a shorter Season 2
The Alexi Hawley-created spy drama will only consist of six episodes, down from eight in Season 1. Premiering Jan. 30, 2025, the second season comes more than two years after the Dec. 16, 2022 Season 1 premiere due to the Hollywood strikes. Check out the first look at Season 2. ALSO: Past Lives star Teo Yoo joins The Recruit as a clever and driven South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent.
Walmart reunites Gilmore Girls alums Lauren Graham, Scott Patterson and Sean Gunn
Watch their Christmas ad set in a snowy Stars Hollow.
Philomena Cunk will be back on Netflix with Cunk on Life
British actress and comedian Diane Morgan will bring back her iconic character on Jan. 2 for what she's calling her most ambitious quest to date, "venturing right up the universe and everything, to examine life itself." “'What’s the point of it all?' is a question humans have been asking themselves since the dawn of time," reads Cunk on Life's description. "But as we cling to our dying planet, working round the clock while we’re slowly being replaced by machines, now more than ever, people are desperately looking to make sense of their lives — before someone invents a computer that makes sense of it for them." Cunk on Life follows Cunk on Earth, Cunk on Britain, Cunk on Christmas and Cunk on Shakespeare.
Did The View play fake audience applause for today's visit from Republican Adam Kinzinger?
According to EW's Joey Nolfi, when The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg introduced a preview of the anti-Trump Republican's new project, "the show's studio audience clapped for Kinzinger — though louder audio of a cheering audience kicked in during the clip (which you can hear for yourself in the footage above), before rapidly fading away as Kinzinger and cohost Sunny Hostin began to speak." Nolfi says similar audio was played in May 2023 when New Hampshire's Republican governor, Chris Sununu, visited. EW has reached out to The View for comment.
Family Guy returning to Adult Swim's weekday lineup
Adult Swim will welcome Seth MacFarlane's creation back on New Year's Day with a three-day marathon. Episodes will then air every weeknight from 10:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. ET/PT thereafter. Family Guy reruns became a hit on Adult Swim in the early 2000s following Fox's cancelation after three seasons. The ratings and the box set sales prompted Fox to resurrect Family Guy in 2005.
More Cartoon Network shows are being dropped from Max
After Dec. 31, the only Cartoon Network shows on Max will be Adventure Time, Courage the Cowardly Dog and The Powerpuff Girls, according to Cracked. All three shows already have spinoff and/or sequel projects.
Timothy Hutton settles Leverage: Redemption firing lawsuit
Hutton sued producer Electric Entertainment in 2022, alleging the production company breached a deal after he was released from the Leverage reboot following a sexual assault allegation. Hutton claimed he had a “pay-or-play” provision that guaranteed the actor at least $3 million “regardless of whether Electric actually utilized his services in the production of the series.” Hutton said his deal closed before a 2020 Buzzfeed report on a woman's allegations that he raped her in 1983, when she was 14. Electric later filed a countersuit. Both parties have now settled their legal dispute.
Punkie Johnson says her SNL exit after four seasons "was like a firing and a quitting all at the same time"
In an interview with the podcast Saturday Night Network, Johnson said she felt the writing was on the wall when the writer she worked closely with, Ben Silva, exited eight episodes into what turned out to be her final season. “Ben knew how to talk Punkie,” Johnson said. After Season 49, Johnson said she and the show had an amicable parting. “It was mutual,” Johnson said. “It was like a firing and a quitting all at the same time.”
The Boys actor Malcolm Barrett is under investigation for alleged assault
TMZ reports the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is investigating a woman's allegation that Barrett sexually assaulted her. Barrett has recurred on seven episodes of The Boys as Seth Reed.
Mindy Kaling and Morris Chestnut to announce Golden Globe nominations
Kaling and Chestnut will present the nominees for the 82nd annual Golden Globes live on CBS on Dec. 9.
Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness to star in their first comedy special
Van Ness' Fun and Slutty, premiering on the streaming platform Veeps on Jan. 23, sets out “to educate an unsuspecting audience on the definitions, shenanigans, and stigmas of slutty behavior.”
Sean Hannity to host Sean, a monthly longform interview show on Fox Nation
On Sean, Hannity will lead in-depth sit-down interviews with a variety of guests spanning the world of sports, entertainment, and politics,” Fox News announced Tuesday. “Throughout the course of my career, I’ve had the honor of meeting the world’s most interesting people. It is often the struggles and obstacles they have overcome that makes them most captivating,” Hannity said in a statement. “I look forward to sharing these conversations with Fox Nation viewers.” Sean premieres today with Sylvester Stallone and his wife Jennifer Flavin Stallone. The second episode will feature Stephen A. Smith, followed by Jillian Michaels.
Matt Rife denies plastic surgery rumors, blames facial changes on delayed puberty
“Puberty, after its sweet time for more than 20 years, finally decided to hit me square in the face,” the controversial Netflix comedian writes in his newly released memoir Your Mom's Gonna Love Me, according to Page Six. Rife explained that he went from looking like “a 13-year-old” to his “actual age” — “like an actual grown-ish man” — in just a few months.
Shondaland says "You're welcome" for Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey's Wicked success
"We at Shondaland would like to take the unusual, unprecedented step of apologizing and also saying, 'You’re welcome,' at the same time," says Shondaland's Malcolm Venable of the Bridgerton star. "You see, when the brilliant team of producers behind Shondaland’s hit Netflix series Bridgerton selected Jonathan Bailey to play Anthony — the eldest Bridgerton son and the viscount of their noble house — nobody at Shondaland was quite aware of the new era of unholy thirst that we would go on to usher in. To be fair, yes, season one introduced Bailey as Anthony without his shirt, his abs looking every bit like something Michelangelo might’ve carved. And certainly the team — and especially costume designer Sophie Canale — knew what they were doing in season two when they had him emerge from a lake dripping wet in a white blouson clinging to his body like butter cascading down a stack of hot flapjacks. But now, with Bailey currently part of the worldwide smash hit Wicked, fan appreciation has gone to an entirely different level. And look, we get it. Bridgerton is a romantic drama, and the lead in a rom-dram based on an equally seductive book series has to lean into the, ahem, physicality of his character from time to time. But Bailey is much more than a smoke show. Part of the reason he was cast as Anthony Bridgerton is because he’s a marvelous and highly skilled and trained actor."
Jersey Shore turns 15
The hit MTV reality show that introduced the world to "Snooki" and The Situation premiered on Dec. 3, 2009, airing for six seasons through 2012. Jersey Shore was followed in 2018 by spinoff Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, which is currently in its seventh season. “It’s insane," says Jersey Shore creator SallyAnn Salsano. "I got back last night at 2 a.m. from a shoot with them, and it’s still good. You know what I mean? Every time we leave, it just keeps rocking. It’s really kind of amazing. They are literally the gift that keeps on giving. It’s kind of crazy that way. Some of the kids that now work on the show had high school parties. They were in high school (watching), and now they’re the people helping run it. What an insane thing for them.”
Peacock in talks for a new Love Island spinoff
A third Love Island spinoff may join Love Island All Stars and Love Island Games.
BBC pulls MasterChef UK's Christmas specials after Gregg Wallace sexual misconduct allegations
The BBC had initially said that all filmed eps would still air, despite the fact that Wallace has stepped away from the show as producer Banijay UK investigates allegations of inappropriate behavior. Today, the BBC changed its mind.
Watch Molly Parker in the trailer for Fox's Doc
Parker plays a hard-charging, brilliant chief of internal and family medicine who loses her memory of the past eight years due to a brain injury suffered in a car accident. Doc premieres Jan. 7.