Beyond the Gates has a strong debut week / Vikings creator is getting back into the world of Vikings / Running Point earns a quick Netflix renewal
PLUS: Kelsey Grammer is "very positive" his Frasier reboot will find a new home, says Paramount+ "didn’t really promote or spend much time on it."
Beyond the Gates has a strong debut week on CBS
The first daytime drama centered on Black characters in more than 35 years and network TV’s first new daytime soap opera since Passions in 1999 "averaged 2.28 million cross-platform viewers for its premiere week, including three days of streaming and other delayed viewing" for its premiere week last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Rick Porter. "On CBS alone, the show averaged a little over 2 million viewers over three days, finishing in a virtual tie with ABC’s General Hospital. It also beat out the long-running ABC series in key demographics, including adults and women 25-54. Streaming added another 272,000 viewers to Beyond the Gates‘ average for the opening week. About 5.2 million people watched at least a few minutes of the show. Beyond the Gates also significantly outperformed the year-ago ratings for The Talk, which it replaced in CBS’ daytime lineup. The show’s total audience is up by 78 percent versus The Talk for the same week in 2024, and same-day ratings among women ages 18-49 and 25-54 grew by 56 percent year-to-year." About 55% of Beyond the Gates' audience is made up of Black viewers, which is way larger percentage than the Black audience for The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.
Vikings creator is getting back into the world of Vikings with Amazon's Bloodaxe
Michael Hirst and his son Horatio Hirst's Bloodaxe will tell "the true story of famous Viking warrior Erik Bloodaxe and his wife, Gunnhild, Mother of Kings,” according to Prime Video’s description. Michael Hirst created History Channel's Vikings and executive produced followup Vikings: Valhalla for Netflix. Horatio Hirst will make his writing debut with Bloodaxe after acting on Vikings: Valhalla. According to the official logline, Bloodaxe follows Erik Bloodaxe and his wife Gunnhild “as they fight for the throne of Norway. The land is torn apart by fierce rivals, shifting loyalties, and bloody betrayals. With war looming and chaos consuming the kingdom, drawing in the ruthless Kings of other Scandinavian countries, and even a powerful English ruler, the stage is set for a thundering, cataclysmic, compelling and utterly magical new Viking Saga.”
Running Point earns a quick Netflix renewal
The Kate Hudson-led basketball comedy from Mindy Kaling was picked up for a second season one week after its premiere. In its debut weekend, Running Point scored 9.3 million views and ranked in the Top 10 across 83 countries.
The CW's scrapped 2021 Powerpuff Girls live-action series trailer leaks
Chloe Bennett as Blossom, Dove Cameron as Bubbles and Yana Perrault as Buttercup could've been known as "Privileged Problematic Girls." "Oh, the camp masterpiece we almost had; sugar, spice, and everything tragic, more like," says The A.V. Club's Emma Keates. "This morning, a social media account called 'Lost Media Busters' claimed to have gotten its hands on the trailer for The CW’s 'gritty' Powerpuff Girls reboot, starring Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, Yana Perrault, and Donald Faison. It definitely seems to be legit because all four stars are here, wearing the terrible costumes that set the internet ablaze in 2021. Gather ’round, Riverdale fans; this thing is kookier than we ever could have dreamed. That’s not clickbait; Buttercup utters the phrase 'angry kinky hate boner' about Mojo Jojo’s (human) son in it, so you can make that call on your own. It would be a disservice to your shock receptors to spoil anything further, so just go ahead and watch it for yourself." The trailer has since been taken down by Warner Bros.
Danny McBride would like to take The Righteous Gemstones on the road
”I would be interested in doing a live version of this show, doing a traveling Gemstones tent revival. I think that would be fun," McBride said at last night’s premiere for the fourth and final season.
Gremlins: The Wild Batch adds Timothy Olyphant, Robin Weigert, Yvette Nicole Brown and SungWon Cho for Season 2
Olyphant will voice the iconic Johnny Appleseed, Weigert will voice Calamity Jane for the second season of the Max animated series, which returns on April 10.
Amazon's Étoile from Team Palladino gets a premiere date and first-look photos
Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino's new drama series Étoile, premiering April 24, "follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies — one in New York, one in Paris — as they take on an ambitious plan to save their storied institutions: swapping their most talented stars. The eight-episode season will debut as a binge release," per The Hollywood Reporter.
Kelsey Grammer is "very positive" his Frasier reboot will find a new home, says Paramount+ "didn’t really promote or spend much time on it"
“There’s a better home for it,” Grammer tells the New York Post nearly two months after Paramount+'s cancelation of his Frasier revival after two seasons. “I mean, obviously, they didn’t really promote or spend much time on it.” As Grammer explains, “the fellow that worked at Paramount+ when we first sold the show there left, and so it sort of fell into their laps, the next administration, without having any real conscious and what to do with it. So I think they gave it sort of a good try, but they weren’t particularly passionate about the project...“We’ll end up somewhere where people are passionate about it. Listen, it’s got a huge audience, a big following, and if people know where to find it, I think they will.” Grammer also says Ted Danson could visit if Frasier finds a new home. “Ted and I might visit actually something together,” says Grammer. “We’ve been talking about a couple ideas. Maybe on Frasier. We don’t know.”
Lee Daniels signs a new deal to stay at 20th Television
The co-creator of Empire and Star and executive producer of ABC's The Wonder Years reboot will continue making shows for 20th Television.
Apple TV+'s Neuromancer adds Clémence Poésy
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon star joins Callum Turner, Brianna Middleton, Joseph Lee, and Mark Strong on the William Gibson book adaptation.
Marc Maron returns to HBO for his next standup special
Maron's untitled special, taping later this year, will be a followup to 2023's From Bleak to Dark on HBO.
NBC’s Opry 100: A Live Celebration adds Post Malone, Keith Urban and more
The Blake Shelton-hosted March 19 live special will also feature Alison Krauss & Union Station, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Ricky Skaggs, Terri Clark, Steven Curtis Chapman, Yolanda Adams, Travis Tritt, Bill Anderson, Jeannie Seely, Lauren Alaina, Sara Evans, Scotty McCreery, Chris Janson and Dustin Lynch.
Jennifer Hudson hit in face by stray basketball during NBA game
During last night's New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, Hudson was sitting with boyfriend Common when a stray ball struck the side of her head, knocking her glasses off. “Protect Jennifer Hudson!” one of the TV commentators at the game said, per EW, while another added: “Oh, no. Not the glasses! Those look real expensive.”
Pamela Bach, Baywatch actress and David Hasselhoff's ex-wife, dies at 61
Bach appeared to have died by suicide on Wednesday, TMZ reports. Hasselhoff and Bach met when she guest-starred on Knight Rider and they were married from 1989 to 2006, welcoming two daughters: Hayley Hasselhoff and Taylor-Ann Hasselhoff. Bach recurred on Baywatch as café owner Kaye Morgan. Bach also had guest roles on Cheers, T.J. Hooker, The Fall Guy and Sirens.
Watch David Oyelowo in Apple TV+’s trailer for Government Cheese
Oyelowo plays an ex-con trying to make a comeback in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley in 1969. “It’s a very intriguing title,” Oyelowo told Variety after previewing the series today at SXSW. “A good title is a very hard thing to find — especially a title that has layered meanings and is analogous to what the show is about.”
Netflix unveils the trailer for medical drama Pulse
The streamer's Justina Machado-attempt at a Grey's Anatomy-style show premieres April 3.
Hulu releases trailer for Mid-Century Modern
Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham lead the comedy from Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan that also marks Linda Lavin's final role before her death last December. Mid-Century Modern premieres March 28.