Disney+ cancels Goosebumps after two seasons / J.D. Vance reacts to South Park skewering / The Paper trailer isn't shy about its connections to The Office
PLUS: BBC officially announces long-gestating Ozzy Osbourne family docuseries.
Disney+ cancels Goosebumps after two seasons
The horror anthology series based on R.L. Stine’s book series that premiered in 2023 has been canceled after dropping its second season last January. Season 1, starring Justin Long, Rachael Harris, Zack Morris, Isa Briones, Miles McKenna, Ana Yi Puig, and Will Price. was released weekly. But Season 2, starring David Schwimmer, Ana Ortiz, Jayden Bartels, Sam McCarthy, Elijah M. Cooper, Francesca Noel and Galilea La Salvia, was binge-released. According to Variety's Joe Otterson, "Sony Pictures Television plans to shop the show to other outlets and explore different creative directions for the IP. The two seasons pulled in 75 million hours viewed combined in the U.S., on top of 43 million hours viewed across 16 international markets."
The Pitt Season 2 is set to premiere Jan. 8, 2026, almost one year after Season 1's premiere
That's according to executive producer John Wells in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "We’re essentially returning the exact same day that we premiered (on Jan. 9, 2025)," said Wells. "It will be the eighth of January — 365 days later. And with all due respect to all of my friends who make TV, there is no reason these shows can’t be on every year. These delays are becoming even more conspicuous now that the series load is diminishing. It was so crowded that you could almost use that as an excuse." HBO Max has yet to confirm The Pitt's Season 2 premiere date.
Vice President J.D. Vance reacts to South Park skewering him for the first time: "Well, I’ve finally made it"
Vance made his debut last night with Trey Parker and Matt Stone using a swollen version of his face in a parody of Fantasy Island that was meant to evoke President Trump as Ricardo Montalbán’s Mr. Roarke and Vance as Hervé Villechaize’s Tattoo. ALSO: Right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk insists South Park wasn't making fun of him.
Paramount-Skydance $8.4 billion merger closes
As of today, the newly combined company is officially known as “Paramount, A Skydance Corporation." “Today marks an exciting and pivotal moment as we prepare to bring Paramount’s legacy as a Hollywood institution into the future of entertainment,” chairman and CEO David Ellison said in the statement. “My vision is to honor exceptional storytelling while modernizing how we make and deliver content to support the world’s top creative talent, enhance experiences for audiences worldwide, and create sustainable value for our shareholders.”
CBS boss George Cheeks on canceling Stephen Colbert's The Late Show: "The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline"
“We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show, unfortunately the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going," Cheeks, the Paramount co-CEO who becomes chair of TV Media under the merged Paramount-Skydance company said at a press conference this morning, adding: "At the end of the day, it just wasn’t sustainable to continue." According to Deadline, Cheeks wouldn't say what CBS will do with the 11:35 p.m. timeslot when asked about the possibility of moving Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen from 12:37 a.m. Cheeks wouldn't disclose how much The Late Show was losing following reports that losses amounted to $40 million per year. Cheeks reiterated that it was down to the timing of contracts for crew, including writers and producers. "We were at a period from a production standpoint where every year seasonally, this is (when) we negotiate new deals for writers and producers," he said. "In addition, this is going to be the third season of Colbert’s three-year deal. So, in order to do those deals, we were going to have to change the terms from what they traditionally are, September to August to September to May. It was incumbent upon me and us to make it clear to Stephen and his reps that this is where we were."
BBC officially announces long-gestating Ozzy Osbourne family docuseries
Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, announced two weeks after the rock icon's death at age 76, will chart the last chapter of the iconic Black Sabbath founder’s life, with contribution from wife Sharon and children Jack and Kelly. Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home was first announced in 2022 as Home to Roost, a spiritual successor to MTV’s anarchic mid-noughties series The Osbournes.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place gets a Season 2 premiere date and teaser, books Freya Skye and Harvey Guillén as guest-starts
Kirsten Vangsness, Tobias Jelinek, Patrick Bristow and Eleanor Sweeney are also joining the Disney Channel series' second season, premiering Sept. 12.
The Roku Channel renews Solo Traveling With Tracee Ellis Ross for Season 2
The former Black-ish star's new travel docuseries has been picked up for another season two weeks after its premiere on July 25.
Hulu orders Phony, starring Connie Britton and Sam Nivola
Created by Nick Paley, Phony is a "coming-of-age mystery about a teenager who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident to discover his mom — his only parent and his best friend — appears to have been replaced by an impostor."
Country star Kane Brown will make a cameo in 9-1-1: Nashville's pilot
Brown will film a scene for the premiere episode, which is set during a concert performance, on Thursday in Nashville. According to ABC, Brown “proves heroic in a major storyline."
ESPN pays tribute to Lee Corso on his 90th birthday
Corso is celebrating his 90th birthday today in advance of his retirement from College Gameday after nearly four decades on Aug. 30.
Weeds turns 20
The Jenji Kohan-created Showtime comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker as a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family premiered on Aug. 7, 2005. Weeds ran for eight seasons and 102 episodes, through September 2012.
Brandon Blackstock dies: Kelly Clarkson's ex-husband, former manager and father of her two children and Reba McEntire's former stepson was 48
Blackstock's death after a three-year battle with cancer was announced Thursday, one day after Clarkson revealed he had been ill, and she had to postponEd her Las Vegas residency to spend time with their children: River, 11, and Remington, 9. "While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children’s father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them," she wrote in a statement, apologizing to fans and expressing appreciation for their "grace, kindness and understanding." Blackstock's father was married to Reba McEntire from 1989 to 2015. Clarkson and Blackstock got married in 2013, but split in 2020, resulting in a contentious divorce that was finalized in 2022.
Jon Miyahara, silent scene-stealing Superstore actor, dies at 83
The actor, who recurred on all six seasons of the NBC workplace comedy as Cloud 9 employee Brett, has died. A cause of death wasn't released. Superstore star Colton Dunn announced the news of Miyahara's death on Instagram, writing: “John was a really awesome guy and as a performer could speak volumes with just a look. He was such a memorable part of the Cloud 9 team. It was an honor to know him and work with him. I was lucky enough to meet some of his family and my thoughts are with them. Rest in Peace John.” Superstore alums, including Kelly Stables and Michael Bunin, also paid tribute to Miyahara in Dunn's comments section.
Peacock's The Paper trailer isn't shy about its connections to The Office
The spiritual spinoff of The Office "wastes very little time in establishing its ties to the original show: We’re told, right up top, that this is the new pulp-adjacent project from the same documentary crew that spent so many years filming the Dunder-Mifflin hordes," says William Hughes. "It’s similarly efficient in letting viewers know who, say, their new Jim is going to be, with Domhnall Gleeson’s Ned quickly introducing himself as the straight-laced normie having to wrangle a staff of oddballs, while cracking jokes and smiles with a similarly sane female co-worker (Chelsea Frei)." The Paper premieres Sept. 4.
Amazon unveils the trailer for The Runarounds
The musical YA series from Outer Banks creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke follows a group of recent high school graduates from Wilmington, North Carolina, who come together the summer after graduation to form a rock band, united by their shared love of music and near-impossible dream of stardom. The Runarounds will binge-release all eight episodes on Sept. 1.
Watch Amazon's trailer for 007: Road To A Million Season 2
Brian Cox is back as host of the James Bond reality show, returning Aug. 22.
Amazon unveils the trailer for The Runarounds