Joe Dirt animated sequel series in the works at Fox / James Marsden to lead Apple TV's Bad News Dads / FCC scraps limit on local TV ownership
PLUS: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives renewed for 20 new episodes, but Season 5 will be reduced to five episodes.
Joe Dirt animated sequel series starring David Spade is in the works at Fox
Spade’s Dennie Gordon-directed 2001 cult classic comedy film, which celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year, is eyeing a return with a sequel series written by Scott Gairdner and voiced by Spade. “It’s now 25 years later, and Joe Dirt (Spade) keeps on keepin’ on,” according to Deadline. “He’s still in love with Brandy, his skull still hasn’t un-fused with the mullet, and most of all, he’s still got his eternal optimism. And he needs it – just because he’s married with three teenage daughters doesn’t mean his problems are over. The messes are bigger, and Joe’s mop and bucket just won’t cut it.” Spade and his Joe Dirt co-writer Fred Wolf will serve as executive producers. This is the second attempt at a Joe Dirt animated series. Sony TV developed a Joe Dirt animated series for TBS in 2010 with Spade, Wolf and Donick Carey.
James Marsden to lead Apple TV mystery comedy series Bad News Dads from You’re the Worst’s creator
You’re the Worst creator Stephen Falk is teaming with Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions on Bad News Dad, an adaptation of the upcoming novel by Adam Frost “about an inept men’s baseball rec league team where one of the players’ wives dies in a suspicious accident, and the friendship-starved Ben (Marsden) leads two of his teammates in an impromptu and often misguided investigation into what they increasingly come to think was murder,” according to Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva, who adds: “While the title and baseball team setting are clearly a wink to Bad News Bears, the book is an original idea in a different genre that has no connection to the classic sports movie.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives renewed for 20 new episodes, but Season 5 will be reduced to five episodes
“Hulu has renewed the reality series for 20 more episodes, which will essentially be a combination of Season 6 and 7, and cameras have already started rolling,” reports Deadline’s Peter White. “This comes, however, as Deadline understands that Season 5 – the season that was interrupted by the litany of investigations into Taylor Frankie Paul – will be truncated. We hear Season 5, which will air later this year, will only feature five episodes, rather than the traditional 10 that the previous seasons have been.”
FCC scraps limit on local TV ownership
The FCC this morning “voted along party lines to overturn a key check against the consolidation of the television industry, throwing out a rule that prevented any one company from owning stations that collectively reach more than 39% of all US TV households,” says The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr. “The vote is a win for television conglomerates that aim to expand their reach across the country, particularly conservative-leaning companies like Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar,” which is trying to merger with Tegna.
Minnie Driver says she’s “grateful to be alive” after getting in a “really bad” car accident in France
The Emily in Paris actress said in an Instagram video released today that she and her friend, Ben Homewood, were driving through the French countryside when another car blew through an intersection without stopping, T-boning their car. Driver said the crash was so bad that they barely got out, explaining: “Well, we didn’t walk out of it. We crawled out of it.”
Fox is rejecting the NFL’s plan for an early media deal renegotiation
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch today “surprised investors by announcing that Fox’s current deal with the National Football League would remain as is through its end after the 2029 season, despite the league’s recent interest in using an ‘opt-out’ clause baked into the 11-year pacts it struck with all of its media partners that would allow it to update terms to match market levels,” says Variety’s Brian Steinberg.
TikToker Lala Sadii to star in Lala IRL, a scripted series on Disney
The 23-year-old TikTok star with 25.7 million subscribers has struck a deal to star in Lala IRL for Disney Channel and Disney+. Inspired by Sadii’s real-life social media phenomenon, Lala IRL aims to give a behind-the-scenes look at her meteoric rise as well as the costs that come with it, according to The Wrap. “Before she became a social media superstar, Lala Sadii was just a girl trying to fit in like everyone else,” reads the official logline. “But now, as millions hang on her every post, she’s got plenty to navigate: jealous classmates, intrigued friends who’d love just a little of her clout, concerned siblings, and strict parents who are absolutely going to lose their minds if they find out what she’s been up to.”
Widow’s Bay to screen at AMC Theatres
Apple TV has teamed with Rutgers University, the alma mater of Widow’s Bay creator Katie Dippold, for free, one-night-only fan screenings of Season 1’s final three episodes. The screenings will take place next Wednesday at select AMC Theatres nationwide.
The Daily Show co-creator Madeleine Smithberg’s late-night memoir gets a release date
Smithberg, a veteran of Late Night with David Letterman and The Jon Stewart Show before co-creating The Daily Show with Lizz Winstead in 1996, is releasing Finding the Funny: My Mad Ride Thru Late-Night Comedy on March 2, 2027. Smithberg hired Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and Mo Rocca for The Daily Show, and brought Jon Stewart into its orbit.
Netflix’s Beef partners with wellness centers for Emmy boost
The free “Beef — Release Your Rage. Feel Your Calm” events will take place throughout Los Angeles next Monday through Friday, ahead of the Emmy voting deadline on Aug. 17. Beef leads all limited/anthology series at this year’s Emmys, with 16 nominations.
Meghan McCain is reportedly “persona non grata” for The View’s 30th anniversary season
Sources tell Page Six they’d “be shocked” if McCain, a The View co-host from 2017 to 2021, was invited back for the ABC News daytime show’s 30th season. There has been talk about The View inviting all previous co-hosts back. “She’s the most horrible, biggest pain in the a**,” one source said.
The Bachelorette alum Joe Amabile successfully undergoes surgery for a brain tumor
The Bachelor franchise alum known as “Grocery Store Joe” is resting and recovering after surgeons removed a “blueberry-sized” tumor in his brain on Thursday.
The Sopranos’ Vincent Pastore honored with touching tributes at his funeral service
More than 100 mourners said a final goodbye today to the actor best known for portraying Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos following his death last week at age 80. Among Pastore’s pallbearers was his co-star Steve Van Zandt. Pastore made his final appearance a month ago at the premiere of Van Zandt’s new documentary, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple.
David O. Russell and Nicolas Cage’s Madden biopic is skipping a national theatrical release and heading to Amazon Prime Video
The biopic on the legendary NFL coach and sports commentator John Madden, starring Cage in the title role and Christian Bale as Raiders owner Al Davis, will be released on streaming on Nov. 18 after an awards-qualifying theatrical release in early November.
Dominic West and Sienna Miller prepare for a divorce battle in the trailer for HBO and Sky’s War
West stars as tech entrepreneur Morgan Henderson and Miller plays film star Carla Duval in the midst of an acrimonious divorce in War, premiering Oct. 1.
Former NBC boss Jeff Zucker plays himself dissing Robert Pattinson’s Chris Hansen in the trailer for A24’s Primetime
Primetime, which stars Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen as he obsessively confronts suspected child predators for Dateline NBC, premieres Sept. 25. “I don’t really like your show, but America loves it,” Zucker as himself says in the trailer. “So I’m going to move you to primetime.”
Watch Conan O’Brien Must Go’s Season 3 trailer
Conan O’Brien’s HBO Max travel series returns Aug. 21 with a visit to India, followed by the Netherlands, Philippines and Morocco.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Season 7 trailer features Mary Cosby opening up about her son Robert’s death
“I could not have got through without you guys. You all was there for me,” Cosby tells her fellow cast members in the trailer for Season 7, premiering on Bravo on Sept. 16.
TV judge Adam Levy channels his Judy Judy star mom’s no-nonsense approach in the trailer for Adam’s Law
Judith Sheindlin created Adam’s Law, a new daytime court show premiering in syndication from CBS Media Ventures on Sept. 14.