Kit Harington: Jon Snow spinoff is no longer in the works / Could Netflix revive Heels? / Kat Dennings to play Tim Allen's daughter
PLUS: CBS renews FBI for three more seasons as spinoffs FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International earn one-year pickups.
Kit Harington says HBO's Jon Snow Game of Thrones spinoff is no longer in development
Harington tells ScreenRant that the Jon Snow sequel series, first reported in June 2022, is "currently...off the table" because "we all couldn't find the right story to tell." "I hadn't really ever spoken about it, because it was in development," said Harington. "I didn't want it leaked out that it was being developed, and I didn't want the thing to happen where people kind of start theorizing, getting either excited about it or hating the idea of it, when it may never happen. Because in development, you look at every angle, and you see whether it's worth it. And currently, it's not. Currently, it's off the table, because we all couldn't find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough. So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It's firmly on the shelf." In a separate interview with The Playlist's Our Discourse podcast, Harington said: "HBO came to me a number of years back about whether I wanted to do it. And I sort of said, ‘Yeah, let’s let’s give it a go.' And then we all tried, and we couldn’t find something that we thought was worth doing. And the last thing we want to do is make something bad. We don’t want to do it unless it’s worth it.”
CBS renews FBI for three more seasons as spinoffs FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International earn one-year pickups
FBI's three-season pickup will carry the Dick Wolf crime drama through Season 9 in the 2026-2027 season. FBI: Most Wanted was renewed for Season 6 and FBI: International was given an order for Season 4. “The all-FBI Tuesday is a powerful force to be reckoned with on our primetime schedule,” CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach said in a statement. “Dick Wolf and the talent in front of and behind the camera on all three series continue to deliver top-notch storytelling, riveting action and intrigue that has captivated a dedicated fanbase steadily across multiple seasons. We are excited to see what next season holds for all these heroic characters.”
Could Netflix revive Heels?
The wrestling drama starring Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig that Starz canceled last September has been licensed to Netflix, reports The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg, who adds: "Sources also note that while Netflix has not renewed the series, the streamer could wind up doing so should Heels perform well on the platform. Those same sources also caution that a third season, even in success, could still be a logistical challenge" since Amell is signed to star on NBC's Suits spinoff pilot Suits: L.A. and Ludwig is the lead of the MGM+ sci-fi drama Earth Abides. "Netflix is a natural home for Heels," Goldberg adds. "The streamer has been in negotiations to land the series for the past few months as producers Lionsgate Television immediately shopped the show after its cancellation last year. Heels will pair nicely with WWE’s Monday Night Raw when the franchise arrives on Netflix in January 2025. The streamer landed WWE rights this January as part of a massive $5 billion rights deal that sees the former USA Network staple secure its new home on the platform for the next decade."
Kat Dennings to play Tim Allen's daughter in ABC comedy pilot Shifting Gears
The former 2 Broke Girls star is poised to return to starring in a multicamera network sitcom with Shifting Gears, in which Allen stars as "the stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop," per Deadline. "When Matt’s estranged daughter Riley (Dennings) and her teenage kids move into his house, the real restoration begins. Dennings’ Riley butted heads with her father growing up and left to marry the boyfriend he hated. Now divorced, Riley’s forced to move back home with two kids, hoping she and her dad can make it work this time."
100 Knives is set to become the "largest cooking show in history"
The potential reality show "sees 100 chefs converge on a high-stakes culinary battleground, each vying to carve out their legacy among the elite," per Deadline. "Forging kitchen brigades, the chefs engage in battles, transforming the stage into a test of skill, creativity, and teamwork. Every slice and dice by the chefs become a quest to sharpen their edge against the competition. By the end of this clash of kitchen titans, only one brigade will stand victorious, claiming their triumph with the ultimate “blade” of glory, per the logline."
9-1-1 books Malcolm Jamal Warner
He'll guest as a nurse in a hospital burn unit who is connected to Bobby’s past.
Paul Bettany joins Will Sharpe on Sky's Amadeus
Bettany will play Italian composer Antonio Salieri, Mozart’s longtime rival, in the British limited series on famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sharpe plays Mozart.
Tisha Campbell to guest on Lopez vs. Lopez
The Martin and My Wife and Kids alum will appear in the Season 2 finale as Mayan’s trusted psychologist.
Richard Kind among four joining Only Murders in the Building Season 4
Kind, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Catherine Cohen and Jin Ha are the latest additions to the fourth season of the Hulu murder-mystery comedy series. All will appear in recurring roles.
Parks and Recreation turns 15: Why its "bad" Season 1 deserves reevaluation
"Parks and Recreation debuted April 9, 2009, just three months after Barack Obama’s inauguration," says Jon O'Brien. "A perfect alignment, one might think, considering how much the NBC sitcom embodied the 44’s 'Yes we can' spirit. However, the tone of its much-neglected, much-derided first season was more akin to the Bush era: cynical, polarizing, and slightly clueless. Subsequently, its opening six episodes have largely been consigned to history: the general advice to newcomers is skip them entirely and start with the sunnier second season. But while the show undoubtedly benefited from its course correction, its initial glimpse into the fictional Pawnee’s madcap P&R department isn’t the disaster often purported." Season 1, says O'Brien, nails "the inanity and ineffectiveness of local bureaucracy from the get-go, opening, as it does, with Leslie treading through sandpits surveying nonplussed tweens." Plus, there's "also one all-time great episode in finale 'Rock Show,'" says O'Brien. "Here, both the writers and Poehler realize how Leslie works best, toning down her occasional shrillness and overzealousness and, thanks to an accidental date with a sixty-something Everly Brothers fan, making her more sympathetic than ever before." O'Brien adds: "Luckily, NBC gave Parks another season to further find its footing. But its first season remains a solid introduction to where, as eventual great Ms. Knope says herself, “the rubber of government meets the road of actual human beings."
ALSO:
Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt are among the greatest sitcom couples of all time: “'I love you and I like you' is a deceptively simple message that epitomizes the couple at the heart of Parks And Recreation," says Saloni Gajjar. "Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) use this phrase in their wedding vows to remind each other of an undemanding fact: They see each other for who they are and genuinely accept it, warts quirks and all. Ben and Leslie do something unique throughout their relationship: They never attempt to change each other. There’s only unfettered support, trust, horniness, and political dreams aplenty. The dynamic is unlikely yet believably wholesome, a word that also nicely describes the NBC comedy itself, which premiered exactly 15 years ago today...It’s hard to imagine a Parks And Rec without Scott, whose addition in late season two transformed the trajectory of Greg Daniels’ series. The romance starts with angry banter (a closed-off Ben is there to lay off Leslie’s beloved coworkers, after all) before they seamlessly bond over a wallflower mural, a Harvest Festival, and a desire to run for office. A million such cute, considerate details form their relationship’s crux, and thankfully, there’s no needless drama or forced fights. Instead, they make it a priority to understand and show up for each other in realistic ways."
Read a 15th anniversary oral history of Parks and Rec: Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman used to make out every year for the blooper reel
Station 19 adds Johnny Sibilly
Starting with this week's episode, the Queer as Folk and Hacks vet will play "a recently single, charming, charismatic EMS firefighter whose calming nature puts people in crisis at ease."
CBS News' streaming platform revamps itself as "CBS News 24/7"
The new signature “whip-around” live-streamed program will rely on journalists both from the national news outlet as well as from CBS local stations.
We're Here releases a shocking Season 4 trailer as its new stars face arrest and threats
Sasha Velour, Latrice Royale, Jaida Essence Hall and Priyanka are taking over as hosts from Bob the Drag Queen, Shangela and Eureka in Season 9, which charts the queens' course from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where proposed local legislation targeted drag queens and trans individuals throughout 2023. "Honey, you can't kill drag," Jaida says in the trailer, just before an off-camera person informs the queens that they "might get arrested" if they proceed with a demonstration. We're Here Season 4 premieres on Max on April 26.
Hulu's The Contestant trailer delves into the controversial true story of a Japanese man who starred in a reality show without knowing it
The documentary, premiering May 2, tells the story of Tomoaki Hamatsu, who was left “naked, starving and alone” for over a year in Japan — and unknowingly became a reality tv star.
Watch The Beach Boys' Disney+ documentary trailer
The all-new documentary, titled The Beach Boys, will feature never before seen footage when it premieres May 24.