Paramount sets Yellowstone's final episodes, orders 1944 and 2024 / Futurama renewed / HBO boss apologizes for "dumb" fake tweets
PLUS: Arrested Development premiered 20 years ago today: Nearly everything great about it can be found in its first 2-1/2 minutes.
Paramount Network sets Yellowstone's final episodes for November 2024, orders spinoffs 1944 and 2024
Yellowstone will wrap its fifth season, which began in November 2022, starting in November 2024 after the delay over Kevin Costner's exit and the Hollywood strikes. Paramount Network also announced it has greenlighted prequel series 1944 and contemporary series 2024, details of which haven't been revealed other than it is expected to begin airing following the conclusion of Yellowstone. “Within five years, we grew Yellowstone from a hit U.S. cable show with five million viewers into a global hit franchise with over 100 million fans around the world and multiple extensions – and, we’re just getting started,” said Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios, in a statement. “On the heels of 1883 and 1923’s success, our new planned spinoffs, 1944 and 2024, will take audiences on a thrilling, new and unexpected journey with the complex and compelling storytelling that has become a hallmark of the franchise and has helped turn it into a worldwide cultural phenomenon – thanks to the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan.”
Hulu renews Futurama revival for two more seasons
Futurama will return for its 13th and 14th seasons, with each consisting of 10 episodes. Season 12 is expected to premiere in 2024.
HBO boss Casey Bloys apologizes for his "very, very dumb idea" of using fake tweets to troll TV critics
During a press conference this morning announcing HBO's slate, the HBO and Max confirmed Tuesday's Rolling Stone report that he and senior vice president of programming Kathleen McCaffrey orchestrated the use of burner social media accounts to argue with TV critics who gave the network’s shows bad reviews. “Those of you who know me know that I am a programming executive, very, very passionate about the shows that we decide to do, and the people who do them and the people who work on them," said Bloys. "I want the shows to be great. I want people to love them. I want you all to love them. It’s very important to me what you all think of the shows." He added: “So when you think about mindset, and then think of 2020 and 2021. I’m home working from home, spending an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through Twitter and I come up with a very, very dumb idea to vent my frustration. Obviously, six tweets over a year and a half is not very effective. But I do apologize to the people who were mentioned in the leaked emails, texts. Obviously, nobody wants to be part of the story that they have nothing to do with.” Bloys also said that he has switched to responding to critics via direct messaging.
House of the Dragon Season 2 to premiere in "early summer" 2024
HBO boss Casey Bloys says the Game of Thrones prequel series' second season has wrapped production and is currently in post-production. Bloys also revealed its next Game of Thrones prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, hopes to begin shooting in the spring. Bloys added that none of the other Game of Thrones prequel concepts are close to a greenlight.
The White Lotus Season 3 and It prequel series Welcome to Derry are "likely" delayed until 2025 due to the Hollywood strikes
“We had had (Welcome To Derry) scheduled for Halloween ’24 but it will likely pushing into ’25. White Lotus Season 3, that was going to be ’24 and that’s likely moving into 2025,” HBO boss Casey Bloys said at a press conference this morning.
Euphoria Season 3 to premiere in 2025
During HBO's press event this morning, Euphoria was briefly shown as part a sizzle reel titled “Coming in 2025."
Ava DuVernay's Starz romantic drama series starring Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff is not moving forward despite a three-season pickup
The untitled half-hour drama series that followed two polar opposites falling in love and battling daily challenges "had begun filming in Wilmington, N.C., in March but was paused in May due to the WGA strike," reports Variety's Emily Longeretta. "The network decided not to move forward with the series after DuVernay chose to step away shortly after the end of her overall deal with Warner Bros. TV in May. The drama, which had received a three-season pickup (in May 2022), reunited Jackson and Ridloff, who co-starred in Broadway’s 2018 rendition of Child of a Lesser God.”
The Last of Us is expected to begin production on Season 2 in early 2024
HBO boss Casey Bloys noted at a press conference this morning that the Hollywood strikes have delayed production on the hit video game's second season.
The Jinx is returning with a Part 2 that will delve into what led to Robert Durst's conviction
The follow-up to the Emmy-winning 2015 documentary The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is expected to premiere in 2024. The Jinx: Part Two follows director Andrew Jarecki and his team as they continued their investigation for the next eight years, uncovering hidden material, Durst’s prison calls, and interviews with people who had never before come forward.
FX's Shōgun gets a new premiere month and trailer
The limited series adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 bestselling novel debuts in February 2024. Shōgun was originally supposed to premiere in 2023 after filming wrapped in summer 2022.
Amy Schumer’s Life & Beth sets Season 2 premiere date nearly two years after its premiere
Schumer‘s semi-autobiographical Hulu comedy, which premiered on March 18, 2022, will return for Season 2 on Feb. 16, 2024.
James Burrows says Friends' female stars were "devasted" by Matthew Perry's death: "It’s a brother dying"
“It’s so sad,” the legendary TV director, who helmed the Friends pilot, said on the Today show this morning. “We were so proud of him these last couple of years that he was making a remarkable recovery.” Burrows added that Perry “was part of a family, and he was the first one to not be part of that family anymore. I texted the girls (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow) the day we found out and they were destroyed. It’s a brother dying.” Burrows recalled that his first impression of the actor was, “Wow,” adding: “We were reading around the table. Matthew had a certain way of turning a line. He was inventive with how he did a line.” Perry “was really funny” and a “little awkward” on the set, like Chandler Bing, said Burrows, adding: “It was a perfect, perfect meld.”
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The extensive investigation into Matthew Perry's death will likely take a couple of months to complete: "In trying to determine the cause of death of the Friends star, authorities have been retracing his steps that day," reports the Los Angeles Times' Richard Winton. "But experts say the ultimate answer will likely come from a team of physicians and investigators working out of the L.A. County coroner’s office on North Mission Road in Boyle Heights. Experts said the team’s work will be extensive and likely take a couple of months to complete. In addition to examining the body, they also will conduct toxicology tests, interview those who were around Perry that day and scour the scene." Craig Harvey, a retired chief of coroner’s investigations, says: “Even the temperature of the jacuzzi will be taken. We do everything you see on TV, but it takes time.” Harvey adds: "The autopsy will reveal any cardiac issues. With the naked eye they will able to look at his heart and see if any of his arteries are clogging."
Matthew Perry reportedly wanted his 17 Again co-star Zac Efron to play him in a biopic
Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network sets four family-friendly unscripted series at Max, including Human vs Hamster, Back to the Frontier and Roller Jam
Human vs Hamster will feature groups of people go head-to-head with hamsters in scaled games of strength, smarts and agility. Roller Jam will feature the top roller-skating crews in the country competing to see who will be crowned America’s best roller dancing team. Back to the Frontier will send families to live life at 1800s pioneers. And Second Chance Stage is a talent competition that offers contestants who have pushed their dreams aside a second chance at their big break.
Arrested Development premiered 20 years ago today: Nearly everything great about it can be found in its first 2-1/2 minutes
"November 2 marks 20 years since we first met a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together," says Matt Schimkowitz. "Arrested Development, once a short-lived series treated like high art and a political position, may have had its legacy dinged by a decade dead-set on revivals, but the show’s initial three seasons remain some of the best TV comedy ever. Revisiting the pilot episode, one can see how intricate and confident Arrested Development was from the beginning. While other shows might have a promising pilot followed by several experimental episodes trying to find what works, Arrested Development knew what it was from the start. And it’s not a Bluth Company model home: This thing had a strong foundation. Creator Mitch Hurwitz didn’t waste any time, either. Nearly everything great about the show can be found in its opening two-and-half minutes."
Why Dolly Parton kept turning down the Super Bowl halftime show
“Oh, sure. I’ve been offered that many times,” Parton tells The Hollywood Reporter about the halftime show. “I couldn’t do it because of other things, or I just didn’t think I was big enough to do it — to do that big of a production. When you think about those shows, those are big, big productions. I’ve never done anything with that big of a production. I don’t know if I could have. I think at the time that’s what I was thinking.”
How Two and a Half Men's Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen ended up patching up their relationship for Max comedy series Bookie
Lorre says he and Bookie co-creator Nick Bakay thought it would be fun to add a real-life Hollywood star playing a version of themself as an inveterate gambler. While they didn't identify that celebcrity at first, Lorre couldn’t shake an idea he had for who might be perfect for the role: “It should be Charlie,” he tells Variety. “I remember Charlie was very much engaged in in sports betting and he would tell me stories about it all the time. You know, when things were good.” Lorre contacted Sheen's team, and it turns out he was ready to make amends. “I was nervous, but almost as soon as we started talking, I remembered, we were friends once,” says Lorre. “And that friendship just suddenly seemed to be there again. I don’t want to be too mawkish about it, but it was healing. And he was also totally game to make fun of himself. When he came to the table read of that episode, I walked up, and we hugged. It was just great.”
Joy Behar taking two days off from The View, resulting in Whoopi Goldberg appearing on her day off
Behar is taking Thursday and Friday off to perform in the New York Comedy Festival play Bonkers in the Boroughs. Behar usually serves as moderator on Fridays, when Goldberg is usually off. But Goldberg will return Friday to serve as moderator.
Comedian Stavros Halkias to star in his debut Netflix standup special Fat Rascal
Premiering Dec. 5, Fat Rascal is described as “a snapshot of a man whose many vices are actively getting the best of him and a collection of observations, interesting experiences, and sexual embarrassments from 2 years of non-stop touring,” according to the official logline. During the event, Halkias will touch on topics including “identity and body image, the undeserved social status enjoyed by the tech industry, and dating while spiraling both physically and mentally.” This is Halkias' second standup special after his self-released 2022 special Live At The Lodge Room attracted nearly 6 million views on YouTube.
ESPN’s Pat McAfee and Rece Davis to host NFL RedZone-style college football broadcast Saturday
Airing on ESPN2, CFB Primetime with The Pat McAfee Show will feature rotating coverage of ESPN’s slate of primetime games, including Iowa State vs. No. 22 Kansas, No. 24 USC vs. No. 5 Washington, Rice vs. SMU, Mississippi State vs. Kentucky, North Carolina State vs. Miami and UTEP vs. Western Kentucky.
Peyton Manning stars in Netflix promo touting its sports content
"With the stories behind the sports you already love, and the ones you're just discovering, Netflix turns us all into fans," says Netflix of the minute-long promo.