Peacock cancels Ponies after one season / Chase Stokes joins Dennis Quaid NASCAR series / Ron Perlman reuniting with Hand of God creator on Cross
PLUS: ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller says he “underwent a life-saving amputation of my left arm” after serious car crash.
Peacock cancels Ponies after one season
The 1977-set Cold War spy thriller series starring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson won’t return for a second season after its first season was binge-released on Jan. 15. The cancelation “does not come as a surprise — while the series drew acclaim with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and also scored well with regular viewers (83%), ultimately there weren’t enough people watching to justify a renewal,” says Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva. “Ponies can still end its run on a high note with major nominations as the show and its stars are considered solid contenders in the comedy categories at the 2026 Emmys, the voting for which ended yesterday. (The series just won the BetaSeries Public Prize at the 65th Monte-Carlo Television Festival and Richardson received a Gotham Television Awards nomination earlier this year.)” Ponies creators Susanna Fogel and David Iserson told Deadline in January they got Peacock’s blessing to end Season 1 with multiple cliffhangers. “We did get their blessing,” they said. “Obviously there are never guarantees for more seasons but it would feel like a violation of the show we were making — where we ended every episode with a cliffhanger — to not do the same with the finale. We are betting on this show and our ability to keep telling this story. This was the only version we shot.”
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller says he “underwent a life-saving amputation of my left arm” after serious car crash
“Last week, I was involved in a serious car accident in Missouri and was airlifted to Mercy Hospital,” Miller wrote on X this morning. “I’m deeply grateful for the exceptional care I have received, from the first responders to the doctors, nurses and medical staff. I’m incredibly fortunate to be writing this. As a result of the accident, I sustained significant injuries, including multiple fractures and broken ribs. I also underwent a life-saving amputation of my left arm. While I have a long road ahead, I’m focused on my recovery and taking things one day at a time. Thank you for the overwhelming support, prayers and kind messages — they have meant so much to me and my family during this time. I look forward to continuing my recovery and getting back to ESPN to talk football, including what should be an exciting 2027 NFL Draft class.” KOAM News reports Miller was driving a 2023 Bronco last Wednesday when his car crossed the center line and collided with a semi-truck on Missouri Route 96. The other driver wasn’t injured. In a statement, ESPN said: “ESPN’s thoughts are with Matt Miller & his loved ones. We wish him strength in his recovery & look forward to seeing him back at ESPN when he’s ready.” According to Awful Announcing, Miller, who was hired by ESPN in 2021, “is a year-round draft analyst and has been widely viewed as the heir apparent to Mel Kiper, although he never views it that way.”
Chase Stokes joins Dennis Quaid on AMC NASCAR drama series Thunder Road
The Outer Banks star is “set for the role of Ronnie Whitlock, who leads with an outlaw smile and a devil-may-care attitude, a fire burning within him. A rebel with a lead foot, he was a promising pro racer before his troublemaking got him bounced from the game and relegated to his cousin Trey’s pit crew,” according to Deadline, which adds: “As we previously reported exclusively, Quaid is playing racing legend Duane Whitlock aka The Wrecking Ball, a towering figure who built a racing empire from a legacy of moonshine runs and dirt tracks and refuses to let it die.”
Ron Perlman reuniting with Hand of God creator on Cross Season 3
Perlman is reteaming with Hand of God creator Ben Watkins in a recurring role on the Amazon thriller series on Cross, which Watkins also created. Perlman will play a hard-driving officer. “As Herschel Zamora, Perlman’s character is a cop first and everything else second. Following a series of troubling work-related incidents, Officer Zamora is referred to Dr. Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) for therapy. As Cross digs deeper, he realizes Zamora may be concealing something far more troubling than PTSD,” a synopsis from the producers reads.
Savannah Guthrie makes an emotional plea on Today after reporting of her mom Nancy Guthrie’s possible death
The Today co-anchor responded to reports Monday that a second ransom note had claimed her mother had died unintentionally shortly after she was kidnapped. In response to Today discussing the new developments in a news report, Guthrie said: “I can’t pretend I’m not here,” she added. “And so since I am, I wanted to just take the opportunity to ask people, really to beg people, to come forward. Somebody knows something.” Guthrie added: “So no matter how much I try to come out here every day and to smile and find that joy — and I will, I promise I will — this is a moment to tell you that we need your help. We’re begging for your help. And I’m not gonna miss that opportunity.”
Bob Iger: Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension last fall was over “bad taste,” not politics
The former Disney CEO tells The Financial Times that Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s benching last September was not politically motivated, as had been widely believed. “That was not the case,” Iger said, per LateNighter. “We thought it was in bad taste.” Iger added that Kimmel was asked to apologize — which Kimmel never did when he returned to air the following week. “We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment,” Iger said. ALSO: Megyn Kelly blasts Jimmy Kimmel’s for having fill-ins who are a “litany of left-wing comedians, most of whom you don’t know very well because he’s worried about his job security.”
Terry Crews to host NBC and Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks special
Crews has been tapped to host the 50th annual telecast will air live on Saturday, July 4 from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and simulcast live on Peacock. As previously announced, the special will feature performances from Noah Kahan, Post Malone, Salt-N-Pepa, Bebe Rexha, Shaboozey and Blake Shelton.
Netflix adapting fantasy novel The Everlasting
Author Alix E. Harrow’s 2025 bestselling fantasy novel is getting the TV treatment from Maxton Hall vet Daphne Ferraro. The Everlasting is a time-loop fantasy about a female knight, Sir Una Everlasting, whose legend built a nation, and a not-so-heroic historian sent back through time.
France is taking another stab at Le Saturday Night Live
French TV’s Canal+, which airs Saturday Night Live’s U.S. edition, has ordered an official adaptation of SNL for this fall, nearly a decade after another French channel, M6, launched its own SNL France in January 2017 that lasted one episode with French comedian Gad Elmaleh as host.
Oprah Winfrey reveals she once “begged” her audience not to leak to the media Whitney Houston fell off her talk show’s stage
“I had such trust from The Oprah Show audience … I think it was (Houston’s) last show with us, and she had gone back on drugs,” Winfrey said, speaking at Cannes Lions. “The first interview I did with her when we’d gone behind stage and I asked her about her intention, she was clean, but the day she came to my show then to perform in front of the audience, she was not, and she fell off of the stage.” ALSO: Oprah Winfrey says she learned to “not just let television use me”: “I didn’t want to be a brand.”
What has CBS News ombudsman been doing?
Last year, under an agreement with the FCC, CBS News tapped Kenneth R. Weinstein to serve as ombudsman, flagging complaints privately to its executives. Yet, The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin reports, “as CBS News has been shaken by infighting between management and its star correspondents this year, Mr. Weinstein’s silence is being criticized by media experts. They say Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, has essentially hired a watchdog who doesn’t bark. In the nine months since he was hired, Mr. Weinstein has issued no public statements about CBS News’s coverage or its controversies. He has not issued any guidance or feedback in staffwide emails or memos, three employees said. He has told some employees that he is scheduled to work only one day per month, two people said, though one said he responded to queries outside his monthly workday.” Paramount said in a statement that Weinstein had been doing his job. “He’s there to review concerns about CBS News’s reporting and coverage through a process that has been clear from the beginning,” the statement said. “Since September, he’s independently assessed the issues brought to him and, when appropriate, discussed them with CBS News and Paramount Skydance leadership.” After Weinstein flags potential problems to Paramount’s executives, they decide whether to raise them with CBS News.
The Studio reportedly filmed a Season 2 scene referencing the death of Catherine O’Hara’s Patty Leigh character
According to Page Six, Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz’s characters were recently spotted in a New York City restaurant filming a scene in which they discussed the death of O’Hara’s studio mogul character. O’Hara died in January at age 71.
Film Independent Spirit Awards announces a new award in honor of Robert Redford
The Robert Redford Environmental Vision Award will honor the late acting icon by recognizing a singular work selected from qualifying American narrative television and film that address environmental issues through creativity and possibility.
With JD Vance as a guest, The View had its biggest viewership since November 2024
The vice president’s guest appearance last Tuesday drew 3.3 million viewers. ABC says Vance’s episode had the biggest The View viewership since Nov. 6, 2024, the day after the presidential election and the second most-watched since Jan. 11, 2021, in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S Capitol. ALSO: FCC has received more than 16,000 comments from the public as it evaluates ABC’s petition that the The View.
Brooke Shields to take over as host of ABC’s Hearts of Heroes
Shields succeeds Ginger Zee as host of the weekend educational/informational series from Hearst Media Production Group.
W. Kamau Bell to Nate Bargatze: “Don’t be in a photo with fascists”
“The rules are so simple,” Bell wrote to his fellow comedian in a Substack essay on Bargatze attending the Trump White House’s UFC Freedom 250. “People seem to forget them so often, so I’ve decided to write them out. Hopefully, this stops the madness. Recently, some people who want us to think of them as ‘nice’ and ‘good’ have acted ‘surprised’ when the public has been surprised to see evidence of these ‘nice’ and ‘good’ people willingly associating with proud fascists.” Bell added: “The easiest way to not be photographed with fascists is to not go to places where fascists coagulate.”
The Rainmaker adds Richard Kind
Kevin Ryan and Asher DeLand are also joining the USA drama series’ third season. Kind will play Larry Shifflet, the father to P. J. Byrne’s Deck Shifflet.
Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You is Netflix’s biggest new series of 2026
I Will Find You scored 24 million views in four days following its premiere last Thursday.
David Letterman’s Late Night and Late Show archives will be optimized for expanded streaming distribution
Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, which owns the rights to CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman, is teaming with NBC Universal, which owns the rights to NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman, and media technology company Merzigo to expand distribution of more than 6,000 episodes on YouTube, Facebook and other platforms around the world,” reports Variety. Merzigo will use its proprietary technology to optimize Letterman’s archives “to create compilations, collages and related content in addition to bespoke graphics, dubbing into multiple languages, search and filtering options,” per Variety.
Rowdy fan disrupts Fox’s FIFA World Cup Today booth live on air
A fan climbed up to the Fox booth nearly a half hour after the Argentina beat Austria in Dallas.
Keegan-Michael Key revives Key & Peele’s substitute teacher sketch for World Cup stars
In the spoof clip shared on FIFAWorldCup’s TikTok account, Key reprised his role as Mr. Garvey, who mispronounces the names of French players.
Edinburgh TV Festival is relocating after 50 years to a new home in Manchester
The famous British TV festival is citing “accessibility, affordability and sustainability” as well as “rising costs” for moving to Manchester. “The TV festival, which takes place at the end of August, usually coincides with the famed Edinburgh Fringe performing arts festival, making travel and accommodation difficult and expensive,” as Variety notes.
Jeremy Clarkson says his prostate cancer is in remission: “I’ve cheated death twice”
The 66-year-old Top Gear vet and Clarkson’s Farm star reveals to The Sunday Times he has undergone two emergency surgeries in less than a year for his heart and for prostate cancer. “I’ve cheated death twice,” he said, adding: “I am without a doubt, officially, the world’s luckiest man.” Clarkson revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis on a Clarkson’s Farm episode that aired last week.
Netflix shares the first look at anime series First Night
The streamer will launch its adaptation of the critically acclaimed manga written by Kasumi Yasuda later this year. “The announcement, which is being made at a Netflix Anime panel on Tuesday, marks the first-ever collaboration between two of Japan’s most prolific anime studios: Sunrise, known for the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and works like Cowboy Bebop, and Shaft, renowned for the unique and vivid style of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and the Monogatari series,” says Variety’s Kambole Campbell.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe lives up to its title in its full trailer
The Kevin Sussman-led HBO Max Big Bang Theory spinoff will send his Stuart Bloom character into several different realities, including ones that look like The Matrix and Mad Max. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premieres July 23.