Prison Break reboot scores a Hulu pilot order / Mariah Carey to kick off Netflix's NFL doubleheader / YouTube TV raises its monthly price by $10
PLUS: Julian Fellowes to adapt Detective Brunetti book series for TV.
Prison Break reboot scores a Hulu pilot order
Mayans M.C. co-creator Elgin James' plan to reboot the hit Fox series is coming closer to fruition. According to Deadline, James' version, which was first reported in November 2023, "will be its own thing set within the same universe." It is not expected to feature original Prison Break stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, who played brothers Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows. As Deadline's Rosy Cordero and Nellie Andreeva note, "the reboot got a boost from a Suits-like streaming resurgence for the original 2005 series, which returned to Netflix after a two-year break at the end of July for a limited, 18-month run. (All five seasons of Prison Break, remain available to stream on Hulu.)"
Mariah Carey will kick off Netflix's NFL Christmas Day doubleheader with a taped performance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You"
Carey's performance will be shown before each of the two games, the Chiefs vs. Steelers at 1 p.m. ET and Ravens vs. Texans at 4:30 p.m. Carey joins a talent-rich doubleheader that includes Beyoncé performing at halftime of the late game and a 22-person roster featuring comedians Nate Bargatze and Bert Kreischer.
W. Earl Brown is set to join CBS' Fire Country spinoff Sheriff Country
The former Deadwood star will guest-star in the spring on the Fire Country episode setting up the Morena Baccarin-led Sheriff Country spinoff. He’ll play an off-the-grid marijuana grower who is the father of Baccarin's Sheriff Mickey Fox. Brown is expected to become a series regular on Sheriff Country.
Rebecca Hall joins Ryan Murphy's FX series The Beauty
Hall will co-star with van Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos, and Jeremy Pope in the drama series revolving around the obsession with outward beauty.
Julian Fellowes to adapt Detective Brunetti book series for TV
The Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age creator is set to write and executive produce a TV adaptation of Swiss-American author Donna Leon’s bestselling contemporary book series for 20th Television. Leon’s Brunetti franchise, about fictional detective Guido Brunetti, launched in 1992 and encompasses 33 novels, including one released earlier this year. The first 26 books were adapted as a German TV series. "This is a rare venture into contemporary material for Fellowes whose career as a writer has been devoted to period movies and TV series, including his Oscar-winning feature writing debut, Gosford Park, his Emmy-winning Downton Abbey series, which spawned a successful movie franchise, his current hit, HBO’s The Gilded Age, which has been nominated for an Outstanding Drama Series, and Epix+’s Belgravia," says Deadline's Nellie Andreeva, who adds: "Fellowes’ very first 'story by' writing credit, was on a detective series, a 1980 Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson British co-production series."
YouTube TV raises its monthly price by $10
YouTube announced this morning a monthly price increase from $72.99 to $82.99 that takes effect on Jan. 13 for most existing users. The increase is “due to the rising cost of content,” YouTube said. YouTube TV launched in April 2017 at $35 per month. It went up to $40 per month in March 2018, followed by $50 per month in April 2019, $64.99 in June 2020 and $72.99 in April 2023.
Fox renews Farmer Wants a Wife for Season 3 with Kimberly Williams-Paisley as its new host
Williams-Paisley will take over from country singer Jennifer Nettles, who hosted the first two seasons. “I enjoyed being myself in this show, which was a new experience for me with my first unscripted series,” Williams-Paisley said in a statement. “Because I’m a city girl who embraced the country life when I married my husband twenty-one years ago, I related to the allure of a farmer for these ladies. I really appreciate how dedicated this show and its producers are in helping these hopeful farmers and women find love.”
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace sets return for its final season, plus a spinoff
Investigation Discovery's The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter, premiering Jan. 6 and 7, will “follow Natalia as she reckons with the aftermath of that phone call and navigates an entirely new set of challenges,” according to the official description. A week later, on Jan. 13, ID will premiere The Curious Case Of…, a new six-part spinoff series featuring The Curious Case of Natalia Grace legal analyst Beth Karas. The spinoff series “will tackle truly shocking, bizarre cases filled with twists, turns and access to unbelievable first-hand accounts.”
HBO's Steve Carell college comedy from Bill Lawrence adds Charly Clive
The Lazarus Project alum will play the daughter of Carell's character.
Warner Bros. Discovery is restructuring to split up streaming and cable businesses
Unlike Comcast, which recently spun off its cable networks into a separate company, Warner Bros. Discovery will keep its streaming and cable business under one roof. The new corporate structure aims to bolster its “strategic flexibility and create potential opportunities to unlock additional shareholder value.”
Vanderpump Rules alum James Kennedy arrested for domestic violence
Kennedy was taken into custody by Burbank police on Tuesday night for misdemeanor domestic violence after receiving a call about an argument between him and a woman, reports TMZ, which adds: "We're told a witness saw Kennedy and the woman arguing ... with the reality TV star allegedly grabbing her at one point, though we're told officers did not see any visible injuries on her. It's worth noting Kennedy and his girlfriend, Ally Lewber, appeared to attend a holiday party at Kathy Hilton's home the night of the arrest." Kennedy was released after posting $20,000 bail.
Buzzfeed sells Hot Ones studio for $82.5 million
Sean Evans, host of the viral spicy chicken wing-eating YouTube talk show, is one of the buyers of First We Feast, the studio behind Hot Ones. The consortium of buyers also includes First We Feast founder Chris Schonberger podcast media company Crooked Media, Rhett & Link’s Mythical Entertainment and Soros Fund Management, the investment firm founded by billionaire financier George Soros.
HGTV removes Christina Haack's ex Josh Hall from The Flip Off promo photos
Haack's estranged third husband was set to co-star on her new house-flipping reality show premiering Jan. 29. But promotional photos show Christina solo opposite her competitors on the show: her first husband and former Flip or Flop co-star Tarek El Moussa, and Tarek's new wife Heather El Moussa. Watch The Flip Off teaser.
Jimmy Kimmel gets "Hawk Tuah" girl Haliey Welch to star in his Hannukah movie parody
"Happy Chanuk-Tuah to You-Ah" is part of Kimmel's attempt to push for more Hannukah-themed holiday movies.
Michael Emerson on playing his wife Carrie Preston's adversary on Elsbeth: "It's interesting, weird and complicated"
"It's like a two-layered acting day," says Emerson, who makes his debut on his wife's CBS drama tonight as Judge Milton Crawford. "You have to act like you don't know this person that you woke up with in the morning and treat them as if they are a fictional character, and as your adversary, not your spouse. So it's a lot going on. A lot is being tuned out while a lot is being opened up." ALSO: Carrie Preston on working with her husband: "I just loved the idea of sort of inviting him into this universe..."
Apple TV+ acquires Spanish romcom series Love You to Death
The seven-episode series from Spanish broadcaster Atresmedia TV "stars Verónica Echegui (Orígenes Secretos) and Joan Amargós (Show Yourself) as a pair of friends who strike up an unlikely romance," per Deadline. "Plot follows the cautious Raúl (Amargós), who reconnects with free-spirited and newly pregnant Marta (Echegui), after he receives a heart cancer diagnosis. They resume a childhood friendship, and in a relationship brought together by fate, begin to test their beliefs about love."
The Twilight Zone Channel launches on Pluto TV
The FAST channel will serve up the Rod Serling classic 24/7.
Letterkenny spinoff Shoresy to be adapted as a video game
Shoresy: The NOSHO, launching on major gaming platforms in 2025, will allow fans to immerse themselves in the world of Shoresy, "from the laughs to the hits, the fights to the goals."
SNL's Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla join CBS’ Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas
They'll reteam with two-time Saturday Night Live host Bargatze on the Dec. 19 CBS special, produced by their boss Lorne Michaels.
Vice TV to shift to a sports-first cable network
"Vice Sports will look to capitalize on still-healthy viewer appetite for sports fare, but the initiative does not signal an intent as of now to go after any top-tier live rights," reports Deadline's Dade Hayes. "As part of the strategic shift, Vice TV will co-produce and air seven original sports series early next year, with prime-time programming blocks carrying the Vice Sports brand. The company will produce more than 50 hours of sports-themed docuseries, programs, events, and podcasts for global distributors across television and digital. Among the initial partners with Vice is Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions."
Dick Van Dyke says he was "trying to crawl to the car" during his "exhausting" escape from Malibu wildfires
“It was coming from the hill, you could see it,” the comedy legend said on Today, one day before his 99th birthday. “And oh my God, and we got out of here. I was trying to crawl to the car, I had exhausted myself, I couldn’t get up.”
Watch TCM's Ben Mankiewicz introduce Mildred Pierce using Gen Z slang
"Tonight is for the girlies as we serve one of 1945's biggest slays, Mildred Pierce," says Mankiewicz, adding that "this noir absolutely slaps."
Mike Judge takes on Big Pharma in the trailer for Adult Swim's Common Side Effects
Judge and his King of the Hill collaborator Greg Daniels are executive producing the comedy thriller series from creators Joe Bennett and Steve Hely. Premiering Feb. 2, Common Side Effects follows “two former high school lab partners who share a secret: Marshall has discovered the world’s greatest medicine, a mushroom that can heal almost anything. But getting it out into the world won’t be easy — the DEA, big pharma and international businessmen are all on the chase to stop them.”
Noah Wyle is on a harrowing ER shift in Max's The Pitt teaser
“15 episodes, 15 hours, 1 shift" is the tagline for the medical drama that reunites ER alum Wyle and executive producer John Wells. The Pitt premieres in January.
Watch the trailer for Your Friend, Nate Bargatze
Nate Bargatze is back for his third solo Netflix comedy special, premiering Dec. 24.