Wynonna Earp returning for a Vengeance special on Tubi / Atari is getting the celebrity game show treatment / Netflix to tell Julio Iglesias' story
PLUS: Investigation Discovery's Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV delves into Dan Schneider's toxic Nickelodeon work environment.
Wynonna Earp returning for a Vengeance special on Tubi
Three years after the beloved Syfy series was canceled after four seasons, creator Emily Andras and her Melanie Scrofano-led cast will return for the 90-minute special Wynonna Earp: Vengeance, premiering later this year. In addition to Scrofano, who played the title role, Tim Rozon (Doc Holliday), Dom Provost-Chalkley (Waverly Earp), Katherine Barrell (Nicole Haught) and other familiar faces will return. “Doc and Wynonna have been on an adventure, and Waverly and Nicole have been at home in (the Earp hometown of) Purgatory, doing their thing," Andras tells Vanity Fair. "I think it’s going to be really interesting to see, hopefully, what gets everybody home—maybe facing a challenge they’ve never faced before, something pretty intense. It’s all your favorite—hopefully—character moments, but also a little bit about growing up and sort of, like, being who you are now and earning all your choices.” Wynonna Earp is known for its passionate fanbase, called "Earpers," who have helped get the show renewed in the past. Yet Andras says Wynonna Earp: Vengeance was written to not only appeal to Earpers, but to newbies. “I hope it’s a gateway drug" to the full series, she says. Wynonna Earp's first four seasons are currently available on Netflix.
Investigation Discovery's Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV delves into Dan Schneider's toxic Nickelodeon work environment
The trailer for the four-part docuseries has revealed new allegations against the creator and showrunner behind The Amanda Show, What I Like About You, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious and Sam & Cat. Directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, Quiet on the Set alleges behind the scenes that underage stars and crew were treated inappropriately. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV will air over two nights, on March 17 and March 18.
Atari is getting the celebrity game show treatment
The iconic arcade game and video game console pioneer is being developed as a game show titled The Great Atari Celebrity Showdown. “We’re beyond excited to partner with Atari to bring you the ultimate celebrity game show, with all the drama, comedy, and nostalgia that comes with it,” says executive producer Jay Blumenfeld. “This show celebrates the history of gaming, the culture of entertainment, and the joy of competing like we’re kids — it’s one the whole family won’t want to miss!”
Netflix to tell Julio Iglesias' story
The 80-year-old iconic Spanish singer will fully participate in a drama series that will “tell the story of how Julio Iglesias became the first non-English artist to enter the American and Asian markets and turned into a universal star who is among the five biggest record sellers in history,” said Netflix. “Throughout his more than 55 years of artistic career, Julio Iglesias has recorded and sung in 12 languages and has connected fans from all over the world, becoming the first Spanish artist with universal reach to have his songs sung all over the planet.” In a statement, Iglesias said: "After the many speculations, books and documentaries in which I have not been involved, for the first time I have decided to tell the truth about my life to a universal company like Netflix. After much deliberation, finally, a very touching letter sent to me by Bela Bajaria (chief content officer at Netflix) was enough to convince me that Netflix was the ideal company to develop this project. I feel grateful to a lot of people from many countries who have supported me and have boosted my life.”
Academy creates the first new Oscars category since 2001: Achievement In Casting
The decades-long effort to establish a competitive Oscar for casting directors will finally come to fruition starting in 2025.
Nat Geo renews Limitless with Chris Hemsworth for Season 2
The pickup for the Nat Geo/Disney+ series comes more than a year after the docuseries that has Hemsworth testing his physical and mental boundaries premiered, in November 2022. “Working on Limitless was an eye-opening experience that allowed me to reflect on my strengths, vulnerabilities, and all the ways in which we as humans can plan toward longevity,” Hemsworth said in a statement. “For this next season, we are attempting to raise the bar and go even deeper in this exploration alongside health and wellness experts from around the globe.”
Anthony Mackie to take over Nat Geo's Shark Beach from Chris Hemsworth for Sharkfest
The one-hour documentary special Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie will follow the actor in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana as he investigates a global phenomenon plaguing local fishing communities, and how it might be a symptom of larger environmental issues.
Piers Morgan is exiting Piers Morgan Uncensored for his own YouTube show
Morgan tells Semafor he's starting a YouTube-first, digitally native, broadcast consisting of heated debates, sprawling interviews and “spicy monologues.” “I’ve just decided that I no longer want to create my show for linear television — I just want to go full digital globally,” Morgan told Semafor. Piers Morgan Uncensored launched on Rupert Murdoch-owned Britain conservative outlet TalkTV in 2022. It was also available on Fox Nation.
Wil Wheaton posts a 900-word essay slamming Larry David for attacking Elmo: "This appalling, unforgivable, despicable act hits more than one raw nerve for me"
“When I was growing up, my dad would grab me by the shoulders and shake me while he screamed in my face,” Wheaton wrote in a lengthy Facebook post. “He choked me more than once. He was always out of control, always in a furious rage, and always terrifying. I’m a 51-year-old man and my heart is pounding right now, recalling how I felt when I was a little boy who loved Grover the way today’s kids love Elmo. So this appalling, unforgivable, despicable act hits more than one raw nerve for me, and I’m going to say what I wish I’d been able to say when this sort of thing happened to me.” As for David, Wheaton wrote: "What the f*ck is wrong with that guy?” he wrote. “Elmo is, like, the best friend to multiple generations of children. In the Sesame Street universe, ELMO IS A CHILD, who is currently putting mental health and caring for others in the spotlight. What an asshole. What a stupid, self-centered, tone deaf asshole … Larry David strikes me as a person who mocks and belittles people who are vulnerable and sensitive, and enjoys being cruel, because he feels untouchable."
Reacher Season 3 adds Anthony Michael Hall and Sonya Cassidy
After appearing on Bosch: Legacy last year, Hall will stick with the Amazon family on Reacher Season 3, playing a shady businessman/owner of a rug import company. Cassidy has been cast as an extremely intelligent and tough DEA agent.
Beau Bridges joins CBS' Matlock in a recasting
He will take over the role of head of the law firm that Kathy Bates' Madeline “Matty” Matlock works at. The role was played by Jamey Sheridan in the pilot.
James Marsden, Sarah Shahi and Julianne Nicholson join Sterling K. Brown in Hulu series from Dan Fogelman
The This Is Us creator's untitled thriller series has cast Marsden as the president of the United States, Shahi as a therapist to powerful people and Nicholson as a political power broker, according to Variety.
Nat Geo orders a Sally Ride documentary and a true-crime doc on conman Stéphane Bourgoin
Directed by Cristina Constantini, Sally explores the life and legacy of astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, the first woman in space. Pathological: Chasing A True-Crime Con Man follows the rise and fall of bestselling French author and serial killer expert Bourgoin, whose career was built on a foundation of lies.
Liz Feldman's No Good Deed adds five, including Matt Rogers, Kate Moennig and Linda Lavin
Anna Maria Horsford and Wyatt Aubrey are also joining the Netflix dark comedy series from the Dead to Me creator.
Comedian Donnell Rawlings to star in a Dave Chappelle-produced Netflix special
Chappelle’s Home Team – Donnell Rawlings: A New Day is Rawlings’ first solo stand-up comedy special for Netflix, premiering Feb. 27.
The View's Sunny Hostin reveals she changed her Spanish name because Nancy Grace couldn’t pronounce it
Hostin, born Asunción Cummings, said on PBS' Finding Your Roots that Grace had trouble pronouncing her name during her Court TV appearances. “It was just so crazy. She couldn’t get it," said Hostin. “Then she said, at the break, ‘Can I say something to you?’ I was like, ‘Sure.’ She was like, ‘Do you have another name? A nickname?’ And she just kept at it. She was basically telling me, ‘You’re very good at this, but that name is not gonna fly. You need to just go by a nickname.’”
John Krasinski-Randall Park Super Bowl ad resurrects a classic The Office prank
Watch Park pretend to be Krasinski alongside Ryan Reynolds for a promo for the film IF.
Food Network’s Wildcard Kitchen to mix food with poker
Eric Adjepong hosts the eight-episode series in which he "takes over the test kitchen after hours with an exclusive invitation for three chefs to bring $5,000 to play across three hands of his underground culinary poker game," per Deadline. "The competitors, who all know each other well, have scores to settle and personal stakes to lose as they battle to create dishes based on the cards they are dealt and bet using their own instincts and cold hard cash."
James Brown signs a new deal with CBS to continue hosting The NFL Today
Brown's new contract comes as the rest of his panelists — Bill Cowher, Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms — face an uncertain future with their contracts expiring after the Super Bowl.
Netflix to tell the story of the Cold War with its Turning Point franchise
The streamer will follow up 2021's Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror with Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War, which will "tell the story of the development of the atomic bomb and the dramatic proliferation of nuclear weapons in the decades after, and traces Cold War history past the collapse of the Soviet Union to the rise of Vladimir Putin and into the Russian invasion of Ukraine," per Deadline. "It features more than 100 interviews conducted in 7 countries around the world revealing personal stories that show how much the Cold War transformed lives and drove world history. From survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima to extensive filming in Ukraine, Germany, and some of the former Soviet Republics, the series includes interviews with seven current or former world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as prominent political figures like NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, former CIA Director Robert Gates and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."
Nat Geo's A Real Bug’s Life renewed for Season 2
The Awkwafina-narrated insect docuseries has been picked up for a second season after premiering last month.
José Andrés invites Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O’Shea Jackson Jr. for his Amazon Dinner Party Diaries series
The celebrity chef, humanitarian and philanthropist's Dinner Party Diaries with José Andrés has its participants celebrates the joy of cooking together and how food is a source of hope, inspired by Andrés’ work with the World Central Kitchen nonprofit he founded in 2010.
Dakota Johnson jokes filming her The Office series finale cameo was "honestly the worst time of my life"
“I love that show so much, and they were like, ‘Do you want to be in the series finale?’ and I was like, ‘Of course,’ thinking that I’d show up for, like, half a day," Johnson said on Late Night with Seth Meyers. In reality, “I was there for two weeks," Johnson said, "and I’m barely in the f*cking show.” Johnson appeared as a new employee at Dunder Mifflin after Kevin was fired.
Kate Winslet is an all-powerful autocrat in HBO's The Regime trailer
Watch Winslet play the evil chancellor of a fictional European country in the midst of political upheaval in the limited series premiering March 3.
Watch Netflix's trailer for Mexican thriller series Bandidos
Rambo: Last Blood and Get the Gringo director Adrian Grunberg is the director and Pablo Tébar is the writer on the Spanish-language series that follows a group of bandits as they attempt to retrieve treasure from an underwater grave of a Spanish galleon that sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during the War of Independence. However, they’re not the only ones after the bounty.
Netflix unveils the trailer for true-crime docuseries American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders
The four-part docuseries, premiering Feb. 29, will delve into a conspiracy called “The Octopus," a hidden organization connected to stolen government spy software, a string of unsolved murders, and some of the biggest political scandals of the 20th century.
Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff series Knuckles starring Idris Elba gets a trailer and premiere date
All six episodes of the live-action series taking place between the films Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premieres with all six episodes on April 26.