As things start to open up, Hollywood and other film and television productions are looking to reopen with Britain, American, and Canadian studios all taking steps forward.
Networks are also wrapping up their schedules handing down renewals and cancellations to some of their mid-season shows, and many networks are taking steps towards diversity and inclusion.
Check out some of the notable happenings from this week in our TV news wrap-up.
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NBC has renewed musical dramedy Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist for a second season.
- The musical dramedy stars Jane Levy as a young tech worker who can hear the heart songs of people around her. She uses these powers to help them fix their problems.
- The series also stars Skylar Astin, Lauren Graham, Mary Steenbergen, and Alex Newell.
- The season finale, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Season 1 Episode 12, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Dad,” matched the series high rating, and Season 1 averaged 3.1 million viewers when Live +7 ratings were factored in. Read more about this renewal right here.
BET announced ‘Content for Change,’ an initiative to empower black voices and address racial inequalities in America.
- According to Deadline, “The network has partnered with corporate, civil rights and social justice organizations to use its platform to positively impact social justice outcomes for Black Americans.”
- The initiative will focus on the creation, distribution, marketing, sale, and promotion of content that will drive critical change and will focus on five areas including racial justice, economic empowerment, education, health, and civic participation.
- BET and its corporate partners have dedicated $25 million to the initiative.
ABC names Matt James as the next Bachelor, making him the first Black lead of the series.
- It was announced on Friday’s Good Morning America broadcast that James would lead the 25th season of The Bachelor.
- James is a 28-year-old real estate broker, entrepreneur, and community organization founder.
- The news of the new bachelor comes not long after The Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay said she’d quit the franchise if it didn’t address its lack of diversity.
- The Bachelor Season 25 is set to premiere in 2021.
MATT JAMES
Hollywood, Canada, and Britain are taking steps to restart film and TV production.
- On Monday, Canadian productions were given guidelines for reopening ASAP. Deadline reports that productions such as Riverdale, The Flash, The Good Doctor, and over 30 others that shoot in Vancouver are encouraged to start filming, but that employers need to put forth a safety plan.
- In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti, said that film and TV production can resume this Friday, June 12th. Guidelines for reopening were later released, but there were also concerns about a spike in cases of COVID-19 in the Los Angeles area.
- Britain’s Ealing Studios announced that it will open a coronavirus testing facility as part of their production restart plans. There will be an on-site medic available in July to do testing and possibly even temperature screenings.
The Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity (TTIE) has called on Hollywood to prioritize hiring Black writers.
- Deadline reports, “In May, TTIE released their second ‘Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing’ report which showed that although the industry has seen an increase in efforts to monitor and track representation in writers rooms, underrepresented voices are still jumping over hurdles.”
- TTIE stresses the importance in hiring Black writers not only for Black characters and writing Black storylines, but across all media.
- They also encourage the industry to “sit in the discomfort of stories you may not recognize.”
Starz has renewed Hightown for a second season.
- After setting a new record for series premiere viewership across all STARZ OTT platforms in May, the drama starring Monica Raymund has been renewed for a second season.
- In a statement, STARZ praised the series for its dynamic storytelling, multi-cultural cast, and female leadership both in front of and behind the camera.
Amazon has picked up Anna Paquin’s Flack after it was abruptly dropped by Pop TV.
- Deadline reported the news that dramedy had been saved. The show was previously dropped from ViacomCBS’s Pop TV a week before the second season was set to air.
- The deal also gives Amazon the option to consider a third season of the show.
Perfect Harmony and Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector have been canceled by NBC.
- Deadline reported the cancellation of both the freshman drama and the freshman comedy but gave no reason for the network’s decision.
- Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector began its 10-episode run in January. It starred Russell Hornsby as Lincoln Rhyme, a hard-headed forensic scientist who suffers near-fatal injuries on the job leaving him a tetraplegic. Rhyme continues to work remotely with the police department helping them solve cases. The series also starred Arielle Kebbel, Roslyn Ruff, Ramses Jimenez, Brooke Lyons, Tate Ellington, Brian F. O’Byrne, Courtney Grosbeck and Michael Imperioli. The series was based on the books by Jeffery Deaver.
- Perfect Harmony launched in September and ran for 13 episodes. It starred Bradley Whitford alongside Anna Camp, Tymberlee Hill. Geno Segers and Rizwan Manji. Whitford played Dr. Arthur Cochran, a recently widowed former instructor at Princeton, who becomes music director at a small church in Kentucky. He sets forth to transform the failing choir through unorthodox, yet highly-effective methods.
Cops and Live P.D. have been pulled from the schedule by there respective networks in the wake of massive protests.
- According to Deadline Paramount Network pulled the long-running docuseries Cops on June 1st and announced that it currently has no future plans for the show to return.
- Cops series originally premiered on FOX in 1989, and aired on the network for 25 seasons before Spike TV ordered more episodes in 2013. When Spike rebranded as Paramount Network they carried over the resurrected series.
- Disney is reportedly working with local networks who are airing the 1,100 episode library for replacement content.
- A&E also began reevaluating the return of their docuseries Live P.D. The network pulled last week’s episode from air and later canceled the series altogether.
- A Deadline exclusive reports that Live P.D. was one of the network’s flagship shows and one of the highest-rated series on basic cable. The cancellation comes a month after A&E renewed the series for 160 new episodes.
Batwoman‘s showrunner, Caroline Dries, assured fans that they will not be erasing Kate Kane in the recasting.
- The news of Ruby Rose’s departure and the reveal of a character description for Kate Kane’s replacement have triggered speculation that the character might be killed off.
- Creator, executive producer, and showrunner Caroline Dries took to Twitter to dispel the myth.
- Dries began by reaffirming her disinterest in participating in the “bury your gays” trope before saying, “Like you, I love Kate Kane – she’s the reason I wanted to do the show. We’ll never erase her. In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of season two. I don’t want to give away any of our surprises, but to all our devoted fans, please know that LGBTQ+ justice is at the very core of what Batwoman is and we have no intention of abandoning that.”
- Speculation over the identity of Ryan Wilder has also been debated. Some think the name might be a code name for an existing DC character. However, in a conversation with Dries at the ATX Festival, Dries hinted that Wilder may be a new creation.
Love Life has been renewed by HBO Max.
- Deadline reports that this marks the first renewal for the new streaming service.
- The second season of the romantic comedy anthology series will remain set in New York City but will focus on a new character’s journey which will explore “…what happens when you’ve lived your whole life knowing who your soulmate is, only to find out years into a marriage that it’s not the right fit at all.”
- Anna Kendrick’s Darby will appear occasionally in the second season.
San Diego Comic-Con has announced and set dates for a virtual event in July.
- Deadline reports that or the time in the history of the convention, San Diego Comic-Con will be free and open to the masses.
- Set on the same dates as the previously canceled 2020 convention will offer exclusive panels and presentations about comics, gaming, television, film, and a wide variety of topics from publishers, studios, and more.
- There will also be a masquerade and other activities that fans can participate in from their own homes.
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The post TV News Wrap-Up: Matt James Named the First Black Bachelor, ‘Cops’ and ‘Live P.D.’ Canceled, San Diego Comic-Con Goes Virtual, & More first appeared on Tell-Tale TV.