In today’s roundup, Fox announces hosts for its “ Pregame Show,” while Apple’s “Dickinson” adds series regulars.
DATES
Fox News Channel is teaming up with Fox Sports for “Thursday Night Football.” Pro Football Hall of Famers Michael Strahan, Terry Bradshaw, and Howie Long will co-headline Fox Sports’ new “Thursday Night Football Pregame Show,” live from FNC’s headquarters in New York City. Beginning Week 4, their pregame show will air 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on the Fox broadcast network, taking viewers up to kickoff.
Turner Classic Movies is paying tribute to iconic female comedians with “Funny Ladies,” a month of programming celebrating performances from Lucille Ball, Doris Day, Lily Tomlin, and more. Carol Burnett and Illeana Douglas will host, and programming begins Oct. 4 and continues every Thursday in primetime.
Oxygen Media will premiere “Kemper on Kemper: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer” on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. It examines Edmund Kemper, one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in US history, and will feature never-before-seen video and audio footage of Kemper, and exclusive interviews with experts like the former FBI special agent who interrogated him.
Related
HBO will air “RX: Early Detection, A Cancer Journey With Sandra Lee” on Monday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. The documentary chronicles the TV host and lifestyle expert’s battle with breast cancer. Cathy Chermol Schrijver directed the documentary, and was an executive producer, along with Lee, Kathy Bates, and Geralyn White Dreyfous.
Urban Movie Channel will premiere the 6-episode original miniseries “Jacqueline and Jilly,” about a privileged young woman who develops an addiction to prescription painkillers after an unfortunate incident with her horse. It stars Victoria Rowell (“The Young and the Restless”), Richard Brooks (“Being Mary Jane”), Daphne Maxwell Reid (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”), Nikko Austen Smith (“Queen Sugar”) and Shannon Wallace. The first episode of the show will premiere on UMC’s website and on various devices on Thursday, Dec. 6. New episodes will air weekly through Jan. 10, 2019. Rowell created the show and is producing through Days Ferry Productions.
CASTING
Apple’s original series “Dickinson” has added four actors as series regulars. Toby Huss (“Halt and Catch Fire”) stars as Edward Dickinson, the father of poet Emily Dickinson. Anna Baryshnikov (“Manchester by the Sea”) plays Lavinia, Emily’s younger sister, Ella Hunt (“Cold Feet”) is Sue Gilbert, Emily’s best friend, and Adrian Blake Enscoe (“We Don’t Belong Here”) portrays Austin, Emily’s brother. They join cast members Hailee Steinfeld (“Pitch Perfect 3”) and Jane Krakowski (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”). The comedic series explores the constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of the 19th century writer.
Pop TV’s scripted comedy “Florida Girls” will star series creator Laura Chinn (“The Mick”) alongside Laci Mosley (“The Wedding Year”), Melanie Field (“Heathers”), and Patty Guggenheim (“Splitting Up Together”). Inspired by Chinn’s real life growing up on the west coast of Florida, the 10-episode series follows four women who are forced to confront their stagnant lives when their only ambitious friend moves away to pursue her dreams. From Lionsgate Television, the series is executive produced by 3 Arts Entertainment, JAX Media, and Chinn.
EXECUTIVE NEWS
NBCUniversal has made two executive announcements for its Bravo & Oxygen Media senior leadership team. Jenn Geisser, senior vice president of Communications, is expanding her role to spearhead strategic media campaigns and brand awareness across all platforms for Universal Kids. This includes public relations efforts for the recently launched Season 2 of “Top Chef Junior” as well as DreamWorks Animation content. Lisa Hsia, executive vice president of Digital, is expanding her purview to include Digital for Universal Kids. In this role, Hsia will add oversight for all digital efforts for Universal Kids, focusing on a multi-platform approach to increase audience and awareness while driving video views and engagement across all platforms.
Comedy Central has named Jake Urbanski as vice president of Communications and head of Scripted Publicity, as announced by Steve Albani, senior vice president of Communications, to whom he will report. Urbanski will be based in the Hollywood and head up the company’s west coast communications operations. He will also oversee the development and implementation of publicity campaigns for primetime scripted series and, together with Albani, develop and execute internal and external strategic communications.
DIGITAL
AMC’s digital team has created a website to save “Breaking Bad” fan favorite Huell Babineaux (Lavell Crawford). The site, Free Will Baptist Church, was featured in the latest episode of the drama’s prequel “Better Call Saul,” as part of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim Wexler’s (Rhea Seehorn) scam to free the character from a pending legal case. Fans can interact with the site, including reading and listening to testimonials from church members in support of Babineaux, and donating to his legal defense fund. The donations will be directed to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.