In today’s TV news roundup, The Trevor Project is honoring Ryan Murphy and the cast of “Pose” at its upcoming gala ,and both Fox and NBC have announced holiday specials.
DATES
Logo’s upcoming documentary “Transmilitary” is set to premiere Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. The film, which won the the SXSW Audience Award this year, follows the lives of transgender members of the armed forces, senior airman Logan Ireland, corporal Laila Villanueva, captain Jennifer Peace and first lieutenant El Cook, as they pursue careers in the United States military. “Transmilitary” is directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson and is the first feature documentary to receive a grant from the GLAAD Media Institute.
CMT has announced the premieres for three of its winter series. The new unscripted show, “Racing Wives,” which follows the wives of several professional race car drivers, will premiere Jan. 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. This will be followed by the return of “Music City” Jan. 3 at 10 p.m., while “Wife Swap” will premiere Feb. 28 at 9 p.m.
Fox’s new celebrity singing competition “The Masked Singer” is set to premiere Jan. 2 at 9 p.m. Hosted by Nick Cannon, the show will feature competing performances from a myriad of celebrity contestants who perform their songs while hidden behind elaborate costumes and masks. Each week, judges and audience members will vote a contestant off of the show, before learning his or her actual identity. Panelists for “The Masked Singer” include Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke.
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CASTING
Sandra Bernhard will guest star in the second season of the Starz series “Sweetbitter” as Maddie Glover, the head chef and owner of the show’s titular restaurant. Bernhard’s recent television credits include “Pose,” in which she has been upped to series regular for the second season, as well as “2 Broke Girls,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Will & Grace.” She is is repped by Jeremy Katz at The Katz Company and Lawrence Kopeikin at Morris Yorn.
AWARD SHOWS
The Trevor Project is honoring Ryan Murphy and the cast of “Pose” at its upcoming TrevorLIVE LA gala on Dec. 2 at the Beverly Hilton hotel. “I’m thrilled to be honored by The Trevor Project alongside the cast of POSE,” Murphy said in a statement. “We’re extremely supportive of the work that this extraordinary organization does to help LGBTQ young people in need feel heard and valued.” The Trevor Project is the world’s largest organization for crisis intervention and suicide prevention for the LGBTQ community, providing a host of services including peer-to-peer social network support and advocacy programs. “Pose” has also made a significant impact within the queer community, featuring the largest transgender series regular cast and the largest LGBTQ cast ever for a scripted series. Previous TrevorLIVE honorees and performers include Tom Ford, Kristin Chenoweth, Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, among others.
EXECUTIVE NEWS
Kate Dennis is set to direct and executive produce the HBO pilot “Run,” an upcoming comedic thriller from Entertainment One. The show follows a pair of ex-lovers who made a pact 15 years ago that if they ever needed to escape life, they could send each other a text message with the word “Run,” before disappearing together forever. Cast members so far include Domhnall Gleeson, Merritt Wever and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with writer Vicky Jones executive producing. Previously, Dennis received an Emmy nomination for her work on Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and directed and executive produced the pilot for NBC’s “New Amsterdam.”
SPECIALS
Fox announced “Masterchef Junior: Celebrity Showdown” will air on Thanksgiving night, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. During the two-hour special, celebrity guests will battle each other in three separate match-ups for a $25,000 donation to a charity of his or her choice. Celebrity contestants include Terrence Howard and Eric Stonestreet, who will battle it out during the first challenge, followed by Alyson Hannigan and Lil Rel Howery, and Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice.
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are joining friends and family for an upcoming holiday special “A Legendary Christmas with John and Chrissy” to air Nov. 28 at 10 p.m. on NBC. During the hour long show, Legend will perform songs from his upcoming Christmas album, “A Legendary Christmas,” while hosting a variety of other celebrities to be announced at a later date.