In today’s TV news roundup, Disney Plus released a trailer for “Star Wars: The Bad Batch,” and Hulu released a for the fourth season of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
FIRST LOOKS
Disney Plus released a for “Star Wars: The Bad Batch,” which debuts on May 4 (Star Wars Day) with a 70-minute premiere. Set after the events of “Revenge of the Sith,” the series follows the titular elite and experimental group of clones as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars. Dee Bradley Baker, who worked on “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels,” returns to voice all of the clones in the series. Additionally, other familiar characters such as Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) from “The Mandalorian,” Grand Moff Tarkin (Stephen Stanton) and Saw Gerrera (Andrew Kishino) will appear. “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” is executive produced by Dave Filoni, Athena Portillo, Brad Rau and head writer Jennifer Corbett, with Carrie Beck as co-executive producer and Josh Rimes as producer. Watch the trailer below:
Hulu released a trailer for the upcoming fourth season of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which premieres on April 28. Consisting of 10 episodes, the new season follows fierce rebel leader June (Elisabeth Moss) as she strikes back against Gilead. As her quest for justice and revenge begins to destroy her most cherished relationships, June risks having to face unexpected and dangerous new challenges. The series also stars Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella, Madeline Brewer, O-T Fagbenle, Amanda Brugel, Bradley Whitford and Sam Jaeger. The season is executive produced by Moss, Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Eric Tuchman, John Weber, Frank Siracusa, Sheila Hockin, Kira Snyder and Yahlin Chang. Watch the trailer below.
Netflix released a trailer for the upcoming fantasy “Shadow and Bone,” which premieres on April 23. Based on Leigh Bardugo‘s bestselling Grishaverse novels, the series takes place in a war-torn world where an orphan soldier named Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) unleashes an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free. With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, she joins forces with an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. As she struggles to hone her power, she finds that it will take more than magic to survive. The eight-episode season also stars Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Ben Barnes, Sujaya Dasgupta, Danielle Galligan, Daisy Head, Simon Sears, Calahan Skogman, Zoë Wanamaker, Kevin Eldon, Julian Kostov, Luke Pasqualino, Jasmine Blackborow and Gabrielle Brooks. Executive producers on the series include showrunner Eric Heisserer; Bardugo; director Lee Toland Krieger; Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Josh Barry for 21 Laps Entertainment, and Pouya Shahbazian for Loom Studios. Watch the trailer below.
Paramount Plus released a trailer for the upcoming seventh season of “Younger,” which premieres on April 15. The series follows Liza Miller (Sutton Foster), a talented editor navigating the highly competitive world of publishing — while juggling the complications of mixing business with pleasure and facing the lie she created about her age to land her dream job. In the final season, Liza’s personal life is on shaky ground as she tries to stay true to herself. After a setback at work, Kelsey (Hillary Duff) doubts her career decisions and discovers a new creative outlet. Meanwhile, Maggie (Debi Mazar) gets canceled. Charles Michael Davis, Nico Tortorella, Molly Bernard, Miriam Shor and Peter Hermann also star. “Younger” is created, executive produced and written by Darren Star, with Tony Hernandez of Jax Media also executive producing. Dottie Zicklin, Eric Zicklin and Alison Brown serve as executive producers and writers on the series. ViacomCBS MTV Entertainment Studios’ Keith Cox and Antonia Covault are the executives in charge of production. Watch the trailer below.
CASTING
ABC announced that Danielle Harris, Brian Austin Green and Candice Bergen will guest star on upcoming episodes of “The Conners.” Harris, who previously played a recurring role on the fifth season of “Roseanne,” will return as Molly Tilden, the Conners’ next-door neighbor and a high school rival for David’s (Johnny Galecki) affection. She will reprise the character for one episode airing on April 7. Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and Molly were once enemies, but 30 years later, they find themselves having had similar lives and become close. Green will appear on two upcoming episodes as Jeff, a “quirky, free spirit traveler who lives out of his van.” Additionally, Bergen returns as Ben’s (Jay R. Ferguson) mother, Barb, who made her debut earlier this season. Despite being from Lanford, Barb “has a superior air and a sharp tongue, but she’s much more agreeable when she’s had a few drinks.” She will return to the series for two more episodes. “The Conners” stars John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, Jayden Rey and Ferguson. The series is executive produced by Tom Werner, along with Gilbert, Bruce Helford, Dave Caplan, Bruce Rasmussen and Tony Hernandez.
STREAMING
Univision Communications announced the launch of PrendeTV, America’s first and only streaming channel-based and VOD service created specifically for U.S. Hispanic audiences. The free, ad-supported platform comes to market with 40 streaming channels and 10,000 hours of on-demand video programming. Combined with Vix, which Univision acquired in February, the total is 30,000 hours. The service will be available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Advertisers at launch include Chase, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Universal Pictures, Verizon and Walmart. International suppliers of programming include Banijay, Blue Ant Media, Calinos, Caracol, Cisneros, Filmrise, Globo, Nelvana and RCN. In the coming weeks, PrendeTV will add movies from Hollywood studios such as Disney, Lionsgate and MGM.
PODCASTS
The New York Times and Serial Productions announced a new limited podcast series called “The Improvement Association,” which will premiere on April 13. Hosted by reporter Zoe Chace, the five-part series follows her journey to Bladen County, N.C. to investigate the power of election fraud allegations. Two years ago, the county made national headlines after the results of an election were thrown out after evidence showed the winner’s campaign had tampered with absentee ballots. “The Improvement Association” is produced by Nancy Updike and associate producer Amy Pedulla. The podcast was edited by Julie Snyder, Sarah Koenig, Neil Drumming and Ira Glass, with editorial consulting by RL Nave and Tim Tyson. Ben Phelan served as fact-checker and researcher, while Phoebe Wang was the sound designer and mixer. The original score was written and performed by Kwame Brandt-Pierce. Click here to listen to the trailer.
EVENTS
The Screen Actors Guild union (SAG-AFTRA) and People recently held a fundraiser that brought together several of this year’s SAG Awards nominees along with Henry Winkler to participate in a virtual “Happy Days” table read of the 1975 episode “The Motorcycle.” In addition to Winkler, who reprised his beloved role as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli, the panel included Glenn Close, John Carroll Lynch, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Jamie Chung, Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan. The benefit, which has already raised over $21,000 in donations, will provide financial and medical assistance, disaster relief, and scholarships to SAG-AFTRA artists and their families, as well as support the union’s foundation’s educational programming. Watch the table read below.
LATE NIGHT
Tonight, Bob Odenkirk, Nicole Byer and Tate McRae will appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”