In today’s TV News Roundup, “So You Think You Can Dance” gets renewed and DeWanda Wise and Jessica Williams enter”The Twilight Zone.”
DATES
Netflix’s new Ricky Gervais series “After Life” is set to launch March 8 with co-stars Kerry Godliman, Tom Basden, Tony Way, David Bradley and Ashley Jensen. “After Life” follows Tony (Gervais) who decides to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he wants after his wife Lisa (Godliman) dies. Other cast members include Penelope Wilton, David Earl, Joe Wilkinson, Kerry Godliman, Mandeep Dhillon, Jo Hartley, Roisin Conaty, Tim Plester and Diane Morgan. In addition to executive producing, Gervais created, wrote and directed the series alongside producer Charlie Hanson and fellow executive producer Duncan Hayes.
Conan O’Brien‘s late-night talk show “Conan” is set to return with guest Tom Hanks Jan. 22 at 11 p.m. on TBS. The premiere, which marks O’Brien’s ninth season with TBS as well as his 26th year on television, will kick off a week of new shows airing at 11 p.m., featuring guests such as Bill Hader, Gina Rodriguez and Pete Holmes. The show is produced by Conaco LLC, with Jeff Ross serving as executive producer.
Related
CASTING
DeWanda Wise and Jessica Williams are entering the fifth dimension with CBS’ upcoming “Twilight Zone” reboot. The pair is set to join an unannounced episode alongside Lucinda Dryzek, Jefferson White and Jonathan Whitesell. Wise also stars as Nola Darling in the Netflix adaptation of Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It,” with previous television credits on “Shots Fired,” “Underground,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Good Wife,” “The Mentalist” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” Williams is the co-creator of the popular live show and podcast “2 Dope Queens,” and has previously appeared on “The Daily Show,” “Girls” and “Just for Kicks.”
Omar Metwally, Tracy Ifeachor, Hyo Joo Han, Gabrielle Scharnitzky and Emilia Schüle are joining USA Network’s upcoming action-thriller “Treadstone” alongside previously announced actors Jeremy Irvine and Brian J. Smith. The new cast members are taking on a variety of roles including CIA agent Mr. Edwards (Metwally), investigative journalist Tara Coleman (Ifeachor) and no-nonsense, Russian patriot Petra (Scharnitzky). Other roles include wife and mother SoYun (Han) and an unnamed Russian KGB agent (Schüle).”Treadstone” explores the origin story of the CIA black ops program of the same name, which tried to use behavior modification to turn recruits into nearly superhuman assassins. Production for the series began Monday in Budapest.
Nancy Cartwright is reprising her Disney Channel role as Rufus the naked-mole rat in the upcoming live-action “Kim Possible” Disney Channel original movie. The veteran actress previously voiced the same role for Disney Channel’s “Kim Possible” animated series, which ran from 2002 to 2007. Additionally, Cartwright has voiced Bart Simpson on “The Simpsons” for the past 30 years. Joining Cartwright on the film is newcomer Sadie Stanley as Kim Possible, Sean Giambrone as Ron Stoppable and Todd Stashwick and Taylor Ortega as the evil villain duo Drakken and Shego, respectively. “Kim Possible” is set to premiere Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. EST/PST.
Sarah Shahi is joining Showtime’s upcoming drama “City on a Hill,” starring Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge. Shahi will recur in the guest-starring role of Rachel Behnam, a street-smart investigator for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. “City on a Hill” follows assistant district attorney Decourcy Ward (Hodge) after he arrives in Boston and forms an alliance with FBI veteran Jackie Rohr (Bacon) to take on a family of armored car robbers in the early 1990s. The series is set to begin production in February and is eyeing a late 2019 premiere. Additionally, creator Chuck MacLean is executive producing with showrunner and writer Tom Fontana, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jennifer Todd, Michael Cuesta, James Mangold and Barry Levinson. Kevin Bacon and Jorge Zamacona are also serving as co-executive producers.
RENEWALS
Fox has renewed its hit dance competition series “So You Think You Can Dance” for a 16th season. The series is set to return to Fox this summer with audition deadlines closing Jan. 27. Dancers looking to audition can register and upload a video here. Selected dancers will then be invited to attend auditions in New York on Feb. 9, Dallas on Feb. 12 and Los Angeles on Feb. 23. Co-creator Nigel Lythgoeise is executive-producing the show with Allen Shapiro, Barry Adelman, Mike Yurchuk, Jeff Thacker, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman.
EXECUTIVES
UTA is expanding its news and broadcast division with the addition of former ABC News and Mic executive Marc Paskin. Based out of UTA’s New York office, Paskin will focus on integrating traditional and digital media to create new opportunities for his clients while identifying new creative avenues for future journalists. UTA’s News and Broadcast division represents a number of high profile clients including, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Jake Tapper, Norah O’Donnell, David Muir, Dana Bash, Glenn Beck, Chuck Todd, Margaret Brennan and Brian Kilmeade. Previously, Paskin worked as a talent executive at ABC News before moving to Mic where he took on a senior executive role overseeing talent development and business affairs.
DEVELOPMENTS
Circle of Confusion Television Studios, a joint venture between the production and management company Circle of Confusion and ITV Studios America, announced a new deal with Amazon to begin development on a new one hour drama titled “Thirteen.” Based on the graphic novel “Six,” “Thirteen” will follow a cold-blooded alien agent who is trying to track down 12 alien defectors on Earth where she experiences human emotion for the first time. Mike Oeming and Dan Berman, the authors of the graphic novel, will serve as executive producers alongside writer Stefan Jaworksi and director Michael Dinner.