Reality Beat: NBCU Bids For NBA Media Rights Against WBD, ‘Who Killed WCW’ To Premiere June 4
Wilson Cruz - Jamie McCarthy
Docuseries: A new LGBTQIA+ docuseries, Not Part of the Plan, produced by the Big Iron Productions, follows four queer Mormon teens’ challenges, victories, and support from the Utah religious community. Wilson Cruz, Amy Redford, Xan Parker, and Hadleigh Arnst will act as executive producers while Stephen Frandsen will direct. As it reveals the daily lives of these queer teens over two years, the six-episode series contributes to much-needed visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Wilson Cruz has been deeply and authentically advocating for LGBTQ+ youth in front and behind the scenes for decades,” Redford shared. “His life work led us to making him a core part of our team. I am honored to call him a collaborator. His compassion, insights, humor and creativity are an invaluable addition to the project.”
Vice TV’s upcoming docuseries Who Killed WCW will premiere on June 4th. It explores the rise and fall of World Championship Wrestling through in-depth exclusive interviews with wrestlers, executives, and industry insiders.
“Diving into the saga of WCW is not just another project for us; it is an opportunity to highlight our talents as documentary storytellers in a world where we have historical credibility and knowledge: professional wrestling. This project allows us to build a bridge between the passionate global wrestling audience and those curious about an often-misunderstood industry, strengthened by our partnership with a dedicated storyteller in Vice TV,” said Vice Studios executive producer Guillermo Garcia.
She Dared to Dream, a new docuseries focusing on the work and life of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, is currently in production. The project will shed light on Pressley's vision, challenges, and ambitions as she transitioned from being a businesswoman to an influential American politician.
“I’m delighted to be a part of this project which will shine a light on women I’m privileged to work with every day, including my colleague and friend Ayanna Pressley,” said creative consultant Barbara Lee. “Ayanna is an inspiring voice for the next generation in politics and this film will allow audiences to see the work behind the changes she is bringing to the American people as well as to her district.”
Tracee Travels, a new docuseries exclusively on the Roku Channel, will chronicle the solo travels of American Fiction star Tracee Ellis Ross. The project is produced by Ross’ Joy Mill Entertainment and Artists First, and it is set to release in 2025.
“I took my first solo trip when I was 22 years old. I decided way back then that I wouldn’t wait to do the things I wanted to do or for my life to come to me,” said Ross. “I hope this show reminds people that they too can courageously live their lives on their own terms, find their happiness, and be their whole selves and their best selves — by themselves. Everyone deserves to be joyous and audaciously free.”
During a panel for the show at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted, Darryl Matthews McDaniels of the pioneering hip hop group Run-DMC, discussed the Peacock docuseries Kings from Queens: The Run DMC Story. The three-part series dates back to the 1980s, documenting the formation of Run-DMC by when McDaniels, Joseph Simmons, and Jason Mizell in Queens, New York and their growth, achievements, and cultural influence.
“The beauty of exploring this now is because we’re at such a divisive time in our country, in our world, in this present age,” said McDaniels. “So, hopefully people watching this doc … will go, ‘Yo, that’s right!’”
Meanwhile, Apple TV+’s new four-part docuseries, The Super Models, will tell the origin stories of four top models during the 1990s. They include Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, and Linda Evangelista.
“These women, I think, be it their force of personality plus the time, plus the culture, it became a zeitgeist where they were able to own their own image. And I don’t mean that literally because there’s certainly an element of other people owning the photograph, but they got to be bigger than the brand, bigger than the designer that was walking them down the runway, and they were the big draw, and everyone knew their names,” said producer and director Larissa Bills.
Crew members of Lifetime’s controversial docuseries, Where Is Wendy Williams, talked about how they pulled back the curtain to tell this developing story with the ethical line.
“I really do hope that this film becomes a catalyst for change, whether it’s for Wendy or for others, or at least to pull back the curtain and try to understand more how the system works and doesn’t and how it can impact thousands of people,” said executive producer Erica Hanson.
Mandisa Lynn Hundley - Terry Wyatt / Stringer
Competitive Series: Christian singer Mandisa (whose full name is Mandisa Lynn Hundley) died at her Nashville home on April 18th. The cause of death and additional details have not been disclosed. Mandisa began her music career at the age of 29 on American Idol, where she was ranked in the top 10 for a time but was also criticized and scrutinized. Following this, Mandisa released several albums and won four Grammy Awards for her contemporary gospel albums. After Mandisa's death, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest paid tribute to Mandisa, and many American Idol alumni have remembered Mandisa in her honor.
A statement on her official Facebook account reads, “Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life's challenges all around the world. She wrote this song for a dear friend who had passed away in 2017. Her own words say it best. 'I'm already home, you've got to lay it down 'cause Jesus holds me now — And I am not alone,”
During a panel at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted, the team behind Netflix's biggest competition series ever, Squid Game: The Challenge, discussed the series’ monumental tasks and challenges, especially the massively uncontrollable casting. The ambitious new reality show, adapted from the hit 2021 Korean survival drama Squid Game, gathers 456 contestants to compete in a series of challenges, including "Red Light, Green Light," for a $4.56 million prize.
"Usually on a reality show, you cover 30 or 40 stories a day. We covered over 100. Obviously, this showroom is the biggest showroom I've ever worked in," said Toni Ireland, executive producer of Studio Lambert, who is the series’ other co-producer.
The queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 described the love and support shared between fellows in competition as what sets this season apart.
“I would say the energy, the chemistry for everybody — that’s really what’s drawn people to the season,” contestant Xunami Muse said. “And personally, the amount of respect that we all have for each other.
On the new season of Drag Race All Stars, eight drag queens will compete for $200,000 worth of charity fundraising. This season’s queens include Roxxxy Andrews, Gottmik, Jorgeous, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Plastique Tiara, Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Nina West, and Shannel. The series will launch on May 17th on Paramount+.
“I’m back and I’m ready to crash this workroom, crash this whole competition, for the love of drag and charity,” said Gottmik, the third place winner of season 13 of Drag Race.
Judges Rachel Juarez, Michael Corriero, and Yodit Tewolde - Hot bench/cbs
Court: Judge Judy Sheindlin’s panel talk show, Hot Bench, was renewed for the 2025-26 TV season by CBS Stations in major markets and stations owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, Tegna, Scripps, Fox, Gray and Weigel. Launched in 2024, the syndicated court show continues to grow in viewership, according to Nielsen.
“Hot Bench is the only court show to grow year over year this season, increasing 14% in total viewers and 13% among the key women 25-54 demographic,” said Greg Guenther, senior VP of domestic sales for CBS Media Ventures.
Ken Jeong - I Can see your voice/fox
Game Show: CBS’s word-twisting game show Lingo is set to return for its second season on May 24th. The iconic RuPaul Andre Charles hosted it. In the new season, teams of two face off in puzzle rounds to guess letters, with the winner of each episode moving on to the next. The show will also be available to stream on Paramount Plus.
On the previously mentioned Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted panel, Ken Jeong, host of the Fox game show I Can See Your Voice, talked about the rules of the game that contestants have to follow to win the life-changing prize. They must watch singers who lip-sync to songs and distinguish whether their voices are good or bad. Jeong also praised the casting and coaching work, referring to them as the most important essential elements.
“We use visual clues, lip-sync clues, and like detective kind of clues. At the end of the day, the contestant has an opportunity to win life-changing money by determining if the final secret voice is good or bad. And if it is good, then they can win up to $100,000. It’s really just feel-good television at its best,” said Jeong.
Ryan garcia - Sam Hodde / Stringer
Sports: Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel is trying to attract more viewers across multiple platforms and plans to launch a direct-to-consumer offering to complement the lineup.
“The mission is to bring the sport to life fully and let everyone who might potentially be a fan find out if they want to be,” said Tennis Channel president Ken Solomon. “It used to be very hard to do because only a fraction of the sport was on television.”
Boxing star Ryan Garcia wrote on his Twitter (now X) that WWE is interested in signing him. On April 20th, Garcia defeated Devin Haney in shocking result. According to reporter Dan Rafael, Garcia failed a drug test and tested positive in a pre-fight urine test on April 19th, as well as in a post-fight urine test on April 20th. However, Garcia denied using the banned substance ostarine.
In a recent podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray mentioned what to expect from Trick Williams after Williams defeated Ilja Dragunov.
“They have to see enough of him to where they go, ‘Alright. We put the NXT Championship on him. We handed him the ball. He has done very well with it. His matches have gotten better. His promos have gotten better. The fans chant for him even louder if that’s possible. Okay, we have something strong for him on the main roster. Let’s bring him up now and plug him in and see how he’ll do,’” said Ray.
During the The KiddChris Show, WWE Superstar LA Knight commented on his latest brawl with AJ Styles during a WrestleMania press event.
“It was kind of silly for them to sit us next to each other. What did they expect was going to happen. Things blew up, he slammed me down, but when we came out of it, he had a bloody nose,” said LA Knight.
Former WWE Superstar Cameron Grimes (Trevor Lee) announced that he will begin taking bookings starting on July 22nd.
Released from WWE, Canadian professional wrestler Jinder Mahal shared in an Instagram video what’s next for him. He also expressed gratitude for all the support and love during his journey.
“I wanna first say thank you. Thank you to anyone who reached out, all the love, support, DMs, phone calls, texts, comments. I appreciate all of you guys,” Mahal said. “I’ve been here before. That time, I was a kid, but now, I’m a man. I will only present myself in a way that I want to. I will only do things that I want to. I will only go places that I want do. I still have many goals, many dream matches, many places I wanna go. Where do I make an impact? India, Europe, Japan, Canada, Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Stay tuned. You got about 11 more weeks.”
Social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) has renewed a new multi-year partnership agreement with the NFL.
“A dream team of epic proportions!” X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote on the platform. “Whether you’re at the game or streaming it live, the energy from fans is contagious on X — sharing the thrill of every tackle and touchdown as it happens!”
According to the Wall Street Journal, NBCUniversal is bidding $2.5 billion for the media rights packages of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are competing in this bidding against Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT. At the same time, Amazon is trying to lock in the League's first national streaming deal.
Tubi, Fox's ad-supported streaming service, announced the licensing agreements with U.K. sports streaming platform DAZN. Among the newly launched FAST channels, the mixed martial arts-focused DAZN TV and DAZN Ringside channels, as well as the DAZN Women's Soccer channel, are available on apps for streaming consumers in the U.S. and Canada.
