Small Screen: Apple TV+ Greenlights ‘Widow’s Bay,’ Jacob Scipio Joins ‘Maintenance Required’
Damon Wayans Jr. - Monica Schipper
Broadcast: CBS is developing Ten House, a New York-based firefighter drama produced by Damon Wayans Jr.'s Two Shakes Entertainment and written by Pilar Golden. The story explores two newbie firefighters at FDNY’s Ten House as children of 9/11 first responders and the challenges of New York’s emergency response. Golden will be an executive producer alongside Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow.
TikTok creator Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson is having her viral TikTok series Who TF Did I Marry? adapted into a series by Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus). Rothwell will star as Johnson and serve as executive producer. Johnson's TikToks, totaling over eight hours across 50 videos, went viral, amassing 450 million impressions and 3 million followers. The series is now set for development with ABC Signature after a bidding war. The story is based on Johnson's account of her relationship with her ex-husband, whom she describes as a pathological liar.
Fox's Empire co-creator Lee Daniels recently called working on the show “absolutely the worst experience” despite its success. In an interview, Daniels explained that he joined television to see what it was like to work under studio control, as his previous films were independently financed. Empire, which ran for six seasons, became a cultural phenomenon, but Daniels left television after the spin-off about Empire’s fan-favorite character Cookie fell through. Taraji P. Henson, who starred as Cookie, also shared frustrations when a planned spinoff failed to materialize, ultimately firing the team.
“You know, my first movie was developed with drug money, Monster’s Ball. We won the first Black woman an Oscar," said Daniels. “Every one of my films has been independently financed where I’m able to…do my thing and nobody is in my head. There’s so many filmmakers and writers that I respect that have to answer to people. So I only did Empire just so I could see what that experience was like.”
Fox's crime series Accused has added Dina Shihabi (Archive 81), Vella Lovell (Animal Control), and Isabel Arraiza (Outer Range) to the season 2 cast. They will join previously announced actors Felicity Huffman (The Good Lawyer), Cobie Smulders (Secret Invasion), Patrick J. Adams (Suits), Danny Pino (Hotel Cocaine), and Nick Cannon (The Masked Singer), to name a few. Fox released the trailer teasing the actors and announced that season 2 will premiere on October 8th. Accused explores gruesome crime stories from the defendant’s perspective.
Robyn Cara - Dave Benett
Cable: USA Network's series The Rainmaker has added Robyn Cara (Bodkin) to the cast as a series regular. Cara joins as Kelly Riker, a woman in an abusive relationship who befriends Rudy. The series is based on John Grisham's novel The Rainmaker and boasts Michael Seitzman as its showrunner. The series explores law graduate Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan) competing with veteran Leo Durmmond (John Slattery) in a case to uncover the death of their client's son.
Hiro Murai - Jason Mendez / Stringer
Streaming: Prime Video has greenlit production for a Reacher spinoff titled Neagley focusing on Maria Sten's (Swamp Thing) character Frances Neagley. Neagley is described as a former military co-worker of Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) in the 110th Special Investigations Unit. Executive producer Nick Santora is partnering with Micholas Wootton to co-showrun the series and will join executive producers David Ellison, Lee Child, Don Granger, Dana Goldberg, Lisa Kussner, and Matt Thunell.
Apple TV+ has announced production of a 10-episode horror-comedy series titled Widow’s Bay. The series is created by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation) and the pilot will be directed by Hiro Murai (The Bear). Carver Karaszewski and Claudia Shin will join Dippold and Murai as executive producers. The story is set in New England on a cursed island full of citizens who try to tell their dismissive mayor about the strange situations occurring on their land.
Amazon MGM Studios's rom-com Maintenance Required has added Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys: Ride or Die) as a lead. Scipio will star alongside Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) as Beau and Charlie, respectively. Charlie is the head of an all-woman mechanic shop and accidentally befriends her rival Beau online. The series will be directed by Lacey Uhlemeyer and is co-written by Erin Falconer, Roo Berry, Luke Roberts, and Uhlemeyer.
Peacock's dark comedy series adaptation of The 'Burbs has set Keke Palmer to star and executive produce. The series will revisit the film about suburban neighbors who suspect new residents of being murderers. Seth MacFarlane and Brian Grazer will also executive produce with Palmer and Dana Olsen, the film's original writer. Set in a modern neighborhood, the show follows a young couple uncovering secrets after moving back to the husband’s childhood home.
Peacock's mystery series Poker Face has added Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) as a guest for its upcoming season 2. Erivo is starring alongside Margo Martindale (The Americans), BJ Novak (The Office), Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), and Katie Holmes (The Secret: Dare to Dream). The series is created by Rian Johnson and produced by T-Street and MRC. The story will follow Charlie Cale (Lyonne) as she drives her Plymouth Barracuda from town to town while solving crimes with her ability to lie-detect.
Netflix’s mystery series The Boroughs has revealed its main cast, featuring Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek), Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story), Alfred Molina (Frida), Geena Davis (GLOW), Bill Pullman (Independence Day), and Clarke Peters (The Wire). Woodard is cast as Judy, Molina as Sam, Davis as Renee, and Peters as Art. The series is created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews and is executively produced by the Duffer Brothers. The series will stream eight episodes and will tell the story of a group of heroes in a retirement community who work to stop a supernatural threat from stealing their time.
Jessica Schibli - X
Industry: Disney has responded to DirecTV’s claims amid their ongoing contract dispute. The dispute caused ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels to go dark on DirecTV’s platform starting September 1st, 2024. DirecTV executives accused Disney of harming consumers and highlighted declining viewership on linear channels like ESPN and ABC, and mentioned Disney's antitrust issues surrounding the launch of its Venu sports streaming service. In a statement from Disney Entertainment leaders Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, and ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro, Disney refuted these claims, accusing DirecTV of “misrepresenting the facts around our ongoing negotiations.” They emphasized their commitment to reaching a fair agreement that benefits both DirecTV customers and recognizes the value of Disney’s content, which they argue remains popular with 90% of DirecTV consumers engaging with Disney's content monthly.
Beau DeMayo, creator and executive producer of the Marvel series X-Men ’97, has accused Marvel and Disney of “egregious prejudicial misconduct” in a 30-minute video on his OnlyFans. DeMayo, who was fired prior to the series’ premiere, claims his dismissal followed his posting of fan art for Pride Month, which led to Marvel stripping him of his Season 2 credits. He refutes allegations of sexual misconduct and asserts that Marvel execs weaponized his identity as a gay Black man, describing the workplace as hostile, citing discriminatory behavior, comments, and poor working conditions. DeMayo’s attorney has filed a lawsuit to challenge his separation agreement, citing violations of California law regarding workplace harassment and discrimination disclosures.
“These allegations of egregious misconduct are false...They are offensive,” DeMayo said in his video. “But more concerning is that they’re a smear campaign designed to discredit my credibility in order to cover up egregious prejudicial misconduct stretching from select crew members on ‘X Men ’97’ all the way to the top of Marvel Studios.”
BBC's creative diversity chief Jessica Schibli discussed in an interview her optimism regarding the progress in UK TV representation. Schibli stated that representation has consistently improved since 2021 after BBC recently set a new 25% diversity target for its shows, up from 20%, aligning with its internal diversity goals. BBC plans to maintain their show investments at £240 million annually if they can hit the diversity criteria. Schibli emphasized the need for greater alignment between diverse on-screen portrayals and senior off-screen roles and starting a pan-broadcaster working group focused on supporting diverse-led production companies and developing underrepresented talent in senior roles.
“We are looking to embed diversity and inclusion into the commissioning process rather than being siloed or seeing it as an add-on,” said Schibli. “We need to think about it in a way that doesn’t silo out different characteristics, looking at intersectionality.”
Jiella Esmat and Karine Ahton have launched 8 Lions, a new London-based company focused on developing and growing entertainment IPs for kids and teens. Like their previous experience at Moonbug, the two strive to use a data-driven approach to expand properties for youth television globally. The company is already representing the YouTuber channel Cosmic Kids and has partnered with Acamar Films for licensing its preschool show Bing in the Middle East. 8 Lions plans to work across multiple formats, including digital platforms, traditional TV, merchandise, and gaming, with a long-term goal of creating original IPs by collaborating with talent from Asia, the Middle East, and the West.
Charter Communications CFO Jessica Fischer declared that she is “not willing to call it yet” regarding the company’s strategy to integrate streaming into their pay-tv and broadband. Charter struck a significant deal with Disney in September 2023 to incorporate Disney+ and ESPN+ into its offerings. While the effectiveness of bundling streaming with linear TV is still unproven, Fischer emphasized the value of these hybrid packages in fostering customer loyalty and creating a consistent revenue stream.
“We’ve been here before. Bundled products are good for consumers and they’re good for the businesses that are being bundled because they make their revenue stream more consistent over time,” said Fischer. “And so I think the desire for it in the market is there. As we attract this bundle of products, including the linear product, which is still valuable for a large number of consumers, I think that there’s great potential.”
