Small Screen: ‘David Makes Man’ Makes Casting Additions, Hulu Gets ‘Woke’ And ‘Bel-Air’ Looks For A Streaming Home

Broadcast: ABC is developing Paper Gods, a new political drama from Sony Pictures TV and John Legend’s production company, Get Lifted Film Co. Paper Gods is based on Goldie Taylor’s 2018 novel of the same name and stars Nia Long as Victoria Dobb, the mayor of Atlanta, as she battles issues in both her personal and professional lives in a story that explores the connection that power and race have with politics. The series, which will be produced by Taylor and executive produced by Long, Get Lifted co-founder Mike Jackson and Tash Gray (who will also serve as showrunner), is set to begin production later this year.

NBC has set a premier date for its new medical drama Transplant. The series focuses on Dr. Bashir “Bash” Hamed, who flees from Syria to Canada with his younger sister, Amira, in search of a new life. Transplant was created by Joseph Kay, who executive produces alongside Jocelyn Deschenes, Bruno Dube, Randy Lennox, Virginia Rankin, Jeremy Spry and Tara Woodbury, and stars Hamza Haq, Laurence Leboeuf, John Hannah, Jim Watson and Ayisha Issa. NBC acquired the medical drama, which was originally developed for Canada’s CTV, back in May; the series is produced by Sphère Média Plus in conjunction with CTV and NBCUniversal International Studios. Transplant premiers September 1.

The three main leads for Vincenzo, tvN’s upcoming mafia drama series, were recently announced. Vincenzo follows mafia boss Vincenzo Casano’s main strategist and legal counsel (Song Joong-ki) as he escapes from Italy to Korea; focused on revenge, he pairs up with a star lawyer (Jeon Yeo-bin) who is determined to take down those involved in the criminal underworld by any means necessary. Rounding out the main cast is Taecyeon, who stars as an intern lawyer working under Jeon’s character who is determined to impress his new mentor. Written by Park Jae-bum and directed by Kim Hee-won, Vincenzo is slated to premier in early 2021.

NBC is developing Generals Row, a new military drama about a female general who joins the Joint Chiefs of Staff, throwing her into a politically charged world that proves to be just as demanding as the Pentagon. The upcoming series comes from Jason Wilborn (who will write for the series), Milo Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff with DiVide Pictures; the three will also split executive producing duties, with Deanna Harris- DiVide’s Director of Development- producing.

Cable: Kwame Patterson and Arlen Escarpeta are joining the cast of OWN’s David Makes Man, which was recently renewed for a second season. While the first season of the Peabody-winning hit portrayed David at 14-years-old (played by Akili McDowell), Patterson will star in the show’s second season as the adult David, with Escarpeta as David’s brother, JG. Season 2 picks up with David in his early-thirties facing a life- and community-changing opportunity with a rising businessman, leaving David with the difficult decision to either stay the course that he has always known, or to take a chance on a new way of life. Patterson and Escarpeta join a cast that includes McDowell, Alana Arenas, Travis Coles and Cayden K. Williams. Created by Tarell Alvin McCraney (best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay Moonlight) through Warner Horizon Scripted Television, David Makes Man is executive produced by McCraney, Oprah Winfrey (via Harpo Films), Dee Harris-Lawrence- who also serves as showrunner- Mike Kelley and Melissa Loy (via Page Fright) and Michael B. Jordan (via Outlier Society Productions).

The cast for Star Bharat’s upcoming daily comedy series I Laugh You was recently announced, reuniting Sunil Grover and Shilpa Shinde. Starring alongside Grover and Shinde are Upasana Singh, Sugandha Mishra, Sanket Bhosale, Sidharth Sagar, Paritosh Tripathi and Jatinder Suri. Grover stars as a gangster with comedian tenants living in his house; in order to stay in the house, his tenants must keep him entertained. The new series is being produced by Preeti and Neeti Simoes.

Shin Ha-kyun and Yeo Jin-gu have been confirmed as leads for the upcoming JTBC drama Monster. Sergeant Lee Dong-shik (Shin) and Detective Han Joo-won (Yeo) look to track down a serial killer who resurfaces after 20 years, coinciding with the Detective’s arrival. The suspense-filled story will explore the human psyche and what separates “good” people from society’s unrecognized, everyday monsters. The series, which is slated for an early 2021 premier, is written by Kim Soo-jin with direction from Shim Na-yeon.

New casting promotions have been announced for Tyler Perry’s BET dramedy Sistas, the hourlong series focused on a group of women in their thirties as they navigate their search for love and meaningful relationships. Trinity Whiteside and Crystal Hayslett have been promoted from recurring roles to series regulars, with Chris Warren joining the series in a recurring role. Whiteside plays Preston, a family-focused small-town farmer from rural Georgia who is in search of love. As Fatima, Hayslett portrays a paralegal whose past heartbreaks have made her more guarded in love; Season 2 will see her finding love with someone that is closer than she realizes. Warren’s Hayden is a rising star attorney who works at the same law firm as Fatima and is revealed to already have a history with the paralegal. Season 2 of Sistas recently finished filming last month inside of a quarantine bubble at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta; with the second season, the women will see their friendships with each other be tested. Perry acts as writer, director and executive producer for the series, with Michelle Sneed also executive producing.

Streaming: Hulu has released the first trailer for the new Lamorne Morris-led comedy Woke. The series follows Keef, a Black cartoonist who starts seeing racial inequality through imagined interactions between animated objects after experiencing a racially-charged encounter with San Francisco police officers, leading him to go from “non-controversial” to “woke.” Executive producer and showrunner Jay Dyer discussed how the new series will address the trauma often felt by Black men following aggressive encounters with the police by “[telling] the story of this one man’s journey through his PTSD and…how it feels for the individual.” The new comedy, which blends animation with live action, is based on the life and work of cartoonist Keith Knight, who co-created the series with Marshall Todd. Knight and Todd co-executive produce alongside Dyer, Maurice “Mo” Marable, Aeysha Carr, Richie Schwartz, John Will, Will Gluck and Eric Christian Olsen in a co-production between ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television Inc. All eight episodes will be available to stream starting September 9.

VIX, a free streaming service focused on Latino programming, has launched linear versions of two of its most popular channels, Pongalo NovelaClub and Moovimex, which will now be available on Roku Channel, Xumo, Redbox, Vizio and Tivo. Pongalo NovelaClub is a specialized channel for telenovelas, while Moovimex is a dedicated outlet for Mexican film; both channels were acquired by VIX at the end of 2019 when the platform acquired Pongalo. Pongalo NovelaClub and Moovimex will continue to be available on VIX, which boasts over 20,000 hours of Latino programming, with one-fifth of its programming coming from NBCUniversal’s Telemundo.

Bel-Air, a dramatic reboot of the hit NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran from 1990 to 1996, is currently in the works, with plans for the new series to land on a streaming platform. The concept of reimagining the series as a drama rather than a comedy originates from a fan-made trailer by Morgan Cooper which went viral last year, accruing over five-million views on YouTube. Cooper will direct, co-write and co-executive produce the series, with Chris Collins acting as showrunner, as well as co-writing and co-executive producing with Cooper; other executive producers attached to the project include Will Smith and Terence Carter (via Westbrook Studios), Quincy Jones, Benny Medina, Andy and Susan Borowitz (who created the original series) and Miguel Melendez. Bel-Air will be produced by Westbrook Studios and Universal Television, the studio that produced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Three-time Grammy winner Lizzo has signed a first-look deal with Amazon Prime to develop new series for Prime Video. Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, called the singer-songwriter “one of the most exciting, creative, joyful artists in the industry,” adding that Lizzo brings to the streaming giant “a unique perspective,” that “Prime Video customers are sure to love.”