Small Screen: HBO’s 'Lovecraft Country' Is Set To Shock, & More Upcoming Programming
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Broadcast: Free Will, a new family drama series from writer Kirk A. Moore and Will Packer Media, has entered into development for Fox Entertainment. Each hour-long episode will delve into the lives of the New Orleans-based Shoppes family, who run a psychic business. Quinton Peeples, who has previously worked with Moore on Hulu’s Marvel series The Runaways, will act as showrunner, along with co-executive producing duties that will be split amongst himself, Moore, Will Packer and Sheila Ducksworth.
ABC and 20th Century Fox are set to reboot The Wonder Years, the ABC hit which ran from 1988 through 1993, having announced a pilot production commitment. Like the original, the rebooted series will be set during the 1960s, but will instead follow the story of a middle-class Black family from Montgomery, Alabama. The executive production team is made up of Saladin Patterson, Lee Daniels, Marc Velez and Fred Savage (who starred on the show’s original run).
The CW has announced the casting of Javicia Leslie as their new lead for Season 2 of Batwoman, following the departure of Ruby Rose, who left the series in May. In a statement, Leslie announced her excitement at being “the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television,” and, as a bisexual woman, to be involved in a “groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community.” Season 2 is currently slated to premier this upcoming January.
Cable: HBO has officially set a premier date for Lovecraft Country, the new drama series from a team of executive producers composed of showrunner Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim and David Knoller. Jonathan Majors stars as Atticus Freeman, who, along with his childhood friend (Jurnee Smollett) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), embarks on a search for his missing father. Set during the horrors of the Jim Crow era with a monstrous twist, Lovecraft Country premiers August 16 on HBO.
Monde Twala, Senior Vice President of ViacomCBS Networks Africa, has added a second role with the network as he will now be tasked with expanding BET’s presence overseas through BET International. In a statement, Twala called BET “the unifying platform for all-things black culture,” adding that he looks forward to “[elevating] black culture and excellence around the world,” with this new role. He brings with him an impressive resume to BET International, having played a part in the creation of multiple live music events and original programming for ViacomCBS Networks Africa.
Priya Dogra, WarnerMedia’s Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development, has been promoted to the position of President of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC). In addition to her new role, in which Dogra will be in charge of Turner’s and HBO’s programming, advertising, distribution and operations, she will also continue with her responsibilities in strategy and corporate development. Dogra has been with WarnerMedia since 2009.
A new limited series detailing the life of Lena Horne is coming to Showtime. Blackbird: Lena Horne and America follows the events of Horne’s life, starting with her time at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club at the age of 16, and goes through a number of pivotal moments in both Horne’s life and in the history of the country, including World War II, her time with MGM, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement and Horne’s return to Broadway later in life. The series is being written and executive produced by Horne’s granddaughter, Jenny Lumet.
Never Have I Ever - Netflix
Streaming: Young Love, a new animated series based on the Oscar-winning short from Matthew A. Cherry and Sony Pictures Animation, Hair Love, is coming to HBO Max, with the streaming platform ordering a 12-episode season of the upcoming show. The series will continue from where the animated short left off by further exploring the lives of the film’s characters. Cherry, along with Carl Jones, will act as showrunners for Young Love, with a team of executive producers that includes Monica A. Young (who acted as a producer for Hair Love), David Steward II and Carl Reed.
Bozoma Saint John has been named as Netflix’s new Chief Marketing Officer, making her the streaming service’s first African American top executive. Saint John is no stranger to the responsibilities of the new job, as she is coming to Netflix having already acted as Chief Marketing Officer of Endeavor, with other previous experience in consumer marketing for Apple Music and in branding for Uber.
Anime options are on the rise in Latin America, as anime powerhouse Funimation recently announced that it will be making some subtitled and dubbed anime series available in Spanish and Portuguese to stream in Mexico and Brazil, respectively. Colin Decker, CEO of Funimation Global Group, called anime something that “speaks equally to people from different cultures, regions and languages,” adding that this expansion will make it possible for them to serve audiences who “are among the most passionate in the world.” The streaming service will be available in the two countries sometime this fall.
Never Have I Ever, the new Netflix comedy from Mindy Kaling, has been renewed for a second season, the streaming platform has announced. The series is a coming-of-age story about high school sophomore Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a first-generation Indian American teenager, and all of the complicated situations she finds herself in as she navigates high school. Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Jaren Lewinson, Darren Barnet, Lee Rodriguez and Ramona Young also star. The second season is currently scheduled for a 2021 release on the streaming platform.
