Small Screen: Mindy Kaling Casts New Actors In Untitled Basketball Series, Walmart Prepares to Buy Vizio
Broadcast: The Good Doctor addressed Hill Harper’s departure in its season seven premiere. Harper (CSI: NY) left the ABC medical drama to pursue a U.S. Senate seat in the state of Michigan. He has been a main cast member since the start of the show in 2017, playing Dr. Marcus Andrews. During the season six finale, Dr. Andrews resigned as president, and during the season seven premiere, nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk) tells Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) that Dr. Andrews is traveling in Spain. Remaining original cast members include Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy and Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman.
Will Sharpe will play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a Sky TV series. Joe Barton (Giri/Haji) created this series adapted from Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus. Set in 18th century Vienna, the series will reimagine the life of the musical genius. Sharpe (The White Lotus) will portray a 25-year-old Mozart hungry to make a name for himself. Audiences will watch Mozart meet his wife, Constanze Weber Mozart, who introduces him to connections and the musical circuit that helped define his legacy. Additional cast members will be announced in the future and production is slated to begin later this year. Two Cities Television will produce alongside Sky Studios.
Mel B will narrate the animated Sky Kids series Happy Town. Mel B is best known as “Scary Spice” from the Spice Girls and as a former host on America’s Got Talent. The network described the plot of Happy Town as “the problem-solving adventures of an adorable hedgehog and ladybird best friend duo, Pep and Tabitha, in a charming and unique community.” The light in Happy Town depends on the happiness of the townspeople, so when the town needs more light, Pep and Tabitha must encourage the townspeople to help each other and act with kindness. Mel B shared that she is greatly excited for her first role as a narrator, and much of her excitement for this job stems from her primary job as a mom of three. She believes in vibrant, creative storytelling as a means of educating children. Happy Town will have 50 episodes, each seven minutes long.
“The show is a feel-good celebration of different family structures, and all the wonderful chaos, joy and messy moments which will be recognized and loved by young viewers and their own families,” said Sky Kids.
Issa López - Dave Benett
Cable: HBO renewed True Detective for a fifth season. Issa López will return as a lead after the success of True Detective: Night Country, which accrued 12.7 million cross-platform viewers. The fourth installment of the anthology series starred Jodie Foster (Taxi Driver) and Evangeline Navarro (Sana Dati) as detectives investigating the disappearance of eight men from a remote research station in Alaska. The cast is not yet attached to season five, as new actors are brought in every season.
Mindy Kaling - Rodin Eckenroth / Stringer
Streaming: Mindy Kaling’s untitled basketball series with Netflix added new cast members. Newcomers include Fabrizio Guido (Good Burger 2, Mr. Iglesias), Toby Sandeman (Power Book III: Raising Kanan), Chet Hanks (Your Honor, Empire), Keyla Monterroso Mejia (Curb Your Enthusiasm), and Roberto Sanchez (2 Fast 2 Furious). The series, which takes place in the world of professional basketball, stars Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Brenda Song (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody), Drew Tarver (The Other Two), and Scott MacArthur (No Hard Feelings). Hudson plays Isla Gordon, a woman appointed president of the Los Angeles Waves when a scandal forces her brother to resign. Gordon must fight to prove she belongs in this position while surrounded by men. Guido plays a popcorn vendor at the Waves stadium, Sandeman and Hanks play Waves players, Mejia plays a personal injury attorney, and Sanchez plays the head of the Waves board. The series will be 10 episodes.
Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building cast Eva Longoria for season four. Longoria (Desperate Housewives) will join cast members Steve Martin (Father of the Bride, The Pink Panther), Martin Short (Innerspace), Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place, Monte Carlo), and Meryl Streep (Sophie’s Choice, The Devil Wears Prada). Plot details for the new season and information about Longoria’s character have not been announced, but part of the season will involve a trip to Los Angeles.
Abc - Disney
Industry: Amazon denied a report that Freevee is shutting down. The free, ad-supported streaming service launched in January of 2019 under the name of IMDb Freedive. Amazon Prime Video introduced default advertisements to its streamer last month, so rumors began that Freevee’s model was no longer necessary. A February 21st Adweek report cited that Amazon will “sunset” Freevee sometime this spring, according to anonymous sources.
“There are no changes to Freevee,” an Amazon representative shared with Variety. “Amazon Freevee remains an important streaming offering providing both Prime and non-Prime customers thousands of hit movies, shows, and originals, all for free.”
Freevee’s original series include Jury Duty, Bosch: Legacy, Neighbours, Alex Rider, and Judy Justice. Additionally, Amazon made several Prime Video originals available to watch on Freevee, including The Summer I Turned Pretty, A League of Their Own, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, Modern Love, Savage X Fenty, Sylvie’s Love, and Late Night.
Banijay U.K. invested in Immovable Studios, the production company founded by rapper Akala and his business partner Chanelle Newman. Per the agreement, Immovable Studios will have a first look distribution deal with Banijay Rights. Newman is responsible for the television department and managed projects like Poetry: Between the Lines and Akala’s Odyssey. Akala has a scripted series in funded development and his book Natives will be adapted to a BBC docu-series.
“I think television is a place where some of the best art in the world is being made today, where some of our favourite modern epics have been created, and I am extremely excited to delve further into this medium to do what I love: storytelling,” Akala shared.
J Creative Entertainment, a marketing agency, launched a production arm meant to elevate AAPI stories. J Creative began as a multi-media agency in 2019, founded by Filipino American entertainment executives JP Mallo and Justyn Reyes. Originally, the agency produced marketing campaigns, but now they are expanding into original content based on AAPI and Filipino stories. Mallo formerly worked as vice president of global originals marketing at HBO & Max Originals, leading marketing campaigns for Pretty Little Liars, Tokyo Vice, The Gilded Age, and Dune. He currently serves as president of the board of directors for Filipinos Advancing Creative Education (F.A.C.E.).
“I’ve been given wise advice from one of my mentors to bring your full self into everything you do. In reflecting on the 17+ years I’ve been in Hollywood, creating a space where my heritage, passion, and advocacy intersect is my ultimate mission,” said Mallo.
Walmart is preparing to buy Vizio. The TV manufacturer will be sold for $2.3 billion, providing Walmart with significant advertising business. This sale will allow Walmart to use the data it has accrued through online sales and additional tracking to sell advertising. An estimated 90% of American households shop at Walmart during a given year, and they currently sell advertising on their website and through activations in brick and mortar stores. The company sold $3.4 billion in advertising in 2023, but this number makes up less than 1% of total sales. After the purchase of Vizio, Walmart can combine its data with Vizio’s advertising market and gain access to the over 18 million active SmartCast accounts on Vizio TVs.
Vizio allocates advertising and content similarly to how Walmart charges manufacturers for premium shelf space inside their stores. Advertising is placed with select content and content owners can promote their content on the user interface. There is also potential to implement more shoppable advertising, like Amazon has done with the ad-supported streamer Freevee. Additionally, Walmart can leverage its position as a retailer to get more Vizio TVs into consumer homes to increase demand.
ABC is facing a COVID vaccination wrongful termination lawsuit. The case was filed in 2021 by James Wahl and his son Timothy, who both worked on construction and special effects for General Hospital. The Wahls cited that they were fired upon refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccination for religious reasons. Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch of the Los Angeles Superior Court denied ABC’s motion to dismiss the case, so both parties will meet on March 11th to determine a trial date. ABC doubts the religious nature of the Wahls in accordance with industry-wide restrictions and mandates, though Judge Goorvitch reiterated this is for the jury to decide. The trial will determine “whether Defendant [ABC] could have reasonably accommodated Plaintiffs without posing an undue hardship.” This “accommodation” refers to keeping the Wahls six feet away from other workers while the Wahls wore masks and tested regularly. ABC is arguing that the virality of the Delta variant was relevant to the termination.
