Small Screen: NBC Is Revamping ‘Night Court;’ A New Trailer Has Been Released For ‘Voice 4: Time Of Judgement;’ Roku Give ‘Die Hart’ A Season Two; Beloved Actor Shaleen Surtie-Richards Has Died
Ana Villafañe - Patrick McMullan
Broadcast: NBC is revamping its legendary comedy series Night Court with Younger actor Ana Villafañe attached as a series regular, The Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch as executive producer, and John Larroquette reprising his original role. The half-hour pilot episode is written and executive produced by Dan Rubin adapted from Reinhold Weege’s original multi-camera series. The plot is as follows: ‘Night Court centers on unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone (Rauch), the daughter of the late Harry Stone, who follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding (Larroquette).’ Villafañe is set to play Monica, the court’s uptight, skin-deep assistant district attorney. William Raunch will also executive produce alongside his wife with their production company After January.
Anna Akana of Jupiter’s Legacy and Ashley D. Kelley of Insatiable have been cast alongside Demi Lovato as series regulars in NBC’s upcoming pilot Hungry. The single-camera comedy was written by Suzanne Martin and ‘follows a group of friends who belong to a food-issues group helping one another as they look for love, success, and the perfect thing in the fridge that’s going to make it all better.’ Akana is playing the character of Wednesday, a woman constantly striving to maintain her trophy wife status that drives herself and those around her insane. Kelley plays stoic divorce lawyer Nicole. Things seldom get to her except a weight clause in a prenuptial agreement that shatters her calm demeanor and makes her question her choices. She is proud of her body but knows she should adopt some healthier habits to help her live longer and feel better. Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills produce the series with Lovato also executive producing.
Images of Camrus Johnson’s Batwing have just been released by The CW for their upcoming season two of Batwoman. Johnson has played Luke Fox since the show's premiere back in 2019. Fox becomes Batwing in the final episodes of season two after almost meeting his end earlier in the season. As Batwing he will be fighting alongside Javicia Leslie’s titular character of Batwoman, serving as her counterpart cleaning up the streets of Gotham. Johnson said in an interview: “Honestly, it’s hard to explain how much it means to me to wear the Batwing suit and officially play my first superhero. The main reason I wanted to be in Batwoman was for this opportunity – to give kids like me another black hero to look up to and relate to. It’s hard not to smile when I catch myself in the mirror with the bat symbol on my chest, and I’ll keep smiling through every fight scene, every awesome stunt, and every Gotham night where Batwing is finally in the field!” Batwoman is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Caroline Dries created the series, serving as executive producer with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Geoff Johns.
Cable: USA Network’s The Sinner has cast The Flight Attendants Cindy Cheung and The Man in the High Castle’s Ronin Wong as series regulars for its upcoming fourth season. They make history as the first Asian/Asian Americans to be cast as series regulars on the program. David Huynh is also attached to recur. The plot summary is as follows: ‘In Season 4, still reeling from the trauma of a previous case a year ago, the now-retired Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) travels to Hanover Island in Northern Maine for a recuperative getaway with his partner, Sonya (Jessica Hecht). When an unexpected tragedy occurs involving the daughter of a prominent island family, Ambrose is recruited to help the investigation, only to be thrown into a mystery of mounting paranoia that will turn this sleepy tourist island, and Ambrose’s life, upside down.’ Cheung is playing Stephanie Lam, a mother whose only goal is to keep her son CJ, played by Huynh, safe. Wong is playing her husband Mike, a long time resident and restaurant owner on the islander who is made to feel like an outsider. Derek Simonds helms the project as showrunner and executive producer, alongside executive producers Charlie Gogolak and Willie Real with Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple through their company Iron Ocean.
A new teaser trailer, as well as casting announcements, have been released for the crime drama Voice 4: Time of Judgement. This series centers around distress calls made to South Korea’s 112 (similar to 911) that are paramount in catching criminals. Lee Hana of A Piece of Your Mind, is reprising her role as a voice profiler alongside her new American partner Song Seung-heon of Will You Have Dinner With Me. The plot of season four focuses on a serial killer with an inhuman sense of hearing - just like Hana’s character. With this ability the killer tricks the police by disguising his sound traces and leaves them in the dust. Lee Kyu-hyung has been cast in a significant role in the series however, details pertaining to her character have yet to be released. Voice 4: Time of Judgement is directed by Shin Yonh-hui and penned by Ma Jin-won. The show will start on June 18.
Streaming: Originally released on the short form streaming service Quibi, Kevin Hart’s action-comedy Die Hart has been renewed for a second season but this time on the Roku Channel. The sequel, entitled Die Harter, is the first renewal for what is now being referred to as Roku Originals. Season one follows a fictionalized version of Hart as he attempts to break from his sidekick roles and become the action hero himself. John Travolta plays a crazy teacher at the school Hart enrolls in to learn how to reach his goal. Season two will be produced by Hart and Jeff Clanagan’s LOL Studios. The pair executive produces Die Hart with Tripper Clancy, Candice Wilson, Bryan Smiley, and Thai Randolph. Eric Appel will be returning as director.
Netflix’s Stranger Things has just cast Myles Truitt and Regina Ting Chen in recurring roles for its upcoming fourth season. Truitt (Queen Sugar, The New Edition Story) will play Hawkins basketball star Patrick who has it all until a series of twisted events cast him into a downward spiral. Chen (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) portrays Ms. Kelly, a popular guidance counselor who takes special interest in students who are struggling. The two actors will be joining the likes of Robert Englund, Jamie Campbell Bower, Eduardo Ranco, Joseph Quinn, Amybeth McNulty, and Grace Van Dien. Although Netflix has not set a premiere date for the season, they have released a haunting teaser trailer to appease fans.
Shaleen Surtie-Richards - IMDB
Industry: Shaleen Surtie-Richards was found dead on the morning of June 7th in Cape Town. She was 66 years old. Her body was found in a guest house, however, the cause of her death is still unknown. Her reason for being in Cape Town was that she was filming a telenovela for kykNET entitled Arendsvlei. In a statement given by Alistair Izobell, the Richards family insists that this was not an act of suicide. Going on further to say the late actor “Did not only live in our hearts but in the hearts of this great nation.” In a joint statement, M-Net, kykNET, and MultiChoice's DStv said: "We mourn the loss of a legend of stage and screen. She will forever be remembered for iconic roles like Nenna in Egoli and the role of Fiela Komoetie in Fiela se Kind. Surtie-Richards also conquered hearts across the country with her Fleur du Cap-winning performance as Shirley Valentine. With her role as Fiela in the final years of Apartheid, Surtie-Richards started to bridge the racial divide between Afrikaans speakers from various backgrounds. She was loved by all. Our thoughts are with her family and friends during this difficult time."
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is attempting to prevent the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) subscription-driven broadcasting services from carrying SABC 1, SABC 2, and SABC 3. This comes from the ICASA who insists that under their ‘must carry ’ provision the public broadcast must give out their content for free. At this time, there are seven public broadcaster channels: SABC1, SABC2, SABC3, SABC News, SABC Sport, Parliament, and SABC Encore. The public broadcaster disagrees with this “must carry” clause declaring it is unfair and should not apply to all channels mentioned above. They even go as far as to warn the ICASA saying: "All content available at no cost pronounces the broadcaster cost bearer for transmission to subscription broadcasting services."
