Small Screen: NBC Releases Midseason Schedule; ‘Sesame Street’ Unveils New Member; Disney+ Spinoff Series Announced
CW
Broadcast: NBC has announced their midseason schedule for 2022. Chairman entertainment content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Susan Rovner had this to say in a statement: “We’re excited to really pull back the curtain in January with big swings across genres that provide something for everyone. Over the past year, our programming team has been vigorously chasing down the best content out there, and it’s really exciting to start to see some early fruits of our labor join the longtime fan favorites on the NBC schedule.” Kenan Thompson’s second-year comedy Kenan will air two episodes weekly on Mondays starting Jan. 3, leading into Jimmy Fallon’s unscripted series That’s My Jam and Ordinary Joe. The doubling up of Kenan will let the show complete its full season prior to the Olympics. NBC’s comedies Young Rock and Mr. Mayor opened their second seasons on March 15 after American Auto and Grand Crew wrap their seasons. Click the link to find the complete schedule.
A new project is coming to ABC from director Nzingha Stewart entitled No Good Deed. ‘No Good Deed centers on a warm-hearted botany professor with a dark secret who welcomes a troubled student into her home. The seeming victim turns out to be a deadly parasite who uses her wiles and charms on vulnerable friends and family, unearthing secrets in this small mountain town and destroying lives in order to cement her own twisted bond with her professor.’ Justin Hartley from This Is Us and Jeannine Renshaw known for Manifest will co-executive produce. ABC has given a script commitment with penalty to the project.
The CW has just released a midseason schedule. ‘The 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards is on January 9. Season two of Superman & Lois begins January 11, and is followed by Naomi. From Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship, Naomi stars Kaci Walfall and follows the journey of a cool, confident, comic book-loving teenager as she pursues her hidden destiny. All American returns February 21 and leads into spinoff All American: Homecoming. The young adult sports drama is set against the backdrop of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) experience at Bringston University. Geffri Maya plays Simone, a tennis hopeful from Beverly Hills who is trying to fight her way back after some time away from the court, and Peyton Alex Smith plays Damon, an elite baseball player from Chicago who is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.’
HBO
Cable: Sesame Street has introduced a new character to the Muppet’s cast. Her name is Ji-Young and she is the first Asian American Muppet in the show's canon. Ji-Young is a seven years old Korean American with two true loves in her life: skateboarding and jamming on her electric guitar. Ji-Young recently gave an interview explaining why she was meant to live on Sesame Street: “So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong. But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, ‘Ji-Young’s existence is the culmination of a lot of discussions after the events of 2020 — George Floyd’s death and anti-Asian hate incidents. Like a lot of companies, Sesame Street reflected on how it could “meet the moment,” said Kay Wilson Stallings, executive VIP creative and production for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street.’
Shazad Latif - David M. Benett
Streaming: Netflix has announced new series regulars for their upcoming untitled thriller starring Noah Centineo. They include: Aarti Mann (Never Have I Ever, The Big Bang Theory), Daniel Quincy Annoh (Americanah, Bus Stop), Vondie Curtis Hall (Harriet, For The People), Colton Dunn (Superstore, Blockers) and Fivel Stewart (Umma, Atypical). The thriller series, starring and executive produced by Centineo, hails from Entertainment One (eOne) and Hypnotic. ‘The eight episode series, created by Alexi Hawley, revolves around a fledgling lawyer, played by Centineo, at the CIA. He becomes enmeshed in dangerous international power politics when a former asset threatens to expose the nature of her long-term relationship with the agency unless they exonerate her of a serious crime.’ Mann plays Violet, Annoh portrays Terence; Hall plays Walter Nyland; Dunn is Lester and Stewart plays Hannah.
Disney+ has announced a spinoff series to Marvel’s Hawkeye series before it has even premiered. The spinoff entitled Echo, centers around Maya Lopez a deaf Native American superhero who has a talent to imitate any opponent’s fighting style. The show's star is Alaqua Cox, who will be introduced to audiences during Hawkeye’s six episode run. This is not the first time we have heard about Echo. Earlier this year, Disney announced its plans for the series to officially happen. Etan and Emily Cohen are writing and executive producing.
Shazad Latif will play the role of Captain Nemo in the upcoming Disney+ live-action adventure series Nautilus. Nemo is an enigmatic Indian prince who steals a fantastical submarine from the East India Company and sets sail in search of adventure under the sea. This is the untold origin story inspired by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Attached to direct is Michael Matthews with James Dormer executive producing / writing the series. The ten-part epic live-action series tells the never before told origin story of Jules Verne’s most iconic character, Captain Nemo, and his legendary submarine. Production begins next month in Australia and acknowledges the support from the Australian Government’s Location Incentive, and from the Queensland Government via Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy.
