Small Screen: NBC's ‘Night Court’ Casts Lacretta; Disney Channel Orders South African Animated Series ‘Kiff;’ Picturestart Acquires TV Rights To Kim Johnson's 'This Is My America'
Lacretta - Noam Galai
Broadcast: NBC’s revamp of the beloved legal comedy Night Court casts Lacretta in a recurring role for the pilot. She will be playing the court bailiff Donna “Gurgs” Gurganous described as: ‘Big-hearted, intense and not big on boundaries, Gurgs is easily riled up and fiercely protective of her night court colleagues. She lives with multiple large dogs in a small Bay Ridge apartment.’ Throughout the original series run there were three female bailiffs featured. Lacretta joins Ana Villafañe’s Ada, and John Larroquette’s Reinhold Elmore. Melissa and Winston Rauch executive produce via their After January production company; Larroquette is a producer. After January produces in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television.
A new CBC and BET+ drama entitled The Porter has formed its ensemble cast. Oluniké Adeliyi and Loren Lott have joined the series about North American railway workers. The plot is as follows: ‘Set in the roaring 1920s in Montreal and Chicago the show centers on two Black railway porters who hustle, dream, cross borders and confront racial barriers on and off the railways that crossed North America. One pushes to create the first ever Black union and the other chases power on the wrong side of the law, as both aim to free themselves and their families from oppression.’ Adeliyi will play the alluring and vicious Chicago crime boss Queenie and Lott will play talented performer Lucy, chases after the limelight while dealing with discrimination and a unique musical instinct the decade isn’t ready for. The pair joins the already cast Aml Ameen, Ronnie Rowe Jr., and Mouna Traoré. Series creators Arnold Pinnock and Bruce Ramsay will have regular roles as Glenford and Dinger. Annmarie Morais and Marsha Greene are showrunners and executive producers, while Charles Officer and R.T. Thorne will direct the series and share executive producer credits.
NBC’s new drama pilot Getaway enlists Annie Ilonzeh (Chicago Fire) to star as stalwart Army vet medic Tessa Carrillo. The show focuses on a ‘destination wedding at an isolated luxury resort that quickly descends into chaos after a group of dangerous criminals takes the island hostage. A small group of guests, led by Ilonzeh’s Carrmillo, will do everything they can to stay alive.’ JJ Bailey and Moira Kirland are penning the script and act as executive producers alongside John Davis and John Fox. Universal TV is behind the pilot which is still in contention at NBC and could receive a midseason air date.
Kiff - Disney Channel
Cable: The South African animated series Kiff has just been ordered by Disney Channel as announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The half hour show comprised of two 11 minute stories hails from creators Lucy Heavens known for Space Chickens in Space and Nic Smal of Caillou. The pair also serve as executive producers alongside Kent Osborne (Spongebob SquarePants) who will be co-producing and story editor. The plot is as follows: ‘the show stars Kiff, an optimistic squirrel whose best intentions often lead to complete chaos, and her best friend Barry, a sweet and mellow bunny. Set in the bustling mountains, where animals and magical creatures live together in harmony, the series features the duo, who take the town by storm with their endless adventures and zest for life.’ The show is coming to Disney Channel in 2023.
Streaming: The second season of Apple TV+’s Central Park is gracing our screens on June 25th. Co-creator Loren Bouchard teased a list of star powered guest voices including Yvette Nicole Brown, Billy Porter, Don Lemon, Patti Lupone, Jennifer Lewis, Ellie Kemper, Dan Stevens and Javier Munoz. Accompanying them in the musical guest category are: Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, Rufus Wainright, Michael Bublé, and Shaggy. The plot is as follows: ‘the Tillerman family continues to navigate living in and caring for the world’s most famous park. Molly experiences the trials and tribulations of adolescence; Cole is challenged by a truly embarrassing moment at school; Paige continues to chase down the Mayor’s corruption story; and Owen juggles managing the park, his staff, and his family all with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, Bitsy inches ever closer to her sinister goal of claiming Central Park as her own; with Helen by her side, eternally wondering whether she’s made it into Bitsy’s will. Every step of the way, we are guided along by our friendly, fumbling, fiddler narrator Birdie.’ The main stars include Josh Gadd, Leslie Odom Jr. and Titus Brugess with Kelvin Yu and Steven Davis are producers.
Veronica West, co-creator and executive producer of High Fidelity, has joined with Apple to create a new psychological thriller entitled Surface. The plot is as follows: ‘Surface is an elevated thriller about a woman’s quest to rebuild her life after a suicide attempt, and her struggle to remember – and understand – everything that led up to the moment when she jumped.’ Emmy nominee Stephan James (Homecoming, If Beale Street Could Talk) will play Baden and Oscar nominee Marianne Jean Baptiste (Secrets & Lies, Homecoming) will play Hannah alongside Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Sophie. Jame’s Baden is an undercover cop with a strong connection to Sophie while Baptiste’ Hannah is Sophie’s therapist.
Apple TV+ just released a trailer for season 2 of their true crime thriller series Truth Be Told, starring Octavia Spencer and Kate Hudson. The plot is as follows: ‘investigative reporter turned podcaster Poppy (Spencer) dives into a new case that deeply involves her childhood friend, media mogul Micah Keith (Hudson).’ The anthology drama series was created by Nichelle Tramble Spellman as a way to peer behind the curtain of America's obsession with true crime podcasts. Season 2 will begin airing August 20th.
The rights for Kim Johnson’s breakout novel This Is My America have been acquired by Erik Feig’s Picturestart after a significant bidding war. Jessica Watson, known for Insatiable and Pen15, has been hired to pen the adaptation of the award-winning novel. The drama will be airing on HBO however the timeline is still tbd. The book ‘explores racial injustice through the eyes of a Black Gen-Z budding social activist who fights to save her father from death row, while also working to clear her brother’s name after he becomes a suspect in the murder of a popular white girl at their Texas school.’ Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and their Fake Empire banner will executive produce the drama, which is currently in the development stages. Fake Empire’s Lis Rowinski will also executive produce alongside author Johnson, Watson and Picturestart’s Chloe Dan, Lucy Kitada and Royce Reeves-Darby.
Industry: Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary of the United Kingdom discussed the regulation of several streaming services in a statement on Wednesday. He went on to further speak about the privatization of ‘free-to-air’ public service television network Channel 4 by means of a sale. Dowden’s statement goes on to guarantee “plans to consult on the sale of Channel 4 to ensure its future success and sustainability. As part of an ongoing strategic review of the U.K. public service broadcasting system, the government will review the ownership model and remit of Channel 4 and consider tightening regulation of video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.” In the report the government will determine whether the aforementioned streamers require the same regulations as traditional broadcasting stations.
