Small Screen: Remembering N’Neka Garland and Leo D. Sullivan, Kieu Chinh Joins 'Sinking Spring'
Broadcast: Taraji P. Henson is coming to Abbott Elementary. Henson will appear on the show on April 12 in the much-anticipated role of Janine’s mother. The casting was revealed at the Paley Center for Media’s annual PaleyFest LA event, which show creator Quinta Brunson attended virtually. In Henson’s episode, entitled Mom, Janine (Brunson) is planning a solo weekend trip for Memorial Day that is derailed by an unannounced visit from her mother. Henson, most known for her role as Cookie on Empire, is a three-time Emmy award winner, a Golden Globe Award winner, a Critics Choice Award winner, and a three-time BET award winner. Henson has also appeared on the big screen in Hidden Figures, Think Like a Man, Talk to Me, What Men Want, and The Curious Case of Bejamin Button, for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. Mom will air at 9 PM ET on April 12.
Comedy Central has released the first teaser for Season 3 of Awkwafina is Nora From Queens. The season will premiere on April 26. Awkafina Is Nora From Queens is loosely based on the titular character’s own life in the city, following Nora Lin (Awkwafina) as she navigates adulthood with the support of her “lively and eccentric” family. In Season 3, Nora will continue to explore her identity, with her father (BD Wong), grandmother (Lori Tan Chinn), and cousin (Bowen Yang) providing support and comic relief along the way. Awkwafina will make her directorial debut with Season 3 alongside Bill Benz, Jordan Kim and Laura Murphy.
Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish will come to an end with its sixth season on Freeform. The last of several spinoffs of Black-ish, Grown-ish has run since 2018 and earned multiple Emmy nominations. The final season will be split into two parts, with the first part’s air date yet to be announced and the final part airing in 2024. Film writer Kenya Barris, who spearheaded the -ish universe, said in the announcement,
“We’ve spent nearly a decade telling our stories through the -ish series, and to say it has been an amazing journey would be an understatement. To be able to watch Yara [Shahidi], Marcus [Scribner] and our entire Grown-ish family grow up in front of (and in many ways alongside) us over these past several years has been both a joy and an honor. From the stories we’ve told to the talent we’ve fostered and, most importantly, the memories made, I could not be more proud of everything we’ve accomplished and the -ish family I’ve been a part of.” The decision to conclude Grown-ish came after sources say its storyline was “leaning toward a shorter shelf life.” In its final season, the show will also celebrate its 100th episode, a rare landmark for Freeform series.
Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, may be considering a reboot of The X-Files, according to the show’s creator Chris Carter. While discussing the show’s upcoming 30th anniversary on Fox, Carter revealed, “I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast.” The original X-Files ran from 1993-2002 on Fox, with two spinoff films releasing in 1998 and 2008. Two revivals of the show ran in 2016 and 2018, and there were talks for an animated spinoff in 2020. Thus, the show has spawned an expansive universe: “[Coogler] has his work cut out for him, because we covered so much territory,” Carter mused. 20th Television declined to comment on whether a reboot is officially in the works.
AMC’s Interview With the Vampire has recast the part of Claudia for Season 2. Bailey Bass, who played the lead vampire in the show’s first season, will be replaced by Delainey Hayles. Of the replacement, AMC said in a statement,
“Bailey Bass is a talented actor who did a remarkable job bringing the character of Claudia to life. . . . For a variety of reasons, Delainey Hayles will appear as Claudia in season two. We are grateful for Bailey’s unforgettable performance in season one and wish her nothing but the best.”
Bass, who made her starring debut on the show, said of her departure,
“Due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances I’m unable to return to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire for the second season. Playing Claudia has been a dream role and an incredible ride. I wish Delainey the best of luck in taking over. I cannot wait to watch. I’m extremely appreciative of AMC, the producers, Jacob, Sam, the crew and, of course, the wonderful fans.”
She did not elaborate on her reasons for leaving. Hayles has appeared in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Too Close, and Colby Hilton. She will join series regulars Jacob Anderson (Louis de Pointe du Lac), Sam Reid (Lestat de Lioncourt), Eric Bogosian (Daniel Molloy), Assad Zaman (Armand) and Ben Daniels (Santiago) in Season 2.
The BBC is reconsidering moving the BBC4 television channel solely online. In 2022, the BBC announced it would be shutting down the linear channel, moving BBC4 online beginning in 2025 as part of a plan to restructure as a “digital first” broadcaster. Recently, however, the BBC content team is considering keeping the channel, citing its popularity and relatively low cost. No decision has been made yet, but confidence is growing among insiders that the channel will not be banished from broadcast. BBC4 has undergone content cuts to the extent that it can be considered mainly an archive service for curated “highbrow comedy” and documentaries. Despite this and declining audience figures, BBC4 has enjoyed about double the reach of BBC3, which was reinstated to broadcast television in 2022. Many argue that this revival was unsuccessful, with the biggest hit on BBC3 being The Traitors, not original content, and other well-performing shows on the channel doing most of their numbers on iPlayer. Though many have criticized the BBC’s moving of BBC3 back to broadcast, some of those same critics say that moving BBC4 online would be an over-correction. Public outcry, too, is a consideration: audiences, of course, don’t like to see their services curtailed. The Director-General said in 2022 of the proposed changes, “we should have an aggressive plan but that is not a plan to remove things used by lots of people too soon.” Regardless of the fate of BBC4, the BBC will cut a significant amount of content in the rest of 2023, announcing in March that 1,000 hours’ worth of shows will be cut in an effort to hit an annual savings target of £400M ($500M) by 2027/8.
Ali Wong - Kayla Oaddams
Streaming: Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe, Tuca & Bertie) will star and executive produce new supernatural animated series Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld for Netflix. Voiced by Lucy Liu, Bowen Yang, Jimmy O. Yang, Lori Tan Chinn, Sheng Wang and Woosung Kim, the series boasts a star-studded voice cast. The series will star Chinese American teen Jentry Chau (Ali Wong) who discovers she is being hunted by a demon in her small Texas town. As she struggles to keep her superpowers a secret from her high school friends, Jentry and her family, including her weapons-trained great aunt and her jiangshi (an undead Chinese hopping vampire), must fight the monsters of the underworld. Showrunner Echo Wu and Aron Eli Coleite will executive produce alongside Wong.
Paramount+ has greenlit Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. After over a year in development, the streamer announced and released a description of the show. Per its logline, Starfleet “will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.” The show may skew towards a younger audience than other content in the Trek universe, and will also feature increased diversity both in its human cast and with new species gracing the screen. Noga Landau (Nancy Drew) will co-executive produce and serve as co-showrunner with Alex Kurtzman, franchise chief. In a joint statement, the two exclaimed,
“Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!”
Paramount’s chief marketing officer and head of data Domenic DiMeglio said he is “excited to introduce Star Trek fans to a whole new generation of Starfleet officers,” hoping that Starfleet will “serve as a fantastic addition to the franchise and Paramount+, bringing new generations of viewers and long-term Star Trek fans alike together to enjoy the next chapter in the iconic Star Trek universe.”
Omar Epps (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) will join the cast of Netflix’s The Perfect Couple as Chief of Police Dan Carter. He will star alongside Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Meghann Fahy, Dakota Fanning, Eve Hewson and Jack Reynor in the series, which is based on Elin Hilderbrand’s New York Times bestselling book. The Perfect Couple follows Amelia Sacks, a woman about to marry into one of Nantucket’s richest families. Her mother-in-law Greer Garrison, a famous novelist, has funded an extravagant wedding that she promises will be the talk of the town. But when a body is found on the beach, family secrets begin to come out in a fast-paced mystery that rivals those in Greer’s own books. Epps is a three-time NAACP Award winner, starred opposite Hugh Laurie in House, and has appeared on Shooter, This is Us, Resurrection, and Power Book III. He is also known for his performances in The Devil You Know, Fatal Affair, Love & Basketball, and Juice.
Joy Luck Club’s Kieu Chinh will join Tyree Henry, Wagner Moura, Marin Ireland, Kate Mulgrew and Ving Rhames on AppleTV+’s upcoming drama Sinking Spring. Chinh will play the matriarch of a notorious crime family in a series that, per its logline, “follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard.” The series finds its basis in Dennis Tafoya’s 2009 book Dope Thief. Chinh is one of several actors from the pioneering 1993 drama Joy Luck Club whose careers took off with the film. Her costar Lauren Tom was recently cast in Hulu’s Interior Chinatown, and another costar, Ming-Na Wen, stars in Disney’s The Book of Boba Fett. Ridley Scott will executive produce Sinking Spring, as well as direct one episode. A release date has yet to be announced.
Netflix, APTN, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have commissioned a television series written by Inuit television writer-producer Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Inuit filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. The still-untitled project will be filmed in Nunavut, Canada, and follows an Inuk mother on a quest to build a new future in a small, close-knit Arctic town. MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril will also executive produce opposite Miranda de Pencier, Susan Coyne, and Gary Campbell. The series came about after Netflix’s pitch call to Canadian creators in 2020, and will be the first original scripted Canadian series on the streamer. MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril says in a joint statement,
“This series is full of stories that come straight from our hearts and our funny bones. We’ve drawn from our experiences as Inuit women living, laughing, crying and living together while Native. We are so excited to work with all our incredible partners at CBC, Netflix and APTN, and we can’t wait to start filming!”
Peacock’s adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel Apples Never Fall has cast two more series regulars, to include Dylan Thuraisingham (One Of Us is Lying, Young Rock). Thuraisingham plays Detective Ethan Remy, a loyal partner to his mentor who has different ideas about how a certain murder occurred. The series’ logline reads,
“[Apples Never Fall] centers on the Delaneys, who from the outside appear to be an enviably contented family. Former tennis coaches Joy (Bening) and Stan (Neill) are parents to four adult children. After decades of marriage, they have finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. But after Joy disappears, her children are forced to re-examine their parents’ marriage and their family history with fresh eyes.”
Apples will be filmed in Australia, supported by the country’s Location Incentive program. Melanie Murdoch adapts the novel for television as well as executive producing and serving as showrunner. The studio is Universal Studios, and NBCUniversal Global Distribution will distribute the series.
Amazon Studios has acquired the rights to Aaron Foley’s novel Boys Come First. The streamer intends to adapt the book for television, with Chuck Hayward slated to write the pilot and executive produce. Will Graham, Hailey Wierengo, and Stephanie Dietz of Field Trip will executive produce. Boys Come First follows three gay millennial Black men in Detroit as they search for love, friendship, and career success. Foley, a journalist and author who has been featured on This American Life, CNN, PBS NewsHour, and in The Atlantic and many anthologies, is a senior digital editor on PBS NewHour. He was recently named Detroit’s first appointed “chief storyteller.” Hayward, an Emmy and WGA Award nominee and executive producer on Ted Lasso, has also written and supervised WandaVision, worked on Mixed-ish, Flatbush Misdemeanors, and Dear White People. Hayward has also written a feature pitch for Pepsi starring rapper T.I. No release date for the adaptation of Boys Come First has been announced.
N’Neka Garland and Leo D. Sullivan
Industry: N’Neka Garland, producer of General Hospital since 2001, has died after suffering a heart attack. Garland was 49. The Emmy-winning producer, who has also served as coordinating producer on GH since 2018, was the half-sister of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur. She graduated from Hampton University in 1995 with a mass media degree, and began her career in New York City assisting on ABC’s One Life to Life. When her boss Jill Farren Phelps began work on General Hospital, Garland followed. She was promoted to production coordinator and, in 2015, became an associate producer. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has called Garland the reason General Hospital was an Emmy darling, saying in a statement:
“Nobody was more knowledgeable about the process, and nobody performed it with as wide a smile as N’Neka. Every duty she performed — and there were so many — was done with a joy that radiated from within.”
Garland leaves behind her father William, her brothers Landon and Malik, and her sisters Tekerra and Leslie. Writers on the show have named a bartender (Arlondriah Lenyéa) N’Neka in her honor, with cast and crew alike exalting her hard work and radiant personality on social media following her passing.
Trailblazing Black animator Leo D. Sullivan, who worked on the emblematic opening to beloved Soul Train, has died at 82. His wife Ethelyn reports that Sullivan passed of heart failure in Los Angeles. Sullivan, an Emmy winner who produced, wrote, and was a storyboard and layout artist, worked at studios such as Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros., Filmation, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, DIC Entertainment and Marvel Productions. He co-founded Vignette Films with Floyd Norman in the 1960s, going on to produce educational films about Black historical figures like George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington. Sullivan also worked on 1969 Bill Cosby special Hey! Hey! Hey! It’s Fat Albert. Alongside Norman, Sullivan also worked on AfroKids.com, a website whose mission is to “build self-esteem and reconnect children to their cultural heritage by teaching life lessons, family values, respect and responsibility.” In 2016, Sullivan appeared on the documentary Floyd Norman: An Animated Life. Born in Lockhart, Texas, Leo settled in LA in 1952, where he began his career as an assistant to Bob Clampett. His first well-known work was the original locomotive and graphics featured in the opening of syndicated music show Soul Train. In 1991, Sullivan would be inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Sullivan is survived by his wife Ethelyn and two children, Leo Jr. and Tina.
UK media regulator Ofcom has released figures demonstrating that young adults spend significantly more time in front of a phone screen on apps like TikTok than in front of a television screen watching broadcast media. When they do watch TV, the figures show, the lion’s share of their viewing takes place on streaming services. Ofcom’s figures showed that public service broadcast received just over 500 million streams on Netflix in the first quarter of 2022, compared to about three times that number for Netflix original content. These figures led to Ofcom’s creation of a new Media Bill, aiming to help public broadcasters keep pace. A key point in the regulation is the creation of a public service remit for television, simplifying public broadcasters in the UK, along with new rules to protect and promote public service broadcasters like BBC iPlayer and ITVX. Ofcom, whose regulation will now cover other streaming services, calls their new rules a way to “level the playing field.” According to the regulator,
“[Big streamers] will now have to comply with a new code, in line with traditional broadcasters, to make sure their shows are subject to high standards and protect audiences – particularly children – from harmful material.”
The Bill will allow for better access to subtitles, audio description, and sign language interpretation on streamers, in line with what is offered by broadcast television. It will also guarantee access to licensed radio stations on smart speakers and loosen rules limiting the scope of what can be broadcast on radio and to whom. According to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer,
“Without a crystal ball there’s no way of knowing what the media landscape will look like in another 40 years’ time – but with these changes we will help enable our brilliant public service broadcasters to unleash their potential to grow, produce more top quality British content and invest in new technologies that keep viewers tuning in.”