Small Screen: 'The Bear' To Premiere In June, Disney+ Officially Prohibits Password Sharing
Marla Gibbs - Alberto E. Rodriguez / Stringer
Broadcast: Marla Gibbs (The Jeffersons) will guest star on ABC’s Not Dead Yet. Gibbs will appear on the seventh episode of season two alongside fellow guest star Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately, This Means War). Not Dead Yet follows Nell (Gina Rodriguez), a journalist for SoCal Independent who writes obituaries and communicates with the ghosts of people she writes about. Gibbs plays one of Nell’s obituary subjects and the mother of Cricket (Angela E. Gibbs). Handler plays the owner of the news station that rivals the SoCal Independent. Episode seven will air in late March.
Sharon D. Clarke will star in Ellis, a drama series on Acorn TV and Paramount’s U.K. Channel 5. Clarke (Rocketman, Holby City) will play the eponymous detective Ellis alongside her right-hand man DS Harper, played by Andrew Gower (Outlander). Ellis is a Black female cop dismissed and overlooked by many, yet her passion for justice and empathy enables her to be a first-class murder detective. Ellis begins filming this spring in Northern Ireland, and the premiere is scheduled for later this year.
Cable: BBC is adapting Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero. After adapting Murder Is Easy to a limited series in 2023, BBC will work with Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited to bring the 1944 novel to life. Towards Zero follows the murder of an old widow; this murder is tied to a failed suicide attempt, wrongful theft accusations, and the romantic life of a bigtime tennis player. Rachel Bennette (NW, World on Fire) wrote the adapted screenplay that will begin production this summer. David Jonsson stars in Murder Is Easy, which averaged seven million viewers in the U.K. and premieres internationally on March 1st.
AMC+ released the official trailer for Parish. The new series stars Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Do the Right Thing) and Skeet Ulrich (Scream, Riverdale). Esposito plays a taxi driver whose life changes when he picks up a gangster known for exploiting undocumented immigrants in the Southern U.S. Parish premieres March 31st on AMC and AMC+.
The third season of The Bear will premiere in June. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy in the Chicago-based show while Ayo Edebiri plays his sous chef. In December, White announced he would meet with multiple chefs in January to set a menu for the third season. Much of season two focused on the opening of Carmy’s restaurant, so season three will return to the first season’s fast-paced kitchen atmosphere. During the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, FX chairman John Landgraf shared that Hulu will release the season as a whole rather than week-to-week.
“It wasn’t lost on me or anyone who worked on the show that it was anxiety-inducing,” he said. “So we made a decision to drop the whole thing because it has a beautiful, uplifting ending.”
Sarah Shahi - Karwai Tang
Streaming: Sarah Shahi (Black Adam, Sex/Life) joins Dan Fogelman’s untitled Hulu series. Fogelman announced this series, starring Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), in April 2023. Sources shared that Brown will play the head of security for a former president, while Shahi will play the therapist of very powerful people. James Marsden (Jury Duty, Dead to Me) will portray the president and Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) will play a political power broker. Official details have not been released.
Esposito will fill Andre Braugher’s role on The Residence. Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) passed away in December of 2023, leaving his role open for another actor. Esposito is known for Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Mandalorian. The Residence is a Netflix murder-mystery drama created by Shonda Rhimes. It recently resumed production after the WGA strike and a proper mourning of Braugher. The cast consists of Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black), Andrew Friedman (Better Call Saul), and Julian McMahon (FBI: Most Wanted). Braugher’s character — to be continued by Esposito — is the White House Chief Ushe,r A.B. Wynter. Esposito’s casting is fitting, as he also succeeded Braugher on NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street upon Braugher’s departure. Esposito and Braugher eventually starred together in the 2000 movie. Braugher’s scenes will be reshot with Esposito.
The Residence is loosely based on Kate Andersen Brower’s book, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House. The show follows the eclectic staff of the White House as a murder mystery develops. Aduba plays the investigator called upon to inspect 157 suspects at a state dinner. Additional cast members include Edwina Findley, Al Mitchell, Susan Kelechi Watson, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Randall Park, Izzy Diaz, Chris Grace, Juliette Jeffers, Sumalee Montano, E.L. Losada, Julieth Restrepo, and Mel Rodriguez.
“I couldn’t be prouder and more honored to be stepping into Shondaland’s The Residence for someone that I loved and respected and cherished in Andre Braugher,” Esposito said. “To be afforded the opportunity to create in his honor with this incredible team extends the depth and breadth of his legacy through all of us who loved him so dearly.”
Tia Williams’ novel Seven Days In June will be adapted to a Prime Video series. Will Packer Media and Kinetic Content will produce this project, with Felicia Pride writing and show running. Pride’s credits include Bel-Air and Grey’s Anatomy. Her production company Honey Chile will executive produce; Honey Chile is a writer-led production company that focuses on stories about Black women ages 40 and older. Seven Days In June was featured by Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club in June 2021 and is a New York Times Bestseller.
Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again cast Genneya Walton (Never Have I Ever, Candy Cane Lane). The Disney+ show has not released character information, though speculation says Walton will play a young journalist connected to a character from the original series. The original followed Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind attorney by day and superhero by night. Vincent D’Onofrio will reprise his role as mob boss Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, and Jon Bernthal will reprise his character, Punisher. During the WGA strikes, Marvel switched showrunners and this series underwent major changes. Current cast members include Margarita Levieva (Spread), Sandrine Holt (Rapa Nui), Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark), and Nikki M. James (Caesar and Cleopatra). Wilson Bethel will continue to play Benjamin Poindexter, aka Bullseye.
New faces joined the cast of MGM+’s Emperor of Ocean Park. Newcomers include Henry Simmons (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.),Ora Jones (The Weather Man, Stranger Than Fiction), and Jasmine Batchelor (The Surrogate, A Journal for Jordan). Emperor of Ocean Park follows Talcott Garland (Coleman), an elite law professor whose father (Forest Whitaker) dies of an alleged heart attack. Drama ensues when Garland’s sister (Tiffany Mack) believes her father, a failed Black nominee to the Supreme Court, was murdered. Aside from Whitaker and Mack, previously announced actors on this novel-adapted project include Grantham Coleman and Paulina Lule. Sherman Payne (Shameless, Black as Night) serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner.
Liz Feldman’s new comedy, No Good Deed, cast Anna Maria Horsford (Amen, Friday). This Netflix series also cast Matt Rogers (Fire Island, I Love That for You), Kate Moennig (Ray Donovan, The L Word), Linda Lavin (Being the Ricardos, Naked Singularity), and Wyatt Aubrey, which will be his onscreen debut. Horsford will play Denise, a helicopter mom who is overly-involved in her son and daughter-in-law’s real estate journey. Previously announced cast members include Lisa Kudrow, Ray Romano, Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Teyonah Parris, O-T Fagbenle, Abbi Jacobson, Poppy Liu, and Denis Leary. No Good Deed is an eight-episode series following three families contending for an 1920s villa that they believe will solve their problems. This comedy becomes dark as the dream home turns out to be a nightmare.
Netflix ordered Beauty In Black in accordance with Tyler Perry’s first-look TV deal. The 16-episode drama series follows two women who find their lives intertwined. Kimmie has been kicked out the house by her mother and Mallory is a successful business owner. The actors for these roles have not been announced. Perry writes, directs, and produces Beauty In Black while Angi Bones and Tony Strickland produce for Tyler Perry Studios. This first-look deal between Netflix and Perry was made in October, constituting that Perry will continue to write, direct, and produce features for the streamer. This comes on the heels of Perry’s TV deals with BET and Amazon Studios. Perry’s current shows include Sistas, The Oval, and Ruthless with BET and Young Dylan with Nickelodeon.
John Simm (Life on Mars, Grace) and Nikki Amuka-Bird (Knock at the Cabin) will star in UKTV’s I, Jack Wright. Written by Chris Lang (The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe) and produced by Federation Stories, this mystery thriller series will likely be distributed by Scandinavian public broadcasters and the BBC. Production begins this month, with Simm playing Gray Wright and Amuka-Bird playing Jack’s third wife, Sally. The death of Jack Wright is declared a murder, and the story follows the drama surrounding his final will and testament. I, Jack Wright has been ordered for Alibi.
Industry: Disney+ will officially prohibit password sharing. Both Disney+ and Hulu are following Netflix’s model of converting password-sharing users to paying customers. The two streaming services notified customers this week of changes to subscriber terms. Per the change, users are prohibited from sharing password information beyond their primary residence. Existing subscribers will experience this change starting March 14th. Disney CFO Hugh Johnston shared that beginning this summer, account holders may incur an additional fee to extend access to individuals outside their household. Disney’s subscriber count grew by roughly six million in the last quarter.
“We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement,” stated the updated terms. “If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps permitted by this Agreement.”
Allied Management Group signed new Latino writers. AMG founders Wilmer Valderrama and John Pollak aim to bring Latino writers to networks, streamers, and studios in the U.S. English-language market. Signed writers include Luisa Leschin, Raphael Draccon, Carolina Munhóz, Raúl Campos, Felix de Valdivia, Daniel Ayala López, and Diego Ayala López. Leschin has worked on almost 500 episodes of television, including Gentefied, Everybody Hates Chris, and The George Lopez Show. Draccon and Munhóz are a married writing team; they serve as showrunners on Netflix’s The Chosen One and Invisible City and wrote comic books for Marvel and DC. Mexican brothers Campos and de Valdivia run The Original Content Society, which produced the YouTube original sitcom Sobrevivi, the Spotify comedy series El Grupo, and Amazon’s LOL. They are also credited for 24 Netflix comedy specials. The Ayala Lópezes are Columbian brothers who created Manes and Los Billis.
AMC Network’s U.S. advertising revenue dropped 23% to $158 million in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, their total revenue fell 30% to $679 million. The network’s stock decreased by 8% in response to these new numbers. However, a 3% increase in streaming subscribers last quarter brought streaming revenue up 4% to $145 million. AMC anticipated these drops after experiencing a decline in linear ratings, a difficult ad market, and fewer original programming episodes each quarter.
A Missouri lawmaker sponsored a bill to halt local taxes on Netflix, Hulu, and other streamers. American cities started implementing franchise fees onto streaming companies; these fees are traditionally applied to cable and phone companies. Florida and Colorado are states of contention, as Netflix began billing Florida subscribers for state taxes and is battling sales taxes in Colorado. Missouri representative Ben Keathley stated that the streaming tax would “raise costs for Missouri families, limit consumer choice, and hinder economic growth.” Small government politicians are helping the streaming companies to reduce these state and local taxes.
