Small Screen: Two Variety Specials Set At The CW; New Animated Series ‘Firebuds’ from Disney; Byron Allen Received Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Sydney Mikayla - Bennett Raglin / Stringer
Broadcast: According to Deadline, two variety specials featuring Taye Diggs, Ne-Yo, and Eric Bellinger have been set at The CW—The Black Pack: We Three Kings and The Black Pack: Excellence. We Three Kings will premiere on Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. ET. Music, dancing and comedy will all be included in both specials with special appearances from Jordin Sparks, Tank, and Sevyn Streeter. ‘We Three Kings will be a holiday-themed celebration with both classic and new music brought to life on stage. The trio will return to host Excellence at an as-yet-unannounced date with a focus on celebrating Black excellence and culture through musical and dance performances. Viewers can expect appearances by a star-studded list of guests commemorating Juneteenth. The Black Pack—a hat tip to the Rat Pack— explores how to celebrate America’s newly acknowledged national holiday while glorifying those that came before.’
Sydney Mikayla is taking time away from the ABC soap opera General Hospital to focus on her schooling. Mikayla, who plays Trina Robinson on the long-running soap, has reassured the audience that Trina isn’t leaving for good. She will be dropped down to a recurring role rather than a lead in upcoming seasons following in the footsteps of fellow younger cast member William Lipton. Mikayla had this to say about the change: "Right now I'm getting into the swing of things at school and navigating the balancing act. GH has been super supportive of all the teens going to school and I'm super happy about that. Team GH! It's been a little bit insane! But I'm grateful for it, and I am just so grateful that my academic career and my acting career have kind of taken off at the same time. I'm really excited about that, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me." She is expected to graduate as part of UCLA's class of 2025.
Blood psalms/showmaz
Cable: A new animated comedy-adventure from Craig Gerber has just been greenlit at Disney Junior. The show is entitled Firebuds and ‘follows a team of young kids who are the children of first responders, along with their talking-vehicle sidekicks, as they embark on adventures together and learn what it truly means to be a hero. Firebuds is the first of Gerber’s series to premiere following his overall Disney Branded Television development deal with his new production banner, Electric Emu.’ Kris Wimberly is attached as director on Firebuds. The goal of the program is to teach children about teamwork and helping people. Each episode has two 11 minute stories and will feature one new song at the very least. The voice cast includes Declan Whaley (Criminal Minds), Terrence Little Gardenhigh (Danger Force), Vivian Vencer (Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure), Lily Sanfelippo (Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends), JeCobi Swain (Home Economics) and Caleb Paddock (Adult Beginners). Gerber had this to say about the program: “Firebuds is about the spirit of community service and thinking about others before yourself. Just like our young heroes are trying to follow in their parents’ ‘tire treads,’ we are hoping to inspire children to embrace volunteerism and helping others. It is personally a very meaningful show for me and the perfect way to launch this next chapter of my career with Disney.”
MultiChoice's 10-episode African mythos series Blood Psalms from creative duo Layla Swart and Jahmil X.T Qubeka has caused outrage with its first viewing panel. For Blood Psalms, MultiChoice decided that Dubai - months before the series' debut date - is more important than South Africa as the show's first stop for a viewing, cast and crew media session.The South African press corps who is responsible for covering television, was upset over the way in which MultiChoice was promoting the so-called "homegrown TV series" in Dubai, outside of South Africa's borders first. Blood Psalms will debut on Showmax in February 2022
Natasha Kline - Disney
Streaming: Natasha Kline’s animated comedy series Primos has just been ordered by Disney Branded Television. The show consists of half-hour episodes consisting of two 11-minute stories featuring Tater, an eccentric 10-year-old girl with big dreams and, unbeknownst to her, a certain “it factor” that makes her exceptional. When her 12 cousins (“primos” in Spanish) move in for the summer, they help her discover just what it is. Tater’s aspirations and larger-than-life imagination are seen via entries in her super-secret diary, which turn her deepest thoughts into grandiose animation sequences. Kline has this to say about the show: “Primos is set in childhood summers spent with my cousins under one roof, and the comedy that’s borne from that wonderfully hectic setting. As a kid, I didn’t see myself or my culture represented on screen, so I’m excited to share my family dynamic through these new Disney characters and stories.”
Benedict Wong and Tsai Chin are two of the twelve actors recently cast in Netflix’s upcoming drama 3 Body Problem. Inspired by Liu’s science fiction trilogy, the show will focus on the first book which follows ‘Ye Wenjie, who, following her father’s death at the hands of the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, attempts to help aliens invade Earth, while different factions on Earth plan different ways of welcoming the extra-terrestrials.’ Other members of the cast include: Jovan Adepo (When They See Us), Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver), Jess Hong (Inked: The Brokenwood Mysteries), Marlo Kelly (Dare Me), Alex Sharp (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Sea Shimooka (Arrow), Zine Tseng and Saamer Usmani (The Mauritanian). Derek Tsang is co-executive producing and directing with Bernadette Caulfield executive producing alongside Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman and Nena Rodrigue for T Street Productions.
Ever since the success of Squid Game on Netflix, other streaming services are diving head first into the K-drama scene. Disney+ is the latest with their new original mystery - thriller, Grid. The show follows a bureau employee and a police investigator who pursue the truth about an entity that saved mankind. ‘Seo Kang-joon (I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day) stars as the bureau employee Kim Sae-ha who has spent the last 24 years trying to find “Ghost” — the mysterious entity that created the worldwide grid shield. Kim Ah-joong (Live Up to Your Name) plays Jung Sae-byuk, a police investigator who helps him discover the tiniest clue after she witnesses an unbelievable truth at a crime scene.Lee Shi-young (Sweet Home) plays the part of Ghost, who reappears in the world after 24 years of silence to protect a serial killer. Kim Mu-yeol (Juvenile Court) plays Seo Kang-joon’s fellow employee at the bureau named Song Eo-jin. He’s always lived his life logically, so he doesn’t understand why his department and colleagues are so intent on finding Ghost. And finally, Kim Sung-kyun (D.P., Hospital Playlist) who plays the serial killer under the protection of Ghost. The character is an orphan who doesn’t know his own birthday, and doesn’t have any friends or acquaintances, so it’s an even bigger mystery as to why Ghost is protecting him.’ Filming has already been completed on the show which is now in it’s post production.
Bryon Allen - Stefanie Keenan
Industry: Byron Allen has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Allen, who began his career as a comedian and then ventured out into the industry as a media mogul had this to say about the news: “This is really special to me, and words cannot describe it.” ‘The star is the 2,706th to be added since the Walk of Fame’s completion in 1961 and will be next to that of the late “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson. In 1979, at age 18, Allen made his national television debut on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” He was the youngest standup comedian to have performed on the show. In 1993, Allen founded his television production and distribution company, Entertainment Studios. The Allen Media Group owns 16 television stations in 12 markets. Entertainment Studios also owns Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, a theatrical movie distribution company, and TheGrio, a digital, video-centric news platform providing entertainment, news and lifestyle content for African Americans.’
HBCUGo.TV, a streaming service for historically Black colleges and universities was just acquired by Byron Allen's Allen Media Group. The announcement was made earlier this week. He said this in a statement: “The HBCU brand represents over 184 years of historic excellence, dating back to 1837, which helped cultivate some of the world’s greatest minds and talent, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Spike Lee, Alice Walker, Samuel L. Jackson, Earl Graves, Oprah Winfrey, Chadwick Boseman, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Common, Booker T. Washington, Taraji P. Henson, Judge Kevin Ross, Langston Hughes, Katherine Johnson, Kenya Barris, and Vice President Kamala Harris, to name a few. HBCUGo.TV positions us to speak to the heart and soul of Black America 24/7, and helps us stay strongly connected with one of the most valuable, untapped audiences in the world.”
