Small Screens: ‘The Wonder Years’ Is Canceled Just As Matthew Cherry’s ‘Young Love’ Premieres

Sacha Dhawan - Karwai Tang

Broadcast: Virdee, a six-part detective series based on A.A. Dhand’s best-selling crime novels, is among several new series greenlit by the BBC. Produced by Magical Society, a newly formed company led by Paul Trijbits (Jane Eyre), the series stars Sacha Dhawan (Doctor Who) as Harry Virdee, a Bradford cop tracking a killer targeting the Asian community; at the same time, Virdee struggles with a rift in his Sikh family after he marries a Muslim partner. Nicôle Lecky also has a new series coming to the BBC after her BAFTA winning drama Mood. The untitled six-part series follows Lorna, a self-made, Black businesswoman, and her best friend Juliet, a white woman born into privilege. When their daughters are implicated in a scandal at their exclusive private school, the women’s friendship faces the ultimate test. Sally Wainwright’s (Happy Valley) new drama Hot Flush, which centers a female punk rock band, and Cat Jones’ (Harlots) seedy detective series The Jetty, which starsJenna Coleman (The Serpent), are also coming to the BBC. The hit comedy thriller Black Ops has been renewed for a second season as well. From BAFTA-winning actor and writer Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam), BAFTA-winning actor and producer Akemnji Ndifornyen (Famalam), and writing duo Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf (Click and Collect), the series follows Met police officers Dom (Ikumelo) and Kay (Hammed Animashaun) as they stumble through deep cover infiltration and organized crime.

ABC’s The Wonder Years after only two seasons. Based on the 1988 series of the same name, the current iteration follows a Black middle-class family in 1960s Montgomery, Alabama. It takes the whimsical perspective of 12-year-old Dean Williams, also featuring the nostalgic narrations of adult Dean. The series stars Don Cheadle (House of Lies) as adult Dean, Elisha “EJ” Williams (Danger Force) as young Dean, Dulé Hill (Psych) as Bill Williams, Saycon Sengbloh (Respect) as Lillian Williams, and Laura Kariuki (Black Lightning) as Kim Williams. Lee Daniels and Marc Velez of Lee Daniels Entertainment executive produced The Wonder Years along with the show’s original star, Fred Savage. Saladin Patterson serves as head writer and executive producer. The Wonder Years follows fellow canceled scripted series Big Sky, Alaska Daily, and The Company You Keep in the wake of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While the fates of Rookie: Feds and Home Economics are still uncertain, The Good Doctor has been renewed for a seventh season and a pilot for its spinoff, The Good Lawyer, has been ordered.

The premiere of Alma’s Way second season kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month on September 8th with a special guest star, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor voicing herself. The series follows Alma, a six-year-old Puerto Rican girl growing up in the Bronx, and the season premiere features Sotomayor teaching Alma critical thinking regarding resolving disagreements. Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on Sesame Street for 44 years and voices Granny Isa on Alma’s Way, created the series and has known Sotomayor for years through a networking group for Hispanic professional women. The two women both grew up in the Bronx and worked together on the Bronx Children’s Museum; Sotomayor also writes children’s books and often interacts with kids at events, making this an apt collaboration. Manzano has shared that, beyond the episode featuring Sotomayor, she is excited to explore the New York transit system, busking musicians, and more in the rest of the season. The series is a love letter to Manzano’s childhood neighborhood; although poverty and domestic violence issues drove her to find solace in TV, she remembers the place as one where people looked out for each other. Alma’s Way is produced by Fred Rogers Productions.

Paul Yen - Amanda Edwards

Cable: HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty after its second season. Based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, season two follows the period right after the 1980 NBA finals through 1984; the season builds up to the first professional rematch between legends Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) and the Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird (Sean Patrick Small) as its finale. The latest season had 629,000 total viewers across Max and linear telecasts, a significant drop from season one’s 901,000 viewers for its March 2022 debut (likely boosted by March Madness hype) and 1.6 million same day viewers for its May finale. HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi said in May that network executives were “having conversations regarding viewership relative to budget” on several sophomore series such as Winning Time. Last month, Pearlman took to Twitter to implore viewers to tune into season two, saying:

“I’m telling you — the future of “Winning Time” hangs in the balance. We need viewers. The strikes are crippling. Please help spread the word. Season 2 is amazing. But … HBO is big on #s.”

Efforts to save the show were futile, ending in much disappointment. Creator Max Borenstein commented, “Not the ending that we had in mind. But nothing but gratitude and love.” Solomon Hughes, Gaby Hoffman, Adrien Brody, John C. Reilly, Michael Chiklis, and Jason Segel also star in the series. Co-creators Borenstein and Jim Hecht write and executive produce.

Paul Yen will appear in season three of  Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan as the recurring character Quân. The show returns with new episodes December 1st, bringing viewers back to Southside Jamaica, Queens as Kanan and the Thomas family face existential crises of morality, redemption, and breaking free of the family’s pathology. Raising Kanan also stars Omar Epps, London Brown, Malcolm Mays, Hailey Kilgore, Joey Bada$$, Shanley Caswell, Tony Danza and Antonio Ortiz. Yen is joined by additional newcomers Wendell Pierce, Erika Woods, and Grantham Coleman. Yen most recently guest-starred on Hulu’s miniseries Little Fires Everywhere. He has also appeared in The Rookie, MacGyver, and Young Sheldon, as well as playing the lead in Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone on stage, earning an LA Drama Critics Circle’s Best Lead Actor nomination in 2018. Yen is represented by CESD and Authentic Talent & Literary Management.

Fox’s Krapopolis will premiere September 24th and is already boasting a long list of guest stars in its first season. Viewers can be on the listen-out for stars including Yvette Nicole Brown, Daveed Diggs, Ben Stiller, Susan Sarandon, Joel McHale, Dave Franco, Will Forte, Jane Lynch, Steve Buscemi, Stephanie Beatriz, David Cross, Keith David, Chris Hardwick, Tim Meadows, Bobby Moynihan, Jim Rash, Rob Riggle, Tim Robinson, Michael Urie, Alanna Ubach, and Amber Stevens West. The series is set in mythical ancient Greece and follows a dysfunctional family of humans, gods, and monsters as they try to experiment with “civilization” without killing each other in the process. Hannah Waddingham, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Pam Murphy and Duncan Trussell also star in the show. A hedonistic mantitaur (half centaur [horse + human], half manticore [lion + human + scorpion]), a narcissistic king, and a goddess of self-destruction are just a few of the inhabitants of Krapopolis, a city that lives up to its name. Produced by FOX’s Bento Box Entertainment, Krapopolis is executive produced by creator Dan Harmon, Steve Levy, season one showrunner Jordan Young, and seasons two and three showrunner Alex Rubens.

Streaming: The premiere date for Amazon’s from November to early 2024 amidst the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes (over four and two months, respectively). The series is an adaptation of New Regency’s 2005 action comedy of the same name; the film, directed by Doug Liman, starred Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as married assassins hired to kill each other. The new series’ logline is as follows:

“Meet the Smiths: Two strangers, John and Jane, who have given up their identities to be thrown together as partners — in espionage and in marriage. Matched by a mysterious agency, each episode follows them on a new mission and new milestone in their relationship. When the cracks begin to show through, they must fight to stay together. Because in this marriage, divorce is not an option.”

Co-creator and executive producer Donald Glover (Swarm, Atlanta) stars as John Smith alongside Maya Erskine (PEN15) as Jane Smith. Francesca Sloane (Atlanta, Fargo) is co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner. Mr. and Mrs. Smith will show exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Young Love, Max’s full length series spinoff of Matthew A. Cherry’s Oscar-winning short Hair Love, has finally premiered. The series builds on the exploration of Black parenthood seen in the short and Cherry’s book Hair Love. The 12-episode season features Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) as music producer Stephen Love, Issa Rae as natural hair vlogger Angela Young, and Brooke Monroe Conaway as their young daughter Zuri Young Love. The series follows this millennial-parented, Chicago-based family as,

“With a mix of heartfelt introspection and comedy, [they] consider the challenges and joys around marriage, social issues and multi-generational dynamics while striving to make a better life.”

Young audiences can certainly watch, but the heart and comedy of the series will entertain adults too as Max continues to expand a varied animation slate. Cherry executive produces with his production partner Sony Pictures Animation. The first four episodes debuted on September 21st on Max and four new episodes will roll out weekly until the season finale on October 5th.

The fourth and final season of Netflix’s coming-of-age comedy Sex Education is out. The trailer, released September 12th, was filled with heartfelt moments between friends, new beginnings, an uplifting pop song, and, naturally, a lot of sex. The logline of the final season is as follows:

“With Maeve in America and Moordale closed, Otis must find his footing at free-spirited Cavendish College — but he's not the only sex therapist on campus.”

Dealing with a new social hierarchy at school, long distance with Maeve (Emma Mackey), and sharing his now single mother with a new baby sister, Otis (Asa Butterfield) still has a lot to learn. Perhaps the “most sexually anxious teen sex therapist” out there, the trailer also teases Otis trying, but nervously failing, to send a sexy picture to Maeve. Maeve has her own problems as she studies under cult author Thomas Molloy (Dan Levy) and the show explores all the burdens she’s carried since a young age. Otis’s best friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) and the rest of the Moordale crew are also trying to find their new place in life; they must push past comfort zones and adjust to the social order of Cavendish where the kind but exclusive “Coven” reigns supreme. All eight episodes of Sex Education’s final season can be streamed on Netflix as of September 21st.

Dark Winds, AMC’s crime thriller currently featured on Max, has been renewed for a third season. The news was announced shortly after season two wrapped on September 3rd, with the new season expected to release in early 2025. Based on the Leaphorn and Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, the series follows police officer Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and private detective Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) as they track a killer through the high desert of Navajo Country; along the way they’ll face old secrets, challenges to their moral code, and become targets themselves. Created by Graham Roland, produced by Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin, and showrun by John Wirth, 90% of the team on both sides of the camera for season two was actually Indigenous. In addition to McClarnon and Gordon, the cast includes Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, and Elva Guerra. Hopefully the third season will be as successful as the second, which averaged 1.7 million viewers per episode in the Nielsen Live+3 ratings.

Based on Hugh Howey’s bestseller, the new sci-fi series Beacon 23 will debut on MGM Plus in November. The eight-episode series stars Stephen James (Surface) alongside Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)and follows two strangers trapped together inside one of many intergalactic lighthouses, called a Beacon, irrevocably intertwining their lives. Originally greenlit by Spectrum Originals before the division shut down in 2022, the series is executive produced by Zak Penn and Glen Mazzara.

Bryon Allen - Stefanie Keenan

Industry: Actor, director, author, and activist David Harewood (Homeland) and his producing partner Sabina Emrit Harper are forming a new production company focusing on the arts, diversity, and important social issues such as race, identity, mental health, and equality. The company will be called Section 52 Films, after the U.K.’s Mental Health Act Section 5(2); this act led to Harewood being detained during episodes of psychosis over 30 years ago. Harewood has explored themes of mental health and race in his work with the BBC in projects such as Psychosis and Me, Blackface and Why Is COVID-19 Killing People of Colour? Now he is taking more direct creative control, saying:

“Section 52 Films is a labor of love, an amalgamation of my career thus far, dedicated to crafting challenging narratives and being comfortable with the uncomfortable. I’ve presented documentaries for a while now and it was time to take ownership of using my voice and platform. So far as scripted projects go, it’s time to start creating the kind of work that excites me.”

Section 52 Films’ debut project will be David Harewood: Dickens in Italy, which will explore Charles Dickens’ work through a modern lens.

Susan Rice, the former domestic policy advisor to President Biden, is rejoining Netflix’s board of directors. Appointed to the streamer’s board in 2018, Rice left in 2021. She served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser and U.N. ambassador before serving under Biden for over two years, leaving her position last May. Rice’s ties to Netflix led to a bit of a scandal during the 2020 presidential campaign when she sold some of her company shares amidst talk of a Vice Presidency appointment; however, a spokeswoman for Rice said that the sale had been previously planned and was unrelated to the election. Rice has also served on the Bureau of National Affairs, the National Democratic Institute, and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. In rejoining Netflix, Rice will become the fourth woman on the streaming company’s board, joining former Disney TV executive Anne Sweeney, ex-Netflix marketing chief Leslie Kilgore, and digital executive Ann Mather.

Station owner Nexstar and satellite television provider DirecTV came to a new multiyear distribution agreement as of September 18th after an 11-week blackout that began July 2nd. The blackout was the result of disagreements on contract terms for a new retransmission consent agreement that affected 159 stations in 113 markets. Those 11 weeks represented one of the longest standoffs between a major broadcaster and pay TV distributor. The conflict was especially difficult for Nexstar, the nation’s largest owner of TV stations; it had to pull its stations from DirecTV, the third largest traditional distributor (behind Comcast and Charter), and thus from the eyes of its 12.7 million subscribers across the country. This might be why Nexstar restored its channels to the DirecTV lineup even before the agreement was formalized. The arrangement between the two companies is sure to set an example as retransmission consent negotiation pacts come up for renewal for the largest broadcasters and pay TV distributors.

Comedian, producer, and media mogul Byron Allen has made a $10 billion offer to acquire the ABC TV network, FX, and National Geographic cable channels, as well as local stations from Walt Disney. Allen would have to work with banks and private equity firms to finance the deal, but Bloomberg reports the offer is preliminary and could change. Allen may also sell the non-ABC affiliated local TV stations he already owns to avoid tensions with other networks such as CBS and NBC. Disney has not publicly acknowledged Allen’s offer and rumors of other bidders, such as Nexstar Media Group, have also spread. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has cut costs via layoffs and restructures; he has also mentioned potentially selling off some of the company’s linear TV assets — including TV networks like ABC and cable TV channels like ESPN — in the wake of pandemic-related market turmoil. For Allen’s part, he has invested $1.3 billion over the last few years in media acquisitions including the Weather Channel and local stations from Honolulu to Tucson. However, not all bids were successful, and Allen’s acquired properties have left Allen Media with a good amount of debt.

Koyalee Chanda is set to join Lion Forge Entertainment’s management team under President and Chief Content Officer Stephanie Sperber. Seven-time Emmy-nominated children’s media producer, director, and writer, Chanda will take on the role of Senior Vice President of Animation. Most recently, Chanda was the Vice President of Kids and Animation for Hello Sunshine. Before that, she was Vice President of Production and Development for Laughing Wild at Netflix Animation; she has also worked at Apple TV+’s children’s division, HBO Kids and Family, Universal Kids, and PBS Kids. Chanda got her start on the hit preschool series Blue’s Clues, did early development for Higher Ground’s Emmy-winning series Ada Twist and We the People, and worked on Nickelodeon’s hit series Wallykazam! Former Hello Sunshine executive Kirsten Newlands is also joining the team as Executive Vice President of Production and Content Partnerships. Reporting to her will be new addition Jonathan Abraham as Director of Distribution. With experience as a kids media distributor and sales executive, he and Newlands will head the Global Media Sales division. Founder and CEO of Lion Forge David Steward, II and Sperber jointly said,

“We’re incredibly excited to welcome Kirsten, Koyalee and Jonathan to the Lion Forge family. Their impressive track records, wealth of experience and dedication to creating outstanding children’s content will play a pivotal role in our continued growth and success. With the launch of our Global Media Sales division, we are reaffirming our commitment to delivering exceptional kids and family content to audiences worldwide and are poised to take our beloved IPs like Iyanu and BugTron to new heights internationally.”

Sofia Chang is joining Starz as the new executive vice president, chief distribution officer. Reporting to Starz’s president of domestic networks Allison Hoffman, Chang will lead all of Starz’s sales activities with multichannel video and digital distribution. Chang comes from acting as national CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent over 20 years at WarnerMedia and its predecessor, Time Warner, most recently as president of distribution, where she oversaw distribution revenue for all HBO-branded channels. Of her new role, Chang said,

“I’m thrilled to join Starz and I’m looking forward to building on the team’s great success. I am also incredibly proud to be joining an organization that is dedicated to putting women and underrepresented audiences at the forefront of its business strategy.”

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group has added 19 local and national free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels to its free streaming platform Local Now. Part of an expanded deal between Allen Media Group and NBCUniversal, Local Now will add local news channels from 10 markets including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and four regional Telemundo fast channels covering California, Florida, Texas, and the Northeast. NBC LX Home, Telemundo al Dia, and American Crimes are a few of the added channels, with Matt Schnaars, president of content distribution for NBCUniversal, explaining that “local news, in English and Spanish, lifestyle programming and true crime are three genres that are increasingly important to viewers in the FAST space.” Local Now provides news, weather, sports, traffic, and entertainment in over 225 markets across the country via over 500 free streaming channels, including a Local Now channel in every designated market area in the U.S.

Mignon Clyburn (D), former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, and Fred Upton (R), former House Energy and Commerce Committee chair, are set to be senior advisors for the newly formed Streaming Innovation Alliance. Formed mainly by the Motion Picture Association and backed by the likes of Netflix, Peacock, BET Plus, and The Walt Disney Co., the alliance will advocate for over-the-top video providers in Washington, D.C. The formation of the SIA comes at the same time the FCC is being pushed to apply the same regulations traditional video providers fall under to streamers. This includes access and carriage regulations as well as inclusion in the broadband contribution base. The FCC’s Universal Service Fund — money that goes toward maintaining telecommunications hardware and closing the digital divide in schools, libraries, and low income or rural areas — currently draws mainly from a shrinking pool of landline phone services; many argue that bandwidth-intensive edge providers such as Netflix and YouTube should start pulling their weight. As Congress turns its eye toward the tech industry and tightening antitrust laws, including streaming companies’ power over content distribution and access, it seems the streamers have a way to fight back.

Horace Ové, the first Black British full length film director of Pressure, died on September 16th at the age of 86 after years of suffering from Alzheimer’s. Born in Trinidad in 1936, Ové moved to London in 1960. While a student at the London Film School, he covered the Black Power movements and counterculture in London. Influenced by Federico Fellini and Vittorio De Sica, Ové made documentaries on subjects from James Baldwin to reggae; he pushed boundaries at the BBC and Channel 4 with films delving into multicultural Britain and hard-hitting topics like the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984. His seminal film Pressure explored issues faced by the nascent second-generation West Indians in Britain. Ové’s legacy can be seen in the work of Black British filmmakers including Menelik Shabazz, Steve McQueen, and Dionne Edwards. The U.K.’s Film and TV Charity also has a £50,000 ($62,000) Horace Ové Grant to help the Black and global majority of people of color working behind the scenes in film and TV to access more opportunities for career progression. Ové will be honored in an upcoming BFI Southbank retrospective season (running from October 23rd to November 30th) titled Power to the People: Horace Ové’s Radical Vision; a 4K restored version of Pressure will premiere jointly at the BFI London Film Festival and the New York Film Festival on October 11th. The retrospective will show films such as Baldwin’s N****** (1969), Reggae (1970), King Carnival (1973), Skateboard Kings (1978), and Black Safari (1972).

Playwright, screenwriter, and producer Nathan Louis Jackson died on August 22nd at 44 years old after years of heart issues. Jackson is perhaps best known for his work on the Netflix superhero series Luke Cage, for which he was executive story editor and co-producer. He also wrote and produced for other shows including Southland, Shameless, and 13 Reasons Why. He is furthermore a prolific playwright whose work includes The Last Black Play, The Mancherios, Sticky Traps, Brother Toad, and When I Come to Die, which played off-Broadway in 2011. Born in 1978 in Lawrence, Kansas, Jackson moved to New York and was still attending Juilliard when his play Broke-ology, which follows a poor Kansas City Family, premiered in 2008. The play later opened at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center in 2009 starring Wendell Pierce. Pierce paid tribute to Jackson on social media saying,

“He was authentic, Black, insightful, down to earth, literary, uniquely creative, soulful, and a man comfortable in his KC roots. He was a friend who became my brother. I loved him.”

Jackson’s family added that his work “often showcased his love for his hometown” and that “he was a devoted supporter of the arts community within Kansas City.” Over the course of his career, Jackson won two Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Awards, the Kennedy Center’s Gold Medallion, and the Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award. A celebration of life is being planned for Jackson and a GoFundMe page has been set up to aid his family with expenses.

Actor and rapper Nashawn Breedlove, best known for facing off against Eminem in an 8 Mile rap battle, has died at the age of 46 from unknown causes. Breedlove played Lotto in 8 Mile, the rival of Eminem’s Jimmy in the 2002 drama loosely based on Eminem’s life. Lotto goes head-to-head with Jimmy in the finale, laying down lines that win over the film’s audience, despite Jimmy’s ultimate win. Rapper Mickey Factz paid tribute to Breedlove on Instagram, posting the famous scene and writing,

“RIP to one of the few emcee’s to beat Eminem… Lotto from 8 Mile. Who’s friends lovingly called him, OX. You will be missed for your tenacity and aggressiveness.”

Beyond 8 Mile, Breedlove can be heard on the soundtrack for The Wash (2001) alongside Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Strike Watch: On September 24th, the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract that promises to end the 146-day strike that began May 2nd. The two negotiating committees — Chris Keyser and David Goodman representing the WGA with Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav primarily representing the AMPTP — came back to the table September 20th and spent the next five days making compromises and ironing out the details. While picketing was suspended as of the 24th, the strike won’t be officially over until the negotiating committee votes on whether to recommend the contract to the board of the WGA West and the council of the WGA East, and until the board and council send it out for ratification and set a date to lift the work stoppage (which can occur during the ratification process). The 11,000 members of the WGA must then vote whether to ratify the agreement, but with how long the work stoppage has lasted and how enthusiastic leadership has sounded about the agreement, it is highly likely to go through. In their official statement, Guild leadership credited strike managers and member-organized strike teams with making the industry feel the pressure by picketing productions trying to shoot completed scripts. The new deal should help get final negotiations rolling for SAG-AFTRA’s contract, as the actors’ union is still on the strike that began July 14th. SAG-AFRA and the Directors Guild of America both issued statements congratulating the WGA as well as highlighting performers’ continued fight, which will continue to be a roadblock for production and promotion. While the details of the contract won’t be released until the official language is hammered out, it is believed the WGA achieved most of its long shot goals around minimum staff level guarantees for episodic TV; the compromise includes a formula for a minimum number of writer hires depending on the number of episodes per season. The WGA and AMPTP also came up with a new-model streaming residual formula which includes bonuses for high-performing individual titles; this should also help SAG-AFTRA in winning revenue-based residuals. The WGA also got their final priority addressed, establishing regulations around the use of generative AI in content production. While SAG-AFTRA is still on strike, the groundbreaking Minimum Basic Agreement for the WGA goes a long way toward getting production, distribution, and promotion cycles back on track, with rumors of quiet inquiries into stage and resource availability popping up even before the official deal announcement.