Danica McKellar and Neal Bledsoe to Star in Great American Family’s ‘Christmas at the Drive-In’ (TV News Roundup)

Katie Reul and Michaela Zee
·5 min read
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After locking a multi-picture deal with cable network Great American Family, actor Danica McKellar is slated to executive produce her debut holiday feature for the channel, “Christmas at the Drive-In,” this holiday season.

McKellar will also co-star in the film alongside fellow actor Neal Bledsoe, both of whom previously worked together in the Hallmark Channel original “The Winter Palace.” The script was written by Rick Garman, whose filmography is largely dominated by other holiday TV movies like “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” or more recently, “A Christmas… Present.”

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The premiere of “Christmas at the Drive-In” is part of the network’s Great American Christmas celebration, a holiday programming marathon that lasts from Oct. 21 to the end of 2022.

Also in today’s news:

DATES

Aspiring nonfiction filmmakers seeking the tools to make their dream docuseries a reality will be part of the annual Film Independent Docuseries Intensive — a vigorous three-day workshop from Sept. 21-23 for up-and-coming documentarians to make connections and develop their projects.

Ten projects and 21 fellows were selected to participate in this year’s event, with titles including “Fruitbowl: An Oral History of Queer Sex” by director Dave Quantic and “Proxy: The Cold War We Weren’t Taught In School” from co-executive producer team Melinda Pinecone and Marc Smolowitz.

CNN Original Series returned as founding sponsor for this year’s event, working in collaboration with non-profit organization Film Independent to bring in major names from the documentary field as guest speakers and creative advisors. Filmmakers like Jodi Gnomes, Nick Cammilleri and Zackary Ducker are among a few of the anticipated mentors.

PROGRAMMING

Disney Branded Television has announced this year’s Halloween programming for Disney Channel’s “Calling All the Monsters” and Disney Junior’s “Trick or Treats.”

Disney Channel’s Halloween-themed content includes the world premiere of “Under Wraps 2” on Sept. 25, alongside premiere episodes of “Bunk’d,” “The Villains of Valley View,” “Raven’s Home” and “Big City Greens.” Beginning Sept. 26, Disney Channel will air Halloween-themed movies every weeknight at 8 p.m. ET, including the “Hotel Transylvania” film series and “Halloweentown.”

Disney Junior will debut new episodes of “Mickey Mouse Funhouse,” “Firebuds” and “PJ Masks,” among others.

The Disney Channel and Disney Junior programming events run from Sept. 25 to Oct. 31.

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Along with signaling the dawn of the spooky season, October 1 marks the addition of 27,000 hours worth of content to the streaming service Tubi for its month-long “Terror on Tubi” festivus.

The Halloween-inspired streaming celebration is returning for the second year in a row with all-new original films: “Alone In the Dark,” “Battle of the Beasts: Bigfoot vs. Yeti,” “The Final Rose,” “Lights, Camera, Murder: Scream” and “A Party to Die For.” The lineup also includes a Tubi original remake of “Terror Train,” as well as classics like “It” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

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Starting Thursday, The Roku Channel — a free-to-use, ad-based streaming service — is offering exclusive access to a three-part special containing footage from the 2022 Adult Swim Festival. Though the event took place in Philadelphia back in August, music enthusiasts can now experience performances from headliners like Tierra Whack or Run The Jewels followed by backstage interviews.

Parallel to the premiere of the special, The Roku Channel will also add over 120 episodes selected from more than 16 popular Adult Swim series and shorts in celebration of the release. Viewers can anticipate shows like “Vindicators 2,” the spin-off of “Rick and Morty,” and “Aquadonk Side Pieces,” the spin-off of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”

SERIES

The drama series “After Forever” is back for a third season on Prime Video, with production confirmed to resume Sept. 24.

Continuing the series’ exploration of love, loss and queerness, the upcoming episodes pick up one month from where season two leaves off and will feature returning actors like Erin Cherry, Finn Douglas and Mike McGowan. The new season was co-written and co-created by Kevin Spirtas and the late Michael Slade before he died of cancer.

Episodes will premiere on Prime Video in late December 2022.

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Tastemade has announced that original series “Weekend Refresh” is set to premiere this November on the Tastemade and Tastemade Home streaming channels. The series is hosted by Tia Mowry.

“Weekend Refresh” focuses on homeowners and renters as they create their dream space with just $2,000 in 48 hours. Each episode will include hacks that viewers at home can follow.

Mowry will executive produce along with Tastemade’s Taye Shuayb and Mike Aho. Showrunners Ali Mansfield and Priya Balachandran serve as executive producer and co-executive producer, respectively.

EVENTS

Fox and Blockchain Creative Labs have announced that the polls to vote for episodic elements within Dan Harmon’s “Krapopolis” will open for Krap Chicken NFT holders on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 9 a.m. PT.

Fox touts “Krapopolis” as network television’s first animated series to be curated on the blockchain, and the inaugural “Krapopolis” NFT collection features 10,420 “Krap Chickens” created by the show’s artists.

Following the polls, Krap Chicken collectors will get to watch elements of their NFT on television, as well as earn access to token-gated content, exclusive show voting rights, private discord channels and meet-and-greets with the cast and crew.

“Krapopolis” will premiere in May 2023 on Fox. The 24-hour voting period for Krap Chicken NFT holders will open online.

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