Freeform Sets Premiere Dates for ‘Cruel Summer,’ ‘Grown-ish’ and ‘Praise Petey’ (TV News Roundup)
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“Cruel Summer” and “Grown-ish” return to Freeform as part of their summer roster along with a brand-new animated comedy series “Praise Petey,” the network announced Monday. “Cruel Summer” returns with Season 2 and “Grown-ish” will be kicking off its sixth and final season with a two-part release.
The first half of “Grown-ish” Season 6 premieres June 28 and features Justine Skye and Tara Raani as returning series regulars. This season follows Annika (Skye), a sharp and funny aspiring media star who picks a college that best fits her personal brand. “Raani plays Zaara, a first generation Indian American whose fearlessness inspires Junior as his best friend and go-to shoulder to lean on,” says the official show synopsis.
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Season 2 of “Cruel Summer” will debut on June 5 at 9 p.m. ET with a two-episode special. The series will then move to its 10 p.m. time slot. According to the show’s official synopsis, this season will swirl through “three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward.”
“Praise Petey” following a girl named Petey voiced by Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy. Petey is “a New York City ‘it’ girl who has it all until her life comes crashing down around her. As luck would have it, a mysterious gift from her father gives her a new lease on life: She’s going to ‘lean into’ modernizing his small-town cult,” according to the official show synopsis. The series will premiere on July 21 at 10 p.m.
EVENTS
The Television Academy Foundation announced the cast and crew from “Severance,” “Shrinking,” “Good Trouble” and “The Sex Life of College Girls” as speakers at the virtual College Television Summit.
The virtual summit will be held April 25-26, and is free to all college television and media arts students nationwide. The attendees will have the chance to participate in virtual networking sessions with Emmy winners, top creatives, business executives, agents and more.
The summit will begin with a “Shrinking” panel, the panelists are Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, Jason Segel, Christa Miller and Jessica Williams. Following the “Shrinking” panel, “Access Hollywood’s” Scott Evans will host a keynote conversation, which will be followed by producer Krista Gano’s Q&A, “The Art of the Pitch Workshop.”
Additional programming includes a virtual speed networking event, a conversation with Justin Noble, co-creator of HBO Max’s “The Sex Life of College Girls,” a conversation with “Severance” actor Tramell Tillman, and a conversation with “Good Trouble’s” crew, Joanna Johnson, Christine Sacani, Gillian Sonnier, Constance Zimmer, Amanda Jones and Rachel Kamerman.
Visit TelevisionAcademy.com/cts/register to register for the event,
AWARD SHOWS
Jennifer Coolidge will be honored with the MTV Movie & TV Awards Comedic Genius award at the upcoming May 7 awards show.
Coolidge will receive the sixth comedic genius award, following Jack Black’s 2022 acceptance, and former recipients Sacha Baron Cohen, Melissa McCarthy, Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell.
Coolidge has starred in HBO’s “The White Lotus” as Tanya McQuoid, which earned her 2022 Emmy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award, two Critics Choice Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Following her two-season stint on “The White Lotus,” Coolidge joined Ryan Murphy’s “The Watcher” alongside Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. Most recently, Coolidge starred opposite Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel in Prime Video’s “Shotgun Wedding” and David Harbour in Netflix’s “We Have a Ghost.”
Coolidge will be honored during the 8 p.m. award show on Sunday, May 7.
PROGRAMMING
Circle Network announced “Reportin’ For Duty: A Tribute to Leslie Jordan” a tribute to the late the comedian will air exclusively on the Circle Network on Jordan’s birthday, April 29 at 10 p.m.
The tribute will include performances from several musicians including Brothers Osborne, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Lukas Nelson, Tanya Tucker, Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd. Additionally, Jordan’s former co-stars, Mayim Bialik, Jim Parsons and Max Greenfield, will share personal stories and memories of the late actor.
“This was such a special evening and I’m so thankful the world will be able to celebrate Leslie alongside us with this incredible tribute. We miss you every day, Leslie,” said Lukas Nelson.
“Seeing the raw emotion from everyone throughout this tribute really showcased the impact Leslie had on every single person he met. It’s an honor to be able to broadcast this special evening to Leslie’s fans nationwide,” added Drew Reifenberger, Circle Network’s general manager.
The tribute was filmed at the Grand Ole Opry and produced by Door Knocker Media.
DATES
Amazon Studios’ multi-generational rom-com series “With Love” will premiere its second season June 2 on Prime Video, the streamer announced Tuesday.
“With Love” follows the stories of siblings Lily and Jorge Diaz as they navigate the obstacles of life together. After exiting her former romance with Santiago, Lily has decided to take some time to focus on herself by building her makeup styling business. However, when Santiago and Nick profess their feelings for her, Lily finds herself stuck at a crossroads. This season, we’ll see Jorge question his relationship with Henry, especially after he meets his “proud Texan parents.” Jorge will have to come to the decision of if the relationship is everything he’s ever dreamed of or his worst nightmare.
The series stars Emeraude Toubia as Lily Diaz, Mark Indelicato as Jorge Diaz Jr., Rome Flynn as Santiago Zayas, Desmond Chiam as Nick Zhao, Vincent Rodriguez III as Henry Cruz, Isis King as Sol Perez, Todd Grinnell as Dr. Miles Murphy, Constance Marie as Beatriz Diaz and Benito Martinez as Jorge Diaz Sr.
“With Love” is created and executive produced by Gloria Calderón Kellett, alongside executive producer Andy Roth. “With Love” is produced by Kellett’s production company, GloNation, and Amazon Studios.
FIRST LOOKS
Acorn TV, AMC+ and BBC America have released the trailer for third and final season of “Happy Valley.” The drama will premiere on Monday May 22 at 10 p.m. with a new episodes debuting weekly. The final episodes will air on all three networks.
Stars Sarah Lancashire, James Norton, Siobhan Finneran and Rhys Connah return for the final season.
On the cusp of retirement and battling the never-ending problem of drugs in the valley, Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Lancashire) quickly discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim, sparking a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to murderer and rapist Tommy Lee Royce (Norton).
Created and written by Sally Wainwright, who also serves as a director alongside Patrick Harkins and Fergus O’Brien. Lancashire, Faith Penhale, Will Johnston, Ben Irving, Rebecca Ferguson and Wainwright serve as executive producers. Jessica Taylor serves as producer and BBC Studios is handling distribution.
See the trailer below.
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Paramount+ has shared the first teaser trailer for “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'” second season. The 10 episode season will premiere on Thursday, June 15 on Paramount+, with each episode dropping on a weekly basis.
The series is based on Captain Christopher Pike as he served on the U.S.S. Enterprise and the years before Captain Kirk guided the U.S.S. Enterprise. “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” returns with Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock, Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Cadet Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas, Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga and Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk. Carol Kane joiuns the cast as Pelia.
The new season will also include a special crossover episode featuring both live-action and animation, with “Star Trek: Lower Decks'” Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner and Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler joining the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners. Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet, Henry Alonso Myers, Aaron Baiers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers and is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.
See the teaser trailer below.
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Netflix has shared the first trailer for its limited series “All The Light We Cannot See,” created by Shawn Levy. The four-part series will premiere on Thursday, November 2.
The series is an adaption of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and her father, Daniel DeBlanc, flee a German-occupied Paris. Marie-Laure and DeBlanc seek refuge in St. Malo where their host broadcasts via the radio as part of the resistance. When Werner, a young teen hired by Hitler’s regime, is set on a mission to track down the broadcasts, he finds himself naturally connecting with Marie-Laure. Throughout ten years, both Marie-Laure and Werner grow closer, depicting a story of the light in human connection.
The four-part limited series is led by Aria Mia Loberti and Nell Sutton as the older and younger Marie-Laure respectively, and Mark Ruffalo as Daniel LeBlanc, Hugh Laurie as Uncle Etienne, Louis Hofmann as Werner, Lars Eidinger as Von Rumpel and Marion Bailey as Madame Manec. “All The Light We Can See” is directed by Levy and written by Steven Knight.
See the first trailer below.
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Amazon Freevee’s new courtroom program “Tribunal Justice” will premiere on June 9, the ad-supported streamer announced Tuesday. The first official trailer for the series has also been released.
The series, created and executive produced by Judge Judy Sheindlin, expands the “Justice” brand on Amazon Freevee. Consisting of a panel of three judges, Judge Tanya Acker, Judge Patricia DiMango and Judge Adam Levy, the professionals will band together to navigate real-life cases. Also keeping order in the court will be bailiffs Cassandra Britt and Petri Hawkins Byrd.
The first three episodes of the series will be available to stream exclusively on Freevee in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Austria beginning on June 9, and new episodes will release every weekday through December 1.
“Tribunal Justice” follows Sheindlin’s first series for streaming, “Judy Justice.” The series is co-executive produced by Sandra Allen. Scott Koondel, too, serves as an executive producer.
Watch the first trailer below.
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Apple TV+ has released the trailer for “City on Fire,” an eight-episode mystery thriller starring Wyatt Oleff and Chase Sui Wonders. The first three episodes of the series, inspired by Garth Risk Hallberg eponymous novel, will premiere on May 12, followed by a new episode every week until June 16.
“An NYU student is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. Samantha (Wonders) is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Her friends’ band is playing at her favorite downtown club but she leaves to meet someone, promising to return,” says the official synopsis.
“She never does. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she’s revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious citywide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.”
The show is written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who also serve as executive producers and showrunners. Jesse Peretz directs four episodes and also serves as executive producer and Lis Rowinski serves as co-executive producer.
See the official trailer below.
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Apple TV+’s natural history series “Prehistoric Planet” will return for its second season with a five-day, week-long debut event starting on Monday, May 22.
The new season will transport viewers back millions of years to observe our world — and the dinosaurs that roamed it. Season 2’s first trailer showcases the use of innovative scientific research, rich visual effects and paleontology knowledge that was used to create the series. Notably, this season will showcase a few new species of dinosaurs, including the Isisaurus, the Pectinodon, the Questzalcoatlus and the Hatzegopteryx.
“Prehistoric Planet” hails from executive producers Jon Favreau and Mike Gunton and BBC Studios Natural History Unit with support from the photorealistic visual effects of MPC applied to concept art created by Jellyfish Pictures. The series is narrated by Sir David Attenborough with an original score by Hans Zimmer, Anže Rozman and Kara Talve for Bleeding Fingers Music.
See the first official teaser below.
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One of the internet’s favorite pairs is hopping over to television.
The trailer for Apple TV+’s “Frog and Toad” has been released, an animated family series based on the four beloved Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winning books by Arnold Lobel. Frog will be voiced by Nat Faxon and Toad by Kevin Miachel Richarson. The show will premiere on April 28.
“Frog and Toad are best friends who know that the true secret to friendship is not only enjoying the things you have in common, but embracing the things that make you different,” says the official show synopsis.
Also joining the amphibious adventure will be Ron Funches, Fortune Feimster, Cole Escola, Aparna Nancherla, John Hodgman, Yvette Nicole Brown, Stephen Tobolowsky, Tom Kenny, Selene Luna, Margaret Cho and Betsy Sodaro. Rob Hoegee serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside Adrianne Lobel, Adam Lobel Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina.
Watch the trailer below.
DEVELOPMENT
Peacock has ordered “Love Island Games,” a spin-off series of the popular reality dating television show of the same name.
The season will premiere in the fall showcasing a cast of past Islanders that have appeared on seasons of “Love Island” in the U.S., U.K., Australia and more. The new format will place emphasis on team and couples’ challenges while contestants continue to navigate dating, eliminations, recoupling and dramatic bombshell arrivals.
Details around cast, schedule and location will be announced at a later date.
“Love Island Games” is produced by ITV Entertainment, an ITV America company. David George, Adam Sher, Simon Thomas, Andy Cadman and Ben Thursby-Palmer serve as executive producers alongside Tom Gould, Richard Cowles, Mike Spencer, Richard Foster and Chet Fenster. The series is based on a format owned by Lifted Entertainment and GroupM Motion Entertainment and distributed by ITV Studios.
PARTNERSHIPS
WWE and Fanatics have expanded their long-term sports and entertainment partnership with plans for Fanatics to operate WWE’s global event merchandise business now. Fanatics Commerce will now manage on-site event retail experiences for WWE’s annual calendar, including premium live events such as WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam.
The collaboration between Fanatics and world-class teams at WWE will optimize the shopping experiences through localized merchandise collections, innovative event retail stores and experiences, and using Fanatics-operated team stores during live events.
“Fanatics has been an amazing partner and will immediately bolster WWE’s event retail business,” said Alex Varga, senior vice president and head of corporate development for WWE. “Expanding our partnership will allow WWE to further expand our offering to fans and grow merchandise revenue in 2023 and beyond.”
The expanded partnership will commence on May 1 ahead of WWE’s premium live event, Backlash.
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Martial arts organization One Championship has partnered with Horizon Sports & Experiences to help manage One’s sponsorship, entitlement and brand activation efforts. According to Nielsen, One has a cumulative reach of over 400 million fans via viewership and engagement.
According to One: “HS&E will be responsible for developing and expanding One’s sponsorship portfolio to include new and innovative brand partners,” says One. “Additionally, in its continuing efforts to create better experiences for brands and consumers, HS&E will provide One with its full suite of data and analytics services and solutions.”
One will make its on-the-ground U.S. debut on May 5, which will include the trilogy fight between flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Horizon Sports & Experiences as we prepare to officially launch in the U.S.,” said Chatri Sityodtong, chairman and CEO of One. “The U.S. is the world’s largest and most sophisticated sports and entertainment market and home to the world’s most elite sports leagues and properties.”
STREAMING
Spectrum has launched its brand-new streaming network, Spectrum News+, which will provide localized reporting and news coverage.
Spectrum News+ will be the hub for over 30 local Spectrum TV news networks, utilizing content from those various outlets..
“By combining the power of our deeply-rooted local newsrooms with objective coverage of the day’s headlines, we are helping our audiences connect with their communities while also providing them with a comprehensive view of the world around them,” said Alison Hellman, senior vice president of Spectrum News.
The weekday news lineup will kick off at 6 a.m. ET with anchor Bree Driscoll, followed by the afternoon news from noon to 6 p.m. ET anchored by a rotating lineup of Spectrum News anchors and veteran journalist Sharon Tazewell anchoring the weekday evening news starting at 6 p.m. ET.
The network will be available to stream for Spectrum residential customers worldwide. Those not living in an existing Spectrum News market can stream via the Spectrum News mobile app and Roku and Apple TV streaming devices.
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Latino-owned Fuse Media has added two more FAST channels to its deal with Amazon Freevee. Joining the lineup are Latino Vibes and OUTtv Proud; Fuse also programs the FAST channels Shades of Black and Backstage on Freevee.
“We’re thrilled to be extending our distribution deal with Freevee to include Latino Vibes and OUTtv Proud, and to be adding even more of Fuse Media’s empowering content to the Amazon Freevee portfolio of channels,” said Miguel Roggero, chairman and CEO of Fuse Media, in a statement. “We’re really proud of our FAST channels, each showing tremendous growth with a curated slate of inclusive programming. We can’t wait for Freevee customers to have access to this programming.”
LATE NIGHT
Harry Styles and Will Ferrell will be the last guests to join James Corden April 27 on the couch of the “Late Late Show with James Corden.” The final episode will be preceded by a primetime special of carpool karaoke featuring Blackpink and Diddy.
Tom Cruise, Billie Eilish, Josh Gad, Jennifer Garner, Mila Kunis, Seth Meyers, Billy Porter, Lisa Kudrow, Sharon Stone and Natalie Portman are among the stars that have previously been announced as guests during Corden’s final two weeks of the show.
Both Styles and Ferrell have been frequent guests on the “Late Late Show.” In an episode with One Direction, Styles lost a game of “tattoo roulette,” leaving with permanent ink of the show logo.
The final episode, which has been dubbed the “Last Last Late Late Show,” will air April 27 at 12:37 a.m. on CBS, with a special proceeding it in primetime.
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Charlamagne Tha God, Desus Nice and Michelle Wolf are among the new wave of stars set to guest host “The Daily Show,” Comedy Central’s award-winning late-night television program. The show’s Ronny Chieng and Lewis Black along with the rest of the news team will also be getting behind the “Daily” desk in this new chapter.
In addition to Chieng and Black, the news team is comprised of Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, Dulcé Sloan, Roy Wood Jr. and Jordan Klepper.
The latest slate of guest hosts will begin appearing on May 15 at 11 p.m. and continue through June 26. “The Daily Show” is written and executive produced by Jen Flanz, who also serves as showrunner.
Here are dates for the upcoming guest hosts:
May 15th: Charlamagne Tha God
May 22nd: News Team Takeover
June 5th: Michelle Wolf
June 12th: Ronny Chieng
June 20th: Lewis Black
June 26th: Desus Nice
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