‘Last One Laughing Canada’ Gets Amazon Premiere Date; ‘American Idol’ Trailer (TV News Roundup)

The Amazon Prime Video competition series “LOL: Last One Laughing” will launch a Canadian edition Feb. 18.

“Last One Laughing Canada” competitors include Caroline Rhea, Dave Foley, Debra DiGiovanni, Jon Lajoie, Tom Green, Colin Mochrie, Mae Martin, Brandon Ash Mohammed, Andrew Phung and K. Trevor Wilson. Hosted by Jay Baruchel, the six-part series follows the 10 comedians as they try to eliminate others by making each other laugh (through stand-up, musical performance, improvisational and more), while not laughing themselves. The comedian who outlasts their competitors wins the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity of choice.

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Executive Producers are John Brunton, Erin Brock, and Shannon Farr. The series is produced in association with Insight Productions.

“LOL: Last One Laughing Canada” is the latest adaptation of “Documental,” an Amazon Original series in Japan owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo and created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto — where Matsumoto leads 10 comedians who bet their own money in a “battle of laughter behind closed doors.” The series format has also had successful versions in Mexico, Italy, Germany, Australia, India, France and Spain.

The first two episodes of “LOL: Last One Laughing Canada” will be followed by two new installments on Feb. 25 and two more on March 4.

Also in today’s TV News Roundup:

FIRST LOOKS

The 20th season of “American Idol” is set to premiere on Feb. 27, and ABC is reflecting on the show’s legacy in its latest trailer. The first look features judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, along with host Ryan Seacrest, while they meet this season’s singers — as well as clips of some of the biggest music names to emerge from the singing competition show, including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and Adam Lambert. “American Idol” is produced by Fremantle and Industrial Media’s 19 Entertainment and has aired on ABC for 5 seasons. Executive producers include Megan Wolflick (also serving as showrunner), Jennifer Mullin, Trish Kinane, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman. Watch the trailer for Season 20 below.

PROGRAMMING

Apple TV announced a new four-part documentary series, “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” which will seek to offer a more nuanced look at President Abraham Lincoln during the time of the Civil War. Narrated by Jeffrey Wright and featuring the voices of Bill Camp as Abraham Lincoln and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Frederick Douglass, the series is a 21st century examination of the people and events that shaped Lincoln’s evolving stance on slavery, while also trying to amplify the narratives of enslaved people. “Lincoln’s Dilemma” is produced by Eden Productions and Kunhardt Films. Executive producers are Peter Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt, George Kunhardt, Josh Tyrangiel, Richard Plepler, Jacqueline Olive, Barak Goodman and Jelani Cobb. Olive and Goodman direct the series. All four parts will premiere Feb. 18 on Apple TV.

EXECUTIVES

BBC Studios announced the promotion of Eve Frederick to senior vice president of production for the company’s Los Angeles production arm. She currently oversees production teams for a variety of BBC Studios produced series, including three series under “Life Below Zero” on National Geographic, the hit true crime documentary “Murder Among the Mormons” for Netflix, “Ex-Rated” hosted by Andy Cohen on Peacock and “Top Gear America” on MotorTrend. Frederick was most recently vice president of production for BBC Studios, Los Angeles Productions. Her additional series credits at BBC Studios include “Port Protection” and “Breaking Bobby Bones” for National Geographic and “Texicanas” for Bravo.

A. Smith & Co. Productions has promoted producer and series developer Eli Baldrige to senior vice president of development — where Baldrige will manage the development team and oversee all development across the company. Baldrige previously served as vice president of development at A. Smith & Co. Productions, where he developed programming including “Welcome to Plathville” for TLC, Pharrell Williams’ “Voices of Fire” for Netflix, and “Canine Intervention” for Netflix.

LATE NIGHT

Ariana DeBose, Willem Dafoe and The Lumineers will appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Thursday, while Peter Dinklage, Fortune Feimster and Oliver Tree will be on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will feature Liev Schreiber and Allison Russell.

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