Nicole Kidman Leads Healing Ritual In ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Teaser (TV News Roundup)

Hulu released a new teaser for “Nine Perfect Strangers,” premiering on Aug. 18.

Based on the best-selling book by Liane Moriarty, the eight-episode series follows nine stressed city-dwellers embarking on a wellness retreat led by a suspicious resort director, Masha (Nicole Kidman).

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Kidman stars alongside Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Samara Weaving, Melvin Gregg, Asher Keddie, Grace Van Patten, Tiffany Boone and Manny Jacinto.

“Nine Perfect Strangers” is from David E. Kelley, Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories, Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films and Endeavor Content. Jonathan Levine directs all eight episodes of the series and serves as executive producer alongside Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Jodi Matterson, Kidman, Per Saari, Moriarty, Kelley, John Henry Butterworth, Molly Allen, Samantha Strauss and McCarthy. Co-showrunners Kelley and Butterworth serve as co-writers with Strauss.

Watch the teaser below.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:

DATES

Disney Plus announced that the “Monsters, Inc.” spinoff series “Monsters at Work” will now premiere on July 7. The show takes place right after the fan-favorite monsters Mike and Sulley discover that children’s laughter generates 10 times more energy than screams. When new monster Tylor Tuskmon, a recent Monsters University graduate ready to scare, lands a job at Monsters, Inc., he must change paths, learning how to become a jokester. Ben Feldman plays the voice of Tylor, starring alongside Mindy Kaling as Val Little, Henry Winkler as Fritz, Lucas Neff as Duncan and Alanna Ubach as Cutter. Billy Crystal and John Goodman reprise their beloved roles as Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan. “Monsters at Work” was developed and is executive produced by Disney animation veteran Bobs Gannaway, while Sean Lurie produces and Kat Good and Steve Anderson serve as supervising directors. Rob Gibbs, who died in 2020, directed some of the earlier episodes. Watch the trailer below.

FIRST LOOKS

Netflix released a trailer for Season 3 of “Virgin River,” premiering on July 9. Starring Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Colin Lawrence, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Lauren Hammersley, Grayson Gurnsey, Sarah Dugdale, Zibby Allen, Marco Grazzini, Tim Matheson, Annette O’Toole and Chase Petriw, the series follows a nurse practitioner who uproots her city life and moves to a remote Northern California town. The twist-filled Season 3 promises new drama, including a funeral, a fire, a divorce, a hurricane and a new romance. Watch the trailer below.

CASTING

Lex Mayson has joined the cast of Peacock’s “Joe Exotic” series. They will play the role of Saff, Joe’s employee, joining previously announced cast members Kate McKinnon, Cameron Mitchell, Brian Van Holt, Nat Wolff, Sam Keeley and Dennis Quaid. The limited series will focus on Carole Baskin, a big cat enthusiast who sets out to shut down the operation of animal tycoon Joe Exotic, who is breeding and using his big cats for profit. The series comes from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group. Etan Frankel writes and executive produces with McKinnon and Wondery’s Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy and Aaron Hart.

EXECUTIVE NEWS

A3 Artists Agency promoted Alexis Elisha Cooper to vice president of human resources and Ulisses Rivera to director of communications. Both will continue to report to COO Todd Quinn. When Cooper joined A3 in 2013, she brought with her more than 15 years of human resources experience, allowing her to elevate new company policies that promote diversity and inclusion. Rivera launched the agency’s public relations division in 2019 and will now oversee internal and external communications, media relations, advertising, branding, sponsorships, events, client publicity and social media.

EVENTS

The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) announced that on July 14, Ben Silverman, Scott Greenstein and Brian Baumgartner (“The Office”) will kick off NATPE Virtual: ContentCast – The Business of Podcasting Content with an opening panel moderated by Andrew Wallenstein, President and Chief Media Analyst of Variety Intelligence Platform. The event will focus on the intersection between audio and television and feature leading executives from Audible, GroupM, iHeartMedia, RoosterTeeth, ViacomCBS, Wolf Entertainment, Triton Digital and more.

LAUNCHES

The Teaching Company has relaunched The Great Courses Plus as Wondrium. The ad-free global streaming platform focused on lifelong learning and personal enrichment provides members with informative, nonfiction learning content including documentaries, short-form series, courses and tutorials. A subscription-based service, Wondrium includes a library of over 7,500 hours of programming from Kino Lorber, MagellanTV, and Craftsy. New and existing content from The Great Courses continues there, as well as academically-focused fare from A&E Television Networks, Scientific American, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and The Culinary Institute of America. Wondrium will be available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, iOS and Android.

LATE NIGHT

Kathryn Hahn, Jon M. Chu and Polo G will appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

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