TV News Roundup: HBO Releases ‘Catherine The Great’ Trailer Featuring Helen Mirren

Anna Tingley

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In today’s TV news roundup, HBO drops the first trailer for its four-part series “Catherine the Great,” and Lifetime’s “The College Admissions Scandal” movie sets a premiere date.

DATES

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Lifetime‘s “The College Admissions Scandal” will premiere Oct. 12. The movie stars Penelope Ann Miller and Mia Kirshner as two wealthy mothers who pay their way, and break the law, to get their teenage children into top colleges. The story is loosely based on the recent high-profile admissions scandal centered around Lori Loughlin, who is accused of laundering close to half a million dollars to get her daughter into USC, and Felicity Huffman, who has also been accused of facilitating cheating on her daughter’s SAT exam.

Facebook Watch announced “Limetown,“ starring Jessica Biel and Stanley Tucci, will premiere Oct. 16. The drama is based on the hit fiction podcast of the same name and follows American Public Radio‘s Lia Haddock as she unravels the mysterious disappearance of 300 people at a neuroscience research community in Tennessee. The series also stars Marlee Matlin, Kelly Jenrette, John Beasley, Sherri Saum, Omar Elba, Louis Ferriera and Janet Kidder.

FIRST LOOKS

HBO has released the first trailer for “Catherine the Great,” premiering Oct. 21. Starring Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke, the four-part series is set during the political tumult of Catherine the Great’s reign in Russia throughout the 18th century. The HBO/Sky production follows Catherine (Mirren) towards the end of her reign during her scandalous affair with Grigory Potemkin (Clarke).

CASTING

Victoria Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio and primetime actor Alex Landi will make guest appearances in the premiere of “American Housewife,“ Variety learned exclusively. Ambrosio and Landi will play themselves but appear as young versions of the lead characters, who envision themselves differently when they think of their younger years. The premiere episode airs Sept. 27 on ABC.

PROGRAMMING

Fox Nation, an on-demand subscription service, has launched on Comcast’s Xfinity to complement FOX News Channel. The service will be available to customers on On-Demand Xfinity, in addition to internet-only customers on Xfinity Flex. The launch will allow users to enjoy original programming such as the “Ride to Work” series and Brian Kilmeade’s “What Made America Great” series.

EXECUTIVE

Tanya Rivero has been named anchor at CBSN, CBS’s 24/7 streaming platform. Rivero was previously a freelance anchor and reporter for CBSN, where she covered a variety of national and international breaking news and feature stories. She’ll take up her new post on Sept. 9.

 

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