TV News Roundup: ‘Last O.G.’ Sets Season 2 Premiere Date on TBS
In today’s TV News Roundup, “The Last O.G.” announces its Season 2 return date and Variety has the exclusive first look at Fox’s new legal drama “Proven Innocent.”
FIRST LOOKS
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Netflix has announced its new limited series “Black Earth Rising” will launch on Jan. 25. The contemporary thriller series stars Michaela Coel as Kate Ashby, a Rwandan girl raised in London by her adoptive mother after being orphaned by genocide. She attempts to learn the truth about her past with the help of lawyer Michael Ennis, played by John Goodman.
Variety has the exclusive first look at “Proven Innocent,” a new legal drama from Fox debuting on Feb. 15. Rachelle Lefevre plays Madeline Scott, a lawyer who has an uncompromising hunger for justice after she spent 10 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Riley Smith plays her brother, who was also convicted, Russell Hornsby plays her partner and lawyer who set her free, and Brian d’Arcy James plays the prosecutor who put Scott away and still believes in her guilt. Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Danny Strong and David Elliot have partnered together to produce the show.
DATES
TBS has announced the second season of “The Last O.G.” will premiere on Tuesday, April 2 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. Co-created by Jordan Peele, the comedy series follows an ex-con, played by Tracy Morgan, who follow his dreams of becoming a chef in the sophomore season after losing his job. Tiffany Haddish stars as his ex-girlfriend, and hip-hop legends Method Man, Talib Kweli and Rakim will guest star this season.
Mo Rocca, the popular CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, humorist and history buff, will host a new podcast called “Mobituaries.” The first season will premiere on Jan. 17 with eight weekly episodes that examine Rocca’s favorite unsung heroes from history with an irreverent, but well researched tone. To coincide with the second season in November 2019, Simon & Schuster have announced it will publish a “Mobituaries” book that will expand upon some of the “Mobits” from the podcast.
CBS has released a premiere dates for two new spring 2019 series. From producers Ava DuVernay and Greg Berlanti, “The Red Line” is a serialized drama following three Chicago families united by tragedy. It will debut on Sunday, April 28 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and air in two-hour installments across four weeks. The new drama “The Code” will premiere on Tuesday, April 9 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT then move to its regular slot on Mondays at the same time. The drama follows military attorneys who are also Marines. The network also announced “Ransom” will return on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT for its third season.
Independent producer and distributor Comedy Dynamics will release comedic drama “Varsity Punks,” on Feb. 26 on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft Xbox, Vimeo and Steam. The coming-of-age film follows an injured high school quarterback who must team up with the rival cross-country team to regain his glory. The film “Bad Vegan and The Teleportation Machine” will be released on iTunes and On Demand on March 19. The story sees a struggling stand-up comic fall in love with a physicist, and together they try to unlock the secret of human teleportation.
CASTING
Goran Višnjić will have a recurring role in NBC’s hit comedy-drama “This Is Us” as a teacher of Beth’s named Vincent. He will first appear in an episode focusing on Beth’s backstory. The Croatian actor is best known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovac in the NBC medical drama “ER” and will appear in the third season of “Santa Clarita Diet” on Netflix.
Nikki DeLoach has landed the lead role in the Hallmark Channel’s upcoming movie “Lost and Found.” She will play Kate Healy, a free-spirited studio animator and single mom who co-fosters an adopted dog with a single father after being convinced by their children. Most recently, DeLoach developed, executive produced and starred in “Reunited at Christmas,” a fellow Hallmark television film.
RATINGS
The series premiere of “The Passage” got a solid start in the overnight ratings on Fox Monday night. The adaptation of the Justin Cronin book series averaged a 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.2 million viewers. That was good enough to rank as one of the top scripted offerings of the night and handily beat its timeslot competition, CBS’ “Magnum PI,” in the key demo.
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