TV News Roundup: ‘Last Man on Earth’ Sets Return Date; Ben Vereen Cast in ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’
“The Last Man on Earth” gets a return date and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” casts Ben Vereen, plus more from the world of TV in Friday’s news roundup…
Premiere Dates
Will Forte’s “The Last Man on Earth” has set its midseason premiere date for March 6, replacing animated comedy “Bordertown” in the 9:30 p.m. Sunday timeslot.
The Fox comedy will pick up right where the fall finale left off. Phil Miller 2 (Boris Kodjoe) was undergoing appendix surgery and Phil/Tandy’s (Forte) astronaut brother Mike, played by Jason Sudeikis, was attempting to descend back to Earth.
On March 6, “Bordertown” will move to a new timeslot: 7 p.m. on Sundays.
Despite airing behind “Family Guy” as part of Fox’s Sunday lineup, “Bordertown” has produced low ratings thus far at 9:30 p.m., and is seeing very small gains in 3-day delayed viewing. Its first three episodes have averaged a 1.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.04 million total viewers, according to Nielsen’s L+3 ratings estimates.
Talent News
Fox’s musical event special “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” has found its Dr. Everett Scott.
Tony Award winner Ben Vereen will play the ex-science teacher who has joined the Bureau of Investigation looking into UFOs and ends up at Frank-N-Furter’s castle searching for his nephew, Eddie (Adam Lambert).
Vereen joins other previously announced cast members Laverne Cox, Victoria Justice, Ryan McCartan, Reeve Carney, Staz Nair, Annaleigh Ashford, Christina Milian and Tim Curry.
Across the dial, NBA stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard and Paul George are lending their vocal talent to Cartoon Network shows during the channel’s “NBA All-Star Jam,” celebrating parent company Turner’s exclusive coverage of NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto, spanning Feb. 11-14.
James makes an appearance as himself on an episode of “Teen Titans Go!” where the superhero team heads to an amusement park to see the player and gets pulled into a mystery. The episode airs Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. George, Irving and Lillard will be featured in a special episode of “We Bare Bears.” The episode, called “Charlie Ball,” will feature the players on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
Finally, USA has tapped director Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight,” “Miss You Already”) to helm the first two episodes of new drama series “Eyewitness.” According to Deadline, which first broke the news, Tyler Young has been cast as one of the leads in the show. Scott Peters (“V,” “THE 4400”) will also join showrunner Adi Hasak and Jarl Emsell Larsen as an executive producer. Peters will direct multiple episodes of the 10-episode series. “Eyewitness” is a U.S. adaptation of Norwegian crime thriller “Øyevitne,” exploring a grisly crime from the point of view of the eyewitness.
Related stories
Fox's 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' Casts Tony Winner Annaleigh Ashford
WB's Blue Ribbon, LeBron James' Uninterrupted Set Sports Comedy 'Now We're Talking' at Verizon Go90
Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
