TV News Roundup: David Schwimmer to Guest Star on ‘Will & Grace’
By Christi Carras
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s roundup, NBC cast David Schwimmer as a recurring character in the second revival season of “Will & Grace,” and CBS secured the rights to the European reality series “Love Island.”
ACQUISITIONS
CBS has acquired the U.S. format rights to the U.K. reality show “Love Island” from ITV2. Hosted by English TV personality Caroline Flack, “Love Island” gathers vying bachelors and bachelorettes on one isle to fall in love and get voted out on a weekly basis. “Love Island” is ITV2’s most popular program of all time, with almost half of the network’s adult viewers under 34 keeping up with the series.
BEHIND THE SCENES
National Geographic has released behind the scenes footage from its biopic series “Genius: Picasso.” The featurette includes interviews with stars Antonio Banderas, Alex Rich, Clemece Poesy, and Samantha Colley, showrunner Ken Biller, and costume designer Sonu Mishra, as they offer insight into the making of the show’s period costumes. Watch the featurette below.
CASTING
has joined the cast of “” for the reboot’s sophomore run, which premieres Oct. 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on . The “Friends” alumnus will join returning cast members Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes, and Megan Mullally as Grace’s new love interest. More guest stars confirmed for Season 2 include Alec Baldwin, Chelsea Handler, and Mary McCormack.
DATES
The second season of Nickelodeon‘s live action comedy series “I Am Frankie” will premiere Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. In its sophomore run, main robot Frankie Gaines (Alex Hook) must struggle to maintain a normal life at Sepulveda High when another artificial intelligence teen enrolls at the school. Frankie will fight to keep her identity a secret from a sinister military group who wishes to weaponize her kind.
“Amanpour and Company,” a new late night commentary series from CNN and PBS, will premiere Sept. 10 on PBS. Each day, host and CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour will moderate discussions surrounding daily news and trends, joined by various public figures and influencers.
DEVELOPMENT
HBO has teamed up with Axios Media to produce an untitled limited docu-series to premiere in fall 2018. Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz will direct and produce the show, which will recruit Axios journalists to report on breaking and trending news.
Adult Swim has ordered two new series “The Shivering Truth” and “Tigtone” to add to its animated programming. “The Shivering Truth” is a comedy anthology series of outrageous dream sequences created and written by Vernon Chatman, while “Tigtone” centers on a video game enthusiast traversing through a fantasy cyber universe, created by Andrew Koehler and Benjamin Martin. The former will premiere later this year, while the latter is set to debut in 2019.
FIRST LOOKS
WGN America has released a teaser trailer for its upcoming crime drama “Pure.” The series, which originally debuted in Canada, stars Gord Rand and Dylan Everett, centering on the underground cocaine smuggling ring in the Mennonite community. Watch the trailer below.
Netflix debuted a second trailer for its new fantasy series “The Innocents,” starring Sorcha Groundsell and Percelle Ascott. In the show, which premieres Aug. 24, Groundsell’s June must reckon with her special shapeshifting abilities that put her in danger, as well as make her a danger to herself and those she loves. Watch the trailer below.
RENEWALS
HGTV has renewed the home makeover series “Flip or Flop” for an eighth season. The show stars hosts and divorced couple Tarek El Moussa and Christina El Moussa as they search for rundown property due for a makeover to sell on the housing market. The pair have begun filming 15 additional half-hour episodes for Season 8, which is set to premiere in spring 2019.
