TV News Roundup: ‘Dirty John’ Sets Bravo Premiere Date, Drops First Trailer
By Nate Nickolai
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In Today’s TV News Roundup, “Dirty John” has an official premiere date and
Variety
has obtained an exclusive clip from the upcoming season finale of “Carter.”
DATES
Bravo’s new limited series “” is set to premiere Nov. 25 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The show, which stars Connie Britton and Eric Bana, is based off of a popular true-crime podcast of the same name hosted by Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard. In the podcast, Goffard narrated the cautionary romance between Debra Newell (Britton) and the charismatic conman John Meehan (Bana), which spiraled into a web of deception and terror that almost tore the family apart. Universal Cable Productions, in association with Los Angeles Times Studios and Atlas Entertainment will produce the show, alongside show creator Alexandra Cunningham and director Jeffrey Reiner. Bravo also released a trailer for the series, which can be seen below.
Showtime has announced that Finesse Mitchell’s debut comedy special “The Spirit Told Me To Tell You” will premiere Oct. 19 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. In the hour long special directed by Devon Shepard, the “SNL” alumnus will discuss everything from living in Los Angeles to the struggles of being a father. “Finesse Mitchell: The Spirit Told Me To Tell You” is executive produced by Brian Volk-Weiss and Cisco Henson for Comedy Dynamics along with Mitchell, Adris Debarge and Adam Ginivisian.
CASTING
Victoria Justice is set to guest star on “American Housewife” as Harper, Westport’s young, new trophy wife,
Variety
has learned exclusively. In the show, Harper will be the only woman in Westport more hated than Katie Otto (Katy Mixon), providing Katie with the perfect opportunity to finally get back at the other Westport housewives. Season three of “American Housewife” premiered Sept. 26 on ABC.
Kayla Smith will join the cast of “Star” Oct. 10 on Fox as Olivia, the sister of a young woman who dies in the show. Smith will also act alongside Queen Latifah, Ryan Destiny, Brittany O’Grady, Quincy Brown, Amiyah Scott and Brandy Norwood. Smith’s previous acting credits include CW’s “Black Lighting,” Freeform’s “Switched at Birth,” TBS’ “Meet The Smiths” and a lead role in the indie thriller “Payment Received.”
FIRST LOOKS
AMC released the trailer and key art for its upcoming six-part mini-series “The Little Drummer Girl,” produced by The Ink Factory in partnership with BBC One and AMC. The show is set to debut Nov. 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on AMC with additional episodes airing the following two days. Alexander Skarsgård is starring in the series alongside Michael Shannon and Florence Pugh. Watch the full trailer below.
Variety
has obtained an exclusive clip from the upcoming season finale of “Carter,” which airs Oct. 9 at 10 p.m. on WGN America. In the finale, Harley (Jerry O’Connell) and Sam (Sydney Poitier Heartsong) investigate a new clue that reopens the biggest case of Harley’s life. “Call Carter” producer Cassidy (Rebecca Romijn) will also make an appearance alongside new evidence that the killer of Harley’s mother may still be at large. Watch the full clip below.
PROGRAMMING
The Hollywood Christmas Parade announced Nancy O’Dell as grand marshal for its upcoming 87th anniversary celebration Nov. 25. The parade will be broadcasted on the CW Network Dec. 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and will showcase the Marine Toys for Tots alongside hosts Erik Estrada, Laura Mckenzie, Dean Cain and Montel Williams with special co-hosts Elizabeth Stanton and Garrett Clayton. The event, produced by Associated Television International, will also feature live musical performances on two separate stages.
GREENLIGHTS
Netflix is taking on the UK reality competition series “The Circle” with three new local versions featuring players from three different countries including the United States. In “The Circle,” contestants live in separate apartments and only communicate through a special, voice-activated social media platform. Players also rate each other frequently, with unpopular players getting blocked and the most popular player winning a cash prize. “‘The Circle’ has already proven to be a compelling, timely, and buzz-worthy show,” said Netflix vice president of unscripted content Brandon Riegg. “We think the show’s combination of modern social media interaction and competition will captivate Netflix members around the world, in multiple languages, and we’re delighted to partner with Studio Lambert and Motion to produce these three new local versions.”
DEVELOPMENT
Topic Studios has acquired the film and television rights to “Unauthorized Bread,” an upcoming science fiction novella from Cory Doctorow. In “Unauthorized Bread,” corporations have taken control of almost every electronic device, including home appliances, forcing consumers to use authorized products in order to unlock them. As a result, protagonist Salima leads a revolt in her housing unit against the locked appliances, forcing her to face deportation or possibly death. Doctorow will serve as a creative consultant on the upcoming adaptation and is set to publish the novella in early 2019.
Turner announced a new partnership with American fashion designer Jenna Lyons to create a new, unscripted lifestyle series in early 2019. Our House Media will produce the series in which Lyons will share her curatorial perspective alongside a daily-curated social and commerce platform. “We want to try something new,” Lyons said. “I want to build a story-driven, comprehensive resource for anyone to satisfy their personal style and help them make aesthetic choices.”
RATINGS
The series premiere of “Dancing with the Stars Junior” failed to find much of an audience against “Sunday Night Football.” The ABC series drew a 0.7 rating in adults 18-49 and 5 million viewers, airing from 8-10 p.m. Later on ABC, the season premiere of “Shark Tank” (0.6, 3.1 million) was down significantly in both measures from last season’s debut. The season premiere of “Madam Secretary” (0.6, 6.2 million) was also down double digits compared to last season’s debut.
