TV News Roundup: MTV Announces ‘The Challenge’ Season 35 Premiere Date and Cast
By J. Kim Murphy
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s TV news roundup, MTV announced the premiere date and cast for the 35th season of “The Challenge,” and the CW announces premiere dates for three summer shows.
CASTING
MTV has revealed the lineup for season 35 of the reality-competition series “,” dubbed “The Challenge: Total Madness.” To commemorate the landmark season, the 28-member cast features a mix of series veterans and newcomers competing in challenges for a million-dollar prize. Among the veterans are Mattie Breaux, Tula “Big T” Fazakerley and Jennifer West, each back for their second-ever challenge; third-time challengers Josh Martinez, Dee Nguyen, Melissa Reeves, Rogan O’Connor and Stephen Bear; fourth-time challenger Tori Deal; fifth-time challengers Kailah Casillas and Kyle Christie; sixth-time challengers Nelson Thomas and Jordan Wisely; seventh-time challengers Ashley Mitchell and Cory Wharton; and eighth-time challenger Jenna Compono. Additionally, mega-veterans such as 13-time challengers Aneesa Ferreira and Wes Bergmann, 17-time challenger CT
Tamburello; and Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, who is competing in a whopping 20th challenge, are returning. This season’s rookies are Asaf Goren (“Big Brother Israel”), Bayleigh Dayton (“Big Brother), Christopher Jordan “Swaggy C” Williams (“Big Brother”), Kaycee Clark (“Big Brother”), Faysal Shawn “Fessy” Shafaat (“Big Brother,” “American Ninja Warrior”), Jay Starrett (“Survivor”), Jennifer Lee (“Amazing Race”). The new season is set to premiere on April 1 at 8 p.m. The show comes from Bunin/Murray Productions. Gil Goldschein, Julie Pizzi, Scott Freeman, Justin Booth and Emer Harkin serve as executive producers. Watch a promo below.
Thomas Barbusca has been cast as a recurring guest star on TBS’ “Chad.” Barbusca will play Reid, an upbeat popular kid that 14-year-old Chad (Nasim Pedrad) attempts to impress and befriend. Pedrad serves as creator, writer and showrunner on “Chad.” She also serves as executive producer along with Robert Padnick, Rob Rossell and Rhys Thomas.
DATES
Season 2 of “Boomerang” will premiere on BET on March 11 at 10:30 p.m. Lena Waithe and Halle Berry’s comedy series returns with two women of color taking on the role of co-showrunners, Dime Davis (“A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “The Chi”) and Angeli Millan (“The Cleveland Show,” “Us and Them”). Additionally, the entire season will be directed by women of color. Davis will helm half of the episodes, while Tiffany Johnson (“Dear White People”) and first-time director Katrelle N. Kindred will direct two episodes apiece. “” comes from Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions and Berry’s 606 Films, in conjunction with Paramount Television. Watch a new trailer below.
The CW has announced the DC Universe
show “Stargirl” will premiere May 12 at 9 p.m.; the final season of “The 100” will premiere May 20 at 8 p.m. and the second season of “In The Dark” will premiere May 28 at 9 p.m. “” will launch first on the DC Universe streaming service and then move to linear television on the CW. The show follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) as she inspires a group of young superheroes to stop villains of the past. Geoff Johns, Melissa Carter, Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter serve as executive producers. “Stargirl” comes from Berlanti Productions
and Mad Ghost Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. “” will wrap up a seven-season run about those surviving in the sky and on the ground in a post-apocalyptic world. The drama comes from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios with executive producers Jason
Rothenberg and Leslie Morgenstein. “In The Dark” centers on a blind woman who, in the first season, solved her friend’s murder. Corinne Kingsbury, Jonathan Collier, Ben Stiller, Jackie Cohn, Nicholas Weinstock, Michael Showalter and Emily Fox serve as executive producers.
FX’s first documentary film “AKA Jane Roe” will premiere on May 22 at 9 p.m. It will become available to stream on FX on Hulu the next day. The documentary’s subject is Norma McCorvey, who was “Jane Roe” in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on abortion rights. In what she calls her “deathbed confession,” McCorvey shares the truth behind her journey in the final year of her life. “AKA Jane Roe” is produced by director Nick Sweeney, Kerstin Emhoff and Chiemi Karasawa.
DEVELOPMENT
New Slate Ventures has acquired the rights to New York Times bestseller “Den of Thieves” and hired screenwriter Terence Winter to adapt it into a limited series. The series will follow the massive insider trading scandal that brought down the investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert. The series will be produced by Jordan Fudge under NSV and Alexandra Milchan under EMJAG Productions.
SPECIALS
As a celebration of the life of late “Inside the Actors Studio” host James Lipton, Ovation TV will air a rerun of the 250th episode of the program tonight at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT followed by Bradley Cooper’s Season 17 episode at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Ovation TV has also made the 250th episode free to stream on its website for the next week.
INITIATIVES
“Outlander” star Sam Heughan will be running in this year’s TCS New York City Marathon. Heughan is running for the charity My Peak Challenge, a membership-based platform that provides members the means to live healthier lives through training programs, meal plans and a supportive community. The marathon is set for Nov 1.
