TV News Roundup: Netflix Drops ‘Middleditch & Schwartz’ Trailer (Watch)
By Ellise Shafer
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s TV roundup, Netflix released the official trailer for Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz’s improve show, and Disney Plus announced that its original series “It’s A Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” will premiere May 15.
DATES
TBS has set the Season 2 premiere of comedy game show “The Misery Index” for May 14 at 10:30 p.m. Host Jameela Jamil and panelists The Tenderloins from truTV’s “Impractical Jokers” will return to judge how well two teams can rate real-life events on the misery index, a ranking system created by psychologists. Special themed episodes will include dueling grandmothers, a showdown between motherlands and a visit from one of The Tenderloins’ relatives.
AMC has announced that its three-part series “Quiz” will premiere May 31 at 10 p.m., with the second and third episodes airing the following weeks but being available to stream immediately on May 31. “Quiz” tells the real-life story Charles and Diana Ingram’s attempt at executing a heist on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in 2001. The limited series was directed by Stephen Frears, written by James Graham, and stars Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford. “Quiz” was co-produced by Left Bank Pictures for ITV and AMC and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television, which also owns and distributes “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”.
Fox Business Network will host a virtual town hall, “America Works Together,” on April 9 at 2 p.m. The one-hour special will feature “Making Money” host Charles Payne interviewing White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Payne and a panel of experts including Fox Business contributor Brian Brenberg, small business advisor Gene Marks and UBS financial advisor Tracy Byrnes will touch on topics such as stimulus bills, rising unemployment and the pandemic’s effect on small businesses. The town hall will also answer questions from the audience, which viewers can submit ahead of time by emailing investedinyou@foxbusiness.com.
Disney Plus has announced that the original series “It’s A Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” will premiere May 15 in honor of the 25th anniversary of “A Goofy Movie.“ The show follows the titular Farmer, who has been the iconic voice of Goofy and Pluto for over 30 years, traveling the country to meet real-life dogs and explore how they make the lives of humans so much better. Watch the first trailer below.
Vice TV announced that its new weekly interview show, “Shelter in Place with Shane Smith,“ will premiere with two back-to-back episodes on April 9 at 10 p.m. Hosted by Smith, the founder of Vice Media Group, the show hopes to help viewers gain a deeper understanding of the coronavirus pandemic through in-depth remote interviews with leaders in science, journalism, entertainment, food and economics. The first two episodes will see Smith talking with Edward Snowden and Governor of California Gavin Newsom. “I’m at home, you’re at home and our news cycle is changing by the minute,” Smith said in a statement. “So, I decided to dial up some of the world’s foremost thinkers to offer us some much needed perspective and get to some truth on what we should be doing in this time like none other.”
FIRST LOOKS
Netflix has released the official trailer for “Middleditch & Schwartz,” a three-episode improv comedy series starring Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz. Each episode was filmed at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in front of a live audience and is completely improvised based on a suggestion from an audience member. “Middleditch & Schwartz” will premiere April 21. Watch the official trailer below.
GREENLIGHTS
Netflix has ordered “Sharkdog,“ an animated series created by Jacinth Tan, from and ViacomCBS International Studios. The show centers on 10-year-old Max and his half-shark/half-dog best friend. The series, produced in partnership with Singaporean animation studio One Animation, is set to premiere in 2021. It is ViacomCBS International Studios’ first international animated Netflix series and the first animated series from Nickelodeon’s Global Animated Shorts Program.
