TV News Roundup: ‘Watchmen’ Pilot Casts ‘Sleepy Hollow’ Alum Tom Mison
By Tara Bitran
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s roundup, the Television Academy unveils Samira Wiley and Ryan Eggold as this year’s Emmy nominations presenters, while HBO adds three new cast members to their upcoming “Watchmen” pilot.
EVENTS
(“The Handmaid’s Tale, “Orange Is the New Black”)and Ryan Eggold (“New Amsterdam,” “BlacKkKlansman”) will present the nominations for the 70th Emmy Awards from the Wolf Theatre at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center on Thursday, July 12, at 8:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. ET.
FIRST LOOKS
Steve James’ (“Hoop Dreams,” “Life Itself“) “America To Me” will premiere on Sunday, August 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Starz. The 10-part docuseries, produced by Participant Media and Kartemquin Films, follows students, teachers, and administrators in suburban Chicago’s Oak Park and River Forest High School through the lens of a year-long immersion to explore America’s charged state of race, culture, and education today. In addition, Participant Media and Starz are teaming up to launch a social impact campaign to inspire action on the educational equity issues highlighted in the series.
YouTube Premium has released the official trailer for its new original dating comedy series, “Sideswiped,” which is slated to debut on July 25, 2018. Based on a true story from star Carly Craig (“American Housewife,” “Hall Pass”), the eight-episode series follows workaholic “Olivia” as she vows to plunge into the hellish world of Tinder by dating all 252 of her matches. Rosanna Arquette and Chelsea Frei also star, with Jason Sudeikis, Rick Springfield, Peter Gallagher, Tyler Posey, Thomas Lennon, and Bryan Greenberg appearing in guest roles. Watch the trailer below.
YouTube has released the first trailer for music documentary “G Funk,” which recounts the hip-hop subgrene’s impact on pop culture as well as Warren G.‘s journey with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg during the early 90s when they rose to international fame while he returned to Long Beach, California without a record deal. The doc will premiere exclusively on YouTube Premium on July 11, 2018. Watch the teaser below.
CASTING
Epix announced today that Ismael Cruz Cordova (“Ray Donovan,” “Mary Queen of Scots”) has joined Season 3 of “Berlin Station” in a series regular role. Cordova will play Rafael Torres, a former member of the military, highly-intelligent, rugged warrior-soldier with a quick wit and abilities to speak several languages and pick pockets. Post-war, he is now in the special activities division of the CIA and is sent to Berlin on a critical mission. Production will begin on the new season in Budapest, Hungary on July 4.
Tom Mison (“Sleepy Hollow”), Frances Fisher (“Titanic”), and Jacob Ming-Trent (“SuperFly”) have joined the cast of HBO’s “” pilot. Previously announced cast members include Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard.
DATES
Based on the hit movie franchise from Blumhouse Productions, the television adaptation of “The Purge” is set to premiere on USA Network this fall on Tuesday, September 4 at 10/9c. The premiere and finale episodes will also be simulcast on Syfy
. See first look photos below.
Fox has announced their fall premiere dates. “9-1-1,” featuring new cast member Jennifer Love Hewitt, will return with a two-night season premiere on Sunday, September 23 from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT and Monday, September 24 from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT in its regular timeslot, following the season premiere of “The Resident” from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT. Beginning on Tuesday, September 25, “The Gifted” will air from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT with “Lethal Weapon” from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT afterwards. “Empire,” on from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT, and “Star,” on from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT, come back on Wednesday, September 26. On Friday, September 28, “The Last Man Standing” will kick off the night from 8-8:30 p.m. ET/PT, followed by “The Cool Kids” from 8:30-9 p.m. ET/PT and “Hell’s Kitchen” from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT. Lil Rel Howery’s new multi-cam comedy “Rel” is set to launch with a special preview on Sunday, September 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, while sliding into its regular time period premiere on Sunday, September 30 at 9:30 ET/PT.
FX Networks has revealed the premiere dates for their new and returning series this fall. “Mayans M.C.,” the next chapter of Kurt Sutter‘s “Sons of Anarchy” saga set in a post-Jax Teller world, will premiere on Tuesday, September 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX. Season 13 of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” will debut on Wednesday, September 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FXX, while the much-anticipated cross-over season of “American Horror Story” will air on Wednesday, September 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX. “Mr Inbetween,” a new half-hour drama series created by and starring Scott Ryan, is slated for a September release on FX.
EXECUTIVE NEWS
Laurel Fitzgerald has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Consumer Research at Fox. In this role, she will oversee all program research functions for the network. Fitzgerald has worked at Fox for 18 years and since 2006 has been the Vice President of Program and Market Research at Fox.
