TV Bits: Amazon's Series About Sandra Bullock's College Years, A Blumhouse Movie Is Being Adapted Into A Show, And More
In this edition of TV Bits:
According to Variety, Amazon is developing a show that's loosely based on the college experience of actress Sandra Bullock. It'll be "a dramedy set in the world of music and dance," and "will take place in the American deep south in the 1980s, where one darkly off-beat young woman defies expectations and sets out in search of love, community, and an identity of her own." Akiva Goldsman, the guy who's running seemingly every tentpole writers' room in Hollywood, is executive producing alongside Bullock and John Legend (?). We're entering pure Mad Libs territory at this point.
Amazon Prime customers can now add Epix, the premium cable network from MGM, to their monthly subscriptions for an extra $5.99 per month. God forbid anyone miss out on the Epix original series Pennyworth, the new Batman prequel about the early days of the Wayne family butler.
Josh Hartnett, an actor I've always liked (he's particularly great in the underrated Lucky Number Slevin), is returning to television in a show called Paradise Lost that will debut on Spectrum Originals and then air on Paramount Network. The 10-episode drama follows "a psychiatrist (Bridget Regan) who moves with her family to her husband's (Hartnett) hometown in Mississippi, only to uncover shameful secrets that irrevocably change the lives of everyone involved."
I find myself increasingly exhausted with each new announcement of a TV show on a tucked away streaming service or cable channel like this. It's a positive thing that shows like Paradise Lost will employ hundreds of folks during its run, but one of these days the content bubble is going to burst. Enjoy this market saturation while it lasts!
Former Saturday Night Live star David Spade is getting his own Comedy Central late night talk show called Lights Out with David Spade. I'm thrilled about this, because I've been saying for years that what late night American television needs is one more show hosted by an older white guy. Finally!
Deadline says "The nightly series will include a rotating group of Spade's comedian and celebrity friends, along with sketches and field segments." So expect some of Spade's most famous pals to drop by whenever the show needs a ratings boost.
Good news and bad news for Lucifer fans. The bad news is that the show is definitively coming to an end. The good news is that it's getting one more season on Netflix, so season 5 will be its last. "We're thrilled that Lucifer fans around the world have embraced this series on Netflix, and we can't wait to give them the big finish they've all been waiting for," Netflix said in a statement.
At the ATX Television Festival in Austin a few days ago, Blumhouse TV co-president Marci Wiseman teased that they're currently looking at adapting one of the company's movies into a TV show...but she wouldn't reveal which one. All she would say is, "It's an origin story that could be a whole world," so feel free to leave your wild guesses in the comments. My first thought could be a continuation of The Belko Experiment, a movie that ended with a reveal that its contained premise wasn't quite as singular as audiences thought.
Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff, two members of the Losers Club from It and It Chapter Two, will reunite for a new Netflix series called I Am Not Okay With This about a girl who discovers she has superpowers. Here's the official description:
From Jonathan Entwistle, creator/director of The End of the F***ing World and the producers of Stranger Things comes new series I Am Not Okay With This based on the Charles Forsman graphic novel. I Am Not Okay With This is an irreverent origin story, following a teenage girl navigating the trials and tribulations of high school, all while dealing with the complexities of her family, her budding sexuality, and... mysterious superpowers just beginning to awaken from deep within her.
Sofia Bryant, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Richard Ellis, and Aidan Wojtak-Hissong round out the cast, and this eight-episode, half hour series will arrive on Netflix in 2020.
And finally, Oprah Winfrey interviewed The Exonerated Five, the real-life subjects of director Ava DuVernay's heart-wrenching Netflix series When They See Us. I haven't had time to check this show out yet, but I'm feeling a double-feature of Chernobyl and When They See Us coming on in an attempt to achieve one of the most bleak weekend TV schedules ever.