TV Bits: 'The Good Place', 'Masters Of Doom', 'Claws', 'Dear White People', 'Primal', 'Snowpiercer', 'The International'
In this edition of TV Bits:
The Good Place is currently in the midst of airing its final season, which is sad. But at least it's going out on its own terms. Not only that, but this final season is also going to feature an amazing cameo! Just don't ask us who it is. While appearing on The Tonight Show, cast-member Jameela Jamil revealed that the final episode of the show will have "the cameo of all cameos." Who will it be? It could be you! It probably isn't, though.
Doom, the video game that panicked mothers everywhere, is getting an origin story. USA Network is making a pilot called Masters of Doom, and they've locked down the cast and director. Eduardo Franco, Patrick Gibson, John Karna, Jane Ackermann, Siobhan Williams, and Peter Friedman will appear in the show, with Rhys Thomas directing. Per Coming Soon, the show, based on the David Kushner nonfiction book of the same name, "is a story based on real events of two computer geniuses in an obscure corner of America who, along with a group of rebellious misfits, created one of the biggest franchise hits of the 90s, the video game Doom. John Carmack and John Romero were best friends who became bitter rivals, as they created a video game empire and transformed pop culture forever." So it's kind of like The Social Network, but with Doom.
Claws, which is a series about manicurists and not the popular adult beverage White Claw, has been renewed for a fourth and final season. "For the past three seasons, Claws has handled delicate and culturally relevant themes like race, class, gender, age and sexual orientation with grace and humor via superb storytelling," said Brett Weitz, General Manager for TNT, TBS and truTV (via The Wrap). "Fans cherish the over-the-top Clawsian moments that have defined its run, and we will do them justice as we wrap up the tale of Desna and her crew." Season 3 ended in August, and a date for the final season has not been set yet.
Speaking of shows that are ending with their fourth season, Netflix has renewed Dear White People for season 4, which will be its last. This last season will consist of ten all-new episodes, with creator Justin Simien returning as co-showrunner, writer and executive producer, alongside co-showrunner and executive producer Yvette Lee Bowser. "I'm so grateful my little indie-that-could has made it to four seasons at Netflix!" said Simien. "This show, along with the many talented storytellers it has brought into my orbit, has changed my life and I can't wait to create a celebratory final volume befitting such a transformative experience."
Set against the backdrop of a predominantly white Ivy League university where racial tensions bubble just below the surface, Dear White People is a send-up of the now post "post-racial" America that weaves together a universal story of finding one's own identity and forging a wholly unique path. The satirical series — which picked up where the acclaimed 2014 film by the same name left off – follows a group of Winchester University's students of color as they navigate a diverse landscape of social injustice, cultural bias, political correctness (or lack thereof) and activism in the millennial age. Through an absurdist lens, Dear White People utilizes biting irony, self-deprecation and sometimes brutal honesty to hold up a mirror to the issues plaguing society today, all the while leading with laughter.
Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator behind Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, is back with Primal, and you can see a new look at the series above. The show "features a caveman at the dawn of evolution. A dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world." "Everything we've done in this series, we always wanted to relate it back to the title, Primal," Tartakovsky said. "So it's raw, it's savage, it's brutal." Primal debuts October 7 on Adult Swim.
Just what the hell is up with the Snowpiercer TV show? TNT first ordered a pilot for the series back in 2016, and since then, things have been in a constant state of upheaval. Behind-the-scenes drama and creative differences kept the show from ever fully getting on track. But in May of this year it was revealed the show was ready, and was going to move from TNT to TBS. Now, however, it's moving back to TNT. "We've had the unique opportunity to more thoroughly test and explore where this show will best perform. While we are still adding dramas to TBS after further research and consideration we've decided to keep Snowpiercer on TNT," network president Kevin Reilly said (via TV Line). "Now that we've seen this incredible post-apocalyptic sci-fi series in its entirety, and better understand the audience this show will appeal to, we're confident it will perform strongest on TNT." Sure! Whatever you say! Snowpiercer will premiere in Spring 2020. Maybe.
Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren, who once sparred in Rocky IV and reunited for Creed II, are teaming up again. This time for a TV series. Per The Wrap, Stallone will produce and Lundgren will star in the CBS series The International. Lundgren will star as "Anders Soto, who is described as part negotiator, part international spy. He is a one-man covert black-ops team working for the U.N., called in to find asymmetrical solutions to the world's most delicate and complex problems." Stallone is also set to direct the pilot episode.