Living in the Platinum Age of Peak TV means that not only is there a ton of television to watch, there’s a lot of news to go along with it. We here at Collider are only human, and there are only so many hours in the day; so from now on, each week we’ll be rounding up a batch of stories that might have missed your attention (and some that, at the time, missed ours), from updates on reboots to new featurettes to casting, and much more.
This week: there is some binge watching to be done on Starz, What About Bob? is getting a gender-swapped remake, Arrested Development’s Season 5 format has finally been teased (and is it a good thing?), plus where you can find Togetherness’s Mark Duplass next (hint: it’s a Unabomber series), and much more. Check it all out below:
Stephen Colbert Will Host the 2017 Emmy Awards
Earlier this week, CBS went ahead and announced that their late night host Stephen Colbert will host the 2017 Emmys, which is noteworthy mainly because this is coming eight months before the awards themselves. The Emmys will air on Sunday, September 17th, and given that most of the 2017’s newest shows haven’t even premiered yet, it seems like eons away.
While CBS execs praised The Late Show host in a statement, Colbert quipped slyly that, “This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period. Both in person and around the globe.”
Will ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 Be a Prequel?
Remember when Netflix was just a quaint DVD-by-mail service that decided to offer its movies online? And then it decided, hey, let’s start having some original content and resurrect Arrested Development? Honestly it feels like centuries ago at this point. Actually, it was in 2013 that Arrested Development’s fourth season aired on the streaming giant, to mixed reviews. Its rumored fifth season has also had some trouble getting off of the ground because its cast is so busy — a problem that plagued Season 4 and caused those controversial character-centric episodes. But according to TV Line that problem may be solved.
Though Netflix is declining to comment, apparently the fifth season will include a “a major prequel element, with potentially half of the action unfolding in flashbacks featuring much younger versions of all the principal characters (played by different actors).” That doesn’t make me particularly excited, since so much of the fun was seeing these adults behaving like kids (and the cast is, of course, exceptional). TV Line does add, “'More of the episodes can now include all of the original cast together, with lots of big group family scenes,' says a source.” Is no Arrested Development better than compromised AD? Let us know what you think in the comments.
New ‘Santa Clarita Diet’ Featurette Interviews the Cast of Netflix’s Cannibal Comedy
I’m cautiously excited about Netflix’s weird new suburban-set cannibal series Santa Clarita Diet, and not just because they sent me a human finger. I love Timothy Olyphant (from Justified, of course, but he also can do comedy — watch his episodes of The Grinder, then be sad The Grinder is no longer around), and I think Drew Barrymore is a great choice as an unexpected mom-ster. Below is a new featurette that goes behind-the-scenes:
“In Santa Clarita Diet, Joel (Timothy Olyphant, Justified) and Sheila (Drew Barrymore, Blended) are husband and wife realtors leading vaguely discontented lives in the L.A. suburb of Santa Clarita with their teenaged daughter Abby (Liv Hewson), until Sheila goes through a dramatic change sending their lives down a road of death and destruction...but in a good way.
Santa Clarita Diet stars Drew Barrymore as Sheila Hammond, Timothy Olyphant as Joel Hammond, Liv Hewson as Abby Hammond and Skylar Gisondo as Eric Bemis.
Showrunner Victor Fresco, Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Aaron Kaplan, Tracy Katsky, Chris Miller and Ember Truesdell are executive producers on the series. Nancy Juvonen is a producer. Santa Clarita Diet is a Netflix production and is available globally only on Netflix on February 3, 2017. “
Mary Louise Parker Joins an Adaptation of Stephen King's ‘Mr Mercedes’
A new week, a new Stephen King adaptation, but this one from the Audience Network and David E. Kelly no less! According to THR:
“Based on Stephen King's book of the same name, Mr. Mercedes follows a demented killer (Penny Dreadful's Harry Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective (Brendan Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.
Parker will play Janey Patterson, the younger sister of the late Olivia Trelawney. Janey's no-nonsense but charming attitude radiates, as does her physical beauty. She's emotionally mature, strong-willed and totally winning.”
Yep, this does sound pretty good.
Starz Will Release All of ‘The Missing’ Season 2 for Binge Watching
It’s been quite a few years since the first season of The Missing aired, which was a gut-wrenching crime story about an English family traveling through France, and a son who is taken from them one night and never found again. The story was mostly an exploration of the parents’ grief, particularly the obsession of the father (played by the excellent James Nesbitt) in finding out the truth. Though viewers did get to see what likely happened to the boy, it was still never final, and the series was an engrossing watch.
Season 2 will pick up a new case, but will keep the same (badass) investigator, Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) — you can check out the new trailer here. But Starz is also doing something no other premium network has done (though some broadcasters and cable channels have toyed with in the past): they’re going to offer episodes of the new 8-episode installment all at once via their app and On Demand. The Missing is a super binge-worthy show, so it’s a smart move. We’ll see if it also helps audiences get invested with the series faster.
The Missing premieres Sunday, February 12th, which is also when all episodes will drop online.
‘What About Bob?’ Gets a Gender-Swap Reboot on NBC
I don’t have much to say about this one — NBC has ordered a pilot for What About Barb?’, based on the Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss comedy from 1991. No one asked for this. Most people don’t ask for most reboots but this one was really not asked for. Leave the past alone!
According to TV Line:
The story will remain the same: Per NBC, “a psychotherapist tries to cut ties with her most overbearing patient but is unsuccessful and gains an annoying family member in the process.” Joe Port and Joe Wiseman (The Office, The Odd Couple) will write and executive-produce the pilot for ABC Studios.
Mark Duplass and Jeremy Bobb Join Discovery’s Unabomber Series
Somehow Mark Duplass being involved in Discovery’s Unabomber series Manifesto gives it all the legitimacy I need in order to be excited for, but the show actually has a lot of excellent people working on it, including Banshee and Quarry EP Greg Yaitanes.
“The series will tell the story of how FBI agent Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald (Sam Worthington, Avatar) deployed a radical approach to intelligence gathering to take down Ted Kaczynski, portrayed by Paul Bettany (Captain America: Civil War), also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world.”
Duplass (Togetherness, The League) is joining the series as Ted Kaczynski’s younger brother David, while The Knick’s Jeremy Bobb is coming on board as an FBI agent described as a “foul-mouthed put bull.” Other new cast members include Lynn Collins, Katja Herbers and Brian F. O’Byrne.
‘The Girlfriend Experience’ Will Have Two Parallel Storylines in Season 2
In Season 2 of The Girlfriend Experience, Steven Soderbergh will again executive produce while Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz will serve as showrunners, writers and directors for two storylines — a twist on last year’s format.
"It was always our intention to change the universe every season, but Amy and Lodge have cranked up the ambition, scope, and complexity of the show by creating two storylines even more provocative and confrontational than last year's. I'm as excited as a Swedish person is allowed to get," Soderbergh said.
Here’s a synopsis for the second storyline, which will star Anna Friel and Louisa Krause:
Kerrigan’s storyline is set against the backdrop of the corrupting influence of dark money in the upcoming 2018 U.S. mid-term elections, where everything and everyone has a price. This section of the second season of “The Girlfriend Experience” tracks an unexpected and complex relationship between Erica Myles (Friel), a commanding and strong-willed finance director of a Republican super PAC, and Anna Greenwald (Krause), a confident and intelligent GFE provider at the top of her game. Erica is under intense pressure to deliver on her super PAC fundraising goals. She meets Anna and enlists her help in blackmailing a high-powered dark money fundraiser. After their initial exchange, Erica and Anna fall into a complicated sexual relationship, marked by an exploration of vulnerability, dominance and submission, which also draws in Erica’s manipulative ex-girlfriend. The mix of personal instability and career pressure mount and lead Erica down a path, both professionally and personally, that she struggles to control.