Best coming of age series

Ghosts and So Help Me Todd both reached series high viewership on Thursday, helping earn CBS the top spot among the broadcast networks during primetime. Ghosts averaged 6.82M viewers at 8:30 p.m., according to early Nielsen data. That marks its highest fast national audience ever, and the tally is likely to increase slightly when final numbers come in later Friday. The sophomore comedy was followed by So Help Me Todd , which also posted its best fast nationals ever. The show, which was recently renewed for Season 2, brought in about 5.1M total viewers. CBS also had a successful night with the other series in the Thursday primetime lineup, Young Sheldon and CSI: Vegas . Young Sheldon , which is consistently one of the network’s highest-rated series, was up from its season-to-date average audience with 7.15M viewers in the 8 p.m. hour. That’s the show’s second-largest audience of the season. CSI: Vegas marked its largest fast national audience … [Read more...] about ‘Ghosts’ & ‘So Help Me Todd’ Hit Series High Audiences As CBS Marks Record Thursday Night

Prime Video has confirmed Deadline’s report that hit MRC Television conspiracy thriller The Terminal List , headlined by Chris Pratt , has been renewed for a second season , and that the streamer also has ordered an untitled prequel series focusing on fan-favorite Ben Edwards, portrayed by Taylor Kitsch . Season 2 of The Terminal List , whose first installment was based on Jack Carr’s bestseller of the same name, will be based on Carr’s novel True Believer. Additionally, it has been revealed what other Carr characters the prequel series, co-created by Carr and Season 1 creator-showrunner David DiGilio, will feature opposite Kitsch’s Ben in addition to James Reece (Pratt) and Raife Hastings, which Deadline had already reported. The list includes Mohammed Farooq and Ernest “Boozer” Vickers, played in Season 1 by Pratt’s longtime coach, former Navy SEAL and series producer Jared Shaw. The untitled prequel is described as an elevated espionage thriller that takes … [Read more...] about ‘The Terminal List’: More Details Revealed About Season 2 Of Prime Video Series Starring Chris Pratt & Taylor Kitsch-Led Prequel

UPDATED with content spend stats from annual report: Giant Amazon said its total expenses for video and music came to $16.6 billion last year, up from $13 billion in 2021. Video and music expense includes licensing and production costs associated with content offered within Amazon Prime memberships, and costs associated with digital subscriptions and sold or rented content, according to the company’s latest annual report that followed fourth quarter financials yesterday. On an earnings call Thursday, CFO Brian Olsavsky noted that Amazon spent $7 billion on originals, live sports and licensed content in 2022, up from $5 billion the year before. It’s unclear if those figures include all worldwide video content, which is increasingly central to Amazon’s strategy in driving membership for Prime, the biggest loyalty program in the world and the beating heart of the company. Amazon (which acquired MGM last year for $8.5 billion in cash) carefully evaluates its return on … [Read more...] about Amazon Praises Video As Key Driver Of Prime; 2022 Content Spend, Including Music, Hit $16.6 Billion

EXCLUSIVE: Italian actress Eleonora Romandini , known in the U.S. for her role as Isabella, a concierge in HBO’s The White Lotus , has signed with Stride Management for representation. Romandini shares a SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series for her role as Isabella, the object of hotel manager Valentina’s (Sabrina Impacciatore) affection on Season 2 of The White Lotus , created, written, directed and executive produced by Mike White. A graduate of the 09 Academy in Milan in law, Romandini’s Italian series credits include RAI’s Il paradiso delle Signore and the short film Mythe Dior , directed by Matteo Garrone. She also appeared in the RAIUNO series Makari 2 directed by Michele Soavi. She was most recently seen on the film side in the Riccardo Milani-directed Corro da te and in Il grande giornio, directed by Massimo Venier. On television she was most recently seen in the series Il nostro Generale ( The General’s Men ) directed by Lucio … [Read more...] about ‘The White Lotus’ Actor Eleonora Romandini Signs With Stride Management

There was a moment last November when Channel 4 ’s senior executives breathed a sigh of relief. Sat at the top table of Channel 4’s 40th birthday party, Chief Executive Alex Mahon was flanked by her friend Elisabeth Murdoch and doyens of UK broadcasting, including BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Carolyn McCall, ITV’s Chief Executive. They were raising a glass to a British success story in a rare public display of unity. On the same table was Thérèse Coffey, a senior government minister who had survived three prime ministers in the space of little more than three months. Her presence at the V&A Museum event bemused others, who believed the government only had hostile intentions for Channel 4 after sanctioning a sale of the broadcaster against its wishes. Things soon got weirder. Coffey turned to Mahon and asked if she could raise a glass to Channel 4. She then proceeded to surprise the room full of TV luminaries by serenading her hosts with a rendition of happy … [Read more...] about Channel 4: Inside The Doomed Sale Of A Crown Jewel Of British Television

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches is set to fly again after being renewed for a second season at AMC . The cable network is bringing back the series, which along with Interview with a Vampire is part of its extended Anne Rice universe, after becoming its number one new series premiere on its streaming service AMC+. This comes despite a plethora of recent cancelations at AMC Networks. The company pulled Demascus and Invitation to a Bonfire as well as second seasons of Pantheon , Moonhaven and 61st Street, which were in various stages of completion and production, as part of a major cost-cutting drive. Mayfair Witches , which is based on Rice’s trilogy of books, focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon, Rowan Fielding, played by Alexandra Daddario, who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations. It also … [Read more...] about ‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’ Renewed For Season 2 At AMC

Spanish-born fashion designer Paco Rabanne , who was best known for his metallic space-age outfits, has died in France at the age of 88 years old. The self-taught designer broke into the Parisian Haute Couture scene in the early 1960s with a collection composed of 12 unwearable experimental metallic dresses. His designs soon became favorites with stars and models of the time such as France’s Anouk Aimée, Françoise Hardy, Brigitte Bardot and the U.K.’s Twiggy. He soon connected with the cinema world, designing the iconic costumes for Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim’s 1968 cult film Barbarella , which are still on display in MoMA in New York. Other cinema credits included Roberto Enrico’s The Last Adventure and Joël Le Moigné’s Les Ponyettes . Rabanne retired in 1999 but his mothballed label was revived by Spanish company Puig in 2011, which has relaunched it as a fashion house and fragrance business that it now controls. … [Read more...] about Paco Rabanne Dies: Spanish ‘Barbarella” Fashion Designer Was 88

Netflix has renewed That ‘90s Show for a 16-episode Season 2. Season 1 of the That ’70s Show spinoff premiered on January 19, 2023, and immediately reached Netflix ’s Top 10 English TV list in 35 countries, with more than 41 million hours viewed, according to the streamer. In That ’90s Show , it’s 1995 and Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) is desperate for some adventure in her life or at least a best friend who isn’t her dad (Grace). When she arrives in Point Place to visit her grandparents, Red and Kitty, Leia finds what she’s looking for right next door when she meets the dynamic and rebellious Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide). With the help of Gwen’s friends, including her lovable brother Nate (Maxwell Donovan), his smart, laser-focused girlfriend Nikki (Sam Morelos), the sarcastic and insightful Ozzie (Reyn Doi), and the charming Jay, Leia realizes adventure could happen there just like it did for her parents all those years ago. Excited to reinvent herself, she … [Read more...] about ‘That ’90s Show’ Renewed For Season 2 At Netflix

Ashim Ahluwalia, known as a director of edgy films such as John & Jane and Miss Lovely that have premiered at Toronto and Cannes film festivals, is not an obvious choice to direct a young adult drama series for Netflix . But when local production house Bodhitree Multimedia approached him with a proposal for a Hindi remake of Spanish show Elite , he jumped at the chance. “I’ve always been interested in making something on teenagers, especially wealthy urban teenagers, because that’s a world that I know,” says Ahluwalia, who grew up in the tony neighborhoods of south Mumbai. “I went to a school that was very different to the school in Elite , or in this series, but had the same elements of class conflict. So while I’d never thought about doing a series before, I thought this would be an interesting project to do.” Created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona, Elite follows three scholarship kids from a modest socioeconomic background who get placed in an … [Read more...] about Ashim Ahluwalia On Portraying The Extremes Of India’s Wealth Gap In Netflix Young Adult Drama ‘Class’

Leave it to a sitcom vet like Melissa Rauch to remind the industry that everything old can be new again. After persuading Warner Bros. TV to dust off the Night Court IP and revive it for NBC, multi-cams are suddenly hot again, with every broadcast network — and even a few streamers like Netflix (home to new hit That ’90s Show , which just got renewed ) are putting studio audience comedies in development. While no one is straight-up abandoning single-cams — the success of CBS’ Ghosts and ABC’s Abbott Elementary have certainly made sure of that — there’s no beating the cost-effectiveness of one of TV’s most tried and true genres. “Everybody had a hunch they should probably be doing more of them,” says one high-powered comedy agent. “Night Court is a good sign there is an appetite for that. Everything I’m hearing out of CBS, for example, is that they have pretty hard caps they are trying to hit on these multi-camera shows. The Conners is an exception because … [Read more...] about Thanks, ‘Night Court’! How Multi-Cams Are Having A Moment … Again