TVLine Items: Anansi Boys Finds Lead, B99 Cast Visits Seth Meyers and More

Malachi Kirby (Small Axe, Roots) will be pulling double duty in Amazon Prime’s Anansi Boys series adaptation from writer/executive producer Neil Gaiman, our sister site Variety reports.

Kirby will play both Charlie Nancy and his brother, Spider. After Charlie’s estranged father, Mr. Nancy, dies, he discovers that his dad was the trickster god of stories, Anansi. He also learns that he has a brother, Spider, who makes Charlie’s life more interesting, but also more dangerous. As previously reported, Delroy Lindo (The Good Fight) will star as Anansi/Mr. Nancy.

In addition to playing Kunta Kinte in the 2016 Roots miniseries, Kirby’s other TV credits include Devils, Curfew and EastEnders.

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Late Night With Seth Meyers will welcome the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast on Thursday, Sept. 16, following the comedy’s series finale earlier that evening on NBC.

* Cynthia Erivo (Genius) and Andy Serkis (The Sandman) have joined Idris Elba in Netflix’s Luther film, per The Hollywood Reporter. Erivo will play a detective who is also Luther’s nemesis, while Serkis portrays the criminal villain.

* The Dropout, Hulu’s forthcoming limited series starring Amanda Seyfried as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, has tapped the following actors to recur, per Deadline: LisaGay Hamilton (The Practice), Michaela Watkins (The Unicorn), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (NOS4A2), Kevin Sussman (The Big Bang Theory), Sam Straley (The Kids Are Alright) and Shaun J. Brown (Run, Future Man).

* USA Network’s live competition series America’s Big Deal, from inventor/entrepreneur Joy Mangano, will premiere Thursday, Oct. 14 at 9/8c. “Each week, entrepreneurs will take the stage for a three-minute product pitch, and the person with the most live sales throughout the episode will win the chance to strike a life-changing deal with one of the show’s retail giants,” per the official description.

* Netflix has released a trailer for Maid, a limited series starring Margaret Qualley, premiering Friday, Oct. 1:

Which of today’s TVLine Items pique your interest?