ABC Sets ‘Women of the Movement’ Premiere Date (TV News Roundup)

ABC announced that “Women of the Movement,” the upcoming limited series based on the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley, will premiere on Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. The six-episode series will air in three parts for three consecutive weeks.

Adrienne Warren stars as Mamie, the mother of Emmett Till (Cedric Joe), who was brutally lynched in 1955 in the Jim Crow South. The series sees Mamie risk her life seeking justice for Emmett, keeping his name and murder in the news and igniting the Civil Rights movement. Tonya Pinkins plays Mamie’s mother Alma Carthan; Ray Fisher plays Gene Mobley, Mamie’s husband who was a father figure to Emmett; Glynn Turman plays Mose Wright, Mamie’s uncle; Chris Coy and Carter Jenkins play Emmett’s murderers J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, respectively, and Julia McDermott plays Carolyn Bryant, the white woman Emmett was falsely accused of sexually harassing.

“My son, he’s a good boy,” Mamie says to a group of reporters in a new teaser, which you can watch below. “He was taken in the middle of the night by white men. His name is Emmett Till.”

“Women of the Movement” is produced by Kapital Entertainment and created by Marissa Jo Cerar, who also serves as showrunner. Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Dr. Marvel Parker, Ms. Ollie Gordon and Christopher Benson serve as consultants for the series. Along with Cerar, executive producers are Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Michael Lohmann for Kapital Entertainment; Shawn Carter, Jay Brown and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith for Roc Nation; Will Smith and James Lassiter for Westbrook; Rosanna Grace for Serendipity Group Inc.; Alex Foster and John Powers Middleton for Middleton Media Group; David Clark; and Gina Prince-Bythewood. The first episode is written by Cerar and directed by Prince-Bythewood. Tina Mabry, Julie Dash and Kasi Lemmons also serve as directors.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:

FIRST LOOKS

Amazon Prime Video released a trailer for upcoming coming-of-age docuseries “Always Jane,” which premieres Nov. 12. The series tells the story of transgender teenager Jane Noury and her family as she prepares to leave home for college. “Always Jane” is a production of Amazon Studios, Mutt Film, and Union Editorial. Executive producers include Noury, director Jonathan C. Hyde, James Haygood and Michael Raimondi along with Mutt Film’s Beth George and Shannon Lords-Houghton. Katherine LeBlond serves as producer. See the trailer below.

Hulu released a trailer for Season 2 of “Animaniacs,” which premieres with 13 episodes on Nov. 5 on the streamer. The season will feature more of Yakko, Wakko and Dot’s musical adventures and pop culture parodies, plus some “Animaniacs” characters who were cut from the original series. Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille, Jess Harnell and Maurice LaMarche star. Steven Spielberg executive produces along with Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios; Amblin Television co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey; and showrunner Wellesley Wild. Gabe Swarr serves as co-executive producer. The show hails from Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. Watch the trailer below.

CASTING

GG Townson has been cast in the upcoming BET Plus series “Sacrifice,” Variety has learned exclusively. Proceeding from the 2019 Bet Plus movie of the same name, the series, which premieres on Nov. 4, follows the lives of entertainment attorney Daniella Hernandez and her famous clients. Townson will play Jameson, a star client that Daniella courts for representation whose secrets end up putting Daniella in danger. Townson’s recent TV credits include Lifetime’s Salt-N-Pepa biopic and The CW’s “All American.” She is repped by Michael Eisenstadt at AEFH Talent and Bohemia Group.

Hallmark Channel’s upcoming holiday film “Christmas in Tahoe” will star Pat Monahan, Laura Osnes, Kyle Selig and George Lopez, Variety has learned exclusively. The, which is based on Train’s 2015 album of the same name, follows an aspiring talent booker named Claire (Osnes) who begins to fall back in love when she gets the help of her now-famous guitarist ex Ryan (Selig) to nab new talent for an event as she vies for a prestigious new job. The film will also feature “Mittens,” an original song by Train. “Christmas in Tahoe” is from Christmas Lake Productions Inc. Kim Arnott, Ivan Kayden and Monahan serve as executive producers. Dawn Knight serves as supervising producer. Robert Lieberman directs from a story by Nina Weinman, who wrote the screenplay with Stephanie Jackson and Zach Lewis. Music is by Gramoscope Music. See a first look below.

STREAMING

Discovery, Inc. and Cox Communications announced that Discovery Plus is now available for purchase on Cox Contour 2 and the Contour Stream Player, giving Cox customers access to the platform’s content surrounding true crime, food, paranormal experiences and more. Contour is Cox’s premier video service, an app that allows users to take both live and on-demand programming on the go.

DEALS

WWE and Mattel, Inc. announced a multi-year extension of their global master toy licensing agreement, including rights around action figures, action figure accessories and kids’ toy title belts. The companies’ partnership dates back to 2009 with toys available in 50 global markets. Mattel’s WWE Basic Action Figure Series is the longest-running continuous action figure assortment in history.

LATE NIGHT

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya will appear on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Larry David and Coldplay will appear on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”