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Starz announced that upcoming series “Shining Vale” will premiere on March 6, 2022 at 10 p.m.
Led by Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear, the series is a horror-comedy set in the small town of Shining Vale, Conn. Pat (Cox) and Terry Phelps (Kinnear) spend their life savings to move from a Brooklyn apartment to a Shining Vale mansion in a final attempt to save their marriage after Pat has an affair with their young handyman. While trying to connect with each other and their angsty children Gaynor (Gus Birney) and Jake (Dylan Gage), the family learns why their house was so cheap: It was the site of a triple murder-suicide and other tragedies. Pat begins to see the spirit of the murderer, a 1950s housewife named Rosemary (Mira Sorvino).
“Shining Vale” is executive produced by Jeff Astrof from Other Shoe Productions, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford from Merman, Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor from Kapital Entertainment. Cox is a producer. Astrof wrote the pilot teleplay from a story by himself and Horgan. Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate Television produce in association with Other Shoe Productions, Merman and Kapital Entertainment.
Also in today’s TV news roundup:
FIRST LOOKS
Amazon Prime Video released a trailer for the sixth and final season of “The Expanse,” which premieres on Dec. 10 and then releases new episodes weekly until Jan. 14. Season 6 sees the solar system at war as Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) and the Free Navy launch asteroid attacks on Earth and Mars. While the Rocinante suffers tension threatening to pull the crew apart, Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) sends former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams) on a secret mission and Drummer (Cara Gee) and her family run while being hunted for betraying Marco. Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Nadine Nicole and Jasai Chase Owens also star in the series, which is based on James S. A. Corey’s book series of the same name. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby developed and scripted the series. Executive producers include showrunner Naren Shankar, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Laura Lancaster, Sharon Hall, Sean Daniel, Jason Brown, Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck and Dan Nowak. The Expanse is produced by Alcon Television Group. Watch the trailer below.
Somm TV, the streaming service dedicated to food, wine and hospitality, is preparing to release the competition series “Sparklers.” The cooking and wine pairing show will see professionals in the field face off over 13 episodes, with a mixed judging format that amps up the drama – as intermittent episodes allow contestants to serve as judges. Challenges will include tasks like foraging the Oregon countryside for ingredients.
Wine enthusiasts should look out for pours from Italian houses like Ca’ del Bosco and Villa Sparina; Oregon’s Lytle-Barnett; and Faire la Fête, Ruinart, and Krug from France. Guest judges include Greg Lambrecht (founder and Chairman of Coravin), Katie Flannery (third generation butcher in San Rafael), Ben Jacobsen (founder of Jacobsen Salt Co.), Emily Schmiedel (master beekeeper in Oregon) and Chevonne Ball (hospitality expert ). Check out the trailer here.
DATES
IMDb TV announced that the second season of “Uninterrupted’s Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers” will premiere all six episodes on Dec. 17. The docuseries will follow the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers, the San Fernando Valley powerhouse, as they emerge to resume their quest for victory after the abrupt end of their 2020 campaign to repeat as California state champions. LeBron James and Maverick Carter will return as executive producers, along with Jamal Henderson, Devin Johnson and Philip Byron. Camille Maratchi and Josh Kahn co-executive produce, Matt Maxson produces and co-directs and Tevin Tavares directs.
Freeform announced its new comedy “Single Drunk Female” will premiere Jan. 20, 2022 at 10 p.m. and new episodes of “Grown-ish” Season 4 will begin on Jan. 27, 2022, also at 10 p.m. After its premiere, “Single Drunk Female” will air new episodes Thursdays at 10:30 p.m. In this series, Samantha Fink has to sober up and avoid jail time by moving back home with her overbearing mother, aiming to move past her worst self and figure out her best self. The series stars Sofia Black-D’Elia, Ally Sheedy, Rebecca Henderson, Sasha Compère, Lily Mae Harrington and Garrick Bernard. Writer and creator Simone Finch executive produces along with Jenni Konner, Daisy Gardner, Phil Traill, Nora Silver and Leslye Headland. Headland also directed the pilot. “Grown-ish” Season 4 will continue the countdown to graduation and will air Thursdays at 10 p.m. following the premiere. The series stars Yara Shahidi, Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, Emily Arlook, Jordan Buhat, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Luka Sabbat and Diggy Simmons. The ABC Signature production is executive produced by Kenya Barris, Julie Bean, Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry, Craig Doyle, Shahidi, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, E. Brian Dobbins and Michael Petok.
PROGRAMMING
Will Smith will take over the Red Table in the Nov. 17 episodes of Facebook Watch’s “Red Table Talk.” The series is hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith and Willow Smith, Will’s wife and daughter, as well as Jada’s mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris. In the episode, Will will discuss his upcoming film “King Richard,” a biopic about Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Venus and Serena will appear to comment on topics including their mother’s contributions to their family and the fact that they wouldn’t agree to executive produce “King Richard” until they saw the film. See two clips from the episode below.
GREENLIGHTS
Nickelodeon announced ordered “Max & the Midknights,” a new animated series based on Lincoln Peirce’s book series of the same name. Over 20 episodes, the series will follow 10-year-old Max who leads her friends on an adventure to the medieval kingdom of Byjovia to pursue her dream of becoming a knight. Jane Startz and Peirce serve as executive producers with Sharon Flynn and David Skelly as showrunners. Amy McKenna serves as producer. Nathan Schram, director of development at Nickelodeon Animation, oversees development and production of the series for Nickelodeon.
Nickelodeon also greenlit “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” an animated series adapted from a short from Nickelodeon’s Intergalactic Shorts Program. The 20-episode series will follow the adventures of three friends and roommates: Rock, the group’s moral compass; Paper, an inventor; and Scissors, known for creating chaos. The series is executive produced by creators Kyle Stegina and Josh Lehrman alongside Bob Boyle and Conrad Vernon. Development is overseen for Nickelodeon by Kari Kim and Daniel Wineman, vice presidents of animation development at Nickelodeon Animation.
INITIATIVES
The Human Rights Campaign and Showtime announced the 20 recipients of “Queer to Stay: An LGBTQ+ Business Preservation Initiative”: Al’s on 7th (Birmingham, Ala.), Arledge Comics (Port Orchard, Wash.), Buddy’s (Houston, Texas), Our Place (Birmingham, Ala.), Club OMG (San Francisco, Calif.), Cowlick (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Cubbyhole (New York, N.Y.), Cuties (Los Angeles, Calif.), Ellen D. Management (Los Angeles, Calif.), Gossip Grill (San Diego, Calif.), The Lipstick Lounge (Nashville, Tenn.), Nickel Diner (Los Angeles, Calif.), Rebirth Garments (Chicago, Ill.), Roscoe’s Tavern (Chicago, Ill.), Spectrum: The Other Clinic (Hattiesburg, Miss.), Stuzo Clothing (Los Angeles, Calif.), Sweetlime Alterations (Cleveland, Ohio), TAGG Magazine (Washington, D.C.), The Fireplace (Washington, D.C.) and Wang Chung’s (Honolulu, Hawaii). The initiative aims to support and uplift small businesses owned by LGBTQ-plus people of color, women and the transgender community that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to monetary grants, the program will include educational webinars and teaching modules, created by Horizon Media, to help the businesses manage the multiple aspects of their operations, including financial management, search engine optimization and social media marketing.
EXECUTIVES
Disney Branded Television announced that Brenda Kelly-Grant will succeed Judy Taylor as senior vice president of casting and talent relations. In this new role, Kelly-Grant will oversee casting and talent relations for the unit’s live-action scripted pilots, series and movies on Disney Plus and Disney Channels. She will also develop and execute strategies for Disney Branded Television talent’s off-air appearances that promote content and brands. Kelly-Grant previously worked at ABC as vice president of casting and led the casting process on series including “Black-ish,” “The Middle,” Criminal Minds” and “High Fidelity.” She also served as head of internal communications at Amazon Studios. Taylor will be retiring at the end of this year, ending her 24-year career at Disney. Taylor had launched the acting careers of numerous cultural icons including Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Zac Efron, Dove Cameron, Zendaya and Olivia Rodrigo. Prior to Disney, Taylor cast blockbuster feature films including “Indiana Jones,” “Back to the Future,” “Sister Act” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”
LAUNCHES
Swerve TV announced the launch of Swerve Sports, a free ad-supported FAST channel dedicated to films about prominent athletes. Swerve Sports will be available on channel 234 on The Roku Channel’s Live TV Guide (with more distribution to come) and feature films such as “When We Were Kings” about Muhammad Ali and “Murderball,” about the U.S. Olympic quad rugby team. Movies will air at 8 p.m. every night along with nightly programming themes including “More Football Tuesdays” and “Friday Night Fights.” The channel was founded by CEO Steve Shannon. Dan Keston is the head of content and television executives Matt Singerman and Roger Jackson serve as advisors.
LATE NIGHT
Jared Leto, Vanessa Hudgens, Tom Morello and Grandson will appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” while Kirsten Dunst, Wilmer Valderrama, Kevin Garnett and Gracie Abrams will be on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Aubrey Plaza, Peter Sarsgaard and Amor Towles will be on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will feature Eric Adams and Dwyane Wade. Mindy Kaling, Yvonne Orji and Majid Jordan will be on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
