Tag Archives: 11.22.63

Classic sci-fi novels – TV’s new frontier

November 18, 2016Hit & Miss11.22.63, Amazon, Brave New World, Childhood's End, Foundation, HBO, Hulu, Hyperion, Red Mars, Spike, Stranger in a Strange Land, SyFy, The 100, The CW, The Dark Tower, The Day of the Triffids, The Expanse, The Handmaid's Tale, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Man in the High Castle, The Martian ChroniclesAndy Fry

Over the years there have been scores of great science fiction-based series, ranging from Star Trek and The X-Files to Doctor Who and The Prisoner. But it’s interesting to note that very few of them have been based on sci-fi novels. It’s as though the soapy plots and larger-than-life characterisations of TV sci-fi have operated in a parallel universe to the best sci-fi literary works.

As with so many areas of TV, this distinction is now blurring because of the rise of the high-end SVoD/pay TV-style limited series. Books that could never have been adapted in the pre-Netflix era suddenly look ripe for reimagining.

This week, for example, cable channel Syfy revealed it was adapting Robert Heinlein’s classic 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land – widely regarded as one of the greatest of all sci-fi novels. The story of a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on Mars and raised by Martians, it will be produced by Paramount TV and Universal Cable Productions.

To celebrate the news of this ambitious project, we’re looking at classic sci-fi novels that have been adapted for television already or that are – like Heinlein’s novel – now in the works.

The Man in the High Castle: Amazon’s series is based on a 1962 alternative-history novel by the screen industry’s favourite sci-fi author, Philip K Dick. The first season launched in early 2015 and was an immediate hit for Amazon, generating an 8.0 rating on IMDb. The second run launches on December 16. Dick’s work also inspired the Minority Report movie and subsequent Fox TV series of the same name, though the show strayed a long way from the original concept and probably suffered as a result, quickly being axed. Also coming up is Electric Dreams: The World Of Philip K Dick, an anthology series that will be based on some of Dick’s works. Until recently, Dick’s work was mostly adapted for the movies.

The Day of the Triffids: John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids sits slightly outside the classic sci-fi canon – rather like Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), The Time Machine (HG Wells), War of the Worlds (also HG Wells) and Frankenstein (Mary Shelley). The story of a blind humanity battling killer plants has proved popular with TV producers. A small-screen version was originally created in 1981 and another was made in 2009. The latter version, which aired on the BBC in the UK, had a strong cast including Dougray Scott. It attracted a strong 6.1 million audience for episode one.

11.22.63: This 2011 time-travel story from Stephen King was adapted into a TV series by Hulu in 2015. It tells the story of a schoolteacher who goes back in time to try to prevent the assassination of president John F Kennedy. With James Franco in the lead role, the series proved popular – generating an 8.3 rating on IMDb and playing on Fox internationally. King’s epic novel series The Dark Tower is also being adapted by Sony as a feature film for release in 2017. There are reports that this will then be followed up a TV series set in the same fantasy world.

The Martian Chronicles: Ray Bradbury’s famous short-story collection was published in 1950. It has been adapted for most media, including a 1979 miniseries commissioned by NBC in the US and the BBC in the UK. Bradbury himself wasn’t a fan of the TV adaptation, which starred Rock Hudson, calling it “just boring.”

Childhood’s End: This is a 1953 sci-fi novel by Arthur C Clarke about a peaceful alien invasion by the mysterious ‘Overlords.’ Stanley Kubrick looked at doing a film adaptation as long ago as the 1960s but it wasn’t until 2015 that the novel was adapted for the screen. Instead of a movie, Syfy commissioned a four-hour TV miniseries, which you can still find sitting in pay TV platform box sets. The show didn’t get a particularly strong response – with its IMDb rating just 7.0. Part of its problem, according to critics, was that the adaptation came too late to really grab viewers. Although still quite fresh and original in its day, the novel’s alien invasion theme has now being played out in countless other TV projects.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Margaret Atwood’s troubling view of a future US society, where women are property of the state, was first published in 1985. It is now on the verge of being launched as a TV series by Hulu. Starring Elisabeth Moss and Joseph Fiennes, the show will debut on March 29 next year. Out of all the upcoming book adaptations doing the rounds, this has the feel of one that might work – because it is more about human interaction than sci-fi imagery like spaceships, aliens and extraterrestrial terrain (all of which can either distract from storytelling and characterisation or look like poor imitations of Star Wars).

The 100: The 100 is interesting because it’s an example of a TV sci-fi show based on a book series that is still in the process of being written (by Kass Morgan). The first book came in 2013 and the debut TV season appeared a year later on The CW. The fourth book comes out next month, while the fourth season of the show will air in 2017. The series is set three centuries after a nuclear apocalypse, with survivors living on a colony of spaceships in orbit around the Earth. One hundred teenagers are then sent down to investigate whether Earth is habitable. The last season of The 100 attracted a reasonable 1.3 million viewers.

The Expanse: Based on James SA Corey’s books series, The Expanse is a Syfy series that imagines a world in which Earth’s population has grown to 30 billion and humans have started to populate the solar system. The first season, which aired in 2015, started well (1.2 million) but faded (to 0.55 million). Nevertheless, Syfy commissioned a second run. Like The 100, this is a living book series. Corey’s first Expanse novel was published in 2011 and the sixth is due out next month.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams’ classic sci-fi comedy book series was first adapted as a radio series. The success of that adaptation soon led to a six-part TV version, which aired on BBC2 in the UK in 1981. There was also a later film version. Although the key reason for the franchise’s popularity was its wit, the science in the books was also pretty interesting.

With the success of epic series like Game of Thrones, Westworld and The Walking Dead, it’s no surprise that even the most ambitious sci-fi novels are now regarded as fair game by writers and producers.

Among the sci-fi novel-based TV projects in the works are Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars (with Spike), Dan Simmons’ Hyperion (with Syfy) and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. The latter, which is rightly regarded as one of the best novels of the 20th century irrespective of genre, is being adapted for Syfy by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television. The 1931 novel has also been turned into a film twice, while there are reports that Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio are planning a new movie version.

In 2014 it was also reported that Jonathan Nolan was going to adapt Isaac Asimov’s Foundation for HBO – an epic project if ever there was one. This story has since gone quiet, presumably because Nolan is involved in HBO’s current epic Westworld.

Other sci-fi novels that really ought to be on a to-do list for producers include Frank Herbert’s Dune, Ursula K Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, Philip Jose Farmer’s To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Iain Banks’ Culture and George Orwell’s 1984.

Note: This column has not attempted to cover fantasy classics like Game of Thrones, Outlander, American Gods, The Magicians and the Shannara series, all of which have been adapted for television.

tagged in: 11.22.63, Amazon, Brave New World, Childhood’s End, Foundation, HBO, Hulu, Hyperion, Red Mars, Spike, Stranger in a Strange Land, SyFy, The 100, The CW, The Dark Tower, The Day of the Triffids, The Expanse, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Man in the High Castle, The Martian Chronicles

HBO, FX dominate Emmy noms

July 15, 2016Hit & Miss11.22.63, AMC, American Crime, Bates Motel, BBC1, Better Call Saul, Black Sails, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Downton Abbey, Emmys, Empire, FX, Gotham, HBO, Homeland, Horace & Pete, House of Cards, Luther, Man In The High Castle, Masters of Sex, Minority Report, Mr Robot, Narcos, Netflix, Outlander, Penny Dreadful, Ray Donovan, Roots, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, Silicon Valley, The Americans, The Good Wife, The Knick, The Man in the High Castle, The Night Manager, Transparent, USA Network, Veep, Vikings, VinylAndy Fry

Games of Thrones and The People vs OJ Simpson picked up a lot of Emmy nominations this week – but can they convert them into awards?

HBO’s Game of Thrones picked up 23 nominations

The 2016 Emmy Award nominees were announced this week. All told, nearly 50 scripted series (excluding comedies) picked up at least one nomination, although only a handful are likely to convert those nominations into awards when the winners are announced on September 16 at the Microsoft Theater in LA.

A few years ago, winning an Emmy would have been seen as a nice endorsement of a show but little more. These days, however, it has taken on added significance for a couple of reasons.

The first is that the quality of TV drama has risen so rapidly. Winning an Emmy now really is an impressive achievement, and in some categories is not really that different to winning an Oscar. The second is that it is increasingly difficult to gauge the success of a show purely on the basis of its ratings (in the case of SVoD shows, there are no ratings).

FX's The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story — The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story

So racking up Emmys is a way of alerting the industry to the quality of a show, something that probably converts into business at Mipcom, the first major programming market to follow the Emmy ceremony.

So which shows caught the eye in this year’s nominations? Well, it’s no real surprise to see HBO’s Game of Thrones is out in front with 23 nominations. Such is the quality and ambition of the show that the only thing likely to stop it winning awards this year is that it secured a record-breaking 12 Emmys last year, from 24 nominations.

Awards judges, sometimes deliberately, sometimes subconsciously, have a tendency to steer away from previous winners to make sure that everyone gets a fair share of acclaim.

At this stage, the biggest threat to HBO’s hit series comes from the FX camp, with The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story securing 22 nominations and Fargo securing 18.

Netflix’s House of Cards secured 13 nominations but the biggest snub of the year went to the subscription VoD platform’s other flagship show Orange Is The New Black, with just one nomination.

The Night Manager was a huge hit on BBC1 in the UK but a modest performer on AMC in the US. However, the Emmys have rectified that situation slightly by granting the show 12 nominations.

After these shows, there is a huddle of titles securing multiple nominations, including Downton Abbey (10); All The Way and American Horror Story: Hotel (both eight); Better Call Saul and Roots (both seven); Mr Robot, Penny Dreadful and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (all six); The Americans and Ray Donovan (both five); American Crime, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Good Wife, Homeland, The Knick and The Man in the High Castle (all four); and Empire, Gotham, Luther, Masters of Sex, Narcos and Vikings (all three).

BBC1 hit The Night Manager was only a modest performer on AMC

Of course, some categories are more prestigious than others. So it’s interesting to note that USA Network’s Mr Robot made its way on to both the Outstanding Drama series category and the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category (Sam Esmail).

The same is true for The Americans, which has been nominated for Emmys before but not usually in the most prestigious categories. Perhaps this is a sign that 2016 is the show’s year to come out on top. Worth noting also is that it is another FX series – evidence of a cable channel firing on all cylinders creatively.

The Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category throws up another couple of interesting points. One is that it has included Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro’s UnREAL, which airs on Lifetime.

This is quite an achievement given that the show didn’t really feature anywhere else in the Emmys list. The other is that two of the nominations are for writers of shows that are ending: Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey and Robert and Michelle King’s The Good Wife. That might be enough to swing votes their way.

The Americans has its first Outstanding Drama nom

The Outstanding Limited Series category is a face-off between American Crime, Fargo, The Night Manager, The People vs OJ Simpson and Roots. Once again we can see a decent level of diversity here both in front of and behind the camera. American Crime’s inclusion is a welcome nod for an ABC series that has been welcomed by critics but not done too well in the ratings.

As is evident from the above listings, the only serious non-US competition for Emmys comes from the Brits. The Night Manager and Downton Abbey are the UK’s frontrunners to win Emmys, but there were also decent showings from Penny Dreadful, Luther and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride.

With War & Peace picking up a music nomination, the BBC secured a total of 22, which is more than most. It’s also worth noting that Showtime’s US adaptation of Shameless picked up two comedy nominations.

Bryan Cranston plays Lyndon B Johnson in HBO's All The Way — Bryan Cranston plays Lyndon B Johnson in HBO’s All The Way

Looking more broadly at the scripted comedy categories, there were three top performers: HBO’s Veep with 17 noms, HBO’s Silicon Valley with 11 and Amazon’s Transparent with 10. Overall, the Emmys were pretty good for the major SVoD platforms, with established shows like House of Cards and Transparent the strongest performers.

Despite Man In The High Castle attracting four, it looks like Amazon came out just behind Netflix, which secured a smattering of nominations for its Marvel-based shows, Narcos, Bloodline and Sense8.

Cable channel AMC picked up a total of five nominations related to its Walking Dead universe and will take pleasure in the success of The Night Manager (which it aired) – but overall the network can expect a quiet year at the Emmys.

Other shows to score at least one flavour of Emmy nomination included 11.22.63, Bates Motel, Black Sails, Horace & Pete, Minority Report, Outlander and Vinyl.

The Oscars would do well to take note of the fact that the Lead Actor in a Limited Series category includes three black actors out of six, though on this occasion Idris Elba, Cuba Gooding Jr and the superb Courtney B Vance may find that Bryan Cranston’s impressive performance in HBO’s Lyndon B Johnson biopic All The Way proves hard for the Emmy judges to overlook. Black actress Kerry Washington also impressed in Confirmation and Viola Davis (How To Get Away With Murder) and Taraji P Henson (Empire) achieved nominations for Lead Actress in a Drama.

tagged in: 11.22.63, AMC, American Crime, Bates Motel, BBC1, Better Call Saul, Black Sails, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Downton Abbey, Emmys, Empire, FX, Gotham, HBO, Homeland, Horace & Pete, House of Cards, Luther, Man In The High Castle, Masters of Sex, Minority Report, Mr Robot, Narcos, Netflix, Outlander, Penny Dreadful, Ray Donovan, Roots, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, Silicon Valley, The Americans, The Good Wife, The Knick, The Man in the High Castle, The Night Manager, Transparent, USA Network, Veep, Vikings, Vinyl

Franco finds his groove in sixties series

April 29, 2016Hit & Miss11.22.63, A+E Studios, David Simon, Game of Thrones, HBO, Hulu, RootsAndy Fry

James Franco isn’t afraid to follow his muse. Like Johnny Depp, Joaquin Phoenix and Shia LaBeouf, the actor is willing to challenge himself by getting involved in eclectic and experimental projects. Like all these guys, however, he also has the ability to cross comfortably into the mainstream, as he is now doing in 11.22.63.

For those unfamiliar with the show, it sees Franco as a teacher who goes back through a time portal in an attempt to stop the assassination of US president John F Kennedy.

Based on a story by Stephen King, it’s a slick, well-acted production that has generally received positive reviews from critics. And Franco is really good – playing a slightly sardonic but essentially straight romantic lead, instead of his more usual manic characters.

It’s hard to tell if the wider audience likes the show, because it is airing on SVoD platform Hulu in the US (Fox in the international market). But an IMDb score of 8.5 is respectable, suggesting it has a pretty loyal fanbase.

While there is potential for 11.22.63 to trip over its time travel parameters, it seems self-evident on the basis of this performance that Franco will be able to grab himself as much TV work as he wants.

Indeed, he is already lined up to appear in HBO’s forthcoming The Deuce. Although The Deuce isn’t due out until 2017, it has ‘award contender’ written all over it.

Written by David Simon (The Wire), it follows the rise of the porn industry in New York from the early 1970s and through the mid-1980s. Aside from Franco, it also stars the superb Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has already proved her TV credentials in acclaimed BBC series The Honourable Woman.

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the season six premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones — Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the season six premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones

While checking out 11.22.63 on IMDb, I also paused to see which current scripted series ranks highest, to see if it is reasonable to claim a correlation between the website’s ratings and the more tangible world of audience research.

Top of the pile by some margin is HBO’s Game of Thrones (GoT), which has a rating of 9.4 (the same as Breaking Bad and The Wire). By good fortune, GoT has also just returned for a new season, its sixth, which means it is possible to bring hard numbers to the table.

The audience figures for last Sunday’s 21.00 premiere were, as expected, huge – confirming the IMDb indicators. The initial broadcast attracted an audience of around eight million. This figure rose to 10.7 million after two TV encores and streaming figures were added in. This is a record, around 400,000 higher than the previous best.

Close analysis of the show threw up two possible areas of concern for HBO. One was a reduction in the number of 18-49 viewers, down around 5% on the season five finale. The other was that the linear TV broadcasters were slightly down on last year as well – suggesting audiences are migrating to other platforms.

But these are relatively minor issues when weighed against the bigger picture. Indeed, the 10.7 million audience above only tells part of the story. It’s inevitable, for example, that this figure will increase significantly once the show’s Live+ 7-day ratings are in. Not to be overlooked either is GoT’s international appeal. In the UK, for example, the season six premiere attracted 2.2 million, the drama’s biggest overnight audience ever (a fact made even more impressive by the fact it was simulcast at 02.00).

Also worth noting is the fact that GoT is still a huge hit with pirates, with one million illegal downloads in the first few days. While that may represent lost revenue to HBO, a more enlightened view of piracy would see this as a marketing boost for the show, helping maintain its water-cooler credentials.

Perhaps a bigger concern for HBO is the fact GoT, which is based on the spectacular novels by George RR Martin, will have to end one day. Although season seven has already been commissioned, the writers, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, recently told the Radio Times they are already planning the show’s end: “We’re approaching the finish line. From the outset, our hope was to tell a complete story – beginning, middle and end. We are writing the final act now, and the last thing we want to do is stay on stage after the play is over.

“In the beginning, we hoped that if the show worked, we’d get seven seasons to tell the tale. Seven kingdoms, seven gods, seven books – seven felt like a lucky number. The actual messiness of storytelling might not be quite that numerologically elegant. But we’re looking at somewhere between 70 and 75 hours before the credits roll for the last time.”

Maybe for their next trick they could do Lord of the Rings, which would probably also benefit from a six- or seven-season run on TV.

Peaky Blinders looks to have plenty of mileage yet — Peaky Blinders looks capable of a long run

Elsewhere, A+E Studios International has reported that broadcasters in more than 50 territories have acquired the eight-hour slavery-focused miniseries Roots. Buyers include SBS in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand, Thai PBS, D’Live in South Korea, Atres Media in Spain, HBO Europe, RTL in the Netherlands and Crave in Canada – demonstrating a broad interest in the show.

Based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel, the series debuts on A&E, History and Lifetime in the US on May 30. It stars Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin, Laurence Fishburne and Jonathan Rhys Meyers – the kind of cast that really demands audiences tune in. And at least on this occasion we’ll be able to check the audience figures on the show.

In terms of other upcoming shows expected to land with a bang, May 5 sees the return of Peaky Blinders on BBC2 for its third season. A terrific piece of television, there is hopefully plenty of life left in this franchise – with creator Steven Knight keen to push Peaky towards a conclusion at the start of the Second World War. Season three opens in 1924 so it could potentially run and run. Oh, and it has an 8.8 rating on IMDb, which is just about right.

tagged in: 11.22.63, A+E Studios, David Simon, Game of Thrones, HBO, Hulu, Roots

Morgan and Thorne doing it write

March 30, 2016The Writers Room11.22.63, Alan Westaway, Bafta, Ben Schiffer, Black Mirror, Canal+, Channel 4, Charlie Brooker, Endemol Shine Group, Fox Networks Europe, Hulu, Jack Thorne, James Allen, Jay Hunt, Left Bank Pictures, Neil Biswas, Netflix, Peter Morgan, Rachel Anthony, Royal Television Society, Stephen Gallagher, The Crown, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, This Is EnglandAndy Fry

The UK’s Royal Television Society (RTS) held its annual Programme Awards last week. Winning scripted shows included The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (which took Best Drama Serial), No Offence (drama series), Catastrophe (scripted comedy), Coalition (single drama) and Emmerdale (soap/continuing drama).

There were also writer awards for Peter Morgan (The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies) and Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, who write and star in Catastrophe.

Morgan overcame competition from Russell T Davies (Cucumber) and Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne (This is England ’90), with judges describing his writing as “skilful and poignant… absolutely first rate.” They called the drama “compelling and tender… it took the viewer on a deeply moving emotional journey.”

Morgan, 53 next month, is not new to TV. But until now he has been best known for a series of idiosyncratic feature films.

Having written the romcom Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence in 1998 and TV series The Jury in 2002, his career took a decisive step forward in 2003 with a TV movie called The Deal, which told the story of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s power-sharing deal. In 2006, he wrote a superb film-length follow-up called The Queen, which explored the reaction of the political and royal establishment to the death of Princess Diana. This earned him an Academy Award nomination and a deserved Golden Globe.

The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies centres on the true story on a man wrongly implicated in a murder case — The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies centres on the true story of a man wrongly implicated in a murder case

More acclaim followed with productions including The Last King of Scotland (adapted for the screen with Jeremy Brock); Frost/Nixon (play and screenplay); The Other Boleyn Girl, The Damned United, Rush and The Aftermath (the third in Morgan’s so-called Blair trilogy). And then came the RTS Award-winning Christopher Jefferies miniseries, written for UK broadcaster ITV.

Morgan, who has a brilliant knack of making the political seem personal, isn’t finished with TV. He’s currently working with Left Bank Pictures on The Crown, an epic US$100m drama for Netflix.

Based on a play by Morgan called The Audience, it tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s early reign. Anyone familiar with Morgan’s previous writing on the themes of power, establishment and intrigue will appreciate that he is perfectly suited to such a project – though it will be interesting to see how he copes with the much larger creative canvas offered by a 10-part TV series.

When the project was announced, he said: “The Crown is not only about the royal family but about an empire in decline, a world in disarray and the dawn of a new era. I am beyond thrilled to be reunited with partners from film, theatre and TV (director Stephen Daldry and producer Andy Harries) for this epic project and delighted to be working for the first time with Netflix.”

This Is England '90 is the final part of Jack Thorne's franchise — This Is England ’90 is likely the final part of Jack Thorne and Shane Meadows’ franchise

To date, Netflix has only ordered a first season. But it’s highly likely there will be future series of the show covering more recent stages in the Queen’s reign. So it might be a while before we see another movie or miniseries from Morgan.

As an interesting side note, Bafta has just announced its own TV awards nominations and there is no place there for Morgan’s Jefferies drama. Titles shortlisted for this event include Humans, The Last Panthers, No Offence and Wolf Hall (for Best Drama Series); Doctor Foster, The Enfield Haunting, London Spy, This Is England ’90 (miniseries); The Good Wife, Narcos, Spiral and Transparent (International Series); and The C-Word, Cyberbully, Don’t Take My Baby and The Go-Between (single drama).

In the context of the Baftas, the big winner is Thorne, who is attached to The Last Panthers, This Is England ’90 and Don’t Take My Baby.

In other news this week, Sky1 has commissioned a second season of Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, which is produced by Carnival Films in collaboration with Lee’s POW! Entertainment. As the name suggests, Lucky Man is based on an idea by superhero icon Stan Lee. But it’s another example of the trend towards greenlighting dramas with high-profile names and then getting other people to do the actual writing job.

The third season of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror will debut on Netflix — The third season of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror will debut on Netflix

In this case, for example, the show was written by Neil Biswas, Ben Schiffer, Rachel Anthony, James Allen, Stephen Gallagher and Alan Westaway. Biswas, who is credited on all 10 episodes of Lucky Man season one, was already known to Sky, having written an episode of Sinbad a few years ago. His other credits include The Take, Bradford Riots and In a Land of Plenty.

Elsewhere, there was further evidence this week of the superstar status now afforded to leading TV writers, with Channel 4 losing out to Netflix on the UK first-window rights to season three of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror.

Channel 4 was the first company to back Brooker’s project but a huge financial deal saw Netflix take control of an expanded version of the project for season three. Channel 4 thought it would still be given the opportunity to premiere the show in the UK, but Black Mirror producer Endemol Shine has licensed first-run rights to Netflix. This isn’t hugely surprising but C4 is not happy.

In a statement, Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt said: “Black Mirror couldn’t be a more Channel 4 show. We grew it from a dangerous idea to a brand that resonated globally. Of course, it’s disappointing that the first broadcast window in the UK is then sold to the highest bidder, ignoring the risk a publicly owned channel like 4 took backing it.”

Other projects in the news this week include Hulu series 11.22.63. Based on a book of the same name by Stephen King, the series centres on Jake Epping, a recently divorced teacher from Maine (played by James Franco) who travels back in time and has an opportunity to prevent the assassination of US president John F Kennedy (though things don’t quite go as planned). The show is executive produced by JJ Abrams, Stephen King and Bridget Carpenter, who has also taken a lead role in its writing.

This week, 11.22.63 was picked up by Canal+ in France, having previously been licensed for use by Fox Networks Europe. The show currently has an 8.8 rating on IMDb, which marks it out as a strong performer.

tagged in: 11.22.63, Alan Westaway, Bafta, Ben Schiffer, Black Mirror, Canal+, Channel 4, Charlie Brooker, Endemol Shine Group, Fox Networks Europe, Hulu, Jack Thorne, James Allen, Jay Hunt, Left Bank Pictures, Neil Biswas, Netflix, Peter Morgan, Rachel Anthony, Royal Television Society, Stephen Gallagher, The Crown, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, This Is England

Tour guide

January 11, 2016Greenlight11.22.63, A+E Networks, A+E Studios, ABC, AMC, Boost Unit, Chance, David Broyles, Don Handfield, Dwayne Johnson, E!, Fox, History, Hulu, Jeremy Renner, JJ Abrams, Knightfall, M Night Shyamalan, Most Wanted, Paul Buccieri, Person of Interest, Philipp Meyer, Rectify, Sarah Aubrey, Shut Eye, Six, SundanceTV, Tales from the Crypt, TBS, Television Critics Association, The Combine, The Path, The Royals, The Son, The Weinstein Company, TNT, Turner, William BroylesAndy Fry

Jeremy Renner will likely appear in Knightfall (photo by Gage Skidmore)

The Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, taking place this year between January 5 and 19, is a star-studded event during which broadcasters, producers, writers and actors talk about new programme launches, imminent cancellations, casting announcements and ideas for turning around underperforming shows. As such, it is one of the key dates in the scripted TV industry’s annual calendar.

A+E Networks-owned History is one of numerous networks to have unveiled new shows during the tour. The pick of the bunch is a 10-part series about the Knights Templar, the elite warriors of the Crusades. Knightfall is being produced by The Combine – the prodco from Jeremy Renner (The Avengers) and Don Handfield – alongside Midnight Radio and A+E Studios. It is expected that Renner will guest star in the show, with additional cast and production details to be announced.

The show was unveiled by Paul Buccieri, president of A&E and History, who said: “We are thrilled to partner with Jeremy Renner, The Combine, Midnight Radio and A+E Studios to tell the intriguing story of the Knights Templar, which has been shrouded in mystery until now. Premium scripted content continues to be a growing part of the History portfolio, with an eye towards quality historical fact-based storytelling, and Knightfall is the perfect fit for our brand.”

Six will follow a team of soldiers — Six will follow a team of elite soldiers tasked with taking out a Taliban leader

The channel also announced an eight-episode order for military action-drama Six, from A+E Studios and The Weinstein Company. Written by William Broyles (Castaway, Apollo 13, Jarhead) and David Broyles, a military special operations veteran, Six follows Navy SEAL Team Six, whose 2014 mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan goes awry when they uncover a US citizen working with the terrorists.

“The backdrop surrounding this elite team of American soldiers – from their lives at home to the bravery they display serving our country – provides an amazing canvas for stories that deserve to be told,” said Buccieri.

The Weinstein Company co-founder Harvey Weinstein added: “The idea originally came to me when I read about Boko Haram kidnapping schoolchildren in Africa. It brought on the idea of creating a series about the world of SEAL Team Six because the story felt as poignant and timely as ever. We brought in Bill (Broyles), whom I have long admired, along with David to write the pilot. They took my idea and developed a brilliant script for the project and added authenticity to the world in a way that only first-hand experience could possibly bring.”

Interestingly, Weinstein said the show will be set up as a kind of anthology drama – echoing a recent trend. “Each year will feature a different theatre of war – the first starting in Africa,” he explained.

Philipp Meyer's The Son is being adapted for TV — Philipp Meyer’s The Son is being adapted for TV

There was also news of a greenlight at AMC, the US cablenet behind The Walking Dead and Into the Badlands. Reports coming out of the tour suggest AMC has ordered a 10-part series from Sonar Entertainment called The Son, based on the acclaimed oil industry-focused book of the same name by Philipp Meyer.

The series, which will involve Meyer as a co-writer, is about America’s birth as a superpower, told through the rise and fall of one Texan oil empire. It will be interesting to see how the show fares after ABC’s lack of success with Blood & Oil, another drama set within the US oil industry.

Elsewhere, there has been a lot of talk about Turner’s plans to refresh its cable networks TBS and TNT by shaking up their scripted content. At TCA, it was revealed that TNT is teaming up with M Night Shyamalan (Wayward Pines) to reboot HBO horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt. In the new TNT version, Shyamalan will curate a two-hour block made up of both long and short stories of suspense and horror.

“This is a new genre for us in our series efforts and a great chance to partner with M Night Shyamalan, whose blockbuster hit The Visit reminded movie audiences and critics this past summer that he truly is a master of horror,” said Sarah Aubrey, exec VP of original programming for TNT.

Shyamalan added: “To be part of such a beloved brand like Tales from the Crypt, something I grew up watching, and to also have the chance to push the boundaries of genre television as a whole, is an inspiring opportunity that I can’t wait to dive into.”

Tales from the Crypt is being revived under the auspices of M Night Shyamalan

Meanwhile, with the massive success of the Fast and the Furious movie franchise, it was only a matter of time before one of US networks hit upon the idea of a TV drama based around cars. This week, it was revealed that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (who stars in the Fast franchise) is working with Fox on a new show called Boost Unit.

Described as “Fast and the Furious meets Rescue Me,” it will be written by Jonny Umansky and Zach Hyatt.

Over at ABC, there was official confirmation of another Marvel-based show in the shape of Marvel’s Most Wanted, a spin-off from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

On the streaming front, there was news from Hulu, which has ordered two 10-episode seasons of Chance, a psychological thriller in which Hugh Laurie will play a medical expert.

Set in San Francisco, the show follows forensic neuropsychiatrist Eldon Chance (Laurie) as he gets sucked into a violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness. For Laurie, it’s another opportunity to play a medical expert following the global success of Fox series House (2004-2012).

Hulu’s upcoming slate of originals also includes 11.22.63, a time-travel drama about the Kennedy assassination from Stephen King and JJ Abrams; The Path, starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul; and Shut Eye, which will explore “the underground world of LA storefront psychics and the crime syndicate that runs them.”

In terms of renewals, E! has ordered a third season of original scripted series The Royals, which stars Elizabeth Hurley as a fictional queen. A coproduction between Lionsgate and Universal Cable Productions, the show is now getting up to the volume of episodes that appeals to international and SVoD buyers.

In terms of shows that are coming to an end, SundanceTV has revealed that Rectify will finish after its upcoming fourth season. TNT, meanwhile, will call time on Rizzoli & Isles after its 13-episode seventh season, which will air this summer.

JJ Abrams also used the TCA tour to speculate that the fifth season of CBS crime/sci-fi series Person of Interest (which he executive produces) will be the last, though he would “love it to continue.”

tagged in: 11.22.63, A+E Networks, A+E Studios, ABC, AMC, Boost Unit, Chance, David Broyles, Don Handfield, Dwayne Johnson, E!, Fox, History, Hulu, Jeremy Renner, JJ Abrams, Knightfall, M Night Shyamalan, Most Wanted, Paul Buccieri, Person of Interest, Philipp Meyer, Rectify, Sarah Aubrey, Shut Eye, Six, SundanceTV, Tales from the Crypt, TBS, Television Critics Association, The Combine, The Path, The Royals, The Son, The Weinstein Company, TNT, Turner, William Broyles