Tag Archives: The CW

Dystopian blues

May 8, 2018TrendspottingABC, Altered Carbon, Amazon, BBC, Black Mirror, Blood Drive, Channel 4, Fahrenheit 451, FX, Hard Sun, Hulu, Incorporated, Kelvin’s Book, Netflix, Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams, SS-GB, SyFy, The 100, The Colony, The Crossing, The CW, The Feed, The Handmaid's Tale, The Man in the High Castle, The Peripheral, The Rain, Van Helsing, Westworld, Y: The Last ManStephen Arnell

The television landscape is awash with series set in alternative – and not particularly bright – futures. Stephen Arnell casts his eye over the dystopian series on screen, and also finds sci-fi series with a more optimistic outlook.

All-conquering AI, robots that are more human than human, apps that can mimic any possible experience, egomaniacal billionaires searching for eternal life, a world wreathed in perpetual smog, unstoppable viruses, re-animated corpses, Nazi victors in the Second World War and the knock on the door from black-garbed members of the secret police.

Sound familiar?

One would think that in a world with Donald J Trump as US president, Brexit, North Korea, Russia, global warming, cyber warfare and other woes, viewers would be looking for escapist entertainment. But perhaps counter-intuitively, the vision of an even more dire future provides some comfort in the present.

Dystopian drama has become a major TV trend over recent years, and it’s showing no sign of stopping, although there are some signs of possible fatigue, with lacklustre audiences in the UK for SS-GB (BBC1, 2017), Channel 4’s Electric Dreams (2017-18) and the recent Hard Sun (BBC1, 2018).

All had very different themes. SS-GB envisioned a Nazi occupation of the UK, Electric Dreams is an anthology series based on the work of hard sci-fi author Philip K Dick and Hard Sun was a police thriller set in a pre-apocalypse London.

Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams didn’t perform as well as Channel 4 would have hoped

In terms of the BBC1 dramas, it could be said that the rather bleak material was better suited to sister channel BBC2, while the hit-and-miss nature of portmanteau series such as Electric Dreams are known to sometimes struggle to find audiences – with the obvious exception of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror (the former C4 show now at home on Netflix).

In the US, Syfy’s Incorporated (2016-17), a Matt Damon/Ben Affleck production set in a US ruled by corporations folded after one season, as did the channel’s exploitation Death Race homage Blood Drive (2017).

Are we approaching ‘peak dystopia?’ Not just yet. In fact, not by a long chalk.

It must be noted that anticipation was high for the second seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) and Westworld (HBO), both of which premiered recently and have been well received. Viewers are now eagerly awaiting season three of The Man in the High Castle (Amazon Prime), while Black Mirror goes from strength to strength, with filming on season five beginning recently. And AMC’s future feudal Samurai-style society drama Into the Badlands returned in April for a third run.

Netflix’s Brazilian sci-fi series 3% deals with a world very much divided into the haves and have-nots; after favourable reactions to 2016’s debut run, the drama returned for season two on April 27.

On cable, dystopian series continue to thrive. The 100 (The CW) returned for a fifth season on April 24, The Colony came back for a third run on May 2 and Van Helsing (Syfy) had a third season order in December 2017.

Netflix’s The Rain focuses on a virus carried by precipitation

Netflix’s Altered Carbon (pictured top) launched to mixed reviews this February – there was high praise for the set design and production values but it was also criticised by some as owing too much to Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner (1982) and for objectifying its female characters.

Weeks after Altered Carbon dropped, Netflix also released two dystopian movies – Duncan Jones’s generally slated Mute (which shared a similar visual palate to Altered Carbon) and Alex Garland (Ex Machina)’s well-reviewed Annihilation – which may have been overkill in such a short space of time.

Data from Parrot Analytics suggests the budget-busting Altered Carbon’s patchy performance could make a sophomore season unlikely.

This year will see new dystopian drama on our screens in addition to returning series. Last week, continuing its interest in the genre, Netflix dropped the Danish thriller The Rain, which is being touted by some as its answer to The Walking Dead, except with a distinct young-adult skew.

The show is set after a brutal virus wipes out most of the population, as two young siblings embark on a perilous search for safety.

The fact the virus is spread through precipitation has led some to draw somewhat unfortunate comparisons to Chubby Rain, the fictional ‘film within a film’ in the Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy comedy Bowfinger.

Netflix Brazilian original 3% recently returned for a second season

ABC’s The Crossing, meanwhile, debuted on April 2. The show centres on an influx of refugees in present-day Oregon, but with the twist that they are from a war-torn USA, 180 years in the future.

Starring Steve Zahn (War for the Planet of the Apes, Treme), The Crossing debuted with a modest 5.5 million viewers, with audiences declining for subsequent episodes.

On May 19, HBO will premiere its feature-length version of Fahrenheit 451, an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s sci-fi classic that depicts a totalitarian society where books are outlawed and burned by ‘firemen.’

Fahrenheit 451 takes its title from the autoignition temperature of paper. The book was last adapted for the screen in 1966 by French auteur filmmaker Francois Truffaut and was his only English-language movie. HBO’s version boasts a stellar cast including Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) and Michael B Jordan (Black Panther). Shannon has previously worked with Fahrenheit 451 director Ramin Bahrani on the award-winning foreclosure drama 99 Homes (2014).

On the horizon from Fremantle’s UFA Fiction (Deutschland 83) is Kelvin’s Book, from art-house film writer/director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher, Hidden). An English-language project, the 10×60′ series tells the story of a group of young people in the not-too-distant future who are “forced to make an emergency landing outside of their home and are confronted with the actual face of their home country for the first time.”

Michael Shannon (left) and Michael B Jordan in Fahrenheit 451

Next year sees the debut of Amazon Prime Video/Liberty Global’s London-set series The Feed, which “centres on the family of the man who invented an omnipresent technology called The Feed. Implanted into nearly everyone’s brain, The Feed enables people to share information, emotions and memories instantly. But when things start to go wrong and users become murderous, they struggle to control the monster they have unleashed.”

Guy Burnet, Nina Toussaint White, David Thewlis and Michelle Fairley will star in the psychological thriller, which will be distributed by All3Media International.

One new project that many spectators now believe may never make it to the screen is HBO’s Confederate, as creators David Benioff and DB Weiss (Game of Thrones) are now on board the Star Wars franchise – and the show’s concept of a continuing Southern slave-owning state has proved highly controversial in the current US political climate.

FX has recently ordered a pilot of Y: The Last Man, set in a world with only one surviving male – with strong production credentials from co-showrunners Michael Green (Logan, Bladerunner 2049, American Gods) and Aida Mashaka Croal (Turn, Luke Cage).

Israeli VoD service/cablenet HOT TV will debut Autonomies this year, which imagines the present-day country divided by a wall into two Jewish states – secular in Tel Aviv and ultra-orthodox in Jerusalem.

And to round off the dystopian shows in development, Amazon recently announced a series based on William Gibson’s The Peripheral, set in a bleak not-too-distant future (and beyond), with the Westworld team of Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan as showrunners.

Seth McFarlane’s The Orville serves up more lighthearted sci-fi fare

Syfy’s 2015 miniseries adaptation of Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End must take the prize for one of the most downbeat endings ever – concluding as it does in the total destruction of the Earth, after the planet’s mutated psychic children have been subsumed into an all-powerful alien ‘overmind.’

But lest we fall into total despair, it should be recognised that there are actually a few sci-fi TV dramas that depict a future that isn’t unrelentingly grim.

The Star Trek franchise is notable for showing an optimistic view of the times to come, with mankind becoming a force for good in the galaxy after (with notable exceptions such as Harry Mudd) curbing its greed and war-mongering.

Seth McFarlane’s affectionate Trek tribute The Orville (Fox) also has rosier take on the future, whileNetflix’s Lost in Space reboot has a not-entirely-pessimistic vision of humanity in the 21st century.

Hulu/Ch4’s upcoming Beau Willimon-scripted Martian colony drama The First (starring Sean Penn and Natasha McElhone) appears to promise a relatively upbeat approach, or at least one that’s not tipped totally in the direction of dystopian misery.

The long-running Stargate SG1 and its spin-offs portrayed a universe that was inhabited by at least a few alien species willing to befriend mankind rather than instantly vaporise Earth.

Meanwhile, Doctor Who (BBC1) generally takes a more upbeat road, as befits its family audience. Although end-of-the-world scenarios and alien domination feature frequently, the Doctor usually conveys a positive attitude, occasionally (in some incarnations) to the point of what some may deem mania.

tagged in: ABC, Altered Carbon, Amazon, BBC, Black Mirror, Blood Drive, Channel 4, Fahrenheit 451, FX, Hard Sun, Hulu, Incorporated, Kelvin’s Book, Netflix, Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams, SS-GB, SyFy, The 100, The Colony, The Crossing, The CW, The Feed, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Man in the High Castle, The Peripheral, The Rain, Van Helsing, Westworld, Y: The Last Man

Down with the kids

November 3, 2017WE NEED TO TALK ABOUTAckley Bridge, Andrew Cole-Bulgin, Audience Network, Balloon Entertainment, BBC, Channel 4, Clique, Dave Evans, Eleventh Hour Films, Five2Twelve, George Ormond, Jess Brittain, Jill Green, John Scott Shepherd, KIKA, Komixx Entertainment, Marcus Roth, Netflix, Niklas Weise, NRK, Pretty Little Liars, Riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Skam, Social media, Stranger Things, The CW, The Forge, You Me HerAndy Fry

While some say young people are no longer watching TV, the global success of series like Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars has turned that theory on its head. DQ explores how series are driving youth audiences back to the box.

Attracting elusive youth audiences has always been high on the TV industry’s to-do list. But as more and more youngsters turn their backs on traditional forms of viewing, the debate around how to win their attention has intensified.

Indeed, you very quickly get a sense of how serious the issue has become when you realise that Channel 4 in the UK – long regarded as a radical, alternative network – has an average viewer age of 55. In the US, The CW, AMC and FX all average 40-plus, despite being home to cross-generational favourites like The Flash, The Walking Dead and American Horror Story respectively.

From the perspective of scripted content, the first obvious question is whether TV drama can play a role in pulling young audiences back in the direction of traditional viewing platforms.

George Ormond, co-founder of indie producer The Forge and executive producer of C4’s school-set drama Ackley Bridge, believes so: “With Ackley Bridge, we set out to make a show that would attract a broad, multigenerational audience but would also bring the younger audience that is so hard to attract to linear TV.

Ackley Bridge targeted a ‘broad, multigenerational audience’

“We did well on both counts. The show has lots of young fans that connected with it, but also the broader audience.”

Ackley Bridge is set in a multicultural school in Yorkshire, explains Ormond: “This felt like a great world to set a show in; contemporary, muscular, and unexplored on television. We wanted to make a show that would smack you between the eyes with surprising, untold stories that feel very modern.”

Key to ensuring younger audiences bought into the show was getting the right tone of voice, he adds. “We knew the show needed to offer something original: a strong premise and surprising, engaging and addictive stories that are outrageous and contemporary but unpatronising. It is sometimes provocative, always irreverent, never worthy. And it has heart.”

Another show that attempts to appeal to the youth demo as part of a broader audience is You Me Her, a romantic comedy that debuted on AT&T’s Audience Network in 2016 and has been renewed for a third season. In this case, the story revolves around Jack and Emma, a married, 30-something couple whose love for each other is being undermined by their fading sex life. To reinvigorate their relationship, they hire Izzy, a 25-year-old college student and part-time escort. The three develop romantic feelings for each other – creating the unfamiliar (for TV) dynamic of a polyamorous relationship.

You Me Her has a strong social media following

Creator John Scott Shepherd says the life-stage difference between the older couple and Izzy gives the show “an interesting, schizophrenic feel,” adding: “It allows us to explore issues around relationship choices but also to see the world from Izzy’s younger perspective. She lives downtown and shares an apartment with her friend Nina. So the show is recognisable as a romcom but also appeals to a younger, progressive audience because it deals with sexuality and romance in a fluid way.”

You Me Her, which airs on Netflix outside the US, has built up a strong following on social media – which Shepherd believes is to do with the show’s authentic tone. “It fits with the younger generation’s belief that you should follow your bliss. It’s OK to live how you want as long as you’re not hurting anyone.”

While Ackley Bridge and You Me Her are examples of shows that are bringing down the average age of cross-demographic networks, many broadcasters choose to position youth dramas on channels specifically targeted at a younger audience. The classic example of this is Skins, an exuberant drama that ran for seven seasons from 2007 to 2013 on C4’s youth channel E4. But a more recent example is Clique, commissioned for the BBC’s online youth channel BBC3 and made by Skins producer Balloon Entertainment.

Balloon head of development Dave Evans says show creator Jess Brittain “wanted to write a show about female friendships and how they survive – or don’t survive – through major transitions. University can be an exhilarating time for change but it can also be a hard place to survive, to learn what you want to do.”

Clique was made by Skins producer Balloon Entertainment

The show is a thriller, which is unusual, says Evans, because “university-set drama tends to sit in a comedic space – such Fresh Meat or Dear White People. But with Clique we wanted to hit the heart of the experience with more dramatic firepower.”

In terms of how you grab this audience’s attention, Evans says: “It’s about getting onto young people’s radar. Attention-grabbing scenes are useful in that if people are saying, ‘Oh wow did you see that bit when…’ or making animated GIFs, it’s more likely to hook in new viewers. That said, a young audience won’t stay unless the drama grabs them outside of all the flash and bang.”

Ironically, there are occasions when youth drama can have an ‘ageing up’ impact. German kids’ channel KIKA, for example, recently commissioned Five2Twelve (pictured top) as a way of appealing to a slightly older audience. Speaking to DQ, producer Marcus Roth says the show “plays in the 20.00 slot and deals with more mature editorial themes.”

Five2Twelve centres on five teenage boys who have all been in trouble with the police. “The courts give them one last chance to escape detention by sending them to a boot camp in the Bavarian Alps,” says director Niklas Weise. “Here they have to cope with the challenges of everyday life and learn how to get on with each other. Although most kids haven’t been on the wrong side of the law, they will recognise the issues.”

Like their counterparts, Weise and Roth say the biggest challenge is getting the language right – but that this also requires a supportive broadcaster. “The youth audience is quick to see anything fake or artificial, so you need to talk to them in a way that is authentic,” Weise adds. “But this also requires a broadcaster that is willing to support the vision you have for the project.”

While the success or failure of a youth drama generally comes down to the relatability of the story and characters, it also helps if the producer or broadcaster can give the audience a sense of ownership over the production. In the case of hit Nordic youth series Skam (Shame), for example, originating broadcaster NRK launched the show via its website, a move that helped the show build up a strong online community.

Here, the focus of the story was high-school students attempting to deal with classic teen issues. The first season, which premiered in September 2015, focused on relationship difficulties, loneliness, identity and belonging. Subsequent series have addressed feminism, eating disorders, sexual assault, homosexuality, mental health and cyberbullying.

All of this was supported by fresh digital content that was published on the NRK website each day to maintain a connection with the audience. Other social media-savvy shows include Freeform’s cult youth drama Pretty Little Liars, as well as the aforementioned Ackley Bridge. “We did a big push on Snapchat,” says Ormond, “and ran a parallel, specially shot Snapchat strand that involved Snaps being released from characters at key points throughout each episode, as well as between episodes and in ad breaks.”

This raises another key question: how can digital media be harnessed in other ways? Komixx Entertainment has sought out youth source material in the digital realm. “With the explosion of digital platforms and social media, some social influencers now hold arguably more power than traditional celebrities,” says Andrew Cole-Bulgin, Komixx group chief creative officer and head of film and TV. “This is relevant for young-adult adaptations, as [viewers of these shows] are digital natives, having grown up with social media networks.”

Freeform teen success Pretty Little Liars

This led Komixx to back The Kissing Booth, a feature-length Netflix commission based on a teen novel sensation by Beth Reekles. “Beth was 15 when she self-published this book but it went on to generate more than 19 million reads on [online storytelling community] Wattpad,” says Cole-Bulgin. “We optioned the book because we could see that her connection with and understanding of the audience would prove a great starting point for a television production.”

The decision to make the film for Netflix, rather than a TV network, is interesting. Broadcasters may want to reach youth audiences, but producers also need to take a view on what is best for the long-term prospects of their property. In the case of The Kissing Booth, “SVoD was an obvious choice for us because that was where the youth audience have been going,” says Cole-Bulgin. “If we had this particular property for a more traditional channel, I think we’d have lost a lot of the audience.”

While Komixx adapted a digitally self-published work with The Kissing Booth, there is – still – a market for youth series based on traditional book properties. Komixx has optioned the rights to adapt Robert Muchamore’s best-selling young adult novel series Cherub into a TV drama, while The CW in the US is airing an Archie Comics adaptation called Riverdale (see box).

Elsewhere, Eleventh Hour Films is embarking on an adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider novels, with UK broadcaster ITV as a partner. Jill Green, founder and CEO of the prodco, says: “Alex has a core audience of eight- to 15-year-olds but our aim is to reach as wide an audience as possible. We’re inspired by Stranger Things, which appealed to adults and kids.”

Stranger Things’ second season landed on Netflix last week

Reasons to feel positive about the project are varied, says Green: “The books have now sold 16 million copies worldwide. Alex Rider is known in more than 30 countries, and fans all over the world have been asking for a new dramatisation. There’s an official website and Anthony Horowitz has his own website and a Twitter platform where he engages with fans. It’s also worth noting that many 20- to 30-year-olds grew up with the books.”

Alex Rider has, in fact, had a previous outing as a movie in 2006. So why does it make sense to revive the franchise on the small screen? “TV now has the ambition, the scale, the technology and the budgets to do justice to Alex Rider,” says Green. “We’re writing it for a generation that thrives on box sets and binge-viewing.”

On the merits of free TV vs SVoD, Green adds: “We are very happy to be working with ITV but there’s no reason this series can’t go on to become a signature show on SVoD. A gripping story and great characters will always attract an audience. Whatever the platform, standout ideas and story come first.”

Riverdale Rundown
The CW’s hit youth series Riverdale is based on Archie Comics characters originally created in the 1940s.

Show creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is a lifelong fan but he admits there were “a lot of discussions about how the show might work for a modern audience. We knew there was a lot of wish-fulfilment and aspiration attached to the central group of characters, but the real breakthrough came when we decided to add a mystery genre element to the show. There’s a darkness and subversiveness to the show that has appealed to audiences and differentiates it from One Tree Hill or Beverly Hills 90210.”

Key to getting the show right was casting, says Aguirre-Sacasa, to the extent that “we wouldn’t have made the show if we hadn’t got the perfect cast. Great casting is what connects the audience to the characters. You can aim for it, but it’s not easy to get right, and when you do it’s a kind of alchemy.”

Asked whether he takes social media into account, he says: “Everyone in TV is trying to do what they can to make their show stand out – but we didn’t specifically look for people with a large fanbase. The only cast member who really had that was Cole Sprouse (star of Zack & Cody, pictured above left in Riverdale) but he was in the show because he fought for, and is perfect as, Jughead Jones.”

The CW is known for its youthful profile, but Riverdale, which returns for a second season this autumn, sits slightly apart from some of its big-hitting network siblings because it’s not a superhero show. “I think the execs at the network recognise that it’s good to have all different kinds of shows for fans to get passionate about,” says Aguirre-Sacasa.

In terms of feeding that passion, he says youthful shows inevitably include a social media component. “We did some live tweeting involving the cast,and I think that gets the fans really excited. We also know – because the show airs on Netflix outside the US – that there’s a global fanbase for Riverdale who love the whole Americana, US high-school kind of world.”

tagged in: Ackley Bridge, Andrew Cole-Bulgin, Audience Network, Balloon Entertainment, BBC, Channel 4, Clique, Dave Evans, Eleventh Hour Films, Five2Twelve, George Ormond, Jess Brittain, Jill Green, John Scott Shepherd, KIKA, Komixx Entertainment, Marcus Roth, Netflix, Niklas Weise, NRK, Pretty Little Liars, Riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Skam, Social media, Stranger Things, The CW, The Forge, You Me Her

Baying for Blood

September 20, 2017STAR POWERAlan Richson, Blood Drive, Christina Ochoa, James Roland, SyFy, The CW, ValorMichael Pickard

Blood Drive might be the most extreme, bloody and downright original drama of the year. DQ chats to star Christina Ochoa about playing the femme fatale in Syfy’s Grindhouse thriller.

As another episode of Blood Drive gears up, the continuity announcer describes the series as “Grindhouse with heart.” That’s just one way to describe what is arguably television’s boldest and most daring drama of the year.

Ostensibly a series that follows a group of drivers taking part in a high-octane car race, Top Gear this isn’t. In reality, it’s a high-octane thrill ride set in a near-apocalyptic future, as LA’s last good cop is forced to join a twisted, cross-country death race in which cars are fuelled by blood.

As the 13-episode season progresses, Officer Arthur Bailey attempts to uncover the shady dealings of the mega-corporation behind the race, while his partner, dangerous femme fatale Grace D’Argento, has her own agenda – finding her missing sister.

Christina Ochoa with co-star Alan Richson in Blood Drive

Pushing production design to the extreme, the highly stylised series is billed as being among the first to bring the cinematic trend of Grindhouse movies to television, channeling the tone and visual style of 1970s movies that blended action and horror with gratuitous sex and violence – and enough blood to ensure every character is covered from head to toe in the red stuff by the end of each episode.

True to the genre, Blood Drive also doesn’t take itself too seriously. Commissioning network Syfy describes it as “over the top” in its own press material. There are also jokes littered through the script, while a mock advert for Smax, a drug-spiked candy brand at the heart of one particularly murderous episode, warns that eating it may cause migraines, night sweats, restless legs, schizophrenia, spontaneous human combustion, brain liquidation and homicidal tendencies – to name a few.

It’s a show that is markedly different to anything else on television right now – American Horror Story on steroids, with flesh-eating cars – and that’s why it appealed to star Christina Ochoa, who plays Grace, opposite Alan Richson’s Officer Bailey. The show also includes a star turn from Colin Cunningham as race ringmaster Julian Slink.

“I love being part of something truly different,” Ochoa says of the series, currently airing on Syfy UK and distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution. “It’s unlike anything else out there. [Creator] James Roland really took a risk and we were all excited to be a part of that.”

The Grindhouse-style show focuses on a deadly car race

Is Ochoa a fan of the Grindhouse genre? “I am now,” she admits.

Determined and ruthless, Grace acts as the viewer’s guide through the warped world of Blood Drive as Arthur must quickly get up to speed with the dangers that await him and his race partner on the road ahead. When her blood-red Chevrolet Camaro runs out of fuel in episode one, she has no problem feeding another human to her hungry engine.

“She’s unapologetic and I love that,” Ochoa says. “She’s at peace with her darkness and that’s a concept that’s very appealing to explore as an actress. Along the way, we learn how love, be it family or romantic, gets her back in touch with her own humanity.”

Filmed on location in Cape Town, South Africa, the actor says the make-up team faced the daily task of covering up her “dozens” of bruises, as she insisted on doing as many of her own stunts as possible. “Physicality aside, the biggest challenge was probably making sure the relationships were very grounded,” she says, “since the characters themselves are known archetypes and pretty extreme, like the good cop and femme fatale.”

US television this year has been notable for the number of strong female characters leading drama series, from Feud, Scandal and The Good Fight to the ensemble casts of Game of Thrones, Top of the Lake: China Girl and Big Little Lies. Top of the Lake’s Elisabeth Moss also took centre stage as Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, this week picking up the best actress Emmy for her performance in a series that was also named best drama series.

It’s a trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed by actors in those roles, with Blood Drive’s Grace among the most fearless female characters on television. Ochoa notes: “I’ve been very lucky to be cast in roles as strong, powerful, intelligent and confident women. Renn (in TNT’s Animal Kingdom), Grace and Nora (in The CW’s forthcoming Valor) are all women I admire in some way, despite their coping mechanisms or their faults. They own their mistakes and they are all fighters. I’m proud to be part of a community that is striving to represent women in such a strong light.”

Speaking of Valor, the series, which debuts in the US on October 9, is part of the latest television trend – military dramas. Others launching on broadcast networks this fall include NBC’s The Brave and CBS’s SEAL Team. Cable channel History’s own Navy SEAL drama Six has also been renewed for a second season.

In Valor, Ochoa plays warrant officer Nora Madani, one of the first female helicopter pilots within an elite US Army unit called the Shadow Raiders. When the team is sent on a top-secret mission to Somalia, only Nora and Captain Leland Gallo (Matt Barr) return, leading to questions about what really happened. But while an investigation delves deeper into the mystery, they must also prepare for a new mission to rescue a soldier being held by terrorists.

Ochoa says it was Valor’s script, written by creator Kyle Jarrow, that drew her to the part, describing it as “one of the strongest I’ve read in a very long time.” She continues: “Leave it up to a playwright to craft such a wonderfully fleshed-out character with a woven story and conflict that defies all tropes. I fell in love with her immediately.”

The actor – who is also a published science academic and podcaster – carried out a lot of research for the part. “I read as much as I could – biographies, books like Shoot Like a Girl, Ashley’s War and Black Hawk Down – but what was most instrumental was the conversion with female vets, two of whom are writers on the show, and our technical advisor Dan Laguna,” she says.

Blood Drive won’t be returning for a second season, but if Valor proves to be a hit and earns a full-season commission, the show is likely to keep Ochoa busy for the rest of the year – and potentially years to come. But beyond acting, Ochoa also has her eye on creating series.

“I have a production company and my producing partner and I are currently developing content with writers and other talent,” she adds. “Producing is definitely something I’d like to do in the long run.”

tagged in: Alan Richson, Blood Drive, Christina Ochoa, James Roland, SyFy, The CW, Valor

A cut above

September 13, 2017The Director’s ChairBeauty & the Beast, CBC, Don McCutcheon, Murdoch Mysteries, The CWMichael Pickard

With more than 200 hours of television drama in the can, Canadian director Don McCutcheon tells DQ about working on Murdoch Mysteries, the changing role of directors and why he thinks his best work is yet to come.

When director Don McCutcheon signs up for a new project, he always does his homework. “When I was hired to do an episode of The CW drama Beauty & the Beast, it was season four and I watched every episode of the first three seasons,” the Canadian director reveals. “I wanted to see the evolution of the series and how it grew and matured. I wanted to know where it came from to understand where I was when I stepped on the floor.”

Given that approach, McCutcheon (pictured above) might be best avoiding long-running series such as NCIS, heading into season 15, or Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which returns this fall for season 19. But in fact it’s another long-running crime show for which he is best known, having helmed more than a dozen episodes of CBC drama Murdoch Mysteries.

McCutcheon first joined the period murder mystery series for season three, back in 2010, and most recently completed episodes one and two of the forthcoming 11th season, which is due to begin airing in October.

McCutcheon is best known for his work on CBC drama Murdoch Mysteries

“It’s like putting on comfortable slippers,” he says of returning to the series, which stars Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch, a detective working in Toronto around the turn of the 20th century. “Murdoch is an interesting show because although there’s a formula behind every episode, it never rests on that formula. It has always embraced the period, and the writers bring history, science and invention into the show. It was an amazing time and a period of invention – everything from the electric light bulb and the telephone to motorised vehicles and flight – so they’re able to use those things very cleverly within the formula of a murder mystery.

“It also changes its tone every week, so viewers aren’t entirely sure whether they’ll see a dark drama, a lighter drama, a comedy-drama or a comedy. I’ve done them all. Over 15 episodes, not one has been the same.”

From a career spanning more than 32 years in the director’s chair, McCutcheon has worked on shows including Good Witch, The Listener, Relic Hunter and Goosebumps, though it’s a mid-1990s series called Forever Knight that he believes was truly ahead of its time.

The show followed a centuries-old vampire living in modern-day Toronto and working as a homicide detective, naturally working a lot of nights. “This was long before the whole vampire thing, way before Twilight took off,” the director recalls. “Creatively, it was an amazing show because within the context of every episode, something in the present would cause him to look back at his life. So within a contemporary cop show, we were doing period flashbacks.”

The director has also helmed episodes of Hallmark’s Good Witch

In pre-production, McCutcheon describes himself as a sponge, soaking up the creative ideas of the showrunner, writers, producers and others before setting out his plans for a particular episode.

“I leave all of my creative decisions open,” he explains. “I don’t lock myself to anything early on because I want to engage the other creators I’m working with and I want them to feel free to bring their ideas and vision too.

“That goes for casting, too. I always ask my casting directors to surprise me, to think outside the box. Maybe a role is written for a man and we decide to cast a woman. And it’s the same with my locations and designers – I want them to show me what they’ve got. Then slowly, as it comes closer to production, I take everything and mould it to what I think works and what’s best for the show and I take it to the floor.”

Once the cameras are rolling, you’ll most likely find McCutcheon close to his actors and the action, instead of sitting behind a distant monitor. “There’s an intimacy there; that’s where my actors are, they’re right there a few feet from me so when I cut, the discussion starts right away,” he says. “I’ve seen directors yelling from the monitor and it’s an impersonal way to do it. I’m literally standing beside my camera operators and it’s just a more intimate, collaborative way to work. Producers know that of me, that I like to work intimately with my colleagues, and I hope what I try to do is show a great deal of respect for what everyone around me does.”

McCutcheon also worked on season four of The CW’s Beauty & The Beast

The emergence of a ‘directing producer,’ often taking on some of the showrunner’s production duties, is just one of the ways McCutcheon has seen the television business change during his career. He points to one example working on Beauty & The Beast where the showrunner would be based in the writers room in LA while the directing producer, who had responsibility for the visual elements of the series, could often be found on set in Toronto.

“The directing producer handled all the day-to-day production elements of the show, and we’re finding a bit more of that these days,” he says. “Even if there isn’t a directing producer, the director is quite often left alone. There’s not necessarily a producer on set looking over their shoulder. You work closely with the writers during pre-production, sit down for a tone meeting and, at that point, the showrunner gets very explicit as to their intent on a scene-to-scene basis regarding how the show will be shot. But usually, after that, they send you off with their blessing and you’re making all the decisions.

“A director brings a lot, even to the most formulaic episodic television, and that’s what producers and writers are looking for. They want someone to bring in some special nuance here and there but to keep within the style and format of the show. It sounds like the director doesn’t have a lot of freedom, but a good showrunner sets up the parameters and lets the director go off and create.”

It’s not just taking charge of a TV series that keeps McCutcheon on his toes, but, in the case of Murdoch Mysteries, the complexity of block-shooting an elaborate murder mystery means he must also juggle multiple red herrings, dead ends and shifting suspects on two different episodes simultaneously. “But it’s particularly interesting and is part of the challenge,” he notes. “The writers want to throw the audience off, so you’re constantly shifting gear. You have to keep your wits about you.”

Behind the camera, McCutcheon is keen to share his expertise with the next generation of directors, particularly women, who can struggle to find opportunities to work on a TV series and are often thrown in at the deep end without any support when they do.

“If you put someone in a position they’re not ready for, the pace and rigours of episodic television can be daunting,” he says. “If you’re not ready for it, it’s very difficult to succeed. So I want to be in a position to mentor and share my experience so they’re shadowing different shows and have the chance to watch a director at work.

“I’ve had people help me along the way and, in this industry particularly, everybody needs a helping hand. I’m at a stage at my career now where I’m always willing to give someone an opportunity because I was given them along the way. It’s really hard in this industry and you need someone to help out.”

It’s at this moment that McCutcheon also says he feels more confident and energised than ever, predicting that his best work could be yet to come. “That’s just because of where I come from, the mistakes I’ve made, what I’ve learned along the way,” he adds.

“I’m in my stride now and there’s a confidence there that permeates to the people I’m working with. I still make mistakes but I’m making fewer of them, I hope. It’s an exciting time for me right now.”

tagged in: Beauty & the Beast, CBC, Don McCutcheon, Murdoch Mysteries, The CW

Taking flight

August 24, 2017DQ TVChristina Ochoa, Kyle Jarrow, The CW, ValorDQ

Military dramas are undoubtedly the programming trend of the 2017/18 US television season – but what is the appeal of these series and how can they stand out from the competition?

Among them is Valor, which stars Christina Ochoa as warrant officer Nora Madani, one of the first female helicopter pilots within an elite US Army unit called the Shadow Raiders. When a mission to Somalia goes horribly wrong, she is one of only two people to return. Now back on home soil, she faces questions about what really happened.

Speaking to DQ, series creator and showrunner Kyle Jarrow reveals why this is more than just a workplace drama, detailing the complicated personal relationships that drive the story.

Jarrow explains how his brother was the inspiration behind the series, and why it is a perfect fit for commissioning network The CW.

He also discusses how broadcast networks are responding to the way cable channels have pushed the boundaries of genre and storytelling.

Valor is produced by CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros Television and distributed by CBS Studios International.

tagged in: Christina Ochoa, Kyle Jarrow, The CW, Valor

Sister’s doing it for itself

December 21, 2016The Writers RoomAbi Morgan, Channel 4, Clara Sánchez, Greg Berlanti, Julia Roberts, Le Temps Est Assassin, Lo Que Esconde Tu Nombre, Maria Semple, Michel Bussi, Naomi Alderman, Riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Sister Pictures, The Bisexual, The CW, The Power, The Split, Today Will Be DifferentAndy Fry

UK indie producer Sister Pictures has picked up the rights to Naomi Alderman’s acclaimed novel The Power with a view to turning it into a long-running global series.

The rights were acquired from Georgina Ruffhead at David Higham Associates after what was described as an 11-way auction – all of which shows the continued importance of books as the basis of TV drama.

The Power imagines a world where women gain the physical ability to electrocute at will. This results in an overhaul of the existing world order with women using their new-found power to wrest control of society from men.

The series will be written by Alderman, who said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Sister Pictures and [CEO] Jane Featherstone. Jane’s track record and her commitment to excellence in writing speak for themselves, and Sister Pictures’ deep understanding of the book impressed me.”

Explaining how a single book will be turned into a long-running global series, Alderman added: “Readers of The Power are already asking me if there’ll be a sequel. There won’t be another novel, probably, but there are definitely so many more stories to tell than I had room for in the book. I can’t wait to expand this story and bring electric women to TV screens around the world.”

Featherstone added: “Naomi is one of the boldest and most interesting authors of our time and we are beyond thrilled to be working with her as she adapts her own brilliant and compelling book for TV. The Power is a story of our times; clever, funny, important and original, it asks us to consider a world where the shifting balances of power create a new and dangerous dynamic.”

The Power is the latest in a line of projects from Sister Pictures focusing on strong female characters created by women writers. The company is already working on a show for Channel 4 called The Bisexual. Written by Desiree Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele (Appropriate Behaviour), it focuses on a New York woman navigating the world of gay and straight dating in London. Sister calls it “an honest look at the last taboo, bisexuality, and what it means to refuse to compromise on what you want.”

Akhavan, a bisexual Iranian-American who was brought up in New York, echoed Alderman’s enthusiasm: “Getting to play in the sandbox with such intelligent collaborators at Sister Pictures and Channel 4 is an absolute dream come true. They’re the perfect partners in crime for a taboo sex comedy.”

Sister has also teamed up with Abi Morgan (River, Suffragette, The Hour) on The Split, a new BBC1 drama that examines the fast-paced circuit of high-powered female divorce lawyers through the lens of three sisters – Hannah, Nina and the youngest, Rose. Hannah and Nina are leading divorce and family law lawyers, while Rose is still searching for her place in life.

Morgan said: “As Robin Williams once said, ‘Divorce is expensive – like ripping your heart out through your wallet.’ The Split exposes the complex realities of high-end divorce and broken marriage through female divorce lawyers and sisters bound by their own troubled past.”

Sticking with the subject of talented and empowered women, it was revealed this week that movie icon Julia Roberts is to star in a new limited TV series. Based on Maria Semple’s novel Today Will Be Different, the show tells the story of a woman named Eleanor Flood who makes plans to have the best day of her life, but wakes up to find a strange new future unfolding.

Semple, who has worked as a TV writer and producer (she was nominated twice for WGA Awards for comedy Arrested Development), will pen the screen adaptation. She said: “I’m giddy that Eleanor will be brought to life by Julia Roberts. This will be a fun ride!” No network has been confirmed for the show as yet.

In Spain, meanwhile, media giant Mediapro has picked up the rights to Lo Que Esconde Tu Nombre (What Your Name Conceals), a bestselling novel by Clara Sánchez that has shifted 1.5 million copies in 25 countries.

A psychological thriller, the book centres on a young pregnant girl called Sandra, who goes to live by the sea to decide what to do with her life. There she meets an old couple, who take her in as part of their family. However, Sandra’s path crosses that of a Second World War concentration camp survivor, who reveals things from the past that cause her to distrust the couple. What Sandra doesn’t realise is that the end of her innocence will put her in danger.

Sánchez was born in Guadalajara in 1955 and grew up in Valencia before moving to Madrid. In 1989 she published Precious Stones and has gone on to publish a total of 11 novels to date (the latest in 2013). What Your Name Conceals was written in 2010. There are no details yet as to who will handle the TV adaptation.

Also in the news is 1980s teen star Molly Ringwald, who has been lined up to star in The CW’s new TV series Riverdale, a dark and subversive take on a classic Archie Comics franchise. This project is being developed/written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Jon Goldwater. Aguirre-Sacasa, who has worked on series like Glee, wrote the pilot episode of Riverdale. He is also chief creative officer of Archie Comics and wrote the 2013 screen adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie.

Finally, on the novel-adaptation front, French producer Authentic and Federation Entertainment, the firm behind Netflix drama Marseille, have secured the TV rights to Le Temps Est Assassin (Time is a Killer), a thriller by best-selling French author Michel Bussi.

The deal, with French publishing house Presses de la Cité, will see an eight-part series created from the book, which tells the story of a woman who suffers a tragic accident resulting in the loss of her family. Federation will distribute the show abroad.

tagged in: Abi Morgan, Channel 4, Clara Sánchez, Greg Berlanti, Julia Roberts, Le Temps Est Assassin, Lo Que Esconde Tu Nombre, Maria Semple, Michel Bussi, Naomi Alderman, Riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Sister Pictures, The Bisexual, The CW, The Power, The Split, Today Will Be Different

Reign ends but royalty remains

December 9, 2016Hit & MissCanal+, Charles II: The Power and The Passion, Daisy Goodwin, E! Entertainment, ITV, Magnificent Century, Mary: The Making of a Princess, Michael Hirst, Netflix, Peter Morgan, Reign, Showtime, Stephen Daldry, The Crown, The CW, The Queen's Sister, The Royals, The Tudors, Timur Savci, Versailles, Victoria, Wolf HallAndy Fry

On Wednesday, The CW announced that the fourth season of Reign, which debuts on February 10, will be the last. The news is no real surprise given that the show’s ratings have been pretty modest since launch. Season three averaged 970,000 per episode, which puts it at the lower end of the channel’s typical ratings. An IMDB score of 7.6 also suggests it won’t be massively missed.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Reign is a period drama that chronicles the rise of Mary, Queen of Scots in 16th century Europe. It is not overly concerned with historical accuracy and is generally viewed as a guilty pleasure. It is significant, however, in that it is part of a broad array of TV shows that have placed royalty at the heart of their stories. So this week, to mark the end of Reign, we’re looking at this sub-genre.

The Crown Netflix is reckoned to have ploughed US$100m into this exploration of Queen Elizabeth II’s early life. Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Daldry, the show has received pretty much universal acclaim and is currently sitting pretty with an IMDb score of 9.
A second season has been commissioned and the intention is that the series will run for five or six seasons (though Morgan has not yet committed to such a lengthy run).

Victoria Vying with The Crown as the best royal series of the year is ITV’s Victoria. Written by Daisy Goodwin, the show has a similar blueprint to The Crown. Starting with the early life of the famous 19th British monarch, the show is intended to follow her through her life, with season two already commissioned.
The show did well in the UK ratings, with an average audience of seven to eight million on Sunday evenings. It has also sold well internationally, although it’s too early to tell how the global market is responding to the show. It will premiere on PBS in the US on January 15. Its IMDb score is 8.3.

The Tudors Michael Hirst’s epic series for Showtime helped kick-start the global trade in lavish, semi-fictionalised TV series about monarchy, power, aristocracy and the like. Aired for four seasons between 2007 and 2010, episodes of the show typically attracted an audience of around 700,000-900,000 for the US cable network.
The series starts during Henry VIII’s reign but doesn’t always stick to the facts. Explaining why, Hirst said: “Showtime commissioned me to write an entertainment, a soap opera, and not history. And we wanted people to watch it.” On balance, he argued: “Any confusion created by the changes is outweighed by the interest the series may inspire in the period and its figures.”
US cable channel Ovation recently acquired all four seasons of The Tudors to accompany its investment in Versailles (below). Note: other series to have explored the Tudor period include the BBC’s excellent Wolf Hall and ITV’s 2003 miniseries Henry VIII. The Tudors achieved an IMDb score of 8.1, Wolf Hall 8.2.

Versailles Set during the reign of Louis XIV of France, this Canal+ drama rated well at home and has sold widely around the world. A second season is on its way and a third has already been commissioned, with production due to start in April 2017.
The first season rated pretty well on BBC2 in the UK and has been renewed. In the US, it aired on arts channel Ovation – which scored its highest ever ratings when it aired the first two episodes back to back (a combined total audience of 557,000).
Dubbed by one critic as the music video version of French history, the show hasn’t achieved the same critical acclaim as The Crown or Victoria, but it is praised for its high production values.

Magnificent Century Timur Savci’s sumptuous period drama was a big hit at home and also been sold into more than 40 territories. It did, however, receive some criticism from conservative elements within Turkey, who called it “disrespectful and hedonistic.”
The show, which ran for 139 episodes between 2011 and 2014, is based on the life of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. It was followed by Magnificent Century: Kosem, which jumps forward four decades to tell the story of a female ruler who began her life as a slave girl. This show, also produced by Savci, has sold well internationally. Season one of Kosem aired on Star and season two on Fox.

The Royals E! Entertainment’s The Royals is currently into its third season with an audience in the 600,000 range. This after the show averaged one million-plus for season one and around 750,000 for season two.
The show is a novel take on the notion of royalty, since it is based around a fictional British royal family. Elizabeth Hurley plays Queen Helena, a matriarchal figure attempting to maintain the family’s public image while dealing with a range of domestic problems. One of the key plot lines sees her son, Prince Liam, unexpectedly become first in line to the throne after his older brother dies. IMDb gives the show a 7.4 rating.

Mary: The Making of a Princess The Brits aren’t the only ones with a royal family, of course. In 2015, Network Ten in Australia ran a TV movie about Mary Donaldson, a young Australian woman who married into the Danish royal family after a chance meeting at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The show, produced by FremantleMedia, got a meagre 6.1 rating on IMDb and mixed reviews, but actually rated well with around a million viewers.
Maximilian and Marie de Bourgogne: Historical royal dramas are popular for a few reasons. One is that they are less politically sensitive than stories about current royals. Another is that it is easier to fictionalise a dead royal’s life than a living one’s. And not to be overlooked is the fact that there are more royal families to work with, since a few of them have ceased to exist.
In this lavish production, for example, the focus is on the love story between the son of Frederick III and the daughter of the Duke Of Burgundy in the 1400s. Budgeted at around €16m (US$17m), it is a coproduction between MR Film, Beta Film, ORF and ZDF.

The Queen’s Sister As Mark Lawson observed in an article in UK newspaper The Guardian last year, TV producers tend to take a slightly deferential look at recent royals, saving the controversy for long-dead monarchs (notably Henry VIII). One slight exception to this rule is the Queen’s late sister Margaret, who is generally portrayed in the media as something of a hedonist.
In 2006, Channel 4 told her story in a biopic entitled The Queen’s Sister, with Lucy Cohu as Margaret. Critics were divided over the show, some calling it satirical, others tawdry. It secured a number of Bafta nomination and aired on BBC America. See Lawson’s article here.

Charles II: The Power and The Passion A good example of how historic royals are fair game, this BBC production looks at the feckless and lazy side of this 17th century British monarch, restored to the throne after the death of his father’s nemesis Oliver Cromwell.
Written by Adrian Hodges and starring Rufus Sewell, the show does make an attempt to be historically accurate, relying to some extent on Antonia Fraser’s book Charles II. The show aired in the US and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. IMDb gives it a rating of 7.6.

tagged in: Canal+, Charles II: The Power and The Passion, Daisy Goodwin, E! Entertainment, ITV, Magnificent Century, Mary: The Making of a Princess, Michael Hirst, Netflix, Peter Morgan, Reign, Showtime, Stephen Daldry, The Crown, The CW, The Queen’s Sister, The Royals, The Tudors, Timur Savci, Versailles, Victoria, Wolf Hall

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

Warner’s DC Comics enjoys boom

November 11, 2016Hit & MissAMC, Arrow, Black Lightning, DC Comics, Fox, Gotham, Greg Berlanti, iZombie, Krypton, Legends of Tomorrow, Lucifer, NBC, Powerless, Preacher, Scalped, Supergirl, SyFy, The CW, The Flash, Warner Bros, WGN AmericaAndy Fry

A couple of months ago, we looked at the success Disney has had with its Marvel acquisition. So it seems only fair that we also shine a spotlight on DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros that has spawned dozens of films, scripted shows and animation series.

Characters from DC, formed in 1932, have formed the basis of hit TV series since the 1950s. After early outings for Superman and Batman, DC properties gave us iconic shows like Wonder Woman, Superboy, Lois & Clark and Smallville.

The latter ran for 10 seasons (2001-2011) and 218 episodes, first on The WB and then on its replacement network The CW (which is 50/50 owned by CBS and DC Comics owner Warner Bros).

While DC properties remain an important part of the feature-film landscape, it’s The CW that continues to provide the major platform for DC Comics’ success on the small screen.

A key landmark was the launch of Arrow in 2012. Adapted for the screen by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, the show is one of The CW’s top performers and is currently in its fifth season, attracting just under two million viewers per episode.

The importance of Arrow goes beyond its ratings, however. On the one hand, it has encouraged The CW to back a number of DC-based franchises, with Berlanti and co in charge of the creative. On the other, it has persuaded some of the larger US networks to tap into the company’s pool of comic book IP.

Looking first at The CW, 2014 saw the launch of The Flash, which is part of the same mythological universe as Arrow (known to aficionados as the ‘Arrowverse’). Now in season three, The Flash is currently The CW’s top-rated show with around 2.8 million viewers per episode. And earlier this year, the network launched another spin-off based on the ‘Arrowverse’ pool of characters. Called DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, it is currently attracting a steady 1.8 million and has been renewed for a 17-episode second season.

In addition to the above shows, The CW is also home to Supergirl, a DC-based series that was originally aired on CBS but then shifted to The CW for season two when its ratings started to decline. In the less exposed world of The CW, the show has thrived and is now its second most popular series, averaging 2.6 million viewers.

The relationship with DC has also allowed The CW to segue into the ‘Zombieverse’ with iZombie. Loosely based on a comic book series that came out of DC’s Vertigo imprint, the show has a third season on the way and averages around 1.2 million viewers.

The rise of DC’s stock has also encouraged some of the Big Four US networks to sample the company’s wares. The stand out example of this is Fox’s Gotham, which delves into the backstory of the young Batman, focusing its energy primarily on Commissioner James Gordon and the origin stories of some of Batman’s most famous enemies. Now in its third season, the show is currently attracting an OK-but-not-amazing 3.4 million (down from four million in season two and six million in season one).

Echoing its growing relationship with Disney’s Marvel, Fox has adapted a second DC property, Lucifer, based on a character that appeared in comic book series The Sandman (created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg).

The show debuted last year and did well enough to get a second season. Currently averaging around 3.5 million viewers, the second run was extended to 22 episodes last month – though the jury is still out on whether it is doing well enough to secure a third outing.

Without being overly critical, there is a pattern with DC properties – they perform strongly on The CW but modestly on the Big Four. Gotham and Lucifer have done OK but not fantastically well, while Supergirl’s strong start dissipated quickly, hence its move to The CW. To this list should be added Constantine, which aired for a single season on NBC before being axed.

The main reason for this is The CW is a narrowly focused youth channel while the Big Four are mainstream, so are probably trying to reach an audience that is more ambivalent about superheroes and fantasy adventure series. Nevertheless, there are more planned DC shows in the pipeline for the Big Four.

NBC, for example, is developing a sitcom rooted in the DC universe. Called Powerless, the shows is “a workplace comedy set at one of the worst insurance companies in the US – with the twist being that it also takes place in the universe of DC Comics. The show is about the reality of working life for a normal, powerless person in a world of superheroes and villains.”

Batman prequel series Gotham airs on Fox

Fox, meanwhile, is reported to be piloting a show based on Black Lightning, one of the first African American superheroes to appear in DC Comics. This is a welcome trend, echoing the recent Marvel/Netflix tie-in on the new Luke Cage series.

Of course, the fact that The CW does so well has not been lost on cable channels, which have a similar kind of niche profile. So we’re also starting to see more DC properties populate this part of the TV business. AMC, for example, is doing pretty well with Preacher, another idea from DC’s Vertigo imprint. The first season attracted around 1.68 million per episode and a recommission followed.

Other pilot orders include Scalped for WGN America and Krypton for Syfy (the latter set in the Superman universe). There are also reported to be several other titles in development including DMZ and Ronin for Syfy and Amped for USA Network. FX is also believed to be developing a series based on Y: The Last Man.

For those unfamiliar with the world of comic books, the DC/Vertigo dichotomy is interesting. While the former is home to mainstream franchises like Superman and Batman, the latter was specifically set up to publish more hard-hitting, adult-themed franchises. This is significant, because it opened up the range of opportunities for DC.

Supergirl, for example, might fit on CBS or The CW but would look tame on AMC. Preacher, by contrast, would not go down well with a more mainstream audience. That said, Constantine and Lucifer were both born into the Vertigo family, which shows that the Big Four networks have been exploring the potential to soften Vertigo shows for their demos.

Preacher has been given a second season on AMC

It’s also worth noting that there have been other DC subsidiaries down the years that are still providing IP for film and TV. For example, DC acquired an imprint called WildStorm in 1999 and shut it down in 2010. During that time, WildStorm created Red, a franchise that was subsequently turned into two successful films. Recent reports suggest NBC is now planning a TV version.

One obvious final question, of course, is how DC-based shows fare internationally. Well, not too badly actually.

Gotham has been licensed to platforms including Globo Brazil, Pro7 Germany and Netflix in Poland, while Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow have both been acquired by Italia 1 among others.

Lucifer has also travelled well, to platforms such as Amazon UK and Viasat 3 in Hungary. On UK pay TV channel Sky1, latest ratings figures put The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl as the top three shows, underlining the global appeal of the dynamic DC business.

tagged in: AMC, Arrow, Black Lightning, DC Comics, Fox, Gotham, Greg Berlanti, iZombie, Krypton, Legends of Tomorrow, Lucifer, NBC, Powerless, Preacher, Scalped, Supergirl, SyFy, The CW, The Flash, Warner Bros, WGN America

Williams brothers plot deceitful drama

October 3, 2016GreenlightAnts Multimedia, Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, Das Boot, David Ellender, Dear Murderer, Dynasty, Harry Williams, ITV, Jack Williams, Jay-Z, Joel Stillerman, Kenneth Bhengu, Liar, Margaret Atwood, MGM Television, Polly Hill, Sonar Entertainment, SundanceTV, The CW, The Heart Goes Last, The Weinstein Company, TVNZ, Universal Cable Productions, Welcome to HitchcockAndy Fry

Harry and Jack Williams burst onto the international drama scene in 2014 with The Missing, a compelling crime drama for the BBC in the UK. So successful was the show that the BBC ordered a second season of what has morphed into an anthology scripted series.

Now, the Williams brothers have been commissioned to write a series for UK commercial broadcaster ITV via their indie company Two Brothers Pictures.

The new six-part drama is called Liar and will explore the consequences of deceit. Starring Joanne Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd, it tells the story of a teacher and a surgeon who start seeing each other, neither realising the consequences that their meeting will have for each other or their families.

Commenting on the show, ITV head of drama Polly Hill said Jack and Harry Williams “are brilliant storytellers who have written a gripping thriller that doesn’t shy away from exploring a powerful subject. I’m thrilled we’ve commissioned Liar for ITV.”

The Missing saw premium pay TV network Starz come on board as US partner, so it’s no real surprise to see that Liar has also managed to secure a US partner in the shape of AMC sister channel SundanceTV.

Das Boot is being adapted as a television series

Sundance has previously come on board high-profile European dramas such as The Honourable Woman and The Last Panthers.

Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV, said: “Liar is that rare combination of a thoughtful and emotional exploration of the human condition, and a page-turner. The Williams brothers have created something relevant and compelling – attributes our audience respects and embraces.”

As for the brothers, they said: “This story deals with highly emotional and important subject matter, exploring gender politics through the lens of a character-driven emotional thriller. We couldn’t be happier with the calibre of the team working on this.”

All3Media International, which handled distribution on The Missing, did the SundanceTV deal and is handling TV sales on Liar.

Another high-profile US/European partnership to hit the headlines this week is Das Boot, a TV drama that will be a sequel to the classic 1981 movie (itself based on a 1973 novel).

Previously announced by Germany’s Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, the show has now added Sonar Entertainment as global distributor. The only territories Sonar will not manage are Germany, Austria, the UK, Ireland and Italy, since these have already been secured by pay-TV broadcaster Sky (a coproducer on the production).

Rights to The Heart Goes Last have been picked up by MGM Television

The eight-part, €25m (US$28m) series will be set in 1942 and will focus on Second World War submarine warfare, primarily from the point of view of the Germans.

David Ellender, president of global distribution and coproductions at Sonar, said: “This project reflects Sonar’s ongoing strategic commitment to pursue fully integrated creative and commercial collaborations with top tier global partners to develop and distribute high-end content. Das Boot is a property with broad-based appeal to networks and broadcasters worldwide and will play exceptionally well.”

Outside these two projects, it has been a busy and varied week in terms of scripted series development. US studio MGM Television, for example, has announced that it is extending its relationship with Canadian author Margaret Atwood by securing TV rights to her novel The Heart Goes Last. The book, published last year, tells the story of a young couple who have been hit by job losses and bankruptcy in the midst of a nationwide economic collapse.

MGM and Atwood have already worked together on a TV adaptation of the author’s classic novel The Handmaid’s Tale, which is set to launch on Hulu next year.

This show will also be part of MGM’s Mipcom line-up later this month, alongside new TV adaptations of classic movies Get Shorty and Three Days of the Condor. These join MGM’s ongoing movie-to-TV franchises Fargo and Vikings.

Another interesting project to break cover this week is Welcome to Hitchcock, a new anthology series from Universal Cable Productions (UCP) that will reimagine Alfred Hitchcock classics.

The show was made possible following a deal between UCP and rights holder Alfred Hitchcock Estate. “Long after his death, Alfred Hitchcock continues to be one of the most celebrated directors and visionaries in the world, a master manipulator of the macabre,” said Dawn Olmstead, executive VP of development at UCP. “We’re honoured that The Hitchcock Estate has put its trust in our studio to pay homage to his work.”

Meanwhile, The scramble for rebootable franchises looks like it will also result in a new version of iconic TV series Dynasty. US network The CW has reportedly asked Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage to breathe life back into the franchise.

The original series aired on ABC from 1981 to 1989 and was a hit for the network. There’s no guarantee the new version will catch fire, however. TNT’s recent reboot of fellow classic US glamour soap Dallas only managed three seasons before it was taken off air.

Another interesting link-up this week sees The Weinstein Company join forces with rapper Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter to produce TV and film projects. Jay-Z has already been involved in films including the 2014 Annie remake and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, while DQ also recently reported that he is involved in an HBO project centred on the US civil rights movement.

Outside the US, DQ sister publication C21 reports that South African producer Ants Multimedia is developing a Zulu drama based on a 1986 novel by the late Kenneth Bhengu. The novel tells the story of a Zulu man who is sent to woo a princess on behalf of his king, but decides to court her for himself and so faces the wrath of the ruler. Bhengu was a prolific Zulu-language writer who published 18 novels and novellas.

This week also saw New Zealand pubcaster TVNZ unveil a broad-based slate of shows for 2017. On the drama front, it highlighted Screentime NZ’s five-part drama Dear Murderer, which stars Mark Mitchinson in a saga based on colourful, larger-than-life barrister Mike Bungay. Among TVNZ’s acquisitions for next year are dramas Victoria, Cold Feet and One of Us from the UK. US imports include Time After Time and 24: Legacy.

tagged in: Ants Multimedia, Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, Das Boot, David Ellender, Dear Murderer, Dynasty, Harry Williams, ITV, Jack Williams, Jay-Z, Joel Stillerman, Kenneth Bhengu, Liar, Margaret Atwood, MGM Television, Polly Hill, Sonar Entertainment, SundanceTV, The CW, The Heart Goes Last, The Weinstein Company, TVNZ, Universal Cable Productions, Welcome to Hitchcock

Victoria’s reign extended by ITV

September 26, 2016GreenlightABC, Atlanta, Better Things, Daisy Goodwin, Damien Timmer, Designated Survivor, Embeds, Entertainment One, Go90, His Bloody Project, ITV, Kevin Lygo, Magnum PI, Mammoth Screen, Mars, Netflix, Star Trek, Stick Man, Synchronicity Films, The CW, Verizon, VictoriaAndy Fry

In one of the least surprising renewal stories of the year, UK broadcaster ITV has commissioned a second series of ratings hit Victoria from Mammoth Screen. Scripted by Daisy Goodwin, the show has had an excellent first season – even managing to hold off strong competition from the BBC’s returning hit Poldark.

Series one launched in late August and is currently averaging around 7.7 million viewers, which makes it ITV’s top-performing drama of the year so far. ITV director of television, Kevin Lygo said: “Mammoth Screen and Daisy Goodwin have brought the characters so vividly to life in this series and we’re thrilled with the reception for Victoria. We’re pleased to be able to confirm Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes will return to continue the story on ITV.” Just as significantly, Goodwin will again be writing and executive producing the series.

Season one starts with the young Victoria’s coronation and explores how she becomes increasingly sure-footed in the fields of politics and diplomacy. It also looks at her close relationship with Lord Melbourne and burgeoning romance with Prince Albert, her eventual husband. As with series one, the new season will be a coproduction with PBS Masterpiece.

Goodwin added: “Even though she reigned in the 19th century, Victoria is a heroine for our times. In the next series she faces the very modern dilemma of how to juggle children with her husband and her job. As Victoria will discover, it’s hard to be a wife, a mother and ruler of the most powerful nation on earth.”

Mammoth Screen’s Damien Timmer, another executive producer on the show, said: “Following the audience response to Victoria, we are delighted that Jenna Coleman will be returning to her throne for a second series. The next few years of Victoria’s reign are packed full of extraordinary real-life events, with constitutional crises, scandals at court and personal challenges aplenty for the Queen and Prince Albert. God Save the Queen!”

Meanwhile, in the US, the trend towards TV drama series revivals seems to be picking up pace. After CBS launched MacGyver this week with a decent 10.9 million audience, there are now reports that ABC is lining up a spin-off series based on the 1980s classic Magnum PI, which starred Tom Selleck. Echoing another recent trend in US TV, the plan is for the show to have a female lead – with Magnum’s daughter moving to Hawaii to take over the business.

The reboot business is in full swing now with The X-Files, Gilmore Girls, 24 and Prison Break all having been revived, or coming up. The new Magnum will be written by John Rogers, whose TNT series Leverage ran for five seasons from 2008 to 2012. Rogers also created TNT’s hit scripted series The Librarians.

Still in the US, there’s good news for fans of Atlanta, the new comedy from Donald Glover that airs on FX. The network has just announced a second season. It has also revealed that it is returning Better Things, another comedy that has been performing well. “It’s really gratifying to launch two new comedies that have received overwhelming critical acclaim right out of the gate and that are emblematic of FX’s award-winning brand,” said Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, heads of original programming for FX Networks and FX Productions. “It is clear to us Atlanta and Better Things have struck a nerve with viewers.”

Donald Glover's Atlanta will return to FX — Donald Glover’s Atlanta will return to FX

Atlanta follows two young, black cousins as they try to make it rich out of rap. International buyers will get to see what the fuss is about when Fox brings the show to the Mipcom market in Cannes next month as part of its slate. Better Things is co-created by Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K. Adlon plays Sam, a woman trying to raise her three daughters, while also attempting to hold down a career in Hollywood. Still with Fox’s international ambition, the distribution arm of Fox Networks Group is also heading to Mipcom with Ron Howard’s forthcoming space epic Mars. The six-part series, about a fictitious mission to colonise the red planet in 2033, will receive its world premiere in Cannes ahead of its debut on National Geographic later this year.

Also in the US, The CW is developing a new supernatural series called Stick Man with Cameron Prosandeh (Helix) and Tim Kring (Heroes). Stick Man is about an amateur documentarian who returns to her hometown to chronicle the events of her brother’s murder and the ensuing trial. While there, she discovers evidence linking her brother’s death to supernatural events.

Designated Survivor stars Kiefer Sutherland

There was also more evidence this week of Netflix’s considerable clout in the international rights market following news that it has secured international streaming rights (excluding North America) to ABC drama Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland. The deal was done with rights holder Entertainment One (eOne). Last month, Netflix also secured the rights to CBS’s highly anticipated new iteration of Star Trek, which is coming some time in 2017.

In one of the week’s more intriguing commissions, Verizon has greenlit a political comedy for its streaming service Go90. Executive produced by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, the 6×30′ show is called Embeds. It explores five reporters covering the US presidential election and has been created by Scott Conroy and Peter Hamby. Go90also also recently commissioned a live-action series inspired by the Battlefield video game franchise.

Back in the UK, Scottish producer Synchronicity Films is developing a crime thriller based on Graeme Macrae Burnet novel His Bloody Project. The book, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, explores the sanity of a teenager convicted of a brutal triple murder in 1869 in a remote Scottish crofting community. Early discussions are underway with a major UK broadcaster, with screenwriters currently being considered.”

Claire Mundell, creative director at Synchronicity, said: “We are delighted to have discovered this wonderful novel on our own doorstep. It’s also great to work with an indie publisher [Saraband Imprint Contraband] that believes in backing undiscovered talent as much as we do.”

tagged in: ABC, Atlanta, Better Things, Daisy Goodwin, Damien Timmer, Designated Survivor, Embeds, Entertainment One, Go90, His Bloody Project, ITV, Kevin Lygo, Magnum PI, Mammoth Screen, Mars, Netflix, Star Trek, Stick Man, Synchronicity Films, The CW, Verizon, Victoria

US network shows prepare for lift-off

September 16, 2016Hit & MissABC, Bull, CBS, Conviction, Designated Survivor, Fox, Frequency, Lethal Weapon, NBC, The CW, The Pitch, This Is Us, TimelessAndy Fry

The autumn season has just started in the US – which means TV executives around the world will be watching with interest to see which new dramas live up to their pre-launch hype. This week, we look at some of the network shows that are buzzing.

Lethal Weapon: Movie reboots didn’t fare very well last year, with Rush Hour and Minority Report adaptations among those canned. But the buzz around Lethal Weapon has been pretty positive since the LA Screenings in May. Based on the iconic Mel Gibson/Danny Glover action franchise, the show centres on two cops with very different problems. The elder is returning to the job after a heart attack, while his new partner is reckless and borderline suicidal after the deaths of his wife and their unborn child. Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans in the lead roles appear to have developed a good on-screen chemistry. The show premieres on Fox on Wednesday, September 21.

Designated Survivor: What’s not to like about a show that stars Kiefer Sutherland (24) as man who unexpectedly becomes president after an attack wipes out the US administration? Distributed globally by eOne International, this ABC show was created by David Guggenheim (Safe House) and hails from The Mark Gordon Company (Grey’s Anatomy, Ray Donovan, Quantico, Criminal Minds). Sutherland will be at Mipcom in Cannes next month to give a keynote speech, which should increase the show’s buzz on the international market. It premieres on Wednesday September 21.

This Is Us: A different kind of show to the above pair, This Is Us follows the stories of a group of people who share the same birthday. Critics have responded warmly to the opening episode and are comparing it to Parenthood, which ran for six seasons on NBC. Variety had some reservations about the show’s sustainability but still said: “This Is Us manages to both craft an intimate series of portraits and stitch them together. The result is an episode that allows the viewer to marvel at the beauty and mystery of life – at the surprising little grace notes of fate and commonality that bind us together – while getting to know the major characters and their difficulties.” The show was created by Dan Fogelman, whose credits include Tangled, Cars and Crazy, Stupid, Love. He also created the 2015 series Galavant. This Is Us is an NBC show that will premiere on Tuesday September 20.

Bull: CBS’s new line-up hasn’t attracted a particularly enthusiastic response from critics. But in a market starved of procedurals, Bull is a show to watch out for. It stars Michael Weatherly as a psychologist who runs a trial consulting firm and can read the minds of a jury and influence their verdict. Weatherly starred in NCIS for 13 years before switching to Bull, which means it will probably debut well. It is also regarded as a good fit for CBS. If it starts strongly, expect European buyers to be interested. The show debuts on Tuesday September 20.

Timeless: AdAge does a report each year with TV Guide listing the upcoming shows audiences are most excited by. It’s pretty accurate, with top-ranking shows generally getting picked up for a full season by networks. One that is showing up strongly this year is NBC’s Timeless, the latest in a flurry of time-travel shows. In this one, a criminal steals a time machine and tries to destroy America by altering past events like the Hindenburg disaster. A soldier, a history professor and a scientist try to stop him. Some critics have hammered the logic of the plot, but are predicting it will appeal to the same audience as Blindspot. There’s just a chance, though, that it will be this year’s Minority Report. Timeless will debut on NBC on Monday October 3.

The Pitch: Fox has led the way in on-screen diversity and The Pitch follows that pattern. It tells the story of pitcher Ginny Baker, who becomes the first woman to play in the major leagues (for the San Diego Padres). This column has previously discussed the problem of authenticity in sports dramas, but the good news here is that Major League Baseball has backed the show by allowing the use of its teams and logos in the story. Adweek said: “One of fall’s most ambitious pilots is also one of its best, with a compelling show that could appeal to both sports fans and viewers who like female-centric dramas. With Scandal delayed until midseason, this could resonate with fans of that show looking for an alternative on Thursdays at 21.00.” Interestingly, The Pitch was co-created by Dan Fogelman, who could find himself with two hits on his hands this year. It debuts on NBC on Thursday September 22.

Conviction: The highly regarded actor Hayley Atwell is back on TV after a couple of seasons as Marvel’s Agent Carter. Now she’s a brilliant but wayward lawyer who is given the job of running New York’s ‘conviction integrity unit,’ which investigates cases where innocent people may have ended up behind bars. Atwell may pull some Marvel fans over to this show, but it is generally regarded as a pretty safe procedural. If it rates well, however, it will be of interest to international buyers. The Conviction premieres on Monday October 3 on ABC.

Frequency: Inevitably, most of the pre-launch hype surrounds shows on the Big Four networks. But network number five, The CW, also has an interesting show on the way. Based on the 2000 movie, Frequency is another time-travel series in which a female cop discovers she is able to speak to her dead father via his old ham radio. Her attempts to save his life change the present in unforeseen ways. To fix the damage, she has to work with her father across time to solve a decades-old murder case. The AdAge/TV Guide survey rates this as a decent prospect. Premiere is Wednesday October 5.

Footnote: We decided to focus on the positives this week, but shows that already seem to have storm clouds overhead include ABC’s Notorious, CBS’s MacGyver and Fox’s The Exorcist. These seem the best tips for early cancellation at present.

tagged in: ABC, Bull, CBS, Conviction, Designated Survivor, Fox, Frequency, Lethal Weapon, NBC, The CW, The Pitch, This Is Us, Timeless

Watch all the best teasers and trailers from Comic-Con 2016

July 26, 2016WE NEED TO TALK ABOUTABC, American Gods, Arrow, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, BBC America, CBS, Comic-Con, Daredevil, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Fear The Walking Dead, Fox, Gotham, Incorporated, Iron Fist, Legends of Tomorrow, Legion, Luke Cage, Marvel, MTV, Netflix, Once Upon a Time, Prison Break, Sherlock, Star Trek: Discovery, Starz, SyFy, Teen Wolf, The CW, The Defenders, The Exorcist, The Flash, The Walking DeadDQ

As the dust settles on another action-packed San Diego Comic-Con, there is plenty to look forward to if the new footage previewed at the event is anything to go by.

From teasers for forthcoming new series to big reveals about new seasons of fan favourites, expectations were certainly heightened by what was showcased during four days of panels, screenings and guest appearances at the San Diego Convention Centre.

Here’s a rundown of the best videos unveiled at Comic-Con:

Starz unveiled the first trailer for American Gods, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and due to air in 2017

BBC America also dropped the first footage of comic book adaptation Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Fox previewed a new trailer for its take on classic horror movie The Exorcist

Another new series Syfy’s Incorporated, which is set in a world controlled by corporations. It is produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

The trailer for The Walking Dead season seven introduces King Ezekiel and his tiger (pictured at the top of this page)

But not to be outdone, spin-off Fear The Walking Dead gave fans a teaser of a new storyline that feature a cult that sacrifices its own members in the second half of season two

If that wasn’t enough blood, Starz also previewed season two of Ash vs Evil Dead as star Bruce Campbell announced Lee Majors was joining the cast

Fans saw the first glimpse of season four of Sherlock

Here’s the first footage from Prison Break, which is returning to Fox in 2016/17

ABC used Comic-Con to reveal that Aladdin and Jafar would be making their debuts in the first scene of sixth season of Once Upon a Time

But excitement for the sixth season trailer of MTV’s Teen Wolf was tempered with the announcement that the new run would also be its last

Of course, Comic-Con royalty status is reserved for the big comic book publishers, and this year was no exception in terms of their television crossovers.

Among its film and television panels, DC Comics unveiled the third-season trailer for The CW’s The Flash, which introduces the comic’s Flashpoint storyline after Barry Allen goes back in time to prevent his mother’s murder

Fans inside the convention centre also saw footage from the fifth season of Arrow

The most recent entry into the DC Comics television landscape, Legends of Tomorrow, debuted its season-two trailer

Meanwhile, Batman prequel Gotham unveiled clues about its upcoming third season

It was Marvel, however, that stole the show and provided some of the biggest talking points from this year’s event.

The studio unveiled the first trailer for Legion, the new FX drama from Noah Hawley (Fargo) that is set in the X-Men universe

Marvel also debuted footage from its upcoming Netflix shows. First up is Luke Cage, which debuts online on September 30

Iron Fist follows, completing the line-up of superheroes to appear on the SVoD service in the wake of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage

The studio also confirmed there will be a third season of Daredevil with this teaser

But also in 2017, the quartet will come together in miniseries The Defenders, as previewed in this teaser that plays against the soundtrack of Nirvana’s Come As You Are

Not to be forgotten, however, is a little show called Star Trek, which returns to television next year on CBS and CBS All Access in the US and Netflix around the world. And in the week the latest feature film in the franchise, Star Trek Beyond, hit cinemas, Trekkies got to see this test footage from Star Trek: Discovery, which will follow the crew of the USS Discovery.

tagged in: ABC, American Gods, Arrow, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, BBC America, CBS, Comic-Con, Daredevil, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Fear The Walking Dead, Fox, Gotham, Incorporated, Iron Fist, Legends of Tomorrow, Legion, Luke Cage, Marvel, MTV, Netflix, Once Upon a Time, Prison Break, Sherlock, Star Trek: Discovery, Starz, SyFy, Teen Wolf, The CW, The Defenders, The Exorcist, The Flash, The Walking Dead

UK drama showcases regional beauty

July 11, 2016GreenlightABC, Angie Tribeca, Animal Kingdom, Broadchurch, Hulu, ITV, Netflix, NSU – German History X, Poldark, Studio Lambert, TBS, The CW, The Life of a Scilly Sergeant, The Red Tent, The Warriors, TNT, UKTV, Uncle Buck, WreckedAndy Fry

UK television has a long tradition of using quirky or unusual locations as backdrops for drama series. Bergerac (Jersey), Morse (Oxford) and Doc Martin (Cornwall) are just a few examples of the way place can almost become a character.

Historically, one of the logistical limitations on this kind of show has been the lack of production infrastructure available in some of the UK’s less-travelled locations.

But the last few years have seen increased ambition in terms of where producers are willing to base their stories. Broadchurch, for example, is one of the few non-Thomas Hardy dramas to have based itself in Dorset – introducing ITV viewers to the spectacular Jurassic Coast.

With a couple of exceptions (such as Morse), quirky locations used to be employed as the backdrop to gentle comedies (Last of the Summer Wine, Monarch of the Glen, Ballykissangel) or soft-hearted crime series (Hamish Macbean), with the occasional foray into the unknown by period drama that demanded it (anything based on works by Hardy, Lawrence, Eliot, Gaskell, Laurie Lee…).

Broadchurch, however, brought hardcore murder and mayhem to under-exploited locations and reminded us that universal stories can be built around hyperlocal experiences. This idea has subsequently been picked up by other producers.

So now we have seen crime stories like Hinterland (set in Aberystwyth, Wales), Happy Valley (Yorkshire), The Fall (Northern Ireland) and Safe House (the Lake District) gracing our screens. Perhaps we can also see the influence of Nordic Noir here, with the notion that location can somehow reflect the inner workings of the soul.

Other shows to have stepped into the (relatively speaking) unknown include Poldark (Cornwall) and Midwinter of the Spirit (Herefordshire), so that now we are at a point where pretty much anywhere in the UK is a possible starting point for a story.

This point is underlined by two new drama developments this week, which will showcase opposite ends of the England-Scotland spectrum. ITV, for example, has commissioned a six-part murder mystery based in the area around Scotland’s Loch Ness. Produced by ITV Studios and supported by Creative Scotland’s Production Growth Fund, the show will focus on the hunt for a serial killer in a setting made famous by the mythical Loch Ness Monster.

Some 750 miles south, meanwhile, All3Media-owned indie producer Studio Lambert has optioned a police officer’s memoir, The Life of a Scilly Sergeant. Based on the experiences of Scilly Islands-based police sergeant Colin Taylor, the aim is for a primetime, returnable series. On paper, it has echoes of Hamish Macbeth.

More good news for the UK’s South West is that the BBC has ordered a third season of Poldark – before the second run hits the air.

The first eight-part season centred on 18th century war veteran Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returning to Cornwall to try to build up his family’s mining business in the face of stiff opposition from entrenched local business interests. The show is based on a series of classic novels by Winston Graham and was previously adapted in the 1970s. The new version, a major hit for the BBC, is written by Debbie Horsfield and produced by Mammoth Screen.

In the US, meanwhile, Turner Broadcasting’s cable channels TNT and TBS have renewed three of their drama series. TNT has renewed Animal Kingdom for a second season while TBS has ordered a second run of Wrecked and a third of Angie Tribeca.

Wrecked, which is billed as a comedy version of ABC’s cult series Lost, is currently halfway through its first season with an audience in the 1.2-1.3 million range. Animal Kingdom attracts a similar-size audience for TNT, which is currently undergoing a bit of a creative overhaul.

TNT shows that are ending or have been cancelled include Rizzoli & Isles, Proof, Falling Skies, Agent X, Public Morals and Legends. The channel’s top performer aside from Rizzoli & Isles is Major Crimes, which has been running for five seasons. There is no indication yet whether it will be renewed or dropped as part of the channel’s wider schedule revamp.

Still in the US, video streaming platform Hulu is continuing its ambitious push into drama with The Warriors, an adaptation of Sol Yurick’s novel that was previously turned into a cult movie in 1979. The story follows a period in history when New York was being torn apart by gang warfare.

It will be adapted by the Russo Brothers, who have found fame with their recent work on Marvel franchises like Captain America. They will work with writer Frank Baldwin on the series, with Paramount TV as producer.

The project is the latest in a long line of movie reboots, though projects in the US cable and SVoD space seem to be faring better than those relaunched for US network TV. The latest network reboot to get the axe is ABC’s Uncle Buck, after just one season. Surely the big four must be getting the picture by now.

On the acquisitions front, shows making their mark this week include Beta Film’s three-part German-language drama NSU German History X, which has been picked up by Netflix for use in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Netflix has also unveiled a multi-year agreement with The CW to stream all past seasons of the US network’s shows in the US. Titles include Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Jane the Virgin, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, The Vampire Diaries, The 100, iZombie, The Originals and Reign.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief creative officer, said: “This is a great step forward with a valued network partner to give fans exactly what they want, when and how they want it.”

Elsewhere, UK multi-channel operator UKTV has picked up Sony Pictures Television miniseries The Red Tent, which originally aired on cable channel Lifetime in the US. A four-parter based on the novel by Anita Diamant, The Red Tent tells the tale of Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, from the Old Testament book of Genesis in the Bible.

Alexandra Finlay, UKTV’s head of acquisitions and coproductions, said: “The Red Tent is a perfect addition to (UKTV channel) Drama’s growing slate of shows, featuring an epic story with a fantastic ensemble cast.”

tagged in: ABC, Angie Tribeca, Animal Kingdom, Broadchurch, Hulu, ITV, Netflix, NSU – German History X, Poldark, Studio Lambert, TBS, The CW, The Life of a Scilly Sergeant, The Red Tent, The Warriors, TNT, UKTV, Uncle Buck, Wrecked

Upfronts 2016: Networks perform the safety dance

May 24, 2016IN FOCUSABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW, TNT, Upfronts, USA NetworkStephen Arnell

As the dust settles on the US networks’ Upfronts week, Stephen Arnell casts his eye over the new shows set to hit our screens in 2016/17.

In the main, innovation appeared to be in short supply at last week’s Upfronts – reboots, legal and cop dramas and the dispiriting trend of making TV versions of hit movies are the order of the day for the nets.

Despite the poor performance of Minority Report, Rush Hour and Limitless (which were all cancelled after one season), we’ll see series versions of films including Lethal Weapon (Fox), Training Day (CBS), Taken (NBC), The Exorcist (Fox) and lesser-known properties Frequency (The CW) and Time After Time (ABC).

Sci-fi thriller Frequency was a medium-sized hit for Dennis Quaid (who’ll star in season two of Sky Atlantic’s upcoming Fortitude) in 2000, while Time After Time was released way back in 1979, with Malcolm MacDowell and David Warner as HG Wells and Jack the Ripper respectively, Wells pursuing the Ripper through time to then present day San Francisco.

NBC cablenet USA Network is taking a punt on Shooter, based on the 2007 Mark Wahlberg actioner, starring Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions, McGruber, The Lincoln Lawyer).

Turner’s TNT also unveiled its adaptation of acclaimed crime drama Animal Kingdom, with Ellen Barkin (The Big Easy, Happyish, Ocean’s 13) taking the lead role as matriarch Smurf.

Fox seems to be the home for budding Satanists, with a series reworking of William Friedkin’s classic The Exorcist joining a schedule that includes Lucifer (returning for a second series) and reality format Hell’s Kitchen. Incidentally, A&E’s Damien (based on The Omen movies) will not be returning for a second season.

It will be a challenge for Fox to deliver a 21.00 network show that will bear any comparison to the original X-rated Exorcist movie, which still has the power to shock.

To a lesser extent, this also applies to the 20.00 slot given to Lethal Weapon (pictured top), which presumably won’t give the character of detective Roger Murtaugh (played in the series by Damon Wayans Sr) the chance to exclaim his signature catchphrase, ‘I’m too old for this shit.’

‘Too old for this stuff’ it is then. Gosh, darn, as they say.

Still, as long as there are successful film-to-TV series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, M*A*S*H, Fargo, Bates Motel (a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho) and Stargate, there will always be the temptation for producers to exploit their IP library and rely on name recognition attract a least a high initial audience.

On a similar tack, series revivals are also in vogue – coming off the back of the successful X-Files (Fox) six-part run and the not-so-popular Heroes Reborn (NBC). The 2016/17 season will see the return of Prison Break (Fox) and MacGyver (CBS), with Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class, Apocalypse) in the titular role.

After the original 1939 movie, 1985’s Return to Oz, James Franco’s Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), the Sci-Fi channel miniseries Tin Man (2007) and The Witches of Oz (2011) comes NBC’s Emerald City.

Promising a darker take on Frank L Baum’s Oz novels, Emerald City boast the distinctive visuals of director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, Immortals) with a cast lead by an on-a-roll Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Jurassic World) as the wizard and Ardia Ajona (True Detective) as the now adult Dorothy.

MacGyver, coming to CBS, is one of a number of series reboots

Dick Wolf’s ever-expanding Chicago franchise (NBC) will see Justice added to Chicagos Fire, PD and Med. Funny or Die has already parodied the meta-sizing brand with Chicago Sanitation.

NBC’S hit show The Blacklist has spawned the spin-off/’companion piece’ The Blacklist: Redemption, starring Famke Janssen (X-Men, Taken), while 24 gets a reboot with the 12-episode 24: Legacy. Corey Hawkins (The Walking Dead, Straight Outta Compton) tops the bill as former army ranger Eric Carter.

Time travel has emerged as a fashionable sub-genre, with the aforementioned movie-to-TV shows Time After Time and Frequency, together with Timeless (NBC) and comedy Making History (Fox).

The 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare has prompted a number of dramas, including Still Star-Crossed (ShondaLand) for ABC and Will for cablenet TNT; while in the UK there is the Ben Elton comedy Upstart Crow (BBC2) and last year’s little-seen BBC Film comedy Bill.

Among the slew of formula network dramas, there are a number of interesting shows that could stand out. Kiefer Sutherland stars as the US secretary of housing and development in Designated Survivor (ABC) who finds himself propelled to the position of acting president after the president, vice-president and much of the cabinet are blown up by a terrorist attack at the State of the Union address.

Midnight Texas (NBC) is adapted from the novels by True Blood (HBO) author Charlaine Harris and helmed by Mr Robot’s Neil Arden Oplev. The official synopsis states: “From vampires and witches to psychics and hit men, Midnight is a mysterious safe haven for those who are different. As the town members fight off outside pressures from rowdy biker gangs, ever-suspicious cops and their own dangerous pasts, they band together and form a strong and unlikely family.”

Network censors won’t be permitting any True Blood-style boundary-pushing, so the show may lack the edge expected by fans of the novels.

24: Legacy stars The Walking Dead’s Corey Hawkins

Fox’s Shots Fired could well prove controversial in this US presidential election year, concerning as it does a racially charged shooting in North Carolina, with memories still very fresh after Ferguson, the killing of Trayvon Martin and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. A strong cast includes Sanaa Lathan (Boss, Nip/Tuck), Helen Hunt (As Good as it Gets, Mad About You), Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, W, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Will Patton (Armageddon, Falling Skies) and Stephen Moyer (True Blood).

The CW’s mid-season Riverdale is a subversive Twin Peaks-style take on the characters from the Archie comics – something that could either catch fire or fall flat. The presence of showrunner Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash) gives Riverdale a fighting chance.

Turning briefly to the networks’ cable and SVoD siblings, NBC’s Syfy teased David S Goyer’s (Blade trilogy, Dark Knight trilogy, Constantine, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice) long-gestating Superman prequel Krypton.

The show concerns the struggles of Superman’s House of El family in the 200 years before the destruction of Clark Kent’s homeworld.

Unlike Gotham (Fox), where viewers have at least heard of many of the characters before the arrival of Batman on the scene, it might be a big ask for the audience to take much interest in the travails of Kal-El’s grandfather and his various Kryptonian enemies.

Presumably the forebears of Superman villain General Zod will feature at some point in the show – as either foes or allies of The House of El. Though there are echoes, perhaps, of Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica, which lasted one season back in 2011.

CBS’s own SVoD service CBS All Access debuted the logo and some space effects footage of Bryan Fuller’s (American Gods, Hannibal) Star Trek prequel series, rumoured to be an anthology show, with each possible season covering a different Enterprise crew and era.

Turner’s Kevin Reilly also revealed his ambitions for the family of channels, with comedy-based TBS continuing its quest for younger viewers and TNT upping the ante with a number of drama projects, including an adaptation of Caleb Carr’s best-selling period crime novel The Alienist and Good Behaviour, with Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery starring as a con artist and thief, based on Blake Crouch’s (Wayward Pines) Letty Dobesh books.

tagged in: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW, TNT, Upfronts, USA Network

CBS in transgender breakthrough

May 16, 2016GreenlightABC, Candice Renoir, Castle, CBS, Chicago Justice, Disparue, Doubt, Drew, Fox, France 2, Glenn Gordon Caron, ITV, Katherine Heigl, Laverne Cox, Making History, NBC, Newen Distribution, One-Two Punch Productions, Paradime, Shonda Rhimes, Still Star-Crossed, Supergirl, The Blacklist: Redemption, The Catch, The CW, The Disappearance, The Mysteries of Laura, Time After Time, Timeless, ToastAndy Fry

Katherine Heigl, pictured in State of Affairs

CBS’s new legal drama Doubt will star Katherine Heigl. But it is the casting of transgender actress Laverne Cox in the show that is capturing the headlines.

US network CBS has given a series order to Doubt, a legal drama starring Katherine Heigl as a smart and successful defence lawyer who begins to get romantically involved with her client, who may or may not be guilty of a brutal murder.

The show is significant because it also includes transgender actress Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) in the cast. Assuming Cox’s role is one that doesn’t propagate the usual stereotypes that surround transgender acting talent, it will be a major breakthrough for the community, which usually finds it difficult to get meaningful roles outside niche cable channels and streaming services.

Doubt’s selection seems to have killed off another show’s chances of progressing to a full series – at least for now. Drew, which is a contemporary take on the Nancy Drew books, was in the running for a series commission from CBS until Doubt was chosen ahead of it. There is a chance it will pop up at another network, though, as CBS Studios is still shopping it around.

ABC's The Catch — The Catch has been given a second chance by ABC

Another interesting CBS story, as predicted by the US press, is that superhero series Supergirl is moving to The CW for its second season. In doing so, production will relocate to Vancouver from LA.

The move makes a lot of sense for a couple of reasons. Firstly, despite a very promising pilot episode, the show wasn’t really hitting the mark in the very exposed world of frontline network TV. Secondly, The CW (a 50/50 joint venture from CBS and Time Warner) already has a strong slate of superhero shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, so it will be right at home.

The CBS announcements are part of a busy time of year for the US networks, which generally announce new series for their 2016/17 season in May. Another title in the news this week, for example, is NBC’s The Blacklist: Redemption, a spin-off from the well-established James Spader series The Blacklist.

NBC is a big fan of brand extensions, having also recently announced the launch of legal series Chicago Justice to go alongside scheduling stalwarts Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago PD.

A bolder move by NBC is the decision to take Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan’s time travel series Timeless from pilot to series. Bizarrely, that means there are now three time travel shows coming through the US networks system, with ABC’s Time After Time and Fox’s Making History also greenlit as series (and remember, we’ve also just seen Hulu’s 11.22.63 air in the US).

Of course, for every new show there’s usually a cancellation to free up space in the schedule. This week’s unlucky victim on NBC is The Mysteries of Laura, axed after two moderate seasons. Other cancellations include ABC’s Castle, which is coming to an end after eight seasons on air. Create by Andrew W Marlowe, the show focused on a best-selling mystery novelist and an NYPD homicide detective who solved crimes together. When it started it secured an audience of nine to 10 million an episode, but as it comes to a close it is in the five to six million range.

ABC has also cancelled Nashville, Agent Carter and The Muppets. One other show it might have cancelled on the basis of its season one ratings was Shonda Rhimes’ The Catch, but instead it has decided to give the show a second chance in 2016/17.

This isn’t a massive surprise given Rhimes’ fabulous contribution to the network – but it has to go down as a bit of a risk. ABC’s faith in Rhimes has, however, been further underlined with the decision to order another new series called Still Star-Crossed, described as a sequel to Romeo & Juliet. Interestingly, ABC also had the option of going forward with a Shondaland comedy called Toast, but decided to call it quits on that one after a pilot.

Another project in the news this week is Paradime. This one is interesting because it has been optioned from a novel that hasn’t even got to publication yet, showing just how competitive the market for book rights has become. The novel, by Alan Glynn, is a psychological thriller about a man who returns to New York after a spell in Afghanistan and becomes obsessed with a businessman.

French thriller The Disappearance (Disparue)

The show is being developed by ITV and One-Two Punch Productions, with Glenn Gordon Caron (Medium) onboard to write and direct the series. The appeal of the project is partly down to Glynn’s track record. His previous novel, The Dark Fields, was turned into the movie Limitless in 2011 and then a TV series.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the latest French thriller to be causing a stir is The Disappearance (Disparue), which has been compared to UK hits like Broadchurch and The Missing.

The show has been rating well on France 2, with an audience in excess of five million, and has now been picked up for broadcast by BBC4 in the UK. The Disappearance, written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet, is set in Lyon and tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who goes missing. As the police investigate the disappearance, a number of people close to the girl’s family are discovered to have secrets of their own that they wish to keep concealed.

Newen's Candice Renoir went to NPO2 in the Netherlands — Newen’s Candice Renoir went to NPO2 in the Netherlands

Although Disparue is a French scripted series, it actually owes a fair amount to other parts of Europe. It is, for example, based on a Spanish series called Desaparecida that first aired in 2007/08. And it was directed by Franco-Swedish filmmaker Charlotte Brändström, who has worked on Scandinavian crime series like Wallander, thus adding a bit of Nordic Noir to the show’s DNA.

Still in France, Newen Distribution has sold its detective series Candice Renoir to Dutch public broadcaster NPO2. The show, which is one of the top-rated dramas on France 2, has previously been sold to ZDFneo in Germany, CBC in Canada, RTP2 in Portugal, Kanal 11 in Estonia and Fox Crime Italy, among other broadcasters.

tagged in: ABC, Candice Renoir, Castle, CBS, Chicago Justice, Disparue, Doubt, Drew, Fox, France 2, Glenn Gordon Caron, ITV, Katherine Heigl, Laverne Cox, Making History, NBC, Newen Distribution, One-Two Punch Productions, Paradime, Shonda Rhimes, Still Star-Crossed, Supergirl, The Blacklist: Redemption, The Catch, The CW, The Disappearance, The Mysteries of Laura, Time After Time, Timeless, Toast

End of season report card

May 13, 2016Hit & MissABC, Blindspot, CBS, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Empire, Fox, How To Get Away With Murder, Law & Order: SVU, Life in Pieces, Limitless, Lucifer, NBC, Rosewood, Scorpion, Shonda Rhimes, Superstore, The Catch, The CW, The Goldbergs, UpfrontsAndy Fry

How To Get Away With Murder has finished its second run but lost a lot of viewers

At ABC, the story of 2015/16 is that established titles continued to thrive but new ones didn’t really catch on. The highest rating shows (in this order, based on 18-49 viewing) were Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, The Goldbergs, The Middle and How To Get Away With Murder. Of these, the newest is HTGAWM, which has just ended its second season. Grey’s Anatomy, by contrast, has just completed its 12th season.

This year’s figures show the importance of producer Shonda Rhimes to the network, since three of these titles come from her stable. But they also suggest that ABC cannot be complacent on this front.

HTGAWM has seen its audience fall from around 14 million when it launched two years ago to five million at the end of the current run. That suggests it will need to start turning things around to survive beyond season three. Similarly, Rhimes’ latest show The Catch has failed to deliver for ABC, ranking 17th among all scripted titles at time of writing, but ABC saw enough promise to renew it for a second season nonetheless.

Quantico did enough to secure a renewal but has seen its audience decline

Of the new shows that came into the ABC schedule last autumn, the one that made the most noise was Quantico. The show started well and secured a renewal but has seen its audience slide across the season. Most worryingly for ABC there was no last-episode uplift – a common trait with dramas as audiences tune in to see how things resolve. This doesn’t augur well for the second season, which will kick off without much momentum. The biggest flops of the year were Wicked City and Of Kings & Prophets (which should make networks shy of biblical stories for a while).

Over at NBC, the top six (18-49s) were Blindspot, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago PD and Superstore. Four of these are from Dick Wolf, NBC’s equivalent of ABC’s Rhimes.

Wolf’s success aside, Blindspot is undoubtedly NBC’s big success story this year. While it didn’t achieve the highest absolute ratings on the channel, it did come out number one among 18-49s. True, ratings for the back half of the series are some way down on the show’s strong debut — but they have stayed pretty consistent.

The Blacklist looks set to put in a strong fourth season — The Blacklist looks set for a strong fourth season

The Blacklist didn’t make the top six but it would have been if we were looking at total viewers. The show, starring James Spader, is now a scheduling stalwart having finished three seasons and can be relied on to have a solid fourth season too. Grimm only ranked as the 14th best show but still secured a sixth-season renewal.

Of the network’s other new shows, Jennifer Lopez vehicle Shades of Blue had a decent first year, with its audience stabilising and starting to rise in the second half of the season. Disappointments included Game of Silence, The Player and Truth Be Told.

The ratings on CBS are significantly higher than those on ABC and NBC, when viewed in totality. The top six in the 2015/16 season were The Big Bang Theory, NCIS (both juggernauts), Life in Pieces, Criminal Minds, Scorpion and NCIS: New Orleans, although it’s worth noting that numbers seven to 10 (Mom, Supergirl, 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly) would have fared well on the other networks.

Stability has been key to CBS’s success, with The Big Bang Theory, NCIS and Criminal Minds all extremely long-running series. The latter two have also spawned successful spin-offs in the shape of NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: LA and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

Criminal Minds remains one of CBS's leading shows — Criminal Minds remains one of CBS’s leading shows

In terms of new shows, the big success of the year has been the new comedy Life in Pieces. It benefited from being scheduled after The Big Bang Theory — but even so its performance has been excellent. So it’s no surprising that, at time of writing, it has just been renewed for a second season by CBS.

Another show that tends to go under the radar internationally but is doing a great job for CBS is Scorpion, which just completed season two. The show, which is about a group of computer experts who tackle high-tech threats to the US, hasn’t received especially good reviews. But its ratings are as good as most dramas on the US networks, which explains why it has also been renewed.

CBS’s new dramas have been more problematic. Limitless started off well but has drifted badly in the second half of its first season. Within the next few days it could find itself axed, a situation that would have been unthinkable back in the autumn. Also struggling is another movie spin-off, Rush Hour, which is right at the bottom end of the CBS ratings this season.

Supergirl also ran out of steam in the second half of its debut run, but has been renewed for a second season as part of a deal that sees the show move to The CW, where it will probably fit in nicely alongside top-rating shows like The Flash and Arrow.

And then there is Fox, whose top six scripted shows in terms of 18-49s are Empire, The X-Files, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Lucifer and Gotham. The success of Empire has been well documented while the revival of The X-Files proved to be a good idea. Lucifer is one one of the top performing new series although, like many of its contemporaries, it saw a significant decline in its later episodes. However, it still managed to secure itself a renewal from Fox.

Also worth mentioning is Rosewood. Although the show doesn’t make the top six in terms of 18-49 ratings, its headline audience of 4.88 million means it is actually the third highest show in terms of total viewers. Echoing Life in Pieces, the show was boosted by airing after Empire but it has held up pretty well. After a mid-season slump it is bouncing back and has secured a renewal.

Empire has remained an established hit for Fox

So now we move into Upfronts season, the time of the year when the networks announce new programmes.

The volume of renewals means there aren’t many berths available for new shows. But the networks should keep one thing in mind: with series like Empire, Rosewood, Lucifer, Blindspot, The Goldbergs, Life in Pieces and Scorpion doing well, maybe they should focus more on original ideas than movie-to-TV extensions, which aren’t doing especially well.

tagged in: ABC, Blindspot, CBS, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Empire, Fox, How To Get Away With Murder, Law & Order: SVU, Life in Pieces, Limitless, Lucifer, NBC, Rosewood, Scorpion, Shonda Rhimes, Superstore, The Catch, The CW, The Goldbergs, Upfronts

Crossover crazy

March 15, 2016TrendspottingAndrew Kreisberg, Arrow, CBS, CSI, Greg Berlanti, Jessica Jones, NBC, NCIS, Netflix, Supergirl, The CW, The FlashMichael Pickard

With The Flash and Supergirl set to meet for the first time, Michael Pickard looks at the trend for drama crossovers, with viewers’ favourite characters set to share more screen time in the future.

While the movie world is relishing the prospect of Batman and Superman sharing the big screen for the first time, the realm of TV is preparing for its own superhero event.

The Flash is heading to National City for an appearance in a special episode of Supergirl, which is set to air on US network CBS on March 28.

The crossover, titled Worlds Finest, sees Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) gain a new ally in the form of lightning fast The Flash (Grant Gustin) when he appears from an alternate universe to help her battle Silver Banshee and Livewire, in exchange for helping him find a way to return home.

Details of the special episode were confirmed in February, with all manner of speculation, rumour and sheer excitement building across the internet since.

But what is behind The Flash’s appearance in another series, away from his home on The CW, and why would the producers be interested in an event like this?

Regular viewers of both shows will be aware of their place in the DC Comics-inspired universe that’s building on The CW through series like Arrow, The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, coupled with Supergirl, Gotham (Fox) and Constantine, which aired for just one season on NBC in 2014/15.

A promotional image for the upcoming Supergirl and The Flash crossover

But the superhero shows on The CW and CBS have more than just their comic book roots in common. They all come from the creative team of Warner Bros Television and Berlanti Productions, and in particular Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg.

Together they launched Arrow in October 2012, before The Flash debuted in October 2014. Supergirl followed in October 2015, before DC’s Legends of Tomorrow landed in January this year.

And while The CW series were all conceived to take place in the same fictional universe – much in the same way as the Marvel feature films featuring Iron Man, Captain America et al, and the Netflix/Marvel series including Daredevil and Jessica Jones – this is the first time Supergirl will become part of that world.

“We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making Supergirl – The Flash and Supergirl are teaming up,” said Berlanti and Kreisberg when the crossover was announced. “We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit, on top of his already immense workload, and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros and DC for working this out. And finally, thanks to the fans and journalists who have kept asking for this to happen. It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone’s enthusiasm and support.”

While The Flash has become one of The CW’s biggest hit shows, renewed this month for a third season in 2015/16, it has only averaged 3.7 million viewers this season, while Supergirl is soaring much higher with 8.1 million. So this begs the question why The Flash is going to spend time with Supergirl on CBS and not vice versa. With so many more people tuning in to Supergirl, CBS can’t expect much of a ratings bump with The Flash’s appearance – so what’s behind it?

In this case, it seems as though this is an entirely creative exercise, bringing together two popular characters. Berlanti and Kreisberg noted as much in their statement when they said this was something fans had been asking for – and their wait will be over soon enough.

Of course, with the worlds of Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow already meshed together, it’s no surprise that this is just the latest crossover in the DC universe. Arrow and The Flash have been regular screen buddies (see top image), ever since The Flash was initially introduced in three episodes of Arrow before landing a series of his own. They have since gone on to appear multiple times in each other’s storylines.

Similarly, some of the characters who would later star in Legends of Tomorrow were also first introduced in The Flash – namely Captain Cool (Wentworth Miller), Firestorm (Victor Garber and Franz Drameh) and Heatwave (Dominic Purcell). Arrow was also responsible for establishing Atom (Brandon Routh) and White Canary (Caity Lotz).

Conversely, both Arrow (played by Stephen Amell) and The Flash themselves have also popped up in Legends of Tomorrow, showing the fluidity of their shared storylines and characters.

Crossover episodes are not a new concept in television, of course. Two other CW shows, The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off The Originals, have crossed wires.

In the Marvel television universe, Agent Carter’s title character has popped up in sister ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. On Netflix, Daredevil’s Claire Temple appeared in an episode of Jessica Jones, which also introduced viewers to Luke Cage (Mike Colter) ahead of his own series, which launches on the SVoD platform on September 30 this year.

Dick Wolf’s Chicago stable of shows such as Chicago Fire (pictured) regularly feature characters from the sibling series

And it is this mechanism of introducing characters ahead of a spin-off series that is one of the most common reasons for a crossover episode – in essence serving as a backdoor pilot.

A 2005 episode of CSI: Miami led to CSI: New York, while original hit CSI opened the door to CSI: Cyber in 2014. CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY came together for the first time in a three-part story that aired in November 2009.

Elsewhere, NCIS was introduced through a backdoor pilot from Naval legal drama Jag, before it in turn gave birth to NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans through backdoor pilots in 2009 and 2014 respectively. They have all enjoyed further crossovers that largely involve lead characters from the main series joining its younger siblings.

More recently, NBC’s Chicago franchise, overseen by Dick Wolf (Law & Order), has seen characters from Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med cross over – with more in the pipeline should Chicago Justice get a series order for the 2016/17 season.

The increasingly common use of crossover episodes goes to show how just a handful of successful TV shows have been able to build franchises or shared worlds, giving viewers more of the stories and the characters they enjoy and dominating the broadcast networks’ schedules.

But while the idea of a crossover could help boost one series by introducing characters from its more popular sibling, in many cases, as it appears with The Flash and Supergirl, it’s just a fun way to see popular characters from different shows appear alongside each other, even if it’s only for a single episode.

And should this latest example prove to be a success, it will be only a matter of time before fans can look forward to seeing Supergirl make the return journey to The CW.

tagged in: Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow, CBS, CSI, Greg Berlanti, Jessica Jones, NBC, NCIS, Netflix, Supergirl, The CW, The Flash

The CW turns up to 11

March 14, 2016GreenlightAMC, Arrow, Charlie Collier, Danny Boyle, FX, Into the Badlands, ITV, iZombie, Jane the Virgin, Legends of Tomorrow, Mark Pedowitz, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Nicola Shindler, Paranoid, Red Production Company, Reign, Supernatural, The CW, The Flash, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, TrustAndy Fry

Supernatural will enter its 12th season on The CW

US networks are notorious for cancelling scripted series early. So there was a pleasant surprise for producers this week when CBS/Warner Bros joint venture The CW announced it is renewing all 11 of its current series. Talk about happy customers.

Launched in 2006, The CW is a bit different from the four major US networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox) in that it focuses on a younger audience (18- to 34-year-olds). This is reflected in its programming line-up, which places a strong emphasis on DC Comics-originated superheroes, zombies, vampires, Armageddon and the like.

As we’ve discussed before, the top three shows on The CW are all DC Comics-based. The Flash is currently in the middle of season two and a third has now been ordered. Arrow, meanwhile, has been awarded a fifth run and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, only eight episodes into its first outing, has been granted a renewal.

The next best-rating show on The CW (in the key 18-49 demographic) is Supernatural, which is about a pair of brothers (the Winchesters) who hunt down demons, monsters and ghosts. An incredibly durable series, the new greenlight means it will be up to 12 seasons – in excess of 250 episodes. Hardly anything apart from hit procedural crime dramas go on that long, so it has proven a real stalwart of the network. Indeed, there are reports that the key cast has also signed up for season 13.

Also renewed is The 100, which follows a group of young survivors of a nuclear apocalypse

Coming in behind Supernatural is iZombie, which has been given a third season (the clue to its subject matter is in the title). After this comes The 100, which follows a group of young survivors who return to Earth from space stations approximately 100 years after a nuclear Armageddon. This one is currently drawing about 1.2 million viewers per episode and has been granted a fourth season.

The Vampire Diaries, meanwhile, has just been given an eighth season. Even more impressive is that the show spawned a spin-off called The Originals (more vampires), which has been granted a fourth season.

From here we come to the three lowest ratings performers (in terms of 18-49s). Interestingly, all three break with The CW’s successful formula of supernatural and mythology.

Jane the Virgin, for example, is an adaptation of a comic telenovela that has been gifted a third season. Reign, which has been greenlit for a fourth run, is The CW’s take on the story of Mary, Queen of Scots. And Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, bottom of the charts by some margin, is a romantic musical comedy drama that has been given the greenlight for a second outing.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has won a Golden Globe but doesn’t perform as well in the ratings as many of the other CW renewals

Commenting on the mass renewal, The CW president Mark Pedowitz said: “The CW has become home to some of the most critically acclaimed shows on broadcast TV, with a wide array of fantastic scripted series across the week, ranging from musical comedy, to superhero action, to gritty sci-fi dramas. As we continue our strategy of more year-round original programming, picking up these 11 series for the 2016-2017 season puts us in a great position of having proven, high-quality shows to launch in the autumn as well as midseason and summer of 2017.”

A couple of obvious questions spring to mind as a result of this renewal frenzy, however. The first is why has The CW renewed the last three series when it clearly does better with supernatural/superhero shows? Well, the answer seems to be that they are the only ones in the portfolio to be produced by CBS TV Studios – and CBS has a minimum expectation that it will get to deliver three shows to the network. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has won a Golden Globe. But it must still be a concern that the CBS shows are outperformed by all the other programmes (which are, incidentally, all produced by the CW’s other partner, Warner Bros.)

Secondly, does it mean The CW is now closed to new shows for a year? Not necessarily. The network has the flexibility to commission some new shows for the summer, or maybe introduce some on shorter-runs.

Still in the US, cable network FX has ordered 10 episodes of a new drama from Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. Entitled Trust, the series focuses on the story of Getty oil heir John Paul Getty III, who was kidnapped by an Italian gang in 1973. Described as a combination of dynastic saga and an examination of the corrosive power of money, it is the first Boyle project to have been greenlit since he signed a first-look deal with FX in 2014. Executive producers are Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson (who also signed a first-look deal with FX).

The other big story coming out of the US cable market is that AMC has ordered a 10-episode second season of its martial arts drama Into the Badlands. The renewal is no real surprise given that the six-episode first run achieved the third highest-rated first season in US cable TV history (averaging 5.6 million viewers per episode in the Live+7 ratings).

“With its deep dive into authentic martial arts, the visually stunning Into the Badlands proved to be unlike anything else on television,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Co-creators and showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, along with a talented team of producers, cast and crew, brought us an artfully crafted series. We’re eager to return to the world of barons and blades and spend even more time with these compelling and evolving characters across an expanded second season.”

High-concept scripted shows like Into the Badlands are playing an important role in helping US cable networks establish themselves in the international market as well. “Simultaneous to its US launch, AMC Global will premiere season two of Into the Badlands within minutes of the US broadcast,” AMC said. “AMC Global premiered season one in 125 countries simultaneous to the US premiere, and it achieved a record-breaking performance.”

In another example of the way scripted shows are used to distinguish platforms, Virgin Media UK has secured exclusive UK rights to DirecTV series Kingdom from Endemol Shine International for its on-demand service. Episodes from the first two seasons will be available to its customers from April 1. This echoes a similar deal last year when Virgin Media took exclusive UK rights to Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead for on-demand.

Finally, ITV UK has commissioned an eight-part thriller called Paranoid from Red Production Company. Indira Varma, Robert Glenister, Neil Stuke, Lesley Sharp and Kevin Doyle star in the series, which is being billed as a conspiracy thriller.

According to ITV, Paranoid (written by Bill Gallagher) “tells the story of a female GP who is murdered in a children’s playground with an abundance of eyewitnesses. A group of detectives embark on what seems to be a straightforward murder investigation, but as they delve deeper into the case they are drawn into the ever-darkening mystery, which takes them unexpectedly across Europe.”

Commenting on the show, Red’s Nicola Shindler said: “We’re really excited to be working with Bill Gallagher (The Paradise, Conviction, Love Life and Lark Rise to Candleford) again. He’s created a conspiracy thriller the audience won’t be able to look away from. It’s edgy, suspenseful and hugely ambitious as filming takes place in Cheshire and Germany.”

Red’s parent company StudioCanal will distribute Paranoid internationally.

tagged in: AMC, Arrow, Charlie Collier, Danny Boyle, FX, Into the Badlands, ITV, iZombie, Jane the Virgin, Legends of Tomorrow, Mark Pedowitz, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Nicola Shindler, Paranoid, Red Production Company, Reign, Supernatural, The CW, The Flash, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Trust

Networks bank on movie magic

February 22, 2016Greenlight20th Century Fox Television, A&E, ABC, Behind Enemy Lines, CBS, Cruel Intentions, Damien, Fargo, Fox, Friday the 13th, FX, Haywire, Lethal Weapon, Limitless, Minority Report, NBC, Rambo, Relativity TV, Rush Hour, Taken, The CW, The Exorcist, The Notebook, Time After Time, Training Day, Uncle BuckAndy Fry

limitless — Expect a renewal for Limitless

With reports this week that Sony Pictures Entertainment is planning a TV series based on the Angelie Jolie spy movie Salt, now seems as good a time as any to round up developments on the movie-to-TV adaptation front. At least 20 such projects are in production, development or distribution.

Limitless: Based on the 2011 movie starring Bradley Cooper, Limitless debuted on CBS in September 2015. After a strong start, CBS gave it a full season order of 22 episodes and started selling the show around the world. Currently 15 episodes in, the show is attracting around 6.4 million viewers on debut night and 9.8 million after time-shifting is factored in. This should be enough to guarantee renewal for season two despite being some way off the launch episode (14.2 million viewers including time-shifted).

Minority Report: A much-hyped but ultimately unsuccessful remake of the Tom Cruise movie that ran on Fox in autumn 2015. Initially awarded 13 episodes, the run was cut to 10 after poor ratings. It bowed out with an audience of around two million, but not before it had been sold to networks in the Middle East.

Rush Hour: Based on the popular movie franchise that paired Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Rush Hour is another CBS reboot about an off-the-wall LAPD detective being required to work with a straight-laced Hong Kong police officer. The show will premiere on Thursday March 31 at 22.00 and has been picked up by E4 in the UK. CBS plans to give the show a big promotional boost by marketing it during the popular March Madness College Basketball tourney.

Training Day: Another CBS project, this is a reboot of the 2001 film that starred Denzel Washington as a corrupt narcotics cop and Ethan Hawke as his rookie partner. In the update, an idealistic young African-American police officer is partnered with an experienced but morally ambiguous Caucasian detective. This show, produced by WBTV and Jerry Bruckheimer, is currently moving towards a pilot, which will be directed by Danny Cannon.

uncle-buck-abc — The TV version of Uncle Buck

Uncle Buck: This is an ABC reboot of the 1989 cult comedy starring John Candy. In this version, which was given a greenlight to series in 2015, the cast will be black, with Mike Epps playing Uncle Buck, “a fun-loving but irresponsible guy who needs a job and a place to stay. By happy coincidence, his nieces and nephews’ nanny has just quit and his brother- and sister-in-law need his help. His unconventional personality just may make him the right fit for the family.” No details yet on launch date.

Lethal Weapon: The massive 1980s/1990s film franchise, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, is being adapted for TV by Fox. In February 2016, Fox gave a formal pilot order to the show, which focuses on a former Navy SEAL who suffers the loss of his wife and baby and moves to Los Angeles to start anew as a cop. Matt Miller (Forever) will write the TV adaptation.

rambomovie — Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo

Rambo: Fox is planning a TV series entitled Rambo: New Blood, based on the iconic Sylvester Stallone-starring movie franchise. Stallone won’t be involved in the new project, which is from Entertainment One and Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films. There are no details yet as to where this is in terms of development.

Fargo: Based on the Coen Brothers movie of the same name, Fargo has already seen two critically acclaimed series aired on FX. In November 2015, midway through season two, FX ordered a third season from series creator Noah Hawley. “Year two of Fargo is an extraordinary achievement and, given Noah Hawley’s masterful storytelling, we can’t wait to see where the third, all-new version of Fargo takes us,” said FX Networks’ Eric Schrier.

Cruel Intentions: NBC is planning a remake of the cult 1999 movie that was loosely based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The show, which has now been taken forward to pilot, will pick up 15 years after the movie left off and will focus on the teenage son of two of the film’s main characters. The original writer and director of Cruel Intentions, Roger Kumble, is attached to the pilot episode as director.

Taken: Based on the surprise hit movie franchise starring Liam Neeson, Taken the TV series is a modern-day prequel in which we learn how CIA operative Bryan Mills developed his “particular set of skills.” Homeland executive producer Alexander Cary has been signed up to write, executive produce and run the Taken TV series. Perhaps not surprisingly given the success of the movie franchise, NBC has given this show a straight-to-series order.

Time After Time: Based on a 1979 movie (itself based on a book), ABC’s new Time After Time series imagines HG Wells pursuing Jack the Ripper forward in time using his famous time machine. The project is from Kevin Williamson and has now been taken forward to pilot. In a similar vein, The CW is backing a TV adaptation of 1990 sci-fi time travel movie Frequency. In the CW pilot, the central character becomes a female police detective.

Haywire: A 2011 action movie starring Channing Tatum and Gina Carano, Haywire is another movie reportedly getting a TV remake. The Steven Soderbergh-directed film tells the story of a secret agent on a revenge spree after her agency betrays her. This project is in early development with Relativity TV.

Behind Enemy Lines: In September, Fox announced plans for a series based on the 2001 movie of the same name, which starred Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman. Fox’s show will be a high-octane military thriller about an American flight crew shot down while on a secret mission over the jungles of Latin America. The show is from 20th Century Fox Television, Temple Hill and Davis Entertainment, which produced the original version. At time of writing there was no further news on the project’s status.

notebookmovie — Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in The Notebook movie

The Notebook: In August 2015, it was revealed that The CW had teamed up with author Nicholas Sparks to revive romantic movie The Notebook as a TV series (Sparks was the author of the original book, also a big success). A pilot is being written by Todd Graff, who will also executive produce alongside Sparks and Theresa Park. “The Notebook is a very well-received book and motion picture. It is going to be set after World War Two. At this point, the pilot is not done,” said CW president Mark Pedowitz in 2015.

The Exorcist: In January 2016, Fox ordered a pilot based on the 1971 novel/1973 movie of the same name. The one-hour drama pilot is described as “a propulsive, serialised psychological thriller following two very different men tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession, and confronting the face of true evil.” Jeremy Slater is the writer-producer, with James Robinson, David Robinson and Barbara Wall on board as executive producers.

Damien (The Omen): Damien is an upcoming A&E series based on The Omen horror film series, which centres on a small boy born of Satan and adopted by an affluent US family. Scheduled to launch on March 7, the TV series follows Damien Thorn, now a 30-year-old war photographer who has forgotten his Satanic past. Ann Rutledge (Barbara Hershey), who has protected Damien all his life, will now help him embrace his antichrist destiny.

Friday the 13th: Continuing the trend towards horror movie remakes (remember that Scream is already up and running on MTV, with a second season coming on April 20), The CW is planning a TV version of iconic film series Friday the 13th. The series adaptation will be written by Steve Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle, co-creators of the 1996 NBC series The Pretender.

tagged in: 20th Century Fox Television, A&E, ABC, Behind Enemy Lines, CBS, Cruel Intentions, Damien, Fargo, Fox, Friday the 13th, FX, Haywire, Lethal Weapon, Limitless, Minority Report, NBC, Rambo, Relativity TV, Rush Hour, Taken, The CW, The Exorcist, The Notebook, Time After Time, Training Day, Uncle Buck