TV news roundup for Week 4 of 2019

Welcome to the weekly TV news round-up, where we go into the latest TV news regarding renewals, cancellations, and pick-ups. This week we have pilots, renewals, and a number of trailers.

Renewed

Variety knows that US premium cable channel Showtime has renewed Stephen Colbert’s satirical animated comedy series Our Cartoon President for a second season. The new series is set to air later this year and will spoof the Trump administration.

Just before Season 4 started US cable channel Syfy has renewed its fantasy series The Magicians for a fifth season. There is a good chance this will be it for the series, though. As it is rare Syfy renewed scripted series for a sixth season. The series is based on the fantasy novel trilogy The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman, and is best described as an adult Harry Potter mixed with The Chronicles of Narnia.

US cable channel USA has renewed legal drama Suits for a ninth season. However, this will be the series last season. This is not completely unexpected, as a Gina Torres starring spin-off called Pearson is already in development.

US broadcasting network CBS has renewed three freshman series for a second series. They are FBI, the procedural from Dick Wolf (Law & Order), the Magnum P.I. reboot, and the Cedric the Entertainer (Madagascar) starring comedy The Neighborhood.

Cancelled

US streaming service Hulu has cancelled its Mars drama The First. The series coming from Beau Willimon (House of Cards) and starring Sean Penn was quite the prestige project for the service but clearly failed to meet expectations.

Picked up

US cable channel USA has picked up Briarpatch, an anthology series starring Rosario Dawson (Marvel’s Daredevil). Dawson will play Allegra “Pick” Dill, an investigator who returns to her home town when her sister is murdered, which turns into an investigation into her own past. The first season is based on Ross Thomas’s 1984 novel Briarpatch. Andy Greenwald (co-producer of Legion) will write the series and be one of the executive producers.

We had come to terms that Netflix would not carry Star Trek: Short Treks. We even mentioned that last week. But surprise! Together with the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery’s Season 2 came the first four Short Treks!

Other developments

TVLine has learned that US broadcasting network NBC has ordered a pilot for an as of yet untitled comedy, previously known as All Together Now. The series would star Bradley Whitford (Get Out) as a grumpy music professor who becomes the director of a rural church choir. Lesley Wake Webster (Speechless) writes the pilot.

US broadcast network The CW has ordered a host of pilots. Keep in mind, this does not mean any of the following is guaranteed to go to series in the 2019-2020 season.

• Katy Keene will be a spin-off from Riverdale and also an Archie Comics adaption. It will be a comedic musical drama that will follow the titular character and her friends in New York City. Riverdale’s showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will write the pilot with fellow Riverdale writer Michael Grassi.
• The Lost Boys is based upon the vampire movie from 1987. Two brothers who are new in the town of Santa Carla, California discover a vampire underworld. Heather Mitchell (Scandal) will write the pilot.
• An untitled Nancy Drew pilot will adapt the series of teenage detective novels. 18-year-old Nancy Drew is set to go to college but a murder mystery pulls her in. Noga Landau (The Magicians), Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (Gossip Girl, The O.C.) will write the pilot.

These pilots join the already ordered pilots for DC Comics adaption Batwoman and Jane the Virgin anthology spin-off Jane the Novela.

Talking about the Batwoman pilot at The CW, there has been some interesting casting, according to Deadline. Meagan Tandy (Teen Wolf) has been cast as Kate Kane/Batwoman’s love interest in the comics Sophie Moore. Also important is that Camrus Johnson (Marvel’s Luke Cage) as Batman’s main tech guy Lucius Fox’s son Luke Fox. In the comics, the character became the second Batwing. They also cast Nicole Kang (You) as Kate’s stepsister Mary Hamilton.

TVLine has learned that Netflix has cast another key character for their adaption of the comic Locke & Key. Sherri Saum (Roswell, New Mexico) has been cast as Lovecraft High Coach Ellie Whedon, a character very involved with the story’s antagonist. Giving too many details may be spoilers.

According to Deadline Netflix and Constantine Film are developing a Resident Evil live action series. With the six-movie series, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Monster Hunter) and starring Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element), finished, Constantine Film has been looking at reboot options. Hopefully, the new series based on Capcom’s video game series Resident Evil or Biohazard will keep closer to the games than the movies, which diverted heavily. By the way, if you already want to scratch your Resident Evil itch, or are new to the series, Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 2 has just been released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Here’s a live action trailer for it.

Trailers

US broadcasting network ABC has released a trailer for comedy series Bless This Mess, starring Lake Bell (the upcoming Harley Quinn animated series) and Dax Sheppard (Zathura: A Space Adventure). The series premieres on Tuesday, April 16.

Mark Hamill (Batman: The Animated Series, Star Wars) is joining US cable channel History’s Knightfall and has received his own promo. A premiere date for Season 2 is not known yet.

NBC has released a promo for its new spy thriller series The Enemy Within, starring Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) as a disgraced CIA agent who comes out of from prison to help catch the person who made her a traitor. The series will premiere on Monday, February 25.

Amazon Prime Video has released teaser for their upcoming adaption of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic The Boys, starring Karl Urban (Dredd), among others. The first season will be released coming Summer.

Netflix also released a trailer for a comic book adaption. Gerard Way’s comic The Umbrella Academy will have the first season of its live-action adaption released on Friday, February 15.

That’s it for this week, but join us next time when we round-up the TV news of that week.