TV news roundup for Week 50 of 2018

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 a couple of renewals, a couple of cancellations, and a couple of pick-ups. Oh, and of course a bunch of trailers.

Renewed

Amazon Prime Video has renewed Goliath for a third season. The legal drama starring Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa) also adds Dennis Quaid (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Amy Brenneman (The Leftovers), and Beau Bridges (Stargate SG-1), among others, to its cast.

Streaming service Facebook Watch has renewed four series, they are Elizabeth Olsen (Avengers: Infinity War) starring half-hour drama Sorry For Your Loss, teen drama Five Points, young adult-novel adaptation Sacred Lies and reality series Huda Boss. All receive a second season.

Cancelled

Comedy Central has cancelled comedy series Detroiters after two seasons. The series starred Sam Richardson (Veep) and Tim Robinson (Netflix Presents: The Characters) as two lifelong friends running an advertising agency in Detroit, Michigan.

Sadly, @Detroiters won’t be picked up for a season 3 at Comedy Central. I want to thank everyone who watched and supported the show. It was a dream to make and I’m proud that those who did see it enjoyed it. Maybe it will find a home elsewhere, who knows? But truly, thank you.

— Sam Richardson (@SamRichardson) December 11, 2018

The Hollywood Reporter knows that US streaming service CBS All Access has cancelled its first series in One Dollar. The series about a Dollar bill connecting several people to a murder case lasted one season. Pedro Pascal (Narcos) as rumoured has been cast in the title role as a lone Mandalorian gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy. He is joined by Gina Carano (Deadpool), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Emily Swallow (Supernatural), Carl Weathers (Predator), Omid Abtahi (American Gods), Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man), and Nick Nolte (Warrior).

Picked up

Netflix has ordered a biographic drama series in Selena: The Series. The series will tell the story of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, one of the best-selling Latin artists of the 1990s. Moisés Zamora (Star) will write and executive-produce the series. The series is called “Selena: The Series” because of the 1997 movie Selena starring Jennifer Lopez, tackling the same material. A release date for the Netflix series is currently not known.

💞Bidi Bidi Bom Bom 💞 @SelenaLaLeyenda’s incredible life story is coming to Netflix as a scripted series! @selena_netflix was developed alongside and will be executive produced by The Quintanilla family #NetflixNewsWeek pic.twitter.com/5rljwl8k37

— Selena: The Series (@selena_netflix) December 11, 2018

US broadcast network ABC have given a series order to comedy Bless This Mess, created by Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) and Lake Bell. Previously in development for Fox, the comedy will star Dax Shepard (Scrubs) and Lake Bell (Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later) as a newlywed couple who move from the big city to a small town in Nebraska. The series will premiere in the 2019-2020 season.

Lucasfilm has officially announced the cast of upcoming streaming service Disney+’s live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

Apple’s unnamed upcoming streaming service has added another original series to its roster. Jennifer Garner (Alias) will star in My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, a limited series written by Karen Croner (Admission) and with Garner and J.J. Abrams (Fringe) as executive producers. The series is based on the memoir by Amy Silverstein of the same name. The memoir tells about Silverstein awaiting a last-minute heart transplant, with the support of her close friends.

Other developments

A host of character posters have been released for the fifth and final season of DC Comics Batman prequel series Gotham. The 12-episode finale will start on Thursday, January 3 on Fox in the US.

View this post on Instagram

New season, same villains & vigilantes. 🦇🐱🚔🐧❓🔪🃏👔✰💉 #Gotham

A post shared by Gotham (@gothamonfox) on Dec 11, 2018 at 12:07pm PST

Netflix has announced the release date of their Carmen Sandiego reboot as Friday, January 18. The criminal mastermind character will be voiced Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin). The first season of the animation will have twenty 22-minute episodes.

WHEN in the world is Carmen Sandiego coming to Netflix? *hacks database* January 18! Who’s ready to go on an adventure with @HereIsGina and @FinnSkata? #NetflixNewsWeek pic.twitter.com/d4UC2kb5vZ

— See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) December 10, 2018

We are sad to report that a car accident on the set of Starz series Power has resulted in the death of production assistant Pedro Jimenez, aged 63.

View this post on Instagram

I have not known how to write this post; social media is an odd, impersonal place for grief, often an odd place to commemorate a life. A few sentences cannot address the love, humor, courage and strength of a man loved by so many. Pedro Jimenez was a beloved member of our crew and here since season one. This is a tragedy for the Power family, and even more for Pedro’s family and friends, who must face the holidays and the coming cold months ahead without him. If you are a fan of @power_starz and have enjoyed our show, please know it takes hundreds of people to make the series that you enjoy. Pedro was one of those people. Pray for him and for his family. Tell your loved ones how you feel about them so they know for sure.

A post shared by COURTNEY KEMP (@courtneyakemp) on Dec 12, 2018 at 11:18am PST

Netflix needed to recast the lead role in their upcoming ice-skating drama Spinning Out when projected star Emma Roberts (American Horror Story) dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. They have found a new lead in Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales).

Trailers

The BBC has released a first teaser for their adaption of Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, starring John Malkovich as the famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Rupert Grint (Harry Potter). The three-part series stars on BBC One in the UK on Wednesday, December 26th.

HBO has released another trailer for the long-awaited third season of True Detective. The Mahershala Ali (Marvel’s Luke Cage) starring season will start Sunday, January 13.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZP6t1FmVO8

Netflix released a trailer featuring the titles of the episodes in Stranger Things Season 3.

Netflix also released a trailer for the third and final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Patrick Warburton (The Emperor’s New Groove), Malina Weissman (Supergirl), Presley Smith, among others, starring series is based on the novels by Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. With the third series, all 13 novels in the series have been adapted.

The first season of the second chapter of Guillermo del Toro’s Tales of Arcadia, 3Below, is coming to Netflix on Friday, December 21. The series will have Diego Luna (Rogue One, Narcos: Mexico), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), and Glenn Close (Guardians of the Galaxy) Here’s the first trailer.

Pinky Malinky has also released a trailer. The animated comedy series will be released on Netflix Tuesday, January 1. The series was originally ordered by Nickelodeon in 2015 and is produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe.

A new trailer has been released for Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, which will launch on CBS All Access in the US and on Space in Canada on Thursday, January 17. Internationally the series will launch a day later on Netflix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQfex_KNLA

A teaser trailer for the upcoming Downton Abbey movie has been released! We know, that’s technically not TV news, but it is a movie sequel to the TV series of the same name, so we give ourselves a pass. Everyone is back for this movie!

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