Extra! Extra! Top 5 TV News Stories Of The Week: ‘Billions’ Gets Axe! Mean Girls’ Gets Busy, Maisel Final Season, And The Weeknd’s Very Bad, No Good Week
This is the real hard-hitting news, folks
The streamers really piled on the news this week. There is so much to share from renewals to cancellations, from teasers to trailers, is Broadway-on-TV becoming a thing and vice/versa? and more importantly Billions looks like it's getting the ‘Axe’.
Top 5 News Stories of The Week:
Axe is Back! Damian Lewis Returns To ‘Billions'
In probably the most exciting news for Billions fans — Showtime’s hit series about billionaires trying to (and successfully) out-witting the clenches of law and order is getting its anchor back. Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod played by Damian Lewis is returning to the series. After being helicoptered off to Switzerland to avoid prosecution over bank fraud charges, the upcoming 12-episode season will have Axelrod returning to fight it out with his old rivals Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Mike Prince (Corey Stoll). Lewis is expected to appear in six out of the 12 episodes.
Robert DeNiro Signs Onto ‘Zero Day' At Netflix
Robert DeNiro is making Netflix his first move into television. The Oscar-winning actor will star in a conspiracy thriller series about how people handle a world in crisis. DeNiro will executive produce the series along with Lesli Linda Glatter (Homeland). Zero Day is expected to be a six-episode limited series.
Lilith Sternin Is Making A Return To ‘Frasier’
The ice queen is returning to Frasier and Frasier fans couldn’t be more thrilled. Bebe Neuwirth will reprise her role as Lilith Sternin in the upcoming reboot of Frasier coming soon to Paramount+. Neuwirth will appear in an episode as a sort of reunion between Frasier and Lilith at their son, Frederick's birthday party who seems less than pleased at the thought of having to share her son now that Frasier is back in Boston. Neuwirth won two consecutive Emmys for her role as Lilith Sternin in 1990 and 1991.
‘The Night Manager’ Getting a Second Season
One of my favorite limited series on Amazon Prime is getting a second season. The Night Manager, the sexy James Bond-esque series about a roaming luxury hotel Night Manager posing as a spy will have Tom Hiddleston returning in his role. The second season is currently in development with original writer David Farr. It originally aired on AMC and the BBC to critical success before Amazon Prime acquired it.
The Weeknd Responds To Backlash On Set of ‘Idol’
Eek. This was not a good week for The Weeknd (or maybe it was depending on his response and the amount of press his upcoming HBO series has garnered). Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye tagged Rolling Stone in an Instagram post and captioned it — “Did we upset you?” The post showed a scene from The Idol where he calls Rolling Stone magazine “irrelevant”. According to an actual article from Rolling Stone titled “The Idol: How HBO’s Next ‘Euphoria’ Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn’” claims that the set of The Weeknd and producer Sam Levinson’s (Euphoria) new series was a toxic environment with budget issues and last minute script changes. There’s so much drama to the making of this series which you can read in the original Rolling Stone article.
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/the-idol-hbo-next-euphoria-torture-porn-the-weeknd-sam-levinson-lily-rose-depp-blackpink-jennie-1234688754/
Renewals/Cancellations
The Way Home renewed for Season 2 at Hallmark Channel
Krapopolis renewed for Season 3 at Fox
Star Trek Discovery cancelled after 5 seasons at Paramount+
Broadway Corner
Stranger Things Get Stage Play in London
The upside down world is coming to stage with Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Netflix is partnering with Sonia Friedman Productions to produce the play and Stranger Things’ creators/writers/directors the Duffer Brothers, will act as creative producers. It will be sort of a prequel, set in the world of hit series in the town of Hawkins circa 1959 and star a young Jim Hopper. The play is expected to premiere later this year at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End.
Busy Phillips Joins Mean Girls TV Musical Cast
Mean Girls, formerly a 2004 film starring Lindsay Lohan then adapted as a Broadway musical is coming to Paramount+ as…a musical. Mean Girls: The Musical begins production March 6 and will star Busy Phillips (Girls 5 Eva) as Regina George’s mom — you know the “I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom” mom. Jenna Fischer (The Office) also joins the cast along with OG Mean Girls alum Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprising their roles.
UHAUL NEWS: Three Women is moving to STARZ from Showtime
The award-winning book ‘Three Women’ by Lisa Taddeo which had been turned into a series by Showtime has been acquired by STARZ after Showtime trimmed down its lineup after merging with Paramount+. The series stars Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies), Betty Gilpin (Gaslit), Gabrielle Creevy (In My Skin) and DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It). Three Women is a true, intimate portrayal of the American female on a radical course to change their lives.
Trailer of the Week - Succession: Final Season
Teaser of the Week - Fatal Attraction
First Look of the Week - Dead Ringers
Save The Date!
April 3 - Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields Documentary (Hulu)
April 5 - Dave: Season 3 (Hulu)
April 13 - Florida Man (Netflix)
April 14 - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Final Season (Amazon Prime)
April 18 - Alex Borstein: Corsets & Clown Suits (Amazon Prime)
April 23 - Somebody, Somewhere: Season 2 (HBO)
May 2 - Taste of the Nation with Padma Lakshimi: Season 2 (Hulu)
May 12 - The Great (Hulu)
More Trippy Trailers To View:
I’ll Be Back! (Actually Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in ‘Fubar’ (Netflix)
A nun goes to battle with Artificial Intelligence in ‘Mrs. Davis’ (Peacock)
In Memory of Actor Tom Sizemore (1961-2023)
Sizemore has appeared in nearly 200 films and television series over his career. Most notably in the Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan and in episodes of the popular series Cobra Kai, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Entourage. His family reported his passing on Friday.
Many of his iconic films are still talked about today, memorable in movie history. You can screen any of Tom Sizemore’s performances in the following films.
Black Hawk Down (Cinemax)
Saving Private Ryan (Paramount+)
Enemy of the State (FX/Hulu)
Heat (Hulu)
Natural Born Killers (rent on Prime or Apple TV+)
Wyatt Earp (rent on Prime or Apple TV+)
True Romance (Pluto TV)