Extra! Extra! Top TV News: Selena Gomez Returns To Disney, A 'Gilded Age' Star Checks Into The White Lotus, Apple TV+'s Stylish New Trailer For 'The New Look'
Plus...Max just axed so many of their beloved shows! WTF!?
Phew! Still recovering from TV awards season — just give all the awards to Succession, Beef, and The Bear (let’s face it Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel already had their triumphant awards run). Now it’s time to get back to 2024 streaming news and what’s to come — Justin Timberlake to perform on Saturday Night Live, Oppenheimer FINALLY comes to streaming, and the trailer for The New Look are some of my favorite tasty news bites of the week.
‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ Gets Sequel With Selena Gomez at Disney+
It was inevitable, Wizards of Waverly Place will soon get a sequel series on Disney+ that will star some of its original cast. The series will be executive produced by Gomez and former Waverly co-star David Henrie who played Justin on the original series that ran from 2007-2012. Gomez is slated to star in the pilot episode, while Henrie will star in the full series. The crust of the series will have Justin leaving his wizard powers behind to have a normal life with his wife and two sons, but it looks like his past shows up to his door in the form of a young wizard needing training, so Justin returns to that magical life and thus his new future begins.
Forest Whitaker Joins MGM+’s ‘Emperor of Ocean Park’
I recently wrote that the bestselling novel from author and law professor Stephen L. Carter, “Emperor of Ocean Park” is being adapted into a series at MGM+, and now the development stage of the show is underway with casting news. MGM+ announced that its Godfather of Harlem star Forest Whitaker will take the lead in the upcoming thriller about a family whom investigates the death of their father (Whitaker). Grantham Coleman (The Americans, Rustin), Tiffany Mack (Jessica Jones, iZombie), and Paulina Lule (The Good Place, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) will also star.
Per official synopsis: “Set in the worlds of politics, Ivy League academia, and the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, the series centers on Talcott Garland (Coleman) , an Ivy League law professor whose quiet life is shattered when his father, Judge Oliver Garland dies of an apparent heart attack. The nature of the judge’s death is questioned by Tal’s sister Mariah (Mack), a former journalist and inveterate conspiracy theorist who believes that the judge, a failed Black nominee to the Supreme Court, met with foul play.”
Chloe Sevigny, Javier Bardem Cast In ‘Monster’ Season 2 at Netflix
True crime enthusiasts are patiently waiting for Ryan Murphy’s next installment of Monster which will focus on the convicted murderers, the Menendez Brothers who gunned down their parents inside their Beverly Hills home in the 90s. Chloe Sevigny (The Last Days of Disco) and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) will star as the brothers’ parents Mary Louise “Kitty” and José Menendez while Nathan Lane (The Birdcage) will take on the role of famed journalist Dominick Dunne who covered the Menendez brothers trial for Vanity Fair magazine.
Tina Fey To Star In ‘The Four Seasons’ Adaptation For Netflix
It looks like there is another movie-to-streaming adaptation in the works at Netflix, this one will star Tina Fey in a series adapted from Alan Alda’s 1981 film Four Seasons. The film followed “three couples who take vacations together each season and the changes in the group dynamic when one of the couples splits up and the man brings a much younger woman on subsequent trips,” according to official synopsis. So far the only confirmed cast is Tina Fey who will also act as producer and co-creator of the series. This will be Fey’s first regular TV role since NBC’s 30 Rock.
Brittany Snow Joins ‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 at Netflix
Pitch Perfect’s Brittany Snow has been cast in the upcoming season 2 of Netflix’s breakout hit The Night Agent among five new roles. Snow will play Peter’s partner Alice. Gabriel Basso will reprise his role as Peter Sutherland and Luciane Buchanan will return as Rose Larkin. Second season details are being kept mostly under-wraps, but The Night Agent will act as an anthology series with new storylines and some former cast members reappearing on a smaller scale.
Casting of the Week: The Gilded Age’s Carrie Coon Joins The White Lotus: Season 3 Cast
Schmigadoon! canceled after two seasons at Apple TV+
Rap Sh!t canceled at Max after two seasons
House of Villains renewed for season 2 at E!
The Good Doctor to end with Season 7 at ABC
Julia canceled after two seasons at Max
Our Flag Means Death canceled after two seasons at Max
Ahsoka renewed for Season 2 at Disney+
Jan 25: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning premieres on Paramount+
Jan 27: Dakota Johnson to host SNL with musical guest Justin Timberlake
Feb 16: Oppenheimer to premiere on Peacock
The New Look (Apple TV+)
More Trailers
3 Body Problem (Netflix)
Spaceman (Netflix)
Feud: New Trailer (FX)
Suncoast (Hulu)
Tokyo Vice: Season 2 (Max)
Halo: Season 2 (Paramount+)
The Tiger’s Apprentice (Paramount+)
Getting Grilled (HSN+)
Parish: New Trailer (AMC+)
Life & Beth: Season 2 (Hulu)
Genius: MLK/X (Feb 1, NatGeo)
Supersex (Netflix)
Tease of the Week: The Gentlemen (Netflix)
January 19 🥳
Drea de Matteo, 52 : stream Sopranos on Max
Katey Sagal, 70 : stream Sons of Anarchy on FX on Hulu
Director Damien Chazelle, 39 : stream La La Land on Netflix
Jodi Sweetin, 42 : stream Full House on Netflix and Hulu
Rob Delaney, 47 : stream Catastrophe on Prime Video
Born on this Day: Dolly Parton, 78
Fun Facts About Dolly Parton
She was a silent executive producer (uncredited) for the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Met her husband Carl Dean at the laundromat
The godmother of Miley Cyrus
Where to Stream Dolly:
9 to 5 (AMC+)
Steel Magnolias (AMC+)
Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (Netflix)
Born on this Day: Tippi Hedren, 94
Fun Facts about Tippi Hedren
Mother of Melanie Griffith
“Tippi” is a nickname for “Tupsa” meaning “little girl”
She would name her housecats after her co-stars including Marlon Brando and Sir Sean Connery
She’s an animal rights activist and at one time at her ranch had 100 big cats, two elephants, and lots of birds.
Where To Stream Tippi:
The Birds (rent or buy on demand)
Marnie (rent or buy on demand)
Pacific Heights (Freeve, Peacock, STARZ)
January 20 🥳
Evan Peters, 36 : stream Monster on Netflix
Director David Lynch, 77: stream Twin Peaks on Paramount+
Rainn Wilson 57: stream The Office on Peacock
Omar Sy, 45 : stream Lupin on Netflix
Skeet Ulrich, 53 : stream Scream on Paramount+, MGM+
Stacey Dash, 56 : stream Clueless on Paramount+
James Denton, 60 : stream Desperate Housewives on Freevee, Hulu
Born on this Day: Federico Fellini (1920-1993)
Where To Stream Fellini Films:
La Dolce Vita (buy or rent on demand)
8 1/2 (stream on Max)
Variety Lights (stream on Max)
I Vitelloni (stream on Max)
La Strada (stream on Max)
Juliet of the Spirits (stream on Max)
January 21 🥳
Geena Davis, 67 : stream Thelma & Louise on MGM+, Pluto TV, Roku Channel