The Voice Season 20 Renewal.
Woke Season Two.
Hulu has renewed live-action/animated hybrid Original comedy series Woke, inspired by the life of award-winning artist Keith Knight, for a second season (8 episodes). The first season debuted on Hulu, Wednesday, September 9 and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starring Lamorne Morris, Woke takes an absurdist look at identity and culture through the lens of Keef – a Black cartoonist finally on the verge of mainstream success, when an unexpected incident changes everything. With a newfound consciousness, Keef must navigate the new voices and ideas challenging him, all without setting aflame to everything he’s already built.
The comedy is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature.
The series stars Morris, T. Murph and Blake Anderson. Sasheer Zamata and Rose McIver guest star.
Woke was developed by Marshall Todd and Keith Knight. The co-creators served as executive producers alongside Jay Dyer, Maurice “Mo” Marable, Aeysha Carr, Richie Schwartz, John Will, Will Gluck, and Eric Christian Olsen. Kate Schumaecker served as executive producer on the pilot.
The Hot Zone Season Two.
“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president, Global Scripted Content and Documentary Films. “As the world battles COVID-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, “The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is a scientific thriller for our time.”
In 2001, just weeks after 9/11, the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives, left 17 others sick and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of USAMRIID scientists (The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Defense’s lead research laboratory), FBI agents and Justice Department personnel slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.
“While many of us can recall the breaking news headlines and the widespread fear that ensued when anthrax emerged in America, there are still layers to this story that have not yet been told,” said Kelly Souders. “The second season of our anthology series will dive deep into the forensic investigation of a simple envelope that sent the entire Eastern Seaboard into a panic.”
“After a terrific collaboration with our friends at National Geographic on ‘The Hot Zone,’ we couldn’t be more excited to be back in business with the same stellar team for another season,” said David W. Zucker, president, Scott Free Television. “All of us well remember the anthrax attacks in 2001, which rocked and terrified the country. We’re eager to tell this extraordinary story of all the drama that unfolded to overcome the attacks and identify the perpetrator.”
The six-hour scientific thriller follows last year’s “The Hot Zone,” which starred Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) Award winner Julianna Margulies and was National Geographic’s most-watched scripted series of all time and ranked the second most-watched series on the network of all time. The May 27, 2019, Memorial Day, three-night, premiere event lifted National Geographic to the No. 5 ad-supported cable network in the target demo for the night and No. 2 among Total Viewers. Across 12 broadcasts through the May 29 finale (premieres and repeats), the series was viewed by 7.5 million people in the U.S. The original series was based on Richard Preston’s bestselling book of the same name and was inspired by the true events surrounding the origins of the Ebola virus and its arrival on U.S. soil in 1989.
“The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is the newest addition to the network’s scripted programming slate that takes groundbreaking storytelling further. This project follows National Geographic’s previously announced scripted series including highly anticipated “Genius: Aretha,” the recent premiere of “The Right Stuff” on Disney+, and critically acclaimed limited series “Barkskins,” last year’s top-rated “The Hot Zone” and previous Emmy Award-winning installments of “Genius: Einstein” and “Genius: Picasso.”10
Emily In Paris Season Two.
“Emily in Paris” follows Emily (Lily Collins), an ambitious twenty-something marketing executive from Chicago, who unexpectedly lands a job in Paris when her company acquires a French luxury marketing company. She is tasked with revamping their social media strategy, and embarks on a new life in Paris is filled with adventures and challenges, as she juggles winning over her work colleagues, making friends, and navigating new romances. The series was shot entirely on location in Paris and throughout France.
Prior to its premiere, series creator Darren Star (who is also behind “Sex and the City” and “Younger”) addressed how “Emily in Paris” portrays the culture clash that Emily struggles to come to terms with.
“It’s an American show, it’s not a French show. It’s an American point of view and an American experience about being in Paris…I think it pokes fun at both cultures,” Star told Variety.
The series is produced by MTV Studios, Darren Star Productions and Jax Media. In addition to Star, it is executive produced by Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns of Jax Media, and Andrew Fleming. Collins serves as a producer on the show.
News of the renewal was announced via a tongue-in-cheek fictional letter from Emily’s snooty Parisian boss Paris Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) to her American boss Madeline Wheeler (Kate Walsh), which regrettably (or perhaps not) informed the latter that Emily will be staying in Paris “for an extended period of time.”
LEGO Masters Season Two.
“LEGO MASTERS raised the bar for all competition series, wowing fans with its wildly creative builds,” said Wade. “Add to that our insanely dynamic host, Will Arnett, and it’s just a great hour of family-friendly fun. We can’t wait to see this new batch of LEGO contestants attempt to master Season Two’s even bigger and better challenges, brick by brick.”
“I’m looking forward to getting back to the fun with this next block of shows,” said Arnett. “To say that these LEGO puns write themselves takes away from the work I’ve done over the last two and a half minutes.”
Based on the hit British reality-competition series of the same name, LEGO MASTERS brings imagination, design and creativity to life when teams of LEGO enthusiasts go head-to-head, with infinite possibilities and an unlimited supply of LEGO bricks. Teams of two compete against each other in ambitious brick-building challenges to be crowned the country’s most talented amateur LEGO builders. In each episode, the competing pairs who impress the judges the most progress to the next round, until the finale, during which the top teams will face off for a cash prize, the ultimate LEGO trophy and the grand title of LEGO MASTERS.
The Umbrella Academy Season Three.
On one day in 1989, 43 infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. Seven are adopted by billionaire industrialist Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who creates the Umbrella Academy and prepares his “children” to save the world. In their teenage years, though, the family fractures and the team disbands. Fast forward to the present time, when the six surviving members of the clan reunite upon the news of Hargreeves’ passing. They work together to solve a mystery surrounding their father’s death, but divergent personalities and abilities again pull the estranged family apart, and a global apocalypse is another imminent threat. The series is based on a collection of comics and graphic novels created and written by My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way.
The Expanse Season Six.
Amazon Studios today announced it has ordered a sixth and final season of the fan-favorite Amazon Original series The Expanse, based on James S.A. Corey’s best-selling books.
The Expanse is set in the future where humanity has colonized the solar system and the people of Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt have long been in opposition with one another. When the crew of the Rocinante uncovers an ancient alien technology, a vast conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will bring the solar system to the brink of war.
The Expanse is a high-action, sci-fi adventure that explores the depth of humanity against the far-spanning reaches of the known universe. The series is rooted in science and fiction while remaining a thorough and thoughtful examination of some of the most vital societal issues of our day.
The Hugo award-winning series, based on the hugely popular science fiction novels by James S.A. Corey, was developed and scripted by the Academy Award-nominated writing duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby who executive produce the series alongside Naren Shankar, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Laura Lancaster, Sharon Hall, Sean Daniel and Jason Brown of Hivemind, Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck and Dan Nowak. Shankar serves as showrunner for all seasons. The Expanse is produced by Alcon Television Group.
The Expanse series was picked up by Amazon Prime Video in 2018 for a fourth season, which released globally as an Amazon Original Series in December 2019. The much anticipated fifth season of The Expanse will debut beginning December 16th, 2020 with three episodes and will continue to debut one episode weekly through February 3, 2021.
Mysteries of the Abandoned Renewed.
“An abandoned North Carolina ghost town which briefly served as the backdrop for the dystopian blockbuster film The Hunger Games. A world-renowned yoga center nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas that once recruited the likes of The Beatles and Mia Farrow in search for Nirvana, now untouched and left alone for decades. A vast labyrinth of subterranean tunnels lying beneath the busy streets of Ukraine with ties to KGB spies, Nazis and criminals who once called the catacombs home.
Once important and significant sites and structures across the globe, today these abandoned marvels are mere ghosts of their once rich – sometimes haunting – history. In an all new season of Science Channel’s hit series, MYSTERIES OF THE ABANDONED, experts reveal the stories behind these remarkable places and why they were left behind.
In the northern Dead Sea, a once popular Israeli tourist resort closed suddenly when the safety of guests became of grave concern due to a massive sinkhole engulfing a parking lot, rooms and several palm trees. Once a sought-after destination for travelers around the world, today the buildings stand abandoned as the Dead Sea retreats and more sinkholes emerge at an alarming rate. Sitting high in a sheer cliff face on the Italian island of Sardinia, a strange castle remains eerily abandoned, begging many to wonder what its purpose was at one point in time. Was it built as a defensive structure, or meant to serve as a solution to an impossible engineering problem for nearby mining operations?
Also this season, on a mysterious volcanic island in the East China sea, strange structures sit eerily on a large plateau littered with concrete ‘caves,’ unnatural tunnels and echoes of a dark past. Now a popular destination for visitors eager to understand its shadowed history, this island was once the staging post for untold destruction, anti-communist violence and the killing of thousands of people over time.