Young Sheldon Prequel Ordered To Series By CBS
CBS has decided that, as it enters an era without its flagship comedy The Big Bang Theory, it would continue to rely on the name. Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory's prequel, is getting a prequel of its own. The show is tentatively titled "Young Young Sheldon". The TV Ratings Guide has gotten its hands on the pilot script, and essentially the entire episode takes place in a hospital during Sheldon's birth. It will continue on to follow Young Young Sheldon's milestones, such as his first car ride, first cry, and first time in a crib. Iain Armitage, who plays Young Sheldon, was asked to do a narration for it but turned it down, so an unnamed CBS executive will do it instead.
The CW Expands Summer Programming With Mark Pedowitz Stand-Up Specials
Mark Pedowitz, The CW's President, will be the first to tell you that the network's financial model is based off of Netflix. Their shows are even marked as 'Netflix Originals' in some countries, and Netflix viewing during a hiatus can lead to a bump in the ratings that lasts like two weeks.
However, The CW's unscripted programming often starts and ends with reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and Masters of Illusion. Not anymore. In compliance with a request from Netflix, The CW will be introducing stand-up specials this summer to be released to Netflix the day after airing. Mark Pedowitz inked a 10-special deal, worth approximately $200 million overall.
FOX Invents New Sport To Carry Their Tuesday Lineup
Now that FOX's sister studio got bought out by Disney, the network is transitioning to "New Fox", which will put a heavier focus on live sports, news, and unscripted shows. The network has struggled to form a cohesive Tuesday night for years, and has now decided that the solution is to invent their own sport.
The sport, titled cruffleball, only has a name and no premise. But all good things have to start somewhere.
The Good Place Fires Four Main Cast Members, Replaces Them All With D'Arcy Carden
Did you see that episode of The Good Place where one actress played not only her own character, but also four of the five other main characters? What some saw as an innovative episode turned out to actually be a test. NBC has announced that Kristen Bell, Jameela Jamil, William Jackson Harper, and Manny Jacinto have all been released from their contracts in favor of D'Arcy Carden, who will now play five characters permanently instead of just one. NBC is reportedly saving multi-millions of dollars with this move on the show, as the payroll is now incredibly small. In fact, Carden will also be playing all the background and recurring characters. Basically, the show's fourth season will be 70% her, 5% Ted Danson, and 25% commercials.
Siberia Canceled by NBC
NBC has canceled sci-fi drama Siberia after one season. The show aired in summer 2013.
On a serious note, if this show was actually officially canceled, somebody tell Wikipedia and Reddit because they really want to know.
Networks and Streaming Services Getting Ready To Make Offers As The Trade Deadline Nears
I am hearing that Hulu, CBS, and FOX are in talks of a major deal. The deal would involve FOX sending Seth MacFarlane and his current and future projects to Hulu in exchange for The Handmaid's Tale and a lead actor from The Big Bang Theory to be named later. CBS will take the rights to air reruns of Mental Samurai.
Elsewhere, ABC is reportedly agreeing to trade The Goldbergs and Schooled to NBC in exchange for The Titan Games and a yet-to-be-developed filler reality series. It'll have some sports or movie star as a host, I assume.
Many of FOX's shows are expected to be free agents soon despite solid performances; I hear that Hulu is interested in pursuing Star, but I also hear that they're not.