The Total Screen's Weekly Newsletter 011 - July 11th, 2018

News

• Netflix is testing new plan tiers in various territories, sometimes charging more for HDR, and at other times only offering more simultaneous streams.  In addition, Netflix will be removing their user rating system this summer.  The service will stop accepting new reviews at the end of the month, and remove it entirely next month.
• In their planning for 1 more bid to crush the dreams of Marvel fanboys, Comcast has been talking to potential partners to help outbid Disney's $71.3 Billion offer for the assets of 20th Century Fox.  Disney and Fox Shareholders are expected to vote on the potential merger at the end of the month.
• Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company is teaming with AT&T to offer an absurdly overpriced video on demand platform.  For $35/month ($10 for the first 3), subscribers gain access to 2 shows, the unscripted series Shine On With Reese, and a docuseries about decluttering.
• The appropriately named new head of Warner Media (and former AT&T executive), John Stankey, has stated that HBO will be pushed in a new direction towards greater profitability through larger subscriber numbers, in order to compete with Netflix.  Stankey is quoted as saying “We need hours a day, it’s not hours a week, and it’s not hours a month. We need hours a day. You are competing with devices that sit in people’s hands that capture their attention every 15 minutes.”
• Voice Actors for streaming services like Netflix and Amazon are threatening to strike with the support of their union SAG-AFTRA.  SAG-AFTRA members have until July 18th to vote on a strike, with a required 75% vote in favor of a strike in order to act.
• The pilot episode for one of the in development Game of Thrones spin-offs is set to go into production this October.  Furthermore, the prequel series will film in Belfast, home to the production of the original series.
• Kevin Smith posted on Instagram about new life for a pilot he shot in 2016 called Hollyweed.
• Sanditon, the unfinished novel by Jane Austen, is in development as a series for the UK's ITV, with PBS Masterpiece holding the American broadcasting rights.
• Netflix has ordered a spin-off to SyFy's zombie series Z-Nation.  Black Summer, the aforementioned series, will be further disclosed at next week's Comic Con.
• Netflix has ordered The Dragon Prince to series.  The animated fantasy series comes from Aaron Ehasz (Avatar: The Last Airbender).
• Paramount has ordered 68 Whiskey, a dark comedy from Ron Howard (Apollo 13).
• Ingress, the AR mobile game from the creators of Pokemon Go, is getting an anime series on Netflix this fall.  The series is timed to debut alongside the launch of Ingress Prime, the mobile game's sequel.
• Showtime's mystery comedy series has been revealed to be Who is America?, the next faux interview show from Sacha Baron Cohen (Da Ali G Show).  The new series has Cohen interviewing political figures in America, tricking them, and then using the footage to assemble a narrative.  A trailer for thew show can be found bellow in our trailers section.
• Netflix has ordered 2 new anime series: Ultraman and Kengan Ashura.
• It is now official, HBO has ordered a one hour, live, Flight Of The Conchords special.
• Netflix has ordered Freud, an Australian thriller that fictionalizes the life of a young Sigmund Freud.  In the series, the famed Psychoanalyst fights crime in Vienna during the 19th century.
• A proposed second Psych TV movie has been delayed due to the schedules of series leads James Roday and Dule Hill. 
• Mimi Leder (Thick as Thieves) has been hired to helm Apple’s yet to be titled drama from Jennifer Aniston (The Yellow Birds) and Reese Witherspoon (Big Little Lies).
• James Hawes (Black Mirror) will direct the reshoots of TNT's Snowpiercer series that the pilot's original Director, Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange), refused to film.
• Netflix has rounded out the cast of Ricky Gervais' (The Office) new series After Life with Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), David Bradley (Game of Thrones), Ashley Jensen (Extras), Tom Basden (Plebs), Tony Way (Edge of Tomorrow), David Earl (Cemetery Junction), Joe Wilkinson (Him and Her), Kerry Godliman (Derek), and several Actors from Gervais' own David Brent: Life On The Road joining Gervais himself on the comedy series about a man trying to punish the world after the death of his wife.
• Married With Children's Christina Applegate is set to lead the cast of Dead to Me, Netflix's dark comedy series from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (Anchorman).
• Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) is set to star in Apple's futuristic epic drama series See.
• Namsi Khan (Humans) and Francesca Gardiner (The Rook) have joined the writers room for season 2 of The Night Manager.
• Juno Temple (Horns) and Julia Garner (Ozark) have been cast in Bravo's Dirty John.
• Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) has signed on to direct The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel movie to The Sopranos.
• YouTube Star Jahkara Smith has been cast in NOS4A2, AMC's adaptation of Joe Hill's (Locke & Key) horror novel.
• Melissa Fumero and Stephanie Beatriz  (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) will guest star in Netflix's One Day at a Time.
• Dakota Fanning (The Alienist) and Kōichi Yamadera (Cowboy Bebop) have joined the voice cast of Rooster Teeth's animated mech series, gen:Lock.
• Michael K. William (The Wire), Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel), and John Leguizamo (John Wick) have joined the cast of Netflix's Central Park 5, a limited series from Ava DuVernay (Selma)
• Adam Devine (Modern Family) has been cast in Danny McBride’s (Vice Principals) new HBO series The Righteous Gemstones
• Davi Santos (Power Rangers: Dino Charge) has been cast in CBS All Access' Tell Me A Story.
• Rosario Dawson (Guardians of the Galaxy) has been cast in the pilot for USA's Briarpatch.
• Netflix has ordered a second season for Aggretsuko, the animated series about cute animal characters working in a Japenese office, and the panda, Retsuko, who vents her frustrations from work by singing death metal karaoke.

Trailers

Take Two - ABC

 

The Outpost -The CW

 

 

Orange is the New Black - Netflix

Insatiable - Netflix

 

Aggretsuko - Netflix

 

Jack Ryan - Amazon

 

Ordeal by Innocence - Amazon

Catsle Rock - Hulu

Super Mansion - Crackle

 

Who is America? - Showtime

Mayans MC - FX

Versailles - Ovation

Mr Mercedes - Audience AT&T/DirecTV

Sick of It - Sky1 (UK)

 

Podcast

The Weekly Set Podcast Episode 163

Luke Cage Season 2

Schedule

For our full Schedule, click here. 

Wednesday, July 11th, 2018Harlots - Hulu
Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters - TruTV

Sunday, July 15th, 2018Our Cartoon President - Showtime
Bonus Family - Netflix
The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale - Netflix
Who is America? - Showtime

Wednesday, July 18th, 2018
Suits - USA

Thursday, July 19th, 2018
Trial & Error: Lady Killer – NBC
Snowfall - FX

Friday, July 20th, 2018
Outcast – Cinemax
Killjoys - SyFy
Wynonna Earp - SyFy
Jimmy: The True Story of a True Idiot  - Netflix
The Paynes - OWN 

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018
Castle Rock - Hulu
Burden of Truth - The CW

Thursday, July 26th, 2018
Swedish Dicks - Pop

Friday, July 27th, 2018
Orange is the New Black - Netflix
Welcome to the Family - Netflix

Monday, July 30th, 2018
A Very Secret Service - Netflix

Tuesday, July 31st, 2018
Casual – Hulu
Terrace House: Opening New Doors - Netflix
Making It - NBC

Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
The Sinner - USA
Alone Together - Freeform 

Friday, August 3rd, 2018
Animals - HBO

Sunday, August 5th, 2018
Chesapeake Shores - Hallmark
The Venture Bros. - Adult Swim/Cartoon Network

Monday, August 6th, 2018
Better Call Saul - AMC
Lodge 49 - AMC

Tuesday, August 7th, 2018
Carter - WGN
Castaways - ABC

Friday, August 10th, 2018
La casa de las flores - Netflix
All About the Washingtons - Netflix
Insatiable - Netflix
Ordeal by Innocence - Amazon