TV News Wrap-Up: ‘Batwoman’ to Replace Kate Kane, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Cast Donates $100,000 to Black Lives Matter, Legends of Tomorrow Cast Member Departs

Change is happening and that is especially evident in the television landscape. 

This week, a cast member has departing one of The CW shows, another cast has made a significant contribution to Black Lives Matter, and an actor called out a show for its portrayal of Black characters. 

Take a look at these stories in-depth in this week’s TV news wrap-up: 

Legends of Tomorrow‘s finale revealed that Maisie Richardson-Sellers will not be returning as a regular for Season 6.

• Richarson-Sellers recently played Charlie, who decided to stay behind in 1970s London with her punk band The Smell. 
• Co-showrunner Phil Klemmer said that this plot was well over a year in the works and was spearheaded by Richardson-Seller’s desire to make her mark as a filmmaker. 
• “We knew that [Maisie] was wanting to make her mark as a filmmaker on her own, and so that allowed us to craft a story that would, hopefully, make for a satisfying conclusion. The finale was sort of all about her. For me, it’s so bittersweet, bringing it back to that punk club and The Smell… The good thing is that people are allowed to come back and have come back,” Kleemer told TV Line. 
• Prior to playing Charlie, Richardson-Sellers played Amaya Jiwe on Legends of Tomorrow. Amaya departed the Wayfarer team in the Season 3 finale, returning to the 19

Charisma Carpenter will return to The CW Seed’s Pandora for Season 2. 

• A TV Line exclusive reports that she has been upgraded from a guest star to a recurring character. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum premiered on the Season 1 finale. Production is expected to commence this summer in Bulgaria. 

Law & Order: Hate Crimes will likely be heading to Peacock over language concerns.

• TV Line reports that the series was ordered in September 2018 and then paused six-months later as the creative team focused on getting the story right instead of meeting an artificial deadline.
• Now showrunner Warren Leight has expressed concern over the language that would be used to authentically tell the stories. On The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 Podcast he says: “The vocabulary people use when they commit hate crimes is not acceptable on network television, and that’s an interesting consideration.”
• Leight also said that Law & Order: Hate Crimes is a show that needs to be made, citing the way it dovetails with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to focus on the victims, their families, and communities. 
• Law & Order: Hate Crimes has been given a 13-episode order and the unit was supposed to be introduced in the 20th season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. 
• While Law & Order: Hate Crimes remains in development, the on-going adventures of Eliot Stabler remain a priority for the network.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast and its executive producer made a $100,000 donation to the National Bail Fund. 

• Co-creator Dan Goor posted to Twitter stating, “condemn the murder of George Floyd and support the many people who are protesting police brutality nationwide. Together we have made a $100,000 donation to the National Bail Fund Network. We encourage you to look up your local bail fund: the National Bail Fund Network is an organization that can lead you to them. #blacklivesmatter.”
• Cast members Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio and Joel McKinnon Miller also posted the statement.

The CW has ordered Patrick Dempsey’s Devils for the fall. 

• This is a move to shore-up it’s coronavirus-compromised, acquisition-heavy, fall schedule. TV Line reports that this international series will air Wednesdays at 8 pm leading into the investigative drama, Coroner. Devils stars Patrick Dempsey and Italian actor Alessandro Borghi.

Batwoman has announced that it will not recast Kate Kane and instead kick off Season 2 with a new character.

• In the wake of Ruby Rose’s sudden departure from the series, the network has opted to recast another actress instead of having audiences get used to a new face. 
• While no further details have been released officially, Decider reported on a leaked casting breakdown for the new character who is “…about to become Batwoman” and she is nothing like Kate Kane. 
• The character, named Ryan Wilder, in the breakdown, is described as messy, goofy, and untamed. 
• The breakdown went on to describe Wilder as, “With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero.”
• Warner Bros. and The CW previously stated that another LGBTQ actress would be cast in the role. 

Nickelodeon, MTV, and other Viacom Networks aired a powerful tribute to George Floyd entitled, “I Can’t Breathe.”

• TV Line reports that the multi-network broadcast which occurred on Monday at 6/5c lasted for 8 minutes in 46 seconds, the same amount of time former Minneapolis Police Officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck.
• On their social media platforms the networks said: “For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, we will go dark in tribute to George Floyd. We dedicate this time to the victims of police brutality and the powerful movement fighting for justice.”
• The networks also pointed followers to Color of Change, an organizationt that designs, “campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, [and] champion solutions that move us all forward.”
• Nickelodeon shared a different message with their younger audience called The Declarations of Kids’ Rights.

Vanessa Morgan tweeted about the way Black people are portrayed in Media and prompted a response from Riverdale‘s creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. 

• Morgan, who plays Toni Topaz tweeted saying she is “tired of us being portrayed as thugs, dangerous or angry scary people. Tired of us also being used as sidekick non-dimensional characters to our white leads. Or only used in the ads for diversity but not actually in the show.” 
• In a reply she later added, “…too bad I’m the only black series regular but also paid the least girl i could go on for days“
• TV Line documented the tweets, also citing an earlier tweet in which Morgan suggested that Katy Keene write for Josie the same way they write for their white characters. Morgan also urged her fans not to take it out on her Riverdale castmates. 
• Executive Producer Roberto Aguire-Sacasa responded to Morgan’s comments saying that all Riverdale writers have made a donation to Black Lives Matter and that the work would continue in the writers room. 

—

What is your favorite bit of TV news this week? Let us know in the comments below. 

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Ashley’s 15 Most Influential Female TV Characters