TV News Wrap-Up: ‘NCIS’ and ‘NCIS: L.A.’ Get Tentative Start Dates, ‘CSI’ Event Series Eyes Green Light, ‘Clueless’ Reboot in the Works

Moving through summer, it’s easy to forget that there is a wealth of fall shows that haven’t gone into production due to COVID-19. Fortunately, all that will change. 

Production centers are starting to think about reopening and series are being ordered. Take a look at all the highlights from this week in TV news on the TV news wrap-up. 

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CSI event series eyes green light with two stars in talks to return.

• Deadline reports that William Petersen and Jorja Fox are in talks to return and Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle.
• The series will reportedly be titled CSI: Vegas and has not officially been ordered, but filming is expected to start in the fall should COVID conditions permit.
• Casting is underway for four new actors that will join Grissom and Sidle. Three of them are expected to be people of color. 
• The series is described as follows, “Facing an existential threat that could bring down the Crime Lab, a brilliant team of forensic investigators must welcome back old friends and deploy new techniques to preserve and serve justice in Sin City.”

Peacock Orders YA mystery One of Us Is Lying to series.

• The streamer has ordered an adaptation of the YA novel by Karen M. McManus to series after ordering the pilot last year. 
• The series will have an eight-episode order.
• Deadline reports that this is the first of Peacock’s pilot orders that have been picked up to series.
• The series follows the story of “…five high schoolers walk into detention and only four make it out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. 
• The pilot was written by Erica Saleh (Evil) with Darío Madrona, co-creator of Netflix’s Elite as showrunner.

UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, is developing a coast guard drama called So Others May Live.

• According to Deadline, “The pilot follows a search-and-rescue helicopter crew dealing with the aftermath of tragedy as they attempt to pick up the pieces and resume their duties as elite first responders on the front lines of crisis.”
• The project will be helmed by writer-producer Stephen Meinen and Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp is on board to produce.

There’s a Clueless reboot headed to Peacock.

• The project has been in development since last October and is helmed by Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickey (Will & Grace) and CBS TV Studios, but no network or streaming platform was attached.
• Deadline reports, that the series will follow Dionne, the character played by Stacey Dash in the movie and 1996 series adaptation. 
• The series is described as, “a baby pink and bisexual blue-tinted, tiny sunglasses-wearing, oat milk latté and Adderall-fueled look at what happens when the high school queen bee Cher disappears and her lifelong No. 2 Dionne steps into Cher’s vacant Air Jordans. How does Dionne deal with the pressures of being the new most popular girl in school, while also unraveling the mystery of what happened to her best friend?

NCIS and NCIS: LA are cautiously heading back into production with a tentative start date.

• A Deadline exclusive reports that two NCIS series have been assigned early September start dates.
• Bull and Magnum P.I. have also received green lights to begin  
• It also reports, “All these timeframes are fluid and subject to change. But even if half of the tentative plans pan out, CBS should be able to roll out a significant portion of its fall lineup by November.”

MacGruber series ordered at Peacock. 

• The streaming service confirmed on Monday that it has handed a series order to a new adaptation of Will Forte’s MacGuyver parody.
• The series comes ten years after the original movie and eight months since the project was first put into development. 
• The series will have eight episodes.
• TV Line reports, “Forte will serve as writer and executive-produce alongside Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels and original sketch co-creators John Solomon and Jorma Taccone, who will also direct.”

The Crown has found its older Princess Diana for Season 5 and 6.

• Deadline reports that the series revealed the casting on Twitter.
• Princess Diana will be played by Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki. 
• Her previous film credits include A Few Best Men, The Great Gatsby, Everest, The Night Manager, Guardians of the Galaxy, and will be seen in the forthcoming Tenet.

black-ish has released a previously shelved installment of the series on Hulu. 

• The episode, entitled “Please, Baby, Please” was shelved by the network in 2018, and features Anthony Anderson’s Dre telling infant Devante a tale that expresses his concerns about “The Shady King” one year after he was elected president. 
• It also features a conversation between Dre and his eldest son Junior where they argue over the rights of athletes to take a knee during the national anthem. 
• “One of the things that has always made black-ish so special is how it deftly examines delicate social issues in a way that simultaneously entertains and educates,” an ABC rep said in a statement at the time, that was obtained by TVLine. “However, on this episode, there were creative differences we were unable to resolve.”

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

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