TV News Wrap-Up: ‘His Dark Materials’ Renewed for Third and Final Season, Mike Flanagan Reveals Future of ‘The Haunting…’ Anthology, ‘Sex and the City’ Reboot Eyed at HBO Max

As 2020 starts to wane, most networks tend to take a breather on announcements. 

While the week between Christmas and New Year’s may be light on TV news there are still a few notable headlines to take notice of. 

Take a look at the highlights you may have missed from this week. 

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Mike Flanagan reveals there are currently no plans for more chapters of The Haunting… anthology. 

• Flanagan responded to a fan question on Twitter saying, “At the moment there are no plans for more chapters. Never say never, of course, but right now we are focused on a full slate of other Intrepid [Pictures] projects for 2021 and beyond. If things change we will absolutely let everyone know.” 
• Deadline understands that Flanagan has other character-driven dramas in the works at the streamer as part of an exclusive TV deal.

The CW has given a green light to a docuseries entitled All American Stories. 

• Deadline reports that the new series inspired by athletes who have defied the odds to achieve their goals. 
• The series will be co-hosted by Pac-12 Network’s Yogi Roth and former NFL player Spencer Payslinger, whose life story inspired the hit series All American. 
• The series will premiere, “…as two one-hour specials on The CW network. Following each special, the one-hour All American Stories will be available free for streaming on The CW app and cwtv.com and as an 8-part docuseries on CW Seed, The CW’s digital network.”
• The first part will air on January 11th and the second part will air on February 1st. 

B Positive gets five-episode back order from CBS.

• The new episodes bring the freshman comedy’s first season count to 18, making it a full season.
• Deadline reports, “B Positive was the first new CBS show to debut as part of the 2020/21 broadcast season and it is the second show of the unusual season to receive a back order, coming two weeks after ABC gave a six-episode back order to drama Big Sky.”
• The series has performed relatively well in the Thursday night comedy slate alongside Young Sheldon and Mom. It has kept its audience across the five episodes it has aired so far and will return to the schedule on January 7th. 

HBO Max is eyeing a Sex and the City reboot.

• TVLine reports that if the deal goes through it will air as a limited series on the streamer and will star Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon.
• Kim Cattrall, however, is not expected to return. In previous interviews, the actress has been very vocal about her desire to leave the franchise, her co-stars, and the character of Samantha in the past.
• According to Deadline, this would be the latest series to be rebooted by the streamer after True Blood and In Treatment, the later of which will star Uzo Aduba in the lead role. 
• The original series ran for six seasons and 94 episodes on HBO between 1998-2004 and produced two feature-length movies in 2008 and 2010. A third movie was in the cards, but never progressed. 
• A spin-off called The Carrie Diaries aired in 2013 starring AnnaSophia Robb as a young Carrie Bradshaw. It ran for two seasons. 

CBS makes a pilot commitment to one comedy and put another into development.

• Deadline reports that CBS has granted a pilot commitment to The Smart One. The series “…revolves around two sisters who are reunited when the smart one – who was supposed to be successful – moves in with the screw-up, who actually became a success.
• They have also put into development Middle Class Murdochs. This series follows, “…the owner of a successful carpet store in Ohio [who] is retiring, so he must decide which of his four grown children will take over the family business.
• The Smart One hails from Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, who most recently created the Patricia Heaton-led comedy Carol’s Second Act and co-wrote the 2019 film Booksmart. Their previous credits also include Black-ish, Good Girls, and The Mayor.
• Middle Class Murdochs hails from Nedaa Sweiss and writer Jonathan Adler.  Sweiss is currently co-showrunner and Adler is a writer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

His Dark Materials has scored a third and final season renewal at HBO and BBC. 

• Deadline reports that the third and final season will begin production in Cardiff, Wales in 2021.
• The final season will consist of eight episodes and will be based on Phillip Pullman’s book The Amber Spyglass.
• “Bringing Phillip Pullman’s epic, intricate, and culturally resonant body of work to television has been a tremendous privilege. We thank our incredible partners at the BBC and the entire Bad Wolf team, led by the indefatigable Jane Tranter, for their exceptional work on the first two seasons.  We look forward to completing the trilogy with this final chapter in Lyra’s journey,” said Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. 

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