TV News Wrap-Up: The CW Renews 12 Shows, Wakanda Series at Disney+, ‘Wynonna Earp’ to End with Fourth Season

A major network basically renews everything, Marvel brings one of its biggest hits to television, and The CW creates another franchise.

Let’s assemble for this week’s news.

Wakanda Series Coming to Disney+

• Black Panther director Ryan Coogler signed an exclusive overall five year deal with Disney TV and his production company Proximity Media.
• According to The Hollywood Reporter, the deal includes a Wakanda series for Disney+, as well as, working on other MCU projects.
• “It’s an honor to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true. As avid consumers of television, we couldn’t be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella,” Coogler said in a statement.
• “We look forward to learning, growing, and building a relationship with audiences all over the world through the Disney platforms,” he continued. “We are especially excited that we will be taking our first leap with Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and their partners at Marvel Studios where we will be working closely with them on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can’t wait to share.”
• Proximity Media will also produce shows for other Disney outlets.
• Coogler is preparing to shoot Black Panther 2, which is currently scheduled for July 8, 2022.

‘Wynonna Earp’ Ending With Fourth Season

• Syfy announced that Wynonna Earp will end with the final episode of season four.
• The show will begin its final run of six episodes Friday, March 5 at 10/9c on Syfy.
• “I’d like to thank our wonderful cast and crew, all of whom were instrumental in bringing Wynonna Earp to our loyal and passionate audience,” series creator/showrunner Emily Andras said in a statement. “We couldn’t be prouder of these last six episodes on Syfy, and are thrilled to share them with our beloved fans, who have changed our lives forever. I have been honored to tell Wynonna and her family’s story, and along with Seven24, Cineflix and CTV Sci-Fi, are hopeful we can continue to share their inspiring tales in the future.”

The CW Grants Early Renewals to Most of its Schedule

• The CW is getting a jump on the 2021-22 TV season with renewals for 12 of its shows.
• TV Line reports All-American, Batwoman, Charmed, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Dynasty, In the Dark, Legacies, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Roswell, New Mexico, The Flash, and Walker have all been picked up for new seasons.
• Walker also added five episodes to its freshman run, which brings it to an 18 episode first season.
• Superman & Lois, premiering Tuesday, Feb. 23, has not been renewed yet, but did get two more episodes added to Season 1, giving it 15.
• “Though we’re just a few weeks into the new season, we wanted to get a strategic head start on next season with these early renewals, which allows our production teams to start laying out story arcs and hiring staff, and at the same time, continues to provide us with a strong, stable schedule to build on for next season,” said CW Chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz in a statement.
• “As The CW’s 2020-2021 season kicks into high gear, we are thrilled creatively with the direction of our first new shows out of the gate, Walker and Superman & Lois, that we wanted to order the additional episodes to complete their first seasons, and we are particularly pleased with the huge success of the launch of Walker, which debuted as our most-watched series premiere in 5 years,” he continued.

Renee Zellweger Set for Limited Series at NBC

• Academy Award-winning actress Renee Zellweger is headed to television to star in and executive produce limited series The Truth About Pam at NBC.
• Deadline reports the project is based on the true-crime podcast and Deadline NBC segments “The Thing About Pam.”
• The case follows the murder of Betsy Faria in 2011, “which resulted in her husband Russ’ conviction. He always insisted that he did not kill her, and his conviction was later overturned as the brutal crime set off a chain of events that would expose a diabolical scheme deeply involving Pam Hupp.”
• The six-episode series is co-produced by NBC News Studios, Zellweger’s company Big Picture Co., and Blumhouse.

The CW Greenlights ‘All-American’ Spinoff Set at HBCU

• The CW is expanding another of its show’s universes with an All-American spinoff that follows Geffri Maya’s Simone to college at an HBCU.
• All-American: Homecoming features Maya, a tennis player from Beverly Hills, as she balances sports, academics, and a possible romance with a basketball player from Chicago.
• All-American will air a backdoor pilot for the spinoff later in the third season.
• All-American airs Monday at 8/7c on The CW.

Tamara Taylor Joins ‘Law and Order: Organized Crime’

• Law and Order: Organized Crime continues to add to an already impressive cast with Bones vet Tamara Taylor, per Deadline.
• Character details for Taylor are being kept under wraps.
• Law and Order: Organized Crime features Elliot Stabler returning to the NYPD after a “devastating personal loss.” He joins a task force taking down the city’s biggest crime syndicates.
• Dylan McDermott was also recently announced as joining the series. However, his role is being kept secret.
• Law and Order: Organized Crime is scheduled to premiere Thursday, April 1 at 10/9c on NBC. Before it, Benson and Stabler will finally reunite on a crossover with Law and Order: SVU.

Paramount+ In Talks for ‘Fraiser’ Revival

• Paramount+ is in the early stages of developing a Fraiser revival.
• Variety reports the talks have just begun, with neither CBS Studios or Paramount commenting on the possible revival. Kelsey Grammer has wanted to bring back the series for awhile, with money said to be the major obstacle.
• A spinoff of Cheers, Fraiser ran for 11 seasons and 264 episodes. The critically acclaimed series won 37 Emmys during its run.
• It starred Grammer as Dr. Fraiser Crane moving to Seattle to host a radio show, while living with his father Martin and housekeeper Daphne. David Hyde Pierce co-starred as Fraiser’s brother Dr. Niles Crane, with Peri Gilpin as radio producer Roz.
• Paramount+ is ViacomCBS’ streaming service rebrand of CBS All Access, and is scheduled to launch March 4. 

 

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