TV News Wrap-Up: Jensen Ackles Working on ‘Supernatural’ Prequel, ‘Ziwe’ Renewed, ‘Good Girls’ Canceled

Showtime renews its newest comedy hit, Netflix wants more of TV legends, and AMC builds Anne Rice universe.

Fire up Baby, grab the salt and check out this week’s news!

NBC Cancels ‘Good Girls’ After 4 Seasons

• TV’s most entertaining criminals have pulled their last heist, as Good Girls has been canceled after four seasons on NBC.
• Starring Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman, the show follows three regular women whose dire financial troubles thrust them into a life of crime. The trio must stay ahead of a crime boss, the police, and their families while trying to find a way out.
• The series just returned for its summer premiere and has five episodes left in Season 4. As of this writing, NBC will continue to air those episodes Thursdays at 10/9c.
• Including Good Girls Season 4 Episodes 10 and 11, “Strong Sales Strong Hearts / Put It All On Two,” the series is averaging 1. 5 million viewers and a 0.34 demo rating, ranking it next to last among NBC’s 14 dramas.
• At first, there was hope Good Girls could possibly move to Netflix, where the first three seasons are streaming, but that won’t be happening.
• Good Girls airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC, with the final two episodes airing July 22 at 9/8c. 

Jensen Ackles Developing ‘Supernatural’ Prequel

• It seems neither The CW nor Jensen Ackles is done with Supernatural. Along with his wife Danneel Ackles, the show’s star is working on a prequel focused on Sam and Dean’s parents John and Mary.
• Deadline reports, The Winchesters has a script commitment at The CW, and is being written/executive produced by former Supernatural executive producer Robbie Thompson.
• Ackles would reprise Dean Winchester as the narrator of a story that follows John and Mary’s romance and life as young hunters.
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Samantha Smith portrayed John and Mary as recurring guest stars, with Matt Cohen playing a younger version of John.
• Supernatural recently wrapped up its 15-season run on The CW, ending with Sam, Dean, and Jack defeating Chuck.
• Additionally, Jensen Ackles will next be seen as Soldier Boy in The Boys Season 3.

‘Interview with the Vampire’ Series at AMC

• AMC has finally revealed its plans for the rights to Anne Rice’s novels. The network is adapting Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire” into a series for AMC and AMC+.
• Mark Johnson who has previously worked with the network on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul will executive produce and oversee its entire Anne Rice universe, while Rolin Jones will be showrunner on the series.
• “The challenge of adapting for television the groundbreaking and immensely compelling work of Anne Rice is both intimidating and exhilarating,” Johnson said. “Having previously produced films from such singular works, I recognize both the responsibility and the obligation we owe the material. I strongly believe that with AMC and Rolin Jones we are equipped to meet this challenge and to thrill and entertain both the loyal Anne Rice fan and the viewer who is just now discovering her work.”
• Interview with the Vampire was previously adapted into a 1994 feature film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, and young newcomer Kirsten Dunst.
• AMC’s deal includes all the novels in The Vampire Chronicles, as well as The Lives of the Mayfair Witches and crossover stories between the two worlds.
• Interview with the Vampire is currently set for a 2022 premiere.

‘The Boys’ Adds Four New Superheroes for Season 3

• The Boys is adding familiar faces to its Season 3 superhero lineup.
• According to Deadline, Nick Wechsler is set to play Blue Hawk, Miles Gaston Villanueva will play Supersonic, and Sean Patrick Flanery is Gunpowder.
• The new characters are not featured in Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book, having been created for the series.
• Additionally, Variety also reports that Laurie Holden will recur in Season 3 as Crimson Countess.
• Jensen Ackles was previously announced for Season 3 as Soldier Boy, the first superhero.
• The Boys is now streaming on Amazon.

‘Ted Lasso,’ ‘I May Destroy You’ Among TV Peabody Winners

• The Peabody Awards revealed its full list of winners, with the entertainment category featuring several TV favorites.
• Deadline reports, I May Destroy You, Small Axe, Ted Lasso, La Llorona, The Good Lord Bird, Unorthodox, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert are all being recognized.
• In the Children & Youth category, Disney Channel’s The Owl House and AppleTV+’s Stillwater received honors.
• HBO had several documentaries recognized, while PBS, CNN, and ABC were honored for news coverage of the 2020 presidential election, Covid-19 pandemic, and Breonna Taylor’s murder.
• Small Axe is streaming on Amazon.
• I May Destroy You is streaming on HBO Max.
• Unorthodox is streaming on Netflix.
• La Llorona is streaming on Shudder.
• The Good Lord Bird is streaming on Showtime.
• Ted Lasso is streaming on AppleTV+, with Season 2 premiering Friday, July 23.
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 pm/10:35c on CBS.

‘Ziwe’ Renewed for Season 2 at Showtime

• Showtime continues to expand its late-night comedy offerings by renewing sketch series Ziwe, per Variety.
• Ziwe stars and executive produces the show, which includes sketches, interviews, and musical performances.
• Season 2 is set for 12 episodes, split into two outings.
• “This show has exceeded my wildest imagination thanks to my brilliant cast, crew and iconic guests,” said Ziwe. “I am famously delighted to continue my collaboration with Showtime and A24.”
• Ziwe will stay busy, as Variety reports she is developing the comedy The Nigerian Princess for Amazon.
• The show features “Zoe, a wise-beyond-her-years 20-something who, debilitated by student debt, partners with a known grifter in a desperate bid to achieve the American Dream. The two prep school grads make an unlikely alliance all while secretly plotting to scam each other.”
• Ziwe is streaming on Showtime.

Brian Tyree Henry, Kate Mara to Lead ‘Class of ’09’ at FX on Hulu

• FX is keeping it in the family for its next drama. Network vets Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara will star in Class of ’09 for FX on Hulu, per Variety.
• The eight-episode limited series is “set in a near future where the U.S. criminal justice system has been transformed by artificial intelligence. It follows a group of FBI agents who graduated from Quantico in 2009 and are reunited following the death of a mutual friend. Spanning three decades and told across three interweaving timelines, the series examines the nature of justice, humanity and the choices people make that ultimately define their lives and their legacy.”
• Henry is Tayo Miller, “one of the most brilliant and unorthodox Agents ever to join the Bureau, a man who seeks not merely to make his mark on the institution but to remake it entirely.”
• Mara plays Amy Poet, “a woman who never imagined joining the world of law enforcement and finds herself at the center of its most pivotal moment of transformation.”
• “Class of ’09 brings together an incredible team of artists who have contributed to several of FX’s most distinctive and successful series from American Crime Story and Pose to Atlanta and A Teacher,” said Gina Balian, president of original programming for FX. “With a story from Tom Rob Smith, produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson and starring Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara, Class of ’09 is primed to reimagine the course of justice in this unique and timely thriller.”

Netflix Renews ‘The Upshaws’ for Season 2

• Netflix finally has another comedy hit on its hands and has decided to renew The Upshaws for Season 2, per Deadline.
• Starring Mike Epps, Kim Fields, and Wanda Sykes, the series follows Bennie, a mechanic trying to take care of his wife Regina (Fields) and his kids while dealing with his sister-in-law Lucretia (Sykes).
• Season 2 will include 16 episodes split into two eight-episode installments.
• Sykes is co-executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Regina Hicks. Epps is also an executive producer.
• “We are so excited we get to bring this amazing show back for a second season,” Hicks said. “And thankful that Netflix saw and felt all the love we got for this wonderful family. Looking forward to bringing more Upshaws’ joy to all who fell in love with them.”
• The Upshaws is now streaming on Netflix.

‘NCIS’ Adds Gary Cole, Katrina Law for Season 19

• The bright orange squad room is going to look different on NCIS Season 19. Not only has Katrina Law officially become a series regular, but TV vet Gary Cole is joining the long-running procedural.
• TVLine reports, Cole will play FBI Special Agent Alden Park., with sources stressing that he was not “replacing” Gibbs.
• According to TVLine, Mark Harmon is only set to appear in a minimal number of Season 19 episodes.
• After being suspended for assaulting a suspect, Gibbs spent the end of Season 18 chasing a serial killer alongside reporter Marcie Warren, played by Pam Dawber. In the season finale, Gibbs was on the water in his new boat when it exploded, and he secretly swam away from the wreckage.
• Law joined the series in the last two Season 18 episodes as NCIS REACT Special Agent Jessica Knight. As the lone survivor after her team is ambushed, she’s not ready to return to REACT, and worked with McGee and Torres to clear Bishop.
• Law’s role always had the possibility to become a series regular.
• NCIS is streaming on CBS, with Season 19 premiering in the fall, where the show will now air Mondays at 9/8c.

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