S P ECIAL ISS U E S UNDAY, A P R I L 15 , 20 18
www.Deadline.com
#DeadlineContenders
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THE CONTENDERS EMMYS/Morning Presentations
7:00AM – 8:30AM CATERED BREAKFAST SPONSORED BY
8:37-8:57am Prime Video
(TALENT & SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
WITH THE TEAM OF THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL IN ATTENDANCE AT BREAKFAST: Amy Sherman-Palladino (Creator/EP) Alex Borstein (Actor) Daniel Palladino (EP) Michael Zegen (Actor) Rachel Brosnahan (Actor) Marin Hinkle (Actor) Tony Shalhoub (Actor)
The Dangerous Book for Boys
Bryan Cranston (Co-Creator/EP) Greg Mottola (Co-Creator/EP) Erinn Hayes (Actor) Gabriel Bateman (Actor) Swoosie Kurtz (Actor)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Amy Sherman-Palladino (Creator/EP) Daniel Palladino (EP) Rachel Brosnahan (Actor) Tony Shalhoub (Actor) Alex Borstein (Actor) Michael Zegen (Actor) Marin Hinkle (Actor)
9:00-9:20am HBO
Mosaic
Sharon Stone (Actor)
Vice Principals
Walton Goggins (Actor)
9:23-9:43am Warner Bros. Television Group
Young Sheldon
Steven Molaro (Co-Creator/EP) Iain Armitage (Actor)
Black Lightning
Salim Akil (Showrunner/EP) Mara Brock Akil (EP) Cress Williams (Actor)
9:46-10:06am FOX/Twentieth Century Fox Television
9-1-1
Angela Bassett (Co-EP/Actor) Peter Krause (Actor) Connie Britton (Actor)
LA to Vegas
Dylan McDermott (Actor)
10:09-10:19am POP TV
Schitt’s Creek
Eugene Levy (Co-Creator/EP/Actor) Daniel Levy (Co-Creator/EP/Actor) Catherine O’Hara (Actor) Annie Murphy (Actor)
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THE CONTENDERS EMMYS/Morning Presentations 10:22-10:42am Starz
(TALENT & SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Howards End
Kenneth Lonergan (Writer) Hayley Atwell (Actor)
Vida
Tanya Saracho (Showrunner/EP) Melissa Barrera (Actor) Mishel Prada (Actor) Ser Anzoategui (Actor) Chelsea Rendon (Actor)
10:45-10:55am TNT
The Alienist
Jakob Verbruggen (EP/Director) Daniel Brühl (Actor) Dakota Fanning (Actor)
10:58-11:08am TBS
CONAN
Conan O’Brien (Host/Writer)
11:11-11:31am ABC Studios
black-ish
Anthony Anderson (EP/Actor) Tracee Ellis Ross (Actor)
grown-ish
Yara Shahidi (Actor)
SMILF
Frankie Shaw (Creator/EP/Actor)
11:34-11:44am TV Land
Younger
Hilary Duff (Actor) Miriam Shor (Actor) Peter Hermann (Actor)
11:47-12:07pm IFC
Portlandia
Carrie Brownstein (Creator/EP/Writer/Director/Actor)
Brockmire
Hank Azaria (EP/Actor)
One Strange Rock
Darren Aronofsky (EP) Jane Root (EP) Jeff Hoffman (Former Astronaut, 50 Days in Space) Nicole Stott (Former Astronaut/Aquanaut, 104 Days in Space)
Genius
Ken Biller (Showrunner/EP/Director) Ron Howard (EP) Antonio Banderas (Actor) Alex Rich (Actor) Poppy Delevingne (Actor) Samantha Colley (Actor) T.R. Knight (Actor)
12:10-12:30pm National Geographic
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THE CONTENDERS EMMYS/Afternoon Presentations 12:33-12:53pm Netflix
Ozark
Jason Bateman (EP/Director/Actor) Julia Garner (Actor)
GLOW
Alison Brie (Actor) Betty Gilpin (Actor) Sydelle Noel (Actor) Britney Young (Actor) WITH THE CAST OF GLOW IN ATTENDANCE AT LUNCH:
12:53PM – 2:00PM CATERED LUNCH SPONSORED BY
2:05-2:23pm Sony Pictures Television
(TALENT & SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Alison Brie (Actor) Betty Gilpin (Actor) Sydelle Noel (Actor) Britney Young (Actor) One Day at a Time
Norman Lear (EP) Gloria Calderon Kellett (EP) Mike Royce (EP) Justina Machado (Actor)
The Good Doctor
Freddie Highmore (Actor)
2:26-2:36pm FX
Baskets
Jonathan Krisel (Co-Creator/EP/Showrunner) Zach Galifianakis (Co-Creator/EP/Actor) Louie Anderson (Actor) Martha Kelly (Actor)
2:39-2:49pm AMC
McMafia
Hossein Amini (Co-Creator/EP/Writer) James Watkins (Co-Creator/EP/Writer/Director) James Norton (Actor) David Strathairn (Actor)
2:52-3:12pm Comedy Central
Drunk History
Derek Waters (Co-Creator/EP/Host) Jeremy Konner (Co-Creator/EP/Director)
Nathan For You
Nathan Fielder (EP/Writer/Director)
Broad City
Abbi Jacobson (Co-Creator/EP/Writer/Actor) Ilana Glazer (Co-Creator/EP/Writer/Actor)
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E)
Leah Remini (EP) Mike Rinder
Story of a Girl (Lifetime)
Kyra Sedgwick (Director)
Cocaine Godmother (Lifetime)
Catherine Zeta-Jones (Actor)
3:15-3:35pm A+E Networks
( A FTE R NO O N PR ESENTATIONS CONTINU ED ON NEXT PAGE)
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THE CONTENDERS EMMYS/Afternoon Presentations
(TALENT & SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
3:38-3:48pm BBC America
Killing Eve
Sandra Oh (Actor/Associate Producer)
3:51-4:01pm CBS Television Studios
The Late Late Show with James Corden
James Corden (Host/EP)
4:04-4:24pm
Mr. Mercedes
Jack Bender (Director/EP) Brendan Gleeson (Actor) Harry Treadaway (Actor) Kelly Lynch (Actor) Holland Taylor (Actor)
Loudermilk
Peter Farrelly (Director/EP/Writer) Bobby Mort (EP/Writer) Ron Livingston (Actor) Will Sasso (Actor) Anja Savcic (Actor) Laura Mennell (Actor)
Little Women (on Masterpiece)
Maya Hawke (Actor) Susanne Simpson (Senior Series Producer, MASTERPIECE/PBS)
The Vietnam War
Ken Burns (Director/Producer) Lynn Novick (Director/Producer) Trent Reznor (Composed/Performed Original Music) Atticus Ross (Composed/Performed Original Music)
4:50-5:00pm Paramount Network
Waco
John Erick Dowdle (Co-Creator/EP/Director) Drew Dowdle (Co-Creator/EP) Taylor Kitsch (Producer/Actor)
5:03-5:23pm Hulu
The Looming Tower
Craig Zisk (EP) Jeff Daniels (Actor) Peter Sarsgaard (Actor)
The Handmaid’s Tale
Bruce Miller (Showrunner) Warren Littlefield (EP)
I Love You, America
Sarah Silverman (EP/Writer/Host)
AT&T AUDIENCE
Network
4:27-4:47pm PBS
RECEPTION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING PRESENTATIONS SPONSORED BY
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NO STRANGER Pete Hammond talks to Contenders mainstay Bryan Cranston, returning this year with The Dangerous Book for Boys.
WELCOME TO THE CONTENDERS EMMYStakes a look at what’s in store PETE HAMMOND
at Deadline’s third annual Contenders Emmys event IT SEEMS THAT THE OSCAR SEASON ends only to segue directly into Emmys. In fact, the two even overlap now, with several Emmy events happening before those envelopes revealing this year’s Academy Award winners were even opened last month. But we forge ahead. April not only means it is time to pay your taxes; it also marks the time, once again, for the parade of Emmy contenders to begin. And so we gather for Deadline’s third annual The Contenders Emmys event, which in one day brings together a record 24 networks, 43
shows, and over 110 speakers on the DGA Theater stage, including show creators, directors, writers, EPs, showrunners and an astounding array of talent. Of course, that is nothing new for Contenders, as proven by the success of our most recent movie awards season kickoff event in early November. Congratulations to all who participated in person for that, including eventual Oscar winners Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, and Guillermo del Toro, to name just a few. It pays to show up.
Today, we are excited to have a very diverse group of television participants scheduled to appear, including comedy stars like Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara of Schitt’s Creek, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross of black-ish, Dylan McDermott of LA to Vegas, Iain Armitage of Young Sheldon, and Rachel Brosnahan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for starters. Talk/ Variety personalities joining us for the first time include Conan O’Brien, James Corden and Sarah Silverman. Iconic names will be here, including Bryan Cranston, Norman Lear, Sharon Stone, Angela Bassett, Kenneth Lonergan, Hank Azaria, Darren Aronofsky, Ron Howard, Ken Burns, and many others. The lineup of actors also includes Tony Shalhoub, Walton Goggins, Hayley Atwell, Daniel Brühl,
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FUNNY AND...
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PETE HAMMOND
MARQUEE The entrance to the DGA Theater.
Dakota Fanning, Antonio Banderas, Jason Bateman, Freddie Highmore, Zach Galifianakis, Louie Anderson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard, Connie Britton, Peter Krause and more. From legends to breakout stars, from icons to newcomers, the whole landscape of this Emmy season’s contenders will be covered. When we started with the idea of a day in which all the season’s movie players could gather to show their wares in front of Academy and key guild voters, we had no idea it would gather steam as fast as it did, but it was an instant hit. So then it was a no-brainer to start the same thing for the television season—and right out of the gate, it seemed even bigger. Perhaps the reason for that is because the spectrum of TV is so vast, with
so many tentacles, that there is something for everyone. Putting it all together in one place is a herculean task we are proud to attempt each year. You would have to be blind not to notice that the Emmy season is now just as big—maybe even bigger—than the six-month Oscar awards season. Certainly it appears more money goes in, and more campaigning goes on, for a shot at one of those winged statuettes, now than ever before. You cannot drive anywhere in Los Angeles without seeing big For Your Consideration billboards months before the actual Emmys are handed out. FYC Q&A events are a nightly occurrence, with shows aiming to get the attention of the largest numbers of Emmy voters (which now number well over 20,000) that they can. Streaming services in particular have really
ratcheted up the stakes, as was evidenced last year when Netflix and Amazon took over empty multi-story buildings to create a virtual amusement park for their contenders. Look for it only to increase this year. As I continue to interview key talent, both in front of and behind the camera, I am finding the once prevalent idea that doing TV was somehow inferior to doing movies is a thing of the past. In fact, as you can tell by the level of talent involved in television these days, it may be just the opposite. You hear over and over from actors that the quality of writing and production on TV is at an all-time high, and that the really interesting roles and projects are now being made for the small screen, while movies seem to be most interested in chasing that ever elusive billion dollar blockbuster. If we can say there is any downside to the season, it is that there’s just too much content— really great content—available, and it’s just not possible to keep up with it all. That is what The Contenders Emmys is all about. This is your chance for some onestop shopping, to sample in one day a wide array of the best TV has to offer this season and to get you ready to be a smarter, more informed voter as the season gets going in earnest. ★ Follow Pete Hammond’s video series, The Actor’s Side and Behind the Lens, this Emmy season at Deadline.com
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The
SHOWS The Golden Age of television rolls on at this year’s The Contenders Emmys, where stars, showrunners, and other key creative will be on hand to discuss the most high-profile series of today.
PRIME VIDEO The Dangerous Book for Boys Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Conn and Hal Iggulden, this comedy series comes from Greg Mottola and Bryan Cranston, who also created crime drama Sneaky Pete for Amazon. Starring Erinn Hayes, Gabriel Bateman and Chris Diamantopoulos, the series tells the story of a middle-class family coping with the sudden death of their beloved patriarch; a quirky inventor who touched the lives of everyone around him. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino returns to television with this winning dramatic comedy, which picked up two Golden Globes in its first go-round, among other accolades. Rachel Brosnahan stars as the titular Midge Maisel, a housewife in the ’50s who starts performing stand-up comedy to great success, defying the expectations of those around her. Featuring
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fictional depictions of realworld comics like Lenny Bruce and Bob Newhart, the series also features memorable turns from Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen and Tony Shalhoub. HBO Mosaic From the ever-innovative Steven Soderbergh, this drama series is a classic whodunit with a modern, technological twist, centered on the murder of acclaimed children’s book author Olivia Lake (Sharon Stone). Prior to premiering as a series on HBO, this project from producer Casey Silver and scribe Ed Solomon was launched as an app, which functioned as an interactive experience where viewers could choose their perspective on certain events. Also featuring in the series’ cast are Garrett Hedlund, Paul Reubens and Beau Bridges. Vice Principals A wickedly funny series from Jody Hill and Danny McBride,
this comedy follows a set of vice principals (portrayed by McBride and Critics’ Choice Award winner Walton Goggins) jockeying for power at an average American high school. Intended as a self-contained, two-season series, the show sees the pair engaging in increasingly bizarre, heightened
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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Vice Principals
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Young Sheldon
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antics in the pursuit of the position of school principal. Featuring top-notch supporting turns from Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Busy Philipps and Shea Whigham, the series went out with a bang last fall. WARNER BROS. TELEVISION GROUP Young Sheldon From creators Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro, this comedy series is a spin-off prequel to The Big Bang Theory, a show that has produced throughthe-roof ratings for CBS. Gifted up-and-comer Iain Armitage (Big Little Lies) plays the nineyear-old version of theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper— played in his adult form on Big Bang Theory by Jim Parsons—an extremely bright child going to high school at an early age in East Texas, while navigating his family life. As Big Bang continues, Parsons is present in Young Sheldon, serving as the show’s narrator. Black Lightning Airing on The CW, this DC series is based in the journey of its titular hero. Developed by Salim Akil, the series stars Cress Williams (Code Black) as Jefferson Pierce, a man who retired his superhero persona nearly a decade ago after seeing the effect his work had had on his family. When a local gang called The 100 rises up, though, leading to an uptick in crime and corruption in Pierce’s city of Freeland, Black Lightning must don his uniform once again.
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FOX/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX TELEVISION 9-1-1 The latest of many series from mega-producer Ryan Murphy— co-created by Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear—9-1-1 is a nail-biting affair. The procedural drama follows the lives of Los Angeles first responders—those cops, paramedics, firefighters and dispatchers who deal with lifeor-death scenarios on a regular basis, laying their lives on the line to save others. A ratings boon for Fox that has resulted in an early second-season renewal, the series’ excellent ensemble includes Angela Bassett, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Connie Britton and more. LA to Vegas Fox expands its roster of strong sitcoms with this series from creator Lon Zimmet. Featuring a memorable ensemble including Kim Matula, Ed Weeks, Dylan McDermott and Peter Stormare (of Fargo fame), the series follows the lives of the crew and passengers of a discount airline that travels regularly between the series’ titular cities. Directed by Modern Family helmers Steven Levitan, Beth McCarthyMiller and Fred Savage, among others, the comedy series is executive produced by Levitan, Will Ferrell, and Adam McKay. POP TV Schitt’s Creek Recently wrapping its fourth season, this sitcom is the brainchild of father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy, who also star. The series follows
Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy), a video-store magnate who finds himself broke and forced to depart from the pampered lifestyle he knows. He moves with his family to the small town of the series’ title, a piece of land the Rose clan had bought as a joke. Catherine O’Hara and Chris Elliott also star. STARZ Howards End Directed by Hettie Macdonald (Doctor Who) and scripted by Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan—whose 2016 release Manchester by the Sea was nominated for six Academy Awards—this four-part limited series is an adaptation of E.M. Forster’s classic novel. Starring Matthew Macfadyen, Hayley Atwell, Julia Ormand and Alex Lawther, the series examines the social and class divisions of early 20th Century England through the intersection of three families—from the upper, middle and lower-middle classes. Vida Executive produced by Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf, this upcoming drama series from Tanya Saracho (How to Get Away with Murder, Looking) follows two MexicanAmerican sisters from Los Angeles’ Eastside who are separated by both geography and personality. The sisters, Emma (Mishel Prada) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera), are forced to return to their old neighborhood and confront
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black-ish
their past, and the shocking truth about their mother’s identity. Inspired by a short story by Richard Villegas Jr., Vida premieres on May 6.
LA to Vegas
Vida
The Alienist
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TNT The Alienist Based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr, this ten-episode limited series is a cinematically shot, mystery-soaked period drama. Leading the series are Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning, who portray an ad hoc team assembled in late 1890s New York City to investigate the work of a serial killer with a particular penchant for murdering street children. Written and executive produced by big names including Hossein Amini and Cary Joji Fukunaga, the series also stars Matthew Shear and Q’orianka Kilcher.
TBS CONAN An Emmy-nominated late-night talk show currently in its eighth year, CONAN is filtered through the perspective of Conan O’Brien—a singular comedic voice—along with his sidekick and co-host, Andy Richter. Airing four nights a week, O’Brien’s series features a who’s who of celebrity guests passing through on the couch, along with A-list musical guests and discussion of the topics of the day, in politics and pop culture. ABC STUDIOS black-ish Created by Kenya Barris and currently in the midst of its fourth season—while fostering spin-off grown-ish—this Golden Globe-winning series has notched eight Emmy nominations since 2015, and shows no signs of slowing
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Genius
down. The comedy follows Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson (Anthony Anderson), who struggles to maintain a connection to his cultural identity while raising his kids in a predominantly white and wealthy neighborhood. Marcus Scribner, Yara Shahidi, and Globe winner Tracee Ellis Ross also star. grown-ish Created by Kenya Barris and Larry Wilmore, this spin-off to the critically acclaimed blackish launched in January, quickly picking up a second season renewal. The single-camera comedy follows the Johnson parents’ eldest daughter Zoey (Yara Shahidi) as she makes her way to college and begins the transition to adulthood, quickly coming to realize that not everything will go her way once she leaves home. Deon Cole, Trevor Jackson, and SNL alum Chris Parnell round out
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the cast of this series, executive produced by Anthony Anderson. SMILF Written and directed by Frankie Shaw, and based on her short film of the same name, this Showtime comedy series gets its title from a popular acronym, with one minor adjustment, standing for “Single Mother I’d Like To…” Well, you get the idea. The series stars Shaw as Bridgette, a single, basketballplaying mother navigating the dating world with a young child in tow. Featuring a memorable supporting turn from Rosie O’Donnell as Bridgette’s mother, the series was renewed for a second season in November. TV LAND Younger Created by Darren Star, this romantic comedy series follows Liza Miller (Sutton Foster), a single mother who is mistaken
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Portlandia
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for being younger than she really is. Seeing an opportunity in front of her, Liza attempts to pass herself off as a 26-yearold to rejuvenate her career and her love life. Also starring Peter Hermann, Miriam Shor and Hilary Duff, the series has been a hit for TV Land. Ahead of its fourth season run last year, Younger was picked up for a fifth season. IFC Portlandia With its eighth and final season bowing in January, this sketch comedy series from Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel takes a deepdive into the very particular culture of Portland, Oregon. Produced by Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video, the series has won four Emmys and taken 20 nominations since it debuted in 2011. Brockmire From creator Joel ChurchCooper, this sports comedy follows Jim Brockmire (Hank Azaria), a well-known major league baseball announcer who suffers an embarrassing public meltdown live on air, becoming unglued after discovering his wife’s infidelities. A decade later, Brockmire sets out to reclaim both his love life and his career. Featuring turns from Amanda Peet and Tyrel Jackson Williams, and produced by Funny or Die, with eight episodes written by Azaria to date, Brockmire will return for its second season this year.
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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC One Strange Rock Narrated by global superstar Will Smith, this docuseries from mother! helmer Darren Aronofsky appears just as ambitious as that Jennifer Lawrence-starring horror flick. The series tells the extraordinary story of Earth, and all the things that make it special—why this planet is uniquely replete with living organisms, amongst a largely unknown, brutal cosmos. In this 10-part global event series, Smith guides viewers on a journey around the world and through space, benefiting from the added perspective of an elite group of astronauts. Genius In its first season, this anthology series took on Albert Einstein; in its second go-round, the period drama will paint a portrait of Picasso. From Ken Biller and Noah Pink, Genius’ Season 2 stars Antonio Banderas as the iconic Spanish painter, who is considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century. Like the first installment, Genius’ take on Picasso will examine an iconic figure from several different perspectives—artistic, intellectual, romantic and political—warts and all. NETFLIX Ozark Netflix has added an original crime drama to their roster with this thriller from Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams. Jason Bateman stars as Marty
Bird, a Chicago-based financial adviser who relocates his family to the Missouri Ozarks when his business with a drug cartel goes awry. With truly cinematic, idiosyncratic visuals, Ozark is bolstered by the performances of Laura Linney and Julia Garner. Bateman additionally directs four of this season’s episodes. GLOW Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are what you’ll find in this comedy series from Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. Based on a real-life women’s wrestling circuit active throughout the 1980s, the series stars Alison Brie as Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress and the audience’s unsuspecting window into a very particular world. Coming to GLOW inadvertently, Wilder finds empowerment and female solidarity in the wrestling organization, while butting heads with schlocky director Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron). Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel and a strong ensemble of women also star. SONY PICTURES TELEVISION One Day at a Time A Netflix remake of a classic sitcom, this Emmy-nominated comedy follows three generations of a CubanAmerican family, all living in the same house: a newly divorced former military mother, her teenage daughter and preteen son, and her mother, a woman accustomed to a more oldschool approach to parenting.
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Developed by Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce, the updated series takes on pertinent contemporary issues including mental illness, immigration, sexism, homophobia, and the racism faced by Latinos in the United States today. The Good Doctor Based on a 2013 South Korean drama of the same name, this compelling medical series from House creator David Shore follows Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome who is recruited into a prestigious hospital’s surgical unit, continually brushing up against and rising above peoples’ preconceptions of his condition. Praised for its message of inclusivity, The Good Doctor was quickly renewed for a second season. Nicholas Gonzales, Antonia Thomas, and Chuku Modu also star. FX Baskets Notching three Emmy nominations in its first two seasons—and a win for comedian Louie Anderson—this oddball comedy continues to deliver. Featuring Zach Galifianakis in dual roles—as screw-up twin brothers Chip and Dale Baskets—the series follows a dysfunctional central California family who, in Season 3, set out after the ownership of their own rodeo. Memorably, Anderson channels his own mother in his transformative portrayal of a Bakersfield
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The Good Doctor
matriarch, in this series from Galifianakis and Portlandia co-creator Jonathan Krisel. AMC McMafia A limited series created by Hossein Amini and James Watkins—with Watkins stepping in as director—this crime drama is based on a 2008 book of the same name by journalist Misha Glenny. The show follows Alex Godman (James Norton), the British-raised son of a Russian mafia boss living in London, whose father is trying to escape from the world of organized crime. As his father retreats, Alex is only drawn further in, away from the respectable life he had wanted for himself. COMEDY CENTRAL Drunk History From creators Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner, this historicallyoriented comedy series has been one of Comedy Central’s most successful. Featuring an inebriated celebrity narrator with some knowledge—however
limited—of a specific moment in world history, the series then drafts a hodgepog of A-listers to reenact a historical moment as the narrator recalls it. Currently in its fifth season, Drunk History has featured recent appearances by Tiffany Haddish, Evan Rachel Wood, Alexander Skarsgård and Mandy Moore, who were game to get in on the fun. Nathan For You Created by comedian Nathan Fielder and Michael Koman, this docu-reality comedy series follows Fielder—playing an offbeat version of himself—who uses his business degree and life experiences to help real small business owners turn a profit. Taking an unorthodox approach to his work, Nathan’s sincere efforts on their behalf often end up drawing those who sign up for this journey into the unexpected. Executive produced by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric fame, Nathan For You completed its fourth season last fall.
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Broad City Another enduring, branddefining series for Comedy Central, Broad City stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson— who also created the series— portraying fictionalized versions of themselves. Two women living their lives in New York City, Abbi and Ilana spend their time getting high and getting into their own singular kind of hijinks, in their happy-golucky journeys around the city. Featuring supporting turns from Arturo Castro, John Gemberling and RuPaul, Broad City completed its fourth season last fall, returning for Season 5 this year. A+E NETWORKS Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E) One of the most controversial— and celebrated—of docuseries, Scientology and the Aftermath tells the stories of former members of the Church of Scientology, whose lives have allegedly been damaged by the Church’s practices. Winning the Emmy last year for Outstanding Informational Series or Special, the show centers on Remini and Mike Rinder—both former church members, who claim intimate knowledge of evils within the institution. The Church, for its part, has continued its vocal denunciation of the series, which completed its second run last fall. Story of a Girl (Lifetime) The timely directorial debut of actress Kyra Sedgwick, starring
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husband Kevin Bacon and daughter Sosie, this television movie is a true family affair. Based on Sara Zarr’s awardwinning novel, the coming-ofage drama centers on Deanna (Ryann Shane), a 16-year-old girl whose life is forever altered when a compromising video leaks online. Confronting bullies and the conflicted feelings of her father—gravitating between anger and disappointment— Deanna must push beyond the darkness of her past to take charge of her future. Cocaine Godmother (Lifetime) One of the most-discussed television movies of the season, this biographical crime drama from Guillermo Navarro (Luke Cage, Preacher) and writer David McKenna has drawn praise from critics for Catherine Zeta-Jones’ ambitious, transformative turn as Griselda Blanco, the real-life Colombian drug lord who reportedly masterminded north of 200 murders. Telling Blanco’s life story from beginning to end, the film premiered on Lifetime in January. Raúl Méndez and Juan Pablo Espinosa also star. BBC AMERICA Killing Eve Based on the Villanelle novels by author Luke Jennings, this drama series premiered last week. Starring Fiona Shaw, Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, the series centers on a security operative on the hunt for an assassin. Executive produced
by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who created two acclaimed series in Amazon’s Fleabag and Netflix’s Crashing), the series also stars Kim Bodnia, Owen McDonnell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Sean Delaney. CBS TELEVISION STUDIOS The Late Late Show with James Corden Little known to Americans just four years ago, English actor, comedian and singer James Corden took the latenight scene by storm in 2015, capturing a massive audience through his charm and his knack for developing successful segments—several of which have become so popular that they’ve spawned their own separate series. Featuring a fresh take on the traditional late-night mix of pop culture and political commentary, music and celebrity guests, the series’ most popular segment to date is Carpool Karaoke, where Corden sings along with the stars. AT&T AUDIENCE NETWORK Mr. Mercedes One of several Stephen King adaptations premiering over the last several years, this thriller series from Big Little Lies’ David E. Kelley enters territory familiar to any fan of the author, following a psychopathic killer who drives a stolen Mercedes into a crowd, and a recently retired detective who sets out to bring him to justice. Renewed for a second season in October, the well-received series
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stars Harry Treadaway as the merciless Brady Hartsfield, and Brendan Gleeson as the equally relentless detective Bill Hodges. Loudermilk From creators Bobby Mort and Peter Farrelly (of the Farrelly brothers), this comedy series follows Sam Loudermilk (Ron Livingston), a recovering alcoholic who is also a substance abuse counselor, and does his job poorly. Managing to keep his drinking under control, Loudermilk sets out to clean up the rest of his poorly managed life. Rolling out its first 10 episodes in October of last year, the series features memorable turns from Will Sasso, Anja Savcic, Laura Mennell, Mat Fraser and Brian Regan. PBS Little Women (on Masterpiece) For this limited series, Heidi Thomas adapts Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 novel. Consisting of three episodes, the historical period drama examines the lives of the four March sisters during the American Civil War, as they navigate love, loss and the challenges involved as one comes of age. Directed by Vanessa Caswill, the series stars Maya Hawke, Kathryn Newton, Willa Fitzgerald and Annes Elwy as the four daughters, Dylan Baker as the March patriarch, and Emily Watson, in a memorable turn, as Marmee March. The Vietnam War From iconic documentarians Lynn Novick and Ken Burns, this
10-part docuseries is one of the most discussed of the season, spanning nearly 18 hours in total. Narrated by Peter Coyote and scripted by Geoffrey Ward— with music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—the series dissects the epic, complicated story of the Vietnam War, one of the most pivotal and controversial events in the history of the world, in a way that has never been done before, providing a visceral, cinematic, human experience. PARAMOUNT NETWORK Waco Created by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, this limited series about the 1993 Waco siege bowed to critical praise in January. Starring Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch and Andrea Riseborough, the series offers a deep dive into the 51-day standoff between the FBI and David Koresh’s religious faction, the Branch Davidians, culminating in a fatal fire. Investigating the tragedy compellingly from multiple perspectives, the series also features turns from Paul Sparks, Rory Culkin, Melissa Benoist, John Leguizamo, Julia Garner and Shea Whigham. HULU The Looming Tower As politically resonant as The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu hopes to spark conversation once more with this limited series, based on a book by Lawrence Wright. Executive produced by Alex Gibney, who also directed multiple episodes, the series examines the rising threat of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda
in the late ’90s, and the pivotal rivalry between the CIA and the FBI that inadvertently set the stage for 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg lead an exceptional cast. The Handmaid’s Tale Breaking out in a big way at last year’s Emmys with eight trophies, this dystopian drama series has been the toast of the town ever since. Created by Bruce Miller and adapted from Margaret Atwood’s portentous 1985 novel, Hulu’s breakthrough series stars Elisabeth Moss as June, a woman living in a dark age who sees her family and her former life stripped from her, forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. Ann Dowd, Joseph Fiennes and Yvonne Strahovski also star. I Love You, America Hosted by comedienne Sarah Silverman, this late-night talk show sees the multi-talented artist engaging with guests from across the political spectrum, attempting to bridge the gaps of a polarized nation. Executive produced by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Silverman’s long-time manager, Amy Zvi, the series is similar in format to the larger late-night canon. But Silverman’s candid interactions with guests, including Al Franken, Patton Oswalt and her own sister, Susan Silverman, make this one to watch. ★
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