TV Bits: 'Billions', 'F Is For Family', 'Teenage Bounty Hunters', 'Dickinson', And More
In this edition of TV Bits:
Billions, a show about Bobby Billions and his billions of friends (note: this is not what the show is actually about) has been renewed for season 6. TV Line reports that the Showtime series just got its renewal and that Corey Stoll has been promoted to a series regular. In the series, "Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis star in a complex drama about power politics in the world of New York high finance. Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis) are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series."
The animated series F is for Family is getting one more season. TV Line reports that Fox renewed the show for a fifth and final season, with co-creator and executive producer Michael Price saying: "Working on this show with the great Bill Burr, Vince Vaughn, and our amazing cast, writers, producers, and crew has been the greatest joy of my life, and I'm thrilled that we get to do one more season with the Murphys. I'll be forever grateful to everyone at Netflix who let us share this stressed-out, foul-mouthed, and loving family with the world." The series "follows a dysfunctional suburban Irish-American family, and is set in the fictional town of Rustvale, Pennsylvania in the early-mid 1970s."
If you were a fan of the new Netflix series Teenage Bounty Hunters, I have some bad news: it's been canceled after one season, according to Deadline. The series debuted in August and was seemingly a hit, as it spent some time in Netflix's top 10 list. But it apparently wasn't a big enough hit for the streaming service to give it another chance. In the series, "Rebelling against their buttoned-up Southern community, sixteen-year-old fraternal twin sisters Sterling (Maddie Phillips) and Blair (Anjelica Bette Fellini) Wesley team up with veteran bounty hunter Bowser Jenkins (Kadeem Hardison) for an over-the-top adventure as they dive into the world of bail skipping baddies and suburban secrets while trying to navigate high school drama – love, sex, and study hall."
Supernatural is in the midst of its final season after surviving for an impressive 15 years. The main characters are back, obviously – brothers Sam and Dean Winchester – but the show would've loved to bring back a few more familiar faces. Unfortunately, COVID-19 made that impossible. "Look, COVID was limiting, especially when it came to the last two [episodes]," co-showrunner Andrew Dabb told TVLine. "And there were certainly people we would have liked to have brought back like Samantha Smith, like Jeffrey Dean Morgan. People who have been such core parts of the show for so long. But unfortunately, because of COVID and some other things, doing a big supersized guest cast family reunion was just off the table." That may be a bummer to fans, but Dabb also added: "But in terms of our story that we're telling, we didn't have to make any compromises. Everyone who is coming back is coming back for a specific reason. These are people we want. They're important to us. They're great characters, and we just thought it was an opportunity to revisit some of our and, hopefully, the fan favorites." The final episode of Supernatural will air on November 19, 2020.
Dickinson has itself a teaser for season 2, which also announces the return date of the Apple TV+ show: January 8. But that's not all! Apple has also gone ahead and given the show a renewal for season 3, which makes sense, since it's one of Apple's most high-profile shows. In the series, "budding writer Emily Dickinson uses her outsider's perspective to explore the constraints of society, gender and family in the 19th century." Hailee Steinfeld stars.
Above you can check out the trailer for The Expanse season 5. In the latest season of the Amazon series, "In different parts of the Solar System, the crew of the Rocinante and their allies confront the sins of their past, while Marco Inaros unleashes an attack that will alter the future of Earth, Mars, the Belt, and the worlds beyond the Ring." The Expanse returns on December 16.
Happy Holidays from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (yes, that's the full title). This holiday season, the Disney+ show will air High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special, where "series regulars Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, Matt Cornett, Sofia Wylie, Larry Saperstein, Julia Lester, Dara Reneé, Frankie Rodriguez, Joe Serafini, Mark St. Cyr and Kate Reinders will get viewers in the holiday spirit with their renditions of holiday classics, popular hits and a medley of Hanukkah favorites. They will also share anecdotes of memorable holidays from their childhoods, best – and most embarrassing! – presents, favorite traditions, family photos and poignant New Year's resolutions." I will not be watching this, but if you want to, you can see it on December 11!
Showtime's Black Monday will be back for a third season, per Variety. The series stars Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells, Regina Hall, and Paul Scheer as "a crew of underdogs who cause the worst stock market crash in the history of Wall Street." Season 2 of the series arrived over the summer, and now Showtime has placed an order for ten more episodes.
Speaking of renewals (notice how almost this entire post was devoted to them?), The Last O.G. has been renewed by TBS, per Coming Soon. On top of that, Owen Smith (black-ish) will be taking over from Keenan Ivory Waynes as showrunner on the series, where, "After serving his time at the halfway house and having his food truck go up in flames, season three finds Tray (Tracy Morgan) searching for a new place to live and new forms of income. He lands in gentrified Brooklyn, where he begins giving "hood legend" walking tours of the city that is forever changing around him. Meanwhile, Tray's ex-girlfriend Shay (Tiffany Haddish) is presented with the business opportunity of a lifetime, which could mean big changes for the whole family."
LA's Finest, the TV series spun-off from the Bad Boys film season, is no more. The series, which featured Gabrielle Union reprising her role from Bad Boys II, and Jessica Alba, lasted for two seasons on Spectrum. However, the second season was delayed due to both the coronavirus and widespread protests against police violence. And now, per The Wrap, the show is no more.
Dawson's Creek, the teen drama that aired on the WB, will be streaming on Netflix next month. But don't expect to hear Paula Cole's iconic theme music, which continues to be absent from the streaming version of the series. As The Wrap explains, "the song was replaced for the home video and streaming release due to rights issues." Those issues continue, and the theme song that will play for the Netflix version will be Jann Arden's "Run Like Mad," which was actually the original theme song before Cole's replaced it. But don't worry – I went ahead and included the season 1 opening credits with Cole's song above so you can relive all that glorious teen angst.
A new trend has popped-up during the age of the coronavirus: shows that were already renewed for another season keep getting canceled. The reason: production costs have gone up since more insurance and precautions are required to film right now. As a result, Netflix has already pulled the plug on several previously-renewed shows like GLOW and I Am Not Okay With This. Now, Showtime is getting in on that action, as the network has canceled the Kirsten Dunst series On Becoming a God in Central Florida despite previously ordering a second season. Showtime released the following statement (via THR):
"Last year, Showtime renewed On Becoming a God in Central Florida but unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were unable to move forward with production on the new season. The pandemic has continued to challenge schedules across the board, and although we have made every effort to reunite the cast and crew for a second season, that has become untenable. It is with great regret that we are acknowledging On Becoming a God will not return. We extend our deepest thanks to star and executive producer Kirsten Dunst, creators Robert Funke and Matt Lusky, showrunner Esta Spalding and their fellow executive producers George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Charlie McDowell, the terrific cast and crew, and our partners at Sony Pictures Television."