TV Bits: 'Peanuts' Holiday Specials, New 'Saved By The Bell' Theme, 'Uno' Game Show, Snoop Dogg's 'Oakandia',
In this edition of TV Bits, here are some of the small screen stories we've got:
First up, we have good news for everyone who was annoyed that Apple TV+ was going to exclusively have the rights to the popular Peanuts holiday specials A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Apple has teamed up with PBS to offer both of the holiday specials on television for all those who don't have an Apple TV+ subscription.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will air on PBS and PBS KIDS on November 22 at 7:30 P.M. ET and A Charlie Brown Christmas will air on PBS and PBS KIDS on December 13 at 7:30 P.M. ET. Check your local listings to make sure you catch it at the right time on your local PBS affiliate.
Next up, on Thanksgiving weekend, Syfy will premiere a new late night comedy series called The Movie Show, a fictional a fictional public access movie review show hosted by puppets Deb and Wade, voiced by Adam Dubowsky and Alex Stone.
The two puppet characters will dish out hot takes on movies, not unlike a lot of YouTube shows out there. Some of the movies they'll be tackling include the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 and older movies like Back to the Future, Jumanji, and Apollo 13. We're not sure if the writers of The Movie Show will have actually seen Wonder Woman 1984, but based on the silliness of the rest of the series, I wouldn't be surprised if that's not the case.
Syfy says, "The show will feature exclusive deleted scenes and a star-studded lineup of interview guests, including Bruce the shark from Jaws and Stephen King's laptop. Other movie "stars" include the tyrannosaurus rex from Jurassic Park, Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more.
The Movie Show will air on Friday, November 27 and Sunday, November 29 at 11:35 P.M., and the series will launch in its regular timeslot at 11:00 P.M. ET on Thursday, December 3.
It's almost time for the Saved by the Bell reboot coming to Peacock. But before the new series arrives on November 25, the remixed theme song from rapper Lil Yachty has arrived, putting a bit of a modern spin on the familiar tune, but not so much that it's unrecognizable. Listen and see what you think.
Showtime's Dexter was announced for a surprise revival from original showrunner Clyde Phillips, with star Michael C. Hall returning for 10 new episodes that will right the wrongs of the poorly received series finale. The Hollywood Reporter learned that director Marcos Siega will also be returning to the new series for six episodes in the new season. Siega previously directed nine episodes of the original series, and he's also worked on True Blood, The Following and the Batwoman pilot.
In addition to directing six episodes, Siega will also executive producer with Phillips and Hall, as well as John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Bill Carraro and Scott Reynolds. Production is supposed to begin early next year with the hopes that the series revival will premiere on Showtime sometime in the fall of 2021.
Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer are teaming up with Modern Family co-creator Chris Lloyd and executive producer Vali Chandrasekaran for a new comedy series.
Slated for the 2021-22 broadcast season, The Hollywood Reporter says the series will follow hree guys who were roommates in their 20s until their warring egos drove them apart, and who reunite decades later for one more run at the lives they've always wanted. That sounds like a sitcom approach to the unfortunately short-lived Men of a Certain Age from TNT.
Grammer and Baldwin are two of the three former roommates, and they'll also executive produce the series along with Lloyd, Chandrasekaran, Jason Schrift, Matt DelPiano, Tom Russo, Adam Griffin and Jeff Morton. It'll be interesting to see which aged star gets the third role alongside Baldwin and Grammer
Saturday Night Live cast member and comedian Kevin Nealon has been hosting a YouTube series called Hiking with Kevin where he goes for a walk and has an intimate conversation with a variety of famous faces, including the likes of Adam Sandler, Conan O'Brien, Caitlyn Jenner, Patton Oswalt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tiffany Haddish, Courteney Cox, and many more. Now Deadline reports the series will be turned into a series on TBS.
Curiously, this series will be a half-hour scripted adaptation that Nealon will be executive producing along with Modern Family executive producer Danny Zuker. I'm not sure why this is scripted when the interview aspect is far more interesting, but maybe they'll make an interesting mockumentary out of it. Many of the guests who have already appeared on the series will return for this new adaptation.
Marc Gurvitz, George Heller, and Seth Jacobs will also executive produce.
It's been a rough year for Broadway with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down all theater productions until at least next year. But the stars of the stage will get one night to strut their stuff with a new two-hour special coming to NBC on December 10.
Hosted by Tina Fey, One Night Only: The Best of Broadway will showcase street performances from some of the most popular Broadway shows from yesterday and today. The casts of Ain't Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations, Chicago, Jagged Little Pill, Diana: The Musical, Jersey Boys, Mean Girls, and Rent will all perform during the show, and the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will also make an appearance, along with some sneak peeks of shows coming in 2021.
If you like the card game Uno, then you might want to check out a new game show in the works that will turn the card game into a larger-than-life competition of four teams vying to become the ultimate Uno champion. It will feature audience participation, over-the-top physical challenges and trivia. Of course this has to be based on Uno instead of just being a new game show, because it will get more people to watch.
There was an attempt to turn Uno into a game show back in 2013, but nothing came of it. Now The Uno Game Show will arrive just in time for the card game to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021.
John Quinn, showrunner for Let's Make a Deal, will executive produce along with Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens and Greg Lipstone of Propagate, which produces series such as Chopped and Running Wild with Bear Grylls. 
Nick Kroll has been busy executive producing and providing multiple voices on Big Mouth, but that's not stopping him from creating an entirely new show through his Good at Business production banner with executive Alicia Van Couvering.
Good at Business announced that they've picked up the rights to Several People Are Typing, a novel by Calvin Kasulke set to be published next fall that is written in the style of chats in the workplace application Slack. Here's the official synopsis for the series:
Gerald, an employee of a New York-based PR firm, is working in a spreadsheet when he finds his consciousness uploaded into the company's Slack channel. Despite his posts for help, his colleagues assume it's an elaborate strategy to work from home. Gerald enlists his co-worker Pradeep to care for his body while they figure out how to reintegrate his consciousness. Plunging deeper into the Slack workspace—and becoming a more productive employee by the day—Gerald relies on Slackbot, the messaging service's AI assistant, to help him navigate his new digital reality. But what happens when the Slackbot discovers a world (and an empty body) outside the Slack app?
Sounds like an intriguing sci-fi concept, almost like Wreck-It Ralph meets Her by way of the workplace. With Kroll spearheading the project, this should be something worth watching.
Finally, Deadline has word Snoop Dogg is teaming up with Vince Vaughn for a new animated series called Oaklandia at Amazon. Though the premise of the animated series is unknown, Snoop Dogg will lend his voice to the series, and it will be set in Oakland, California. Hopefully it will be an Oakland-inspired take on the Portlandia formula from Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein.
Daniel Dominguez (Gen:Lock) and Chris "Comedian CP" Powell (Ole Bud's Anu Football Weekly) will write the series and executive produce. Snoop Dogg and his manager and business partner Ted Chung will also executive produce alongside Vince Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn and Peter Billingsley through their Wild West Picture Show Productions.
Clearly Amazon is hoping to bring adult animation to their streaming library in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic slowing down live-action development and production, and hopefully this will be a hit for them.