All Hail McHaleIn addition to the wealth of movies, sitcoms, reality shows and cooking competitions, Netflix is now going full bore with talk shows. Joel McHale, longtime host of E! Network’s “The Soup” and star of NBC’s cult hit “Community,” has signed on to host and executive produce “The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale.” The half-hour comedy show is described as “a sharp, absurdist look at pop culture and news from across the globe.” The mix of celebrity guest, comedy sketches and video clips from around the world sounds a lot like “The Soup”—which McHale hosted from 2004 to 2015. Fans of the actor/stand-up comic only have to wait until Feb. 18 to catch the weekly series streaming on Netflix.Method to the MadnessNetflix has also signed Michael Douglas for its upcoming comedy series “The Kominsky Method.” The show is created by Chuck Lorre (“Grace Under Fire,” “Dharma & Greg,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory”) and centers on the life of Sandy Kominsky, “an actor who years ago had a brief fling with success and is now a revered Hollywood acting coach.” Also signed on to the principal cast are Alan Arkin as Kominsky’s long-suffering agent and Nancy Travis as a student in one of his acting classes. The 10-episode first season is expected to debut later this year.The Boys Are BackNot to be outdone by fellow download service Netflix, rival Amazon Studios has sent its new series “The Boys” straight to development. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Darick Robertson (Happy!), the series is set in a world where superheroes have embraced the darker sides of their celebrity and fame. Keeping these frequently corrupt superheroes in check is a group of ultra-violent, blue-collar, CIA-backed vigilantes known as “the boys.” Chance Crawford (“Gossip Girl”), Jessie T. Usher (Independence Day: Resurgence), Erin Moriarty (“Jessica Jones”), Antony Starr (“Banshee”) and Dominique McElligott (“The Last Tycoon”) are among the cast so far. Sadly, it doesn’t look as if British actor Simon Pegg—whom the series artist (Robertson) intentionally drew as the main protagonist, Hughie Campbell—will be on board. Eric Kripke (“Supernatural”) is the show’s producer. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (AMC’s “Preacher”) will direct. The show is scheduled to debut in 2019.Mix It UpFOX has ordered a pilot for a musical series called “Mixtape.” Creator-writer-producer Joshua Safran (“Gossip Girl,” “Smash,” “Quantico”) helms the show, described as a “romantic musical drama that looks at a disparate group of interconnected people in contemporary Los Angeles through the lens of the music that defines who they are.” Since stepping down as showrunner on ABC’s “Quantico,” Safran has also lined up a supernatural drama at AMC. That untitled project is being called a “new take” on the traditional ghost story, looking at the lifelong haunting of a woman and the man who loves her. Both series are in their early development stages, so no word on casting or air dates for either.
Idiot Box: Updates From Around The Dial
Updates From Around The Dial
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