15 eye-catching new shows

C21’s latest Hot Properties Playlist comprises 15 new titles that hit the airwaves last month, from Spike TV’s ratings-busting Lip Sync Battle to UK comedy genius Peter Kay’s latest vehicle.

The playlist is available to view through the C21Screenings portal and the C21Screen app. If you would like to submit a show for consideration in one of our upcoming C21 Hot Properties Playlists, email [email protected].

Show: Lip Sync Battle (10×30′)
Initial TX: April 2
Channel: Spike TV
Producers: Eight Million Plus Productions, Matador Content
Distributor: Viacom International Media Networks
They say: Format in which celebrities go head-to-head lip-synching the song of their choice. Spun out of a segment on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, some YouTube clips of which have already topped 50 million views.
We say: Among C21’s hot picks for MipTV 2015 last month, Lip Sync Battle has proven an instant hit, with Spike ordering a further 20 episodes after the show became the most watched original series in the channel’s history.

Show: AD: The Bible Continues (aka Kingdom and Empire, 12×60′)
Initial TX: April 5
Channel: NBC
Producer: LightWorkers Media
Distributor: MGM International Television Distribution
They say: AD picks up where History channel smash hit The Bible left off, exploring the events that followed the crucifixion of Christ. From executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett.
We say: After their tremendous success with The Bible on History two years ago, feature-length theatrical release Son of God and recent miniseries The Dovekeepers on CBS, Downey and Burnett continue their dramatisation of Christian history but with less success among broadcast network audiences than in cable.

Show: American Odyssey (fka Odyssey 6×60′)
Initial TX: April 5
Channel: NBC
Producers: Universal Television, Fabrik Entertainment, Red Arrow Entertainment
Distributor: NBCUniversal International Television Distribution
They say: Conspiracy thriller in which an international cover-up explodes when the lives of a female special forces soldier (Anna Friel), a disillusioned corporate lawyer and a political activist collide after a team of American soldiers battling jihadists in North Africa stumbles upon and kills Al Qaeda’s top commander.
We say: Snapped up by BBC2 in the UK at last year’s LA Screenings, American Odyssey bears the hallmarks of a potential Homeland successor with plenty for conspiracy theorists and fans of action drama but lacks the sophistication of the hit Showtime series.

Show: Code of a Killer (2×90′)
Initial TX: April 6
Channel: ITV
Producer: World Productions
Distributor: Endemol Shine Group
They say: The true story of Alec Jeffreys’ development of DNA fingerprinting in the 1980s and its first use by a police officer in solving a double murder.
We say: Written by Michael Crompton (Kidnap & Ransom) and directed by James Strong (Broadchurch, Gracepoint), with John Simm and David Threlfall starring, a drama with all the right ingredients but for some reason maybe a little thin on tension.

Show: Stacey Dooley Investigates (3×60′)
Initial TX: April 7
Channel: BBC3
Producer: Watershed Television
Distributor: BBC Worldwide
They say: British documentary presenter and investigative journalist Stacey Dooley returns with another series, visiting Mexico, Cambodia and the US in a bid to lift the lid on the global war on drugs.
We say: Having first appeared on TV screens in 2008, Dooley has fast built up a portfolio of challenging documentaries, tackling subjects from child exploitation to sex trafficking, domestic violence and Islamic extremism. This latest series adds another impressive string to her bow.

Show: The Comedians (13×30′)
Initial TX: April 9
Channel: FX
Producers: Fox Television Studios, FX Productions, Fabrik Entertainment, Flying Glass of Milk Productions
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution
They say: Comedy from Larry Charles (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld) set behind the scenes of a late-night sketch show, starring Billy Crystal, in his first TV lead since 1981, and Josh Gad as two comics, one a veteran, the other an up-and-coming star.
We say: Based on the Swedish format Ulveson and Herngren, which aired in 2004, The Comedians combines Crystal’s substantial talent with Gad’s less established comedy chops and seems to stumble somewhere in between, with Charles apparently unable to help out.

Show: Marvel’s Daredevil (13×60′)
Initial TX: April 10
Channel: Netflix
Producers: Marvel Studios, ABC Studios, DeKnight Productions
Distributor: Disney Media Distribution
They say: Based on the comic book hero created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett, Daredevil is set in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, focusing on a lawyer who is one day exposed to radioactive material that blinds him but heightens his other senses and gives him a new sonar super power that he uses to fight crime.
We say: The plan was always for Netflix to release Daredevil all at once and so perhaps as a result this allowed creator Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) and showrunner Steven S DeKnight (Smallville, Buffy, Spartacus) to approach the project as a 13-hour movie, resulting in a more visceral tone than other Marvel properties. Plaudits from audiences and critics have followed.

Show: Tatau (8×45′)
Initial TX: April 12
Channel: BBC3
Producers: Touchpaper Television, South Pacific Productions
Distributor: Zodiak Rights
They say: Supernatural murder mystery about two fun-loving British backpackers travelling around the idyllic Cook Islands who discover the body of a beautiful girl.
We say: Nice scenery.

Show: Other Space (8×30′)
Initial TX: April 14
Channel: Yahoo! Screen
Producers: Feigco Entertainment, Abominable Pictures, Yahoo! Studios
Distributor: Yahoo!
They say: Sitcom set in 2105, following a group of incompetent space adventurers who happen upon a new planet.
We say: Produced by Paul Feig (Freaks & Geeks), Other Space marks Yahoo!’s first move into longform and by all accounts it has hit on a winner, successfully moving into the sci-fi-comedy void that’s been more or less a black hole since Red Dwarf.

Show: The Messengers (10×60′)
Initial TX: April 17
Channel: The CW
Producers: Thunder Road Television, CBS Television Studios, Warner Bros Television
Distributor: CBS Studios International
They say: Drama about a group of seemingly unconnected strangers who all die when an unexplained object falls from space but then awake again hours later, realising their new powers as angels  might help them prevent a total apocalypse.
We say: The network that has scored success with series such as The Vampire Diaries, Jane the Virgin, The Flash, Supernatural and, most recently, iZombie may struggle to repeat the feat with The Messengers, though it is early days.

Show: Safe House (4×60′)
Initial TX: April 20
Channel: ITV
Producer: Eleventh Hour Films
Distributor: All3Media International
They say: The story of a former detective who, with his school teacher wife, turns their guest house in a remote part of England’s Lake District into a police safe house. Starring Christopher Eccleston (Fortitude, Accused) and Marsha Thomason (White Collar).
We say: Another show among C21’s MipTV 2015 hot picks, Safe House is written by Michael Crompton (Code of a Killer – see above) and while maybe not genre-defining, certainly offers solid thriller credentials with Eccleston’s trademark brood. The set-up offers built-in format potential.

Show: Back in Time for Dinner (6×60′)
Initial TX: April 21
Channel: BBC2
Producer: Wall to Wall
Distributor: Warner Bros International TV Production
They say: Factual entertainment series exploring the evolution of culinary tastes, kitchen technology, design and fashion over the past 50 years. One family is transformed each week as they experience how the post-war revolution in food has changed the way we live.
We say: One of a dozen formats on WBITVP’s slate at MipTV in Cannes last month, this is fun family entertainment, tapping into nostalgia and our endless fascination with food while relying on one set of individuals to carry the whole thing.

Show: World’s Richest Terror Army (1×60′)
Initial TX: April 21
Channel: BBC2
Producer: BBC in-house
Distributor: BBC Worldwide
They say: In this one-hour special for BBC2’s This World documentary strand, Peter Taylor investigates the extraordinary origins of the self-styled Islamic State and its vast war chest and the threat the world’s richest terrorist army presents, not only to the Middle East but to the rest of the world.
We say: A fascinating film that explores how IS was founded within the confines of America’s own detention camp in southern Iraq in the aftermath of the US invasion, with extraordinary access to one of the most senior IS leaders to talk so far, offering some startling claims about how the group is funded.

Show: Happyish (6×30′)
Initial TX: April 24
Channel: Showtime
Producer: In Cahoots
Distributor: CBS Studios International
They say: Comedy starring Steve Coogan as a 44-year-old advertising exec whose world is thrown into disarray when he gets a new 25-year-old wunderkind boss (Kathryn Hahn), prompting him to assess his place in the scheme of things and wonder whether rather than pursuing happiness he would be better off settling for happyish. Created, written and exec produced by Shalom Auslander.
We say: Dark satire that sees Coogan fill a role Philip Seymour Hoffman was lined up for in January last year, a month before he died. An inevitably challenging project to pursue therefore, trimmed from the original 10×60′ format. Despite Coogan’s unquestionable talent, Happyish is doing little to cheer critics so far.

Show: Peter Kay’s Car Share (6×30′)
Initial TX: April 26
Channel: BBC iPlayer/BBC1
Producer: Goodnight Vienna Productions
Distributor: BBC Worldwide
They say: Half-hour comedy about the relationship between two supermarket workers thrown together when the company implements a car share scheme.
We say: British comedy giant, this is Peter Kay’s first series for the BBC and the pubcaster’s first to premiere in its entirety on iPlayer ahead of linear TV, smashing the VoD service’s viewing records in the process. Kay’s comedy Midas touch is all over this series, though the humour may be a tad too English to make it a world traveller.