LA SCREENINGS: Six new shows announced during the broadcast Upfronts this week will be on the slate for NBCUniversal International Television Distribution this week.
The studio has bagged international rights to two comedies – the Will & Grace reboot and AP Bio – while four new dramas join the slate. These are: The Brave, Law & Order True Crime: The Menedez Murders, Rise and Reverie. All shows will air on NBC.
Comedy
Will & Grace Universal Television, KoMut Entertainment. The show will star the original foursome – Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally – and fill the 20.00 slot on Thursday on NBC from this fall. Part of NBC’s attempt to revive Must See TV on Thursday nights, Will & Grace returns after its eight-season run ended more than 10 years ago.
AP Bio
AP Bio Broadway Video Television, Universal Television. Single-camera comedy about a cynical professor who fails to get his dream job and ends up working as a high school biology teacher. The show launches in mid-season on NBC.
Drama
The Brave Universal Television, Keshet Studios. Dean Georgaris (Life of Pi, Las Reinas) writes the scripts, about an elite undercover military unit. Will air on Monday at 22.00 on NBC from the fall, with The Voice as its lead-in. Anne Heche and Mike Vogel star.
Law & Order True Crime – The Menendez Murders Universal Television, Wolf Films. The latest spin-off from Dick Wolf’s L&O franchise dramatises the real-life trial and conviction of the Menedez brothers for murdering their parents in the mid-1990s. It fills the 22.00 slot on Thursdays from this fall.
Rise Seller Suarez Productions, True Jack Productions, Universal Television. Focusing on a high school drama teacher who inspires his students and in so doing helps the fortunes of the entire town. Jason Katims, writer and exec producer of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, and Jeffrey Seller, producer of the Broadway hit Hamilton, are behind the mid-season show.
Reverie
Reverie Amblin Television, Universal Television. A virtual reality program has dangerous consequences forcing a former detective specialising in human behaviour to return to work. From Mickey Fisher, creator of Extant, and also starring Dennis Haysbert (24, The Unit).
The Bold Type
Also on the studio’s slate for the LA Screenings is The Bold Type (10×60’), a new series from cable channel Freeform. Inspired by the life of Joanna Coles, chief content officer of Hearst Magazines, this series follows three ambitious women who work at a women’s magazine based in New York.
NBCUniversal International Television Distribution’s slate will also include Syfy drama Blood Drive, NBC comedy Champions, Canadian series The Disappearance from CTV, Franco-German coproduction Gone; UK drama Jamestown from Sky1, and others shows from its various international production arms.
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