NBCU builds up cable offering

US studio NBCUniversal Television & Streaming has greenlit 33 new unscripted series and five scripted for its cable portfolio, including a music competition show from Jimmy Fallon.

Frances Berwick

New programmes for entertainment and lifestyle channel Bravo include Shed Media’ reality format Below Deck Adventure; restaurant reality series Kandi OLG Project (working title), produced by Truly Original; and dance docuseries Life is a Ballroom (wt) from Sharp Entertainment.

The cable channel has also commissioned dating series Love Match Atlanta (wt) from Matador Content; relationship reality show Love Without Borders (wt) from Kinetic Content; and reality series Summer House Winter Charm, produced by Truly Original.

Pop culture channel E! has greenlit five new unscripted shows, including music showdown competition series Clash of the Cover Bands (wt) from Universal Television Alternative Studio and exec producer Fallon; and gameshow Jason Biggs Cash at Your Door with actor and comedian Jason Biggs, from Lion Television.

The programmes join new reality series Showbiz Moms & Dads from World of Wonder, Fremantle-produced celebrity reality show Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules (wt) and docuseries We Got Love Iman & Teyana from STX Unscripted.

True crime channel Oxygen has ordered docuseries about a 911 call centre near Cleveland, titled 911 Crisis Center, produced by Shed Media; RIVR Media-produced Alaska Man Murders (wt), about the difficulties of investigating homicide cases in Alaska; Renegade 83’s murder series Family Massacre; crimes series Final Moments from Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment; and two-hour special The Toolbox Killer from Mike Mathis Productions.

Also commissioned for the channel is Marwar Junction Productions and Entertainment One’s The Girl Who Lived (wt), about Kara Robinson who was abducted and escape; murder series New York Homicide from ITV America’s Good Caper Content; homicide show The Real Murders of Atlanta from 44 Blue Productions; and ITN Productions’ Twisted Killers.

Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show

Rounding off Oxygen’s new slate is true crime series Relationship Killer with Faith Jenkins (wt), produced by Texas Crew Productions and Faith in Justice Productions; two-hour specials Snapped Notorious: The Cleveland Strangler, Snapped Notorious: Happy Face Killer and Snapped Notorious: River Valley Killer, all produced by Catalina Content; and special event series Untitled Carolyn Warmus Project (wt) from Entertainment One and Bee Holder Productions.

Science fiction-themed cablenet Syfy has ordered sci-fi drama Astrid & Lilly Save the World, produced by Blue Ice Pictures; feature film Bring It On: Halloween (wt), produced by Universal 1440 Entertainment, a horror spin-off from the cheerleading franchise; and UCP-produced horror series Chucky.

Other new content commissioned for the channel includes Cartel and HiTide Studios-produced scripted series Day of the Dead, which sees six strangers trying to survive the first 24 hours of an undead invasion; and feature film Slumber Party Massacre, a reimaging of the 1982 slasher cult classic, from Shout! Studios.

USA Network, meanwhile, has ordered DIGA Studios-produced competition series America’s Big Deal, which sees inventors attempt to sell their products live on-air; Leftfield Pictures’ Mud, Sweat & Beards (wt), which sees survivalists Donny Dust and Ray Livingston tackle the earth’s most remote locations; and feature film reboot Nash Bridges, which stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin, from Village Roadshow Television.

In addition to the new commissions, NBCUniversal has renewed over 30 shows, including Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles and franchise Real Housewives; E!’s The Bradshaw Bunch, which features NFL Super Bowl champion quarterback Terry Bradshaw and his family; the 30th season of Oxygen’s Snapped and USA Network’s Temptation Island.

Frances Berwick, chairman of entertainment networks, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming, said: “Our cable networks represent a vital part of our business and we will continue to invest in our brands and IP in innovative ways, whether that be through mixing live sports and big event series on USA, introducing a new host to E!’s flagship Red Carpet, or bringing our addictive Bravo shows to life with fan experiences, our networks remain the home of culture-defining television.”