Thursday, April 30, 2015
Hulu Acquires Seinfeld Starting in June; FX Orders Comedy Pilot with Jenny Slate, Ari Graynor
Yesterday at the Hulu Upfront Presentation in New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, they announced that Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription video on-demand (SVOD) rights to all episodes of iconic sitcom Seinfeld, as well as a new, multi-year agreement with AMC that grants Hulu the streaming rights to future programming from AMC Networks. In addition to presenting groundbreaking content deals and the upcoming slate of Hulu Originals, the company took the stage to publicly unveil new business growth benchmarks - including a 50% increase in subscribers - advertising innovations, and a deal with Cablevision Systems Corporation that will be rolled out over the next year. Back to Seinfeld, Hulu has acquired the exclusive SVOD rights to all episodes of the award-winning, hit series. After becoming one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, all nine seasons of the timeless comedy series will make their SVOD debut exclusively on Hulu. The series comes to Hulu in a new deal with Sony Pictures Television. Every episode of Seinfeld will be available for Hulu subscribers to stream this June.
FX Networks has ordered a pilot co-created by the award-winning team of Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm, starring Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor. Production of the pilot has begun in New York. Robespierre (Obvious Child) will direct the pilot and write it with Holm (Obvious Child, Welcome to Pine Hill), both of whom will serve as Executive Producers along with Ravi Nandan and John Hodges of A24 Films (The Bling Ring, Obvious Child) and Slate (Obvious Child, Married). The pilot is being produced by FX Productions.
The pilot is an honest comedy exploring the adult female friendship of two creative partners as they embark on a cross-country road trip. Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor (For a Good Time, Call... , Bad Teacher) star as "Lou" and "Viv," two gutsy born and raised New Yorkers who discover each other in their 30s, make a movie together, and jump into the great unknown of their next project. Lou and Viv find strength and vulnerability in each other, learning how to have a fight and somehow still get back in the car. It's like Thelma and Louise - but nobody dies. The pilot is the first major project for Robespierre, Holm, Slate and A24 Films since Obvious Child, a 2014 romantic comedy that marked Robespierre's feature film directorial debut and starred Slate. Among other awards for the feature, Robespierre was honored with the National Board of Review USA Award for Best Directorial Debut, Holm won the Red Crown Producer's Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and Slate received the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Movie.
Slate currently co-stars on the FX comedy series Married, which is returning for its second season on Thursdays at 10:30 PM e/p, beginning July 16. Graynor most recently starred on the CBS comedy Bad Teacher. Stay with us for continued updates, should this pilot move forward as a series.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, October 21
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 20)
Tuesday, October 21
- Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Catch Kumail on a repet of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Reneé Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Reneé is a musical guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Michael J. Fox (Family Ties/Spin City/The Michael J. Fox Show) - Michael appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Larry David (Curb Your Entusiasm/Seinfeld) - Larry stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Allison Williams (Girls) - Andy Cohen interviews Allison on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Brie Larson (United States of Tara/Raising Dad) - Brie talks about Party People: A Cookbook for Creative Celebrations with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) - Jackie dishes on Nobody Wants This on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This/Burning Love) - Adam talks about Nobody Wants This on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Angela Kinsey (The Office/The Hotwives of Orlando) - Angela and her husband Josh Snyder talk about You Can Make This in the 9am hour.
- Brittany Snow (Ben and Kate) - Brittany is telling Drew about her new crime series Murdaugh Murders and her hit show The Hunting Wives on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts