Networks Scramble for Delayed State of the Union Address; Freeform Gets Comedy Pilot from Laurence Fishburne

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Networks Scramble for Delayed State of the Union Address; Freeform Gets Comedy Pilot from Laurence Fishburne

The State of the Union Address was supposed to be last night, but as we all know it didn't happen and is delayed to next Tuesday (Feb. 5) instead. So the networks have to reschedule yet again. NBC is adjusting original episodes of This Is Us, The Village and New Amsterdam to accommodate. It's the finale dates that get affected. On Tuesday, April 2, the season finale of This Is Us will now air on this date at 9:00pm ET/PT followed by an original episode of The Village. The Village will move to its 9pm ET time period the following week for the remainder of the season which was already announced. And now the season of New Amsterdam will now air a week later through Tuesday, May 21. For Fox, Tuesday dramas Lethal Weapon and The Gifted will now have their season finales a week later on Tuesday, February 26. And this means MasterChef Junior and Mental Samurai will now launch yes, a week later, on Tuesday, March 5. ABC and CBS have not released what the impact will be for their Tuesday series, but ABC's American Housewife is still premiering its new night and time Tuesdays at 8pm slot on Tuesday, Feb 5, followed by an original episode of The Kids Are Alright. But black-ish, Splitting Up Together and The Rookie could likely end their season a week later, or a week of less reruns. ABC aired repeats of its Tuesday comedies and The Rookie last night.

Freeform

Freeform announced that it has signed a script to series deal for Party Girls, a half-hour, single-camera dramedy inspired by the true story of Ericka Suzanne, daughter of the first female leader of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown. Set in Oakland in the '70s, Party Girls will follow Ericka's attempt to survive her adolescence as her mother rises in the Party. The plot explores an unconventional mother-daughter relationship, balancing the stakes of the movement with the humor inherent in coming-of-age, and asking the question how do you rebel when your mom is leading a rebellion? From Platform One Media, headed by CEO Katie O'Connell Marsh, Party Girls will be executive produced by Elisa Ellis of Platform One Media (Narcos), Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland of Cinema Gypsy Productions (grown-ish, black-ish), and Lance Krall and Peter Siaggas of Picture It Productions, with Dayna Lynne North (Insecure) set to write the pilot script and serve as executive producer/showrunner, should it go to series. Ericka Suzanne is repped by the Law Office of Adia Z. May, P.C.