Monday, March 22, 2021
NBC Puts Meghan Trainor Comedy in Development; Apple TV+ Straight to Series Comedy with Maya Rudolph
Meghan Trainor is coming to NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Entertainment with an NBC comedy series in development as the first project under a cross-platform overall deal between the global superstar and NBCU. The new alliance is a first-of-its-kind for the company, encompassing potential projects across scripted and unscripted content throughout NBCU's larger Television and Streaming Entertainment portfolio, which includes NBC, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, SYFY, Universal Kids, USA and Peacock. Within this ecosystem, Trainor will have the opportunity to leverage her talents across network, cable, streaming and syndication programming.
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Meghan Trainor emerged with her 2014 breakout single "All About That Bass" and disrupted contemporary music with nostalgic pop beats and powerhouse vocals that delivered a worldwide anthem for female empowerment. Trainor cemented her rising status as one of the most prominent artists in popular music by charting eight multi-platinum singles, selling millions of albums worldwide, selling out three headline tours, writing multi-platinum hits for top pop and country artists, and receiving countless industry awards and nominations. She is one of only five female artists to receive a diamond certification for her hit single "All About That Bass," which shares the RIAA Gold & Platinum Awards top honor with only 15 other singles in history.
Apple TV+ announced a straight-to-series order for a new half-hour comedy series that will star Emmy Award winner Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live, Forever), and is created by Peabody and Emmy Award winner Alan Yang (Little America, Master of None) and Emmy Award winner Matt Hubbard (30 Rock, Forever). Rudolph will star as Molly, a woman whose seemingly perfect life is upended after her husband leaves her with nothing but 87 billion dollars. The new series will be created, written and executive produced by Yang and Hubbard. In addition to starring, Rudolph will executive produce through her production company, Animal Pictures, with Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens also executive producing. Dave Becky of 3 Arts will also executive produce. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, will serve as the studio. The project marks the second collaboration between Apple TV+ and Yang following the premiere of the three-time Independent Spirit Award and NAACP Image Award-nominated anthology series Little America; it will join Apple TV+'s acclaimed and award-winning roster of Apple Original comedy series, including the Golden Globe and multiple Critics Choice Award-winning Ted Lasso.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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