SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The first two seasons of Amazon Studios' Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning comedy series Transparent will premiere on SundanceTV starting Wednesday, August 9 at 10:00PM ET/9:00 PM C. Multiple back-to-back episodes will air weekly during this limited network television event. Created by Jill Soloway, Transparent revolves around the dysfunctional Pfefferman family and their lives following the discovery that the family patriarch, Mort, is transgender, and transforms into Maura. The first season follows Maura Pfferman's (Jeffery Tambor) journey to being her true self. When she reintroduces herself to her family, everyone else's secrets finally came out. This includes her ex-wife Shelly (Judith Light), and their adult children - meandering Ali (Gaby Hoffmann), record producer Josh (Jay Duplass), and sexually conflicted Sarah (Amy Landecker). Each family member is spun into different directions as they figure out who they aren't.

In the second season the bubble wrap is off - it's time for the whole family to transition. The Pfeffermans realize they must give up their disguises, unspoken arrangements and secrets. By exploring their shared history and legacy, they come to understand that you can't go forward without knowing where you come from. Ultimately, everyone will open their hearts, advertise their desires, and test those notoriously wobbly boundaries as each Pfefferman tries their hardest to come out - as themselves.

Marvel Television, Freeform and ABC Signature Studios have completed casting for Marvel's New Warriors, their previously announced new comedic live-action adaptation of the popular Marvel comic featuring young adult heroes. Marvel's New Warriors marks Marvel's first foray into comedy for a live-action television series slated to debut in 2018 on Freeform, Disney's young adult television and streaming network. Not quite super, not yet heroes, Marvel's New Warriors features six young people learning to cope with their abilities in a world where bad guys can be as terrifying as bad dates.

Casting includes: Derek Theler (Baby Daddy) as Craig Hollis a.k.a Mister Immortal. Craig can't die ... or so he says. Although Craig's superpower seems amazing, he hasn't made use of it at all - he figures if he has all the time in the world to learn how to do anything heroic, what's the rush? Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us, Silicon Valley) as Doreen Green a.k.a Squirrel Girl. Jeremy Tardy (Dear White People, Ten Days in the Valley) as Dwayne Taylor a.k.a Night Thrasher. Calum Worthy (Austin & Ally, Cassandra French's Finishing School) as Robbie Baldwin a.k.a Speedball. Matthew Moy (2 Broke Girls, Steven Universe) as Zack Smith a.k.a. Microbe. Kate Comer (Hello My Name is Doris, The Comeback) as Deborah Fields a.k.a. Debrii.

At Freeform's upfront presentation opened by Iliza Shlesinger (Truth & Iliza) held in New York yesterday, The Walt Disney Company's millennial-focused television network announced a bold and robust programming lineup built around top talent, premium original content and prominent Disney properties including Marvel, ABC Studios and Disney theme parks. Coming in early 2018 is Alone Together, a half-hour, single-camera comedy starring Esther Povitsky (Lady Dynamite) and Benji Aflalo (Not Safe with Nikki Glaser). Esther and Benji are platonic best friends who want nothing more than to be accepted by the vain and status-obsessed culture of Los Angeles. Next up, Marvel's Cloak & Dagger is the story of Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) – two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers which are mysteriously linked to one another. Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness. They quickly learn they are better together than apart, but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging. The network has ordered 10 one-hour episodes slated to debut early 2018.

Coming in summer 2018 is new drama Siren takes us inside Bristol Cove--a coastal town known for its legend of once being home to mermaids. When the arrival of a mysterious girl proves this folklore all too true, the battle between man and sea takes a very vicious turn as these predatory beings return to reclaim their right to the ocean. The series stars Alex Roe (The 5th Wave) as Ben, a bright marine biologist who finds himself drawn to Ryn, a mysterious new girl in town played by Eline Powell (Game of Thrones), who is a strange young woman with a deep dark secret. Fola Evans-Akingbola (An American Exorcism) stars as Maddie, also a marine biologist who works with Ben, and is highly suspicious of Ryn. Ian Verdun (Life's a Drag) stars as Xander, a deep sea fisherman on a quest to uncover the truth; and Rena Owen (Star Wars Episodes II and III) as Helen, the town eccentric who seems to know more about the mermaids than she lets on. Moving on, Marvel's New Warriors is a new comedic live-action adaptation of the popular Marvel comic featuring young adult heroes. This marks Marvel's first foray into comedy for a television series. The comedy is about six young people with powers living and working together. With powers and abilities on the opposite end of the spectrum of The Avengers, the New Warriors want to make a difference in the world ... even if the world isn't ready. Not quite super, not yet heroes, the series is about that time in your life when you first enter adulthood and feel like you can do everything and nothing at once – except in this world, bad guys can be as terrifying as bad dates. The network has ordered ten 30-minute episodes slated to debut in 2018.

Among the other items of note is a Christmas movie starring Tyra Banks called Life-Size 2 and new drama The Bold Type will have a special two-hour premiere on Tuesday, July 11, at 9:00 p.m. EDT. The series stars Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, Meghann Fahy, Sam Page, Matt Ward and Melora Hardin.

Backpedaling just got harder...Flaked is back! In this season of Flaked, Chip can't get out of his own way. Find out how his love interest, bromance, recovery and lies come to fruition on June 2 only on Netflix. In the new season of Flaked, Chip returns to Venice after a short exile and finds that he is no longer welcome. People have not forgotten that he sold out the local community. And for what... ? Chip's lost everything: his store, his friends, his reputation, his bicycle... he doesn't even have a guest house to live in. All he's got left is London, and she's beginning to look elsewhere - spiritually, if not physically.

Chip starts to claw his way back into the affections of the community, first asking Dennis to be his sponsor, then helping his friend in a new business venture, and even doing an honest day's work... But the lies are never too far behind, and just when it looks as though he's won back his friend and stabilized his relationship, everything splinters again and he slips back into the bottle... It becomes clear that he needs to make a choice: his best friend or the love of his life. Lies or sobriety. Flaked is created by Will Arnett and Mark Chappell and executive produced by Arnett, Chappell, Ben Silverman, Peter Principato, and Mitch Hurwitz. The series stars Will Arnett ("Chip"), David Sullivan ("Dennis"), Ruth Kearney ("London"), George Basil ("Cooler") and Lenora Crichlow ("Rosa").

Freeform, Marvel Television and ABC Signature announced their second project together, Marvel's New Warriors, a new comedic live-action adaptation of the popular Marvel comic featuring young adult heroes. This marks Marvel's first foray into comedy for a television series. The network has ordered ten 30-minute episodes slated to debut in 2018. The series will feature fan-favorite "Squirrel Girl" (Doreen Green) as a totally empowering fan girl - tough, optimistic and a natural leader. Doreen is confident and has the powers of a squirrel ... She's acrobatic, can fight and talk to other squirrels. Her most important trait is that she has faith in people and teaches them to believe in themselves. Additional cast to be announced. Freeform also has Marvel's Cloak & Dagger underway at the network starring Olivia Holt, but that is an hour long drama.

On the day of its series premiere, IFC announced that acclaimed new comedy Brockmire has been picked up for a second season slated to air in 2018. Starring Hank Azaria (The Simpsons), with Amanda Peet (Togetherness), Tyrel Jackson Williams (Pants on Fire), and created with Funny Or Die, IFC has ordered eight new 30-minute episodes. The highly-anticipated series has already received critical praise and made it series debut last night (Wednesday April 5 at 10:00 PM) on IFC, with two back-to-back episodes. IFC made the first episode available to watch on a variety of platforms including VOD, IFC.com the IFC Facebook page and FunnyOrDie.com in advance of its linear premiere, and so far, the episode has already notched over 2.3 million digital views. Brockmire follows Jim Brockmire, played by Azaria, a famed major league baseball announcer who suffered a notorious public breakdown after stumbling upon his wife's infidelity; a breakdown so bad in fact that "Brutal Brockmire" becomes a viral internet meme. The series picks up a decade later as Brockmire looks to reclaim his career, reputation, and love life.

Brockmire originally appeared as a viral short video on the award-winning comedy website Funny Or Die. The series is written by Joel Church-Cooper (Undateable), directed by Tim Kirkby (Veep), and executive produced by Azaria, Church-Cooper, Kirkby and Funny Or Die's Mike Farah, Joe Farrell and Anna Wenger.