TV News Roundup: HBO Max Announces Selena Gomez’s Quarantine Cooking Show Premiere Date (Watch)
In today’s TV news roundup, HBO Max released the trailer and premiere date for Selena Gomez’s “Selena + Chef,” and CBS announced the Season 2 premiere date for “Love Island.”
RENEWALS
TruTV has renewed comedy series “Tacoma FD” for a 13-episode third season. The series follows members of a fire department in a city where it often rains, rendering their job somewhat uneventful. To pass the time, the department engages in competitions and rivalries and responds to strange emergency calls. The show’s creators, Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, also star as the chief and captain of the department, respectively. The two actors also executive produce “Tacoma FD” with David Miner and Greg Walter.
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TruTV also renewed its comedy show “The Misery Index,” hosted by Jameela Jamil, for a third season. The second half of Season 2 will air in October. Teams on the show compete to give “misery index” ratings to various comedic real-life events, and the “Impractical Jokers” cast serve as panelists. Ben and Dan Newmark executive produce the show alongside writer Andy Breckman, Michael Bloom, Howard Klein, Jack Martin, Joe Gatto, Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray and Sal Vulcano.
DATES
CBS announced that the U.S. version of “Love Island” will be back with its Season 2 premiere on Aug. 24. The cast, which will be announced at a later date, will shoot the season while living at the Cromwell in Las Vegas, with all members of the crew also living in a “bubble” to meet COVID-19 safety protocols. Members involved will also regularly be tested for the virus, among other safety measures that will be taken. Matthew Hoffman will return as the narrator, while Arielle Vandenberg will host the show again. The executive producers for “Love Island” are David Eilenberg, David George, Chet Fenster, Adam Sher, Simon Thomas, Jessica Castro, Ben Thursby-Palmer and Richard Foster.
Netflix announced stand-up comedian Felipe Esparza will release two specials on Sept. 1: “Felipe Esparza: Bad Decisions” and “Felipe Esparza: Malas Decisiones.” Filmed in Santa Ana, they are the comedian’s first-ever Netflix specials. One will be available in English, while the other is recorded in Spanish. The two specials, which include jokes related to mistakes Esparza made from childhood to adult life, are the first time a comedian has recorded the same stand-up segment in two languages for a simultaneous debut, as well.
“Impractical Jokers: The Movie” will be made available for streaming Sept. 1 on HBO Max. The film premiered in theaters this February and includes guest appearances from Jaden Smith, Paula Abdul and Joey Fatone. Its plot combines fictional storyline elements with the typical competitive nature of the “Impractical Jokers” series. Comedians and friends James “Murr” Murray, Sal Vulcano, Brian “Q” Quinn and Joe Gatto star in the film, executive produced by Jack Rovner, Mike Farah and Joe Farrell.
HBO Max set “Raised by Wolves” for a Sept. 3 premiere on the platform. The sci-fi series, written and created by Aaron Guzikowski, is about a colony of humans who are raised by two androids on another planet after the Earth has been destroyed. The group’s stability comes under threat when religious differences begin to divide them and an android learns that it’s difficult to control human beliefs. Guzikowski, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Jordan Sheehan, Adam Kolbrenner and Mark Huffam executive produce the new show. Watch a trailer below.
HBO Max also announced an Aug. 13 premiere date for Selena Gomez‘s new cooking show, “Selena + Chef.” A quarantined Gomez will virtually meet with a different chef or team during each of the 10 episodes, as they teach her to cook one of a variety of items. The guest chefs include Candice Kumai, Nyesha Arrington, Daniel Holzman, Antonia Lofaso, Jon & Vinny, Ludo Lefebvre, Nancy Silverton, Angelo Sosa, Roy Choi and Tonya Holland. The series is executive produced by Gomez, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman and Leah Hariton. Watch a trailer below.
GREENLIGHTS
WarnerMedia will bring the reboot of British game show “The Cube,” which is set to be hosted by Dwayne Wade. The retired NBA star, who also executive produces the show, will bring on contestant pairs who must complete seven seemingly easy games within a glass box in order to have a shot at the jackpot prize: £1 million ($1.26 million). In the rebooted version, contestants can also utilize a “helping-hand” request, invoking physical assistance from the show’s athletic host. Other executive producers for “The Cube” are Layla Smith and Jilly Pearce.
EXECUTIVE NEWS
CBS News has named Mark X. Lima its new west coast bureau chief, a position tasked with oversight of the gathering of news related to the western region of the U.S. for all the company’s platforms. He will begin the job Aug. 24. Lima previously held the role of vice president of news for Univision/Fusion. He worked on ABC News‘ “Nightline” as a senior producer prior earlier in his career. Throughout his decades in the journalism industry, Lima has won a number of Emmys and a Peabody award.
AWARD SHOWS
Viola Davis, Sterling K. Brown, Kenya Barris, Jeremy Pope and Laura Harrier will receive awards at the virtual 2nd Annual AAFCA TV Honors on Aug. 22, put on by the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA). Davis and Brown will receive the best actress and best actor awards, respectively, while Barris will take home the TV icon award. Pope and Harrier will be honored as breakout performers. Other winners include MACRO Television Studios, ABC‘s “For Life,” HBO‘s “Insecure” and “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” Lifetime‘s “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,” Netflix‘s “Never Have I Ever” and “The Last Dance” (with ESPN Films), Apple TV Plus‘ “Central Park” and Quibi‘s “I Promise.”
LATE NIGHT
Jamie Foxx, Tig Notaro and Black Pumas will be tonight’s guests on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” while Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs and Thaddeus Dixon will appear on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”
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