TV News Roundup: ‘Young and the Restless’ to Air New Episodes in August
In today’s TV news roundup, CBS revealed that new episodes of “The Young and the Restless” will premiere starting Aug. 10, and Lifetime announced “Married at First Sight: Unmatchables,” set to be released in 2021.
DATES
CBS has announced that the popular daytime soap “The Young and the Restless” will be back to premiere new episodes Aug. 10 through Aug. 14. The five new episodes set to air will follow Sharon’s (Sharon Case) battle with cancer and a scandal involving new couple Billy (Jason Thompson) and Lily (Christel Khalil). The series, which has been on broadcast television since 1973 and is in its 47th season, has spent the past 31 years as television’s top daytime drama, based on ratings. It was created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell and is produced, in association with Sony Pictures Television, by Bell Dramatic Serial Company,
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HBO Max unveiled an Aug. 20 launch date for the first program of its Summer Comedy Festival, “Rose Matafeo: Horndog.” The other three programs included in the stand-up lineup are “Beth Stelling: Girl Daddy,” “James Veitch: Straight to VHS” and “HA Comedy Festival: The Art of Comedy.” The first three are solo specials, while the last features various Latinx comics and is hosted by Anjelah Johnson. Within the latter’s lineup are Monique Marvez, Pedro Salinas, Mark Viera, Carmen Lynch, Jesus Trejo, Gina Brillon and David del Rosario.
FIRST LOOKS
Apple TV Plus released images for its new series, “Long Way Up,” which will premiere the first three episodes on the platform Sept. 18. Later episodes will be released on a weekly basis. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman star in the show, traveling 13,000 miles north through South and Central America on electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire motorcycles. The 100-day trip through 13 countries in “Long Way Up” comes over a decade after the duo’s last recorded motorcycle journey, 2007’s “Long Way Down.” The pair executive produce the unscripted show, while the directors, who follow the bikes in electric Rivian trucks, are David Alexanian and Russ Malkin. View some of the first look photos below.
GREENLIGHTS
Lifetime released information on a deal for four new movies with journalist Robin Roberts, including a new biopic titled “Robin Roberts Presents: The Mahalia Jackson Story.” The film will depict the achievements of Mahalia Jackson, a gospel singer who actively took part in the Civil Rights Movement. “Orange is the New Black” actress Danielle Brooks will play the singer, who performed at rallies like the 1963 March on Washington. The biopic is executive produced by Linda Berman and Robin Roberts, and Kenny Leon is on board as the director.
Lifetime also announced a new spinoff series to the “Married at First Sight” franchise with a greenlight for “Married at First Sight: Unmatchables,” set to debut in 2021. The show takes some of the 65,000 “Married at First Sight” applicants who did not previously have successful matches and revamps their appearance and lifestyle ahead of a date. Pastor Calvin Robertson and Dr. Viviana Cole will offer advice and mentorship to the show’s subjects. Chris Coelen, Ally Simpson and Eric Detwiler from Kinetic Content, as well as Gena McCarthy and Cat Rodriguez from Lifetime are executive producers for the series.
DEVELOPMENT
iHeartRadio announced “The Next Great Podcast” campaign, which will accept podcast pitches from creators across the globe. The campaign, in collaboration with Tongal, will accept submissions through Aug. 27, giving people the chance to launch their series ideas on The iHeartPodcast Network. Of all the submitted concepts, 10 semifinalists will be given funding for 10-minute pilot podcasts, which will be voted on in the fall by listeners. The winning submission will earn the title of “The Next Great Podcast” and be developed into a full series by the network with the help of iHeartRadio producers.
EXECUTIVE NEWS
Screen Engine/ASI, the data acquisition and analytics company, announced that Steve Ridge will serve as the Executive Vice President of its Television News Group. He will report to president Bob Levin and lead the team to provide insight about viewership engagement to local and national television news stations. Ridge worked on production and reporting for television news earlier in his career before becoming the head of local media and Chief Operating Officer at Magid, a company he joined in 1983.
LATE NIGHT
Tonight, Matisse Thybulle, Common and Rufus Wainwright will appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” while “Late Night with Seth Meyers” will feature Sean Penn, Jane Curtin and Thaddeus Dixon.
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