Twilight Zone, Murphy Brown find home on Citytv

Citytv says it has picked up Jordan Peele’s anticipated reboot of The Twilight Zone for its 2018-19 programming lineup.

The Get Out director is reimagining the sci-fi classic in a one-hour drama for CBS debuting next year.

Another reboot the Rogers owned channel picked up for the fall is Murphy Brown, executive produced by Candice Bergen who returns to CBS as the journalist determined to focus on honest reporting rather than ratings.

Citytv is also adding two new prime-time dramas this fall: A Million Little Things, about a group of Boston friends rocked by a sudden loss, and Manifest, which explores the lives of the passengers and crew of a long-missing flight as they try to understand what happened to them.

Homegrown fall series include a drama about female code breakers in the Second World War called The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, and a second season of the Canadian mob thriller Bad Blood.

Adding to its Sunday programming, City has snagged the new season of The Simpsons from Global, where the show has been broadcast for about 30 years. A spokeswoman says the move doesn’t include the Simpsons library.

The irreverent animated series about a dysfunctional, middle-America family heads into its 30th season with some critics unhappy with the way it has responded to criticism of the Apu character.

People of South Asian heritage have criticized the heavily accented Apu for reinforcing stereotypes they say lead to bullying and selfloathing. An episode in April that briefly appeared to address the backlash was seen as a “jab” by comedian Hari Kondabolu, who wrote the documentary The Problem With Apu.

The character is voiced by Hank Azaria, who has also said he wants to step aside from the character if the Fox show decides to make a change.

The Canadian Press

With files from The Associated Press