Colbert ‘welcomes’ fellow Daily alums to Late Show
GoT star Dempsie joins ‘Deep’
NEW YORK, May 10, (Agencies): It was a rare TV reunion Tuesday as Stephen Colbert played host to a gang of fellow “Daily Show” alums on a special edition of CBS’ “The Late Show.”
Along with Jon Stewart, former longtime anchor of the Comedy Central fake newscast, Colbert welcomed Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Ed Helms and Rob Corddry, all of whom, like Colbert, sharpened their satirical skills and won fans as “Daily Show” correspondents before heading out on their own. Colbert joked, “We haven’t aged a day.” A comic sketch flashed back to spoof Colbert’s departure from “The Daily Show” in 2005.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving right in the middle of the George W. Bush administration,” Bee told him. “There’s never gonna be another president this good for comedy. This guy does something ridiculous like at least once every month!”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving us,” echoed Helms. “It’s like Beyonce leaving Destiny’s Child. We’re never gonna hear from her again.”
“We’re a family,” said Stewart, pretending to choke up, “but I guess I’m realizing that you’ll all spread your wings and leave me.”
Later, during his guest spot, Stewart told Colbert, “I’ve been reading about you.” Referring to Colbert’s attention-grabbing joke last week at the expense of President Donald Trump, he said, “You have a potty mouth.”
“That I do,” Colbert replied. “But might I say, I learned it from you, Dad.”
Growing serious, Stewart told Colbert, “The things that you say, even if they’re crass, even if they in some ways are not respectful enough to the office of the presidency, can insult. But HE can injure. For the life of me, I do not understand why in this country we try and hold comedians to a standard we do not hold our leaders to.”
Stewart, who left “The Daily Show” in 2015, said he misses that platform.
“Games of Thrones” star Joe Dempsie and Belgian actress Lyne Renee have joined the cast of Fox Network Group’s “Deep State,” which has begun production in Morocco. Fox Network Group’s first regional scripted commission for Europe and Africa, the spy thriller, created by Matthew Parkhill and Simon Maxwell, stars Mark Strong and Karima McAdams and forms part of Fox Networks Group strategy to source, develop and produce original productions at a regional level.
“It’s wonderful to be starting production on ‘Deep State,’ knowing that we have such a strong and interesting company of actors to bring to life Matthew and the team’s fantastic scripts,” said Sara Johnson, vice president of scripted drama at Fox Networks Group, Europe and Africa. “We couldn’t be happier that we will soon be taking delivery of our first regional scripted commission.”
The eight-part thriller stars Strong as former spy Max Easton who returns to the espionage game to avenge the death of his son. Dempsie will play Harry Clarke, a gifted secret agent whose moral compass proves too rigid for the kind of work he has to carry out. Renee plays Strong’s character’s second wife, an emergency room doctor, who finds her world turned upside by Max’s return to his former life. The previously announced McAdams plays a smart and uncompromising elite intelligence operative.
Fox is jumping into the 2017-2018 television season, greenlighting the network’s first pilot to series: Marvel’s “The Gifted,” Variety has learned.
“The Gifted” is an action-adventure series, hailing from Marvel Television, writer Matt Nix and director Bryan Singer.
The series focuses on a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.
Stephen Moyer plays Reed Strucker; Amy Acker plays his wife, Caitlin Strucker; Natalie Alyn Lind and Percy Hynes White play their children, Lauren Strucker and Andy Strucker; Sean Teale plays Eclipse a.k.a. Marcos Diaz; Jamie Chung plays Blink a.k.a. Clarice Fong; Emma Dumont plays Polaris a.k.a. Lorna Dane; Blair Redford plays Thunderbird a.k.a. John Proudstar; and Coby Bell as Jace Turner.
Hulu is stepping up its drama game, ordering a pilot for “Crash & Burn,” based on the 2013 bestseller by Michael Hassan, Variety has learned exclusively.
The series, which is created by writer/showrunner Aaron Zelman (“Damages”), tracks the lives of three troubled suburban boys through three different time periods starting in the ‘90s. Equal parts mystery, thriller, and character study, “Crash & Burn” aims to honestly depict the humor, aggression and awkwardness of pubescent boys. The mystery of the first season is centered around an attempted school shooting, and the extent to which these boys may have played a part.
Hulu has fast tracked production for this summer, with delivery of the pilot set for September. The project hails from Sony TV.
Should Hulu greenlight the show, the plan is for a 10-episode first season to shoot in New York City or Canada.
Along with Zelman, Alan Gasmer and Peter Jaysen (“Vikings”) are executive producing through their production shingle Veritas Entertainment, as well as Michael Dinner and Katie DiMento, through his Rooney McP Productions banner.
Gasmer and Jaysen are also executive producing Ramin Bahrani’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon for HBO Films, which begins shooting this summer, and AT&T’s comedy “You Me Her,” currently in its third season. Dinner is currently executive producing “Sneaky Pete” and “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams” for Amazon.