The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
STARS ON SCREEN
Given the lengthy production shutdown, some TV networks are literally going the distance to find fresh material for their schedules, even importing TV hits from other countries.
Luckily for NBC, it didn’t have to go far to find a new addition to its lineup. The broadcaster recently announced it had acquired the complete first season of “Transplant,” a medical drama that’s been a homegrown hit for Canada’s CTV Network.
The series centers on Dr. Bashier “Bash” Hamed (played by “Quantico” star Hamza Haq), a Syrian doctor who fled his country with his younger sister and is now building a new life in Canada. The cast also includes Laurence Leboeuf (“Trauma”), Kenny Wong (“Lost Generation”), Jim Watson (“Designated Survivor”) and veteran Scottish actor John Hannah, who you might recognize from “The Mummy” (1999) or “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (1994). Following its Feb. 26 premiere on CTV, the medical drama pulled in 1.6 million viewers weekly to become the most-watched Canadian series in 2020 (to date, anyway).
“Transplant” should fit in on a network that is already home to medical dramas “Chicago Med” and “New Amsterdam” and has a long affiliation with top-notch hospital dramas such as “ER” and “St. Elsewhere.” Although it’s more common to find American-made shows on Canadian TV than the other way around, the incursion of a Canadian series on a U.S. network isn’t unprecedented — “Rookie Blue” and “Orphan Black” are previous examples that come to mind. But NBC’s acquisition, or even its interest, isn’t surprising since NBCUniversal partnered with CTV and production company Sphère Média Plus from the start.
And NBC isn’t the only network to snap up original content from other outlets near and far. “L.A.’s Finest,” a Spectrum original, is set to return for a second season on June 8, but its first season will fill a gap in Fox’s Monday night lineup this fall. And while DC Universe cancelled it, CW is reviving “Swamp Thing” – at least as an encore, no word yet on a Season 2 – further blurring the boundaries between broadcasters in these unprecedented times.
Already home to a sprawling zombie franchise, AMC may be adding vampires to the mix — and some pretty famous ones, at that. AMC has acquired the rights to the Lives of the Mayfair Witches and Vampire Chronicles series of bestselling books by legendary author Anne Rice. This is a big deal because it allows AMC Studios to develop future film and TV projects based on all the books, including the crossover novels that combined the two series.
Rice and her son Christopher (also a bestselling author) will be credited as executive producers on all projects related to this deal. Rolin Jones, the creator of HBO’s “Perry Mason” and a showrunner on “The Exorcist,” is also involved as part of his overall deal with AMC.
There has long been an interest in developing a TV series based on The Vampire Chronicles books, which have already inspired two big-screen adaptations: 1994’s “Interview With the Vampire” starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, and 2002’s “Queen of the Damned.”
After regaining those theatrical rights in 2016, Rice began shopping them around to different TV networks. In 2017, Paramount Television and Anonymous Content optioned the rights and was working with Christopher to adapt the books. Producer Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal”) briefly signed on as showrunner in 2018, but after his exit, the project landed at Hulu after a bidding war. But nothing came out of that either, and when the rights expired a few months ago, Rice was able to shop them around once more as part of a larger package.
As reported by Variety, Rice stated: “It’s always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches. That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career.”
Fans of the NBC drama “Good Girls” may have been left feeling disappointed after the third season was shortened by the pandemic. But there’s some good news: there’s still more “Good Girls” to come.
NBC has renewed the series for a fourth season. If you haven’t seen it, the series is about Beth, Annie and Ruby, a group of suburban moms — played by Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”),
’GOOD GIRLS’ RENEWED»
Mae Whitman (“Arrested Development”) and Retta (“Parks and Recreation”), respectively — who are involved in a criminal enterprise.
Only 11 of the 16 episodes slated for Season 3 were completed before all TV and film productions were halted (Episode 12 was reportedly shy of just one scene). And while the last episode wasn’t intended to wrap up a season, the de facto finale did give a sense of where the storylines are headed — especially after the final scene showed FBI Agent Donnegan (Lauren Lapkus, “Orange Is the New Black”) confronting Beth, Annie and Ruby.
In an interview with Variety, Retta speculated that the five unproduced episodes from Season 3 will probably end up as the first episodes of Season 4. The comic also explained that Whitman was supposed to make her directorial debut with Episode 14, but it’s not known if that will happen in Season 4 instead.
In terms of ratings, “Good Girls” has been a modest sameday performer for NBC but a winner in terms of digital viewership. It has been pulling in an average of 3.4 million viewers after a week of delayed viewing, which makes it NBC’s second-ranked show on digital platforms and a safe bet for solid ratings next year.