Mahershala Ali in early talks to join HBO’s ‘True Detective’
‘Carmichael Show’ ending
LOS ANGELES, July 2, (RTRS): Mahershala Ali is in talks to star in the third season of “True Detective” at HBO, Variety has confirmed with sources.
While discussions are underway with the Oscar winner, Ali’s deal is not in place — plus, “True Detective” technically has not been greenlit for Season 3, though sources close to the network say the third season is happening.
Plot details for the third season are being kept under wraps, so no word on the character Ali will be playing.
Should Ali officially sign on — as first reported by Tracking Board — his starring role will follow A-listers on “True Detective” including Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson for the first season, and Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch in for the second season. Ali would be the first African-American lead in the HBO series.
While “True Detective” hasn’t been renewed for a third season, it’s likely the anthology’s official order is contingent on the cast, along with the quality of the script, so Mahershala’s deal closing will surely speed up the process. After a stellar first season and then a rocky second season, HBO recruited “Deadwood’s” David Milch to collaborate with “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto on the third installment. Pizzolatto was said to have settled on a concept for Season 3 earlier this year, and began working on scripts in March.
Following poor critical response for the second installment, insiders said HBO had been looking to make a change in the way the show is run and presented Pizzolatto with a number of options, including working with a staff of writers and having a new showrunner come on board. The second season struggle is what has stalled an official greenlight for Season 3.
For Ali, the series marks a return to television for the breakout movie star who won an Oscar for “Moonlight” this year, becoming the first Muslim actor to take home an Academy Award. His TV credits include prominent roles in Netflix’s “Luke Cage” and “House of Cards,” among others. He is repped by WME.
“The Carmichael Show” is ending after three seasons, as its star and creator Jerrod Carmichael has opted to exit to series, Variety has learned.
“For three seasons (okay 2.5), I got to make a show that I love with my friends,” Carmichael said in a statement released to Variety. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was 13. Now, I’m excited to go make other things that I love. Thank you to every person who worked on or watched the Carmichael show.”
“We are enormously proud of The Carmichael Show and Jerrod’s talent and vision to do a classic family sitcom that also taps into issues and relevant stories from the real world. We thank and salute the cast, crew, and producers — and especially Jerrod — for three critically-acclaimed seasons,” said NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt and NBC entertainment president, Jennifer Salke.
20th Century Fox Television presidents, Jonnie Davis and Howard Kurtzman, said: “‘The Carmichael Show’ was such a wonderful show that we choose to focus today not on its loss but on the three incredible seasons we had the pleasure to produce. We are thankful to the brilliant Jerrod Carmichael and his talented cast, and to showrunner Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, our fantastic writers and devoted production team. It’s a rarity that a comedy series tackles the social and political issues of the day in such a clever and hilariously funny way. This show was special, and we will miss it.”
“The Carmichael Show” was co-created by Carmichael, Ari Katcher, Willie Hunter and Nicholas Stoller. Carmichael starred alongside Amber Stevens West, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Loretta Devine and David Alan Grier.
The family sitcom debuted in summer 2015 and is currently in the midst of its third season. The six-episode first season averaged a 1.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 4.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Live+Same Day data. Season 2, which was 13 episodes, averaged a 0.9 and 4.2 million. Season 3 is currently averaging a 0.8 and 3.7 million.
“The Carmichael Show” has been criticallypraised for its inclusion of topics such as racism, rape, Black Lives Matter and Bill Cosby’s scandal, which enabled the show to stand out from other typical broadcast comedies. The show also aired an unedited episode with the N-word this season. Variety TV critic Maureen Ryan wrote, “‘The Carmichael Show’ is an NBC comedy you should be watching.”
Stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park have departed CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0.” Their characters, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua, will not appear in the upcoming eighth season. The characters’ absence will be referenced in the season premiere.
Sources tell Variety that Park and Kim had been seeking pay equality with stars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan, but were unable to reach satisfactory deals with CBS Television Studios, which produces the series. Kim and Park were believed to be making 10-15% less than O’Loughlin and Caan.
“I will never forget meeting Daniel while still writing the pilot and being certain there was no other actor who I’d want to play Chin Ho Kelly,” said executive producer Peter Lenkov. “Needless to say, Daniel has been an instrumental part of the success of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ over the past 7 seasons and it has personally been a privilege to know him. Grace’s presence gave ‘Hawaii Five-0’ a beauty and serenity to each episode. She was the consummate collaborator, helping build her character from day 1. They will always be ohana to us, we will miss them and we wish them both all the best.”
A CBS spokesperson said in a statement: “We are so appreciative of Daniel and Grace’s enormous talents, professional excellence and the aloha spirit they brought to each and every one of our 168 episodes. They’ve helped us build an exciting new Hawaii Five-0, and we wish them all the best and much success in their next chapters. Mahalo and a hui hou...”
Kim and Park have both been cast members on “Hawaii Five-O” alongside O’Loughlin and Caan since CBS premiered a rebooted version of the classic television cop show in 2010.