‘Dark Side of the Ring’ Season 4 Sets Premiere Date at Vice TV

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Vice TV has dropped the first trailer for “Dark Side of the Ring” Season 4. The trailer (see below) teases several episodes of the upcoming season, including those focusing on Marty Jannetty, Abdullah the Butcher, Magnum T.A. and Junkyard Dog. The fourth season of the popular pro wrestling docuseries, which will consist of 10 episodes, will debut on May 30 at 10 p.m. ET. “Dark Side of the Ring” is narrated by wrestling legend Chris Jericho. The official description of the fourth season states that it will “explore stories like the emotional rollercoaster of one of wrestling’s most captivating and controversial couples, Chris Candido and Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, the car accident that derailed the career of future World Champion Magnum T.A., wrestling’s most unhinged monster, Abdullah the Butcher, a focused look on the troubled life of Marty Jannetty, Shawn Michaels’ former tag team partner, and much more.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino have scored a two-season order for a series set in the world of ballet at Amazon, Variety has learned. Titled “Étoile,” the series will take place in both New York and Paris. Each season will consist of eight episodes. The official logline states that the show “follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies, as they embark on an ambitious gambit to save their storied institutions by swapping their most talented stars.” The cast for the series includes Luke Kirby (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Deuce”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!,” “House of Gucci”), Simon Callow (“Outlander,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral”), Lou de Laâge (“The Innocents”), Gideon Glick (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Marriage Story”), and David Alvarez (“West Side Story”).

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The Apple drama series “Truth Be Told” is done after three seasons at the streamer. Series star Octavia Spencer announced the news in a statement on her Instagram account. “Hey y’all. I wanted to share the news that after three seasons of seeking truth and justice, Poppy Scoville is going on a much-needed vacation,” she wrote. “I want to thank my partners at Orit Entertainment, Hello Sunshine, Chernin Entertainment, Fifth Season, and everyone at Apple for being so supportive over the past three seasons. Nichelle Tramble, Maisha Closson, Mikkel Norgaard and our incredible cast and crew – thank you for your creative vision during this incredible journey. Poppy Scoville signing off.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Nic Pizzolatto is developing a series version of “The Magnificent Seven” at Amazon, Variety has confirmed. The project was originally reported on back in March with a series commitment. It was originally intended to be an original series, but was refashioned to be a new take on the Western classic. Pizzolatto previously co-wrote the 2016 remake of “The Magnificent Seven.” The logline for the reboot states, “In the tradition of the great epics from the golden age of westerns, an outlaw and his cohorts must unite a disparate band of indelible fighters to defend a settlement of immigrant homesteaders in an open range war against cattle barons in central Texas, telling an expansive saga of adventure, action and romance.”

Netflix’s highly-anticipated second season of Heartstopper will return August 3 and has unveiled a behind-the-scenes teaser.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has ordered a supernatural drama series titled “The Boroughs” that boasts “Stranger Things” creators the Duffer brothers as executive producers, Variety has learned. “The Boroughs” hails from co-creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Netflix has given the show an eight-episode order. Per the official logline, “In a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.” “We’ve been fans of Jeff and Will’s writing for a long time, and when they pitched us their idea for ‘The Boroughs,’ we immediately knew they had something very special on their hands,” the Duffers said. “While the heroes in ‘The Boroughs’ have a few more years on them than the kids from ‘Stranger Things,’ they are a similarly lovable bunch of misfits, and we can’t wait for you to join them on an adventure that is at turns scary, funny, and deeply touching.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorre are officially back in business together, with the actor joining Lorre’s HBO Max series “How to Be a Bookie.” Variety has confirmed with sources that Sheen will recur in the upcoming HBO Max series (with the streamer set to be renamed Max in the next month). The show stars Sebastian Maniscalco and was ordered to series in October. Reps for Warner Bros. Television and HBO Max declined to comment. Sheen and Lorre previously worked together on the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” Lorre co-created and executive produced the show, with Sheen starring. Sheen earned four Emmy nominations during his time on the show, but infamously left in the eighth season amid a public meltdown that included his viral “tiger blood” interview with ABC News and entering drug rehab. Sheen proceeded to make a number of disparaging remarks about Lorre publicly, with Lorre killing off Sheen’s character on “Two and a Half Men.” It was revealed in the series finale that Sheen’s character was not really dead, but died in the finale when a piano fell on his head.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The live-action “Knuckles” series starring Idris Elba at Paramount+ has assembled its cast. The show was first announced in February 2022. In addition to Elba reprising the role of Knuckles from “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” Variety has learned that Adam Pally (“Happy Endings,” “The Mindy Project”) is set to star in the series, once again playing the role of Wade Whipple from the film franchise. The film takes place between the events of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which is slated to hit theaters Dec. 20, 2024. In the series, Knuckles “agrees to train Wade as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior,” per the official logline.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon has officially renewed “A League of Their Own” for Season 2, which will also be the show’s last. The first season consisted of eight episodes, while the second season will consist of just four. “Making this show and seeing the impact it has had in the world has been an incredible joy,” said series creators Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson. “While obviously we were hoping for eleven seasons, we’re grateful to be able to continue to tell the story of these characters and this world.” The announcement comes about a month after it was initially reported that “A League of Their Own” would be coming to an end with an abbreviated second season.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has canceled the comedy series “Freeridge” after just one season, Variety has learned exclusively. The half-hour show was a spinoff of the Netflix YA comedy series “On My Block.” It was originally ordered to series back in September 2021 ahead of the fourth and final season of “On My Block.” “Freeridge” debuted its one and only eight-episode season at the streamer on Feb. 2. According to the “Freeridge” official logline, it “is a coming of age comedy following sibling rivals Gloria and Ines and their friends Demi and Cameron who have unleashed a curse bringing dark misfortune into their lives.”

“Superfan,” a one-hour unscripted CBS game show that features diehard fans of six music superstars, including Gloria Estefan and LL Cool J, competing to be crowned that musician’s “superfan.” The six-episode series will debut on Friday, June 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, and will also be available to stream live and on demand on the CBS app and Paramount+, the network announced on Tuesday.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The upcoming Netflix animated comedy series “Mulligan” has set its full voice cast. The series regulars for the show include: Nat Faxon, Chrissy Teigen, Tina Fey, Sam Richardson, Phil Lamarr, and Dana Carvey. Kevin Michael Richardson, Ayo Edebiri, Daniel Radcliffe, Ronny Chieng have been cast in recurring guest star roles. Full character descriptions can be seen below. The series, which was originally ordered at Netflix in March 2020, hails from co-creators Robert Carlock and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” writer and executive producer Sam Means. Per the official logline, “After Earth is destroyed by an alien attack, a rag-tag band of survivors has to start society over from scratch. It’s an opportunity to learn from humanity’s past mistakes and get things right this time. Or make the same mistakes all over again. Probably the second one.”

McKinley Franklin author TNT has announced an official premiere date for its scripted action thriller “The Lazarus Project,” which was previously set to come out earlier this year. “The Lazarus Project” will make its debut on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. ET. The eight-hour drama will follow the story of George, The Lazarus Project’s latest recruit. The organization holds the power to travel back in time at any moment when the world may be on the brink of extinction. When one of George’s closest friends suffers an accident, he has to come to answer the question — “if you had the power to re-write your past, what would you sacrifice to do it?”  The television series was originally set to release on January 8 but was shelved by its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, as it continues to adjust its linear network strategy. “The Lazarus Project” was acquired from the U.K.’s Sky Max, which aired Season 1 in June 2022. The show is now one of the few original scripted series left on TNT, as WBD has wiped most of the original fare off of TBS/TNT in favor of mostly acquired movies and TV repeats, along with sports.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Penguin” series at HBO Max has cast Carmen Ejogo, François Chau, and David H. Holmes in recurring roles, Variety has learned exclusively. The trio join a cast that includes series lead Colin Farrell, who will reprise the role of Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot from “The Batman, as well as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, and Clancy Brown. Character details for Ejogo, Chau, and Holmes are being kept under wraps. Ejogo’s recent TV credits include “Your Honor,” “I’m a Virgo,” and “True Detective” Season 3. In film, she has starred in features such as the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, “Alien: Covenant,” and “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” She is repped by WME and Peikoff Mahan.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Sex/Life” has been canceled at Netflix after two seasons, Variety has learned. The second season of the drama series debuted on the streamer on March 2, while Season 1 debuted in June 2021. The series was inspired by the book “44 Chapters About 4 Men” by B.B. Easton and hailed from creator Stacy Rukeyser. Sarah Shahi starred as Billie Connelly who, exhausted from taking care of her two kids and feeling nostalgic for the free-spirited life she lived in New York with her best friend Sasha (Margaret Odette) before marrying loving and reliable Cooper (Mike Vogel), starts journaling and fantasizing about her exploits with an ex (Adam Demos).

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “This Is Us” alums Sterling K. Brown and Dan Fogelman are reuniting for a drama that has been ordered to series at Hulu, Variety has learned. Hulu is not commenting on exact plot details of the untitled series, but sources describe the show as a thriller and say Brown would star as the head of security for a former president. In addition to writing, Fogelman will executive produce via Rhode Island Ave. Productions along with Jess Rosenthal. Brown will executive produce in addition to starring, with John Hoberg also executive producing. 20th Television is the studio, with Fogelman currently under an overall deal there.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Ted Lasso” breakout Phil Dunster’s role in the second season of “Surface” has been revealed. Dunster joining the second season of the Gugu Mbatha-Raw-led Apple series was reported in early March, but character details were being kept under wraps at the time. Variety can now exclusively report that Dunster will star as Quinn, the older brother of Eliza (Millie Brady). Quinn is described as “the privileged scion of a troubled, old-money family who’s attempting to blaze a new trail for the younger generation – all the while struggling against his own darker tendencies.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A series version of the comic book “Hellicious” is in development at TBS with “Red Hot Chili Peppers” frontman Anthony Kiedis attached to star and executive produce, Variety has learned exclusively. In addition to starring, Kiedis will executive produce along with Bob Forrest and Ron Burkle via their newly formed production company, Said and Done Entertainment. The series is inspired by the comic book series created by Mina Elwell, Alan C. Medina, Kit Wallis, and Simon Oré. Per the official logline, the show “follows Cherry, the Devil’s precocious 7-year-old granddaughter, who steals the Heaven-bound soul of rock-goth icon Briggy Bundy (Kiedis). The unlikely duo stumble upon forgotten realms of the afterlife while evading Cherry’s mother and an agent from heaven sent to reclaim Briggy’s soul.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Night Agent” has earned a speedy Season 2 renewal at Netflix, Variety has learned. The action thriller series debuted on the streaming service less than a week ago, on March 23. It proved to be popular immediately, rocketing up to the top of Netflix’s weekly Top 10 chart with 168.71 million hours viewed. The second season will consist of 10 episodes. “The last week has been a whirlwind as we’ve finally been able to share ‘The Night Agent’ with the world,” said series creator Shawn Ryan. “To see the tremendous reaction to the show has been a great joy and is a credit to our cast, our writers, our directors, our crew and our partners at Sony Pictures Television and Netflix. We couldn’t be any prouder or more excited to get cracking on Season 2 to share the further adventures of Night Action with our newfound fans.”

McKinley Franklin author Comedy Central has released the first official teaser for Season 3 of “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens” ahead of the series’ April 26 premiere date, Variety can exclusively reveal. The television comedy “Awkafina Is Nora From Queens” draws inspiration from creator and writer Awkwafina’s life experiences growing up in Queens, N.Y. — and she’ll also make her directorial debut with Season 3. On the show, Awkwafina (aka Nora Lin) maneuvers through the hardships of young adulthood with the support of her closest family members, her father (BD Wong), grandmother (Lori Tan Chinn) and cousin (Bowen Yang). From the looks of the teaser, it looks like their lively, eccentric family dynamic from previous seasons will still be present in Season 3.