‘Silicon Valley’s’ Mike Judge, Zach Woods Reunite for Adult Animated Comedy at Peacock

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Peacock is developing a series inspired by the 1996 film “Fear,” Variety has learned exclusively. Jessica Goldberg is set to write and executive produce the adaptation. Brian Grazer, who produced the film, is executive producing along with Ron Howard, Lilly Burns and Kristen Zolner, all via Imagine Television, which is also listed as an executive producer. Imagine Entertainment produced the original film. Universal Television is the studio behind the series, with Universal Pictures having distributed the film. Goldberg is currently under an overall deal at UTV. The official series logline states, “This modern series reinvention finds two young lovers in a psychological game of cat and mouse—but who’s the cat, and who’s the mouse? When David and Nicole first meet in Seattle, it feels like an epic, once-in-a-lifetime romance – but soon it becomes clear that the seemingly perfect couple is anything but. Told from conflicting points of view, the series wrestles with personal demons, hidden agendas and reframes the “he said she said” convention into a twist-filled suspense story about toxic relationships.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Former network head Robert Greenblatt has set up a limited series for development at Hulu, Variety has confirmed. Greenblatt, via his first-look deal with Lionsgate Television, will executive produce a series adaptation of The Atlantic article “Death at a Penn State Fraternity” by Caitlin Flanagan. The project is currently titled “Death at Penn State.” Based on a true story, the series’ official logline states, “The limited series explores fraternity life and specifically tells the story of Tim Piazza who fought for his life for 12 hours before his Beta Theta Pi brothers called 911. By then it was too late.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Chris Messina has joined Kaley Cuoco in the Peacock dark comedy thriller series “Based on a True Story,” Variety has learned. Per the official series description, the show “is about a realtor, a plumber and a former tennis star whose lives unexpectedly collide, exposing America’s obsession with true crime, murder and the slow close toilet seat.” It was previously announced that Cuoco will play a married woman named Ava Bartlett, while Messina will play a character named Nathan. All other character details are under wraps. Messina’s recent TV credits include the Starz Watergate drama “Gaslit” as well as Season 3 of the popular USA Network series “The Sinner” and HBO’s “Sharp Objects.” He is perhaps best known for his role on the comedy series “The Mindy Project,” in which he starred as Danny Castellano. On the feature side, Messina has been in films like “Argo,” “Away We Go,” “Devil,” “I Care A Lot,” and “Birds of Prey.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The “Goosebumps” live-action series at Disney+ has added three more cast members. Variety has learned exclusively that Ana Yi Puig, Miles McKenna, and Will Price have joined the show as series regulars alongside previously announced cast member Justin Long. Per the official logline, “The series follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together — thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries and pasts with each other — in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.” According to Disney Branded Television, the series is influenced by five of the most popular “Goosebumps” books.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Fox has renewed the animated comedy “Krapopolis” for Season 2 before the show’s series premiere. The series, which hails from Dan Harmon, was originally picked up at Fox in February 2021. It is slated to premiere on the broadcaster in 2023, but it does not yet have an official premiere date. Per the official logline, “‘Krapopolis’ is set in mythical ancient Greece and tells the story of a dysfunctional family of humans, gods and monsters that try their hand at running the world’s first cities – without trying to kill each other, that is.” The show show’s voice cast includes stars like Hannah Waddingham, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Pam Murphy, and Duncan Trussell.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Derek Kolstad and Dmitri M. Johnson are teaming to launch the media company Story Kitchen, with APA partner Mike Goldberg exiting the agency to join the duo as a co-founder of the new company. Goldberg previously represented Kolstad and Johnson’s dj2 Entertainment during his time at APA. Goldberg’s clients are expected to stay with the agency. In addition, Dan Jevons, Tim Stevenson and Howard Bliss of dj2 will be joining Story Kitchen in senior leadership roles. All current dj2 projects will continue to be handled by Johnson and dj2, with new projects being handled by Story Kitchen. According to Story Kitchen, the company will focus on “the creation -and amplification- of ‘World-Building Action’ and ‘Non-Traditional Intellectual Property’. If all the world’s a stage, Story Kitchen aims to be the Shakespearean leader in Gun-Fu, Popcorn-Fu and Controller-Fu.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter WWE is shaking up their commentary teams, Variety has learned exclusively. Beginning with this week’s season premiere episode of “SmackDown,” the commentary team for the shows will be as follows: On “SmackDown,” Michael Cole and Wade Barrett will be the main commentators, with Barrett moving over from the “NXT” commentary team. Samantha Irvin will serve as the ring announcer, with Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant serving as backstage interviewers. At “Monday Night Raw,” Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves will the commentary team. Patrick has worked as a backstage correspondent, a play-by-play commentator for “WWE Main Event,” and the host of “Raw Talk.” Mike Rome will be the ring announcer. Cathy Kelley and Byron Saxton will conduct onscreen interviews. Kelley is returning to WWE after leaving the company in 2020. Saxton has been working on the “Raw” commentary desk along with Graves and Jimmy Smith of late.

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu is adding some new voices to its upcoming animated comedy Koala Man.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Dan Levy has set up the mutli-camera comedy “Exit Strategy” for development at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively. The half-hour show would follow “three self involved best friends (Marcus, Dave, and Sara) in their early twenties who all work at the same terrible start up and all f—ing hate their boss,” the official logline says. “This trio needs to start their life and Marcus, the leader of the crew believes the only way to do so is to quit their awful job. However, before Marcus gets his chance, his boss fires him first. Now he really f—ing hates him.” Levy created the series and also serves as executive producer and showrunner. He executive produces via Screaming Elliot Productions.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order to a new comedy series from Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay with Sebastian Maniscalco set for the lead role, Variety has learned. The single-camera show is titled “How to Be a Bookie.” HBO Max has given it an eight-episode order. Per the official logline, “A veteran bookie (Maniscalco) struggles to survive the impending legalization of sports gambling, increasingly unstable clients, family, co-workers, and a lifestyle that bounces him around every corner of Los Angeles, high and low.” Lorre and Bakay serve as co-writers and executive producers on the show. Maniscalco will executive produce in addition to starring, with Judi Marmel also executive producing. Warner Bros. Television is the studio. Chuck Lorre productions is currently under an overall deal at WBTV. The show marks Lorre’s first series at HBO Max.

Joshua Alston From the beginning, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi has approached his career as an artist who would sooner toil in obscurity than be renowned for just one thing. Just two years after dropping “A Kid Named Cudi,” the mixtape that launched him into the spotlight, he was cast in “How to Make It in America,” a short-lived HBO-originals deep cut. In the decade since that show ended in 2011, he’s earned a reputation for bouncing willy-nilly between genres, mediums, and disciplines, and the choices that once seemed fickle now seem confidently eclectic.  Never has Mescudi looked more like a polymath than with the debut of “Entergalactic,” an animated Netflix special timed to the release of his new studio album (also dropping on Sept. 30), which bears the same title. “Entergalactic” was initially announced in 2019 as a series to be created by Mescudi and Kenya Barris, but has since been whittled down to a 90-minute special (which Netflix is calling an “event”). In its final form, the special feels like it’s being torn in several artistic directions at once, not unlike Mescudi himself. The length and formal relationship with the album suggest a Beyoncé-style visual companion piece, heavy on style and symbolism but without a narrative throughline. (Halsey’s “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power” is a solid non-Bey example.)

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The FX comedy pilot “English Teacher” has found its main cast, Variety has learned exclusively. Stephanie Koenig (“Lessons in Chemistry,” “The Offer”), Enrico Colantoni (“Just Shoot Me,” “Station Eleven”), and Julian Sergi (“Ramy,” “War Dogs”) have all joined as series regulars. Carmen Christopher (“The Bear,” “Killing It”), Jordan Firstman (“Big Mouth,” “Ms. Marvel”), Yissendy Trinidad (“Babylon,” “You’re Not Alone”) and Langston Kerman (“Insecure,” “The Boys”) will all appear in recurring roles. “English Teacher” was originally ordered to pilot in June. Production is now underway. Brian Jordan Alvarez wrote the pilot and stars as Evan, a gay high school English teacher in Austin, Texas. The show follows him and his fellow teachers “trying to balance the competing demands of the students and their parents in a world where the rules seem to change every day.” Alvarez is also an executive producer on the pilot along with Paul Simms, who is currently an executive producer on the FX shows “What We Do in the Shadows” and “Atlanta.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Chloe Bennet has signed on for a recurring role in Season 3 of “Dave” at FXX, Variety has learned exclusively. Bennet will appear in a multi-episode arc as Robyn, a photographer from Wisconsin whom Dave meets while on tour. Bennet is known for her role in the ABC-Marvel series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” on which she starred as Daisy “Skye” Johnson, a.k.a Quake, throughout the show’s seven-season run. Her other notable roles include the ABC music drama “Nashville” and the animated Dreamworks film “Abominable.” She will reprise her “Abominable” role in the upcoming spinoff series “Abominable and the Invisible City,” which bows in October on Hulu. She is repped by CAA and Robby Koch at Hansen Jacobson.

Disney’s favorite witches are back! Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy stepped out in New York City to celebrate the premiere of Hocus Pocus 2 on Tuesday, September 27.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador was a big fan of former celebrity couple Belinda and Christian Nodal? During a briefing, the chief of state spoke about the recent success of Grupo Firme after performing for free to over 280 thousand people at the Zócalo —the main square in central Mexico City.López Obrador also mentioned that Nodal requested the same venue to perform for free; however, the president is hesitant to grant the request due to his friendship with pop singer Belinda and Nodal’s ex-fiancee.“I don’t know who told me that there was another famous artist who wanted... Cristian Nodal also wanted to participate and not charge; it would be great,” he revealed.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Julia Franz, senior vice president and head of comedy development for Fox Entertainment, is exiting the broadcaster. Cheryl Dolins is joining Fox to take her place.

Lise Pedersen Adapted from the popular Instagram comics by Belgian cartoonist Laura Janssens, “Hamsters” was one of several TV show projects aimed at young adults pitched at this year’s edition of Cartoon Forum in Toulouse.  The 2D series tells the story of Philippe and Gio­van­ni, a couple of gay ham­sters who look at and comment on the world from their cage. Born during lockdown, the characters were inspired by the Dutch word “hamsteren” which means hoarding, as people started panic buying household essentials when the pandemic broke out. The pair have very different personalities which make them complementary: While Giovanni wants to live an Insta-perfect life and is very concerned about what people think, Philippe is easy-going, enjoys eating, and is very supportive of his partner.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The “Queer as Folk” reboot has been canceled after one season at Peacock, Variety has learned. The entire first season of the show was released on the streamer on June 9. It originally received a straight-to-series order at Peacock in April 2021. The show followed a group of friends in New Orleans who must deal with the aftermath of a shooting at a queer nightclub. The cast included Fin Argus, CG, Jesse James Keitel, Ryan O’Connell, Johnny Sibilly, Devin Way, and Kim Cattrall, among others. Stephen Dunn created the series and served as an executive producer along with Jaclyn Moore, Lee Eisenberg, Emily Brecht, original series creator Russell T. Davies, Nicola Shindler, and Richard Halliwell on behalf of NENT Studios UK, which distributes the format. UCP is the studio.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Illumination, the studio behind the “Despicable Me” franchise, has tapped Mike Moon to form a new label, Moonlight. The goal is to broaden the range of films that Illumination makes beyond the kid-friendly fare that’s been its stock in trade. Moon most recently served as the head of adult animation at Netflix, a post he stepped down from in July to “pursue other opportunities.” His exit came as the streamer, battered by a swooning stock price, was laying off animators and dialing back its ambitions in the space. In addition to his new role as president of Moonlight, the company said that Moon will serve as a senior creative advisor to Illumination. Moonlight’s films will be distributed under Illumination’s distribution partnership with Universal Pictures. Illumination said the goal is for Moonlight to “produce animated films that push beyond the family genre.”

The “Despicable Me” animation studio Illumination is launching a new label that will help it expand beyond family films and into more adult animated fare, and they’ve tapped Mike Moon, previously the head of Adult Animation at Netflix, to lead the new label.Moon will serve as the president of the label titled Moonlight, and he will also come aboard as a creative advisor to Illumination. His role will at Moonlight will be to augment Illumination’s existing slate and produce animated films that push beyond the family genre.