A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BET
#YesTo2017 #YesToBLACK #YesToBET
BET LAUNCHES 4 ORIGINALS
FOR LOVERS OF BLACK CULTURE
BEING MARY JANE RETURNS TUE JAN 10 9/8C
ANIKA NONI ROSE LEADS NEW SERIES THE QUAD JAN 31 10/9C
PLUS: TWO EPIC 3-NIGHT MINISERIES PREMIERES
THE NEW EDITION STORY STARTS JAN 24 9/8C
LAURENCE FISHBURNE IS MADIBA
THE DEFINITIVE STORY OF NELSON MANDELA FEB 1 9/8C
CYNOPSIS SPECIAL REPORT:
2017 Winter Preview
by Cathy Applefeld Olson
The chestnuts have roasted, the holiday decor boxed up until next year. As we settle in for hibernation season, cable and broadcast networks are layering our ably equipped man-, woman- and family-caves with a bevy of first quarter, midseason programming to keep us cozy. Here are some of the highlights.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BET
#YesTo2017 #YesToBLACK #YesToBET
NEW CITY. NEW SEASON. NEW ATTITUDE.
BEING MARY JANE
STARRING GABRIELLE UNION
WITH NEW CAST MEMBER MICHAEL EALY!
SAY YES TO CONFIDENCE WITH
THE MOST RELATABLE BADASS ON TV
TUE JAN 10 9/8C *
#BEINGMARYJANE
NEW YEAR. NEW SHOWS
After their usual midseason assessing and juggling, the broadcast networks are making notable additions, beginning this week. Fox bowed comedy The Mick on January 3 and musical drama series Star on January 4. Reboot 24: Legacy, sans Jack Bauer, will get a two-night premiere beginning February 5, and crime drama APB premieres February 6.
“It’s no secret that cutting through the clutter is a great challenge these days,” Vernon Sanders, EVP of current programming at NBC Entertainment, tells Cynopsis. The network is betting big on Taken, the TV adaptation of the film trilogy that premieres February 27, and Powerless, a comedy about insurance adjusters navigating the havoc wreaked by superheroes in the Marvel Universe that bows February 2. Emerald City, based on the Land of Oz books, premieres January 6.
NBC also will continue to feed its spinoff engine with The Blacklist: Redemption, premiering February 23. Of the network’s current trend, Sanders says, “Sometimes it’s hard to find people who know how to deliver. And when we do, and they come to us and say, ‘We think we know how to do it again,’ we listen.”
For all new shows, Sanders notes buildup through the holiday season was a key part of the plan. “Where other networks may lean on repeats and some occasional holiday programming, we do a ton of originals and events throughout December,” he says, citing Hairspray Live and the America’s Got Talent Holiday Special. “All of them provide opportunities to get the word out about [new programming] to not only traditional NBC viewers but those who come to watch these TV events.”
CBS is taking a page from proven brand successes with two of its midseason entries – Training Day, launching February 2 and based on the feature film about a rookie cop paired with a corrupt veteran, and Superior Donuts, based on the play about a ‘60s radical who owns a rundown donut shop in Chicago. The net will also debut legal drama Doubt on February 15.
“People are looking for the new. They’ve come back for the new year and they want to see what’s fresh,” Stephen Hill, BET president of programming, tells Cynopsis. This year, viewers will find the network’s biggest-ever selection of new Q1 programming, strategically tied to both its top viewer draws and Black History Month in February.
“We wanted to use the new seasons of Real Husbands of Hollywood (launched fall 2016) and Being Mary Jane (launching January 2017) to set the table for what BET is doing with original programming,” Hill says. Season 4 of Mary Jane launches January 10 and will serve as lead-in for new series The Quad, a look at life on campus at fictional Georgia A&M, one of the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which premieres January 31.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BET
#YesTo2017 #YesToBLACK #YesToBET
BROTHERHOOD. BETRAYAL. CAN YOU STAND THE RAIN?
THE NEW EDITION STORY
AN EPIC 3-NIGHT MINISERIES EVENT
WITH BRYSHERE Y. GRAY * LUKE JAMES * WOOD HARRIS
SAY YES TO PERSEVERANCE WITH
THE MOST ANTICIPATED MUSIC BIOPIC OF THE YEAR
JAN 24-26 9/8C *
#NEWEDITIONBET
Also tee’d up for BET are music docuseries The New Edition Story, January 24-26, and an original three-part miniseries aimed at continuing the success of last February’s Book of Negroes. Madiba, starring Laurence Fishburne as Nelson Mandela, will air in two-hour increments February 1, 8 and 15. “I think we can tell these stories authentically,” Hill says. “The number of stories on Nelson Mandela is great; however, there’s only one story that’s had the director, the shot-caller, be of African descent – and that’s Madiba.”
Coming up on HBO is comedy Crashing, whose pilot was directed by Judd Apatow (debut date: February 19), and book-based miniseries Big Little Lies, which stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley as mothers whose lives are turned upside down when a series of events results in a murder.
Other cablers are looking to appeal to viewers’ seasonal wishful thinking. “We love the winter,” says Kathleen Finch, Scripps Networks Interactive chief programming, content and brand officer. “People are hunkering down, the holidays are over. We look at it as a time to launch new things and get people excited.”
Scripps is implementing a dual-pronged winter premiere strategy. “Our audience loves to think about things they can do and places they can go. And in winter, what works is featuring warm-weather destinations,” Finch says. For HGTV, that means a “two- to three-hour stack” of new eps of series including Hawaii Life and Beachfront Bargain Hunt. Newbies include Home Town, featuring a young couple who renovate old Southern homes, coming in early March, and a new House Hunters spinoff with House Hunters: Outside the Box, coming in February.
Travel Channel will experience significant program expansion this winter, Finch notes, with new additions including Top Secret Beaches, debuting January 15 and a new batch of Mysteries at the Museum, including a White House special slated to premiere January 12.
For Food Network, “the warm weather doesn’t resonate quite as much for a food audience, so we have different ways of attracting audience – with new titles,” Finch says. Among the new crop are Cooks Vs. Cons spinoff Bakers Vs. Fakers, hosted by Buddy Valastro and debuting on January 25, Ginormous Food, debuting on January 6, and a February 14 special about the bakery Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines opened in Waco, TX.
Seasonal events rule year-round at Hallmark Channel, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. “Winters can be very long and by February we look to Valentine’s Day to talk romance, and the beginning of change of season,” Michelle Vicary, EVP, programming for Crown Media Family Networks, tells Cynopsis. This year the net is adding another original movie, Adrian Grenier- and Amy Smart starring Love At First Glance, on February 14 to anchor its Countdown to Valentine’s Day programming event.
Jenni Rivera biopic series Dolores, La Jenn Que Yo Conoci premieres on Univision on January 15, followed by the premiere of Blue Demon, a series about Mexican luchador Alejendro Munoz. Talent competition Pequenos Gigantes USA bows in February.
Telemundo is stepping into the new year with kid-centric variety show Siempre Ninos on January 8; Mexican-originating Nino Santo, inspired by the story of El Nino Fidencio, one of Mexico’s most recognized healers, on January 8; and romantic comedy La Fan on January 17. Sister net NBC Universo will unleash the network debut of FX series Sons of Anarchy, to which it acquired US cable rights from Twentieth Television, en espanol on January 17.
Speaking of FX, the network on February 8 will launch Legion, a new series with roots in the X-Men franchise and the first co-production between Fox and Marvel TV, on February 8. Freeform just launched supernatural drama Beyond on January 2, and The CW offers a subversive take on Archie, Jughead and crew on Riverdale, starting January 26 after the return of Supernatural.
Discovery’s new 2017 crop includes globe-trotting survival series The Wheel, debuting January 13. Another take on the trial of OJ Simpson comes courtesy of Investigation Discovery, which on January 15 bows docuseries Is O.J. Innocent? The Missing Evidence, narrated by Martin Sheen. Bravo will unleash its latest scripted series, Imposters, on February 7, WE tv bowed Ghosts in the Hood today, and History’s Six follows members of a Navy SEAL team starting January 18.
Among new Lifetime premieres is unscripted series Vivica’s Black Magic, starring Vivica A. Fox, which launched January 4. Smithsonian Channel’s creepy animals and plants doc Crazy Monster also arrived January 4, and Rock’N’Roll Inventions, where music luminaries explain innovations from the gramophone to the electric guitar, debuts January 16. ION Television picked up rights to White Collar and will air a sneak peak January 27 before moving it to its regular Sunday rotation date on January 29. BBC America will offer an immersive look at the world on Planet Earth II, starting February 18, a decade after the original docu-series.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BET
#YesTo2017 #YesToBLACK #YesToBET
THE QUAD
NEW BET ORIGINAL SERIES
STARRING ANIKA NONI ROSE
SAY YES TO EXCELLENCE WITH
THE BOLDEST COLLEGE CAMPUS DRAMA ON TV
TUE JAN 31 10/9C *
#THEQUADBET
MANY HAPPY RETURNS (TO NAME A FEW…)
The cold weather also brings out new seasons of hot series. HBO will bid farewell to Girls with its sixth and final season, debuting February 12. Showtime will premiere season 6 of Homeland on January 15, focusing on the transition between election day and the inauguration of a new US president, and season 2 of Billions on February 19.
AMC’s The Walking Dead will return for an eight-ep season 7 part deux on February 12, the same date Starz brings back a second season of anthology series The Missing. AMC returns drama Humans on February 13, while A&E will open the door to the fifth and final season of Bates Motel on a TBA date in February. USA is bringing back the second season of Colony on January 12, season 6.5 of Suits on January 25 and fifth season of Chrisley Knows Best on February 12. IFC launched season 7 of Portlandia today, and Discovery is back with its true crime entry, Killing Fields; season 2 debuted January 3.
TV One brought back its longest-running series, Unsung, January 4 for a 10th season. After being canceled by ABC, Nashville will make its CMT debut today. The seventh and final season of Comedy Central’s Workaholics launches January 11, the same day Girlfriends Guide to Divorce returns to Bravo for season 3 and the new season of Full Frontal With Samantha Bee heads to a new night on TBS. TBS on February 21 will bring back comedy The Detour for a second season featuring guests Samantha Bee and John Oliver, The CW offers up season 4 of The 100 on February 1, and Syfy is bringing back Face Off for an all-star season 11 on January 24, while The Expanse returns for season 2 on February 1.
PBS music series Soundstage returns January 7 with a six-episode winter season featuring Bad Company, Regina Spektor, Blondie and more through February. Lifetime brought back Little Women: Atlanta yesterday with The Rap Game and Bring It On! on tap for January 13. Freeform’s “Funday” weekend of fave films January 21-22 is followed by the winter premieres of The Fosters and Switched at Birth, resuming January 31.
And it’s all in the (larger-than-life) family for two UP shows: Bringing Up Bates is back for season 5 tonight, while season 2 of Growing Up McGhee kicks off January 12.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BET
#YesTo2017 #YesToBLACK #YesToBET
ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE LAURENCE FISHBURNE IS
MADIBA
AN EPIC 3-NIGHT MINISERIES EVENT
SAY YES TO DEFIANCE WITH
THE DEFINITIVE STORY OF NELSON MANDELA
THREE CONSECUTIVE WEDNESDAY NIGHTS IN FEBRUARY
STARTS FEB 1 9/8C *
#MADIBABET
AND THE WINNER IS…
The start to the new year also ushers in awards season. The Jimmy Fallon-hosted 2017 Golden Globes ceremony is back on Sunday (January 8) on NBC. The People’s Choice Awards returns to CBS on January 18, and the network will air the Grammy Awards on February 12. Bounce TV acquired The Trumpet Awards, celebrating African-American achievements, and will air the 25th anniversary event on Sunday, January 29 at 9p.
The 23rd annual SAG Awards will get a double shot, airing on both TNT and TBS on January 29, the same date Fox features the Miss Universe pageant. The 29th edition of Premio Lo Nuestro a la Música Latina airs on February 23, on Univision, and IFC will air the Independent Spirit Awards on February 25. Rounding out the winter tour, Jimmy Kimmel will host the 89th annual Academy Awards, airing February 26 on ABC.
And because what would an awards show be without the fanfare, E! has Live from the Red Carpet specials ready to go for the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Grammys and Oscars, plus day-after Fashion Police eps around those awards events as well as a NY Fashion week episode, on February 17.
The new year is also heralding its share of event-driven TV. Leading up to inauguration day, History will air Transition of Power: The Presidency on January 8; the net will also premiere The 44th President: In His Own Words, President Barack Obama’s first-hand account of his time in office on January 15. GSN game show/social experiment Divided premieres January 19, the day before the inauguration, along with the season 4 return of Idiotest. Fox will field Super Bowl LI on February 5, and for those who prefer a softer tumble, Animal Planet returns with the Puppy Bowl the same day.
In other words – something for everyone. Happy 2017!
Cathy
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