Small Screen: Returning Favorites, New Shows, And Newer Platforms
ABC/Richard Cartwright
Network: Activist, broadway actress and finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9, Peppermint, is set to break new ground guest starring as a transgender pastor, Pastor Olivia, on the CBS series God Friended Me. Last season, Ali, played by Javicia Leslie leaves her father’s Harlem Episcopal Church and the second season picks up with her attending Pastor Olivia’s LGBTQ inclusive congregation. While the premiere will air Sept. 29, Peppermint will star in two episodes starting Oct. 6.
Fan favorite, Mishael Morgan officially returned to The Young and the Restless in a new role, Amanda Sinclair a character that is the twin sister to Morgan’s previous character, Hilary Curtis. After a five year run with CBS soap, it seemed like curtains for Morgan after an unnegotiable contract that according to her manager, mainly stemmed from money. After Hilary was killed off the show dying in her husband’s arms, Devon, played by Bryton James, she did return a few times playing a ghost. The Y&R teaser video, however boasted that Mishael would be playing no ghost, this time around and welcomed her back to the show.
Following the FOX hit, 9-1-1, Sierra McClain has been cast to star in the upcoming spinoff, 9-1-1: Lonestar. You might recognize McClain from her stint on Empire as Nessa Parker or more recently in her recurring role in the Netflix crime series, Mindhunter. Now, the actress will play Grace Ryder, a 9-1-1 operator in Austin. Ronen Rubinstein, Rob Lowe, Liv Tyler, and Jim Parrack will also co-star opposite McClain in the show. 9-1-1: Lone Star will mark the first spinoff for the series, with the original creators at the helm: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear.
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Cable: Popular podcasters of The Read, Kid Fury and Crissle West are moving to the small screen next month on their variety talk show called The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West on Fuse TV premiering Oct. 11. The show will feature segments and topics similar to the podcast episodes, tackling pop culture, politics, and of course black culture. Both co-hosts will also executive produce the show, while occasionally interviewing guests or celebrities. The duo will join a small pool of people of color hosting late night variety shows, after acts like Desus and Mero and Lily Singh.
BET dramas, The Oval and Sistas backed by Tyler Perry have been pushed back to Oct. 23 instead of its original air date, Oct. 9. The Oval will give audiences a look at the first family moving into the White House but still addressing personal dynamics between the characters. The cast stars Javon Johnson, Ptosha Storey, Vaughn Hebron, and Teesha Renee. The show Sistas is about single black women trying to balance friendships, love and their careers while trying to keep it all together. Starring Ebony Osidian, KJ Smith, Mignon Von, and Novi Brown, Sistas will air at 10 p.m., after The Oval at 9 p.m.
Last week, FX announced that star of Orange is The New Black, Uzo Aduba would join the cast of the anthology series, Fargo for its fourth season as well as Chris Rock who has also been announced as a major lead. This season is the set with a backdrop of Kansas City in the 1950 where two criminal groups come to a truce. Timothy Olyphant has also been cast to star opposite Rock and Aduba, while which role she will playing has not been released. The network has yet to announce when the first episode will premiere, but production starts this Fall with the intention of premiering in 2020.
Adult Swim
Streaming: The long awaited return of Aaron McGruder’s comic, The Boondocks has found a home on HBO Max. HBO Max, the forthcoming streaming service for HBO has ordered two seasons of the animation as well as the entire catalogue of the original series set to premiere in February of next year. McGruder will act as showrunner and executive producer with Sony Pictures working alongside animator Seung Kim and producer Meghann Collins. The characters fans so beloved are back, under a reimagined world run by Uncle Ruckus, as the Freemans try to survive in their Riley, and Grandad living under Uncle Ruckus.
Since Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, have done well to set a precedent of quality television on streaming platforms, NBCUniversal has also thrown their hat in the ring. The media ginat announced the launch of their own streaming service called Peacock. Currently scheduled to be unveiled in April of 2020, it is not yet known where it will be available globally, or the streaming costs. Shows like 30 Rock, Downton Abbey, and Saturday Night Live will be available for streaming, as well as the newly rebooted Punky Brewster and Saved By The Bell.