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NBC has canceled American Auto after two seasons. The workplace comedy series was set in Detroit, where the corporate executives of Payne Motors are at a crossroads: adapt to the changing times or be sent to the junkyard. Shaking things up is the new CEO, whose leadership, experience and savvy is only slightly offset by her complete lack of knowledge about cars. Luckily, her team has some of the best minds in the business – when they aren’t fighting or trying to outwit each other. Creator Justin Spitzer’s pilot St. Denis Medical was ordered to series last week.
Adult Swim has ordered the comedy series Common Side Effects. The series follows former high school lab partners Marshall and Frances who begin to unravel a conspiracy involving big pharma and the federal government to suppress knowledge of a rare mushroom that may hold the key to curing all the world’s diseases. It delves into the complex reactions to the revelations of the mysterious elixir of life.
Max has renewed animated series Velma for a second season. The adult comedy series tells the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and under-appreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang.
NBC has passed on its comedy pilot Non-Evil Twin starring Amber Ruffin. The comedy pilot focused on a woman who is forced to step in to her sister’s role as the leader of a Fortune 500 company despite knowing little about business and even less about the way her sister has been running the corporation.
Adult Swim has renewed Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal for a third season. The first two seasons of the series followed a caveman at the dawn of evolution as he forms an unlikely friendship with an almost extinct dinosaur. After bonding over unfortunate tragedies, they ostensibly become each other’s only hope of survival until a final standoff becomes fatal.
The second season of sci-fi donghua Link Click will premiere July 14. The North American premiere will take place at Anime Expo on July 2. Using superpowers to enter their clientele’s photos one by one, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang take their work seriously at “Time Photo Studio,” a small photography shop set in the backdrop of a modern metropolis. Each job can be full of danger, but nothing is more important than fulfilling every order, no matter the scale…or peril involved! The first season is streaming on Crunchyroll in both sub and dub.
PBS will feature new dramas and say goodbye to one this summer. New series Ridley premieres June 18. Retired Detective Inspector (D.I.) Alex Ridley is called back to advise on a complex and compelling murder case by his replacement and former protégé, D.I. Carol Farman. Carol is keen to access Ridley’s unique insight into crime-solving, which served them so well in the past, but the investigation takes a dark and unexpected twist. The final season of Endeavour on Masterpiece airs after on June 18. The spinoff series inspired by Inspector Morse comes to a brilliant end as Shaun Evans as the young Morse and Roger Allam as his superior officer face intriguing new crimes including an unsolved case linked to the past. With characters from former seasons popping up in a grand finale, Morse must resolve his professional and romantic future. A new season of Grantchester on Masterpiece premieres July 9. Will is happily married to Bonnie, and Geordie and Cathy content in their rebuilt relationship. But an accident and shocking announcements threaten the stability and happiness found by Grantchester’s vicar and police detective duo. New series D.I. Ray premieres after on July 9. When D.I. Rachita Ray, a British-Asian police officer new to homicide, is assigned to investigate the suspected honor killing of a young Muslim man, she quickly realizes the suspects can’t be guilty. The evidence against the two brothers from a British Hindu family is flimsy at best. Her attempts at conveying this to her superiors and colleagues are ignored. Hidden biases and a keenness to wrap the case up mean no one is listening to her until her probing leads the team to a much more sinister crime.
The animated Harley Quinn spinoff series has gotten a new name. The project was previously known as Noonan’s will now be known as Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Lovable loser Kite Man and his new squeeze Golden Glider moonlight as criminals to support their foolish purchase of Noonan’s, Gotham’s seediest dive bar, where everybody knows your name, but not necessarily your secret identity!
Zimzon Zion has joined the cast of ALLBLK’s Double Cross. He will be a series regular in the just announced fifth season.
An adaptation of Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose’s graphic novel Get Jiro! is in production at adult swim. The series takes place in a not-too-distant future of food-obsessed LA, where master chefs rule the city like crime lords and people will literally kill for a seat at the best restaurants.
Ashanti Harris won ALLBLK’s Shoot Your Shot” national casting call. Harris has secured a starring role in ALLBLK’s upcoming scripted dramedy Involved. Harris will play the coveted role of Shayla Williams. This national search and final audition came down to five promising actresses who performed scenes in front of a live audience opposite celebrity reader Lance Gross. The judges were so impressed they also offered finalist Zing Ashford a role in the upcoming series Involved.
