HBO Max announced “What Happened to Brittany Murphy” will debut with both episodes of the two-part documentary on Oct. 14.
The docuseries shows an intimate, in-depth character portrait of Murphy, exploring the mysterious circumstances surrounding the actress’s tragic death at 32-years-old. Featuring new archival footage and interviews with those closest to the late star, the series tackles Hollywood’s sexism on her struggles, as well as her concerns of her relationship with husband Simon Monjack.
“What Happened to Brittany Murphy” is directed by Cynthia Hill, with Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, Mary Lisio and James Buddy serving as executive producers. The docuseries is produced by Blumhouse Television and Pyramid Productions.
Watch a trailer below.
Also in today’s TV news roundup:
DATES
Apple TV Plus set Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s “The Afterparty” for a January 2022 debut and released a teaser for the upcoming murder mystery. The show is set at a high school reunion, with each of the eight episodes retelling the night from a different perspective. Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou and Dave Franco star. Miller and Lord serve as executive producers through their production banner, Lord Miller, along with Anthony King. Aubrey Lee is a producer on the series, which was produced for Apple by TriStar TV and Sony Pictures Television as part of Lord and Miller’s expansive five-year overall TV deal. Watch the teaser below.
Netflix announced Theo Von’s hourlong comedy special, “Regular People,” will premiere on Oct. 19. Filmed in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Von shares stories of his most memorable childhood friends, offers tips on how to effectively avoid work and recounts the time he tried to play matchmaker in his hometown. The special is directed by Lloyd Stanton and Paul Toogood, who also serves as executive producer.
PBS announced “All Creatures Great and Small” will return for its second season on Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. Based on James Herriot’s bestselling novel of the same name, the series follows Herriot’s journey as a young vet with his surrogate family in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Siegfried Farnon, Callum Woodhouse, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton and Matthew Lewis star, with Patricia Hodge joining the cast. Colin Callender, Melissa Gallant, Ben Vanstone, Caroline Cooper Charles, Rebecca Eaton, Susanne Simpson and Louise Pedersen serve as executive producers. James Dean serves as producer.
Apple TV Plus announced that “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show” will premiere Nov. 5. From creators Jack McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero, the series aims to ignite kindness by exploring empathy, humor, playfulness and imagination. Alongside series regulars McBrayer, Markita Prescott and Albert Kong, special guest visitors include Paul Scheer and Sam Richardson. The series also features original songs from the band OK Go. “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show” is executive produced by McBrayer, Santomero, Wendy Harris, Vince Commisso and showrunner Guy Toubes and is produced by 9 Story Media Group with animation by Brown Bag Films. Jax Media also produces.
Watch a trailer below.
Peacock announced that “Snoop and Martha’s Very Tasty Halloween” has moved its premiere date to Oct. 21. The one-hour baking competition special is hosted by Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, featuring talented bakers who face off in a Halloween showdown. Tasty food content creator Alvin Zhou will judge the competition alongside Snoop Dogg and Stewart. “Snoop and Martha’s Very Tasty Halloween” is produced by Buzzfeed Studios, Magical Elves and Snoopadelic Films. Casey Kriley, Jo Sharon, Hillary Olsen, Patrick J. Doody and Gaylen Gawlowski serve as executive producers for Magical Elves. Richard Alan Reid and Charlotte Simms serve as executive producers for Buzzfeed. Snoop Dogg and Stewart also serve as executive producers.
HBO announced that the comedy special “Ricky Velez: Here’s Everything” will debut Oct. 23 at 10 p.m. and will be available to stream on HBO Max. Taped in August at Brooklyn Steel in New York City before a live audience, this is Velez’s first HBO comedy hour. The special is executive produced by Velez, Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson, Josh Church and Neal Marshall. Michael Bonfiglio directs and produces, along with producer Rhonda Freeson and co-producer Constantina Konugres. Meredith Bennet, Jon Kamen and Dave Sirulnick executive produce for RadicalMedia. Watch a trailer below.
Adult Swim and Crunchyroll revealed that the animated series “Blade Runner: Black Lotus” will premiere on Nov. 13 at midnight ET with two new back-to-back episodes. Adult Swim will air the English language version on Toonami, and Crunchyroll will stream the series in Japanese with subtitles. The series is produced by Alcon Television Group and animation studio Sola Digital Arts, with Shinichiro Watanabe serving as a creative producer. Shinju Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama direct the series, and Joseph Chou executive produces. Adult Swim and Crunchyroll also debuted a trailer for “Shenmue the Animation,” with director Chikara Sakurai and producers Yû Kiyozono and Joseph Chou. Watch the trailers for “Blade Runner: Black Lotus” and “Shenmue the Animation” below.
HBO Max announced that the cooking show “Selena + Chef” returns Oct. 28 for its third season. The third season will continue to chronicle Selena Gomez as she meets with more chefs from around the world, with each one highlighting a different charity. Featured chefs will include Aarón Sánchez, Ayesha Curry, Esther Choi, Fabio Viviani, Gabe Kennedy, Jamie Oliver, Wame Onwuachi, Padma Lakshmi, Richard Blais and Sophia Roe. “Selena + Chef” is executive produced by Gomez for July Moon Productions, along with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman for Industrial Media’s The Intellectual Property Corporation and showrunners Leah Hariton and Melissa Stokes. Watch a trailer below.
FIRST LOOKS
Netflix released a new trailer and key art for “Sex, Love & Goop,” an unscripted series premiering with six episodes on Oct. 21. In “Sex, Love & Goop,” Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow hosts real-life couples as they explore their bodies and try to enhance their relationships with a focus on understanding how each person experiences pleasure differently. Their journeys are aided by several sex and relationship experts, including speaker and intimacy counselor Michaela Boehm, somatic exologist Jaiya, intimacy coach Amina Peterson, erotic wholeness coach Darshana Avila and family constellations facilitator Katarina “Kato” Wittich. “Sex, Love & Goop” is executive produced by Paltrow, Elise Loehnen, Andrew Fried, Shauna Minoprio, Dane Lillegard and Sarina Roma. Boardwalk Pictures produces. See the trailer and key art below.
AMC Plus released a trailer for the serial killer thriller “Ragdoll,” which premieres on Nov. 11, with new a episode streaming every subsequent Thursday for five additional weeks. The six-part series stars Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Thalissa Teixeira and Lucy Hale, and follows the investigation of a grotesque mass murder by the criminal coined the “Ragdoll Killer.” When a list of the next victims is sent to the police, the investigators must move quickly to prevent the next killing as they soon come under public scrutiny. “Ragdoll” is executive produced and commissioned by AMC and UKTV’s Alibi and executive produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd., with Freddy Syborn as lead writer and executive producer. Watch the trailer below
EVENTS
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) announced that the second virtual edition of the annual Latino Media Fest will take place Oct. 13 and 14, with a keynote from “Pose” creator Steven Canals. The festival will feature exclusive screenings, panel discussions with industry leaders, mentorship sessions and the Latino Media Fest Awards. Additional speakers include Gloria Calderón Kellett, Al Madrigal, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Carla Hool and more. Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo serves as the presenting sponsor, with additional sponsors including Sony Pictures Entertainment, A+E Networks, Endeavor and 3Pas Studios.
HBO announced it will host an in-person “Insecure Fest” block party on Oct. 23 in L.A. — celebrating “Insecure’s” fifth and final season premiering Oct. 24. Hosted by Crissle West and Francheska Medina of the InsecuritTEA podcast, the in person-event will give attendees a chance to view an exclusive screening of the Season 5 premiere episode, experience a photo installation that pays homage to the series, and have food served by local Black-owned vendors. Additionally, viewers will get to experience a preview of “Insecure: The Come Up Game,” a rap-based mobile game where users navigate adulting with the characters.
“Nine Perfect Strangers” director Jonathan Levine will appear at this year’s Fantastic Fungi Global Summit, taking place online Oct. 15-17, Variety has learned exclusively. On Oct. 15 at 12:30 p.m., Levine will be on a panel titled “Pop Culture’s Media Mushroom Boom,” along with Louie Schwartzberg, director of the documentary “Fantastic Fungi,” and moderator Shayla Love, discussing the rising prominence of mushrooms in popular culture and the questions surrounding the increased profile of psychedelic therapy. In “Nine Perfect Strangers,” Nicole Kidman’s character Masha hosts a health and wellness resort and microdoses her unsuspecting guests with psilocybin. The summit is co-produced by Kirt Eftekhar, distributor of “Fantastic Fungi,” and Adam Schomer, producer of “Heal.”
EXECUTIVES
Fremantle announced that Nyanza Shaw has joined as executive vice president of scripted business and legal affairs and Jerry Jacobs has joined the company as executive vice president of scripted productions. Shaw will oversee dealmaking related to the development, production and financing of Fremantle’s scripted television and new media content produced for the U.S. She joins Fremantle with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, business, media, technology and intellectual property matters. Jacobs will be responsible for the aspects of production for Fremantle’s slate of scripted entertainment, including hiring production staff, sourcing locations and setting project budgets. Jacobs joins Fremantle from Lionsgate Entertainment where he served as the senior vice president of television production.
DEALS
Amazon Studios has entered into an overall television and first-look feature deal with Daniel and Ben Barnz. Under their We’re Not Brother Productions banner, the pair will create and produce projects to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Daniel Barnz most recently co-created, wrote, directed and executive produced HBO Max series “Generation.” Ben Barnz recently produced “Generation,” “Cake” and “Phoebe in Wonderland.” The next project for the two is the feature “I’ll Drop a House on You.” Daniel will direct and co-write with Ryan Wash and Ned Zeman, while Ben will produce with Plan B and Macro.
LATE NIGHT
Madonna, Reba McEntire and the Tonight Show Kids will appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” while Ellen Pompeo, Henry Winkler and Billy Idol will be on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly will be on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will feature Sanjay Gupta and Denis Villeneuve. Daniel Craig and Rami Malek will be on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”