Poster for ‘Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears’ (Photo Credit: HBO)
Season 19 of HBO’s Sports Emmy-winning series Hard Knocks: Training Camp will focus on the Chicago Bears. Liev Schreiber will return as narrator, marking his 18th season handling narrating duties on the critically acclaimed series.
Season 19 marks the first time the Bears have been featured on the series.
“We are honored to feature such an iconic NFL franchise on Hard Knocks,” stated NFL Films senior director and supervising producer Shannon Furman. “The Chicago Bears have a talented roster, coaching staff, and front office all determined to match the expectations of a hungry fan base. We are thankful to the entire organization for opening their doors to us for what is sure to be an exciting training camp this summer.”
“The 2024 training camp will be big for us in preparation for achieving our season goals and we look forward to bringing the fans at home along for the journey,” stated General Manager Ryan Poles. Head Coach Matt Eberflus added, “Our players, coaches, and staff are excited to continue the process of building for the 2024 season.”
HBO and NFL Films’ Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears will premiere on August 6, 2024. New episodes of the five-episode season will debut on Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT.
Per HBO: “General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus will be at the helm, guiding 2024’s first overall draft pick, quarterback Caleb Williams, 2024’s ninth overall pick, wide receiver Rome Odunze, and an array of veteran players including DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Jaylon Johnson, and Montez Sweat.”
Preview seasons of Hard Knocks have spotlighted the Ravens, Cowboys, Chiefs, Bengals, Jets, Dolphins, Falcons, and Texans. The Rams, Buccaneers, Browns, Raiders, Chargers, and Lions have also been featured.
Season 13 of Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown focuses on the search for the lost tomb of Alexander the Great. Explorer Josh Gates returns to lead the expedition when the new season premieres on June 19, 2024. New episodes air on Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT.
“In the two-part season premiere, Josh is on the hunt for the lost tomb of Alexander the Great, the conqueror who ruled over one of the largest empires in history until his untimely demise. His treasure-laden tomb has been lost ever since – its location one of the most sought-after mysteries of all time,” reads Discovery’s synopsis. “A team digging in Egypt believes they are closing in on archaeology’s greatest prize, while divers are plumbing the depths of the Mediterranean for evidence of the royal necropolis. And a British historian may have tracked down Alexander’s sarcophagus and his mummified remains in the most unlikely of locations.” ‘Expedition Unknown’ season 13 poster (Photo Credit: Discovery Channel)
The new season also finds Gates in the Arctic Circle searching for the wreckage of a Barracuda, described as an “extinct torpedo bomber from World War 2 designed to take out Nazi warships.” In addition, Gates’ season 13 adventures will take him to the ocean floor off Tanzania on the hunt for the lost city of Rhapta as well as to the United States to search for treasures stolen during the American Revolution.
Plus, Gates goes on a quest to find the stolen bones of the real Santa Claus, St. Nick.
The siblings are reunited and ready for one final mission in Netflix’s fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy. The two-minute teaser shows the Hargreeves getting back together, but it seems Klaus is just a tad confused about the purpose of the new mission.
“The Hargreeves siblings have scattered after the climactic showdown at the Hotel Oblivion led to a complete reset of their timeline. Stripped of their powers, each is left to fend for themselves and find a new normal — with wildly varying degrees of success. Yet the trappings of their uncanny new world prove too hard to ignore for very long. Their father Reginald, alive and well, has stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye, overseeing a powerful and nefarious business empire,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “A mysterious association known as The Keepers holds clandestine meetings believing the reality they’re living in is a lie and a great reckoning is coming. As these strange new forces conspire around them, the Umbrella Academy must come together one last time — and risk upsetting the shaky peace they’ve all endured so much to secure — to finally set things right.”
Season four stars Elliot Page as Viktor Hargreeves, Tom Hopper as Luther Hargreeves, David Castañeda as Diego Hargreeves, Robert Sheehan as Klaus Hargreeves, Aidan Gallagher as Number Five, and Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison Hargreeves. Justin H. Min plays Ben Hargreeves, Colm Feore is Reginald Hargreeves, and Ritu Arya is Lila Pitts.
Real-life spouses Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally join the weirdness as college professors Drs. Gene and Jean Thibedeau. David Cross joins the cast as Sy Grossman, a “shy business owner and family man desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter, who will stop at nothing to get her back.”
Steve Blackman created the series, based on Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comics, and serves as showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers include Jennifer Cecil, Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, Scott Stuber, Beau Bauman, Pascal Verschooris, Jesse McKeown, Abbey Morris, and Jeremy Webb. Way and Bá are involved as co-executive producers.
The Umbrella Academy season four premieres on Netflix on August 8, 2024.
Paramount Pictures’ latest featurette for A Quiet Place: Day One begins with Lupita Nyong’o describing the basic story, and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) explaining that the prequel explores similar themes to the beginning of the second film. However, the prequel sets the action in an urban environment, unlike the original film and part two.
“It is a completely different perspective, different environment, a different setting,” says Djimon Hounsou. “This one is so much more devastating to witness.” And Nyong’o reveals her character is on a day trip to New York when aliens arrive on Earth. Her character, Samira, and Quinn’s character, Eric, are strangers who work together to figure out how to survive.
The cast also includes Old‘s Alex Wolff. Michael Sarnoski wrote and directed Day One, which is based on characters created by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck. (Story by Sarnoski and John Krasinski.) Krasinski, Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller serve as producers. Allyson Seeger and Vicki Dee Rock executive produce.
The original A Quiet Place starring and directed by John Krasinski opened in theaters on April 6, 2018. The sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, with Oppenheimer‘s on-screen couple Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, followed on May 28, 2021. A Quiet Place: Day One will invite audiences to experience the day the world went quiet on June 28, 2024.
‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ poster (Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures)
Shailene Woodley as Gia in ‘Three Women’ (Photo Credit: Starz)
Starz has set a September 13, 2024 premiere date for the limited series Three Women and released five new photos. The drama, based on Lisa Taddeo’s New York Times bestseller, will debut at midnight on the Starz app and at 10pm ET/PT on linear.
Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies), Betty Gilpin (Gaslit), DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World: Dominion), and Gabrielle Creevy (In My Skin) star. The cast also includes Blair Underwood (Impeachment: American Crime Story), Jason Ralph (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and John Patrick Amedori (Dear White People).
Betty Gilpin as Lina (Photo Credit: Starz)
“The titular series finds three women on a crash course to radically overturn their lives. Lina (Gilpin), a homemaker in suburban Indiana, is a decade into a passionless marriage when she embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming and transforms her life. Sloane (Wise), a glamorous entrepreneur in the Northeast, has a committed open marriage with Richard (Underwood), until two sexy new strangers threaten their aspirational love story,” reads Starz’s synopsis. “Maggie (Creevy), a student in North Dakota, weathers an intense storm after accusing her married English teacher of an inappropriate relationship. Gia (Woodley), a writer grieving the loss of her family, persuades each of these three spectacular ‘ordinary’ women to tell her their stories, and her relationships with them change the course of her life forever.”
Author Taddeo created the series and serves as an executive producer. Laura Eason (House of Cards) is the showrunner, and Kathy Ciric and Emmy Rossum also executive produce.
DeWanda Wise as Sloane and Blair Underwood as Richard (Photo Credit: Starz)Gabrielle Creevey as Maggie (Photo Credit: Starz)Jason Ralph as Aaron and Gabrielle Creevey as Maggie (Photo Credit: Starz)
Jean Smart in ‘Hacks’ season 3 (Photo Courtesy of Max)
The complicated relationship between Deborah Vance and Ava will continue. Max has officially renewed the award-winning comedy Hacks for a fourth season.
Emmy, SAG Award, and Critics Choice Award winner Jean Smart and Emmy, SAG Award, and Critics Choice Award nominee Hannah Einbinder lead the cast as Deborah and Ava. Season three, which premiered in May 2024, also stars Paul W. Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Kaitlin Olson, Jane Adams, J. Smith-Cameron, and Helen Hunt. Christina Hendricks, Christopher McDonald, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Goldwyn, Mark Indelicato, Rose Abdoo, and Lorenza Izzo are also featured in the third season.
“We congratulate Hacks‘ brilliant cast and crew, and our partners at Universal Television. Hacks is a masterfully crafted comedy delivering laughs and sharp insights about the vulnerability and joy of sharing a dream,” said Sarah Aubrey, Head of Max Original Programming. “The creative team behind this singular show is not only brilliant but also a joy to work with. We couldn’t be happier to give viewers another season with Deborah, Ava, and the rest of the Hacks family.”
Season three’s finale debuted on May 30, 2024. The streamer reports episodes seven and eight set daily high viewership numbers for the series.
“Hats off to Jen, Lucia and Paul for crafting a world as compelling and poignant as it is clever and funny. We applaud our outstanding cast, who made it easy to fall in love with these flawed, hilarious, and deeply human characters, and we thank everyone at Max for a terrific partnership over the first three seasons and counting. We can’t wait to deliver more Hacks to fans around the world!” said Erin Underhill, President, Universal Television.
Emmy winners Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky created the series and serve as showrunners. Downs, Aniello, Statsky, Michael Schur, David Miner, and Morgan Sackett executive produce.
Netflix has announced their expanded “Reality Universe” which includes a new addition to the Selling Sunset franchise and a competition series involving reality and docuseries alumnus. The streamer also announced four new games inspired by its reality lineup.
“Through Too Hot to Handle: Love is a Game, Too Hot to Handle 2, and Netflix Stories: Love is Blind, we’ve seen how much our members love stepping inside the Netflix Reality Universe, making their own choices and creating their own story,” said Leanne Loombe, VP of External Games at Netflix. “Expanding the worlds of beloved Netflix series and films is our greatest opportunity in games, and now members can enjoy four more games based on their favorite unscripted series this year.”
NETFLIX NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES
Selling the City – From the creators of Selling Sunset and Selling the OC comes Selling the City, a new series following a dynamic group of no-nonsense, kickass agents at Douglas Elliman as they navigate the cutthroat world of luxury real estate in New York City. From intense competition to the fast-paced careers and personal dramas of these agents, Selling the City promises to deliver all the excitement against the stunning backdrop of the city’s real estate landscape.
Building the Band – Building the Band brings together 50 of the most talented singers for a truly unique competition show where building the perfect band is all about chemistry. The singers are in complete control as they seek to form their very own bands without ever seeing each other. All they have to go on is musical compatibility, connection, chemistry and merit. What will happen when the bands finally meet and… looks, choreography, and style come into play? Incredible performances, compelling drama and one big goal: find the next great music band.
Battle Camp (w/t) – In Battle Camp (w/t), the greatest stars from across Netflix’s broad slate of reality and doc-series return to face the ultimate physical and mental competition, where a giant spinning wheel randomly decides who stays and who goes. In order to keep your name off that wheel, our returning fan favorites need to be unbeatable in high-octane challenges, unbreakable in grueling punishments and, last but certainly not least, unhateable in camp, as everyone has a vote. The player who achieves all three, becomes the ultimate Netflix reality competitor and takes home the $250,000 prize.
Million Dollar Secret” (w/t) – The million-dollar prize is won by one of 12 players right at the start of the first episode. Now, the others will hunt them down – eliminate the millionaire and the money moves to someone new. When should they strike? Too soon and they become the target; too late and they may never get the money. Meanwhile, the millionaire can try to get rid of the cash if the heat becomes too much. This is a game of strategy and alliances, where predators can become prey in the blink of an eye.
Owning Manhattan – June 28, 2024 – In this new Netflix reality series, Owning Manhattan gives a look inside the glamorous, adrenaline-filled universe of high-stakes real estate in New York City. World-famous broker and CEO Ryan Serhant will stop at nothing as he builds his brokerage and goes after the most exclusive luxury listings in the city. And he’s not alone: he’s leading an ambitious army of agents on a mission to become the #1 brokerage in the world.
Love Is Blind: UK – August 2024 – British singles who want to be loved for who they are have signed up for a less conventional approach to modern dating, and will choose someone to marry without ever meeting them. Over several weeks, the newly engaged couples will move in together, plan their wedding, and find out if their physical connection matches their strong emotional bond developed in the pods. When their wedding day arrives, will real-world realities and external factors push them apart, or will they marry the person they fell blindly in love with?
NETFLIX RETURNING REALITY SHOWS
The Mole makes its return with a second season to premiere across 3 weeks, beginning on June 28, 2024, and will be joined by new host Ari Shapiro. This 10-episode competition series will have twelve players working together in challenges to add money to a pot that only one of them will win at the end. Among the players is one person who has secretly been designated “the Mole” and tasked with sabotaging the group’s money-making efforts. In the end, one player will outlast their competition and expose the Mole to win the prize pot.
Too Hot to Handle, the series that aims to help horny singles form deeper emotional connections and win big money, is back this July. For the first time ever, this year’s naughty nymphos think they know what they signed up for, but retreat warden LANA has some tricks up her sleeve with a new prize, new twists, and some old, familiar faces. That’s not all…S6 introduces brand new sidekick ‘BAD LANA’ who is guaranteed to stir up some trouble. This series too has been localized in other countries like Germany and Brazil.
Perfect Match is Netflix’s first show to unite casts from across its Unscripted series onto a completely new one to find love. After hitting the Netflix Global Top 10 TV for five consecutive weeks for Season 1, Perfect Match heats up for Season 2 premiering on June 7, 2024.
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On – December 2024 – Six different couples, on the verge of marriage. One partner is ready to get married, the other isn’t quite as sure. An ultimatum is issued – and in just over eight weeks, they must commit to marriage, or move on. In the meantime, each will choose a new potential partner from one of the other couples, in a life-changing opportunity to get a glimpse of two different possible futures.
The Ultimatum: Queer Love – In the second season of The Ultimatum: Queer Love, six new couples, made up of women and non-binary people, are at a crossroads in their relationship. One partner is ready for marriage, the other may have doubts. An ultimatum is issued. And in just over eight weeks, each couple will either get married, or get out, after they each choose new potential partners in a life-changing opportunity to get a glimpse of two different futures.
NETFLIX NEW GAMES
Netflix Stories: Perfect Match – June 6, 2024 – An all-new game that casts players on the new season of the show. Players enter the villa as a successful relationship podcaster looking for love on the show, but when someone from their past shows up on night one, they’ll have to decide to pursue something new or explore what might’ve been. And look out for familiar host Nick Lachey, who joins as in-game host.
Too Hot to Handle 3 – July 18, 2024 – Crash the retreat and start drama among paired-up singles in this season of Too Hot to Handle, the beloved game based on the hit series. Netflix reality star Chloe Veitch makes a triumphant return to the resort to help contestants (including you) with workshops designed to encourage growth in dating and romance – or fuel more drama. Flirt with glittering singles, get tangled up in love triangles, and make fateful decisions that could have lasting consequences for your dating life.
The Ultimatum: Choices – Sept 2024 – The Ultimatum: Choices casts players as a contestant on the show who must decide to marry their current partner or find love with a new one. Netflix Reality Universe star Chloe Veitch (Too Hot to Handle, Perfect Match) appears as the host of the show, guiding players as they make choices that stir up drama, build meaningful relationships, and form love triangles.
Netflix Stories: Selling Sunset – Fall 2024 – Do you have what it takes to join The Oppenheim Group? In this game, players are the newest agent at LA’s glitziest luxury brokerage and must sell their way to the top to win a $100 million Bel Air listing. But to prove themselves as the top realtor, they’ll have to navigate affluent clients, office drama and another new agent who wants to take them down.
Discovery Channel’s Alien Encounters: Fact or Fiction series examines reported alien abductions in a town well known for UFO activity – Roswell, New Mexico. Featuring UFO experts Mitch Horowitz and Chrissy Newton, Alien Encounters will premiere on June 19, 2024. New episodes air on Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT.
“Alien Encounters: Fact or Fiction is a fun and exciting addition to our Wednesday night line-up, taking viewers on an out-of-this-world journey with a big payoff,” stated Howard Lee, President of Discovery Networks. “As audiences listen to these intimate encounters, they can judge for themselves what they believe before our experts weigh in with facts. It packs the thrill of the unknown with a hunt for evidence, while satisfying the thirst for knowledge.”
Author and lecturer Mitch Horowitz (Occult America, The Miracle Club) and journalist and podcaster Chrissy Newton attempt to explain encounters using scientific data. Cases examined this season include:
• A farming couple from California believe they’ve captured video evidence proving the afterlife is real.
• A geologist believes he may have unearthed the most important piece of evidence to ever come from a UFO crash site.
• A woman seeks to understand her childhood abduction experience, which yields shocking results.
• A husband-and-wife bigfoot hunting team believe they have physical proof of an alien presence on Earth.
• While miles apart from each other, a couple experience the same UFO encounter.
• A Maine lobsterman who had a harrowing experience while camping is finally ready to relive the story.
• Two friends who believe they were abducted by an otherworldly force on a drive through the California desert.
• A woman traveling to Machu Picchu in Peru captures what might be the most critical photo of a UFO ever taken.
• Brothers uncover a piece of metal that they believe came from a crashed UFO.
‘Alien Encounters: Fact or Fiction’ poster (Photo Credit: Discovery Channel)
“Posting up at a local watering hole in Roswell, New Mexico, a town infamous for its UFO past, Horowitz and Newton meet with individuals who have experienced strange and unexplainable encounters. After listening to each firsthand account, the duo taps into the latest intelligence, technology and tools to investigate the reported activity,” reads Discovery’s synopsis. “Using recently declassified UFO documents, databases and more, the pair closely analyze the visual and physical evidence to separate fact from fiction. They’ll then render a final verdict on whether each individual experience has a verifiable explanation, or if they believe it to be a real alien encounter.”
Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ season 2 (Credit: Ross Ferguson / Prime Video)
Prime Video confirmed Tolkien fan-favorite character Tom Bombadil will show up in season two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The first four photos released show BAFTA nominee Rory Kinnear (Men, The Imitation Game) is taking on the beloved character in season two. Prime Video announced Kinnear’s casting back in March 2023 but didn’t indicate who he’d be playing.
Discussing Tom Bombadil, showrunner Patrick McKay said, “He’s whimsical and magical, and almost verging on silly. But also has the wisdom of the ages and the music of the spheres and deep emotional wells of ancient history and myth, and his conception and function are tied to Norse myths and have deep roots in European fairy tale.”
“So weirdly, he’s kind of the most Lord of the Rings thing in Lord of the Rings,” added co-showrunner J. D. Payne. “Tom is sort of a curiosity within that structure because while it is darker, Tom Bombadil is singing and saying lines that could be nursery rhymes from children’s poems. So, he sort of defies the tonal shift of the rest of the season and is a real point of light amidst an otherwise sea of darkness.”
Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil (Credit: Ben Rothstein / Prime Video)
Prime Video offered this description of Tom Bombadil:
Rory Kinnear plays “Tom Bombadil” a figure of unknown origin in Tolkien’s works who projects a timeless wisdom, often propelling characters in a direction to see things more clearly and helping them better understand the wide world around them. In the lore, he claims to be as old as Middle-earth itself, possessing wisdom far beyond the reaches of others. Essential to the spirit of discovery and of the search for meaning, Bombadil is famously clad in yellow boots, blue jacket, and a feathered hat, and prone to enigmatic expressions in singsong verse.
“There’s this sense of huge experience, huge openness, huge empathy, and having gone through so much that he [Bombadil] knows it’s the small things that are important,” offered Kinnear. “That felt actually quite domestic, felt quite reachable in terms of my understanding of who he was.”
Season two premieres on August 29, 2024.
Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil and Daniel Weyman as The Stranger (Credit: Ross Ferguson / Prime Video)Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil and Daniel Weyman as The Stranger (Credit: Ben Rothstein / Prime Video)
Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Dónal Finn in ‘Young Sherlock’ (Photo credit: Dan Smith / Prime Video)
Hero Fiennes Tiffin is reuniting with his The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare director Guy Ritchie for Young Sherlock. Prime Video’s just given a series order to the Sherlock origin story, with Fiennes Tiffin confirmed to play the iconic detective.
Guy Ritchie will direct and serve as executive producer.
“In Young Sherlock we’re going to see an exhilarating new version of the detective everyone thinks they know in a way they’ve never imagined before,” stated Guy Ritchie. “We’re going to crack open this enigmatic character, find out what makes him tick, and learn how he becomes the genius we all love.”
The eight-episode series has Matthew Parkhill (Rogue, Deep State) attached as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.
“With all the wit and charm of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes features, Young Sherlock will be an irreverent, action-packed origin story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective in an explosive re-imagining of this iconic character,” reads Prime Video’s synopsis. “At age 19, Sherlock Holmes is disgraced, raw, unfiltered, and unformed, when he finds himself caught up in a murder mystery at Oxford University which threatens his freedom. Diving into his first-ever case with a wild lack of discipline, Sherlock manages to unravel a globe-trotting conspiracy that will change his life forever.”
The origin story is inspired by Andy Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes book series. Simon Kelton, Ivan Atkinson, Simon Maxwell, Dhana Gilbert, Colin Wilson, and Marc Resteghini executive produce. The series is produced by Inspirational Entertainment and Motive Pictures.
“This exciting, new chapter about one of the world’s best-known literary characters, will delight our global customers with its captivating storytelling,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “With the brilliant creative team, led by Guy Ritchie and Matthew Parkhill, we will explore untold mysteries of how young Sherlock found his way to a life of truth-seeking.”
