AMC Networks will bring back its The Walking Dead spinoff series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon for a third season, the network announced at San Diego Comic-Con.

The series, the sixth series from The Walking Dead Universe, launches its second season September 29 and stars Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride as their respective characters from the original The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier.

Season 1 of the series debuted in late  2023 as the most-viewed season of any show in the history of AMC Plus at the time. It has since been eclipsed by The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. 

According to AMC, Season 3 tracks Daryl and Carol as they continue their journey toward home and their loved ones. As they struggle to find their way back, the path takes them farther astray, leading them through distant lands with ever-changing and unfamiliar conditions as they witness the various effects of the Walker apocalypse.

The series will begin production on Season 3 next month in Spain. 

“We are so proud of these shows and incredibly grateful for the way this new chapter in The Walking Dead Universe has been embraced by the fans,” AMC Networks president of entertainment Dan McDermott said. “Sending Daryl, and then Carol, to France was such an inspired and visually striking move for this franchise, a chance to do something truly different. We can’t wait to continue the travels of this iconic duo with a third season produced and set in Spain, another beautiful country with a passionate TWD fanbase that is already buzzing with anticipation.”

The return of Netflix's Cobra Kai for its sixth and final season, as well as the launch of Apple TV Plus drama Lady in the Lake lead the list of original series, specials and documentaries debuting this week. 

Cobra Kai, a spinoff of the Karate Kid theatrical film franchise, will debut its sixth and final season on July 18 with the first of three parts consisting of five episodes each, according to the streaming service. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka star in the series along with William Zabka, Martin Kove, Jacob Bertrand, and Mary Mouser. 

Apple TV Plus' seven-episode drama Lady in the Lake premieres July 19 and stars Natalie Portman as a Jewish housewife seeking to reinvent herself as an investigative journalist after the disappearance of a young girl in 1960s Baltimore. Moses Ingram, Y'Lan Noel and Noah Jupe also star in the series. 

Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of July 15-21. For some, viewer discretion is advised.

July 17, The Ark (returning series), Syfy

July 17, Simone Biles Rising (sports documentary), Netflix

July 17, Unprisoned (returning series), Hulu

July 18, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! (animation), Max

July 18, My Spy: The Eternal City (movie), Prime Video

July 18, Those About to Die (drama), Peacock

July 21, Snowpiercer (returning series), AMC

AMC has green-lighted a third season of its drama series Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire ahead of the show’s season finale on Sunday, June 30. 

The series follows Louis de Pointe’s association with the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, as told to journalist Daniel Malloy, AMC said. It stars Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Eric Bogosian, Assad Zaman, Delainey Hayles and Ben Daniels.

Season three follows Lestat, resentful of his perfunctory portrayal in the trash bestseller Interview With the Vampire, as he looks to set his story straight in a way only he can — by starting a band and going on tour, according to AMC.   

Interview With The Vampire, executive produced by Mark Johnson, Rolin Jones, Mark Taylor and Christopher Rice, is the first series in AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe, which also includes Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches and Anne Rice’s The Talamasca. 

"When you buy the rights to 18 Anne Rice novels that have sold more than 150 million copies, in your wildest dreams you hope there’s a show as good as Interview on the other end,” said AMC Networks and AMC Studios president of entertainment Dan McDermott said in a statement. “What Rolin has done with these stories and characters, working so closely with Mark, as the steward of this universe, has exceeded the loftiest version of our expectations. We can’t wait to see where this creative team takes the series from here and know we are walking alongside an incredibly loyal and passionate base of fans who feel as strongly about this material as we do.”

AMC has set a September premiere date for its sophomore series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol. 

Season two of the series will debut September 29 and stars Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride as their respective characters from the original The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier. 

According to AMC, the second season picks up where The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon left off, following Dixon and Peletier as they both confront old demons while Carol fights to find a friend and Daryl struggles with his decision to stay in France.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol also stars Clémence Poésy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Laika Blanc Francard, Charrier, Romain Levi and Eriq Ebouaney.

The series is executive produced by Reedus, McBride, David Zabel, Scott M. Gimple, Greg Nicotero, Angela Kang, Brian Bockrath, Daniel Percival, Jason Richman and Steve Squillante.

AMC’s drama series Parish leads a limited lineup of original shows debuting during the week of Easter.

Parish debuts March 31 and stars veteran actor Giancarlo Esposito as a taxi driver whose dark past is revived after the murder of his son. Also starring in the six-part series are Arica Himmel, Paula Malcomson, and Skeet Ulrich.  

Premiering March 29 is Apple TV Plus' Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces, a documentary film focused on the iconic comedy/actor. Martin Short, Tina Fey and Selena Gomez appear in the two-part profile.

Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of March 25-31. For some videos, viewer discretion is advised.

March 27, Dead Hot (comedy), Tubi

March 28, American Rust: Broken Justice (drama), Prime Video

March 28, The Baxters (drama), Prime Video

March 28, We Were The Lucky Ones (drama), Hulu

March 29, Madu (documentary), Disney Plus

March 29, Spermworld (documentary movie), FX

March 29, Renegade Nell (adventure), Disney Plus 

March 31, A Gentleman in Moscow (drama), Showtime

AMC will air the fourth and final season of post-apocalyptic drama Snowpiercer months after TNT canceled it. 

AMC Networks acquired the rights to all four seasons of the series, the first three of which aired on TNT from 2020-2022 before its cancellation this past January. AMC and AMC Plus will run the first three season later this year, with season four debuting sometime in 2025. 

The series, based on the graphic novel series by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette as well as a 2013 film of the same name, follows the exploits of human survivors on a perpetually moving train seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland. The series stars Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Sean Bean, Rowan Blanchard and Alison Wright.

The Tomorrow Studios-produced series is executive produced by Paul Zbyszewski, Christoph Schrewe, Marty Adelstein, Beck Clements, Alissa Bachner, Matthew O’Connor, Ben Rosenblatt, Scott Derrickson, Bong Joon Ho, Miky Lee, Jinnie Choi, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun and Dooho Choi. 

“Snowpiercer is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride with a loyal fanbase — similar to the passionate fandoms we serve across our biggest franchise series — and a welcome addition to AMC and AMC Plus,” AMC Networks and AMC Studios executive VP of original programming Ben Davis said in a statement. “We look forward to giving viewers an opportunity to binge the first three seasons later this year, in anticipation of the arrival of a remarkable fourth season helmed by Paul Zbyszewski and this stellar cast, which will premiere in 2025.”

AMC in 2025 will usher in a third season of anthology series The Terror, while WE TV will revisit the musical Braxton family in a new reality series, AMC Networks announced during its Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour session Tuesday.

The six-episode Terror: Devil in Silver will debut in 2025 and is based on the Victor LaValle novel of the same name. The series evolves around a working-class moving man, who through a combination of bad luck and a bad temper, finds himself wrongfully committed to New Hyde Psychiatric Hospital. 

The Terror: Devil in Silver follows the first two series in the franchise, The Terror (2018) and The Terror: Infamy (2019).

Also Read: More Coverage from the TCA Winter Press Tour

“The Terror anthology series has already delivered to fans two unforgettable seasons of storytelling that blend real-world events and characters with a terrifying and mysterious supernatural element,” AMC Studios president of entertainment Dan McDermott said in a statement. The Devil in Silver offers a perfect opportunity for a new installment of this popular and critically acclaimed anthology.”

WE tv’s The Braxtons will continue to follow the lives of the family members including matriarch Ms. Evelyn and daughters Toni, Towanda, Trina and Tamar. The series is a follow-up to WE tv’s Braxton Family Values series, which ran from 2011 to 2020. 

“It is not overstating things to say this is one of the most significant developments in the history of WE tv and a moment the fans have been waiting for since the final episode of Braxton Family Values aired on December 17, 2020,” WE tv and ALLBLK head of content Brett Dismuke said. “The Braxtons are one of the founding families of reality television and WE tv viewers were along for the ride through every moment of their original pioneering series, which spanned148 unforgettable episodes. We are thrilled to welcome them back and once again be able to share these dynamic relationships and all the highs, lows, triumphs, setbacks and the drama that falls inbetween.”

In other announcements, AMC will launch the second season of drama series Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire on May 12. David Costabile will guest star as part of a cast that features Jacob Anderson, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Sam Reid. Additionally, the network is actively developing a potential third series in the franchise based on “The Talamasca,” a fictional secret society devoted to vampire-hunting featured in several of Rice’s novels. 

ALLBLK this summer will launch Deb’s House, an unscripted series that follows famed music mogul Deb Antney as she embarks on a nationwide hunt for rap’s next female superstar MC. 

And U.K.-focused streamer Acorn TV will launch Ellis, a three-part detective series from the U.K.’s Channel 5, starring Sharon D. Clarke as DCI Ellis, a detective who is parachuted into failing investigations. 

This is a story about Christmas and marketing magic. It’s a tale about how Harry Hamlin, who told Broadcasting+Cable he’s never even seen a cooking show, is starring in In the Kitchen With Harry — for the holidays.

It is also about how that cooking show is at the center of a remarkable season for AMC Networks’ Content Room branded content unit, which integrated a record 15 sponsors into AMC’s annual “Best Christmas Ever” programming stunt.

The sponsors include The Home Depot, 365 by Whole Foods Market, Ring, Instacart, Baileys, Aldi and Sam’s Club.

Though he’s never seen a cooking show, Hamlin, who grows organic vegetables and likes his ingredients unprocessed, said he’s very familiar with 356 by Whole Foods Market, which is sponsoring the In the Kitchen With Harry holiday special, premiering December 13 on the IFC Channel and AMC Plus streaming service. Five more episodes are set to appear next year, with no sponsor attached yet.

“AMC asked me to do the cooking show and I was kind of dumbfounded that they would ask me to do a cooking show,” Hamlin told Broadcasting+Cable.

“I have never seen a cooking show and that is, you know, I've no interest in cooking shows,“ said Hamlin, who stars in AMC drama Mayfair Witches. “So I've never turned one on so I am a virgin when it comes to cooking shows.”

Promoting the Show on ‘Live’

Hamlin will be promoting In the Kitchen by cooking up something on the syndicated Live With Kelly and Mark on Monday morning (December 11). Hamlin will also be talking about how L.A. Law, the series he starred in during the ‘80s, is enjoying a revival on Hulu.

Viewers — and AMC executives — knew about Hamlin’s cooking from appearances with wife Lisa Rinna on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Those appearances made Hamlin’s Bolognese sauce famous.

“I’ve always cooked, but I never considered myself a cook with a capital C,” Hamlin said.

“I did say to them that if I was going to do a cooking show that I had one condition and that was that my wing person be my niece, Renee Guilbault,“ he said. “She's a Cordon Bleu-trained chef.”

Hamlin said 356 by Whole Foods Market was a “perfect fit” as the sponsor. “I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods since it was called Mrs. Gooch’s here in L.A.,” he said. 

Whole Foods acquired Gooch’s Natural Food Markets in 1993. Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon in 2017.

“I got all my stuff from Whole Foods and I’m using an organic meat I never used before the holiday show and really, it is superb,” Hamlin said.

Feeding Media Buyers

Hamlin said he helped drum up sponsors for AMC by cooking homemade pasta for advertisers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

“I was able to schmooze a lot of the potential advertisers, which was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it,” he said.

“Harry was instrumental in the pitch process,” said Mike DiGiacomo, head of integrated marketing at AMC’s Content Room.

The Content Room aims to capitalize on the talent on AMC’s shows to create branded content for advertisers. Colman Domingo from Fear the Walking Dead has been in three seasons of Bottomless Brunch, making cocktails with Diageo products. Rhea Seehorn of Better Call Saul hangs out at Cooper’s Bar with Bacardi.

Best Christmas Ever has helped make December AMC’s most-watched month. And following up on its most successful “FearFest” Halloween stunt, this Best Christmas Ever has 40% more integrated clients than last year.

Content Room’s branded content is becoming more popular as advertisers look beyond simply airing 30-second spots, DiGiacomo said. “It’s about being innovative and how and where we target our audience’s ever-growing distribution footprint that now includes not only linear, but digital streaming and a strong presence on CTV with our FAST Channels.”

Other AMC digital and streaming services are part of Best Christmas Ever. Shudder, the streaming service specializing in horror films, has a naughty list and a nice list. Pick the naughty list and you get movies like Silent Night, Deadly Night. On the nice list, you can watch Love Actually or Christmas with the Campbells.

Advent Calendar

Content Room put together a campaign for Home Depot leading up to the Best Christmas Ever, which started November 26 and runs through December 26. The promos featured a special advent calendar filled with items from Home Depot. Each spot featured scenes from memorable holiday film and a QR code that took viewers to a special Home Depot Christmas decor page where they can shop.

Another Best Christmas Ever sponsor is Instacart, a first-time AMC advertiser.

“AMC is known for their Christmas classics and holiday fan favorites, which is why we decided to activate in their ‘Best Christmas Ever’ for our new holiday campaign,” said Jasmine Taylor, senior director of Marketing at Instacart. “We created a custom spot with AMC leveraging clips from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf and Christmas With the Kranks where their holidays go hysterically awry. It’s an authentic way for us to remind families: don’t panic, just Instacart — we can rescue them from all of their holiday shopping needs.”

Instacart liked the spots so much it also ran them in the commercial time it bought, DiGiacomo said.

Diageo, which has a long connection with the Content Room and Bottomless Brunch, is a returning Best Christmas Ever sponsor with its Baileys Irish Cream brand.

AMC also worked with  Krispy Kreme to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Elf by free, special Elf-themed donuts to some clients offices. “We have a couple more scheduled for next week,” DiGiacomo said. “Who doesn’t love free donuts?”

But producing In the Kitchen is the biggest deal yet for Content Room.

“This series with Harry was incredible. We got to shooting in his kitchen with all these incredible stars,” DiGiacomo said. “He invited us into his home to make all this happen. He’s been incredibly gracious this entire time so we owe a lot to Harry and his family.”

Hamlin said he felt comfortable filming at his home. ”It was easy because it was in my own kitchen and I know where everything is, So from a utensil standpoint, it was like the wheels were already greased,” he said.

He also knows how the stove works. Hamlin has had a professional Wolf range in his kitchen for 36 years. I don’t think you can buy them anymore,” he said.

Channeling Julia Child

Hamlin said the holiday episode is a homage to Julia Child. He’s making beef bourguignon with her recipe.

“I've been making her beef bourguignon for my family for the last 10 or 12 years for Christmas Eve,” he said. “It's a little bit challenging, but it's good.”

Hamlin wanted to have his whole family at home for the Christmas meal, but wife Lisa Rinna and daughter Amelia Gray were in Paris where Amelia was modeling for Chanel Couture.

The two contributed to the meal, and the special, via Zoom.

One of Hamlin’s special guests is musician Kenny G. Hamlin and Kenny G were best man at each other’s wedding. “Neither of those marriages worked out, but we have been friends since the 80s,” Hamlin said. “I love his Christmas album. I always play it at Christmas time. So we're that's what’s playing in the background."

On the show, Hamlin and his niece have an Abbott-and-Costello relationship, he said. “Renee knows exactly what she's doing and I'm just sort of getting my feet wet,” he said.

But Hamlin’s enjoying doing the show enough to consider doing more episodes if there's an audience.

“We’ll see how this season goes,“ he said. ”If it does catch fire a little bit, yeah, there will be a Season 2.” 

He especially liked spending time with his niece, who also isn’t keen on cooking shows.

“I said, ‘Hey, you know Renee, you could become a celebrity chef,’ ” Hamlin said. “She said, ‘Nah.’ ”

Hamlin said Guilbalt should take advantage of this opportunity. “She's really good and she's really charming and lovely and, in my opinion, she ought to get her own show,” he said. 

AMC will bring back its drama series Dark Winds, starring Zahn McClarnon, for a third season in 2025. 

The series, which follows a tribal police lieutenant as he seeks to solve crimes in Navajo Country, averaged 1.7 million viewers on AMC in Nielsen live+3 ratings during its second season, which ended earlier this month. The second season of Dark Winds also stars Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Deanna Allison and Jessica Matten. The series featured more than 90 percent of its production team on both sides of  the camera 

Also: Zahn McClarnon Hopes 'Dark Winds' Series Opens Eyes to Native American Actors, Stories

Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, is executive produced by McClarnon, Roland Wirth, Robert Redfordn, George R.R. Martin, Anne Hillerman, Chris Eyre, Vince Gerardis and Tina Elmo. 

The debut of AMC’s latest series from The Walking Dead Universe and the return of Paramount Plus’ animated series from the Star Trek Universe leads the list of original show debuts during the first week of September. 

AMC’s The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premieres September 10, with Norman Reedus reprising his role from the original The Walking Dead series as he battles zombies in France, according to the network. Also starring in the series are Adam Nagaitis, Clemence Posey, and Anne Charrier. 

Paramount Plus’s Star Trek: Lower Decks returns for its fourth season on September  7 as it continues to follow the travails of a 24th century starship support crew. Returning to lend their voices to the series are Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Dawnn Lewis and Eugene Cordero. 

 Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of September 5-10. For some videos, viewer discretion is advised.

 September 5, One Shot: Overtime Elite (returning series), Prime Video

 September 6, I Am Groot (returning series), Disney Plus  

 September 7, Top Boy (drama), Netflix  

 September 7, Virgin River (returning series), Netflix  

 September 8, The Changeling (drama), Apple TV Plus 

 September 8, Sitting in Bars with Cake (movie), Prime Video  

September 10, Dreaming Whilst Black (dramedy), Showtime

Two cable-network drama series — AMC’s Dark Winds and Starz’s Heels — will launch their sophomore campaigns amid a crowded lineup of shows and movies debuting during the last week of July. 

AMC on July 30 will premiere the second season of Dark Winds, starring Zahn McClarnon as a Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant investigating a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. Also starring in the series are Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Jeri Ryan and Nicolas Logan.

Starz will return to the wrestling ring on July 28 with the second season of drama series Heels. Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig return as brothers participating in a local pro wrestling league both inside and outside the ring. Heels also stars Alison Luff, Mary McCormack, Kelli Berglund and Allen Maldonado.

Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of July 24-30. For some videos, viewer discretion is advised.

July 24: Futurama (returning series) — Hulu

July 24: The Golden Boy (sports documentary) — HBO

July 26: The Hardy Boys (returning series) — Hulu

July 27: Harley Quinn (returning series) — Max

July 27: Twisted Metal (comedy) — Peacock

July 27: The Witcher (returning series) — Netflix

July 27: Zoey 102 (comedy movie) — Paramount Plus

July 28: Good Omens (returning series) — Prime Video

July 28: This Fool (returning series) — Hulu

AMC gave fans of The Walking Dead Universe a bevy of new show updates during its July 21 San Diego Comic-Con: International convention panel, including renewals for two TWD spinoff series. 

AMC renewed The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon for second seasons, according to Forbes. Dead City, which stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohen, ends its six-episode freshman run July 23.

Daryl Dixon, which stars Norman Reedus, debuts September 10. 

In addition, the network announced The Ones Who Live as the new title of its new series starring original TWD characters Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira). The series is set to premiere in 2024.

AMC will continue to expand its The Walking Dead universe with the September 10 premiere of The Waking Dead: Daryl Dixon. 

The series follows original TWD character Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus, as he washes ashore in France and journeys across the country while looking to find a way back home, AMC said. 

The series is the fifth spinoff in the zombie apocalypse-plagued TWD Universe following Fear The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: Dead City.

In addition to Reedus, the series stars Clémence Poésy, Adam Nagaitis, Anne Charrier, Eriq Ebouaney, Laika Blanc Francard, Romain Levi and Louis Puech Scigliuzzi.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is executive produced by Reedus, Scott Gimple, David Zabel, Greg Nicotero, Angela Kang, Brian Bockrath and Daniel Percival. 

HBO and streaming service Max — led by shows Succession and The Last of Us — drew the most nominations for 2023 TCA Awards, the Television Critics Association said Friday.

HBO and Max garnered a combined 20 nominations for the TCA Awards — which spotlight exceptional performances, series, creators, and stars spanning across all genres and platforms — to lead all distributors, according to the TCA, which represents more than 200 journalists who cover television for publications across the U.S. and Canada.

FX finished second with 10 nominations, followed by Disney Plus and Peacock, with nine nods each. 

HBO’s Succession and The Last of Us earned an industry-high five nominations each, tied with FX's The Bear. ABC series Abbott Elementary and Peacock’s Poker Face tied with four nominations.

Abbott Elementary will look to repeat in the category of Outstanding Comedy series as it competes with HBO’s Barry and Max’s The Other Two, as well as FX's Reservation Dogs and What We Do In The Shadows; Peacock's Poker Face; and Apple TV Plus's Shrinking. 

In the Outstanding Drama category, Succession will also look to repeat last year's win against 2019 category winner, Better Call Saul (AMC), as well as Disney Plus’s Andor, HBO/Max's The White Lotus and The Last of Us; Paramount Plus’s The Good Fight; AMC's Interview With the Vampire and Showtime’s Yellowjackets.

 “The 2023 nominees for the TCA Awards boast an eclectic lineup from across the entertainment spectrum,” TCA President and TV Critic for Salon.com Melanie McFarland said in a statement. “This season truly had something for everyone — from innovative comedies and gripping dramas, to immersive documentaries and refreshingly cerebral storytelling set in a galaxy far, far away. I am eager to see which stars and series our members have chosen to honor when the winners are revealed.”

Winners for the 39th annual TCA Awards will be announced August 7. Below is a complete list of nominations.

Outstanding Achievement in News or Information

• 30 for 30 — ESPN
• Free Chol Soo Lee — PBS
• Frontline – PBS (eight-time winner in category)
• Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? — Netflix
• Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence — Hulu
• Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi — Hulu
• The 1619 Project — Hulu
• The U.S. and the Holocaust — PBS

Outstanding Achievement in Reality

• Couples Therapy — Showtime (2021 Winner in Category)
• Jury Duty — Amazon Freevee
• RuPaul’s Drag Race — MTV (2014 Winner in Category)
• The Rehearsal — HBO | Max
• The Traitors — Peacock
• Top Chef — Bravo
• Vanderpump Rules — Bravo
• Welcome to Wrexham — FX

Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming

• Alma’s Way — PBS Kids
• Bluey — Disney Plus
• Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood — PBS Kids (2016 Winner in Youth Category)
• Donkey Hodie — PBS Kids
• Eva the Owlet – Apple TV Plus
• Molly of Denali — PBS Kids (2020 Winner in Youth Category)
• Ridley Jones — Netflix
• Sesame Street — HBO | Max (2018, 2011 & 2001 Winner in Youth Category)
• Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures — Disney Junior/Disney Plus

Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming

• American Born Chinese — Disney Plus
• High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — Disney Plus
• Jane — Apple TV Plus
• Love, Victor — Hulu
• Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur — Disney Channel
• Ms. Marvel — Disney Plus
• Never Have I Ever — Netflix
• Star Trek: Prodigy — Paramount Plus
• The Mysterious Benedict Society — Disney Plus

Outstanding New Program

• Andor — Disney Plus
• Interview with the Vampire — AMC
• Jury Duty — Amazon Freevee
• Mrs. Davis — Peacock
• Poker Face — Peacock
• Shrinking — Apple TV Plus
• The Bear — FX
• The Last of Us — HBO | Max

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials

• A Small Light — National Geographic
• Beef — Netflix
• Black Bird — Apple TV Plus
• Daisy Jones & The Six — Prime Video
• Fleishman Is in Trouble — FX
• Mrs. Davis — Peacock
• The Patient — FX
• Weird: The Al Yankovic Story — The Roku Channel

Outstanding Achievement in Drama

• Andor — Disney Plus
• Better Call Saul — AMC (2019 Winner in Category)
• Interview with the Vampire — AMC
• Succession – HBO | Max (2022 & 2020 Winner in Category)
• The Good Fight — Paramount Plus 
• The Last of Us — HBO | Max
• The White Lotus — HBO | Max
• Yellowjackets — Showtime

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy

• Abbott Elementary — ABC (2022 Winner in Category)
• Barry — HBO | Max
• Poker Face — Peacock
• Reservation Dogs — FX
• Shrinking — Apple TV Plus 
• The Bear — FX
• The Other Two — HBO | Max
• What We Do in the Shadows — FX

Program of the Year

• Abbott Elementary — ABC (2022 Winner in Category)
• Andor — Disney Plus
• Better Call Saul — AMC
• Poker Face – Peacock
• Succession — HBO | Max
• The Bear — FX
• The Last of Us — HBO | Max
• The Other Two — HBO | Max
• The White Lotus — HBO | Max

Oustanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch

• The Amber Ruffin Show — Peacock
• A Black Lady Sketch Show — HBO | Max (2020 Winner in Category)
• I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson – Netflix (2022 Winner in Category)
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — HBO | Max (2021, 2019 & 2018 Winner in Category, and 2015 winner in News & Information)
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — NBC
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — CBS
• Saturday Night Live — NBC
• Ziwe — Showtime

Days before the debut of The Walking Dead: Dead City June 18, AMC Networks is hosting what it calls a Walking Dead Universe takeover in New York City Wednesday (June 14). AMC is partnering with Katz’s Deli, H&H Bagels, Joe’s Pizza, the New York Hot Dog King Cart and other food establishments on the event. 

The fun starts at The New Yorker Coffee Cart at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue from 8 to 11 a.m. June 14, with a coffee giveaway that includes New Yorker-designed sleeves. From 9 to 11 a.m., it’s going on at H&H Bagels at 526 Columbus Avenue, where the first 200 customers get the Walker Wake-Up bagel sandwich and show merch. From 12 to 2 p.m., it’s Joe’s Pizza at 1435 Broadway, where the first 200 customers get pizza and merch. Also from noon to 2 p.m., the New York Hot Dog King Cart at 82nd Street and 5th Avenue gives away hot dogs and show merch to the first 200 customers. 

Visitors to the Verizon store at 125 W. 42nd St. from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. get Dead City merch, including tote bags and keychains. From 3 to 5 p.m., the first 200 customers at Katz’s Deli at 205 East Houston Street get half of a pastrami sandwich and coleslaw. 

Dead City features two characters from the original series, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan). They come together to survive a zombie-infested Manhattan in search of Maggie’s son. There are six episodes on AMC and AMC Plus.  

AMC’s drama series Dark Winds won multiple National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) Vision Awards to lead all shows, the diversity organization announced Tuesday morning.  

The freshman series won two NAMIC Vision Awards -- which celebrate original, multiplatform television programming that reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the viewing audience -- including best drama series, beating out strong competition from Fox’s 9-1-1, ABC's Grey’s Anatomy and Women of the Movement, and Paramount Plus’s The Good Fight.

Dark Winds star Zahn McClarnon also won a Vision Award for best performance in a drama series, besting Cliff “Method Man” Smith (Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost); Courtney B. Vance (AMC’s 61st Street), Patina Miller (Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kana) and Viola Davis (Showtime’s The First Lady).

Also: Zahn McClarnon Hopes ‘Dark Winds’ Series Opens Eyes to Native American Actors, Stories: Multicultural Perspectives

CBS’ veteran series The Neighborhood took home the award for best comedy, topping ABC’s Abbott Elementary, black-ish and The Wonder Years, as well as Disney Plus’s Ms. Marvel. 

Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani won the best performance in a comedy award for her starring role in the Disney Plus series, beating out Frankie Quiñones (Hulu’s This Fool) Omari Hardwick (Paramount Plus’ Fantasy Football) Raven-Symoné (Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home) and Tichina Arnold (CBS’s The Neighborhood) for the honor.

HBO Max’s Pause with Sam Jay was the only repeat winner, taking honors in the Variety/Talk Show category for the second straight year. 

“We are honored to recognize the outstanding achievements of the 2023 Vision Award recipients, whose innovative programming has not only captivated audiences but also reflects our society's diverse voices and perspectives,” NAMIC president and CEO A. Shuanise Washington said in a statement. “The Vision Awards celebrate excellence in programming that pushes the boundaries of creativity, storytelling, and inclusivity. The work celebrated this year reminds us of the power of diverse representation and the importance of telling authentic stories that resonate with viewers from all walks of life.” 

The complete list of the 2023 NAMIC Vision Awards appears below: 

Animation 

More Than I Want to Remember – MTV Entertainment Studios 

Best Performance – Comedy

Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel) – Disney Plus 

Best Performance – Drama 

Zahn McClarnon: (Dark Winds) – AMC 

Children’s

Sesame Street – Sesame Workshop 

Comedy 

Ms. Marvel – Disney Plus

Digital Media – Short Form 

Historian’s Take: What is #LandBack? Inside New Native American TV Shows – PBS 

Documentary 

Fannie Lou Hamer’s America: An America ReFramed Special – American Documentary, Inc. 

Drama

Dark Winds – AMC 

Lifestyle 

Delicious Miss Brown – Food Network 

News/Informational 

The Color of Care – Smithsonian Channel 

Original Movie or Special 

REVOLT x Michelle Obama: The Cross-Generational Conversation – REVOLT 

Reality 

Why Not Us: Southern Dance – ESPN Plus

Reality – Social Issues 

The Hair Tales – Onyx Collective/OWN/Hulu 

Sports 

After Jackie – History Channel 

Variety/Talk Show 

PAUSE with Sam Jay – HBO Max 

The CW has acquired the rights to AMC’s drama series 61st Street, which will air in 2024.

The series, which stars Courtney B. Vance and Aunjanue Ellis, was cancelled by AMC in January after its first season as part of the organization’s cost-cutting measures, even though the second season had been already completed. The Michael B. Jordan-produced series chronicles the story of a promising high school athlete who gets swept up in a corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. 

The CW will air 61st Street’s first seasons in Fall of 2023, with the second season debuting on the broadcast network in 2024. 

“61st Street is a gripping, star-studded premium drama led by a powerhouse performance from Courtney B. Vance and featuring an incredibly talented ensemble cast and creatively brilliant team of producers,” The CW president of entertainment Brad Schwartz said in a statement. “We are proud The CW is now the broadcast home of 61st Street and cannot wait to introduce this series to a whole new audience.”

The deal comes as eight CBS-owned The CW affiliate stations will become independent stations beginning this September. Nexstar Media Group purchased 75% of The CW in October. 

Extrapolations, a drama that touches on climate change in the near future, begins on Apple TV Plus March 17. Featuring eight connected stories that depict how climate change has become embedded into everyday life, the show comes from Scott Z. Burns. The cast includes Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Kit Harington, Daveed Diggs, Matthew Rhys and Edward Norton, among other A-listers. 

Episodes “about love, work, faith and family from across the globe will explore the intimate, life-altering choices that must be made when the planet is changing faster than the population,” Apple TV Plus said.

At the TCA Press Tour, Burns said stories that touch on climate change focus on the end, which no one really knows. “But we do know enough science now to know that there are a lot of steps between where we are today and the end,” he said. 

He aimed “to tell a series of stories that allow you to go on this hopefully amazing thrill ride between where we are today and where we might end up, and what we can do to change any of those steps along the way.”

Rhys was drawn to a compelling story with an important message. “It was great to read something that contextualizes it,” he said, “and can actually show it in a very real and human way how that will affect us.” 

Bob Odenkirk Gets ‘Lucky’ With New Project

Lucky Hank, a mid-life crisis tale with Bob Odenkirk as Hank Devereaux Jr., chairman of the English department at a janky Rust Belt college, debuts on a batch of AMC Networks channels, including AMC and BBC America, March 19. Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein adapted the project from the Richard Russo novel Straight Man. 

Odenkirk was finishing up Better Call Saul when he saw the script. “I liked it a lot,” he said at the TCA Press Tour. “Then I read the novel, and then I read it again, because translating something from a novel to television or a movie is always a trick. I wanted to see what it shared with the novel and where it went. And I liked it very much, especially in connection with the work I’d been doing on Saul.”

While Saul was often flying solo, Odenkirk liked that Hank had his family to lean on. Mireille Enos plays his wife, Lily. 

Zelman and Lieberstein are co-showrunners and executive producers. Lieberstein, who played Toby on The Office, wanted to set a show at a college. “I love this idea about tenure where you are trapped in success,” he said. “You can’t leave that job. So it just allows people to behave very badly in a semi-protected way. It really felt like this was a great opportunity.” ■

AMC has greenlit a second season of its drama series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches.

The second season renewal comes as the series – the second for AMC from its growing Anne Rice Immortal Universe following its Interview With The Vampire series – debuted on January 13 as the top series premiere in the history of AMC Plus, according to the network. In its first 30 days of viewership, Mayfair Witches is delivering the most-viewed season of any series ever on AMC Plus, ahead of Interview and the final season of The Walking Dead.

The series, which follows a female neurosurgeon who discovers she’s the unlikely heir to a family of witches, stars Alexandra Daddario, Jen Richards and Harry Hamlin. The series will begin production on the second season later this year in New Orleans.

“We are thrilled with the reaction to this series, especially in the wake of the incredibly strong reception to Interview, and can’t wait to bring the fans second seasons of both series in this rich, vibrant and expanding universe based on the works of Anne Rice,” said AMC Studios and Entertainment President Dan McDermott in a statement. “In a business in which ‘nobody knows anything,’ we knew what we were hoping for in terms of building a television franchise around these remarkable characters and stories, and to see these shows arrive and captivate viewers in the way they have is so gratifying and energizing for everyone involved, and there is so much yet to come.”

Mayfair Witches is executive produced by Mark Johnson, Esta Spalding, Michelle Ashford, Michael Uppendahl, and Jeff Freilich.■

AMC looks to cast a spell on viewers with the premiere of its supernatural-themed original series Mayfair Witches, one of several shows debuting during the first week of 2023.

Mayfair Witches, the second Anne Rice adapted series for AMC following Interview with the Vampire, debuts January 8 and stars Alexandra Daddario as a young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches, according to the network. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of January 3 to January 8 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

January 3 – Sometimes When We Touch (music documentary) – Paramount Plus

January 4 – Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street (documentary) – Netflix

January 5 – Ginny & Georgia (returning series) – Netflix

January 6 – BMF (returning series) – Starz

January 6 – Boys in Blue (documentary series) – Showtime

January 6 – The Pale Blue Eye (thriller) – Netflix

January 6 – The Rig (drama) – Prime Video

January 6 – RuPaul’s Drag Race (reality) – MTV

January 6 – Ready To Love (returning series) – OWN

Programmers, streamers and even smart TV brands are leaning into the fall season in a big way. From myriad made-for-TV movies and Vizio's launch of its free-to-view "Fall Fest," to Peacock's "Halloween Horror" and Hulu's "Huluween" in-app destinations, it seems like this year there's more fall-related stuff popping up on screens than ever.

When it comes to live, linear TV, Hallmark Channel has a lock on love during the season's festivities. Its "Fall into Love" programming block kicked off August 6 with 11 new movie premieres over the following months, nearly double its autumn offering last year (six) and more than triple its 2019 premieres during the same period.

Looking at viewership data from Vizio's Inscape, 22 of Hallmark's 50 most-watched shows and movies are fall-themed, led by Dating the Delaneys, its third premiere of "Fall into Love," which captured 1.50% of all live, linear minutes watched on the network from August 1 through October 20. And if you remove syndicated reruns, Delaneys was the No. 1 program by watch-time for the channel this fall. That's up a notch from last year's most-watched fall title, Roadhouse Romance, which captured 1.48% of minutes watched during the same period.

On the advertising side of things, estimated TV ad spend on Hallmark Channel is up nearly 8% year-over-year since August 1, per iSpot.tv, and most-seen advertisers include Nutrisystem (1.44% impressions SOV), GOLO (1.21%) and Instacart (1.14%). While Nutrisystem and GOLO did advertise on Hallmark last fall, they've dramatically upped airings from a couple hundred each in 2021 to over 1,000 this year. Instacart, Knix, Indeed and Choice Hotels are four brands that did not advertise on Hallmark during fall 2021 but did run ads this year.

But of course it can't all be about harvest romances -- it is spooky season, after all. Inscape examined the horror genre across live, linear TV to reveal the most-watched horror movies so far this season: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jaws, House of Wax and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

At the network level, AMC is dominating the scares, capturing over 54% of all horror minutes watched since September 1, up from 41% during the same period in 2021. Syfy takes second, with 10.5% of watch-time for horror content.

Diving deeper into AMC, airings of the original Halloween have captured 2.83% of all minutes watched on the network since September 1, second only to The Walking Dead.

Subway (1.68%), Progressive (1.61%) and Burger King (1.32%) are the top three brands by TV ad impressions SOV this fall on AMC, and each have invested more heavily this year than last, leading to notable share of voice increases compared to 2021. Looking at new advertisers this year, Instacart and Nutrafol were two of the most-seen that did not air ads in the same time period in 2021.

And finally, we can’t have Halloween without fresh baking competitions over on Food Network. The cooking destination has upped its fall fare: In 2021, five of its top 50 most-watched shows were Halloween- or autumn-themed. This year there are seven in the top 50, led by Halloween Baking Championship, which has snagged 10.87% of all live-linear minutes watched on the network September 1 through October 20, per Inscape -- up from 8.96% in the same period last year.

Halloween Wars, another seasonal competition, has received 7.77% of Food Network watch-time (up from 7% in 2021), and Halloween Cookie Challenge, the network’s latest themed offering, has 1.80% of minutes watched.

According to iSpot, top brands by TV ad impressions SOV on Food Network this fall include Kohl's (0.98%), Progressive (0.87%) and Target (0.87%). Of those three, Progressive ran about 100 more airings this year than last. New advertisers this year that didn't run ads last fall include Bank of America Credit Card, King's Hawaiian, Rubbermaid, Lavazza and Visible. ■

Cable networks and streaming services will ring in the Halloween season this October with a number of new original scripted series and movies that will look to thrill audiences throughout the month.

Networks like Epix and Showtime along with such streaming services as Prime Video and Netflix and will roll out horror-themed original programming shows that premiere alongside a multitude of Halloween-themed, network programming stunts that celebrate the spooky season, from Freeform’s “31 Nights of Halloween” to Peacock's “Halloween Horror” film collection.

Also slated to premiere this month are the final episodes of AMC’s zombie-themed The Walking Dead series (October 2), the second season premiere of Syfy’s Chucky (October 5) and 11th season premiere of FX’s Emmy-winning American Horror Story (October 19).

TV industry analyst Marc Berman says the television industry has embraced the Halloween season as more viewers tune into scary and horror programming as an escape from the struggles of everyday life. 

“If you go back in history, Halloween has always been celebrated on television, but that celebration keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Berman said. “Viewers just love Halloween, and considering the world that we live in and all the Hell we are going through with everything, it’s just a great escape, and television continues to celebrate it.”

Below is a partial list of original, Halloween-targeted scripted series and movies premiering during the month of October:

October 2 

Blumhouse’s Compendium of Horror (documentary series) – Epix 

Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire (series) – AMC

October 5

Reginald The Vampire (series) – Syfy

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (movie) – Netflix 

October 6 

Monster High: The Movie (movie) – Paramount Plus 

October 7

Hellraiser (movie) – Hulu 

The Midnight Club (series) – Netflix 

October 8 

Cursed Friends (movie) – Comedy Central

Bring It On: Cheer or Die (movie) –  Syfy  

October 9

Let The Right One In (series) – Showtime

October 10

Grimcutty (movie) – Hulu 

October 13

Dark Glasses (movie) – Shudder 

October 14

Halloween Ends (movie) – Peacock 

The Curse of Bridge Hollow (movie) – Netflix 

October 20

V/H/S/99 (movie) – Shudder 

October 21

Peripheral (series) – Prime Video 

October 25

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities(series) – Netflix■

The final episodes of AMC’s iconic zombie series The Walking Dead headline a busy week of TV show premieres leading into the first weekend of October. 

The third and last block of eight episodes comprising the 11th and final season of The Walking Dead will debut October 2 on AMC. The first eight episodes aired in August 2021 and the second block debuted in February 2022. 

Also debuting October 2 on AMC is the horror series Interview With The Vampire, based on the classic novel from Anne Rice. The series stars Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson. 

Showtime on October 2 will premiere its music documentary Nothing Compares, chronicling the life and career of Irish  singer Sinéad O’Connor. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of September 26 to October 2 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

September 27 –  Reasonable Doubt (drama) – Hulu

September 28 – Blonde (drama) – Netflix 

September 28 – The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (returning series) – Disney Plus 

September 29 – Zatima (comedy) – BET Plus

September 30 –Entergalactic (animation) – Netflix 

September 30 – The Greatest Beer Run Ever (drama) – Apple TV Plus

September 30 – Hocus Pocus 2 (movie) – Disney Plus 

September 30 – Jungle (drama) – Prime Video 

September 30 – Ramy (returning series) – Hulu

Broadcasting + Cable's Michael Malone and R. Thomas Umstead chat about AMC's The Walking Dead, Fox's Call Me Kat, and the TV return of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Last week's series finale of AMC's Better Call Saul generated a season-high audience of 2.7 million L+3 linear viewers on AMC and "many more" watchers on AMC Plus, the media company said Monday. 

Notably, the Breaking Bad spinoff's 1.8 million-viewer same-day audience performance matched the Season 3 Better Call Saul finale back in 2017 and represented a four-fold audience uptick over the Season Six premiere earlier this year.

Better Call Saul averaged 2.2 million L+3 viewers in its sixth and final campaign. 

AMC also said that Saul has been the top customer acquisitions driver for SVOD service AMC Plus, and that Season 6 was the second most watched series campaign ever for the streaming platform following an unspecified season of The Walking Dead. 

On social, Saul generated 24 million impressions last week and was the No. 1 TV show topic in conversations and search. 

 “We are so proud to have been the home of Better Call Saul for all these years and unforgettable seasons. Now we put this series up on the mantel as a reminder of the excellence we all aspire to every day," said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks.

Prime Video's superhero-themed original movie and Hulu's miniseries profiling an iconic heavyweight boxing champion headline the television projects debuting this week. 

Prime on Aug. 26 will premiere Samaritan, starring Sylvester Stallone as a reclusive superhero who is forced after retirement to defend his home city against a violent crime wave.

Premiering Aug 25 is Hulu's Mike, which chronicles the controversial life and career of boxer Mike Tyson. the eight-episode series stars Trevante Rhodes, Russell Hornsby and Harvey Keitel. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of August 22 to August 28 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Aug. 22 – Kevin Can F**k Himself (returning series) – AMC

Aug. 23 – Chad & JT Go Deep (comedy) – Netflix

Aug. 24 – Archer (returning series) – FXX

Aug. 24 – Mo (comedy) – Netflix

Aug. 24 – Welcome to Wrexham (documentary series) – FX

Aug. 25 – The End is Nye (documentary series) – Peacock

Aug. 25 – Star Trek: Lower Decks (returning series) – Paramount Plus

Aug. 25 – Everything I Know About Love (dramedy) – Peacock

Aug. 25 – Little Demon (animated series) – FXX

Aug. 26 – See (drama) – Apple TV Plus

Aug. 26 – Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby (documentary) – Prime Video

AMC's dark comedy Kevin Can F**k Himself will debut its second and final season August 22, according to a new trailer released Monday.

The series' second season will continue to follow the exploits of a wife (Anne Murphy) who teams up with her neighbor (Mary Hollis Inboden) to kill the wife's self-centered husband (Eric Petersen).

According to AMC, at the end of season one the murder plot gets foiled by the husband's best friend (Alex Bonifer), forcing the women to come up with a new plan. 

Also starring in the series are Brian Howe, Raymond Lee,  Jamie Denbo and Candice Coke.

Kevin Can F**K Himself is executive produced by Valerie Armstrong, Rashida Jones,  Will McCormack, Craig DiGregorio, Sean Clements and Colin Walsh, according to AMC.

Also: AMC Taps the Undead Again in Trailer for 'Tales of the Walking Dead'

AMC unveiled new stories of an zombie apocalypse in the latest trailer for its upcoming horror series Tales of the Walking Dead, debuting August 14. 

The six-episode anthology series -- the fourth in The Walking Dead franchise following the original The Walking Dead series, Fear The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond -- offers stand-alone tales focusing on both new and established characters within the walker apocalypse, according to the network. AMC added that the series will provide viewers with a chance to see the apocalypse through "different eyes, discovering more worlds, mythos and mysteries of the Walking Dead."

Tales of the Walking Dead, from executive producers Scott Gimple and Channing Powell, stars Anthony Edwards, Terry Crews, Poppy Liu and Parker Posey.■

The return of two high-profile, Emmy-nominated cable series highlights a busy summer week of original show premieres.

FX’s comedy series What We Do In The Shadows debuts its fourth season July 12 with the first of 10 new episodes for the vampire-themed show. The series, which stars Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou and Mark Proksch, has already been renewed for a fifth and sixth season, according to the network.

Debuting July 11 is the first of the final six episodes of the Emmy-winning AMC series Better Call Saul. The series, a spinoff of AMC’s Breaking Bad series, will feature appearances from Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. Better Call Saul stars Bob Odenkirk.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of July 11-17 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

July 11 – Chad (returning series) – TBS

July 11 – Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem (returning series) – Peacock

July 12 – The Only (documentary) – Paramount Plus

July 13 – Everything’s Trash (comedy) – Freeform

July 13 – D.B. Cooper: Where Are You? (documentary) – Netflix

July 13 – South Park: The Streaming Wars (part 2) – (animation) – Paramount Plus

July 14 – FBoy Island (reality) – HBO Max

July 14 – Hart to Heart (returning series) – Peacock

July 14 – Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (animation) – Netflix

July 14 – Resident Evil (horror) – Netflix

July 14 – Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons (documentary) – Hulu

July 15 – Don’t Make Me Go (drama) – Prime Video

July 15 – The Rehearsal (comedy) – HBO

July 15 – Zombies 3 (movie) – Disney Plus

July 17 – Colosseum (documentary) -- History

Shares of cash-strapped Redbox Entertainment began to level off Thursday after a spike caused by the same Reddit anti-short-seller phenomenon that momentarily boosted similarly troubled AMC and GameStop last year, and more recently, bankrupt cosmetics company Revlon. 

Redbox, which is trying to transition its business from DVD kiosk rentals to ad-supported streaming and went public via special purpose acquisition company late last year, found itself cash-strapped and on the ropes on May 11, when Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment announced a $375 million all-stock deal to buy the company. 

With that deal still pending, and Redbox getting attention from short-sellers, the stock bottomed out on May 13 at $2.68 a share. That's when the denizens of the RDBX subreddit took notice and began to buy shares in an effort to thwart the short-sellers. 

By June 13, Redbox was trading at $15.27 a share on the Nasdaq. (It had leveled off to $9.85 a share as of after-hours trading Thursday.)

"Will RDBX stock follow the same path as AMC stock of 2021?" asked one poster. 

It was around the same time last year that a subreddit for AMC Holdings rose up to spite traders who place bets in the casino known as Wall Street on the stock going down (aka short sellers), spiking the crippled theater chain owners stock by nearly 6X. 

AMC Holdings stock ultimately returned to around the level it was trading at before the Reddit trading community got involved. 

AMC Networks will bring back its recently launched drama series Dark Winds for a second season, the network said Tuesday.

The series, which follows a Tribal Police lieutenant as he seeks to solve a series of seemingly unrelated crimes on a remote outpost of the Navajo Nation, debuted on AMC June 12 and attracted an audience of 2.2 million viewers on AMC in Nielsen live+3 ratings, according to Nielsen.

Dark Winds, which stars Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon and Jessica Matten, also ranks as the most viewed series launch in AMC+ history. 

Also: Zahn McClarnon Hopes 'Dark Winds' Series Opens Eyes to Native American Actors, Stories

The six-episode, second season of Dark Winds will debut in 2023, said the network. 

Executive producers for the series include Robert Redford, George R.R. Martin, Anne Hillerman, Chris Eyre, Vince Calandra, Vince Gerardis and Tina Elmo.

“This once-in-a-lifetime creative team and cast have delivered something truly special with Dark Winds,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks in a statement.. “We can’t wait to share the rest of this thrill ride of a first season with the fans and follow Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee into a second season on AMC and AMC+ next year. Overwhelming gratitude to our entire production team and a special thanks to executive producers Robert Redford, George R.R. Martin, Chris Eyre and of course Zahn McClarnon, who also leads the cast and brings humanity, authority and the wisdom of richly lived experiences to everything he does.” ■ 

Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable Senior Content Producer R. Thomas Umstead talks to prolific TV/movie actor Zahn McClarnon about his acting career, spanning more than three decades, as well as his most recent role as tribal police officer Joe Leaphorn in AMC’s drama series Dark Winds.

Dark Winds premieres June 12.

Disney Plus’s launch of its latest Marvel Studio series along with Peacock's reimagining of a former Showtime LGBTQ-themed drama show lead the list of shows premiering during the second week of June.

Disney Plus on June 8 will debut Ms. Marvel, which stars Iman Vellani as a Muslim American and avid superhero fan who discovers she has superpowers of her own, according to the streaming service. Ms. Marvel is the seventh Marvel Studios-produced series to debut on Disney Plus, following WandaVision, Hawkeye, Loki, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Moon Knight and What If …

Also: Programmers Rev Up Female Superpower

Peacock on June 9 will debut Queer as Folk, a reboot of the iconic British and Showtime series. The series follows a group of friends in New Orleans whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy, according to the streaming service. Kim Cattrall and Juliette Lewis appear as guest stars in the series.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of June 6 to June 12 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

June 6 – Irma Vep (dramedy) – HBO

June 7 – All Rise (returning series) – OWN

June 8 – Hustle (movie) – Netflix

June 8 – The Janes (documentary) – HBO

June 10 – For All Mankind (returning series) – Apple TV Plus

June 10 – Fairfax (returning series) – Prime Video

June 10 – First Kill (drama) – Netflix

June 12 – Becoming Elizabeth (drama) – Starz

June 12 -- Dark Winds (drama) -- AMC

June 12 – Evil (returning series) – Paramount Plus

June 12 – The Booze, Bets and Sex That Built America (documentary) – History

In a year of management turnover, AMC Networks paid interim CEO Matt Blank $6.967 million in total compensation for 2021, according to a proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Blank became interim CEO after Josh Sapan stepped down and became executive vice chairman on September 8.

Sapan’s compensation for 2021 was $15.255 million, up from $11.85 million in the pandemic year of 2020 and down from $20.196 million in 2019.

Christina Spade, who joined the company as executive VP and CFO on January 15 and was appointed to the additional role of chief operating officer in November, had total compensation of $7.005 million.

Former COO Ed Carroll, who left the company in October, received total compensation of $8.214 million, up from $6.68 in 2020. ■

Broadcasting + Cable's Kent Gibbons and Michael Malone chat about AMC's Better Call Saul, HBO's We Own This City, Apple TV Plus's Slow Horses and more.

Also: Why the Traditional TV Season Still (Mostly) Matters

AMC launches the final season of a classic drama series while Showtime debuts a new version of a sci-fi classic as part of the lineup of new shows premiering this week. 

AMC's Emmy Award-winning series Better Call Saul will debut its sixth and final season April 18. Bob Odenkirk returns as criminal lawyer Saul Goodman for the 13-episode final season of the Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould-created series, which is a spinoff of AMC's Breaking Bad.

Other high-profile series returning to the small screen this week are FX's Mayans M.C. (April 19), HBO Max's The Flight Attendant (April 21) and HBO's Barry (April 24).

Show premieres this week include Showtime's April 24 debut of The Man Who Fell to Earth, a reimagining of the 1976 sci-fi movie starring David Bowie. The 10-episode series stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomi Harris.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of April 18 to April 24 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 20 – Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain (documentary) – Showtime

April 20 – Russian Doll (returning series) – Netflix

April 20 – So Dumb Its Criminal Hosted by Snoop Dogg (reality) – Peacock

April 21 – Captive Audience (reality) – Hulu

April 22 – They Call Me Magic (documentary) – Apple TV Plus

April 22 – A Very British Scandal (drama) – Prime Video

April 24 – The Baby (drama) – HBO

April 24 – Billy The Kid (drama) – Epix

April 24 – Gaslit (drama) – Starz

The week leading into Easter will feature the return of the Kardashian family to the small screen, a series profile of three presidential wives and a former president's narration of a documentary series showcasing national parks.  

Hulu on April 14 will debut The Kardashians, a new documentary series starring family members Kris, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie as they balance running their multi-billion dollar business with their personal lives, according to the streaming service. The series debuts nearly a year after E!'s Keeping Up With The Kardashians ended its run after 20 seasons.

Showtime on Easter Sunday (April 17) will premiere its new drama series The First Lady, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt. Actresses Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson star in the 10-episode series.

Former President Barack Obama will narrate a new Netflix documentary that focuses on the world's top national parks. The five-part series, Our Great National Parks, debuts April 13.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of April 11 to April 17 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 11 – Chad (returning series) – TBS

April 12 – Hard Cell (comedy) – Netflix

April 14 – The Garcias (comedy) – HBO Max

April 14 – Killing It (comedy) – Peacock

April 14 – Not So Pretty (documentary) – HBO Max

April 15 – Anatomy of a Scandal (drama) – Netflix

April 15 – It’s The Small Things, Charlie Brown (animation) – Apple TV Plus

April 15 – Outer Range (western drama) – Prime Video

April 15 – Roar (dramedy) – Apple TV Plus

April 15 – Swimming with Sharks (drama) – The Roku Channel

April 15 – Titanic 666 (horror movie) – Tubi

April 17 – Fear The Walking Dead (returning series) – AMC

AMC's crime drama 61st Street highlights the list of cable and streaming shows debuting during the first full week of April. 

AMC's eight-episode series debuting April 10 stars Courtney B. Vance as a Chicago lawyer defending a young black man swept up in the corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. The series also stars Aunjanue Ellis, Mark O’Brien, Holt McCallany, Tosin Cole, Andrene Ward-Hammond and Bentley Green.

Also this week, returning on April 8 for sophomore seasons are Paramount Plus's iCarly and Hulu's Woke.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of April 4 to April 10 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 4 – Harry Wild (drama) – Acorn TV

April 5 – Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (sports documentary) – HBO

April 6 – The Hardy Boys (drama) – Hulu

April 7 – Close Enough (animated comedy) – HBO Max

April 7 – Return to Space (documentary) – Netflix

April 7 – Tokyo Vice (drama) – HBO Max

April 8 – All the Old Knives (drama movie) – Prime Video

April 8 – Metal Lords (comedy movie) – Netflix

April 8 -- A Black Lady Sketch Show (returning series) -- HBO

Courtney B. Vance leads a tense battle against the Chicago justice system over a deadly drug bust in the official trailer for AMC's drama series 61st Street, which debuts on the streaming service April 10.

According to AMC, the eight-episode series courses through the dark heart of the infamous Chicago criminal justice system as police and prosecutors investigate a deadly drug bust that threatens to unravel the police department's code of silence. Vance stars along with Anujanue Ellis, Mark O'Brien, Holt McCallany, Tosin Cole, Andrene Ward-Hammond and Bentley Green.

61st Street is executive produced by Michael B. Jordan, Peter Moffat, J. David Shanks, Elizabeth Raposo, Alana Mayo, Jeff Freilich, and Hillary Salmon. ■ 

Broadcasting + Cable's Kent Gibbons and Michael Malone chat about the sixth and final season of AMC's Better Call Saul, NBC's premiere of The Thing About Pam, and more Fargo on FX.

Also: Why the Traditional TV Season Still (Mostly) Matters

The return of AMC's The Walking Dead and Prime Video's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel top the list of original programming premiering during the week leading into and through the Presidents' Day holiday.  

The Walking Dead returns from its season 11 mid-season break February 20. The zombie-themed series will end its 11th and final season later this year.

The Emmy-winning comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel returns for its fourth season Feb. 18 on Prime Video. The series stars Rachel Brosnahan and Tony Shalhoub.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of February 14 to February 20 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 14 – State of the Union (dramedy) – Sundance

Feb. 16 – Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy (music documentary) – Netflix

Feb. 17 – Big Nate (animation) – Paramount Plus

Feb. 17 – Fistful of Vengeance (movie) – Netflix

Feb. 17 – Inside the Black Box (talk show) – Crackle

Feb. 18 – Painting With John (returning series) – HBO

Feb. 18 – Severance (sci-fi) – Apple TV Plus

Feb. 18 – Space Force (comedy) –Netflix

Feb. 18 – Texas Chainsaw Massacre (movie) – Netflix

Feb. 18 – Uprooted (documentary) – Discovery Plus

Feb. 20 – Abraham Lincoln (documentary) – History

Feb. 20 – From (horror) – Epix

Feb. 20 – I Was There (documentary) – History

Feb. 21 – Below Deck Sailing Yacht (returning series) – Bravo

AMC will launch the final season of its Emmy-nominated drama series Better Call Saul with a two-episode premiere April 18, the network announced as part of its Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour session.

The final season of the series, a spinoff of AMC’s Breaking Bad starring Bob Odenkirk, concludes the complicated journey and transformation of its compromised hero, Jimmy McGill (Odenkirk), into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul’s sixth season will roll out in two parts, with the first seven episodes debuting April 18 and culminating with the series’ final six episodes beginning July 11, said AMC. 

Three new original short-form series connected to the world of Better Call Saul will also debut this spring, including the animated series Slippin’ Jimmy; Cooper’s Bar, starring Saul’s Rhea Seehorn; and new episodes of the Emmy-Award winning Better Call Saul Employee Training Video series.

Along with Odenkirk, Better Call Saul also stars Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael Mando and Tony Dalton. The series is executive produced by Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Diane Mercer, and Michael Morris. 

“Vince, Peter and Bob took the question, ‘Why would you ever try to follow one of the most celebrated and beloved shows in television history with a sequel,’ and they answered it on every possible level, with truly extraordinary results,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks in a statement. “Saul Goodman has been a central character on AMC for more than a decade, and he really livens up the place.”

The six-part Slippin’ Jimmy animated series follows the misadventures of a young Jimmy McGill and his childhood friends in Chicago, Illinois. Told in the style of classic 70s-era cartoons, each episode is an ode to a specific movie genre — from spaghetti westerns and Buster Keaton to The Exorcist, AMC said. ■

Cooper’s Bar, led by Rhea Seehorn, is a six-episode digital series that follows the antics of character actor Cooper, played by Lou Mustillo (Mike & Molly) and the unique group of LA natives who frequent his neighborhood bar.  

Better Call Saul’s Emmy Award-winning Employee Training Video series will also return this summer and will teach viewers how to make commercials the Better Call Saul way.  The videos will feature cameos from Better Call Saul characters and be penned by Better Call Saul writer Ariel Levine. ■ 

Actors Anthony Edwards and Terry Crews will star in AMC’s The Walking Dead spinoff series Tales of the Walking Dead, the network said Wednesday.

Along with Edwards (WeCrashed) and Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), the series -- which will launch this summer on AMC -- will also star Parker Posey (Lost In Space), Poppy Liu (Dead Ringers) and Jillian Bell (Rough Night), said the network. 

The six-episode episodic anthology series will feature original, standalone stories focused on both new and established characters within The Walking Dead universe, said AMC.  

“Anthony, Jillian, Terry, Parker, and Poppy are the first wave of singular talents who will further expand the Walking Dead Universe into harrowing, hilarious, heartfelt, and horrifying new realms and we couldn’t be happier to welcome them to the family, along with these terrific directors,” said Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe in a statement. 

Gimble and Channing Powell will serve as executive producers for Tales of the Walking Dead, according to AMC. ■  

POSTED: AMC Renews 'Fear The Walking Dead'

AMC will bring back its zombie-themed drama Fear The Walking Dead for an eighth season. 

The series, a spinoff of AMC's original The Walking Dead series, will see the return of former regular cast member Kim Dickens, who played Madison Clark during the first four seasons of the show. Dickens will make her first appearance in the second half of season seven which launches April 17, according to the network. 

“If there were a Mt. Deadmore, Kim Dickens’ face would be on it,” The Walking Dead Universe chief content officer Scott Gimple said in a statement. “Madison Clark is a foundational character to TWDU — heroic, complex, an everyperson who becomes a warrior and then a force of benevolence.” ■ 

Also: AMC Networks 'On Track'  To Meet Streaming Subscriber Goals 

AMC Networks is teaming up with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on a public service campaign, "United/Unidos" for Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Wednesday (Sept. 15).

The PSAs, which will air on AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, We tv and streaming service AMC Plus, will feature Democratic caucus members from California, including Reps. Tony Cárdenas, Raul Ruiz, and Nanette Diaz Barragán.

The focus of the PSAs is on community, opportunity and hope and on "what unites the Hispanic/Latino communities, the importance of sharing Hispanic/Latino stories, and the incredible leaders that inspire them."

Also on the streaming side, AMC Plus is launching “Celebrando La Unidad" (Celebrating Unity) a  collection of 25 films in various genres. Those include “La Llorona” from Guatemala; “Che Part 1 & Part 2,” and “Y Tu Mamá También."

Also Read: NBCU, Telemundo Launch Bilingual Hispanic Heritage Month Campaign

AMC Thursday offered a teaser trailer for the seventh season of its zombie drama Fear The Walking Dead, which debuts Oct. 17.

According to AMC, the series, a spinoff of AMC's The Walking Dead, begins its seventh season after series character Teddy (John Glover), "brought about his vision of 'The End' when he detonated nuclear warheads across the Texas landscape, but it will be up to those who survived to decide what 'The Beginning' will look like. And they'll have to do it in a world devoid of light and hope, where the outside air is just as deadly as the walkers they face. The survivors will find out who they really are and what they're really made of. Some will rise to the occasion, some will find new purpose, and some will redefine themselves -- even if it comes at a terrible cost to those they once considered family."

Read Also: AMC Upfront: Scripted Hits Reach Fans on Linear, Digital 

Fear The Walking Dead is executive produced by Scott Gimple, Andrew Chambliss, Ian Goldberg, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert.

Last week was, improbably, one where hundreds of people thought it would be great to spend late August in oven-hot Las Vegas amid a surging pandemic, discussing the joys of sitting in a dark room with dozens of strangers, watching movie stars in tights run around on a large screen. 

I refer, of course, to CinemaCon, the lonely refuge of the battered business of theatrical exhibition. During CinemaCon’s few sweet days of sun-roasted relief, industry leaders talked bravely about how crucial their business is, and how media companies can’t afford to ignore them while building streaming-video alternatives. There was a lot of tough talk and Dallas Cowboys-level cheerleading about the primacy of a theatrical run, and easy shots at streaming executives. 

“Simultaneous release does not work,” thundered the theater owners’ lead lobbyist, National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) CEO John Fithian.  

“Show movies in theaters first,” rumbled Adam Aron, CEO of No. 1 theater chain AMC Entertainment. Exclusively exhibiting films in theaters is the "only... way to create a billion-dollar franchise."

Just to pinch a particularly sensitive part of the studio anatomy, Aron warned of “massive piracy” made possible by early streaming, though the industry has kvetched about online piracy losses about since the Internet was invented. Not incidentally, AMC also announced a deal to launch its own VOD service. If you can’t beat ‘em …

Executives from Sony, which doesn’t have a streaming service, revved up the CinemaCon crowd early, reaffirming their “commitment to protecting and preserving the theatrical window.”  But the company also just sold Hotel Transylvania 4 to Amazon Prime for $100 million, after peddling Greyhound to Apple TV Plus last year for $70 million, and The Mitchells vs. The Machines to Netflix for $110 million. Again, if you can’t beat ‘em …

Truthfully, from the sunny shores of Santa Monica, it sounded like a herd of panicked people whistling furiously past a looming graveyard of dying industries, willfully ignoring the tombstones already being carved for their business.

The exhibitors also began the canonization process for Patty Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman 1984 and an unhappy participant in WarnerMedia’s first day-and-date release of its 2021 theatrical slate on HBO Max, eight whole months ago. 

The dual release was the “best choice in a bunch of bad choices at the moment,” Jenkins said, but not one she welcomed or wants to repeat.

“Look, I make movies for the theatrical experience. That’s the sandbox I’m in,” St. Patty said. “It’s OK for me if you watch it a second or third time on your phone, but I grew up loving the cinema.”

It’s terrible that a terrific female filmmaker such as Jenkins – who waited 13 years for a big Hollywood movie (and payday) after her indie feature Monster won an Oscar for star Charlize Theron – now faces the prospect of a diminished theatrical industry (and paydays) for the movies she’d prefer to make, but that’s the breaks.

Also, though the theatrical industry would like to believe the road to riches runs through exclusively through their venues, it keeps feeling less and less so. 

We’ll get another test of the thesis on Labor Day Weekend, when Disney debuts its latest Marvel movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. 

The movie better be a gigantic hit. It has strong reviews, marks the start of a new Marvel narrative cycle, enjoys a wide-open holiday weekend, and won’t be released on Disney’s Premium VOD window. It also will have no excuses if it comes in like predecessors at a nice first weekend, followed by a precipitous drop in week 2. If we see more of that, it’s going to be a long fall, in multiple meanings of that word. 

And it’s worth noting that even St. Patty administered strong medicine to her industry admirers, playing devil’s advocate Thursday by saying theaters aren’t investing enough to create better audience experiences. If even WW84 and Shang-Chi don’t look and sound a lot better than the home-entertainment system you bought with your pandemic relief check, what’s the point of heading out into the Delta surge?

Even more importantly, Jenkins warned that the industry is settling into releasing in theaters only a certain kind of very expensive, very loud, franchise-ready film. That situation will only be exacerbated by the many delayed blockbusters sitting in the pipeline. As she noted, there’s not much on tap that might appeal to an adult audience.

Of course, St. Patty’s plaint came days after the dual release of another Warner Bros. film, Reminiscence featuring Hugh Jackman. Seemingly the kind of adult-skewing movie Jenkins was championing – given its high production values, attractive cast and serviceable telling of a neo-noir/sci-fi story line – it should attract a different range of customers than the Marvel monsters. But Reminiscence has yet to scrape together even $8 million in worldwide box office. 

A few more runs like Reminiscence and the studios will ship all those movies straight to streaming, and leave theaters with only the spandex scene for their screens. Those projects might indeed be billion-dollar properties, but they won’t keep the lights on for many theaters by themselves. 

Moreover, those spectacle movies will mostly be seen in person on IMAX and other giant screens in premium settings, compounding an already growing schism between upscale and everyday theaters in audiences’ minds.  

Another factor weighing on film box offices: China is no longer letting in as many Hollywood features as it once did, even as the country became the world’s No. 1 film market. It’s difficult to know if reduced access for U.S. films is a product of ongoing political tensions between the two countries, especially after U.S. sanctions against several Chinese telecom firms, but losing access to a country that regularly generated as much box office as the domestic market for at least some films will make the path to a billion-dollar franchise that much more complicated. 

Meanwhile, Disney, which ditched CinemaCon after NATO said mean things, used the week to answer probing questions from activist shareholder Daniel Loeb about whether it should just mash together its three streaming services into one honkin’ big Netflix competitor. 

“The combined strength of Disney’s various sports, general entertainment, and blockbuster franchises remains unparalleled in the global media industry,” Loeb wrote in an investor letter. “The best way to capitalize on this strength to maximize future earnings potential globally (both reach and pricing power) is by providing an all-you-can eat DTC offering on a single platform under the Disney+ brand, where all theatrical content is available day-and-date with no additional fee to subscribers.”

The company’s ringing response: maybe. 

Keeping three separate services with separate log-ins “so far, (has) worked really, really well,” said CEO Bob Chapek. While the company figures out the best approach, “frankly, we don’t know what’s ideal yet. We’re in the first inning of the first game of a long season, and we’re taking all this into account.”

Also, though Disney only revealed this in a hugely important lawsuit, the company said it has made $125 million on streaming revenue from Black Widow since its release less than two months ago. That’s a hefty number, especially on top of $371 million in worldwide theatrical gross. But it’s difficult to evaluate whether that’s a good number without knowing how Black Widow performs for the rest of its distribution cycle. 

It almost certainly won’t reach $1 billion in revenues any time soon, but it’s not clear whether any film would reach that magic number in the current Covid-cursed climate, exclusive theatrical run or not.

Netflix, meanwhile, is building a movie busines for future Patty Jenkins, who may be more comfortable creating feature-length projects that don’t IMAX to make sense as spectacle, story, and spreadsheet. 

This past week, Netflix put release dates on a boggling 43 features of all kinds to run the next four months. 

That slate includes plenty of big names, kids shows, genre and niche audience workouts, awards contenders, plus those mid-sized grownup movies St. Patty mentioned. It’s also roughly equal to the combined annual output of most of the rest of Hollywood. So much for needing theaters to make a business, if not a billion-dollar franchise.

B&C has partnered with always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv to bring you a weekly chart we call Promo Mojo: exclusive data showing the top five TV promos ranked by ad impressions. Our data covers the 7-day period through Aug. 22.

An AMC promo for the return of The Walking Dead tops our Promo Mojo ranker for the week ended Aug. 22.

Four other cable networks join AMC in crowding traditional broadcasters out of the top five: MTV hypes the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards in second place, HGTV builds excitement for Cheap Old Houses in third, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries promotes Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Honeymoon, Honeymurder in fourth, and Food Network whets viewers’ appetites for the Kal Penn-hosted Money Hungry in fifth.

Notably, the MTV spot has this week’s highest iSpot Attention Index (108), meaning viewers were on average highly likely to watch it all the way through (vs. interrupting it by changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

1) The Walking Dead, AMC

Impressions: 218,894,864

Interruption Rate: 3.07%

Attention Index: 89 (1q% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 88%, Local 11%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $495,015

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $636,900

2)  2021 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV

Impressions: 200,197,954

Interruption Rate: 3.05%

Attention Index: 108 (8% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 98%, Local 2%, VOD/OTT 0%

In-network Value: $895,682

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $11,130

3) Cheap Old Houses, HGTV

Impressions: 175,180,680

Interruption Rate: 1.57%

Attention Index: 95 (5% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 99%, Local 0%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $621,732

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

4) Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Honeymoon, Honeymurder, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Impressions: 168,353,186

Interruption Rate: 4.24%

Attention Index: 103 (3% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 99%, Local 0%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $826,940

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $2,809

5) Money Hungry, Food Network

Impressions: 156,100,867

Interruption Rate: 1.77%

Attention Index: 82 (18% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 98%, Local 1%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $485,936

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $101,899

*Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands*

Impressions - The total impressions within all US households including National Linear (Live & Time-shifted), VOD+OTT, and Local.

Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.

Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs. the average in its respective industry. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.

Imp. Types - Impression types tracked include National (Live + Time-shifted), Local, VOD & OTT. See below for further details.

In-network Value - Estimated media value of in-network promos.

Out-of-network Spend - The estimated amount spent on TV airing time for this promo's spots during a given date range.

National: Live - A national promo which was viewed during live linear television broadcast or same day, via DVR or on-demand.

Local - A promo that was aired during a local ad break slot.

VOD - This includes promos that run in on-demand content past three days (i.e. do not contain the linear promo load)

OTT - On-demand streaming content (i.e. Hulu, Roku, Fire TV Stick, Chromecast).

Broadcasting + Cable's Kent Gibbons and Michael Malone chat about CBS's CSI: Vegas, Field of Dreams baseball on Fox, and the final season of The Walking Dead on AMC.

Horror-themed streaming service Shudder will examine the origins of several iconic movie monsters in a new documentary series Behind The Monsters, the service announced Tuesday during AMC Networks' TCA Summer Press Tour session.

The six-part series will take a deep dive on such cinematic horror icons as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Candyman, Chucky and Pinhead through interviews with horror experts as well as the writers, directors and actors from the original films, said network officials. 

“In the history of film, only a handful of stars and characters like Mickey Mouse or Marilyn Monroe have risen to the heights of fame to become instantly recognizable the world over. Yet somehow, a small group of monsters who got their start in low-budget horror movies have transcended their humble beginnings to become international pop culture icons,” Craig Engler, Shudder’s general manager said in a statement. “Behind the Monsters will tell the story of their unlikely rise to fame, from the ideas that inspired them to the indelible mark they’ve left on the world.” 

The streaming service also announced premiere dates for several shows including Slasher: Flesh & Blood (Sept. 16), Creepshow (Sept. 23), V/H/S/94 (Oct. 6), and Horror Noire (Oct. 28).