Apple TV Plus Thursday offered a first-look trailer at its new basketball-themed drama series inspired by the life of NBA superstar Kevin Durant debuting Oct. 29.

The 10-episode series, Swagger, explores the world of youth basketball and follows  the exploits of players and their families and coaches as they walk the fine line between dreams, ambition, opportunism and corruption, said the streaming service. 

The series stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Isaiah Hill, Shinelle Azoroh, Quvenzhané Wallis, Caleel Harris, James Bingham, Solomon Irama, Ozie Nzeribe, Tessa Ferrer, Tristan Mack Wilds and Jason Rivera.

Swagger is executive produced by Durant, Reggie Rock Bythwood, and Brian Grazer, along with Rich Kleinman, Francie Calfo, Samie Kim Falvey and Smantha Corbin-Miller.

Apple TV Plus will debut the first three episodes of the series on Oct. 29, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday thereafter through Dec. 17, said the streaming service.

Melinda Benedek, executive VP, business affairs and production at Showtime, will retire after 22 years with the company.

Benedek, who is responsible for negotiating and managing the business and legal aspects of the development and physical production of all Showtime original productions and licensed original programming, will remain at Showtime through the end of the year.  

“Melinda has touched so much of what we do at Showtime for so long, it’s difficult to imagine our team without her,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks, to whom she reports. “I have long valued her sharp mind, her integrity and her cool under pressure.”

Prior to joining Showtime in 1995, Benedek spent four years as head of business affairs of the feature film division of Twentieth Century Fox. Before that, she was executive VP of Imagine Entertainment, which she had joined at its inception, under the leadership of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

“I have loved being a part of Showtime’s evolution and growth over the last 22 years," Benedek said.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

National Geographic’s first scripted series, Genius, starts April 25 and features Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein.

The series comes from Fox 21 Television Studios and is executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

Genius is based on Walter Isaacson’s book Einstein: His Life and Universe. The 10-part series tracks Einstein’s rise from humble origins as “an imaginative, rebellious thinker, through his struggles to be recognized by the establishment, to his global celebrity status as the man who unlocked the mysteries of the cosmos with his theory of relativity," Nat Geo said.

It also delves into his "alternately exhilarating emotions and heartlessness in dealing with his closest personal relationships, including his children, his two wives and the various women with whom he cheats on them,” the network said.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

As the holiday season approaches, several cable networks will hope to receive an early ratings gift by premiering high-profile scripted content in mid-November.

With the end of a long and ratings-rich presidential election and with the broadcast networks set to take a hiatus from scheduling new episodes of scripted shows heading into the holidays, cable networks like BBC America, Pop, National Geographic, TNT and TBS are all hoping to fill a programming void with original content.

“We wanted to get in just ahead of the holiday programming and take advantage of a moment when a lot of the noise around fall launches is abating,” BBC America president Sarah Barnett said. “No week of the year is uncluttered today, but believe it or not, there can be a small moment of relative space here.”

PAUSE BEFORE HOLIDAYS

BBC America on Wednesday (Nov. 16) will premiere crime drama Undercover, one of at least eight new cable scripted series premiering within 10 days of Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24). Typically, networks tend to shy away from premiering new shows in the days leading up to the holiday season and the glut of holiday specials and movies. But with more than 400 scripted shows launching year round, Barnett said no time period is off-limits.

Pop president Brad Schwartz said strong ratings for presidential election coverage has shortened what is normally a solid series premiere window running from mid- October through mid-November. As a result, the network will debut its late night-themed comedy series Nightcap later than desired, on Nov. 16.

“If you’re waiting for the election to end but you want it be in front of the holidays, this is the time to launch,” Schwartz said. “You don’t want to get too far into the holiday season because then you get close to Christmas when people’s viewing habits begin to change and it becomes harder to get the message out for your show.”

National Geographic will premiere its highly-touted Mars series tonight (Nov. 14, see review). The network is launching a new on-air look and rebrand around the Brian Grazer/Ron Howard produced series, which will feature both scripted and documentary elements around the future colonization of the red planet.

“Mars is the centerpiece of our new premium strategy and its creatively ambitious for us,” Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic Global Networks, said. “We’re really interested in what the audience thinks and how they react.”

‘SEARCH PARTY’ ON THE WAY

TBS and BBC America said they too are altering the debut schedule of their respective new shows to help build greater awareness and ratings. TBS will launch its 10-episode comedy series Search Party over five consecutive nights beginning Nov. 21, according to network officials.

BBC America’s six-hour Undercover series will air over two nights. Barnett said the network wanted to create some additional buzz for the series by allowing viewers to binge view the series over consecutive nights.

“As a linear network, we understand that there is some content that audiences especially love to binge, and phenomenally written, dramatically shocking mini seasons fall into this category of ‘must devour’ TV,” Barnett said. “We scheduled it in a way where fans could truly immerse themselves in this riveting thriller.”

SIDEBAR: On Script

A partial list of the scripted cable series premiering between Nov. 14-24:

Show                          Network                    Genre                     Premiere Date

Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nat Geo . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 14

Good Behavior . . . . . . . .TNT . . . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 15

Shooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .USA . . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 15

Sweet/Vicious . . . . . . . .  MTV . . . . . . . . . Dramedy . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 15

Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . Audience Network . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 16

Nightcap . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pop . . . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 16

Undercover . . . . . . . BBC America . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 16

Lovesick . . . . . . . . . . . . Netflix . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 17

Search Party . . . . . . . . . .TBS . . . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 21

SOURCE :Multichannel News research

Nat Geo has teamed with producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard to take a unique look at the colonization of Mars in a new series that’s part scripted show and part documentary.

The scripted drama portion of Mars mostly takes place in the year 2033 and follows the efforts of an internationally-based space organization to put humans on the red planet. The pilot episode does a good job of building up the drama surrounding what must be a nearly perfect approach to the crew’s perilous attempt to land on the planet’s surface.

Related Video:Actress/Singer Jihae Discusses Her Role in National Geographic’s ‘Mars’

The series deftly introduces the crew of Daedalus, led by commander Ben Sawyer (Ben Cotton), through testimonies, interviews and flashbacks about the attempt to successfully land on Mars.

The documentary side of Mars takes place in 2016 and features commentary from real-life scientists and experts such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and NASA astronaut Charles Bolden on the science behind space travel to Mars. The segments provide a thorough, research-based account of the potential benefits and risks inherent in successfully travelling millions of miles in space, and add authenticity to the belief that the mission is within the realm of possibility.

Watch a preview of 'Mars.'

The one problem with Mars is that the intertwining of the scripted and documentary elements has the unfortunate adverse effect of slowing down the pace and continuity of the scripted storyline. While some viewers might be fascinated with the facts on how people will survive on Mars — which is explained in full detail — often those factual elements interrupt the more dramatic points of the crew’s mission. Nat Geo too often asks viewers to wade through science class during times where they may just want to get lost in a good action drama.

Ultimately, Mars is a fun and informative ride into space exploration that will take viewers on a mission to a future world — and, potentially, a new television genre.

National Geographic Channels is partnering with GE on a new science anthology series, Breakthrough, executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer among others, highlighting the 2015-16 upfront slate. NGC CEO Courteney Monroe, president Tim Pastore and other executives and talent presented the programming plans for Nat Geo and Nat Geo Wild at a gathering at Má Pêche in New York today (April 15). They also celebrated that Nat Geo Channel's distribution had topped 90 million homes (see photo). The upfront event comes shortly after the channel had its most-watched program ever, Killing Jesus, which premiered last month.

Breakthrough, about huge achievements in science, will feature celebrity directors Angela Bassett, Peter Berg, Paul Giamatti (who attended the event), Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brett Ratner. The initial topics will be brain science, longevity, water, energy, pandemics and cyborg technology breakthroughs, NGC said. Other new series on tap are 50 States Of Survival;Primal Survival;The Great Human Race (an adventure challenge show) and The Yard, about shipbuilding operations.

Returning series include Life Below Zero, Drugs Inc., Wicked Tuna, Live Free Or Die and Brain Games. StarTalk, the new talk show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson that's set to debut next week, will return in the fall with 10 more episodes, NGC said.

Events on the slate include Saints & Strangers -- a miniseries about the Mayflower pilgrims -- America's National Parks and History Of The World... For Now, from the writers of HBO's Silicon Valley.

New series coming to Nat Geo Wild include Vet School, set at Cornell University's veterinary teaching hospital, and Animal Storm Squad, about first responders who go after trapped and injured pets following a natural disaster. Returning series are: The Incredible Dr. Pol; Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet; Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER and Cesar 911 (with Cesar Millan). "Big Cat Week," "Barkfest II" and "Sharkfest" will be among the events on tap.

Photo: National Geographic Channels CEO Courteney Monroe, President Tim Pastore, Brain Games host Jason Silva and Life Below Zero star Sue Aikens celebrate that National Geographic Channel is now in 91 million homes at upfront on April 15 at Má Pêche in NYC. Credit: Scott Gries for National Geographic Channels.

Discovery Communications is taking a big step toward developing quality digital content by partnering with award-winning content creators Brian Grazer and Ron Howard on a new digital production company.

The company, New Form, will focus on developing high quality, scripted and unscripted programming for digital viewers, Discovery announced Thursday. Content created by New Form will be available through a series of partnerships, with the possibility of distribution across Discovery and other global platforms.

New Form, based in Los Angeles, will be helmed by newly appointed chief creative officer Kathleen Grace. Howard and Grazer are the creative minds behind such projects as 24, Arrested Development, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile and American Gangster.

“We are excited and proud to have the most accomplished and creative minds in all of film and television investing with us in New Form,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO, Discovery Communications in a statement. “Brian and Ron are best-in-class storytellers, and we look forward to developing compelling programming for today’s digital viewers. This creative powerhouse, coupled with Discovery’s strong programming expertise and our ability to engage viewers across our global platforms, is an unparalleled combination.”

Added Glazer: “Technology is rapidly changing the entertainment landscape for studios, producers and audiences, and Ron and I could not think of a better partner to invest with than Discovery to expand beyond film and television and enter into the digital frontier.”