Starz’s comedy series Party Down returns February 24 after a 13-year hiatus, and series star Tyrel Jackson Williams says the show remains relevant and funny as it looks to attract a new generation of fans.

The third season of the series, which ran on Starz from 2009 to 2010 before being canceled, returns most of its original cast, including Kevin Marino, Adam Scott, Jayne Lynch, Martin Starr, Megan Mullally, Lizzy Caplan, Ryan Hansen and Jennifer Coolidge. The series follows the exploits of the Party Down catering team, who work catering jobs while waiting for their successful break in Hollywood. 

Among the show’s new cast members is Williams, who joins the cast as Sackson Paxton, a wannabe social-media influencer who works at Party Down while he waits to become a big internet star. Williams, who was 13 when the final season of the series debuted on Starz in 2010, nevertheless said he was familiar with the series before accepting the role.

“I grew up around diehard fans of the show who said it was amazing and incredible,” Williams told Multichannel News. “I also know of everyone who was on it because they went off to be in everything I’ve ever liked.”

Williams, the younger brother of Abbott Elementary and Everybody Hates Chris star Tyler James Williams, said the show’s comedic elements as well as its character strength will help it appeal to a new generation of viewers. “Everything about the show is so relatable, even though it’s kind of silly and crazy at times,” Williams said. “Everything is wrapped around the core ethos that chasing a dream is hard and it hurts, but it’s ultimately worth it.”

The former Disney child star who appeared in such shows as Disney XD's Lab Rats, has made a successful transition to playing adult roles, including a starring role in IFC’s comedy series Brockmire which ran from 2017 to 2020. He credits his success to being patient in waiting for the right roles to take on. 

“I knew that after the Disney show I wanted to make this transition over into doing more adult roles,” he said. “I knew that things would take time … it was all about letting [the roles] come to you.” ■  

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of March 16 to March 22 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

March 16 -- The Plot Against America (drama) -- HBO

March 18 -- Little Fires Everywhere (drama) -- Hulu

March 18 -- Brockmire (returning series) -- IFC 

March 18 -- Motherland: Fort Salem (Drama) -- Freeform

March 19 -- Altered Carbon: Resleeved (Anime) -- Netflix

March 19 -- Feel Good (comedy) -- Netflix

March 19 -- Tyler Perry's Ruthless (drama) -- BET+

IFC Thursday announced the fourth and final season of its baseball-themed comedy series Brockmire will debut in first quarter 2020.

The series, which stars Hank Azaria as a famed major league baseball announcer who looks to rebound after suffering a public breakdown due to his wife’s infidelity, will launch its final eight episodes in March, according to the network. Series co-stars Amanda Peet, Tyler Jackson Williams and Katie Finneran will return for the final season.

“From the beginning, Brockmire was conceived as a four-season story, and we are so proud to see it written and produced to its creative conclusion,” said IFC executive director Blake Callaway in a statement. “Blazers off to the amazing crew, our fantastic partners at Funny Or Die, and the incredible cast, especially the incomparable Hank Azaria, who lives, sleeps and breaths Jim Brockmire, as well as Amanda Peet who makes an indelible contribution to the show as Jules, and Tyrel Jackson-Williams who completely shines as Charles. Fans and critics alike will love watching how the story ends.”

IFC Wednesday released the official video trailer for the third season of its baseball-themed comedy series Brockmire.

Hank Azaria returns to his role as baseball announcer Jim Brockmire along with other returning actors Amanda Peet and Tyrel Jackson Williams. 

Guest stars for season three of the Funny or Die-produced series include Richard Kind, Bob Costas, Linda Lavin, Martha Plimpton, J.K. Simmons, Christine Woods, George Brett and Becky Ann Baker, according to IFC. 

AMC will launch the final episodes for two of its original scripted series Into the Badlands and The Son later this spring, the network said Saturday during its Television Critics Association winter press tour session.

The network’s martial-arts drama Into The Badlands will end its three-season run with its final eight episodes beginning March 24 -- following an episode of The Walking Dead -- before moving into its regular time slot on March 25, said network officials.

The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan, will end after its second season, which launches on April 27, said the network. The Son is produced by AMC Studios and Sonar Entertainment.

The network also announced that it has opened up a writers’ room for a potential new series 61st Street, from Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice, The Night Of,) and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society (David Makes Man).

In other AMC Networks news, BBC America set premiere dates for season 26 of Top Gear (April 25) and Luther (June 2); while IFC will bring back Brockmire for a third season April 3.

IFC’s tagline may position the network as “slightly off,” but president and general manager Jennifer Caserta believes its approach to delivering quality, original comedy programming is exactly on target to reach its core adult audience.

As IFC parent company AMC Networks looks to extend the network’s comedy presence to the stage with the acquisition of Levity Live, which owns numerous upscale comedy clubs around the country, IFC hopes to further build its television and digital brand with original sketch and narrative comedy content, with hit shows such as Documentary Now! and Brockmire.

Brockmire, which stars Hank Azaria as a journeyman baseball broadcaster, in particular has been a standout. Its season-two premiere on April 25 drew nearly 3 million viewers on digital platforms including VOD, IFC.com, the IFC YouTube and Facebook pages and FunnyOrDie.com, while averaging 506,000 total TV viewers in Nielsen live-plus-3 ratings.

Caserta spoke with Multichannel News about the network’s brand and its original programming strategy, as well as the challenges cable networks face in an uncertain television marketplace.

MCN: How would you define IFC’s brand?

Jennifer Caserta: We take great pride in our off-center sensibility — the “slightly off ” which is in the tagline — and you will see more of that amplified, because we’re very proud of it. It’s consistent in everything that we do with regards to the way we approach marketing and promotion on every platform. There will be a little refresh because we think that it’s right to keep things fresh, but the slightly off remains true and at our core.

MCN: Will that refresh be reflected in the content that the network is delivering?

JC: No, it’s more in the brand. Like I said, we take the brand very seriously with a lot of intent, so it’s more about amplifying the slightly off. We’re finding it existing in a lot of places in the world around us — the comedy sensibility that we have is smart and intellectual. It’s imperfect, and we love that, so you’ll probably see it more in how it’s presented.

As for our original content, we do all scripted right now. Portlandia is now off the channel, so we’re looking for our sketch replacements. Documentary Now! coming back is a big win for us not only in terms of sensibility but because of the critical acclaim it has generated.

MCN: With your adding shows like Brockmire and Stan Against Evil, will the network look to move more into narrative-based shows and place less emphasis on sketch shows?

JC: It’s really a focus on both. Portlandia was on the air for eight seasons, and we feel that continuing to develop programming in the sketch format is important to us. Documentary Now! is a longer-form parody within sketch comedy that you didn’t see a lot of before but see more of today. Sherman’s Showcase, for example, ties into a sketch format that’s unique, but also a format that speaks to African-American culture, variety and music. As for narrative, there’s so much flexibility with what comedy narrative is today. Brockmire, for example, is a wonderfully complex story line that gets really dark at times, so you’ll see more of that develop over time because its really important to us.

MCN: What are some of the challenges facing networks like IFC in a very crowded and evolving television environment?

JC: In a time where everything is about disruption, I think it’s always hard for people to remain focused because it’s all happening around us. Yet focusing on what we do well and how we move into the future and how we realize and adjust to how people watch our shows. You have to follow the audience, and that’s a big part of what it is that we do in making people really attracted to your brand and to your network in the way that you present your viewing options.

Actor Hank Azaria will take to the broadcast booth again as baseball announcer Jim Brockmire in the sophomore campaign of IFC’s comedy series Brockmire, premiering April 25. Azaria will again portray the flawed-but-lovable Brockmire as the series shifts to New Orleans and a new job opportunity for him to once again rebuild his reputation after suffering a notorious public breakdown surrounding his wife’s infidelity.

With IFC already greenlighting a third and fourth season of Brockmire, Azaria sat down with Multichannel News senior content producer R. Thomas Umstead to talk about the success of the series — season one drew more than 8.6 million total viewers in Nielsen live-plus-7 ratings — as well as the show’s full embrace of the sport of baseball, and the series’s uncanny ability to break through the comedy clutter — and thrive.

MCN: What should viewers expect from the second season of Brockmire?
Hank Azaria:Brockmire continues to get very dark: Darker than season one, if you can believe that, because I couldn’t. Season two makes season one look like Saved by the Bell. They say that alcoholism and drug addiction — which are two problems that Jim Brockmire has — can be seen as fun with problems or just problems. I would say season two is solving fun with problems.

MCN: What’s been behind the success of the series?
HA: It’s funny — that’s the most important thing to me — it’s comedy that’s actually funny. I know it sounds like I’m being simplistic or facetious, but that’s it. Bring on the drama and darkness, as long as it’s funny. It’s also really important to find a great writer, and we trust him to write the series. It also has a strong narrative; it’s a story that you can follow that’s not episodic; and we love the characters.

MCN: You’ve also successfully wove a scripted series around the subject of baseball. How important is the game to the overall identity of the series?
HA: It’s very important for this show, but I think you have to approach it the right way. It was very organic to who this guy is, and he’s kind of what baseball is: an old-school, Americana, old-fashioned thing who has a difficulty transposing himself into modern society — kids, for example, don’t have the attention span for it. But you don’t have to be a baseball fan to love this show.

MCN: Obviously you’re keeping busy with Brockmire, but is there anything else you’re working on?
HA: I’m always doing The Simpsons; I have for 30 years and that never stops. But Brockmire keeps me busy with producing and acting in the series.

Actor Hank Azaria once again steps onto the scripted series field, this time as a boozing, down-on-his-luck minor-league baseball announcer in IFC’s new comedy series Brockmire.

Azaria, who lends his voice to Fox’s long-running animated hit The Simpsons and more recently appeared in Showtime’s Ray Donovan, spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about the new show and his love for sports-themed projects, as well as the opportunities for creating content in a competitive, multiplatform television industry. An edited transcript follows.

MCN:How did you come up with the concept for Brockmire?
Hank Azaria: It’s an idea that I’ve had in one way, shape or form since I was a teenager — the idea of a baseball announcer and whether they really sound in real life like they do during a broadcast. We did a short at Funny or Die about it a few years ago, and that went well, but once [Brockmire writer Joel Church-Cooper] started writing them and fleshing them out, it really came to life.

Related: IFC's 'Brockmire' Trailer

MCN:With scripted sports shows, is there a fine line you have to walk between providing authentic sports action to cater to sports fans while keeping it entertaining for nonsports fans?
HA: When it’s done well, it’s amazing, and those are some of my favorite movies like The Bad News Bears or Slapshot or Hoosiers. Joel and I share a huge love of the sport, of broadcasters, of movies and of TV shows like that. Baseball is a metaphor for the aging — and maybe dying — America, and Joel is able to capture that and make it funny in the embodiment of this man that gets caught up in nostalgia — forget about 1978 for him, but 1948. Some of the best sports stuff does that; it realizes how the sport is a metaphor for something bigger.

MCN:Was this the perfect time to pitch Brockmire, given the number of distribution platforms and outlets available to content providers?
HA: Yes. There’s more and more competition as more people realize that cable in particular is a great place to creatively do what you want to do. A show like this could not have existed maybe even five years ago — certainly not 10 years ago — and definitely not on a [broadcast] network, just for language alone. I’ve been wanting to make shows like this for years, so it’s very gratifying to be able to do it.

Related > MCN Review: 'Brockmire' Takes a Swing for the Fences

MCN:Having done both television and movies, do you find working on a scripted series easier or harder than on a theatrical film?
HA: Shooting is shooting, especially nowadays where everything is so good on cable. I’ve done movies that are a lot worse that what we see on cable now — it all feels very creative.

MCN:What other projects are you working on?
HA: Hopefully we’ll do season two of this, and I have a movie coming out on HBO with [Robert] De Niro called The Wizard of Lies about the Bernie Madoff scandal. I also have a movie coming out called Norman with Richard Gere, and, of course, The Simpsons always.

IFC’s new baseball-themed series Brockmire takes a big swing for the comedy fences.

The series stars Hank Azaria as Jim Brockmire, a throwback play-by-play baseball broadcaster calling balls and strikes while providing whimsical and history- laden baseball stories to listeners. But after coming home early one day and witnessing his wife Lucy (Katie Finneran) cheating on him, Brockmire suffers a drink-infused, profanity-laced meltdown on air during a live telecast, costing him his job and career.

Related: IFC's 'Brockmire' Trailer

After traveling the world for a decade providing commentary on virtually every sporting event imaginable, Brockmire is lured back to the states to call baseball games by Jules (Amanda Peet), owner of the Frackers, a fictional minor-league baseball team located in a small Rust Belt town. Brockmire is led to believe he will announce Frackers games for a local radio station, but nearly walks away from the gig after Jules reveals that his commentary would only be heard by two dozen or so in the decrepit ballpark.

Despite the setback, Brockmire — drawn by his love of the game and smitten by Jules — decides to try to recapture his life, reputation and legacy as a big-time sports announcer, in the uncomfortable but surprisingly charming confines of the minor leagues.

Related > Q&A With Hank Azaria: Turning a Sports Comedy Dream Into Reality [subscription required]

Azaria, who first debuted the Jim Brockmire character in a Funny or Die short Web series, is terrific as the unconventional, rough-around-the-edges announcer who is trying to adapt his nostalgic, 20th-century view of baseball and the world to today’s hipper, more fast-paced environment. Indeed, Brockmire — who doesn’t own a computer and doesn’t surf the Web — is unaware that his on-air breakdown and subsequent embarrassing post game press conference a decade ago has gone viral, and that his wife’s name has become synonymous with a nefarious sexual act.

It’s hard not to like Brockmire, and viewers will find themselves rooting for him to succeed. The dialogue is sharp and funny, although parents may want to keep their children away from the show’s heavy R-rated language and situations. Overall, Brockmire should be a major-league hit for IFC.

IFC shared its new programming slate at an upfront event in New York April 21, sneak-peeking eight comedies from the likes of Bryan Cranston, Hank Azaria and Sharon Horgan.

Cranston is executive producer on Todd Barth Can Help You, about a nerd who transforms himself into a self-help guru. Azaria stars in Brockmire, a Funny or Die production about a beloved baseball announcer who suffers a very public meltdown. Horgan, costar on Amazon’s Catastrophe, is starring in This Land Is Ours, about anarchist squatters in present day New York (produced by her production company Merman).

"These projects reflect our mission to make great content with cool people," said IFC president Jennifer Caserta. “At IFC, we are driven by developing smart comedy that is 'Slightly Off' and working with the very best creative forces, both in front of and behind the camera."

Seth Meyers was on hand to talk about season two of Documentary Now! Executive produced by Lorne Michaels and produced by Broadway Video, Documentary Now! returns this fall with seven new docu-spoofs showcasing the comedic talents of Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and others.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

IFC will add to its scripted series lineup with projects from Dana Gould and Hank Azaria, the network said Monday.

Gould (The Simpsons, Parks and Recreation) will executive produce and write Stan Against Evil, a comedy horror series featuring the teaming of a perpetually disgruntled former sheriff and the tough and beautiful new sheriff who fight against a plague of unleashed demons that have been haunting the town, according to network officials.

Azaria will star in Brockmire, as a famed major league baseball announcer who suffers a very public meltdown live on the air but looks to regain his career by calling minor league baseball games in a small town.

“Demons and disgrace are at the forefront of IFC’s new comedy strategy," said Caserta in making the announcement. "And there’s no one we’d rather be in bed with – or save small towns with - than Hank and Dana. One of the hallmarks of IFC’s success is the exceptional caliber of creative genius that we get to partner with, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be making these shows.”