Shark Week begins on Discovery and Discovery Plus Sunday, July 24. It is the 34th year of Shark Week. New locations include the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas and Papua New Guinea, and the week features a visit from the stars of Impractical Jokers. 

“The week spotlights innovative shark technology and research to find breakthrough information on these elusive creatures and their mating and migration patterns in addition to the findings of a new, undescribed species,” according to Discovery. 

Staten Island comedy troupe the Tenderloins makes up the Impractical Jokers cast. The truTV series features hidden-camera comedy bits. It has had nine seasons. 

Discovery has not yet shared the schedule for Shark Week this summer. 

Warner Bros. Discovery was hatched earlier this year after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. Discovery Channel and truTV are part of Warner Bros. Discovery. ■

Season nine of hidden camera hijinks show Impractical Jokers continues on TruTV July 8. Known as the Tenderloins, Staten Island pals Sal Vulcano, Joe Gatto, Brian Quinn and James Murray push each other into outrageous antics on Impractical Jokers. At the end of every episode, the biggest loser must endure an epic punishment. 

Season nine began in February. 

TruTV had the Impractical Jokers Awards Show, featuring highlights from the show’s 200-plus episodes, July 1, and Impractical Jokers: The Movie the same night. The Movie, which had Paula Abdul and Joey Fatone in the cast, was inspired by a humiliating high school mishap dating back to 1992. 

Quarantine comedy Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party debuted on TruTV in May 2020. 

The Tenderloin guys are the panelists on TBS’s comedic game show The Misery Index. 

Earlier this year, Gatto, Murray, Quinn and Vulcanco signed a first-look deal with WarnerMedia to develop and produce unscripted and scripted programming for TNT, TBS, TruTV and HBO Max. 

TBS has partnered with Tiffany Haddish to offer a weekly Friday-night package of movies with diverse and inclusive themes, the network announced during WarnerMedia's upfront presentation Wednesday. 

Friday Night Vibes, hosted by Haddish, will debut June 18 and will feature comedy, action and culturally significant films that are inclusive of diverse voices, said the network. The movie block will launch with boxing-themed action films Creed and Creed 2.

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Along with the movies, Friday Night Vibes will feature celebrity interviews and musical performances, with Haddish guiding viewers through special behind-the-scenes moments and authentic conversation. Friday Night Vibes will be executive produced by Reginald Hudlin, Phil Gurin and Byron Phillips.

In other WarnerMedia upfront news, WarnerMedia has renewed TBS’ competition series Wipeout and comedy series Chad, as well as truTV’s Fast Foodies.

• TNT will debut the fifth season of Animal Kingdom on July 11 while TBS premieres the third season of Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail on July 13.

• TruTV will debut the ninth season of Impractical Jokers on July 8, a week after the network debuts two specials based on the comedy series — Impractical Jokers Awards Show and Impractical Jokers: The Movie. The network will also premiere Backyard Bar Wars beginning July 8.

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TruTV has picked up a third season of its comedy series Tacoma FD, part of several programming announcements the network made Wednesday during WarnerMedia’s TCA virtual press tour event.

The series, which stars Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, will return with a 13-episode third season, said the network. The show’s second season to date has reached some 11 million viewers, said truTV.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the work this team has achieved season after season” said Brett Weitz, general manager of TBS, TNT, and truTV in a statement. “With Tacoma FD’s fanbase continuing to grow, the show is a huge success story for us, and we can’t wait to see what kind of Station 24 shenanigans Kevin, Steve, and the incredible cast come up with next.”

The network also announced an expansion of its Impractical Jokers franchise across  WarnerMedia’s cable and streaming platforms.

Along with resuming production on season nine of the comedy series, the company has ordered a third season of TBS’s The Misery Index -- which features the stars of Impractical Jokers -- and has set a Sept. 1 date for the premiere of Impractical Jokers: The Movie on streaming service HBO Max.

“The Impractical Jokers franchise continues to deliver each and every time,” said Weitz. “The plan is continue to grow their business from an incredibly solid foundation and deliver to a passionate fanbase that’s second to none.”

TruTV said it has renewed Tacoma FD for a third season and has ordered 13 new episodes of the comedy series.

Brett Weitz, the general manager of AT&T’s TBS, TNT and truTV surprised the cast by announcing the renewal during an episode of Talkoma FD that will air Thursday.

Meanwhile, TBS has picked up season 3 of The Misery Index, which features the cast of truTV’s Impractical Jokers and is hosted by Jameela Jamil.

truTV is doubling down on the jokers, renewing Impractical Jokers for season 9 of Impractical Jokers and ordering  new episodes of Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party.

Another AT&T channel, HBO Max, will be streaming the premier of Impractical Jokers: The Movie on Sept. 1.

“The Impractical Jokers franchise continues to deliver each and every time,” said Weitz. “The plan is continue to grow their business from an incredibly solid foundation and deliver to a passionate fanbase that’s second to none.”

TruTV says that Tacoma FD grew season-over-season and is among ad-supported cable’s top five comedy series.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the work this team has achieved season after season” said Weitz. ““With Tacoma FD’s fanbase continuing to grow, the show is a huge success story for us, and we can’t wait to see what kind of Station 24 shenanigans Kevin, Steve, and the incredible cast come up with next.”

Tacoma FD stars co-creators Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme. 

“I'm incredibly excited -- mostly because I get to watch Kevin begin his arduous, six-month mustache-growing process,” said Lemme. “He only has 12 hair holes in his upper lip, so it takes some time.”

Tacoma FD is executive produced by Heffernan and Lemme alongside David Miner and Greg Walter from 3 Arts Entertainment.

Impractical Jokers is produced by NorthSouth Productions with Charlie DeBevoise, Pete McPartland Jr., Gatto, Murray, Quinn and Vulcano serving as executive producers.

TruTV debuts Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party May 21. A spinoff of Impractical Jokers, the six-episode series stars the comedy troupe made up of Joe Gatto, James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn and Sal Vulcano.

“The self-filmed show virtually reunites the long-time friends, forced apart for the first time in over 25 years, as they sit down to break bread from their respective homes,” said TruTV. “Fans will see the guys like never before, by drawing back the curtain for an up close and personal glimpse at their lives while they practice social distancing.”

“The Impractical Jokers franchise continues to defy all expectations and we have the opportunity to deliver some much needed levity for fans right now,” said Brett Weitz, general manager of TBS, TNT and truTV. “This new iteration comes at the perfect time for families looking for content to watch together at home.”

Feature film Impractical Jokers: The Movie came out earlier this year.

“While all of us are social distancing, we wanted to find a fun way to lighten spirits and bring some laughter from our homes directly to our fans’ living rooms,” said The Tenderloins. "Although this isn't our usual format, this new show is a unique and intimate way to entertain our fans and further our relationship with those who have come to know us across eight seasons of Impractical Jokers.”

Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party is produced by Bongo Pictures, with Michael Bloom and Chris Wagner the executive producers and Chris Pizzi as co-executive producer. The series is also executive produced by Brian Quinn, James Murray, Joe Gatto, Sal Vulcano and Charlie DeBevoise. Bloom is the showrunner.

truTV hit series Impractical Jokers staged a "Live Punishment Special" on Sept. 3 to mark 100 episodes, and 1.7 million viewers tuned in to see it on a live plus same-day basis. Add in three days' DVRed viewing of the special and an encore telecast the same day and the figure rises to 3.7 million, the Turner Broadcasting outlet said. 

Even on a L+SD basis, the special, including a live high-wire stunt from South Street Seaport in New York City, did 42% better than this season four's premiere (1.22 million total viewers) and 89% ahead of the season-three finale (924,000 total viewers), the network said. The event nature of the special, though, added much to the recorded viewings.

The special drew lots of social-media chatter. truTV added up more than 150 million impressions across platforms and a surge (+348%) of traffic on the show's page on trutv.com. The heavily promoted special ranked third in Nielsen Twitter TV ratings, the network said. The #LivePunishment trend on Twitter generated more than 76 million impressions. More than 100,000 streams of video related to the special were viewed on Thursday, a quarter of that on Periscope, the network said.

All told, truTV said, the episode was the network's highest-rated telecast in more than 19 months and the highest-rated telecast among women 18-49 in more than two years.

“Our goal for the 100th episode was to provide a compelling live event which would celebrate the show and its fandom and bring attention to our most successful show,” Chris Linn, truTV president and head of programming, said in a release. “We are thrilled with the tremendous response to our first live event milestone.”

 Photo credit: Andrew M. Pio Roda for truTV.

Turner Broadcasting System is offering on-demand sneak peeks of several upcoming series in an effort to lure so-called binge-watchers to the network.

Turner will cue up the first four episodes of new TNT series Public Morals on Aug. 25, a day after the series premieres on the network plus brand new episodes of truTV's Friends of the People before their TV debut. Beginning this week, every single episode of all seasons of truTV's Impractical Jokers and TNT's Cold Justice will be made available on a variety of platforms and devices including online and on mobile devices, giving viewers control over how they watch – whenever and wherever they want - as part of Turner's TV Everywhere offering.

This marks Turner’s first foray into the binge-watching phenomenon that was pioneered by Netflix – releasing multiple episodes or entire seasons of series in one swoop. TNT viewers will be able to watch the Public Morals episodes on the Watch TNT mobile app, www.watch.tntdrama.com and on participating TV providers websites and apps.  Additionally, TNT will make every episode of the real-life investigative series Cold Justice available on demand to allow fans to binge-watch the past two seasons leading into the season 3 finale on Sept. 18. Episodes currently airing from season 3, which premiered on July 31, are made available on demand the day after their TV debut and will stay up through the finale, giving fans the option to catch up on the entire series all at once.

"Turner is embracing a different approach to the way programming is traditionally released and providing our audiences with multiple binge-viewing options in order to enhance their TV experience," said senior vice president of business & product development at Turner Content Distribution (TCD), John Harran in a statement. "Taking a creative approach to on demand programming and listening to viewer behavior, as well as working with our distribution partners to reach as many of their subscribers as possible, is a strategic way to engage audiences who have become accustomed to these new ways of viewing content."

TruTV will offer their audience the ability to watch every single episode of the hit series Impractical Jokers – seasons 1 through 3 – on demand beginning this week, leading into Jokers Week and the Impractical JokersLive Punishment Special celebrating the 100th episode on Sept. 3. The network also will make every single regular-season episode to date, as well as Impractical Jokers specials, available via VOD and digital on-demand, facilitating binge-watching via www.trutv.com/watch, the Watch truTV mobile app and set-top VOD. Additionally, starting on Aug. 5, truTV offers fans a sneak peek of two brand new episodes of Friends of the People before their TV premiere giving fans the option to binge on a number of episodes at once.

truTV is set to kick off series renewals and pilots, including the second season renewal of The Carbonaro Effect, the competition series Fake Off and more, the network announced today. 

The comedy series, Friends of the People has also been ordered for 10 new half-hour episodes, which will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. 

A one-hour special of the truTV Presents The Impractical Jokers featuring The Tenderloins tour will also be featured on March 26, and Impractical Jokers will air its season four premiere on Jan. 29. 

The network has also greenlit two all new series, including 10 one-hour episodes of Kings of Cue (working title), which is about New York City’s pool halls and eight one-hour episodes of Santas in the Barn, a holiday series.

The new comedy series pilot, Those Who Can't, is in the works as well.