Showtime will return to the Windy City for season seven of drama series The Chi as it prepares to launch the second half of season six this weekend.

The Lena Waithe-produced series follows the lives of a diverse group of residents on the South Side of Chicago. Season six of the series launched last summer, with the second half of the season set to debut this Sunday. 

The series stars Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps, Birgundi Baker, Luke James and Curtiss Cook, with guest stars Lynn Whitfield, Jill Marie Jones, Kadeem Hardison, Leon, Brett Gray and Daniel J. Watts.

“Lena Waithe is a generational storyteller, whose authentic and unflinching narratives in The Chi resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America,” Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president of content and chief creative officer Nina L. Diaz said in a statement. “On the heels of a record-breaking season and ahead of this week’s return, we’re excited to provide fans with the promise of more — ensuring that they can continue to enjoy the raw, emotional stories and unforgettable characters that have made this seminal series a resounding success for Showtime.”

The Chi is executive-produced by Waithe, Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley, Shelby Stone, Rishi Rajani, Justin Hillian and Jewel Coronel.

Showtime will debut the sixth season of its Lena Waithe-created drama series The Chi on August 4, the premium channel said Wednesday.

The 16-episode sixth season — which will be split into two eight-episode installments — continues to follow a group of residents on Chicago’s South Side who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and compassion. The sixth season will show life in “The Chi’ as it reverberates between the highest of highs and lowest lows, Showtime said, with big dreams finally being realized but at a cost. “Everyone will be tested in unimaginable ways as they calculate the risks and rewards of their next big move,” the network said.

“The Chi is Showtime at its best — complex characters and sophisticated storytelling that leave our viewers wanting more, which is why we've expanded this season to its biggest yet,” Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president and CEO Chris McCarthy said in a statement.

Season six cast includes Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps, Birgundi Baker, Luke James and Curtiss Cook.

Executive producers for The Chi include Waithe, Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley, Shelby Stone, Rishi Rajani, Justin Hillian and Jewel Coronel.

Showtime has greenlit a sixth season of its Lena Waithe-produced series The Chi.

The series, which follows the lives of a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago, is currently in its fifth season on Showtime, with the finale set for September 4, according to the network. The current season is on pace to set a new streaming audience record, with online viewing up 20% compared to the previous year, said the network.

Season six of the series will premiere in 2023.

The Chi stars Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps, Birgundi Baker, Luke James and Curtiss Cook, with Kandi Burruss, La La Anthony, Jason Weaver, Steven Williams, Rolando Boyce and Iman Shumpert appearing as guest stars.

Along with Waithe, Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley, Shelby Stone, Rishi Rajani, Jewel Coronel and Justin Hillian serve as executive producers, according to Showtime. ■  

Warner Bros. TV Group has signed Emmy-winning producer Lena Waithe and her production company Hillman Grad Productions to a multi-year development deal.

The agreement calls for Waithe -- who previously signed a two-year deal with Amazon Studios -- and her production partner Rishi Rajani, to create television programming through Hillman Grad for streaming service HBO Max as well as  WarnerMedia’s cable networks and five broadcast networks, said WBTVG officials. 

Waithe, who won a 2017 Emmy for her work on Netflix’s Master of None, has also produced such shows as Prime Video’s horror series Them, Showtime’s The Chi and BET’s Twenties.

The first project under the new deal will be a scripted series based on the sports documentary Hoop Dreams, which was produced by Frederick Marx, Steve James, and Peter Gilbert for Kartemquin Films.

“We are excited to work with Hillman Grad, Playground and Warner Bros. Television on adapting Hoop Dreams into a scripted television series,” said James, Gilbert and Marx in a statement. “There’s been quite a bit of interest over the years since the film came out in 1994, but Lena Waithe is the ideal Chicagoan to lead the effort to finally make it happen.” 

Showtime has renewed its drama series The Chi for a fifth season, the network announced Monday.

The Chi, which ended its fourth season last night (Aug. 1), follows residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but held together by the need for connection and redemption. The fifth season will debut in 2022, said the network.

The series, created by Lena Waithe, averaged 4.2 million weekly viewers during its fourth season, and is on pace to become Showtime's most streamed series ever, according to the network.  

The Chi stars Jacob Latimore, Birgundi Baker, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr. and Like James. Waithe served as executive producer along with Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley, Shelby Stone, Rishi Rajani and Justin Hillian. 

Read Also: Showtime Sets November Premiere Date for 'Dexter: New Blood'

Showtime has acquired the rights to The One and Only Dick Gregory, a documentary chronicling the life of the late comedian and activist.

The One and Only Dick Gregory premieres July 4 on the network and examines the life of the activist, pop-culture icon and thought leader who changed the lives of millions across the world through constant disruption and awareness, said network officials. The documentary serves as the directorial debut of Andre Gaines (The Lady and the Dale) and is executive produced by Kevin Hart and Lena Waithe.  

The One and Only Dick Gregory will initially debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 19 before airing on the network.

Read Also: Showtime's 'Billions' Returns in September 

“There is no more important time than now to revisit the life of Dick Gregory,” said Showtime EVP, nonfiction programming Vinnie Malhotra in a statement. “His fearless voice rose to the challenges of his time, calling upon Americans to question their beliefs, in an era where you risked your livelihood – maybe even your life – to speak out. Though a comedic genius of his generation, comedy turned out just to be the beginning of one of the most unique and impactful journeys of any person we’ve seen. Andre and team have done a remarkable job in showing just how Gregory walked the walk and talked the talk in a way we have rarely seen anyone else do.”

TV programming veteran Traci Blackwell is leaving her position as BET Networks EVP of scripted programming, the network has confirmed.

Blackwell joined BET in 2019 and oversaw the African-American targeted network’s original scripted programming functions, including development and casting. Under Blackwell's tutelage, the network offers 14 scripted series alone across platforms, including Lena Waithe's Twenties, Tyler Perry's Sistas, Will Packer's Bigger and Tracy Oliver's First Wives Club.

Read also: BET Sets June Date for 'Sistas' Season Three Premiere

Prior to BET, Blackwell worked at the CW where she most recently served as senior vice president of current programs for the network. 

The network said it will announce a new scripted leadership team shortly. 

BET Networks President Scott Mills announced Blackwell's departure in an internal memo Tuesday lauding Blackwell's leadership, especially during the pandemic.

"Traci has done fantastic work leading BET’s Scripted Programming team during one of the most challenging periods in production history – the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. "We have been tremendously fortunate to have had her leadership, and we are grateful that she leaves us very well positioned for the future."

Blackwell in a memo thanked Mills and BET for the opportunity to lead the network's programming operations. "I am very appreciative to Scott for the incredible opportunity to lead Team Scripted as we worked to produce an unprecedented amount of scripted content for the BET brand," she said. "Being in the trenches with such amazing people who showed up daily and who I have had the privilege to also learn from, has been the most remarkable part of this journey."

In a recent Multichannel News interview, Blackwell talked about the challenges of developing successful original programming in a very crowded television environment.

“You really have to rely on really great storytellers and continue to work with excellent producers and push the content out there, but it is very challenging,” she said. “We are all working on a lot of the same things on different platforms and it’s tricky -- it’s quite the challenge for everybody.“ 

Below is the full text of Mills' memo: 

Our friend and colleague, Traci Blackwell, will be leaving BET this month. Traci has done fantastic work leading BET’s Scripted Programming Team during one of the most challenging periods in production history – the COVID-19 pandemic. 

And, a lesser known fact is that BET leads the industry in the creation of Black scripted content by volume—in fact, we’ve brought forth 14 scripted series in 2021 alone; including series from Tyler Perry, Will Packer, Tracy Oliver, Lena Waithe, Tracey Edmonds, Carl Weber and more.  Never before has BET commissioned this many scripted series.

The only thing more impressive than the volume of series the team has delivered, is the incredible quality of each series.  We salute Traci and our team of incredibly creative professionals for this remarkable contribution to BET and the industry at large.

We have been tremendously fortunate to have had her leadership, and we are grateful that she leaves us very well positioned for the future.

We will be announcing new leadership of the scripted team shortly. In the meantime, please see a personal message from Traci below.

Please join me in thanking Traci for the profound impact she leaves on our brand and wishing her even more success in her next endeavors, while we lend our full support to our Scripted team members throughout this transition.

Blackwell's comments appear below:

During my time here, I’ve been blessed to work alongside the most amazing colleagues and team. I am very appreciative to Scott for the incredible opportunity to lead Team Scripted as we worked to produce an unprecedented amount of scripted content for the BET brand. While 2020 and Covid-19 proved to be challenging, to say the least, the BET family worked tirelessly and selflessly. Being in the trenches with such amazing people who showed up daily and who I have had the privilege to also learn from, has been the most remarkable part of this journey. To my team: You are the ABSOLUTE BEST!! I am proud of the impact we’ve made on our talent partners and thankful to have worked with some of the most inspiring creators and executives in our business.  I want to thank all of the many departments and their leaders across the BET house for your unyielding support of the scripted team and the culture to which we all serve with gratitude and honor. I salute you and wish you all good things in the future.
 

Showtime Thursday released a video trailer showcasing the fourth season of its original drama series The Chi, which debuts on May 23, the network said.

The series, executive produced by Lena Waithe and Common, follows a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption, said the network. The fourth season will look at the wide-ranging effects of policing in the Black community, said Showtime. 

The Chi's fourth season will premiere on the same night as the third season of Black Monday and the inaugural season of Flatbush Misdemeanors.

Showtime has renewed its  drama series The Chi  for a fourth season, the network said Tuesday.

The series, created  by Lena Waithe and executive produced by  Common, follows  residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption, according to the network.

Season three of The Chi was up double-digits across platforms over last season and doubled its audience on streaming platforms, Showtime said. The Chi stars Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Jacob Latimore , Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps and Birgundi Baker.

“Each season, The Chi's authentic storytelling resonates more deeply with its devoted and growing audiences,” said Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. in a statement. “Lena Waithe together with Justin Hillian explore the joys and the heartbreak of life on the South Side in a way that is unique on television, and we relish the prospect of continuing that exploration with them.”

BET has renewed its freshman series Twenties for a second season, with the first season of the Lena Waithe-produced series airing on Showtime in July, the network announced Friday.

The series, which follows a queer black girl who is chasing her dreams of becoming a screenwriter in Los Angeles, featured such guest stars as Jenifer Lewis, Sean “Big Sean” Anderson, Rick Fox, Vanessa Williams, Seth Green, Iman Shumpert, Kym Whitley, Chuey Martinez, Marsha Thomason, and Nazanin Mandi during its first season. 

“The first season of Twenties, led by the incredible Jonica T. Gibbs, Christina Elmore and Gabrielle Graham, was a joy to watch in every sense,” said Scott Mills, president of BET in a statement. “BET has always been about empowering and elevating black stories and we’re so excited to see where Lena Waithe and Susan Fales-Hill’s remarkable vision takes us in the second season.” 

With the CTAM portion of the Television Critics Association’s 2020 winter press tour now in the books, the television industry is poised to continue its evolution, with linear networks vying with streaming services for the hearts and eyeballs of consumers.

Here are three trends that marked this year’s TCA Winter press tour presentations for cable networks and streaming services:

Streaming services stake out positions as streaming wars loom

While Netflix was absent from this year’s TCA tour and NBC unveiled its plans for its new streaming service Peacock during its investor day last week, several streaming services presenting at TCA offered a glimpse into their operating strategies as the streaming wars begin to take shape.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said Amazon Prime is not phased by the increased competition among streamers, adding that they are focused on giving its Prime subscribers quality original programming, which includes Emmy-winning series such as Fleabag. HBO Max chief content officer actually lamented the phrase “streaming wars” to describe the growing competitive landscape for streaming services, adding that many of the services currently offered are providing differentiated content offerings to appeal to different tastes and audiences.

“As these services premiere and roll out ... they really are quite different,” Reilly said.

Meanwhile, Discovery Inc. may soon step into the digital streaming ring with the potential launch of an SVOD service that would curate the company’s lineup of unscripted content from such networks as HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and TLC, according to Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

RELATED: Zaslav teases potential Discovery-based streaming service

Networks, streaming services continue to increase number of lead LGBTQ characters

Several new shows will feature LGBTQ lead characters, further increasing what LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD recently reported as a noticeable increase in gay and lesbian lead characters on television.

RELATED: Diverse Images Increasing on Screen, but Viewers Want More

LGBTQ character-led shows announced at the TCA include BET’s Twenties, created and produced by Emmy-winning producer Lena Waithe which follows the exploits of a 20-something queer black girl and her two straight best friends; Freeform’s Everything is Going to Be OK, which stars Josh Thomas as a gay man who becomes the guardian of his two half-sisters; and TLC’s reality series Dragnificent!, which recruits four drag queens to rescue people in need of help. In addition, AppleTV+ will stream a documentary, Visible: Out on Television, a five-part docuseries that examines how TV has shaped the American conscience and how the LGBTQ movement has shaped television.

Scripted series still rolling out in record numbers, but cracks are forming in the "Peak TV" universe

Scripted content continued to grow at an unprecedented pace in 2019, with more than 530 scripted original dramas, comedies and limited dramas available on streaming services and broadcast and cable networks, according to FX. But while new entrants like HBO Max,  Peacock and Apple TV+ will help add to the number of scripted series, other companies are getting out of the original series game. Premium service Cinemax will no longer develop original scripted content, according to HBO Max’s Reilly. Cinemax joins AT&T’s Audience Network -- which will be re branded as an HBO Max preview channel -- as services that previously announced a complete elimination of scripted fare. Expect more services to exit the scripted series highway in the months to come. 

Actress Halle Berry and Lena Waithe will serve as executive producers for BET’s new original series Boomerang, the network announced Monday.

The series, based on the 1992 American romantic comedy film of the same name, starred Berry, Eddie Murphy and Robin Givens as high-powered advertising executives. The series will follow the offspring of the movie’s main characters as they look the step out of their parents’ shadows and make a legacy of their own, according to network officials.

The 10-episode series will premiere in 2019 on BET, with Berry, Waithe, Rishi Rajani and Ben Cory Jones serving as executive producers.

“Partnering an icon such as Halle with a disruptor like Lena is a perfect blend for the creation of a project that tells a classic tale in a relevant voice,” said Scott Mills, President, BET Networks in a statement. “This partnership demonstrates BET’s commitment to the continued elevation of the brand, collective creativity and authentic storytelling.”

TBS has ordered to pilot producer/actor writer Lena Waithe’s latest project Twenties, the network said Tuesday.

The project follows the adventures of a queer black woman, Hattie, and her two straight best friends who spend most of their days chasing their dreams, said network officials. Waithe (Netfix’s Master Of None, Showtime’s The Chi) serves as executive producer of the pilot through her company Hillman Grad Productions along with Andrew Coles.

RELATED: African-American women are finding their place at the top of the creative process 

“I wrote Twenties back in 2009,” said Waithe, who recently won an Emmy Award for writing for Master Of None. “I always wanted to tell a story where a queer black woman was the protagonist and I'm so grateful to TBS for giving me a platform to tell this story. Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough, it's time for us to finally take the lead.” 

Showtime is giving audiences a chance to sample its new drama series The Chi in advance of its Jan. 7 premiere.

The premiere episode of the Lena Waithe-created series is currently available to viewers for free on YouTube, Facebook and SHO.com, as well as via on demand and on computers through the Showtime stand-alone service’s website (www.showtime.com)

The series, executive produced by Waithe (Master of None), Common (Selma) and Elwood Reid (The Bridge, Hawaii Five-O), is a coming of age story centering on a group of residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption, said Showtime.

Showtime will debut its new one-hour drama series The Chi on Jan. 7, the network announced Wednesday.

The series, created and executive produced by Emmywinner Lena Waithe (Master of None) and executive produced by Common (John Wick 2,Selma) and Elwood Reid (The Bridge, Hawaii Five-O), is a coming-of-age story centering on a group of Chicago residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption, according to the network.

The Chi stars Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton), Jacob Latimore (Sleight), Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Queen of Katwe), Alex Hibbert (Moonlight), Yolonda Ross (Treme, The Get Down), Armando Riesco (Bull) and Tiffany Boone (The Following). 

The series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios.