The 2001 deadly anthrax attacks are at the heart of National Geographic’s latest original series The Hot Zone: Anthrax, which debuts on the network Nov. 28.

The six-part series, which follows the network’s successful 2019 Hot Zone series that chronicled the origins of the deadly Ebola virus, stars Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn and follows the investigation into anthrax-laced letters sent to several companies shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

National Geographic executive VP of global scripted content & documentary films Carolyn Bernstein recently spoke to Multichannel News about the origins of the series, how The Hot Zone: Anthrax compares to the original Hot Zone series, and what’s in store for the Hot Zone franchise going forward. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Picture This: What is the biggest difference between the original Hot Zone series and Hot Zone: Anthrax from a storytelling standpoint?

Carolyn Bernstein: We felt that the story for the original Hot Zone that focused on the Ebola virus coming into the US for the first time really made a lot of sense -- it felt very Nat Geo because at the center of the story was hard science, yet it was also a propulsive, suspense thriller. When that show performed incredibly well for us -- I believe it's our highest-rated scripted series ever -- we started talking about whether there could be a season two and become a franchise like what we did with our Genius anthology series. For it to make sense we needed to find another propulsive, suspense thriller from a storytelling and tone perspective that also had hard science and heroic scientists at the center of the storytelling. The anthrax story, which began in 2001right after the 9/11attacks, really checked those same boxes that season one did.

PT: With the country still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, are you concerned that audiences may not be ready to watch a series that loosely reminds them of what they are going through now?

CB: I think our audience is not one that wants to hide under the covers. They like to look at the truth head-on, so I'm not too worried about it. The amazing thing about the anthrax story is that it has an incredibly heroic FBI agent at its core. He's a character composite of a lot of different FBI agents, but he's a scientist as well. How often do you get to put scientists front and center of storytelling, but also deliver on an FBI-led crime story? So I think audiences are going to embrace it.

PT: How do you walk the fine line between offering fictional elements to a series that’s based on true, fact-based information?

CB: I think audiences are pretty savvy. When you’re telling a story in a scripted series that’s fact-based or based on true events, they know that we take some creative license. Daniel Dae Kim’s FBI agent character is a perfect example. There were a number of FBI agents who were involved in the anthrax investigation over the course of a few years, but what made more sense from a storytelling perspective is to create a composite character that could carry the investigation across all of the episodes. I think audiences are really smart and understand that we do take some creative license, but we always need to get the important facts of the story right. It's a balancing act.

PT: Are you already thinking ahead about what the next Hot Zone might look like?

CB: The answer is yes, we’re thinking about what could work for a season three. We’re definitely not going to continue the anthrax story -- I think this season has a clear beginning, middle and end. We are looking for a suspenseful story to tell for season three that has science and scientists at the center of the storytelling. It’s a tall order, but one place to look is at COVID and what’s happening in our midst today as opposed to a story from the past. I think the reason that we haven’t committed yet is because while we know what the beginning and the middle of the COVID story is, we don’t know what the end is yet. ■

Disney Branded Television has named veteran programming executive Gloria Fan as its head of Current Series, overseeing current and new projects for Disney Channel and Disney Plus.

In the newly created role, Fan will oversee original series development over such upcoming Disney Channel shows as Ultraviolet & Black Scorpion, as well as upcoming Disney Plus shows Sneakerella, National Treasure and the Beauty & The Beast prequel, said the company.

Previously Fan worked at 20th Television Studios where she served as vice president of Current Programming. Most recently, Fan's work has spanned across networks and streaming services including National Geographic's scripted powerhouses Genius and The Hot Zone, FX's Mayans M.C., NBC’s Ordinary Joe and Showtime's Homeland.

Fan will report to Disney SVP, Development and Current Series Reena Singh, said Disney. 

Read Also: Ayo Davis Named Disney Branded Television President 

National Geographic will launch a new series on National Parks while bringing back several series including Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted and Running wild with Bear Grylls as part of its 2021-22 programming season. 

The network has tapped Garth Brooks to narrate its National Parks history-themed series which will showcase the grandeur of America’s national parks, said the network during its upfront presentation Tuesday.

The network also announced that it will launch its 10th annual Sharfest event, which will take place in summer of 2022. Also on the network’s schedule is the November return of The Hot Zone scripted series franchise. The six-part The Hot Zone: Anthrax will focus on the events around the 2001 anthrax letters attack. The series stars Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn.

New shows include The 80’s Top Ten focusing on the decade’s top pop culture events, and Brain Games on The Road, an extension of the network’s Brain Games franchise that will originate from different venues, giving average Americans the chance to test their brainpower. 

Nat Geo series renewals include Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Running Wild With Bear Grylls, Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller and Life Below Zero.  The network will also bring back Explorer as a series of specials in partnership with ABC News, featuring Good Morning America co-anchors Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan. 

On the Nat Geo Wild front, the network has renewed six series as part of its 2021-22 programming season, including The incredible Dr. Pol, Critter Fixers: Country Vets, Dr.Oakley, Yukon Vet, Heartland Docs, DVM, Secrets of the Zoo Columbus and Secrets of the Zoo Tampa, according to network officials.

In addition, the network also announced Vet Appreciation Week, a week-long event dedicated to the professionals improving the health and welfare of animals. 

 National Geographic will bring back its drama series The Hot Zone for a sophomore campaign, the network said Wednesday.

The six-hour series, from Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions, will focus on the anthrax attacks of 2001, according to network officials. The first season of The Hot Zone, which debut in May 2019 and starred Julianna Margulies, finished as the most-watched scripted series in network history.

“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president, Global Scripted Content and Documentary Films in a statement.  “As the world battles COVID-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, The Hot Zone: Anthrax is a scientific thriller for our time.”        

Season two of Vida begins on Starz May 23, the series looking at identity, culture and sexuality through the lens of a Latinx family. The season sees Lyn and Emma rebuilding their mother’s business.

Tanya Saracho, executive producer and showrunner, said the Vida crew was energized by season one’s impact. She mentions conversations on social media, people remarking how they enjoy watching characters they’d not seen before. “Those are important conversations,” she said.

Of course, not every viewer was entirely happy. Some complained that Emma ate a taco like a white girl.

But the Vida gang is hitting season two with momentum. “I think of the first season as a three-hour pilot,” Saracho said. “The new season gets fully going, and [the sisters] are committed to the mission.”

Also committed to the mission are those battling lethal viruses in The Hot Zone. It’s a three-night event starting May 27 on Nat Geo, about a deadly virus popping up outside Washington in 1989. Julianna Margulies plays Nancy Jaax, a military person who handles lethal pathogens, and a mother. “She was such an interesting person to develop into the main character,” said Brian Peterson, exec producer.

Like Chernobyl on HBO, the series looks at how poorly prepared everyone was back in the ‘80s to deal with a deadly situation.

The Hot Zone is based on a book by Richard Preston. “You can’t put the book down,” said Kelly Souders, executive producer. “There are all kinds of interesting pieces to the story.”

Producers say every episode has a “moment” — that instant when the viewer says, that can happen to me. “It’s something that haunts you through the night,” Peterson said.

New American Ninja Warrior obstacle the Power Tower will haunt some Ninjas through the night. Season eight starts on NBC May 29. E! talent Zuri Hall joins as sideline reporter, and loads of new obstacles are introduced. “We’re not a very complacent group — we’re always evolving,” executive producer Arthur Smith, CEO of A. Smith & Co. Productions, said. “We have to stay one step ahead of the Ninjas.”

The Power Tower is some 40 feet high. The top two finishers on a given night take it on, and the winner is on to the finals. “It’s intimidating,” said Smith.

There is, of course, a new array of contestants with compelling back stories. “It’s such a joy to do something that’s so positive,” said Smith. “So much of reality television can be negative.”

National Geographic’s new drama series The Hot Zone will look to heat up TV screens during its Memorial Day premiere as one of several new series premieres and show returns debuting during the holiday week.

The Hot Zone stars Julianna Margulies and chronicles the first known case of the deadly Ebola virus appearing on U.S. soil in 1989, according to the network.

On the returning series front, Starz’s dramedy series Vida returns for a second season on May 23, while Netflix’s Spike Lee-produced series She’s Gotta Have It also returns for a second season on May 24, according to the network.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting this week on cable networks and streaming services:

May 22 -- The Wrestlers (reality series) -- Viceland

May 23 -- The Name Of the Rose (Drama) -- SundanceTv

May 24 -- What/If (drama) -- Netflix

National Geographic will team with famed director Ridley Scott on a new scripted series, part of several new scripted and documentary series announced Wednesday as part of the network's “further front” presentation in New York. 

New scripted series include The Hot Zone, based on the international bestseller by Richard Preston and executive produced by Ridley Scott, which  recounts the true story of the Ebola virus, said network officials.

The Hot Zone joins the previously announced, Silicon Valley-themed series Valley of the Boom as new shows on the network’s scripted series lineup, which also includes returning series Genius -- which Wednesday was renewed for a third season that will focus on Frankenstein author Mary Shelly -- and Mars, which will return for its sophomore campaign later this year.

Other scripted series in development include Hidden Figures, an anthology series inspired by the Oscar-nominated movie that profiles people whose contributions to science, technology and innovation have been overlooked by history; The White House Detail, an inside look at the personal and professional lives of U.S.Secret Service agents; and Ten Borders, a six-part limited series centered on five unrelated individuals who are inexorably pulled into one another’s lives through the mass exodus of humanity from war torn Syria to the safe refuge of Sweden. 

Among the network’s new documentary series are Hostile Planet, a six-part series that focuses on the world’s most extreme environments to reveal the animal kingdom’s most epic stories of survival, and In Their Words, which chronicles high-profile events through vintage audio and film recordings. Among the topics explored in the series include the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the narco drug wars and the 2008 global financial crisis.

Another show, Chain Of Command: Secret Service, chronicles the exploits of the agency that protects the president of the United States, said Nat Geo.

National Geographic will also develop several live projects, including Brain Games Live, based on the Emmy-nominated show; and Yellowstone Live, a four-day event that showcased the best of the National Park’s wildlife in real time,

Other specials include Mission to the Sun and Apollo 50 Anniversary, said the network.

The new shows and specials will join returning series Cosmos: Possible Worlds; The Story Of God With Morgan Freeman; Explorer: Life Below Zero; StarTalk; Wicked Tuna and Wicked Tuna Outer Banks.

“National Geographic has become the destination for the best-in-class creatives, who want to partner with us on big, bold premium and entertaining content,” said Courteney Monroe, CEO, National Geographic Global Networks in a statement. “Our upfront slate is evidence that our transformation is truly taking hold and reaffirms our commitment to amplify important topics that matter, to create dialogue and to use the power of storytelling to change the world.”