Eleven months ago, Netflix and Shonda Rhimes announced they were in bed together and now they releasing details about their first eight shows together.
Untitled Shonda Rhimes Project
Based on the New York Magazine article How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People by Jessica Pressler. Manhattan makes a new friend like no other. But is she the stuff American dreams are made of or is she New York’s biggest con woman? Is it a con if you enjoy being taken?
* Shonda Rhimes (EP) will create the series.
Untitled Bridgerton Project
Based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling series of novels, this smart feminist take on Regency England romance unveils the glittering, wealthy, sexual, painful, funny and sometimes lonely lives of the women and men in London’s high society marriage mart as told through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.
* Scandal veteran Chris Van Dusen (EP) will adapt and showrun the series.
The Warmth of Other Suns
Based on Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s award-winning book of the same name, this powerful groundbreaking series tracks the decades-long migration of African-Americans fleeing the Jim Crow South in search of a better life in the North and the West between 1916 and 1970.
*National Humanities Medal recipient, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and 2-time Drama Desk winning playwright Anna Deavere Smith (EP) is set to adapt.
Pick & Sepulveda
Set in the 1840s against the surreal and sensual backdrop of the then-Mexican state of California, the series tracks the end of an idyllic era there as American forces threaten brutality and war at the border to claim this breathtaking land for its own.
*Emmy-award writer Janet Leahy (EP) will create the series.
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change
Netflix and Shondaland have acquired the rights to Ellen Pao’s groundbreaking memoir detailing her life and career, including the lawsuit she brought against her former employer that sparked intense media scrutiny, shook Silicon Valley to its boys’ club core and pre-saged the Time’s Up movement.
The Residence
Netflix and Shondaland have acquired the rights to Kate Andersen Brower’s brilliant nonfiction book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, which offers a vividly accurate insider’s account of White House residence staffers and the upstairs downstairs lives they share with the First Families at one of the most famous homes in history.
Sunshine Scouts
In this darkly comedic half-hour series, an apocalyptic disaster spares a rag-tag group of teenage girls at sleepaway camp who must then summon their moxie and survival skills to weather the fallout and ensure all that remains of humanity abides by the Sunshine Scout Law.
*Writer/actress Jill Alexander (Co-EP) will create the series.
Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
This documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s award-winning reimagining of the classic ballet, The Nutcracker. This staged contemporization – with its inclusive cast of all ages and its blend of dance traditions – has further cemented Debbie Allen’s legacy as one of the greatest forces for good in dance.
*Oliver Bokelberg (DP/Director Scandal) will serve as director, cinematographer and producer.
No word when they will debut, but when they do, people will be binging them like crazy.
Late last night, ABC announced that they renewed Grey’s Anatomy for a 15th season without Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw. The announcement seems odd because I think we thought it was already picked up. Guess not.
Are you glad it is back or do you wish they would already pull the plug on this medical drama?
Ever since it was announced that Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw were fired from Grey’s Anatomy, fans have blamed Ellen Pompeo’s salary increase for their firing. Meredith Grey denied that on Twitter and today she denies it again on Ellen.
She told Ellen DeGeneres, “I’m not involved in these kind of decisions. However, there’s a few problems that you encounter for doing a show for 14 seasons. One of them is the writers have a really hard time creatively, you know thinking up new stories for all of these characters.” While that is true, a much bigger problem for an ageing show is cost. And I think that played a bigger role in the elimination of those roles than the writers lack of creativity.
It seems like the cast of ER was able to leave on their own accord and they weren’t fired like the actors seem to be on this show. That show went on for 15 years and launched several careers.
Back to Pompeo, she then said to DeGeneres, “It is important to us to not pit women against each other.” I don’t think they are pitting her against Drew and Capshaw, they are just pitting her paycheck to theirs.
One of the things I respect about sitcom actors over drama ones, is the casts work together to make sure all the leads are paid equally. Yes, she has been on the show longer than Capshaw and Drew, but she has been on the same amount of time as the other originals and I am sure they are not making nearly as much as she is. Why didn’t she try to get them a break too like the TBBT cast did for two of their co-stars. Just saying.
And why hasn’t NBC given ER a revival? What is George Clooney doing these days anyways?
About two weeks ago, it was revealed that both Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw were fired from Grey’s Anatomy and people were not happy. Yesterday, their fans took the sky to tell the two actresses how much they love them.
According to People after the news broke, their fans started a Twitter campaign to raise money to fly a banner over the studio where the medical drama tapes. Once they got the $1,000, the two actresses saw their names high above them with a message that reads, “We 💓 Sarah Drew & Jessica Capshaw.” The fan favorites feel the same way. April said, “We are speechless! You guys, we love you so much! We are BLOWN AWAY by your support and love!! Wow wow wow!! 😘😘😘.” While Arizona wrote, “Looks like the fans just let the mike drop…wow, wow, wow…can’t believe that you all organized a plane to actually fly over prospect studios with a banner.”
Not only did their admirers take their message to the stars, they also have one on the internet. The magazine says they started a petition to keep the actresses on the show, and it already has received 35,000 signatures.
The ABC show has to be feeling like they made another huge mistake by getting rid of people the viewers actually like. Will it hurt the show’s ratings? We will have to wait until September to find out.
BTW this is not the first time that Drew has felt the love from the fans. Back when Everwood was wrongfully cancelled, fans sent a Ferris Wheel to Burbank to tell The CW execs that made a massive mistake by not renewing a show for another season. I am still pissed about that cancellation and enjoyed my adventure on that ride.
Last week, Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw were fired from Grey’s Anatomy, after being with the medical drama since 2009. As soon as word got out, fans of the show immediately blamed Ellen Pompeo, who negotiated a contract that makes her the highest paid actress on a primetime drama.
Pompeo took to Twitter and said, “We R grateful all of you are so passionate but if you knew these two women the way I know them they would not approve of all this nastiness. They both are super shiny happy people. I know you’re angry but you’re representation couldn’t be further from who these women actually are.” Fans were unhappy with that response because she did not even mention the fan favorites’ names. Once again the actress took to social media and tweeted, “Please don’t accuse me of being disrespectful it doesn’t matter what I say nothing I say is ok so I won’t say anything at all anymore.”
Did her salary cost the job of two of the longtime cast members, they will never tell us. But you have to assume that it did play a part. As a show ages, they cost more money. If you are going to give one star a huge raise, then you would think others will suffer for it. Plus, ABC made some costly mistakes this year. Renewing Modern Family last year for two more seasons and giving the cast a raise, but only to have it take a huge ratings hit. And two words that will definitely put a big dent in ABC’s piggy bank and they are American Idol.
Therefore, it is not completely her fault. But…
Since I have not watched Grey’s in ages, I hope both actress get to take advantage of the pilot season and get on show that doesn’t just dump them after 8 years of work.
