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Apple taps into true crime hype with new series order
Among the shows Apple picked up in the last year was an adaptation of the true crime novel Are You Sleeping? starring the ineffable Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water, Hidden Figures, The Help). While the tech giant acquired the rights in January, it just issued ordered a ten-episode run for the show.
Facebook’s video chat device could be released this year
Facebook has long been rumored to be working on a video chat device to leapfrog the smart speaker competition. Now, apparently, financial website Cheddar has sources that say that the $499 device, named "Portal," will be announced in May with a planned release for late 2018.
Hulu is the new home of old TGIF sitcoms
Hulu's collection of classic sitcoms already includes Seinfeld and The Golden Girls. Now, its library is getting even bigger with the addition of several shows from ABC's TGIF comedy line-up. The likes of Perfect Strangers, Full House, and Family Matters were Friday night staples for viewers across America in the nineties -- and soon, they'll be available for you to (legally) binge online. Hulu's latest deal with Warner Bros. Television also includes Step by Step and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. All five shows (totaling 800 episodes) will hit the streaming service on September 29th.
Snapchat's politics show is coming back for a second season
Snapchat will stream a second season of Good Luck America, a political show that aims to "help Snapchatters make sense of a weird time in America," the social network told Variety. It's once again hosted by Peter Hamby, a former CNN correspondent and Snapchat's head of news. The first season launched in January, 2016 and to date it's the only show that the company has produced itself.
Netflix signs Vine star Cameron Dallas for new reality show
While you might be aware of Vine, Twitter's six-second social video service, you might not be familiar with its most popular users. With 9.4 million followers and over two billion loops, Cameron Dallas is undoubtedly a Vine star, but he's joining the ever-increasing roster of internet-famous personalities making the jump to TV, having just signed a new reality show deal with Netflix.
USA Today announces VR news show 'VRtually There'
The New York Times is already using VR to take you inside the news, and USA Today is looking make the catching up on events more immersive, too. The USA Today Network plans to debut "the first branded news experience presented in VR" this spring. What does that mean exactly? USA Today will have a virtual reality news show, and it's called "VRtually There."
Amazon's 'The Fashion Fund' follows Vogue's design competition
If you're a fan of Project Runway, Amazon has a new show that may pique your interest. The online retailer announced the 10-episode unscripted series The Fashion Fund, a show that chronicles the selection process designers face for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. For the uninitiated, a committee, led by Vogue's Anna Wintour and CFDA Chairman Diane von Furstenberg, selects 10 designers each year to go through a 4-month competition to win cash and a mentorship from a pro in the fashion industry.
Watch Amazon's 'Mozart in the Jungle' for free this weekend
To celebrate its two Golden Globe wins, Amazon is letting you watch its original series Mozart in the Jungle for free this weekend. Starting tomorrow at midnight ET, you'll be able to stream the show without a Prime membership until midnight Sunday local time. During the awards ceremony this week, the show won Best Musical or Comedy Series and Gael García Berna won Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series. This brought Amazon's Golden Globe win total to four following Tranparent's wins in the same categories last year. [Image credit: Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images]
Netflix's next original is Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror'
The rumors were true: Charlie Brooker's renowned Black Mirror is headed to Netflix as its next original. The company confirmed today that it has commissioned 12 new episodes of the dystopian drama series, with Brooker and Annabel Jones, who produced the first seven episodes, continuing to spearhead development of the show. Brooker has already begun writing the new chapters, which will be shot later this year.
'Daredevil' will return to Netflix for a second season
Despite the popularity of Netflix's original shows, the streaming giant doesn't actually own most of the content it delivers to customers. It's a situation that the company is working hard to rectify, but in the meantime it has to negotiate with partners to continue serving up shows like House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black and its latest hit, Daredevil. The Marvel series only hit Netflix on April 10th but it's already proved lucrative enough for Reed Hastings and co. to renew the series for a second season.
Telltale Games and Lionsgate are working on a 'Super Show' TV series
Telltale Games has created quite the following with episodic titles like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. Now, with the help of Lionsgate, the studio is looking to tackle a televisions series with a similar approach: a game/show hybrid the studio is calling a Super Show. The format includes both scripted and "playable" elements for episodes, so just like the games, viewers will be able to decide the sequence of events. "It's not an interactive series with a show, or a TV show with a game, but a story integrated in a way that only Telltale can do," Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner told Entertainment Weekly. "For us it's a very natural evolution of the interactive story telling expertise we've pioneered."
AT&T taps YouTube 'talent' for Snapchat 'shows'
Snapchat's already working on a library of original content, and thanks to AT&T, there will soon be shows for viewing inside the app as well. Re/code reports that a "scripted series" with 12 episodes will feature YouTube personalities like Freddie Wong and Harley Morenstein -- in addition to the Snapchat-famous Shaun McBride. This "SnapperHero" project isn't part of the app's Discover content channel, though, as AT&T is sponsoring the videos, so they're more like produced two-minute ad spots. Yahoo and others were also rumored to be considering YouTube's "talent," so we'll see how pairing popular internet things turns out. The "show" is set to debut in the near future as the number of folks leveraging the ephemeral sharing service's platform continues to grow.
The sixth season of 'Community' starts March 17th on Yahoo Screen
Back in July, Yahoo announced it would revive NBC's popular Community for a sixth season after its original network cancelled the show. Today, the company announced that the new collection of episodes would begin March 17th on Yahoo Screen. Two episodes will premiere that Tuesday, with new ones following on a weekly basis for a total of 13. Of course, some of the original cast has already departed, so Troy (Donald Glover), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Pierce (Chevy Chase) won't be regulars this season. When you finish up with that corned beef and cabbage, you'll be able get cozy on the couch for the return. [Photo credit: NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images]
Netflix's first show from the UK could be a £100m drama about the Queen
Netflix is going big on original programming: House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black are proof of that. However, no such content has so far come out of the UK. That could be about to change, after the streaming giant reportedly beat both the BBC and ITV to secure a new 20 episode biopic of the Queen, corgis and all. According to Broadcast Now, Netflix is on the verge of finalising a £100 million deal for the series, titled The Crown, which will centre on the Queen's "ascent to the throne at the age of 26, to the present day."
Arrested Development commandeers game consoles in Netflix premiere
More than half of Xbox users watching Netflix this past Sunday were streaming the new season of Arrested Development, according to a report from bandwidth management firm Procera published by Mashable. The return of the long-awaited fan favorite not only claimed up to 36 percent of Netflix's traffic on some networks, but created increases in Netflix watching in general by as much as 10 percent, with the Xbox 360 and the PS3 leading the charge on devices used to stream Netflix video. Video game consoles have been major Netflix viewing devices, and Arrested Development's premiere made that tie even clearer. Just over 40 percent of all PS3 users watching Netflix on Sunday were watching the Bluths; just over 20 percent of iPad users were in that crowd as well. Additionally, about ten to fifteen percent of all Netflix viewers, says Procera, went on a binge, finishing off all 15 episodes by Monday morning. Watching all of those intricately laid jokes all mushed together in one late-night run? Sounds like a huge mistake.
Adafruit debuts Circuit Playground: a show teaching kids about electronics (video)
Programs have a certain magic power over littluns, sending them into a trance-like state and then having them beg for merchandise afterwards. The perpetual tinkerers over at Adafruit don't expect you to catch 'em all, though, and have debuted their own show called Circuit Playground -- an educational YouTube series teaching kids about electronics. In the first episode, we learn all about Amperes and are introduced to our hosts: a free-willed human and ADABOT, a charming puppet presenter (just don't tell them that). Following the letters of the alphabet, expect 25 more installments and, if the intro sequence is any indication, a bunch of component-based characters to keep the sprogs interested. If you need 3 minutes and 50 seconds of peace and quiet, or just want to brush up on the basics yourself, head past the break for the first episode. Next time on Circuit Playground: "B is for Battery."
You Don't Know Jack gets celebrity guests
I am a big fan of the You Don't Know Jack series as a whole, and I think the recently released iOS version is one of the best ways to play the game: It's social, it's quick and easy, and oh yeah, it's completely free. And now that version is getting even better -- Jellyvision has made some deals to include celebrity guests in the game. Not only will celebrities appear over the phone during the entire show (similar to the old "celebrity phone call" gag on the old versions of YDKJ, which I really loved), but they'll also have a place in the competition, competing alongside you and your Facebook friends as you play. The first celebrity picked to join the game is Mad Men's Rich Sommer, and model Adrienne Curry is set to join the game next, with other updates coming out on a monthly basis. I played through Sommer's show, and it's certainly chock full of plugs for his TV show, so presumably there's either some money going back and forth for these appearances, or the guys at Jellyvision are just big fans of AMC. Even if these are paid appearances, I'm not bothered. YDKJ is a great game that's been offering lots of great free content, and adding in celebrities in this way is an excellent way to both liven up the formula and keep the lights on. You can play the first celebrity ep of the game on iOS now, and more should be available soon.
Brett Ratner buddies up with Zynga on Farmville animated series
If you think the the absence of Brett Ratner is the only thing holding Farmville back from becoming a truly exciting cross-platform brand, then you're probably Brett Ratner. The brash bad boy director of Rush Hour fame is adapting Zynga's game for television. Ratner will serve as executive producer on the half-hour animated series, aided by Canadian television production firm Six Eleven Media."FarmVille is one of the most exciting brands out there today and its cross-platform opportunities are endless," Ratner said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. "I am thrilled to be expanding the brand with existing fans and also engaging a whole new audience." Zynga is no stranger to cross-promotion, having already struck up a deal with Hasbro to produce a line of board games based on its properties last year, one of which was – you guessed it – Farmville. Zynga also just reported a $209.4 million loss for 2012, subsequently shutting down three of its games, including CityVille 2.
We're live from NAMM 2013 in Anaheim, California!
It's been just over a week since we departed chilly Las Vegas, and now we've descended on the much warmer Golden State for the music industry's annual winter gathering. That's right, we're here in Anaheim, California for NAMM 2013 to fondle all the latest musical gadgets and attempt to make it through the week with our eardrums still intact. For keeping up with all of the happenings, be sure to take a gander here for all of the latest newsy bits and hands-ons that we'll encounter over the next few days. Check out our full coverage of NAMM 2013 at our event hub!
Adafruit's Circuit Playground show to teach kids about electronics with cute components
Adafruit already welcomes newcomers to do-it-yourself device culture, but it still assumes a certain amount of comfort with coding and soldering. The shop now wants to accommodate the most basic of beginners by starting a children's web series that teaches electronics. Circuit Playground will provide activities, songs and stories that put a friendly face on engineering, in some ways very directly: many of the shows will involve big-eyed characters (and, naturally, corresponding toys) like Cappy the Capacitor. Although the series doesn't start until March, it could be vital to a generation of kids growing up immersed in technology -- and ultimately create a larger customer base for Adafruit in the process.
