Straight Man
AMC has handed out a formal series order for the Bob Odenkirk-led dramedy series “Straight Man” just over two weeks after announcing the show as being in development. Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein serve as co-showrunners.
Based on the novel by Richard Russo, the story is a mid-life crisis tale of the unlikely chairman of the English department at Railton College in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt. The first season consists of eight episodes. [Source: Variety]
Cruel Summer
Freeform is moving forward with a second season of its anthology series “Cruel Summer” with a whole new cast, a new mystery and new showrunner (its third) with Elle Triedman.
Set in a Pacific Northwest waterfront town, the new run follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship and deals with three different timelines. Sadie Stanley, Eloise Payet, Griffin Gluck and KaDee Strickland, Lisa Yamada and Sean Blakemore star. [Source: THR]
One for the Road
Actor Nicholas Braun (“Succession”) and producer Chris Buongiorno (“Spider-Man: No Way Home”) are developing the half-hour series “One for the Road” at HBO. Braun and Buongiorno will co-write and executive produce.
The candid story follows a talented but dysfunctional band struggling to survive the rapidly changing landscape of independent music in the early 2000s. [Source: Variety]
The Wheel of Time
Ayoola Smart (“Killing Eve”) has joined the second season of Amazon Prime’s “The Wheel of Time” series in the recurring role of Aviendha – an Aiel Maiden of the Spear and a Wise One of the Nine Valleys sept.
She joins other newcomers to the show’s second season including Guy Roberts as Uno Nomeshta, Arnas Fedaravicius as Mesema, Gregg Chillingirian as Ingtar Shinowa, Ceara Coveney as Elayne Trakand, and Natasha O’Keeffe and Meera Syal in key roles. [Source: TV Line]
