“Survival of the Thickest” has been renewed for a third season at Netflix, which will be its last.
Michelle Buteau created the series based on her 2020 essay collection of the same name, and stars as Mavis Beaumont. The official logline reads, “Black, plus-size, and looking for love, while loving herself, Mavis works hard to grow her brand and establish herself as a stylist of note. She’s determined to not only survive but thrive with the support of her chosen family, a body-positive attitude, and a cute v-neck with some lip gloss.”
Tone Bell and Tasha Smith are series regulars along with Buteau, while guest stars include Marouane Zotti, Peppermint, Liza Treyger, Garcelle Beauvais, Anthony Michael Lopez, Allan K. Washington, Jerrie Johnson, Tika Sumpter, Alecsys Proctor-Turner, Jonathan Higginbotham, Michael Rishawn, Rolonda Watts, Hassan Johnson, Deon Cole, Monét X Change, Dan Amboyer, RonReaco Lee, Honey Balenciaga, Bevy Smith, Yves Mathieu East, Celisse, Anderson .Paak and Sandra Bernhard.
Series co-creator Danielle Sanchez-Witzel serves as co-showrunner with Amy Aniobi, while Buteau and Grace Edwards also write for the series. All four serve as executive producers alongside A24’s Alli
Reich and Ravi Nandan (A24) as well as Mosaic’s Anne Hong.
“Survival of the Thickest” debuted in July 2023. Season 2, which came in March of this year, was directed by all women of color, with 70% of department heads and 50% of crew members also being women.
News of the series’ third and final season came during Netflix’s upfront presentation in New York on Wednesday.
Source: Variety
Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Daisy Edgar-Jones have been recruited for a risky job.
The Training Day, Tenet, and Twisters stars will lead the forthcoming movie Here Comes the Flood. Directed by Academy Award nominee Fernando Meirelles (The Two Popes) and written by Simon Kinberg (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), the thriller promises to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Here’s everything you need to know about the movie before it starts streaming.
Here Comes the Flood is an unconventional heist movie about a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief in a deadly game of cons and double crosses.
Tudum will keep you updated as more cast members are announced.
Meirelles will produce the movie alongside Kinberg and Audrey Chon for Genre Films. Samson Mucke will serve as an executive producer.
Jamie Foxx is set to star in the upcoming sports drama Fight For ’84 at Netflix. The news was announced Wednesday at the Netflix Upfronts in New York. Foxx will star with Andrés Baiz directing.
Set after the US Olympic Boxing Team is tragically killed in a plane crash in 1980, the film follows a new coach (Foxx) brought in to rebuild the team from scratch and lead them to victory at the ‘84 Olympics, winning the most medals in Olympic boxing history.
Academy Award nominees Andrea Berloff and John Gatins, Andy Weiss penned the script. Eric Newman will produce for Grand Electric along with Bryan Unkeless for Night Owl, and Foxx and Michael W. Abbott for A Move Films Production.
Weiss will exec produce for A WeBros Entertainment Production as will Henry Tillman and Datari Turner.
Foxx has had strong ties over the years, with the streamer most recently starring in the action comedy Back In Action, where he starred opposite Cameron Diaz. His latest stand-up special Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…, also premiered last year on the streamer.
Source: Deadline
In this episode, we discuss the exciting NBA games from the weekend, from the OKC versus Denver series to the New York Knicks versus the Boston Celtics series.
We also talk about the Indiana Pacers pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to the brink of elimination; finally, we talk about the breaking news of Michael Jordan coming to NBC as a “special contributor”.
This episode features comedian Howie Bell!
A “Barbershop” TV series has been greenlit at Amazon Prime Video, Variety has learned.
The show will connect to the universe of the “Barbershop” film franchise, with Jermaine Fowler attached to star. Marshall Todd, who co-wrote the original film, is writing the series and executive producing. The announcement was made during Amazon’s upfronts presentation to advertisers in New York on Monday night.
The official description states the show “revolves around Travis ‘Trav’ Porter (Fowler), who endeavors
to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, a legendary barber at the iconic ‘Calvin’s’ barbershop in
Chicago. And while the barbers are new, the shop remains just as lively, the customers just as argumentative, and the fades are still the dopest in the city — because at Calvin’s, the community comes together for way more than just a haircut.”
Along with Todd, Max Searle serves as executive producer and co-showrunner. Kevin Hart, Bryan Smiley, and Mike Stein for executive produce via Hartbeat Productions. Cameron Burnett and Autumn Bailey-Ford executive produce on behalf of Prominent Productions, with George L. Tillman and Robert Teitel of State Street Pictures also executive producing. Tiffany Brown will co-executive produce for Hartbeat. The series is produced by Amazon MGM Studios.
“We are thrilled to announce a new series based on the hilarious and innovative world of ‘Barbershop’ for
our global Prime Video customers,” said Vernon Sanders, global head of television at Amazon MGM Studios. “The television adaptation of this iconic film franchise is in excellent hands with co-showrunners
Max Searle and Marshall Todd. We couldn’t be happier with their collaboration and hard work to bring
Calvin’s Chicago-based barbershop to life for a new audience on Prime Video.”
This is now the second “Barbershop” TV series. Showtime previously aired a sitcom based on the films with Omar Gooding in the lead role, though it lasted for just one season. The first “Barbershop” film was released in 2002 followed by sequels in 2004 and 2016. There was also the spinoff film “Beauty Shop” starring Queen Latifah in 2005. The three main films have grossed nearly $200 million worldwide.
An accomplished stand up comedian, Fowler broke out onscreen with his starring role in the CBS multi-cam “Superior Donuts.” His other TV credits include the FX limited series “A Murder at the End of the World” and the truTV sketch comedy series “Friends of the People.” He will next be seen in the Tracy Morgan comedy series “Crutch” at Paramount+ and “Only Murders in the Building” Season 5. Fowler has starred in films like “Coming 2 America,” “Sorry to Bother You,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and “Ricky Stanicky.”
He is repped by UTA, Entertainment 360, and Yorn Levine.
It was first reported that a “Barbershop” series was in the works at Amazon back in 2023, upon the completion of Amazon’s acquisition of MGM. Series takes on “Robocop” and “Poltergeist” are also in development, while a “Legally Blonde” prequel is currently in production.
Source: Variety
CBS has renewed the daytime soap opera “Beyond the Gates” for Season 2.
The series originally debuted on the broadcast network in February. Per CBS, the series is up 48% in broadcast viewership over last year in the same period, while it is up 67% in multiplatform viewing from last year. The show airs from 2-3 p.m. ET on CBS.
The cast includes: Tamara Tunie, Daphnee Duplaix, Karla Mosley, Brandon Claybon, Timon Kyle Durrett, Sean Freeman, Marquita Goings, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, RhonniRose Mantilla, Ambyr Michelle, Colby Muhammad, Arielle Prepetit, Clifton Davis, Alex Alegria, Lauren Buglioli, Ben Gavin, Jibre Hordges, Jen Jacob, and Mike Manning.
“‘Beyond the Gates’ is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C., in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States; a posh gated community with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions to call home. At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered. And those who live outside these gates are watching closely. These are the places where our characters live, love, work and play. Those who have ‘made it’ and those who haven’t are all trying to navigate life … and some with more grace than others.”
“Beyond the Gates” was developed under CBS Studios’ content partnership with the NAACP. It was created by Michele Val Jean, who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. Sheila Ducksworth, who leads the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, also executive produces along with Julie Carruthers, Tracey Thompson, Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Kimberly Doebereiner, and Anna Saalfeld.. The series is produced in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble.
May 12 (UPI) — 30 Rock actor Tracy Morgan and Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will star in The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins on NBC.
The news arrived Monday when the network unveiled its fall schedule.
The series will reunite Morgan with some of his 30 Rock colleagues, including the show’s creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, who will executive produce the new series.
Carlock and Sam Means are penning the upcoming show, which follows “a disgraced former football player (Morgan), who is on a mission to rehabilitate his image,” per an official synopsis.
NBC also announced its fall schedule will include renewals of Happy’s Place and St. Denis Medical and two other comedy pilots. One is called Stumble, while the other has not yet been named.
A new unscripted series starring Jimmy Fallon, titled On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, also arrives in the fall.
Tina Fey is starring in the Netflix series The Four Seasons alongside Colman Domingo and Steve Carrell.
NBC has canceled Lopez vs. Lopez and Night Court after three seasons apiece. The cancellations come on the final business day before NBC’s upfront — when networks pitch advertisers on their coming slates — earlier today.
Night Court aired its third season finale, which will now serve as a series ender, on Tuesday — although sources say Warner Bros. TV, which produces the show with Universal TV, may try to find a new home for the series.
This Night Court stars Melissa Rauch (who also executive produces) as Abby Stone, a judge in Manhattan’s often chaotic night court and the daughter of Harry Stone, the lead character in the original 1984-92 series (who was played by the late Harry Anderson). John Larroquette reprised his role from the original series as attorney Dan Fielding; the season three cast also includes Lacretta, Nyambi Nyambi and Wendie Malick. Marsha Warfield made several appearances as Roz, her character in the prior series.
Showrunner Dan Rubin executive produced Night Court with Rauch, Winston Rauch, Larroquette, Mat Harawitz, Lon Zimmet, Lindsey Shockley and Mona Garcea.
Lopez vs. Lopez starred George Lopez and his real-life daughter Mayan Lopez. George (George) wrestles with his sobriety and getting older while Mayan (Mayan) is getting married. Lopez vs. Lopez also starred Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal.
Universal Television produced Lopez vs. Lopez in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba and 3 Arts. Creator and showrunner Debby Wolfe (The Conners, One Day at a Time) executive produces with Bruce Helford, George Lopez, Michael Rotenberg, and Katie Newman.
NBC will likely reduce the number of primetime hours devoted to entertainment programming next season as it makes room for primetime NBA telecasts. The network has renewed first-year comedies Happy’s Place and St. Denis Medical, along with its Chicago and Law & Order drama franchises. Still awaiting word on next season are Lopez vs. Lopez on the comedy side and dramas Brilliant Minds, Found, Grosse Pointe Garden Society, The Hunting Party, The Irrational and Suits LA.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
May 12 (UPI) — Michael Jordan will join NBC Sports as a special contributor during the 2025-26 NBA season, NBCUniversal announced Monday.
“I am so excited to see the NBA back on NBC,” the six-time champion and 2009 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee said in a news release.
“The NBA on NBC was a meaningful part of my career, and I’m excited about being a special contributor to the project. I’m looking forward to seeing you all when the NBA on NBC launches this October.”
The NBA, NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co., and Amazon Prime Video announced in July that they reached an 11-year agreement to broadcast NBA and WNBA regular-season and playoff games on platforms starting in 2025-26. NBC also announced it will launch Sunday Night Basketball in 2026 on NBC and Peacock.
The 11-year agreement, which is worth an estimated $77 billion, runs through the 2035-36 NBA season.
Former NBA stars Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford, and Carmelo Anthony will join Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle on the broadcast team.
“Michael’s legacy both on and off the court speaks for itself,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said. “We’re incredibly proud to have him join our coverage.”
Award-winning actors, comedians, and self-proclaimed barbeque enthusiasts Anthony Anderson and Cedric The Entertainer have officially opened the doors to ‘AC Barbeque’, their first brick-and-mortar restaurant, at Westfield Century City. An extension of their already wildly popular BBQ brand, the fast-casual barbeque venue introduces a premium experience that blends authentic, robust flavors with southern hospitality on the West Coast.
“Stepping into AC Barbeque feels like a backyard bash where the grill is always hot and the laughs are plentiful. Anthony and I share this deep love for good barbecue—it’s a taste of joy, a slice of celebration. We’ve poured that passion into every plate.”
“Opening AC Barbeque at Century City is like inviting everybody to join the cookout—fans, family, LA locals, and visitors. Ced and I want this place to buzz with the kind of energy and warmth you feel at a family reunion. It’s more than just eating great food; it’s about creating memorable moments together.”
Menu highlights include:
AC Barbeque was founded by Anthony and Cedric as they bonded over their shared love of grilling and the rich cultural heritage of barbeque. Drawing inspiration from their hometowns—Compton, CA, and St. Louis, MO—they set out to create a brand that celebrates Black excellence, family traditions, and the joy of gathering around great food. Their journey was brought to life in the TV series” Kings of BBQ,” which captured their humor, friendship, and entrepreneurial drive as they explored barbeque culture across the country. AC Barbeque has since grown into a full-fledged lifestyle brand, offering signature sauces, rubs, grilling tools, and apparel. Its partnership with select retailers has made their bold, authentic flavors accessible to households nationwide, further cementing their commitment to community, culture, and culinary excellence. In 2024, the restaurant launched its first campus kitchen at Jackson State University. In Spring 2025, the restaurant launched its first food truck at Howard University.
AC Barbeque is open daily from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. and is located on level 2 of the Dining Terrace with ample seating indoors and outside. The restaurant plans to feature prized recipes from grillmasters across the country on rotation, with special appearances from time to time by these regional barbecue experts.