Author: Kate Stanhope

September 26, 2016 10:25am PT by Kate Stanhope

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

The news comes eight days after his Emmy win for writing the episode, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.”

FX is locking in another member of The People v. O.J. Simpson team.

Writer D.V. DeVincentis, who won two Emmys for the anthology series, has signed an overall tv production deal with FX Productions, it was announced Monday.

Under the pact, DeVincentis will develop, write and produce television projects for all platforms. The deal does not cover his film projects, which include writing Haunted Mansion for director Guillermo Del Toro and actor Ryan Gosling, as well as an adaptation of the ‘70s cult television classic, The Night Stalker, for star Johnny Depp and director Edgar Wright.

In addition to taking home an Emmy for best limited series as part of the producing team behind The People v. O.J. Simpson, DeVincentis won an Emmy for writing the episode, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” He is set to return for the upcoming second season of American Crime Story, which will focus on Hurricane Katrina.

“We had a great experience working with D.V. on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” FX Networks and Productions’ president of original programming Nick Grad said. “His ‘Marcia Marcia Marcia’ episode of OJ was one of the most memorable episodes of television this year. He’s an exceptionally talented writer-producer and will be a great partner with FXP.”

Added DeVincentis: “FX’s mission is to make content rooted in ideas and culture as much as entertainment, and I’m flattered and gratified that they would see me as a partner in that light.”

DeVincentis, whose other credits include Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity, is repped by UTA and Morris Yorn.

The deal comes days after FXP also signed People v. O.J. Simpson executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to an overall deal.

FX Network FX

September 23, 2016 2:34pm PT by Kate Stanhope

NBC

The comedy stars America Ferrera and Ben Feldman.

Superstore is staying put.

NBC has given the half-hour comedy a full-season, back-nine order, it was announced Friday.

The pickup comes just a day after the single-cam series launched its second season on a new night and time: Thursdays at 8 p.m. The season two premiere drew a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49, helping to launch first-year comedy The Good Place at 8:30 p.m. The Kristen Bell half-hour drew a 1.4 rating after airing back-to-back episodes behind the season premiere of The Voice on Monday.

The back-nine order is the first pickup of the 2016-17 TV season, which officially kicked off on Monday. 

“We’re very proud of Superstore and we were so happy to see fantastic viewing levels with the preview during the Olympics as well as last night’s ratings in its new Thursday anchor time period,” NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said. “This is a show our audience loves and, paired with The Good Place, which our audience also loves, we think we have a sensational new comedy block to build this season.”

Superstore originally launched as a midseason entry on Mondays. Averaging a 2.1 rating in live-plus-7 numbers during its initial run, the series was picked up for a 13-episode season two in February. The workplace comedy, which centers on a Walmart-like megastore, has become a favorite among NBC execs like Salke and NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt, as demonstrated by the show’s prime post-Olympics spot this past summer. 

From Universal TV, Superstore has been an important part of NBC’s efforts to rebuilt its comedy slate. The only other returning comedy on the network, The Carmichael Show, which returns for season three sometime midseason, hails from outside studio 20th TV. In addition to The Good Place, NBC’s other rookie comedy offerings include Powerless, Trial & Error, Great News and Marlon — all of which are set to premiere midseason.

On the drama side, NBC has freshmen series This Is Us and Timeless for the fall, as well as Taken; Chicago Justice; Midnight, Texas; and The Blacklist: Redemption to bow later in the season.

America Ferrera and Ben Feldman headline the series, which also stars Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Bloom, Mark McKinney and Lauren Ash. Justin Spitzer, Ruben Fleischer, David Bernad, Gabe Miller and Jonathan Green exec produce, with Spitzer Holding Company and The District producing in association with Universal TV.

September 23, 2016 6:00am PT by Kate Stanhope

Jesse Grant

The decision to end the show comes on the heels of the announcement that the live show will wrap its six-year run.

The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail is coming to an end.

The upcoming third season of the Comedy Central series will be its last, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The news comes on the heels of Thursday’s announcement by hosts Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani that the live stand-up show on which the series is based will end its run next month. In addition to a lengthy post on The Meltdown’s website, Nanjiani opened up about the decision to pull the plug in a series of tweets Thursday.

The final live show, which takes place Wednesdays at the Nerdist Showroom at Los Angeles’ Meltdown Comics, is set for Oct. 19. The third and final season of the Comedy Central series will kick off on Sept. 27 and wrap on Nov. 16. Ray and Nanjiani exec produce the series with Emily Gordon, Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld, Debbie Liebling, Mike Rosenstein and Jonas Larsen. 

“As the live show is coming to an end, we’ve mutually agreed to make this the third and final season of The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail,” Comedy Central said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Jonah, Kumail and Emily on future projects.” 

Over the years, The Meltdown welcomed an impressive lineup of celebrity guests including Marc Maron, Nick Offerman, T.J. Miller, Thomas Middleditch, Jenny Slate, Paul Scheer, Chelsea Peretti, Jim Gaffigan, Adam Pally, Hannibal Buress, Fred Armisen and John Mulaney, among others. The live show was famed for welcoming stand-up comics in the fly, most notably Robin Williams and Louis C.K.

The weekly live show began in 2010, before Comedy Central picked it up to series in 2013. The series ran for three eight-episode seasons, most recently earning a renewal in Nov. 2015. Since the series’ debut, Nanjiani has gone onto fame as one of the stars of the acclaimed HBO comedy Silicon Valley. His other credits include The X-Files revival and the upcoming film Fist Fight. Ray, whose credits include The Soup and Maron, is next to set to host Netflix’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival.

For Comedy Central, the end of The Meltdown follows the cancellation of The Nightly Show in September, as well as the end of Key & Peele— which won an Emmy Sunday — in 2015. Amy Schumer also recently announced that, although her sketch series Inside Amy Schumer has been renewed for a fifth season, it will not be back for the “forseeable future.” Earlier this week, the Viacom-owned cable network ordered Moshe Kasher’s Problematic to series.

Comedy Central The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail