It’s been yet another brilliant week of exciting television news, with announcements from Netflix in regards to Stranger Things and a major deal for the creators of South Park with ViacomCBS. Here’s the details on all of that and more, in our weekly TV news roundup!
Panic cancelled after one season on Amazon Prime Video
After a divisive first season, it appears Amazon Prime Video have pulled the plug on their young adult series Panic, based on the book of the same name by Lauren Oliver, which was published back in 2014. Deadline broke the news.
The story followed a bunch of high school seniors that are celebrating graduation by taking part in a potentially deadly series of competitions, which will result in one winner taking home a huge monetary prize. The youngsters believe that it will provide their only opportunity to get out of their small town.
Jack Nicholson’s talented son Ray Nicholson was a part of the series, starring alongside the likes of Olivia Welch, Mike Faist, Jessica Sula, Camron Jones and Enrique Murciano.
Audiences can still watch the first season of Panic on Amazon Prime Video, but be warned; it did leave an open ending for a potential future return, which we now know won’t be happening.
Stephen King joins the campaign to save Manifest
Having ran for three seasons and leaving some major questions at the end of its final episode, fans were quick to ask NBC to save Manifest following news of its cancellation by the broadcaster. Hearing that Netflix have been in talks to bring it back for a string of episodes that will wrap the story up, no official announcements have yet been made, but now one very influential fan has lent their voice to the calls.
The master of horror himself, author Stephen King, supported the calls to #savemanifest by writing the hashtag on his personal Twitter account; a tweet that was simple enough and included no other message.
Exactly whether or not it will make a comeback remains to be seen, but with creator Jeff Rake having originally planned a six-season series, we’re sure there’s plenty to tell. Now, he’s batting around the idea of a two-hour film to wrap everything up. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one…
Stranger Things Season 4 teaser reveals premiere date
After hearing that news was right around the corner concerning the fourth season of Stranger Things, the first official teaser including new footage from the show was unveiled by Netflix, which showed Eleven in trouble, and a return for a shaved-headed Hopper.
Not only this, but the 30-second clip, which you can watch above, also revealed that the series wouldn’t be making its return this year, but that Season 4 would premiere at some point in 2022. Exactly when in that year it will make it to the streaming platform however, still remains a secret.
South Parks lands major deal for future seasons
If you thought the time for South Park being a thing was winding down, you couldn't have been more wrong. This week, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker signed a fresh deal with ViacomCBS, renewing the series for not only six more seasons, but a whopping 14 original movies; two of which are expected to debut later this year, exclusively on streaming platform Paramount+.
Following the deal being signed, a statement was released by Parker and Stone, which explained: “Comedy Central has been our home for 25 years and we’re really happy that they’ve made a commitment to us for the next 75 years. When we came to ViacomCBS with a different way to produce the show during the pandemic, Chris (McCarthy), Nina (Diaz), Keyes (Hill-Edgar) and Tanya (Giles) were immediately supportive and enabled us to try something new that turned out to be really well received. We can’t wait to get back to doing traditional South Park episodes but now we can also try out new formats. It’s great to have partners who will always take a chance with us.”
Tim Burton casts his Gomez Addams in Netflix series
The cast for Tim Burton's Addams Family spinoff series Wednesday - based on the iconic daughter of the Addams flock - is now starting to be fleshed out. According to a report from Variety, Luis Guzmán will be stepping into the role of patriarch Gomez Addams in the show, which will be exclusive to Netflix.
No stranger to being in front of the camera, fans may know Guzmán from his various roles including those in Oz, Narcos and Code Black, as well as movies such as Boogie Nights and Magnolia.
He joins Jenna Ortega, who will play the titular role, and work under direction from creators Al Gough and Miles Millar. No other official cast announcements have yet been made, but rumours suggest Christina Ricci may be approached following her work as Wednesday Addams in the 1990s films, to now take on the role of matriarch, Morticia.