In a press release:
TBS Unveils Fall Slate Featuring Three New Series and Returning Favorite
The Last O.G., Starring Tracy Morgan; Drop the Mic, Hosted by Method Man & Hailey Baldwin;
And Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild Join Season 2 of Search Party
As TBS’s Brand Evolution Continues
This fall, TBS will enter the next phase of its ongoing brand evolution with a slate of three new original series, plus the eagerly anticipated second season of a returning favorite. Leading the pack on Tuesday, Oct. 24 will be TBS’s new scripted comedy The Last O.G, starring and created by superstar and multiple Emmy® nominee Tracy Morgan alongside creators and executive producers Jordan Peele and John Carcieri. This marks the exciting return of Morgan to series television as he stars opposite Tiffany Haddish, who is hot off the heels of the box office success Girls Trip. TBS will also add (mostly) friendly competition to the mix with the new head-to-head celebrity rap battle competition Drop the Mic, hosted by Method Man and Hailey B aldwin and based on the popular segment from The Late Late Show with James Corden, premiering Thursday, Oct. 26. Fans can also expect a comedy-driven reboot of a classic game show with Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild, coming this fall. And finally, starting Sunday, Nov. 19, TBS will once again lead in to Thanksgiving Week with the season 2 premiere of the critically acclaimed series Search Party.
TBS’s fall slate will pile on the comedy with an assist from a stellar lineup of special guest stars. Search Party will welcome Jay Duplass (Transparent), Phoebe Robinson (I Love Dick), Judy Reyes (Claws), Jessica Chaffin (Spy), Michelle Sohn (The Detour), Jeffery Self (You’re Killing Me), Edward Hibbert (Frasier), Adrienne C. Moore (Orange is the New Black), J. Smith Cameron (Rectify), Tymberlee Hill (Gray’s Anatomy), Catherine Lloyd Burns (M alcolm in the Middle), Jennifer Kim (Mozart in the Jungle), Shunori Ramanathan (The Big Sick) and George Kareman (Silicon Valley). In addition, the new season will feature the return of recurring guest stars Christine Ebersole as Mariel Davenporte, Christine Taylor as Gail, Clare McNulty as Chantal and executive producer Michael Showalter as Max.
Among the guest stars lined up for The Last O.G. are Edi Patterson (Vice Principals), Chrissy Metz (This is Us) Malik Yoba (Designated Survivor), Joel Marsh Garland (Orange is the New Black), Heather Simms (As the World Turns), Wendy Makkena (NCIS) and Ray Anthony Thomas (The Hoop Life), to name a few.
TBS’s rap battle series Drop the Mic is putting together a packed lineup of celebrity matchups for its first season, including: Mayim Bialik vs. Kunal Nayyar, Chris Jericho vs. Laila Ali, Michael Bennett vs. Vanessa Hudgens, James Corden vs. Nicole Richie, David Arquette vs. Brian Tyree Henry, Jesse Tyler Ferguson vs. Chrissy Metz, Nicole Scherzinger vs. Lil’ Rel Howery, Anthony Anderson vs. Usher, James Van Der Beek vs. Randall Park, Gina Rodriguez vs. Rob Gronkowski, Tony Hale vs. Timothy Simons, Rascal Flatts vs. Boy z II Men, and more.
“Last year, we broke away from the confines of traditional comedy series and pushed ourselves in new direction with six fresh and distinctive series that were unlike anything else on television,” said Brett Weitz, executive vice president of original programming for TBS. “After seeing year-over-year growth with our first five returning series of 2017, we’re hopeful to score another success with The Last O.G., challenge ourselves with a pair of exciting competition series and catch up with our favorite New York millennials from Search Party before heading into a packed 2018.”
TBS is riding high in its second year since beginning an extensive brand rebuild that resulted in an unprecedented string of six consecutive hits in 2016. The first four of those series to return in 2017 – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Detour, Angie Tribeca and Wrecked – have each scored audience growth compared to their previous seasons, while the fifth, People of Earth, is well positioned to score growth based on early data for this past Monday’s season premiere. The returning shows also hold strong competitive rankings, led by Full Frontal with Samantha Bee topping the charts as the #1 ad-supported late-night show with adults 18-34 and adults 18-49. Meanwhile, The Detour and Wrecked are holding strong as cable’s #2 and # 3 scripted comedies for the year-to-date with adults 18-49, followed by Angie Tribeca in the Top 10.
TBS is scheduled to launch a total of 15 original series from the second half of 2017 through 2018, including the second season of its alien-“experiencer” comedy People of Earth, which airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The network’s first new original entry for 2017 – the comedy anthology The Guest Book – is set to premiere Thursday, Aug. 3, with back-to-back episodes starting at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). Both series will continue through September.
The Last O.G.
Comedy superstar and multiple Emmy® nominee Tracy Morgan is coming to TBS this fall in The Last O.G., a new comedy series that he co-created aongside creators and executive producers Jordan Peele and John Carcieri. The series is set to premiere Tuesday, Oct. 24, with back-to-back episodes at 10 and 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
Subsequent episodes will air Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT)
The Last O.G. centers on Tray (Morgan), an ex-con who is shocked to see just how much the world has changed when he is released from prison for good behavior after a 15-year stint. Returning to his newly gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, he discovers that his former girlfriend, Shay (Tiffany Haddish), has married an affable, successful white man (Ryan Gaul) who is helping raise the twins (Taylor Mosby & Dante Hoagland) Tray never knew existed. Wanting nothing more than to connect with his kids, but having neither the money to support them nor himself, Tray falls back on the skills he learned in prison to make ends meet while treading unfamiliar territory.
The Last O.G. also stars Cedric the Entertainer as the head of the halfway house where Tray is staying, and Allen Maldonado as Tray’s cousin Bobby, who helps him adjust to life on the outside. Executive-producing with Morgan, Peele and Carcieri are Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Joel Zadak of Principato Young.
Drop the Mic
Celebrities are getting ready to put their battle rapping skills to the test in TBS’s new series Drop the Mic. The comedic music competition, hosted by Method Man and Hailey Baldwin, is based on the enormously popular segment from the Emmy®-winning series The Late Late Show. James Corden, Ben Winston and Jensen Karp serve as executive producers, with Joanna Gallagher as co-executive producer.
Drop the Micwill premiere on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).
Each week on Drop the Mic, four stars from the worlds of entertainment, music, sports and pop culture will face off against each other in a rap battle royale packed with “I can’t believe they just said that” moments. At the end of each head-to-head battle, the studio audience will vote to pick the winner.
Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild
TBS is teaming up with entertainment icon and actor Snoop Dogg to refresh and update a classic game show with Snoop Dogg Presents The Jokers Wild. Snoop Dogg, who counted The Joker’s Wild as his favorite game show growing up, will host TBS’s new version, which is set in his very own casino, complete with a gigantic slot machine, as well as giant dice and playing cards. Streetwise questions and problem solving, not just book smarts, will rule the floor, with all the action controlled by the one and only Snoop D-O Double G.
Slated to premiere this fall, Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild is produced by Sony Pictures Television, in association with Turner’s Studio T. Snoop Dogg serves as executive producer, along with two-time Emmy® winner, Super Bowl Champion and Good Morning, America co-host Michael Strahan. Also executive-producing are Vincent Rubino and Constance Schwartz-Morini for SMAC, and Ted Chung for Snoopadelic Films.
Search Party
Last year, TBS’s Search Party broke the sitcom mold with its serio-comic story of a group of self-absorbed 20-somethings who become entangled in a mystery as they tried to track down a former college classmate who went missing. Alia Shawkat, John Early, Meredith Hagner, John Reynolds and Brandon Micheal Hall star in the series, which was hailed as one of the best new shows of 2016, with a 100% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Season 2 of Search Party will air Sundays, Nov. 19 – Dec. 17, with two episodes each week at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
Search Party is executive-produced by Michael Showalter, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns. The series is produced by Turner’s Studio T, in association with Jax Media.
Source: ©2017 TBS, a division of Turner, a Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
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