The networks are prepping for the upcoming 2022-23 season and that has led to several new show pickups this week with more on the way. Among the announcements are two genre entries that will be joining The CW’s schedule (to fill up all the vacancies after the many cancellations). Supernatural will finally be getting a spin-off series (after two failed previous attempts) with the prequel The Winchesters. Deadline gives the following description of the series:
Before Sam and Dean, there was John and Mary. Told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), The Winchesters is the epic, untold love story of how John (Drake Rodger) met Mary (Meg Donnelly) and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.
Jensen Ackles will be onboard as narrator and he will executive produce the show along with his wife Danneel Ackles. The new series should be getting a slot on the Fall schedule (which will be released next week).
Also headed to The CW is the DC Comics-based series Gotham Knights. Deadline gives the following synopsis:
Gotham Knights picks up in the aftermath of Bruce Wayne’s murder, with his rebellious adopted son forging an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader. As the city’s most wanted criminals, this renegade band of misfits must fight to clear their names. But in a Gotham with no Dark Knight to protect it, the city descends into the most dangerous it’s ever been. However, hope comes from the most unexpected of places as this team of mismatched fugitives will become its next generation of saviors known as the Gotham Knights.
That one comes from Arrow-verse creator Greg Berlanti, but it is not tied to that franchise. Batwoman alums Chad Fiveash, James Stoteraux and Natalie Abrams will be onboard as writers. The cast has not been announced yet, and this one may be targeting a mid-season premiere.
Many of the basic cable companies are shying away from scripted programming these days, but FX and AMC are continuing with development and the former has given the greenlight to a TV series adaptation of the 2010 film Never Let Me Go which starred Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. Variety gives the following summary of the film’s premise:
The film follows Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, who meet as childhood friends at an English boarding school called Hailsham and learn that they are clones, created to serve as organ donors in a “breakthrough” medical plan to help extend the human lifespan. Together, the three navigate love, friendships and art while preparing for their inevitable deaths.
Melissa Iqbal (The Nevers, Origin) is attached as writer and FX will probably be looking to get this on the schedule in early 2023.
Over at AMC, a series based on the Alan Wake horror/thriller video games is in the works. That follows a writer investigating his wife’s mysterious disappearance during a vacation trip to the town of Bright Falls, Washington. As he continues his search, events from his novel that he doesn’t remember writing start coming to life. Plans for an Alan Wake TV series were first announced back in 2018, but there had been little progress up to this point. AMC is now picking up the ball and will likely target a 2023 release for the show.
A series based on Jerry Robinson’s The Nemesis saga is in the works at Sony TV. Deadline gives the following description:
Project Nemesis delivers the destruction common in the kaiju genre, but not without sacrificing character. When the DNA of Nemesis, the Greek goddess of vengeance, is merged with that of Maigo, a murdered little girl, the resulting trauma-fueled kaiju rampages from the backwoods of Maine to the streets of Boston in search of their killer. Heading up the response to this otherworldly threat is Jon Hudson, a sarcastic DHS agent whose leadership of the agency’s Paranormal division was a joke—until now.
John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski has been attached as director and executive producer. There is no network linked to the show yet, but it should draw plenty of interest.
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