This was posted on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 by Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Every month or so, I check the Georgia tourism office's list of active TV and film productions to see what's coming up.
This is the busiest pilot season ever in Atlanta. At least seven are being shot here. Typically, about 30 percent of TV pilots get cleared to air the next season and of those, maybe 30 percent make it to season two. So it's a brutal culling process.
Of existing shows, syndicated shows "Lauren Lake's Paternity Court" (CW69 in Atlanta) and "Family Feud" (also CW69) are back in production though free audience member tickets for the latter are now gone . The final season of AMC's 'Halt & Catch Fire" is back. In reality land, Kim Zolciak's sixth season of Bravo's "Don't Be Tardy" is being shot, along with the fourth season of Lifetimes 'The Rap Game" and two ID shows "Dead Silent" and "Swamp Murders."
Here are notable new additions since I last checked:
"3000-lb Family" on TLC
The network (yes, I know, I know, it was once called The Learning Channel) has already had success with "My 600-lb Life."
Based on the title alone, this show sounds like it's featuring a family of morbidly obese folks who live in Georgia. Surprisingly, Georgia is only the 19th fattest state in America, ahead of Illinois, behind Wisconsin, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Louisiana has the highest rate of obesity at 36.2 percent of the population. Georgia is at 30.7 percent. (The fittest state? Colorado).
TLC already shoots "7 Little Johnstons" locally featuring a family of little people. It's producing season three.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
"Dynasty" pilot on the CW
"Dynasty" was a quintessential 1980s prime-time soap which ran from 1981 to 1989 about two feuding oil-rich families, the Colbys and the Carringtons. It turned Linda Evans, John Forsyth and Joan Collins into huge stars.
Unlike TNT's "Dallas" reboot a few years back, this new version will be a reimagining in present time with a new, more diverse cast.
According to the CW, the series will be told primarily through the perspectives of two women at odds: Fallon Carrington, daughter of billionaire Blake Carrington, and her soon-to-be stepmother, Cristal, played by Kelley, a Hispanic woman marrying into this WASP family and America’s most powerful class.
There is no guarantee the CW will pick the show up for the 2017-18 season. And it may not stay in Atlanta. (Some shows which shot their pilot in Atlanta and then moved elsewhere include ABC's "Quantico," TNT's "Franklin & Bash" and NBC's "Resurrection.")
The reboot is co-written by "Gossip Girl" creators Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Sallie Patrick. Grant Show, just off "Devious Maids" in Atlanta, is part of the cast.
The CW is shooting five of its six drama pilots in Atlanta this spring. The other four:
Military drama/conspiracy thriller "Valor": The boundaries between military discipline and human desire are tested on a US Army base that houses an elite unit of helicopter pilots trained to perform clandestine international and domestic missions. The drama unfolds in the present as well as in flashbacks to a failed mission involving one of the first female pilots in the unit, ultimately uncovering layers of personal and government/military secrets, and leading to a season-long plan to rescue a group of MIA soldiers.
"Life Sentence": A young woman played by "Pretty Little Liars" star Lucy Hale diagnosed with terminal cancer finds out that she's not dying after all and has to deal with the consequences and the benefits.
"Insatiable": A disgraced civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach takes on a vengeful, bullied teenager as his client.
"Black Ligtning": Jefferson Pierce (Hart of Dixie's Cress Williams) made his choice: he hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he'll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend — Black Lightning.
The CW currently shoots "The Originals" in Atlanta and recently wrapped "The Vampire Diaries" after eight seasons.
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" on Netflix
Here is how Netflix is spinning its reboot:
" In a time when America stands divided and the future seems uncertain, a team of five brave men will try to bring us closer together with laughter, heart, and just the right amount of moisturizer," reads a statement from the producers. "The Emmy Award-winning Queer Eye is back and ready to Make America Fabulous Again. With a new Fab 5 and the show's toughest missions to date, Queer Eye moves from the Big Apple to turn the Red States pink — one makeover at a time."
Since the initial announcement in January, I have seen no details on who will be taking the five new slots. And it's unclear what role the original cast mates may have.
The show first aired from 2003 to 2007 on Bravo featuring Ted Allen (now a regular host on Cooking Channel's "Chopped"), Carson Kressley, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia and Jai Rodriguez. It was a groundbreaking success for the network.
Locally, Netflix is also shooting season 2 of its hit drama "Stranger Things" in Atlanta and recently finished production of the new upcoming Jason Bateman drama "Ozark."
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