Peacock has announced the cast for Season 2 of the reality competition series “The Traitors.” Like Season 1, the show features reality stars from a variety of other series like “The Bachelor” and “The Real Housewives.” Unlike Season 1, the second season cast will be all reality stars, without any non-celebrities in the competition.
Familiar facing joining Season 2 include Maksim Chmerkovskiy of “Dancing With the Stars,” Phaedra Parks of “Married to Medicine” and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” two-time “Survivor” winner Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tamra Judge of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” and Bachelor Nation alum Peter Weber.
Unfolding in a remote castle in the Scottish Highlands, host Alan Cumming guides the contestants through a series of challenges with the aim of winning $250,000. However, the contestants deemed “the Traitors” will come up with a plan to steal the prize from the contestants deemed “the Faithful.”
Rounding out the rest of the 21-person cast are Carsten “Bergie” Bergersen (“Love Island USA”), Chris ‘C.T.’ Tamburello (“The Challenge”), Dan Gheesling (“Big Brother”), Deontay Wilder (“Boxer”), Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (“Love Island UK”), Janelle Pierzina (“Big Brother”), Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio(“The Challenge”), John Bercow (UK Parliament), Kevin Kreider (“Bling Empire”), Larsa Pippen (“The Real Housewives of Miami”), Marcus Jordan (“Basketball Player”), Mercedes “MJ” Javid (“Shahs of Sunset”), Parvati Shallow (“Survivor”), Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Shereé Whitfield (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”) and Trishelle Cannatella (“The Real World: Las Vegas”).
“The Traitors” is produced by Studio Lambert and executive produced by Stephen Lambert, Mike Cotton, Toni Ireland, Jack Burgess, Tim Harcourt, and Sam Rees Jones.
In other TV roundup news:
CASTING
Keltie Knight and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton of E! News will host the 72nd Miss USA Pageant, which airs live Friday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on the CW. Radio personality Ellen K will be the announcer for the pageant. The companion pageant Miss Teen USA will stream on The CW app and cwtv starting Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. ET.
Knight currently serves as chief correspondent for E! News and has been featured on “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS” and “The Grammys Red Carpet Live.” Bailon-Houghton is a host on E! News and is also a pop singer and Grammy-nominated producer, among other ventures. She co-hosted the talk show “The Real” and appeared in “The Cheetah Girls” film.
The judges for the pageant will be Nicole Miller, a fashion designer and businesswoman; Emily Shah, a producer and entrepreneur; Mindy Mahy, founder of Kopu Water; Shree Saini (Miss World America and a speaker and business owner); and Ruth Zakarian. Self defense instructor Nia Sanchez Booko, who was Miss USA 2014, will serve as commentator for the pageant in addition to Chris Persky and current Miss Teen USA Faron Medhi.
The events will be held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. The 72nd Miss USA Pageant is executive produced by Renato Basile of RB Entertainment Inc.
TRAILERS
Prime Video has released the trailer for Season 3 of Greg Daniels’ sci-fi comedy “Upload,” premiering Oct. 20. Two episodes will stream every Friday until the season finale on Nov. 10.
“Upload” takes place in an advanced future where, instead of dying, people can pay the price tag for a virtual reality afterlife. The series follows Nathan, a young man who was uploaded in Season 1 after his untimely death.
According to the logline, “In‘Upload’Season Three, we pick back up with Nora and freshly downloaded Nathan as they navigate their relationship, while racing to stop the mysterious conspiracy that threatens to destroy millions of lives.”
The series stars Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Kevin Bigley, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson and Owen Daniels. Creator Greg Daniels serves as showrunner and executive producer. Howard Klein and Jeff Blitz are also executive producers.
Watch the trailer below.
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National Geographic has released the trailer for “JFK: One Day in America,” which will commemorate the 60th anniversary of former president John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The series is the second installment of the Emmy Award winning “One Day in America” franchise. The three-part limited series will premiere on Nov. 5 at 8/7 central on National Geographic and will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu the following day.
From David Glover, Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin, the series chronicles the events of Nov. 22, 1963, the day that President Kennedy was killed. It was created in collaboration with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. The docuseries will feature newly colorized footage in addition to testimony from those present in Dallas that day. Some of the contributors sharing their testimonies include Peggy Simpson, the only female reporter working for the Associated Press in Texas in 1963, who was an eyewitness to Lee Harvey Oswald’s shooting. Another interviewees include Clint Hill, a Secret Service agent assigned to Jackie Kennedy who jumped onto the moving car to help her.
“Many of these witnesses are now in their 80s and 90s, so this may be the final chance to capture their accounts and hear their testimony. National Geographic aspires to be a brand of record for historic events – the interviews featured in the series are a unique body of work which shed fresh light on what it felt like to be caught up in the events of that day,” said Tom McDonald, executive vice president of global factual and unscripted content at National Geographic
Watch the trailer below.
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NBC’s “Quantum Leap” returns with a trailer for Season 2, featuring stars Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett.
The Season 2 trailer teases a trip through 1961 Egypt, the 1992 Los Angeles uprising in Koreatown, a UFO investigation in 1949 New Mexico, Salem witch trials in 1692 and other places across the world (and through time). Along with Lee and Bassett, the series also stars Ernie Hudson, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee and new additions Eliza Taylor and Peter Gadiot.
“Quantum Leap” is executive produced by Martin Gero, Dean Georgaris, Deborah Pratt, Chris Grismer, Alex Berger, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrand. The series returns Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Watch the trailer below.
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Amazon Prime Video’s “Harlan Coben’s Shelter” has unveiled a preview of its season finale. The eight-part series premiered on Aug. 18.
“Shelter” is based on Coben’s young adult novel about Mickey Bolitar, the nephew of one of Coben’s previous book characters, Myron Bolitar. Jaden Michael (“Colin in Black and White”) stars as Mickey alongside Constance Zimmer (“Unreal”), Sage Linder (“The Next Step”), Adrian Greensmith (“metal Lords”) and Abby Corrigan (“Castle Rock”).
Watch the season finale preview below.
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Max’s “Doom Patrol,” starring Brendan Fraser, has released the mid-season trailer for its fourth and final season. Two new episodes premiere on Oct. 12, with one new episode to be released weekly through Nov. 9.
The series’ final episodes will follow the Doom Patrol as they meet old friends and foes along the race to defeat Immortus and get back their longevities. The gang is forced to face their deepest fears, grappling with whether they are ready to let go of the past and take the future into their own hands. And away from the zombie butts.
Along with Fraser, the cast includes Matt Bomer, Diane Guerrero, April Bowlby, Joivan Wade, Michelle Gomez, Skye Roberts, Riley Shanahan and Matthew Zuk. “Doom Patrol” is executive produced by showrunner Jeremy Carver, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Chris Dingess and Tamara Becher-Wilkinson. The series is based on characters created for DC by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani.
Watch the trailer below.
FIRST LOOKS
Apple TV+ has shared a first look at the upcoming third season of its espionage drama “Slow Horses.” The new season, directed by Saul Metzstein, will have six episodes, with the first two premiering on Dec. 1. The following episodes will come out weekly every Friday through Dec. 29.
“Slow Horses” follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents demoted to serve in a department of MI5 known as Slough House due to their career ending mistakes. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the bright yet misanthropic leader of the spies. The gang will face new challenges in Season 3 when a romantic liaison in Istanbul threatens to expose a MI5 secret in London. After being dragged into the fight, the misfit spies find themselves caught in a conspiracy that threatens the future not just of Slough House but of MI5 itself.
The third season is based on the novel “Real Tigers,” the third installment in Mick Herron’s spy series “Slough House.”
Joining the cast is Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù as Sean Donovan, the former head of security at the British embassy in Istanbul, and Katherine Waterston as Alison Dunn, an MI5 agent who uncovers a dark secret within the agency.
Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Sophie Okonedo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan and Jonathan Pryce will also reprise their roles in Season 3.
INITIATIVES
Hollywood veteran Seth MacFarlane has partnered with the Entertainment Community Fund to raise $10 million in support of all entertainment industry workers amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. MacFarlane kickstarted this initiative with an out-of-pocket donation of $5 million, following a $1 million donation in July.
“There aren’t enough words to express our tremendous gratitude to Seth as he continues to help those in need, all while inspiring others with this call to action to do the same,” said Annette Bening, Entertainment Community Fund chair of the board. “At this rate, we’ll need at least $10 million to continue helping people in the coming weeks. Seth’s gift is an incredible contribution to help us be able to do that, and we hope others join in as well.”
Donations like MacFarlane’s help with emergency financial assistance for everyday living expenses including rent, groceries, medical bills, insurance and other basic needs in addition to mental health support and more resources.
In addition to the “Family Guy” creator, other notable donors include Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Herb Alpert via the Herb Alpert Foundation, The Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams Family Foundation, Stacey Abrams, Annette Bening, Tom Bergeron and others.
Those in need of assistance and those who would like to provide support can visit this link.
DATES
Season 2 of the Disney+ holiday series “The Santa Clauses,” starring Tim Allen, will debut the first two episodes on Wednesday, Nov. 8, with one episode airing weekly afterwards.
The new season follows the Calvin family returning to the North Pole as Scott Calvin (Allen) continues to serve as Santa Claus. Season 1 saw Calvin attempt to retire and return to a normal life, but he couldn’t find the right successor. Season 2 will show Calvin training his son Cal to carry on his legacy as Santa.
In addition to Allen, who has played the role since the 1994 film “The Santa Clause,” Season 2 stars Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Clause/Carol, Austin Kane as Cal Calvin Claus, Elizabeth Allen-Dick as Sandra Calvin Claus, Devin Bright as Noel, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias as Kris Kringle and Eric Stonestreet as Magnus Antas, or The Mad Santa. Matilda Lawler returns as Santa’s chief of staff as a recurring guest star, in addition to Marta Kessler as Olga, Liam Kyle as Gary, Isabelle Bennett as Edie, Sasha Knight as Crouton, Ruby Jay as Riley, Mia Lynn Bangunan as Pontoon and Laura San Giacomo as La Befana, the Christmas Witch.
Allen serves as executive producer of the series in addition to Jack Burditt, who also serves as showrunner. Kevin Hench, Richard Baker and Rick Messina are also executive producers in addition to Jason Winer and Jon Radler for Small Dog Picture Company.
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Season 10 of “Penn and Teller: Fool Us,” the CW’s magic competition series, will premiere on Friday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. ET. Author and actress Brooke Burke will serve as new host of the show. Burke has previously been featured on “Dancing with the Stars” and “Melissa and Joey.”
The one-hour competition series stars the magician team Penn and Teller, who invite aspiring magicians to try and fool them. Penn and Teller see each trick only once and must then decipher how it works. Those who can successfully fool the duo will be invited to perform with Penn and Teller in their show at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The series is created and executive produced by Penn Jillette, Teller, Peter Adam Golden, Andrew Golder and Lincoln Hiatt, in association with 1/17 Productions and September Films.
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Ready for fall football? Former NFL star Donovan McNabb is set to host OutKick’s upcoming video podcast “The 5 Spot with Donovan McNabb,” which will launch Sept. 19.
“The 5 Spot with Donovan McNabb” features McNabb as he breaks down the latest news and coverage around the league. McNabb was a starting quarterback in the NFL for 13 seasons and is primarily known for his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he led the team to one Super Bowl victory.
“Donovan McNabb is an NFL legend who I always enjoyed watching, except when he played against the Titans,” said OutKick founder Clay Travis. “I’m ecstatic to have him as a teammate now and he will be a great addition to OutKick, where we are continuing to build a unique home for the most insightful personalities in sports media who are free to speak their minds.”
New episodes will drop each Tuesday and Friday throughout the season.
“I’ve always been a fan of OutKick and I’m excited to take the next step in my career off the field hosting ‘The 5 Spot,’” said McNabb. “I look forward to providing my analysis of games every week and interviewing former players and coaches. I can’t wait to get started.”
PROGRAMMING
Australian comedy “Colin From Accounts” is coming to Paramount+ this November.
Per the show’s logline, “’Colin From Accounts’ is centered on Ashley (Harriet Dyer) and Gordon (Patrick Brammall), two single(ish), complex humans who are brought together by a nipple flash, a car accident and an injured dog. The series is about flawed, funny people choosing each other and being brave enough to show their true selves, scars and all, as they navigate life together.” Alongside Dyer and Brammall stars Emma Harvie as Megan, Helen Thomson as Lynelle, Genevieve Hegney as Chiara, Michael Logo as Brett and Tai Hara as James.
The series is executive produced by Brammall, Dyer, Alison Hurbert-Burns, Brian Walsh, Trent O’Donnell, Rob Gibson and Ian Collie. The first two episodes of “Colin From Accounts” premieres Nov. 9 on Paramount+.
DEALS
Allen Maldonado has signed with talent management company ColorCreative for representation. Over the last two decades, Maldonado has appeared shows like “Black-ish,” “The Wonder Years” and “Heels.”
He appeared in Netflix’s “Project Power,” Universal’s “Straight Outta Compton,” “Cake” and “Equalizer.” and has both acting and writing credits on TBS’ “The Last O.G.” and Starz’s “Survivor’s Remorse.”
Maldonado has also directed numerous short films, including his recent project “What a Wonderful World” which starred Tracy Morgan and Mike O’Malley.
In addition to his film career, Maldonado is an artist. He recently held his debut exhibition “The Mind of Maldonado.” Along with ColorCreative, he will continue to be represented by Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
PARTNERSHIPS
ONE Championship, the world’s largest martial arts organization, has made an agreement with DIRECTV for BUSINESS to show monthly Friday night primetime martial arts events in bars and restaurants in the United States.
DIRECTV for BUSINESS will feature live ONE Fight Night at national chains and independent businesses alike. Fans can view this coverage at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT at participating establishments.
Mike Wittrock, chief sales and service officer at DIRECTV, made a statement on the partnership: “Mixed Martial Arts continues to grow in popularity across the country, so we’re excited to deliver ONE Championship events to bars and restaurants nationwide. Our ability to deliver ONE Championship to customers across the country on their existing equipment further validates our leadership in sports and entertainment by offering customers premium content.”
The upcoming Sept. 29 primetime event “ONE Fight Night 14” on Prime Video will be shown at participating venues.
