TV/STREAMING . . .

Max Gives the New Amsterdam Doctors a Bold Ultimatum in the Fight Against Opioid Abuse. Dr. Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold) is making a stand. In E! News' exclusive sneak peek of New Amsterdam's Tuesday, Feb. 25 episode, "Double Blind," Max is making bold changes to the hospital. "This is one dose, one pill of the opioid oxycodone. The pharmacy asked me for a prescription and seeing as I was only looking for a visual aid, I didn't have one. So, I had to drag our chairwoman here to the dispensary where we each had to sign waivers affirming our education intent. But if I sold you this pill or even just gave it to you, it's a loss of medical license for me and actual jail time for her," Max explains to the one percent of the staff of doctors in the room. Why is the percentage significant? "Yet you prescribe 79 percent of the opioids here. And given that we are hooking patients by the thousands on drugs that are a molecule away from black tar heroin, can anybody tell me why you shouldn't be arrested?" he asks. Max means business. The doctors aren't on board with his thinking, so just wait until the sweeping changes he puts in place. "Since you all prescribe 79 percent of our opioids, I am giving you one year to prescribe 79 percent less. And anyone who does not meet that mark, will be fired," he tells the doctors. See? He means business. "Double Blind" also features Dr. Helen Sharpe (Freema Agyeman) going to great lengths to prove a point. Hey, these doctors are passionate! New Amsterdam recently got a big renewal from NBC. It's sticking around for at least three more years through the 2022-2023 TV season. New Amsterdam joins Tuesday night buddy This Is Us with a mega renewal. New Amsterdam airs Tuesdays, 10 p.m. on NBC. (Eonline)

Ana Gastever Boards NBC Comedy 'American Auto'. The 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Suburgatory' veteran will play a car-industry executive in the pilot from 'Superstore' creator Justin Spitzer. Former Saturday Night Live regular Ana Gasteyer is returning to NBC. Gasteyer has joined the network's comedy pilot American Auto from Superstore creator Jusitn Spitzer, Universal TV and Kapital Entertainment. The potential series is set at the Detroit headquarters of Payne Motors, a major American car company where a group of floundering executives try to rediscover the company's identity amid a rapidly changing industry. Gasteyer will play Katherine Hastings, the CEO of Payne Motors. The cast for the single-camera project also includes Harriet Dyer (The InBetween) as the company's head of communications. Gasteyer is coming off a run on The Masked Singer's fall 2019 season, where she was among the final six contestants. She previously was an SNL castmember for six seasons from 1996-2002. Her other credits include ABC's Suburgatory; recurring parts on The Goldbergs and its spinoff Schooled; TBS' People of Earth; and Netflix's Lady Dynamite. Spitzer, who has an overall deal at Universal TV, wrote American Auto and executive produces with Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan. NBC has given straight-to-series orders to a pair of comedies for 2020-21: Young Rock, based on the early life of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and an as-yet untitled show from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock that will star Ted Danson as the newly elected mayor of Los Angeles. The network also has a series take on the feature film Night School from Kevin Hart and pilots from Jim Jefferies and Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator Dan Goor, among others. The Kenan Show, picked up to series for this season, was rolled to 2020-21 and will undergo some reshoots. (Hollywood Reporter)

Seann William Scott to Star in Fox Comedy "This Country'. The pilot from Jenny Bicks and Paul Feig marks a return to the network for the former 'Lethal Weapon' star. Seann William Scott is headed back to Fox. The former Lethal Weapon star has signed on for a series-regular role in the network's comedy pilot This Country. The mockumentary project from writer Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City, The Greatest Showman) and director Paul Feig (The Office, A Simple Favor) is based on the BAFTA-winning BBC series of the same name. This Country centers on cousins Kelly and Shrub Mallet, who are followed by a documentary crew as they pursue their dreams, confront challenges and fight each other over frozen pizza in the fictional town of Flatch, Ohio. They don't have much, but they do have each other. Scott will play Father Joe, a recent transplant from Minneapolis who is doing the best he can with what he's got. He's a community leader in Flatch and a father figure to Kelly and Shrub. Though they often test his patience, he's resolved to stay an optimist and a role model. (Paul Chahidi plays a similar character on the BBC show.) Lionsgate TV -- where Bicks and Feig both have overall deals -- is producing the pilot with BBC Studios, Fox Entertainment and Feigco Entertainment. Bicks and Feig are executive producing with BBC Studios' Angie Stephenson and original series creators Charlie Cooper and Daisy May Cooper. Feigco's Dan Magnante is a co-EP, and Cathy Mason and Rachel Mason are producers. Scott starred in the third season of Fox's Lethal Weapon in 2018-19, stepping in at the 11th hour after original co-lead Clayne Crawford was fired. His film credits include American Pie, Bloodline, Goon, Role Models and The Rundown. He is repped by UTA and Sloane Offer. This Country is one of three live-action comedy pilots Fox has in contention for spots on its 2020-21 schedule. The others are the multicamera effort Call Me Kat, which stars Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik and has a series production commitment, and the single-camera offering Pivoting. The network has also given a series order to the animated show Housebroken. (Hollywood Reporter)

Oliver Hudson, Malin Akerman to Star in CBS Comedy. The 'Splitting Up Together' and 'Billions' stars will play siblings in 'The Three of Us.' CBS has found two of the title characters in its comedy pilot The Three of Us. Oliver Hudson and Malin Akerman will star in the multicamera comedy as brother and sister. The pilot from CBS Television Studios and writer Frank Pines (Baby Daddy) centers on three siblings who are children of divorce and who circle the wagons when their sister's (Akerman) husband announces he's calling it quits on their marriage. Hudson (Splitting Up Together) will play Will, the oldest of the three siblings and the worrier in the family. He's always been protective of his little brother and sister, and though he's clever and perceptive, he also has a need to "father" everyone around him. When his sister's husband leaves her, his instincts kick in and he moves her into his house. Akerman (Billions) plays Aly, the smart and resilient middle child who is considered the most "normal" of the three -- but also has the worst luck. When her husband leaves, she finds herself dealing with raising her 8-year-old son as a single parent and having to move in with Will and his wife. The Three of Us marks a return to CBS for Hudson, who starred for seven seasons on the network's comedy Rules of Engagement. His credits also include Nashville, Scream Queens, Dawson's Creek and Netflix's movie The Christmas Chronicles. He is repped by ICM Partners, Management 360 and Ziffren Brittenham. In addition to Billions, Akerman starred on the ABC comedy Trophy Wife and had a heavily recurring role on Adult Swim's Children's Hospital. Her credits also include Hulu's Dollface, HBO's The Comeback and the features Rampage and Rock of Ages. She is repped by UTA, Mosaic and Jackoway Austen. Pines will executive produce The Three of Us with Fulwell 73's Ben Winston, Jeff Grosvenor and James Corden. (Hollywood Reporter)

A Senior 'Bachelor?" ABC Casting Singles "in Their Golden Years." ABC has good reason to see if more can be tapped from the 'Bachelor' franchise, which has proven to be among the most evergreen in all of reality TV. If the high frequency of twenty-something Instagram influencers on the Bachelor franchise is making you feel old, a potential new series from ABC may serve you better. During a commercial break on Monday's episode of The Bachelor, the network flashed a casting call for "seniors looking for love." There's no title for the project, but the ABC casting page offered a few more details: "Are you entering your golden years and looking for romance? The Producers of The Bachelor are looking for active and outgoing single men and women in their golden for a new exciting dating show." "Golden years," per a tweet from ABC reality chief Rob Mills, is strictly 65 years of age and older. Representatives from the network did not immediately respond to a request for further information, but this is not the first time this subject has been floated. In January, a Bachelor producer posted similar language in an Instagram call for a senior dating show. ABC has good reason to see if more can be tapped from the Bachelor franchise, which has proven to be among the most evergreen in all of reality TV. The current season, No. 24 for the original series, is only trailing Fox's The Masked Singer in the genre -- with an average 2.2 rating among adults 18-49 and 7.3 million viewers. Spinoff The Bachelorette, heading into its 16th season, has also seen atypical ratings endurance. And this summer will see two spinoffs on the field, with both Bachelor in Paradise and Olympics counterprogramming The Bachelor Summer Games. The Bachelor and all of its spinoffs, created by Mike Fleiss, are produced by his Next Entertainment shingle and Warner Horizon Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

'Love, Simon' TV Series Moves to Hulu From Disney+. Officially titled 'Love, Victor,' the project joins 'High Fidelity' in making the move, with a writer's room already open for season two of the film remake. The Love, Simon TV series is on the move. Officially titled Love, Victor, the project that was developed and produced for Disney+ will follow High Fidelity and make the jump to Hulu. Additionally, a writer's room has already been opened for season two of the series in a sign that shows Disney's faith after seeing cuts of all 10 completed episodes of its upcoming debut. Love, Victor is set to debut during Pride Month in June and revolve around Victor, a new student at Creekwood High School. (That's the same high school as in the 2018 Fox 2000 movie starring Nick Robinson.) The Disney+-turned-Hulu take follows Victor on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city and struggling with his sexual orientation. Sources say that Disney thought the half-hour comedy featured more adult themes than it was comfortable featuring on family-focused Disney+, which is the company's streaming centerpiece and highest priority. Those topics include alcohol use, marital issues (among the parents) and sexual exploration. Sources note that those themes were a concern for Disney+ execs, who feared they would not resonate with families who watch the service with young kids. Sources note that Disney also believed Love, Victor would be a better fit alongside Hulu's YA programming that includes PEN15 and the limited series Looking for Alaska and streaming rights to Freeform's Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish, all of which explore similar coming-of-age themes with a sometimes dramatic tone. It is increasingly common in the Peak TV era for programming to jump from one platform to another, especially as media titans like Disney review all of their platforms to make decisions on what best fits where. Other companies, like WarnerMedia, continue to make similar moves (like Search Party moving from TBS to the streamer HBO Max). Love, Simon screenwriters Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker (who also serve as co-showrunners alongside creator Dan Fogelman on NBC's This Is Us) return to serve as showrunners on the Disney+ series. Greg Berlanti -- who directed the Fox 2000 pic that was the first feature with a gay lead -- will not return in any capacity on the project. The prolific producer, who has a record number of scripted series currently on the air, is precluded from being involved with the new series due to his exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. Love, Victor is being produced by Disney-owned 20th Century Fox TV. Michael Cimino stars as Victor. The cast includes Ana Ortiz, James Martinez, Isabella Ferreira and Mateo Fernandez. Robinson, who starred as Simon in the pic -- based on author Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda -- will return as exec producer and narrator for the Hulu original. Robinson, it's worth noting, next stars in A Teacher, the limited series that was developed by Disney-owned FX and which will debut in a special "FX on Hulu" section of Hulu rather than have a linear run. (Hollywood Reporter)

Here's when the TV adaptation of Oscar-winning Parasite is coming to screens. Yaaaas! Even if you had no interest in the Oscars, you'll be fully aware that Parasite swept the board. The relatively unknown comedy-thriller won four Oscars at the prestigious award ceremony and has since been catapulted into the limelight, sparking a worldwide interest in Korean cinema. It therefore comes as no surprise to hear a TV adaptation with HBO is in the works. Produced by Succession's Adam McKay, the series aims to delve deeper into the class wars explored in the film. "There were so many stories that I thought of that could happen in between the sequences you see in the film, and some background stories for each character," the film's director Bong Joon-Ho told the Hollywood Reporter. "I really wanted to explore those ideas freely with a five- or six-hour film." And it will be streaming on Hulu beginning on April 8. So.damn.soon. The Oscar-nominated actor Mark Gruffalo has been tipped to join the cast. Responding to the rumours in a TMZ interview, he said: "I'd be honored to be able to play something." Parasite was the first non-English film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. The satirical thriller centres around class warfare between a poor family, The Kims, who con their way into becoming servants for a wealthy family, the Parks. However, as things quickly become complicated, their deception threatens to spiral out of control. "It has taken time for it to get recognition within award bodies in the US, and even a festival like Cannes - it took a long time before they finally awarded a Korean film with the Palm d'Or" revealed Bong Joon-Ho. "It felt like it was only a matter of time before they would take notice, with Burning coming so close last year, and The Handmaiden winning a Bafta in 2018." With Parasite being one of the most commended films of last year, we have high hopes for the TV adaptation. (British Glamour)

TV Ratings: 'Better Call Saul,' 'Walking Dead' Return Higher. The two AMC shows post better numbers than their last airings -- which includes a hiatus of 16 months for 'Saul.' Two of AMC's biggest shows returned Sunday to fairly healthy ratings: The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul each topped their most recent outings in total viewers and the cabler's key demographics. "Recent" is maybe not the best term to apply to Saul, as its fifth-season premiere came more than 16 months after the close of season four in October 2018. Still, the Breaking Bad prequel delivered its largest same-day audience -- 1.6 million viewers -- since the fourth-season premiere a year and a half ago. Sunday's episode was up 4 percent in viewers over the season four finale. The premiere's demographic numbers also ticked up: the 638,000 adults 18-49 who tuned in represented a 4 percent bump over the season four finale, and Saul rose 10 percent in adults 25-54 with 781,000 viewers in that age group. Better Call Saul did decline about 10 percent in viewers from its season four premiere, but Sunday's debut came in ahead of its same-day averages for last season (1.49 million viewers and about 570,000 in the 18-49 demo). That's no small accomplishment considering that some other high-profile cable dramas, including American Horror Story, The Purge and, yes, The Walking Dead, are down by more than 20 percent year to year. As for The Walking Dead, its midseason premiere drew 3.5 million viewers, the most for the show since the season 10 opener in October. It grew by 9 percent over the same-day viewership for the fall finale (3.21 million) and rose by double digits in adults 25-54 (2 million, up 15 percent) and adults 18-49 (1.6 million, up 17 percent). For all The Walking Dead's ratings declines over the past few seasons, the show has not given up its title as the top series on ad-supported cable. Both it and Better Call Saul will also grow substantially with delayed and multi-platform viewing; in the first half of its season, The Walking Dead posted gains of 64 percent in total viewers and 75 percent in adults 18-49 with a week of DVR and on-demand viewing. (Hollywood Reporter)

Netflix to Introduce Top 10 Lists of Most Popular Titles. After experimenting with top 10 lists in Mexico and the U.K., Netflix is rolling the feature out globally. Netflix is rolling out a feature designed to give users another way to discover new programming. The streamer is introducing a top 10 list that will show the most popular titles on its platform. The list, which will reflect viewing in each country, will update daily and popularity will be calculated every 24 hours. In addition to the overall list, there also will be lists for the top 10 films and top 10 TV shows. Both original and licensed programming will be featured in the lists. Although the lists will provide a new level of transparency around which titles are performing well on Netflix, the company is not releasing viewership data. The popularity of a title will be based on Netflix's new measurement system, which counts someone choosing to watch a title for two minutes as a view. Netflix began experimenting with top 10 lists in Mexico and the U.K. last year and is now rolling the feature out globally. Content chief Ted Sarandos has previously commented that the lists are another tool for users to determine what they want to watch on Netflix. In a blog post announcing the new feature, product executive Cameron Johnson wrote, "When you watch a great movie or TV show, you share it with family and friends, or talk about it at work, so other people can enjoy it too. We hope these top 10 lists will help create more of these shared moments, while also helping all of us find something to watch more quickly and easily." (Hollywood Reporter)

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