Streaming News Round-Up: ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ ‘Loot’ Renewed; ‘Documentary Now!” Announces Celebrity Guests
“Only Murders in the Building” has been renewed by Hulu for a third season — just after its second season debut. The comedy series stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as residents of a luxury New York co-op. The unlikely trio creates a podcast, “Only Murders in the Building,” to solve a murder in their Upper West Side luxury apartment building, thus attracting a loyal, but slightly wacky fan base. The quirky show, the co-creation of Martin and John Hoffman, has some great supporting actors, such as Nathan Lane, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, and Jackie Hoffman. In the current run, the three try to clear their names when taccused of murdering of the co-op’s despised board president (played by Jane Houdyshell), who had intriguing secrets of her own.
Watch the “Only Murders in the Building” Season 2 trailer:
Upcoming shows and deals:
Maya Rudolph headlines the Apple TV comedy series “Loot,” which was just renewed for a second season. The news follows the announcement that Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne’s Animal Pictures has a first-look deal with the streamer. In “Loot,” Rudolph plays a recent divorcee who leaves her billionaire husband after discovering he was having an affair. As her life spins out of control, she discovers she owns a charity foundation — which just might be her road back to sanity. The “Loot” ensemble cast includes Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon, Ron Funches, and Stephanie Styles.
IFC released the first round of casting for the highly anticipated fourth season of “Documentary Now!” Celebrated actors Cate Blanchett, Jamie Demetriou, Trystan Gravelle, Jonathan Pryce, John Rhys-Davies, and Harriet Walter — as well as singer Tom Jones — have joined the original comedy series. The series streams on AMC+ and will be available this fall.
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (“Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show, Great Job!”) will produce a new series for Netflix called “Chad And JT Go Deep.” The comedy follows YouTubers Chad Kroeger and JT Parr as they take to the streets of Southern California to spread awareness of important issues via their unique brand of crazy-antics activism. However, when one of the causes they support accidentally gets them canceled, they attempt to re-double their efforts to get back on society’s good side. The show will debut on the streaming service on August 23.
HBO Max, Cartoon Network, and Lion Forge Animation have teamed up to adapt the Dark Horse Comics/YouNeek Studios graphic novel series “Iyanu: Child of Wonder” into a 2D animated show. Created by Nigerian filmmaker Roye Okupe, “Iyanu” is an epic superhero tale that reflects Nigeria’s culture, music, and mythology. The series follows a teenage heroine who must uncover the mystery behind her newfound powers in order to save her people from an ancient curse.
Corporate siblings Magnolia Pictures and Spotlight Cinema Networks will partner with Local Now to stream CineLife, a linear channel available free to Local Now viewers. CineLife’s shows include indie cinema, such as documentaries and genre titles from Magnolia’s library. They include the award-winning doc “RBG,” about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “We Are X,” a rock music doc, and “I Am Not Your Negro,” which examines American racism and those who fought against it.
The National Film Board of Canada and Tubi have signed a new distribution deal which will bring NFB films to the ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) platform across Canada, the United States, and Australia. The alliance begins with 29 titles that showcase award-winning documentaries, including “Angry Inuk,” “The Apology” and “A Better Man.”
The PBS Short Film Festival will stream from July 11-22 on all PBS and member station digital platforms, including PBS.org, YouTube, and the PBS Video App. This year’s festival will feature more than 20 short-form independent films presented in five categories: Family, identity, culture, humanity, and race. The lineup includes films from the Center for Asian American Media, Independent Television Service, Reel South, Black Public Media, and Latino Public Broadcasting.