Roku Reveals New Originals from Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon, More; ‘Great American Baking Show’ Renewed
Roku Reveals New Originals from Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon, More; ‘Great American Baking Show’ Renewed
There’s seemingly no stopping the pipeline of new, original series in the planning stages at The Roku Channel. Just a couple of weeks ago, the service announced a whole slate of original Spanish-language content that would be coming to The Roku Channel in the months ahead from stars like Jennifer Lopez and Jaime Camil.
Those shows will be joined by several other original titles from Roku, the company has announced. At its 2023 New Fronts presentation with advertisers, Roku unveiled new original shows that will feature some pretty big names in their production teams, such as Zoe Saldaña, Sofia Vegara, Charlie Puth, and many others.
“Bringing together the power of the Roku platform and the strong storytelling of our top-tier global creative partners has made Roku Originals unmissable TV for millions of streamers,” Roku’s head of content David Eilenberg said. “We’re thrilled to delight our audience with new premium original series and proud to continue the Roku Originals stories that audience already love, by bringing several series back for more.”
The new originals coming to The Roku Channel in the months ahead include:
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“Celebrity Family Cook Off”: In each episode of “Celebrity Family Cook Off,” a food-loving celebrity and a family member face off against another celebrity family duo in a two-round battle, dinner followed by dessert. Each round of the competition will feature a culinary challenge inspired by a hit movie or television series. The winning celeb-family duo will receive a cash prize to donate to a charity of their choice. The participating celebrity families will be revealed at a later date. The series is hosted by Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, and produced by Sofia Vergara.
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“Charlie Makes a Record”: an unscripted comedy series that takes stories from Charlie’s real life and elevates them into borderline-surreal scenarios to show audiences a whole different side of Charlie and his talents. He’ll write new music, take his career to new heights, and attempt to balance super-stardom with a regular life… all while trying to silence the oppressive sense of crippling solitude racing through his head. This is the reality that exists in Charlie Puth’s brain—and you’ve never seen or heard anything like it.
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“Meet Me in Rome”: Following the successful debut of the Roku Original unscripted feature film “Meet Me in Paris,” Roku has ordered a second installment of its reality rom-com franchise: “Meet Me in Rome.” In addition to a new setting, the sequel will follow a new group of young women looking for “love like in the movies.” Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Zoë Saldaña’s Cinestar Pictures will return to co-produce the “Meet Me in Rome” unscripted feature film.
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“Side Hustlers”: “Side Hustlers” is a docu-follow series where two savvy investors each mentor three aspiring entrepreneurs in a first-of-its-kind format. The investors guide the side hustlers through a high-stakes boot camp aimed at transforming their side hustles into sustainable main hustles that could potentially make millions. In the end, the investors and the side hustlers have a big decision to make: The investor decides if they want to put a large amount of cash into the business. And the side hustlers decide if they are going to walk into their boss’s office and finally quit their day job.
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“Special Delivery”: “Special Delivery” is the first-ever food competition show that tests chefs on how well they can craft dishes for at-home delivery. Chefs will not only be judged on how well their meals turn out, but on overall branding, packaging, and pricing of the meal specifically designed for home delivery. Each episode will feature a themed challenge, the results of which will be determined by both a panel of experts and an on-screen group of everyday Americans. Viewers can then get a literal taste of the action by immediately enjoying winning dishes from the show.
Additionally, Roku revealed that it has renewed several series for new seasons. Roku Original “Honest Renovations,” hosted and executive produced by Jessica Alba and Lizzy Mathis, will return for a second season. “The Great American Baking Show” will also return for a second season, and Roku will bring audiences its second “The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holiday” special, featuring a new lineup of celebrity bakers, this holiday season.
These titles join other planned originals on The Roku Channel such as “WWE: Recruits,” which will show the journey of aspiring wrestlers as they try to become the next WWE superstar. Other free streamers like Crackle are also getting in on the original content game, but they have a long way to go to catch up with The Roku Channel.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers a broad mix of movies, TV shows, live linear channels, and original programming. Available to all viewers — not just Roku device owners — the service features licensed content from major studios alongside Roku Originals, which include exclusive series, movies, and specials previously produced for Quibi, as well as new original projects developed specifically for the platform.