ANDY COHEN RETURNS: Coronavirus or not, What What Happens Live with Andy Cohen is returning with new episodes. The late night Bravo mainstay returned Monday night. The network tells Deadline that he’s feeling better despite his coronavirus diagnosis, and will remain in quarantine, shooting from his apartment. Celeb guests will appear via video chat, “with special games, at-home show-and-tells and surprises”.
JOHN KRASINKSI LAUNCHES SOME GOOD NEWS: John Krasinski is trying to keep busy and lift spirits amid the coronavirus pandemic. He has launched a new YouTube series, Some Good News, with the first episode featuring his Office co-star Steve Carell. “For years now I have been wondering, ‘Why is there not a news show dedicated entirely to good news?’ Desperately seeking my fix I reached out to all of you this week begging for some good news, boy did you deliver,” said Krasinski. The debut episode covers work being done by healthcare workers, and other stories of kindness.
BOOM IN UNSCRIPTED, FEMALE-LED: As the pandemic of COVID-19 rages on, trends shaping global content are becoming increasingly evident. According to Ampere Analysis, unscripted shows and female-led series are performing best. Ampere’s research director Guy Bisson tells Variety that their findings show “how streaming strategies (are) evolving in terms of production and development cycles. We can see very clearly that global streaming platforms are increasingly commissioning unscripted content, while linear platforms and channels are reducing the proportion of their (unscripted) commissioning.” Ampere found that women now lead the majority of U.S. dramas (56%), compared with male (34%) and co-ed (10%) lead protagonists, Variety reports.
ARETHA PREMIERE DELAYED: National Geographic‘s Genius: Aretha, starring Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin, will no longer drop on May 25th. A new premiere has not been revealed, as it remains unclear when production will be able to resume. In a statement, Nat Geo said: “We cannot wait to let Aretha’s voice sing, and in the words of the Queen herself, 'Being the Queen is not all about singing, and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.' In that spirit, we wish all of our viewers well in these challenging times, particularly those who are working in our communities to keep us all safe.”