News

“Downward Dog” is being put to sleep. ABC has canceled the freshman comedy that launched in May, a network representative confirmed to TheWrap. Series co-creator Samm Hodges, who voiced the eponymous pooch, announced the news on Twitter on Friday with a message from himself and co-creator Michael Killen. “Got the very surprising news that ABC is not moving forward with ‘Downward Dog,'” the statement reads. “They loved it creatively and really wanted to make more, but couldn’t find a financial path to do so.” Also Read: 14 Shows That Were Canceled on Awful Cliffhangers (Photos) Hodges and Killen wrote...

ABC has canceled new comedy series Downward Dog six episodes into its eight-episode first season. Co-creators Samm Hodges and Michael Killen just shared the news via Twitter. In the note to fans (read it below), they stress that the reasons for the cancellation were strictly financial and that they are “committed to finding a new home.” ABC was faced with making a renewal decision on Downward Dog, from Legendary TV and ABC TV Studios, as the options on the cast were to exp…...

Martin, the breakout star of ABC’s comedy “Downward Dog,” is a really chatty mutt, but the man who provides the voice of Martin the has gone through a lifelong journey to find his own voice. After overcoming a severe speech impediment that started in childhood, Samm Hodges is using that same heartache and experience to shape one of the most insightful and compelling narrators on network TV.

Hodges started stuttering around age seven, about the time when his mother died. The speech disorder only worsened to the point where Hodges even considered suicide.

Read More: ‘Downward Dog’ Creator Shares His Diary on How This Unlikely Show Every Got Made

“I lost my mother at a young age, and the family kind of just fell apart for a while,” Hodges said in an interview with IndieWire. “My dad moved us out to the woods, and I kind of lived in the 18th century.

Film to screen on June 5 in New York to commemorate Pride Month.

Brooklyn-based film and TV distributor FilmRise has acquired worldwide rights to Julie Sokolow’s documentary Woman On Fire.

The film premiered at the 2016 Doc NYC Film Festival and centres on Brooke Guinan, New York City’s first openly transgender firefighter.

Guinan’s father and grandfather served as New York firefighters, yet she experiences obstacles in her career in what remains a male-dominated profession.

Woman On Fire will screen to the public on June 5 at Bam Rose Cinemas in partnership with Brooklyn Pride. Guinan will be honoured as a Grand Marshal at this year’s Lgbt Pride March in New York on June 25.

Danny Yourd produced the documentary and Michael Killen, Kathy Dziubek, and Jim Kreitzburg of production company Animal Inc served as executive producers.

“We feel privileged to be able to share Brooke Guinan’s remarkable story of strength and resilience,” FilmRise CEO [link...

[Editor’s note: The following contains light spoilers for each of the shows described.]

“The Carmichael Show” – “Yes Means Yes”

Season 3, Episode 1

Directed by Gerry Cohen

Written by Kevin Barnett & Josh Rabinowitz

“The Carmichael Show” has never been afraid to present its audience with an idea or moment that cuts through the belly laughs and goes right for something that feels, for lack of a better term, real. Now in its third season, that practice is inextricably woven into the show’s DNA. The best news for fans and potential newcomers alike is that once that sharp intake of breath the subsides, it’s still one of the funniest shows on TV. – Steve Greene

Read More: ‘The Carmichael Show’ Review: TV’s Boldest Sitcom Is Funnier Than Ever, Even In A Season 3 Filled with Deep Questions

“Casual” – “Things to Do in Burbank When You’re Dead”

Season 3, Episode 2

Directed by Carrie Brownstein

Written by Zander Lehmann

In the second episode of “Casual’s” all-around excellent third season,...

A TV show about a talking dog might not sound like the setup for a thoughtful modern comedy, but Downward Dog is ready to buck (or, perhaps, bark) your expectations. The ABC program, based on a web series, has received positive reviews after premiering on May 17th.

Downward Dog stars Allison Tolman of Fargo fame as a down-on-her-luck protagonist whose best friend is her pet pup, Martin. Rather than restricting himself to barks, Martin expresses himself through spoken thought bubbles, musing on everything from existentialism to loneliness.

The result is a comedy that some critics have characterized as surprisingly dark and mature, leading to healthy scores on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. “[Martin’s] take on the biped-led world around him isn’t always accurate, but it is winning, just like his musings about his own life at knee level,” reads a review from A.V. Club.

The creators of Downward Dog,...

In the past, “talking” dogs haven’t been given their due in entertainment, often being used for farcical forays.

Michael Killen, one of the executive producers of ABC’s new comedy Downward Dog, knows this all too well: He helped bring the Taco Bell Chihuahua to life during his time working on commercials.

“Talking dogs just seemed low brow,” fellow Downward Dog executive producer Samm Hodges told People.

The pair wanted to change that, so they created a web series consisting of one-minute shorts that featured a talking dog speaking not about bacon or tacos, but the complexity of relationships.

Chicago – From “Mr. Ed” to “Dog with a Blog,” talking animals have had their place on TV. The latest has origins as a web series, with the clever title “Downward Dog.” The show premieres on Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 (9:30pEST/8:30pCST), on ABC TV, and features Ned the Dog as Martin, and human companions portrayed by Allison Tolman and Lucas Neff.

Ned the Dog, Allison Tolman and Lucas Neff of ‘Downward Dog’

Photo credit: ABC-tv

Allison is Nan, a Pittsburgh marketing guru for a retail company, who has just broke up with her on-again/off-again boyfriend Jason (Lucas Neff). Through it all, her loyal dog Martin (Ned, voice of Samm Hodges) narrates her twenty-something adventures, which includes workplace pals Jenn (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and boss man Kevin (Barry Rothbart). Between her personal life and work life, Nan tries to balance her emotions and romance, all while Martin just wants more attention and love.

“Downward Dog” was born nearly five years ago, and it all started when creators Michael Killen and Samm Hodges came across the Disney Channel series “Dog with a Blog.”

Killen, the owner of a Pittsburgh VFX production house, was aghast. As one of the minds behind Taco Bell’s infamous talking chihuahua, he had been hoping to do a show about talking animals for years. But this wasn’t it.

Read More: Here’s Why ABC’s Talking-Dog TV Show Belongs At the Sundance Film Festival

“I come in early one morning and my boss Michael looks distraught,” recalled Hodges, who was a commercial director at Killen’s company. “‘They took my idea,’ he says, ‘and they made a mess of it.'”

Killen then suggested that Hodges write it. Later that night, that’s exactly what Hodges did – and so began a wild ride that led from web short to ABC pilot,...

When Legendary Television executives decided to submit “Downward Dog” at Sundance, executive producer Samm Hodges laughed. On paper, a network show about a talking dog doesn’t sound like Sundance fare.

The ABC canine comedy follows Martin, a dog suffering from ennui and a bit of depression as he ruminates about his relationship with his owner, Nan (Allison Tolman). The twist: Martin narrates his life and speaks to the camera, but doesn’t actually interact with the show’s characters.

“It’s not the kind of thing that’s going to quickly going to be considered the best show ever,” Hodges said. “It’s a low-concept premise. And so I didn’t think we had any chance at all. When we got in, I was really shocked.”

But Legendary Television president Lauren Whitney said the production company gave it a shot because its unusual premise was “ambitious, independent, and brilliant — long the hallmarks of Sundance.

The Sundance Film Festival continues to embrace the diversity of great content being made today, with a full roster of special events programming that features established festival favorites like Jill Soloway, Rashida Jones and Gina Prince-Bythewood.

Read More: Sundance 2017 Announces New Frontier Lineup, Including 22 Vr Experiences and 11 New Installations

Making its world premiere at the fest is “I Love Dick,” Soloway’s Amazon comedy featuring Kevin Bacon as the titular Dick, a “charismatic artist” who upends the marriage of Kathryn Hanh and Griffith Dunne. In addition, the Netflix documentary “Hot Girls Wanted” gets a sequel directed by Rashida Jones; “Turned On” explores “the intersection of sex and technology,” per the official release.

Broadcast networks find themselves surprisingly well-represented in the line-up, with the ABC comedy “Downward Dog” (featuring Allison Tolman as a young woman with a special relationship with her dog) as well as the Fox limited series “Shots Fired,...

The road from web shorts to ABC primetime series was a long one for the chatty canine comedy “Downward Dog.”

It all started when Michael Killen, the co-founder of Pittsburgh-based VFX production house Animal, came up with a new idea for a talking dog.

Killen, whose credits include animating the infamous Taco Bell chihuahua (you remember – “Yo Quiero Taco Bell”), was looking to depict a dog in an entirely different way than usual. He enlisted commercial director Samm Hodges to write the scripts. That led to “Downward Dog,” a web series about Martin, a talking dog suffering from ennui and a bit of depression as he ruminates about his relationship with his owner, Nan.

Read More: ABC Upfronts Preview: First Look at New Shonda Rhimes, Kiefer Sutherland, Hayley Atwell Shows

“[Killen] had always wanted to do a dog thing that took dogs more seriously,” Hodges told IndieWire last week at the 2016 Palm Springs ShortFest.

In 2018, a new version of the Robinson family will lose their way amongst the stars, as Netflix has ordered a 10-episode remake of the Lost in Space series from the ’60s, with Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers) executive producing and also set to direct several episodes of the first season:

Press Release: Beverly Hills, CA - June 29, 2016 - Netflix, the world’s leading Internet TV network, has ordered a 10-episode first season of the one-hour sci-fi drama, from Legendary TV, based on the beloved 1960’s sci-fi classic from Irwin Allen. Reimagined by feature writing team Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Dracula Untold, Last Witch Hunter), with Zack Estrin (Prison Break) showrunning, the series will premiere worldwide on Netflix in 2018.

Taking its cues from the original series, the show centers around the Robinson family, who is forced to come together in a time of crisis. Stranded light years from their intended destination,...

One of the series in ABC’s upcoming TV lineup is based off a web series of the same name. It’s called Downward Dog, and its protagonist is a talking canine named Martin who waxes philosophical about his animal existence and has a complicated relationship with his owner, a single woman in her 20s.

The original Downward Dog web series was produced by Michael Killen and Samm Hodges, with Hodges providing the voice of Martin. In May, ABC picked up the show for a full season, with Fargo’s Allison Tolman starring as Martin’s owner. In its latest update, the broadcast network has slotted in Downward Dog as a midseason replacement for its upcoming fall 2016 lineup. Depending on how long the other shows on ABC’s slate last, Killen and Hodges’ talking dog shenanigans could premiere in either late 2016 or early 2017.

In advance of the Downward Dog’s premiere,...

ABC has released trailers for some of its new comedies and dramas as part of the 2016-17 series orders. Have a look below. American Housewife — Comedy Produced by Kapital Entertainment/ABC Studios. From writer/executive producer Sarah Dunn and executive producers Aaron Kaplan, Rick Weiner, Kenny Schwartz, and Ruben Fleischer Downward Dog — Comedy Produced by Legendary TV/ABC Studios. From writers/executive producers Samm Hodges and Michael Killen and executive producers…...

[caption id="attachment_48956" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ned as Martin and Allison Tolman as Nan on the Downward Dog TV show on ABC. (ABC/Bob D’Amico.)/caption]

Below, get a first look at the Downward Dog TV show, ordered to series by ABC. Based on the web series of the same name, ABC says Downward Dog features, "...a struggling millennial, Nan," (Fargo's Allison Tolman), "...from the point of view of her lonely and philosophical dog, Martin."

Downward Dog creators and writers Samm Hodges and Michael Killen will executive produce with Mosaic Media Group’s Jimmy Miller and Sam Hansen, and Animal’s Kathy Dziubek. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were executive producers of the pilot. The series is from Legendary Television and ABC Studios.

Read More…...

Barry Rothbart has joined the cast of ABC comedy pilot Downward Dog, based on the web series produced by Animal Media Group and creators/writers Samm Hodges and Michael Killen. It centers on Nan (Allison Tolman), a disorganized, unapologetic woman, and her dog (voiced by Hodges). Lucas Neff also stars. Rothbart will play Kevin, but no characters details are available. Repped by ICM and 3Arts, the actor-comedian’s credits include The Wolf of Wall Street and Comedy…...

Former Raising Hope star Lucas Neff is set as the male lead opposite Allison Tolman in the ABC comedy pilot Downward Dog. The pilot, a co-production between Legendary TV and ABC Studios, is based on the web series produced by Animal Media Group and creators/writers Samm Hodges and Michael Killen. It centers on a disorganized, unapologetic woman, Nan (Tolman), and her dog, Martin, voiced by Hodges. Neff will play Jason, Nan’s ex-boyfriend, who is something of a…...

Fargo standout Allison Tolman has landed the lead in ABC comedy pilot Downward Dog, about a woman and her dog, from Legendary TV. The pilot, a co-production between Legendary TV and ABC Studios, is based on the web series produced by Animal Media Group and creators/writers Samm Hodges and Michael Killen. Hodges and Killen will executive produce with Mosaic Media Group's Jimmy Miller and Sam Hansen and Animal's Kathy Dziubek. Tolman received a supporting actress Emmy last…...

ABC has given an off-cycle pilot production order to Downward Dog, a single-camera, half hour comedy about a woman and her dog, from Legendary TV. The project, which will be a co-production between Legendary TV and ABC Studios, began as a web series produced by Animal Media Group and creators/writers Samm Hodges and Michael Killen. Hodges and Killen will executive produce the series with Mosaic Media Group's Jimmy Miller and Sam Hansen and Animal's Kathy Dziubek. "Very…...

Jehane Noujaim's "The Square" edged out Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Act of Killing" to emerge as the big winner of the 2013 Ida Documentary Awards! The documentary about the 2011 Egyptian Revolution also beat Jason Osder's "Let the Fire Burn," Gabriela Cowperthwaite's "Blackfish," and Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell" for the prize.

Here's a full list of winners of the 2013 Ida Documentary Awards:

Best Feature Award

The Square

Director: Jehane Noujaim

Producer: Karim Amer; Executive Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Mike Lerner, Sarah Johnson, Jodie Evans, Lekha Singh, Gavin Dougan, Dan Catullo III, Lisa Nishimura, Adam Del Deo, Khalil Noujaim, Alexandra Johnes, Jeff Skol; Noujaim Films, Netflix Originals

Best Short Award

Slomo

Director: Josh Izenberg; Producer: Amanda Micheli; Executive Producer: Neil Izenberg; Big Young Films, Runaway Films

Best Limited Series Award

Inside Man

Producers: Kristen Vaurio, Lisa Kalikow, Shannon Gibson, Suzanne Hillinger, Lara Benario; Writers: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock; Executive Producers: Jeremy Chilnick,...

This is a tough awards season! Lots of great movies to see, so little time! I'm catching up like crazy before we vote for the Critics' Choice Movie Awards for the Broadcast Film Critics Association. So I apologize if I haven't updated you with the latest on the awards season 2013-2014! And there were many award-giving bodies announcing nominations.

We already told you about the Rome Film Festival and the Film Independent Spirit Awards, now let's talk about the 2013 Gotham Awards, the Ida Documentary Awards, the Cinema Eye, and the Producers Guild announcing its best documentary choices.

First stop, we have the 2013 Gotham Awards where Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" topped the nominations with three nods including best feature, best actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor and breakthrough actor for Lupita Nyong'o.

Winners will be announced on Dec. 2nd where Richard Linklater, Forest Whitaker, and Katherine Oliver (head of the NYC...