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Kelly Souders, the co-showrunner of Superman drama Smallville and co-creator of The Hot Zone, has had her say on the complicated relationship between producers and creatives.

In a panel hosted by Deadline in Germany at Seriencamp yesterday, Souders railed against producers whose primary goal is imposing their will on a production without considering how to connect with their creative counterpart.

“As a producer, you’re constantly giving notes and you need to figure out your goal. Is it being right, or is it to get a tune out of someone?,” she questioned.

Her key message to producers addressing issues with creatives was to figure out how to deliver an opening line. “There are a lot of times I get notes in meetings that say, ‘Okay, there is a lot of work to be done here.’ Immediately, your front cortex shuts down and you go into fight or flight mode. I’m going to walk out,...

When your favorite TV show ends, you can feel like mourning. Sometimes, though, a show has gone on for so long that there's nothing left for it to do except to end. That was where "Smallville" was in 2011, when it began its 10th and final season on the CW.

"Smallville" followed a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) during his high school years. Running storylines included Clark's relationship with girl next door Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) and his friendship with future nemesis, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). Along the way, the show included a monster of the week formula where Clark battled people given superpowers from Kryptonite — "Smallville" was very consciously "Superboy" by way of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."

Season 10 was not announced to be the final season at the time, but the writers approached it as such. (The finale of "Smallville" is literally titled "Finale.") For one, while "Smallville" wasn't failing,...

When it comes to live-action superheroes on screen, Man of Steel fans are spoiled for choice. Each iteration provides a different Superman costume to cherish -- and compare, because hello, this is the internet and it's what we do around here.

Expectedly, any comparison boils down to personal taste and preference. For example: Zack Snyder's diehard army worships at the altar of "Man of Steel" and "Zack Snyder's Justice League," believing only his interpretation of Supes to be valid and the Snyderverse should be restored and all that. Others see George Reeves and Christopher Reeve's costumed Big Blue Boy Scouts as the more timeless and eye-catching iterations because they stay true to the comics. Point is: No opinion is wrong here.

To elaborate on how we decided on this specific order for this feature, certain considerations were taken, such as the comic book accuracy, overall influence of the costume,...

Laura Vandervoort played Supergirl in Smallville for season 7 before leaving the series, raising questions about why the character's story was so short. Vandervoort reprized the role for some guest appearances, but never returned to the main cast. Supergirl's Smallville story may have been impacted by the original Smallville show creators leaving the series after season 7.

Laura Vandervoort featured as Supergirl in Smallville in season 7 before leaving the DC series, raising questions for audiences regarding why her time on the show was so short. Vandervoort fit the role of Supergirl perfectly, and the character's story in the series was engaging, even though it did feature in one of the lowest rated seasons of Smallville. However, when Smallville moved to Metropolis in season 8, Vandervoort did not return as a series regular in it.

With various live-action versions of Supergirl having been seen in recent years, including Supergirl in the Arrowverse and the appearance of a darker,...

Exclusive: Fox’s 2023-2024 schedule will not include the network’s two highest-rated drama series of 2022-23.

The move of flagship 9-1-1 to ABC was announced in May. Now its spinoff, 9-1-1: Lone Star, which was renewed for a fifth season by Fox in May, will not return with new episodes this spring. Instead, the drama starring Rob Lowe will produce 12 episodes to air in fall 2024, making fans’ wait for Season 5 extra long.

Like any other linear or streaming series, 9-1-1: Lone Star has been impacted by the double Hollywood strikes. Earlier this fall, Fox and producing studio 20th Television had been discussing an 18-episode order — six episodes for midseason — and 12 for fall, sources said. As the SAG-AFTRA strike stretched into November, those plans changed, and the two sides ultimately agreed on 12 episodes for fall 2024.

Fox needs 9-1-1: Lone Star next fall.

Smallville's Justice League is brought to life in stunning fan art, showcasing Tom Welling's Superman alongside his co-stars in their respective costumes. Bart Allen, also known as Impulse, finally gets to wear an armored Flash suit in the artwork, resembling the one worn by Ezra Miller's Scarlet Speedster. The fan art not only gives fans the Superman hero shot they never got in the series but also provides upgraded versions of characters like Green Arrow, Aquaman, Cyborg, Supergirl, and Lex Luthor.

Young Clark Kent’s Justice League appears as never before in jaw-dropping fan art. The WB and later the CW’s television series Smallville slowly but surely began assembling its own version of the DC superhero team to surround the Last Son of Krypton, before he became Superman in the series finale. In an inspiring collection of new artwork from @buffy2ville, fans can witness Tom...

Fox is bringing in some repeats of 9-1-1: Lone Star to its fall schedule as it tries to remind viewers that scripted drama still has a place on broadcast TV amid the writers and actors strikes.

The move sees unscripted competition series I Can See Your Voice, which has completed production of its third season, to midseason.

Season 4 of 9-1-1: Lone Star will air starting on Tuesday September 19 at 9 pm, after season 3 of Name That Tune.

The hope is that it can get some traction for the return of 9-1-1: Lone Star with its fifth season once the dual strikes are over. It comes as the show’s parent show 9-1-1 was not renewed by Fox in May, instead set to move to ABC, whose sibling studio 20th TV produces, once the strikes are over.

Other broadcast networks are doing similar things; ABC has repeats of...

“9-1-1” is officially done at Fox, with the broadcaster canceling the series after six seasons. However, the show will be moving to ABC for its seventh season, Variety has confirmed. In addition, the sister series “9-1-1: Lone Star” has been renewed for Season 5 at Fox.

“It has been an honor to be the founding network of ‘9-1-1’ and we are grateful to Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, together with Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Ryan Guzman and the rest of the cast and crew, and 20th Television for delivering such an impactful series to Fox,” the network said in a statement. “We wish them well after ‘9-1-1’s’ final Fox season concludes.”

“9-1-1” was originally picked up at Fox when the network and studio 20th Television were part of the same company. But since Disney acquired the studio in 2019, Fox...

Fox has renewed 9-1-1: Lone Star, starring Rob Lowe, for a fifth season. It will be the only 9-1-1 series on the network next season as flagship 9-1-1 is not being renewed. (It is moving to ABC.)

A spinoff from 9-1-1, Lone Star is Fox’s second-highest-rated and most watched drama behind the mothership first responder series. Produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television and Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, 9-1-1: Lone Star gives a look into the lives of the police, fire, and ambulance departments of Company 126 in Austin.

The series stars Lowe, Gina Torres, Ronen Rubinstein, Sierra McClain, Jim Parrack, Natacha Karam, Brian Michael Smith, Rafael Silva, Julian Works, Brianna Baker as well as Kelsey and Skyler Yates.

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear are creators, executive producers and writers. Bradley Buecker is an executive producer and directed the series premiere. Alexis Martin Woodall,...

A rejected plan for a Smallville episode reveals Clark could've flown before the finale. Ever since the beginning of the series, Smallville was beholden to a guiding principle commonly referred to as the show's "No Flights, No Tights" rule. Because Smallville was always meant to be a story about Clark's journey toward becoming Superman, it was decided that Tom Welling's character couldn't fly or wear the suit until it was time for the show to end.

Along the way, Smallville found ways to skirt the rules, such as the time Clark's Kryptonian persona took over his body and flew in the season 4 premiere. That being said, it held Clark back from properly learning the ability until the series ended. Over the course of several seasons, Clark gradually unlocked each of Superman's classic powers, from x-ray vision to arctic breath. Flying, however, was saved for last. A memorable moment in...

Exclusive: Neal McDonough (The Flash), D.B. Woodside (Lucifer) and Amanda Schull (Suits) are set for key recurring roles opposite Rob Lowe on the fourth season of Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star.

McDonough plays Sgt. Ty O’Brien, a hard-assed police sergeant who we met last season when he butted heads with Owen (Lowe). McDonough guest-starred as the character in one episode in Season 3.

Woodside will portray Trevor, a wholesome, handsome, charismatic, father and preacher. His new job has brought him and his daughter to Texas, but their new city greets them with a rare and dangerous storm.

Schull will play Special Agent Rose Casey, an FBI agent investigating the members of an extremist group. She believes the group is planning a dangerous attack and needs Owen’s help gathering evidence to strengthen the case.

In 9-1-1: Lone Star, 9/11 firefighter Captain Owen Strand (Lowe), along with his son,...

“I’m always interested in the moral ambiguities in all of us,” declares Tony Goldwyn about the complicated character he portrays in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” the latest installment of the hit National Geographic anthology drama thriller. “We all cross moral boundaries and tell ourselves that we’re not doing it, so Bruce had a need to see himself as a hero, and as a patriot and as a soldier of good and a do-gooder and that was tremendously important to him,” he explains, adding for our recent webchat that, “he really formed an identity of goodness, service, expertise, intellect and faith.” Watch our exclusive video interview above

See over 400 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders

Goldwyn stars as real-life microbiologist Bruce Edwards Ivins in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” which is based on the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name by Richard Preston. Developed by Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders, it also stars Daniel Dae Kim,...

What is a showrunner’s worst nightmare? What keeps you up at night when you’re right in the thick of production? What film or series inspired you to work in television?

These were some of the questions answered by five of today’s top TV showrunners and producers when they joined Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” group roundtable panel with 2022 Emmy contenders. Watch our full group chat with Dave Burd (“Dave”), Joe Wiseman (“Ghosts”), Tracy Oliver (“Harlem”), Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders (“The Hot Zone: Anthrax”) and John Hlavin to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share...

“One of the things we loved about the first season is that it was a bit of a procedural, a bit of a horror story,” declares co-creator and co-showrunner Brian Peterson about revisiting the high-stakes tension of the acclaimed “Hot Zone” anthology series, particularly in a time when we are living within a shared experience of a real-lie pandemic. “it really, at the end of the day was a character study of these people caught in this impossible situation,” he explains, adding for our recent Q&a, “what ‘Anthrax’ gave us was another one of those situations.”

We talked with Peterson and co-creator and co-showrunner Kelly Souders as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022 Emmy Awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See over 200 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders

“The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is the second installment in National Geographic’s “Hot Zone” anthology series,...

Six top TV showrunners will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022 Emmy Awards contenders. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Wednesday, May 18, at 6:00 p.m. Pt; 9:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Rob Licuria and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.

RSVP today to our entire ongoing Emmy contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2022 contenders:

Dave (FX)

Synopsis: A neurotic mid-20s suburbanite’s convinced he’s destined to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Now he’s got to prove it to everyone else.

Bio: Dave Burd was a Writers Guild Awards nominee for “Dave.

Mailing envelopes full of anthrax spores to individuals is certainly an intimate and personal attack, but because of the ability of anthrax to infect anyone in the area who inhales it once it is in the air, it is also a widespread act of terrorism. The second season of National Geographic’s “Hot Zone” anthology, aptly subtitled “Anthrax,” balances both elements while covering a seven-year period in the FBI’s case to uncover who was responsible for the 2001 attacks.

“The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” which premieres Nov. 28 at 9 p.m. on the linear cabler, follows 2019’s freshman season of the anthology series that centered on the 1989 Ebola crisis. Brian Peterson, co-showrunner of “Hot Zone: Anthrax,” notes that Ebola was a contagion story, so it was about “keeping panic in” and therefore “very claustrophobic.” Now, the second season is “blown out.”

“We go to Florida, we go to D.C., we go to New York,...

Daniel Dae Kim has been acting for three decades, starting his own production company, 3Ad, eight years ago. But his turn on National Geographic’s “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” which premieres Nov. 28, marks the first time he has taken leading man status. As FBI agent Matthew Ryker on the anthology series, based on the real-life anthrax terrorist threats that began in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Kim is the face of the government organization in addition to the face of the show — which he notes is a “significant step in representation.”

“The Hot Zone” showrunners Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders have said you helped them shape the character of Matthew Ryker. Why was it important to have that agency, even without a producer title?

It’s always nice when an actor can have, as you say, a sense of agency in their character because we’re the ones who...

Just a week after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, mysterious letters containing deadly anthrax spores began arriving at news outlets and politicians’ offices. Five people died; 17 were infected. The limited series The Hot Zone: Anthrax, dramatizes the hunt for the killer by FBI agent–microbiologist Matthew Ryker (Daniel Dae Kim). “We put you in the shoes of people who were on the ground, remind everyone what a tense and terrifying time it was,” says executive producer Kelly Souders. Watch the trailer below for a peek at that time.  Parallel to the unflagging efforts of Ryker, a fictional character, is the work of real-life U.S. Army biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins (Tony Goldwyn), who came under suspicion even as he tested samples for the investigation. Series researchers created a 100-page timeline to follow, but the story flashes further back. “We’re delving into the lives of Bruce and of Ryker,” says exec producer Brian Peterson.

Apple TV Plus released a first look at “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” which launches Sept. 30. The series’ companion podcast will also launch that same day.

Stewart returns to host a television series 16 years after he closed out his run on “The Daily Show.” He jokes about that in the clip, saying, “This is what I look like now.” But this new series is described as a “current affairs series,” rather than a talk show.

In it, Stewart will welcome a wide range of guests from celebrities, such as Jason Alexander, participating in sketches to experts on topics that the struggle for comprehensive veteran care and supporting the working class, and everyday people discussing their personal issues in America. Undoubtedly, healthcare will also come up, as Stewart has spent much of his time over the last few years fighting for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. The podcast will expand upon each...

National Geographic revealed today during their TCA session a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of the upcoming six-episode limited series, The Hot Zone: Anthrax.

Starring Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn, the series will premiere during a three-night event over Thanksgiving weekend, beginning on Sunday, November 28.

The first season of the anthology series, featuring Julianna Margulies, focused on the Ebola outbreak and became the network’s most-watched scripted series ever.

The behind-the-scenes clip for the new iteration showcases an early look into the making of the series, featuring filming moments and interviews with cast and crew, including Tony Goldwyn (Bruce Ivins), Daniel Dae Kim (Matthew Ryker), showrunners Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders, director Daniel Percival and production designer Britt Doughty.

With the world still reeling after the attacks on 9/11, America faces a second wave—the anthrax letters.

Targeting journalists and politicians, mail with anthrax powder kills five people and causes panic across the United States.

Following the success of National Geographic limited series The Hot Zone, showrunner-EPs Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson and EP David Zucker looked at around 100 ideas for a second season, landing subject-wise on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001.

From the perspective of Peterson, The Hot Zone: Anthrax was “a really good companion piece” for the original—focused on an outbreak of Ebola and the scientists working to combat it—because it wasn’t a story about a virus, but instead “about bacteria in a targeted situation, [a story that] still lived roughly in same world.”

Souders said during the show’s panel today at TCA that it felt like “the right time” to tell this story “during a pandemic, when science is at the forefront.

“Definitely, being able to portray scientists as the heroes of today was important for us,” Peterson added, “and was a huge thing for National Geographic as well.”

Zucker noted...

“The Hot Zone” quickly became National Geographic’s most-watched scripted series when its ebola-focused Season 1 premiered in 2019. Now, National Geographic is setting its sights on a new crisis for Season 2 in the form of the the 2001 anthrax attacks.

The six-episode “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” which stars Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn, will premiere on November 28 and will air over three nights. Kim, Goldwyn, and the series’ executive producers discussed the upcoming season during a virtual panel during the Television Critics Association 2021 Summer Press Tour on Wednesday.

National Geographic’s synopsis for Season 2 reads: “With the world still reeling after the attacks on 9/11, America faces a second wave — the anthrax letters. Targeting journalists and politicians, mail with anthrax powder kills five people and causes panic across the United States. Limited series ‘The Hot Zone: Anthrax’ follows FBI Special Agent Matthew Ryker (Kim) as he tracks down the killer, finding himself...

Although executive producer Brian Peterson said he and executive producer Kelly Souders probably had “about 100 ideas” for a second season of “The Hot Zone,” diving into the anthrax scare that followed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks quickly rose to the top for them.

“The first season was very much about an outbreak. It was about a virus,” Peterson explained during the show’s Television Critics Assn. press tour panel on Aug. 18. “This is a story that’s about bacteria and about a very targeted situation that still lived within the same timeframe and world, roughly, as the first season, so it felt like a really good companion piece.”

The first season centered on the ebola crisis in the early 1990s while the second follows both FBI Agent Matthew Ryker (Daniel Dae Kim) as he investigates the suspicious mailings sent to newsmakers and government officials and fights to...

Finally. Smallville is flying its way onto Blu-ray for the first time ever this October in honor of the Emmy-winning show's 20th anniversary, courtesy of Warners Bros. Home Entertainment. Starring Tom Welling as a young Clark Kent in the years before he fights crime as Superman, the series ran for 10 seasons with 218 total episodes. They'll all be packed together on the new Blu-ray set dubbed Smallville: The Complete Series 20th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray and DVD.

Per the press release: "The groundbreaking, Emmy-winning 10-season hit that redefined the origins of the world's greatest superhero is all here - from Krypton refugee Kal-El's arrival on Earth through his tumultuous teen years to Clark Kent's final steps toward embracing his destiny as the Man of Steel. Relive a decade's worth of thrills in fantastic adventures full of action, heart and humor in abundance, all anchored by the marvelous performance of Tom Welling at its center.

National Geographic has revealed its full upfront slate for the upcoming 2021-22 season, with “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” starring Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn, among the programs for the Disney-owned brand.

Nat Geo’s Content president Courteney Monroe touted the offerings during the network’s upfront presentation on Tuesday, which included previews from far-flung locales. Popular series such as “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” “Secrets of the Zoo” and “Life Below Zero” will be returning, while Shark Week celebrates its 10th anniversary. Garth Brooks will narrate “National Parks,” a new series that will showcase the grandeur of America’s various wildlife locations, and “Free Solo” star Alex Honnold will a climbing team up 1,000 feet of sheer rock on a remote island in the Amazon jungle for “Explorer.”

See National Geographic’s full 2021-22 Upfront Slate:

Blockbuster Natural History Series and Events

National Parks — New Series

Narrated by Garth Brooks, the...

The Hot Zone will return later this year!

National Geographic has confirmed Thanksgiving weekend as the airdate for its limited series, The Hot Zone: Anthrax, starring Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn.

The three-night event will premiere Sunday, November 28.

The Hot Zone Season 1 focused on the Ebola outbreak and became the network’s most-watched scripted series ever.

"With the world still reeling after the attacks on 9/11, America faces a second wave—the anthrax letters," reads the official logline.

"Targeting journalists and politicians, mail with anthrax powder kills five people and causes panic across the United States."

The series follows FBI Special Agent Matthew Ryker (Kim) as he tracks down the killer, finding himself ensnared in an unstable web of psychological warfare.

Bruce Ivins (Goldwyn) is the brilliant microbiologist who becomes embroiled in the hunt.

The six-hour scientific thriller follows last year’s The Hot Zone, which was National Geographic’s...

The Hot Zone: Anthrax, the six-part follow-up to National Geographic’s hit limited series The Hot Zone, will premiere on Sunday, Nov. 28, the final night of the Thanksgiving weekend, and air as a three-night event.

It will follow the air pattern of the six-hour original installment, which debuted on the final night of another holiday weekend, Memorial Day 2019, and aired over three consecutive nights. Focused on the Ebola outbreak, it became the network’s most-watched scripted series ever.

The Hot Zone: Anthrax, starring Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn, is set after 9/11. With the world still reeling after the attacks, America faces a second wave—the anthrax letters. Targeting journalists and politicians, mail with anthrax powder kills five people and causes panic across the United States. The Hot Zone: Anthrax follows FBI Special Agent Matthew Ryker (Kim) as he tracks down the killer, finding himself ensnared in an unstable web of psychological warfare.

Exclusive: Enrico Colantoni (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) is set to play Rudy Giuliani in an episode of The Hot Zone: Anthrax, and Morgan Kelly (Mindhunter) will recur opposite Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim in the second installment of Nat Geo’s scientific thriller anthology series.

As previously announced, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners for the new installment, which will focus on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001. The series hails from National Geographic Channel, Scott Free Productions and 20th Television.

The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists,...

Ian Colletti (Preacher), Dawn Olivieri (House of Lies) and Denyce Lawton (Tyler Perry’s House of Payne) are set for recurring roles opposite Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn in The Hot Zone: Anthrax, the second installment of National Geographic’s scripted anthology series. Filming is underway in Toronto.

The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where another deadly act of terrorism rocked the United States. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the country. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists, FBI agents and government departments slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.

Colletti will play Agent Chris Moore, a newbie to the bureau with a dry sense of humor. A graduate of Quantico and is eager to learn under a seasoned agent,...

Exclusive: Harry Hamlin and Dylan Baker have joined the cast of The Hot Zone: Anthrax, the second installment of National Geographic’s scripted anthology series.

The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where another deadly act of terrorism rocked the United States. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the country. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists, FBI agents and government departments slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.

Hamlin will portray Tom Brokaw, the respected journalist and anchor for NBC News. On camera, Brokaw is the steady voice of reason for a post-9/11 nation. Off camera, he is a protective father figure to those who work for him. Brokaw himself became a...

National Geographic has lined up the next two stars of its The Hot Zone franchise.

National Geographic, with Scott Free Productions and 20th Television, announced today that Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim will star in the next installment of the scripted anthology series The Hot Zone: Anthrax.

As previously announced, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners, focusing this season’s limited series on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001.

Principal photography will begin this winter 2021 in Toronto.

In a timely limited series that depicts the plight and eventual triumph over a National threat, The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism.

Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the U.S.

Nat Geo has cast Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim as the leads for Season 2 of “The Hot Zone,” which is focused on the anthrax attacks following 9/11.

“The Hot Zone” was originally intended as a limited series. But when Season 1, which was about Ebola, became the most-watched scripted series in the cable channel’s history, “The Hot Zone” became an anthology series.

As previously announced, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers for the “Anthrax” season. Principal photography is set to begin shortly in Toronto.

“The Hot Zone: Anthrax” takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, when the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing deadly anthrax spores were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York, and the anonymous assault claimed five lives and spread panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads,...

Scandal alum Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim are set as the leads in The Hot Zone: Anthrax, the second installment of Nat Geo’s scientific thriller anthology series. As previously announced, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners for the new installment, which will focus on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001. Principal photography will begin this winter in Toronto. The series hails from National Geographic Channel, Scott Free Productions and 20th Television.

The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists, FBI agents and...

National Geographic has chosen its stars for its next installment of the highly-rated, disease-focused anthology series, “The Hot Zone: Anthrax.”

Today, the flagship channel, along with Scott Free Productions and 20th Television (a division of Disney Television Studios), announced that Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn will lead the six-episode show that centers on the anonymous bioterror attacks that caused panic across the country mere weeks after the chaos of 9/11. The limited miniseries depicts the trials of Usamriid scientists, FBI agents and Justice Department personnel that joined forces to triumph over the national threat that claimed five lives and left 17 others ill. After a slew of turf wars and false alarms, the unlikely interagency team eventually cracks the case and closes in on the prime suspect.

“Tony and Daniel are both wonderfully versatile and dimensional actors who will bring complexity and depth to these characters,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice...

The Hot Zone is birthing a sequel at Nat Geo.

The network’s highest-rated scripted series to date, has been greenlit for a second season, which will focus on the anthrax attacks of 2001.

From Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson return as executive producers and showrunners for this next installment.

“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president, Global Scripted Content and Documentary Films.

“As the world battles Covid-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, “The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is a scientific thriller for our time.”

In 2001, just weeks after 9/11, the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York.

The anonymous assault claimed five lives,...

“The Hot Zone” is officially coming back for a second season at Nat Geo.

The network has given the greenlight to a second season of the disease-centered drama, focusing on the anthrax attacks of 2001.

“Hot Zone” hails from Touchstone Television (a division of Disney Television Studios), 20th Television, ABC Signature and Scott Free Productions. Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson are both set to return as executive producers and showrunners for the second installment.

“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president of global scripted content and documentary films at Nat Geo. “As the world battles Covid-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, ‘The Hot Zone: Anthrax’ is a scientific thriller for our time.”

The second season will depict the events which occurred just weeks...

Nat Geo is going back to “The Hot Zone.” The cable network ordered a season of the now-anthology series that will center on the anthrax attacks in 2001.

The anthrax attacks took place in the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when letters containing the poisonous and deadly substance were sent to unsuspecting victims.

The anonymous assault claimed five lives, left 17 others sick and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of Usamriid scientists (The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Defense’s lead research laboratory), FBI agents and Justice Department personnel slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.

“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president,...

Exclusive: National Geographic has greenlighted a second season of scientific thriller The Hot Zone, which will focus on the anthrax attacks of 2001. Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson return as executive producers and showrunners of the new installment, produced by Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions. Preliminary casting for The Hot Zone: Anthrax is already underway.

“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, EVP, Global Scripted Content and Documentary Films. “As the world battles Covid-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, The Hot Zone: Anthrax is a scientific thriller for our time.”

The Hot Zone started off as a Julianna Margulies-starring limited series, chronicling the Ebola virus outbreak, which launched on Memorial Day 2019 and became Nat Geo’s most watched scripted series ever and second most-watched series overall.

After Smallville finished its seventh season during May 2008, the Superman origin story was ready to close one chapter in order to begin a new one. Having followed Clark Kent’s (Tom Welling) young years, the eighth season of The CW drama became an evolution as it began taking the next step to get the Last Son of Krypton closer towards his destiny. With the show’s creator Alfred Gough and Miles Millar stepping down as the showrunners, the torch was passed to long-time writers/producers Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer, Kelly Souders, and Brian Peterson.

Related: Smallville Season 1: Best & Worst Episodes, Ranked

Those weren’t the only big changes as this was the first season to not feature Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. While Kristin Kreuk’s Lana Lang returned for a multi-arc, Smallville was moving forward with new stories, characters that would continue to bring Clark close to becoming Superman.

Included in American Scientist magazine’s list of “books that shaped a century of science,” Richard Preston’s non-fiction classic The Hot Zone has long been considered the definitive study of the origins of the Ebola virus. It is also, as chiller writer Stephen King would testify, a gripping read: “The first chapter of The Hot Zone is one of the most horrifying things I’ve read in my whole life,” he famously wrote, “and then it gets worse.” It was this perfect mix of drama, information and entertainment that drew in its writer-showrunner duo of Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson. “Richard’s book was such a page-turner,” says Souders, “that I’d say about halfway into it we realized we wanted to do it and that there was no turning back.” Add the involvement of Ridley Scott’s Scott Free company and the deal was sealed. “It was a no-brainer,...

When they first went to work creating the National Geographic Channel's limited series The Hot Zone, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson were excited to dig into this true story about the origins of the Ebola virus. It was going to be a thrill, Souders recalls, "to get into the nitty-gritty of it all and realize that viruses were more terrifying than anything we could write as fiction."

That excitement lasted right up until a new Ebola outbreak in Congo started making news just as they started production in August 2018. Suddenly, it all got uncomfortably real and the ...

Richard Preston’s 1994 book “The Hot Zone” reflects on the origins of Ebola and the 1980s outbreak that saw the fatal disease hit U.S. soil, and follows the journeys of many individuals who were touched by it at the time. But Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders’ limited series adaptation honed in more specifically on one woman’s experience: Lt. Col. Nancy Jaax (played by Julianna Margulies), who was appointed to work on the Ebola outbreak operation for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Fear Factor

Peterson and Souders wanted to match the heightened level of situational drama for their viewing audience, but because they were working with National Geographic, it was also imperative to root the series in reality when it came to such science.

“We really had to straddle these two worlds,” Peterson says. “There are scenes where the audience won’t know what’s going on,...

You may not recognize their names immediately, but if you’ve been a regular television watcher the past 15 years you’ve likely seen the work of Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders. They rose from writers to executive producers on “Smallville” and have produced and written for programs such as “Political Animals,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Under the Dome” and “Salem.” Most recently they were consulting producers on the first two seasons of NatGeo’s “Genius.” Now, they have reunited with the new Disney network for “The Hot Zone,” a six-episode mini-series based on the best-selling non-fiction novel by Richard Preston which screens over three nights beginning Monday, May 27 at 9 Pm.

Continue reading ‘The Hot Zone’ Producers On Julianna Margulies, Adapting Non-Fiction & Those Clunky Suits [Podcast] at The Playlist.

“The Hot Zone,” a new limited series that played at the Tribeca Film Festival April 30 ahead of its debut on National Geographic May 27, begins with a graphic burst of effluvium. A boil-covered air passenger flying over central Africa discharges vomit; later, in the hospital, he practically explodes blood onto a doctor, who very slowly blinks, as if in disbelief that a person could contain so much foul fluid.

These early sequences fulfill several purposes. For one thing, they warn off potential viewers with weak stomachs, and signal to those sticking around exactly what this story will entail. More crucially, they indicate quite how serious are the stakes of this series, about the fight against the Ebola virus after a stateside outbreak in 1989. Death is nothing new on television. But the grotesque hemorrhaging Ebola induces in its unlucky sufferers brings home the gravity of the story, and the courage of its players.

Kelly Souders was “terrified” after reading “The Hot Zone,” Richard Preston Jr.‘s nonfiction bestseller about an Ebola outbreak outside of Washington, D.C. Souders adapted the book into a limited series with her producing partner Brian Peterson and Jeff Vintar, casting Julianna Margulies as the military doctor who works to keep the deadly virus from spreading before it’s too late. Watch our exclusive video interview with Souders and Peterson above.

See Julianna Margulies interview: ‘The Hot Zone’

Souder was intrigued by the story of Dr. Nancy Jaax and her husband, Dr. Jerry Jaax (Noah Emmerich), who’s a fellow soldier. “Obviously, a woman in the military in 1989 was of particular interest to us,” she reveals. Nancy is doubted at every turn, including, at times, by her own spouse, who puts himself in dangerous situations to protect her even though she’s fully prepared to look out for herself.

The 18th Tribeca Film Festival will host big screen world premieres of major new small screen shows such as The Boys, Chernobyl, Tuca & Bertie and The Hot Zone. There will also be a special Tribeca Talks Farewell Conversation with the cast and creator of Mr. Robot and the creative team behind The Simpsons will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the longest-running animated series in television history.

James Kleinmann takes a look at some of the TV highlights at this year’s Tribeca, for the full lineup and to purchase tickets head to the official Tribeca website.

The Simpsons – 30th Anniversary The Simpsons – 30th Anniversary. Image courtesy of Fox

Following a screening of the episodes Marge vs the Monorail and The Day the Earth Stood Cool, the creative team behind The Simpsons will celebrate the show’s incredible thirty year run, and counting. Executive producers James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean and Matt Selman,...

Julianna Margulies swore she’d never again get sucked into memorizing reams of medical terminology following years on the hit show ER, but she couldn’t resist jumping on the lead role in National Geographic’s upcoming drama The Hot Zone in which she once again plays a medical professional—this time a pathologist.

Based on true events, with Richard Preston’s novel of the same name as source material, Margulies is Nancy Jaax, a doctor in the midst of the ebola crisis, joined by co-stars Topher Grace, Noah Emmerich, Liam Cunningham, Robert Sean Leonard and Grace Gummer.

“I was looking for a light comedy,” Margulies joked on stage at Deadline’s The Contenders Emmys on Sunday. I thought, ‘This sounds good! Ebola, yay!'”

And that complicated medical terminology was of course a part of the job. “The truth is I didn’t actually give it enough thought in terms of the dialogue being medical,...

The Tribeca Film Institute and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have announced the three Tfi Sloan Filmmaker Fund 2019 grantees, awarding them a total of $150,000.

The creators behind “Asia A,” “Bolichicos,” and “Wiring Utopia” have been chosen as the new grant winners.

“The 2019 slate of Tfi Sloan grantee teams represents our most international year yet,” said Tfi executive director Amy Hobby. “Each project deeply impacted the jury with fresh points of view, sense of timeliness, accessibility to wide audiences, and of course, their incorporation of compelling science, economics, and technology.”

From filmmaker Andrew Reid, “Asia A” portrays a college basketball player who suffers from a spinal cord injury, and must either accept his life as a paraplegic or hold out hope for a recovery. Venezuelan writer-director Juan Avella and Mexican producer Diego Nájera created “Bolichicos,” a film inspired by the true story of a 20-year-old in Venezuela who carries out a million-dollar currency exchange scam.

Festival sets cast reunions for The Simpsons, In Living Color.

The Tribeca Film Festival unveiled its line-up of TV screenings on Monday (18) including the world premieres of Amazon’s dark superhero comedy The Boys, fact-based drama series Chernobyl from HBO, and The Hot Zone from Nat Geo.

The full TV line-up at the New York festival, this year running from April 24-May 5, takes in eight series premieres, two season premieres, a feature documentary, and five independent pilots.

Other series getting world premieres at the event are Netflix’s animated comedy Tuca & Bertie and HBO’s Duplass brothers docuseries On...

Julianna Margulies is leaving behind the power suits and high heels she was accustomed to wearing while working on The Good Wife and Dietland, opting instead to wear military fatigues in National Geographic’s The Hot Zone. Margulies stars as Army scientist Lt. Col. Nancy Jaax in the small screen adaption of the 1994 best-selling novel by Richard Preston about the origins of the Ebola virus.

The six-part miniseries follows the heroic Jaax and her race to contain the viral hemorrhagic fever of Central African origins before an outbreak infects the U.S. population. A trailer for the series was released today at the Television Critics Association meeting.

Margulies was joined by co-stars Noah Emmerich, Liam Cunningham, Topher Grace, James D’Arcy, Paul James, and showrunners Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders for a Television Critics Association spring presentation panel on Sunday to discuss the drama set to air May 27-29 at 9/8c.