News

Jerah Milligan has signed with CAA for representation.

A multi-hyphenate creative artist, Milligan co-created and starred in Netflix’s “Astronomy Club,” which was executive produced by Kenya Barris and Dan Powell, and co-wrote, executive produced, and starred in an original presentation of “Sherlock Homies” for HBO Max.

As a director, he recently directed the sketch segments of Yvonne Orji’s latest HBO Special “A Whole Me.” Milligan’s short film “Mahogany Drive,” which he directed and co-wrote, was recently screened at the Slamdance Film Festival. His additional directing credits include Showtime’s “Desus & Mero” and MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out.” Milligan is a product of Viacom’s Viewfinder: Emerging Directors Program.

On screen, his acting credits include Netflix’s “Black Mirror,” “Broad City,” “Blue Bloods,” “Chicago P.D.,” and “The Detour.” Most recently, he appeared in Apple TV+’s “Helpsters” as Cheerleader Chadwick. He has also produced shows for MTV,...

Universal will continue to be in the business of Judd Apatow.

The company’s film and television studios announced on Wednesday that they have entered into multi-year production agreements with Apatow and his company Apatow Productions.

Apatow’s relationship with Universal Pictures began in 2005 with “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and has continued to be mutually successful. His films, including “Knocked Up,” “Trainwreck” and most recently “The King of Staten Island,” have grossed nearly $3 billion at the global box office. On the television side, he’s responsible for acclaimed comedies like “Freaks and Geeks,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Crashing” and “Love.” His latest documentary, “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,” won an Emmy.

“Judd has championed the industry’s most groundbreaking comedic voices for the past two decades and has inspired and guided an entire generation of filmmakers and creators,” said Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley, who made Wednesday’s...

Judd Apatow has hammered a multi-year production film and TV pact across NBCUniversal including Universal Pictures and Universal Studio Group. The parties’ working relationship began with 2005’s $177 million-plus grossing comedy blockbuster The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Apatow’s movies have grossed close to $3 billion around the world, the studio’s most successful original comedies.

Apatow is currently in post-production on the Billy Eichner-starring, Nick Stoller-directed Bros, which he produced. The movie is the first major studio film to feature an all LGBTQ+ principal cast. The movie hits theaters on September 30.

On the TV side, the new deal will cover Apatow’s work for both internal and external networks, including NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock. Multiple projects are in development including Dystrophia, a co-production between Utv and A24, starring comedian Steve Way (Ramy) and co-written with Jonathan Braylock and Ramy Youssef. Youssef is also producing with Apatow through his Cairo Cowboy production company.

Judd Apatow and his Apatow Productions have signed a multiyear production deal for both film and TV with Universal Pictures and Universal Studio Group, continuing the director’s relationship with the studio.

Apatow’s relationship with Universal dates back to 2005’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” and the upcoming “Bros” with Billy Eichner. This latest film is produced by Apatow and is currently in post-production at the studio. No specific film projects were announced as part of the deal.

On the television side, the new deal will cover Apatow’s activities for both internal and external networks, including Peacock. Apatow has multiple projects in development, including “Dystrophia,” a co-production between Utv and A24 and starring comedian Steve Way (“Ramy”) and co-written with Jonathan Braylock and Ramy Youssef. Youssef is also producing “Dystrophia” with Apatow through his Cairo Cowboy production company.

The half-hour series, loosely inspired by Way’s life with muscular dystrophy,...

[This post originally appeared as part of Recommendation Machine, IndieWire’s daily TV picks feature.]

Where to Watch “Astronomy Club”: Netflix

Watching “Astronomy Club” is a little like getting a sketch comedy syllabus. In the best possible way, a group of eight comedians manages to tick the boxes of everything you might expect from the show. Over six Netflix episodes, they fill out a collection of original songs, impressions, fake trailers, celebrity cameos, and even an absurdist spin on a holiday treat.

What ends up making these episodes really work, though, is the “reality show” framework that these are all built around. Yes, everyone is playing themselves. But even getting to know the scripted versions of Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, Keisha Zollar, and James III help make the sketches around them a little bit sharper. It’s a shortcut to knowing when everyone is playing against type or drafting off...

It’s the time of Peak TV! There’s TV everywhere! You can’t shake a stick without hitting another TV show on another streamer! TV! TV! TV!

All that’s true — until it’s not.

The sheer quantity of TV does not always equate to quality TV winning out, and each year, there are a number of worthy shows that don’t reach whatever mystical threshold television executives have ascertained is required to keep a project in production. This is even more true this year, with the business pressures created by the pandemic often — and some cynics would argue, conveniently — cited as the reason for cancellation.

Here, IndieWire lists, in alphabetical order, the year’s shows that were canceled too soon. They’re gone — but not forgotten, thanks to the afterlife they could receive on those same streaming outlets that didn’t want to fund new episodes. As it turns out,...

Shudder has had excellent content offerings for horror fans all month long, and they're not done yet! Today, they officially announced ShudderFest, their virtual event that will take place all day on Halloween! We have the full schedule of virtual events, that include Tony Todd, Robert Englund, a secret screening, and much more!

October 27, 2020 — New York, NY — Staying home for Halloween this year? Fear not: Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, is bringing the holiday to you with ShudderFest, a horror celebration you don’t need to leave the house to attend. This incredible day-long virtual event will feature panels, presentations, conversations and screenings led by legendary genre icons, fan-favorite musicians, and acclaimed directors, writers, and producers, free to all and available anywhere in the world via the shudderfest.com website.

Highlights of the event include a virtual hang with “horror royalty” including genre...

Exclusive: The team behind Netflix’s Astronomy Club are moving onward and upward following the cancellation of their sketch comedy show and have partnered with The Problem With Apu producer Cowboy Bear Ninja on a new project.

The comedy troupe are developing Sherlock Homies, a comedy series that they describe as Curb Your Enthusiasm-meets-Reno 911 about Harlem’s first all-black detective agency.

The series is the brainchild of Shawtane Bowen, who is one of eight members of Astronomy Club, which also includes Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar.

Bowen said that the show was informed by living in Harlem for eight years. “I had a lot of interactions with the cops,” he told Deadline. “I thought it’d be interesting to do a show on Harlem’s first and last all black detective agency.”

Cowboy Bear Ninja partner Michael Melamedoff, who...

Why was Astronomy Club cancelled? Recently, the cast and creators of the Netflix TV show spoke with IndieWire about the series' surprising cancellation.

From Kenya Barris, the comedy series features Upright Citizen Brigade’s first all-black sketch troupe. The cast includes Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses and Keisha Zollar.

Read More…...

The Kenya Barris-produced sketch show “Astronomy Club” has been canceled by Netflix after one season, TheWrap has learned.

The six-episode sketch series launched on the streaming service Dec. 6. A source familiar with the situation says the cancellation news was shared with the “Astronomy Club” team back in February.

Here’s the official description for “Astronomy Club,” which was produced by Barris’ Ink Society:

The members of the eponymous group, who first formed in 2014 and built a following through live performance in New York, include Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar. Sketches will explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the Black experience. Barris executive produces the series alongside showrunner Daniel Powell and Khalabo Ink Society’s Anni Weisband.

Also Read: Netflix Sets Premiere Date for Kenya Barris' 'Astronomy Club' -...

“Astronomy Club” will not be coming back for a second season.

Netflix has decided to cancel the sketch comedy series after only a single season. The series featured the titular sketch and improv group and was produced by Kenya Barris via his Khalabo Ink Society banner at Netflix

News of the cancelation was announced in a somewhat ironic tweet from the official “Astronomy Club” Twitter account last night.

“Seems like a good time to mention ‘Astronomy Club’ was sadly not renewed by Netflix. Thank you to all the fans who watched! Hoping that more black artists & comedians are given the platform to have voices in the future,” the show’s read.

Seems like a good time to mention #AstronomyClub was sadly not renewed by @netflix. Thank you...

Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show, exec produced by Kenya Barris, has been cancelled at Netflix after one season.

The show, which features the Upright Citizens Brigade’s first all-black troupe Astronomy Club, launched on December 6.

It featured sketches that explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the Black experience.

Black-ish creator Barris exec produces alongside showrunner Daniel Powell, who has worked on Inside Amy Schumer and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, and Khalabo Ink Society’s Anni Weisband.

The group, who first formed in 2014, built a following through live performance in New York. It includes Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar.

Guest stars included Ice Cube, Drew Tarver, Busy Philipps and Gillian Jacobs.

The cast and crew are understood to have been told of the decision in February.

The news was revealed on Twitter.

The premiere of “Astronomy Club” is so dense with fully-formed jokes, wry social commentaries, and wild left turns that you’d be forgiven for wondering if you accidentally dropped into the show’s second season rather than its first. There are sketches about a life or death hair emergency, the chain reaction of biases of people sizing each other up from either side of a locked apartment building door, and a harrowing disaster from the perspective of its gingerbread-men victims. There’s one about a support group for Magical Negroes who can’t let go of their need to help white people (think Bagger Vance), and another about Robin Hood getting a lesson in the intersection between class and race when he tries to rob a wealthy black family. Throughout, there’s a faux MTV-style reality show starring the Astronomy Club itself. This first episode sets the standard for “Astronomy Club” as clever,...

Let “Saturday Night Live” do all the President Trump sketches it wants. Over on HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” there are skits that cleverly parody how slow soul food restaurants are and how it feels to be overlooked in society with a recurring bit called “Invisible Spy.” Meanwhile, “Sherman’s Showcase” on IFC pokes fun at music-driven biopics with “This Is How He Did It: The Montell Jordan Story” and gives a nod in every episode to an obscure 1970s Afro Sheen commercial featuring Frederick Douglass. And Comedy Central’s “Alternatino with Arturo Castro,” mocks everything from drunk wedding guests to popstar Pitbull and the inhumane treatment at Ice detention centers.

When the new series “Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show” premieres on Netflix Friday, comedy lovers can expect the same type of culturally relevant topics and humor. Executive produced by Kenya Barris (“Black-ish”), the series pushes past the...

In today’s TV news roundup, Freeform’s “Grown-ish” hints at a potential pregnancy in Season 3, and Netflix releases the official trailer for Michelle Wolf’s new comedy special.

Dates

“Call the Midwife” will return to PBS for a holiday special on Dec. 25. The series follows nurses, midwives and nuns who visit poor, expectant mothers.

Paramount Network’s new scripted dramedy “68 Whiskey” premieres Jan. 15. As a follow-up to “Yellowstone” with Kevin Costner, “68 Whiskey” follows Army medics stationed in Afghanistan. The series stars Sam Keeley, Jeremy Tardy, Gage Golightly, Cristina Rodlo, Beth Riesgraf, Lamont Thompson, Nicholas Coombe and Derek Theler. Watch a preview below:

PBS’ “Expedition With Steve Backshall” premieres Jan. 15. The new 10-episode documentary series follows naturalist Steve Backshall as he adventures into undiscovered territory and endures extreme physical challenges. Watch a preview below:

Netflix announced the eight-episode second season of “Sex Education” will launch Jan. 17. Created by Laurie Nunn,...

Netflix will launch Kenya Barris’s Khalabo Ink Society Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show on December 6.

“Why the name Astronomy Club? We’re black and we’re all-stars. And like most stars, nobody knows our names,” quipped Keisha Zollar, an Astronomy Club member

The members of the eponymous group, who first formed in 2014 and built a following through live performance in New York, include Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar.

The show’s sketches will explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the Black experience. Barris executive produces the series alongside showrunner Daniel Powell and Khalabo Ink Society’s Anni Weisband.

Watch its first sketch above.

Netflix has revealed the premiere date for the sketch comedy series “Astronomy Club” from Kenya Barris’ Khalabo Ink Society and Irony Point.

The streamer also shared the first sketch from the show, which you can watch above.

Starring the New York-based improv and sketch comedy group, Astronomy Club, the series “will use comedy to discuss complex and nuanced real-world topics,” Netflix said. “Combining honesty with levity, sketches will explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the Black experience.”

Also Read: Comedian John Crist's Netflix Special Put On Hold Following Sexual Misconduct Accusations

Formed in 2013, Astronomy Club has performed in a variety of venues in and around New York City and was the first all-black house team at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. The group is made up of members Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses and Keisha Zollar.

Netflix is expanding their comedy catalog. The streaming service just announced they've ordered a new TV show called Astronomy Club.

From Kenya Barris, the series will feature the New York-based sketch and improv group Astronomy Club and "use comedy to discuss complex and nuanced real-world topics." The cast includes Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses and Keisha Zollar.

Read More…...

Netflix has greenlighted Astronomy Club, a sketch-comedy series starring the eponymous New York-based improv and sketch troupe. Kenya Barris is producing the series as part of the mega-deal he signed with the streamer last year.

As Astronomy Club has done with its improv and sketch performances, the series will use comedy to discuss complex and nuanced real-world topics. Combining honesty with levity, sketches will explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the black experience.

Composed of Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses and Keisha Zollar, Astronomy Club was formed in 2013 and has performed in venues all over New York City. The troupe soon became the first all-black house team at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

Barris is Ep’ing through his Khalabo Ink Society alongside Daniel Powell (Inside Amy Schumer) for Irony Point.

Netflix has given a six-episode series order to the sketch comedy series “Astronomy Club” from Kenya Barris’ Khalabo Ink Society and Irony Point, the streamer announced Tuesday.

Starring the New York-based improv and sketch comedy group, Astronomy Club, the series “will use comedy to discuss complex and nuanced real-world topics,” according to Netflix. “Combining honesty with levity, sketches will explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the Black experience.”

Formed in 2013, Astronomy Club has performed in a variety of venues in and around New York City and was the first all-black house team at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. The group is made up of members Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses and Keisha Zollar.

Also Read: Kenya Barris Comedy 'Unrelated' to Be Redeveloped at Freeform

Barris will executive produce via Khalabo Ink Society under his overall deal with Netflix,...

The sketch and improv group Astronomy Club has landed a self-titled variety sketch series at Netflix, Variety has learned exclusively.

The streamer has given the half-hour series a six episode order. Kenya Barris will executive produce under his Khalabo Ink Society banner at Netflix, with the show falling under the “Black-ish” creator’s overall deal. Daniel Powell of Irony Point will also executive produce. According to the official description, the series will use comedy to discuss real-world topics. Sketches will explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the black experience.

According to the group — which consists of head writers Jonathan Braylock and Keisha Zollar, alongside members Caroline Martin, James III, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, Ray Cordova, and Shawtane Bowen — the series will be similar to their Comedy Central digital series but will feature interstitials in each half-hour episode that put different characters in the spotlight.

IFC is developing five comedy projects for series consideration, including one from exec producer Margaret Cho and another from Funny or Die.

The shows in the running at IFC are Almost Asian, which chronicles the life of a mixed-race millennial in Los Angeles; Annika Erotica, following a young Colorado pastor who harbors a secret passion for writing erotic novels under a pen name; Art Thieves, an adventure comedy following three misfit criminals who fancy themselves to be the Robin Hoods of the art world; Beth, about a happily agoraphobic man and his uneasy journey back to the outside world; and The Middle Passage, a satirical and politically provocative sketch comedy. Read details about the projects below.

The projects join two other previously announced series in development: How to Rig an Election and Ngo. All seven are vying to join the recently greenlighted Sherman’s Showcase and Year of the Rabbit on the schedule,...

When the calendar turned from June, we counted down our list of the best podcast episodes of 2017 to that point. Now that fall is on our doorstep, there’s nearly an entire summer’s worth of fresh shows to listen to and appreciate.

From Memorial Day onward, the nonstop flow of audio entertainment kept up at breakneck pace. (Think of how many sunlit jogs, outdoor yardwork sessions and scorching commutes they had to fill!) With plenty of other events and sources of information vying for attention between the end of May and the beginning of September, a few of the best episodes may have slipped through the cracks.

Read More:The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2017 (So Far)

So here to provide a handy roundup of new and returning favorites are some quality podcasts episodes to add to the fall catch-up queue: the funny, fascinating and solemn installments from this year’s summer months.

One thing that’s easy for podcast fans to forget: There are people who don’t listen to podcasts. For the newly initiated, it’s hard to figure out where to look first. No fear: we’ve gathered a few of our favorite film-related shows. Some are hundreds of episodes deep into their runs, so we’ve also provided some good places to start. Enjoy.

Read More: 13 Must-Listen Podcast Episodes for March 2017

Black List Table Reads

Scripted podcasts come in all kinds; sci-fi, alternate history, period piece, and superhero shows only beginning to crack the list. Franklin Leonard and the team behind the Black List Table Reads have found a way to combine the appeal of those shows with the script-based hook of the site that gives the show its name. Producing feature-length scripts with an impressive roster of actors, the show has evolved to become something more than...