Nick Offerman plays a food-obsessed neo-Nazi in an upcoming episode of Starz’s “Party Down.” In a clip exclusive to Variety, Offerman’s alt-right character compliments the food cooked by Party Down’s head chef Lucy, played by Zoë Chao. As a flustered Chao picks up a knife for self-defense, Offerman praises her: “I just wanted to offer my sincere compliments. The food is sublime.”
Premiering on Feb. 24 with episodes releasing weekly, Season 3 of “Party Down” picks up a decade after the first two seasons, which aired in 2009 and 2010. Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr and Megan Mullally (Offerman’s real-life wife) reprise their original roles. “Party Down” is created by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd.
Watch the clip below.
Also in today’s TV news:
TRAILERS
Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) and Melissa (Cecily Strong) are back in the world of “Schmigadoon,” an all-new trailer for the Emmy award-winning musical comedy series revealed today. But Season 2 takes on an edgier tone when the beloved protagonists find themselves immersed in a “Chicago”-style musical.
The Season 2 trailer opens as couple Melissa and Josh lament their dissatisfaction with resuming their normal lives: “I want Schmigadoon — happy people and bright colors,” Melissa bemoans. The two return to the fictional world, which has since been reimagined as “Schmicago,” featuring musical numbers and production design reminiscent of musicals from the 60s and 70s.
“Schmigadoon” Season 2 will feature new original songs as well as the addition of fresh faces to the cast, like Tituss Burgess and Patrick Page. Returning stars include Strong, Key, Ariana DeBose, Martin Short, Dove Cameron, Jaime Camil, Kristen Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Ann Harada, Jane Krakowski and Aaron Tveit.
Co-creators Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio remain attached to the project, with Paul continuing to double as showrunner and a composer on the series. Lorne Michaels is an executive producer on the series, along with Andrew Singer and Micah Frank.
The first two episodes of “Schmigadoon” Season 2 will be available for streaming April 5 on Apple TV+, followed by new episodes every Wednesday until the May 3 season finale. Watch the official trailer below.
FIRST LOOKS
A first-look teaser at the upcoming Apple TV+ show “Silo” was revealed March 6 in tandem with a May 5 global premiere date. Based on author Hugh Howey’s titular trilogy, the post-apocalyptic series sees the last 10,000 people on Earth living underground in a silo to stay safe from the fatal dangers of the outside world.
Actor Rebecca Ferguson, best known for roles in “Dune” and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, takes the lead as Juliette, an engineer in the silo whose investigation of a suspicious murder leads her down a rabbit hole of mysterious secrets. As character George Wilkins, Ferdinand Kingsley asks Rebecca a question in the newly released teaser that sets the stage for her faith to unravel: “What if everything you knew to be true was one big lie?”
Accompanying Ferguson on-screen are co-stars Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Avi Nash, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones, Tim Robbins, Iain Glen and more.
The series is being produced by AMC Studios for Apple TV+ with showrunner and screenwirter Graham Yost at the helm. Morten Tyldum, director of “The Imitation Game” and “Defending Jacob,” directed the first three episodes.
The first two episodes of “Silo” will premiere May 5 on Apple TV+, with new episodes set to release every Friday through June 30. Watch the teaser below.
EXECUTIVE NEWS
Mainak Mazumdar, the former chief data and research officer of Nielsen, has joined Fox Ad Sales as its first executive vice president of chief advertising research.
Mazumdar is also serving as an analytics officer and will report directly to Marianne Gambellil, president of advertising sales. In his new position, Mazumdar will work with the current Ad Sales Research and Technology teams to develop a data-driven sales strategy that spans the entire Fox Ad Sales portfolio, which encompasses sports, entertainment, news and streaming.
Prior to working at Fox, Mazumdar spent seven years as an executive at Nielsen. Before that, he served as chief strategy officer at GfK and chief science officer at Simulmedia. He is currently a board member at the Advertising Research Foundation and a member of the U.S. Census Scientific Advisory Committee.
“In this constantly evolving media ecosystem, we know that a clear, data-powered, platform-wide approach to monetize at scale will serve our clients, and our business, in the most meaningful way,” Gambelli said. “I am delighted that Mainak has decided to bring his leadership, and his wealth of expertise in data science, research and analytics, to Fox.”
PROGRAMMING
“Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge,” a car makeover competition series inspired by the popular toy brand of the same name, was given a series order at NBC.
The pilot season will feature 10 episodes, with each episode spotlighting two Hot Wheels superfans who compete to create the real-life hot rod of their dreams with the help of a team of car specialists. A panel of rotating celebrity guest judges will join recurring automotive experts Hertrech Eugene Jr. and Dalal Elsheikh to evaluate each of the creations. Television personality Ruthledge Wood (“Floor Is Lava”) is confirmed to host the series.
HOT WHEELS: ULTIMATE CHALLENGE — Episode 101 — Pictured: Rutledge Wood — (Photo by: James Stack/NBC)
James Stack/NBC
One winner will be crowned each episode, taking home a $25,000 prize. Three finalists will make it to the season finale, where the remaining contestants will duke it out for an additional $50,000 jackpot. The winning creation of the final episode will be dubbed the official Hot Wheels die-cast car.
“Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge” is being developed and produced by Endemol Shine North America in association with Workerbee under license from Mattel Inc. Executive producer Tim Warren will serve as the showrunner.
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“Jury Duty,” a docu-style comedy series from the producers of “The Office” and “The White Lotus,” is officially slated for an April 7 premiere on Amazon Freevee.
Produced by Amazon Studios, the multi-camera series features eight episodes of legal drama through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, who is unaware the case he is currently working on is staged.
James Marsden (“Westworld,” “Superman Returns”) stars as an alternate version of himself in the show alongside an extensive ensemble cast that includes Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaaFache, Mekki Leeper, Brandon Loeser, Edy Modica, Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola, Kerry O’Neill, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song and Evan Williams.
Lee Eisenberg, showrunner of “We Crashed” and a writer-producer on “The Office,” co-created the series alongside Gene Stupnitsky, who also served as a writer-producer on “The Office.” The two are also executive producers on the upcoming series. Cody Heller (“Dummy”) will be showrunner on “Jury Duty” with Jake Szymanski (“The Package”) in the director’s chair.
The first four episodes will be available for streaming in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany on Amazon Freevee April 7. Two new episodes will be released each week thereafter until the April 21 finale. Viewers can also access “Jury Duty” on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand.
EVENTS
Amazon Prime Video will kick off this year’s SXSW with their popup space “Prime, Texas,” featuring installations that showcase programming such as “Daisy Jones & The Six,” “The Boys,” “Swarm,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “The Power,” “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “I’m A Virgo,” “Harlem” and “Carnival Row.”
Located in Austin’s Hotel San José, the space will be open throughout the weekend. Meanwhile, series like “Swarm” and “I’m a Virgo” are set for global premiere screenings at the 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
“Swarm,” a psychological drama from co-creators Janine Nabers and Donald Glover, is set to screen its first two episodes March 10 at 9:45 p.m with talent in attendance featuring Nabers, Dominique Fishback and Chloe Bailey. Director Boots Riley’s “I’m a Virgo” will premiere the following day at 5:45 p.m. Riley will be joined by series stars Jharrel Jerome, Brett Gray, Kara Young, Allius Barnes, Olivia Washington, Walton Goggins and Carmen Ejogo in the audience.
Anticipated panels from Prime Video include a March 10 conversation with “Citadel” lead actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon and MGM Studios; a March 11 discussion with the cast and creators of “Daisy Jones & The Six”; and a March 12 sit-down with Riley about directing his feature debut.
Prime Video also unveiled plans to transform The Austin Motel into a “Swarm” pop-up activation March 10 from 12-3 p.m. and March 11 from 12-5 p.m. The lobby of the venue will be decorated as a retro gas station and mini-mart, similar to the one Dre (Fishback) visits in the show.
Attendees of the pop-up receive custom cash to purchase food and drinks off the shelves as well as exclusive merchandise. Previously unseen clips from the series will be available for viewing on surveillance monitors while guests are waiting to check out.
This year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival is set to take place in Austin, Texas March 10-18. For the full event schedule, check out the SXSW website.
