TV News Roundup: Netflix Unveils ‘Self Made’ Trailer Starring Octavia Spencer

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix released the trailer for “Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” and HBO announced a premiere date for “Betty.” 

FIRST LOOKS

Netflix released the official trailer “Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.” Executive produced by and starring Octavia Spencer, the four-part limited series details the life of America’s first self-made millionaire — how she fought for social change and simultaneously overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black haircare. Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo, Garrett Morris, Kevin Carroll, Bill Bellamy star alongside Spencer. Janine Sherman Barrois, Elle Johnson, Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Mark Holder, Christine Holder, Kasi Lemmons, and Jamal Henderson also serve as executive producers. The series will launch March 20.

Netflix also unveiled the trailer for Season 2 of “Ugly Delicious.” Hosted by chef David Chang and Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, the docuseries promises to continue to challenge viewers’ taste buds and minds as it ventures into more of the unknown with its second installment. Special guests include Nick Kroll, Aziz Ansari, Padma Lakshmi, food writers Helen Rosner and Chris Ying, Danny McBride, Bill Simmons, and David Choe among others. Neville and Chang serve as executive producers alongside Dara Horenblas, Christopher Chen and Caryn Capotosto.Season 2 of “Ugly Delicious” will premiere globally on March 6. 

This week’s episode of “The Simpsons” is entitled “Bart The Bad Guy,” and Variety has obtained an exclusive first look at a special poster for it. The episode follows Bart who, after accidentally seeing a brand-new superhero movie a month before it comes out, becomes the latest evil super-villain: Spoiler Boy. Additionally, Kevin Feige, Tal Fishman, Tarran Killam, Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, and Cobie Smulders are scheduled to make a guest appearance in the upcoming episode, which will air March 1 on Fox.

DATES

HBO announced its newest series, “Betty,“ will debut May 1. Based on Crystal Moselle’s critically acclaimed feature “Skate Kitchen,” the six-episode series follows a diverse group of young women navigating their lives through the predominantly male-oriented world of skateboarding, set against the backdrop of New York City. Dede Lovelace, Moonbear, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, and Rachelle Vinbert (who all starred in the original film) make up the cast along with recurring members Reza Nader as Farouk, Edmund Donovan as Bambi, Caleb Eberhardt as Donald, Katerina Tannenbaum as Ash, Jules Lorenzo as Yvette and Brenn Lorenzo as Celia. The show is executive produced by Moselle, Lesley Arfin, Igor Srubshchik and Jason Weinberg. Watch a teaser below.

RENEWALS

Fox has renewed its competition series “Mental Samurai” for a second season, which will premiere April 22. The series, which is described by the network as “the perfect combination of game show, sporting event and thrill rides,” pits everyday people from across the country against each other and the clock as they answer a wide variety of fun and interactive questions while being whipped around the arena strapped into Ava, a high-speed capsule and robotic arm capable of twisting and turning a full 360-degrees. The player who correctly answers the most questions the fastest will enter the Circle of Samurai for a chance to win up to $100,000 and return the next night to face a new group of colorful competitors vying to win the Mental Samurai title. Arthur Smith, Mike Darnell, Jeff Apploff, Noah Bonnett and Brooke Karzen serve as executive producers. Rob Lowe serves as a producer and also hosts.

DEALS

HBO Max has secured an exclusive, two-year deal with Emmy Award winner and beloved children’s author Mo Willems. As part of the agreement, the new service has acquired the streaming rights to Willems’ first live-action special “Don’t Let the Pigeon Do Storytime!” from Greg Silverman’s media company Stampede Ventures, which will produce all additional content under this deal. HBO Max has also committed to additional live-action Storytime specials, as well as multiple animated specials based on Willems’ popular children’s books.

PODCASTS

OWN has announced its upcoming podcast “The Oprah Winfrey Show The Podcast.“ Launching with 10 episodes on March 3 and new episodes added each Tuesday, the new audio series will draw from the original “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which ran for 25 years from Sept. 8, 1986 to May 25, 2011. According to the network, the first 10 episodes will be some of the show’s most popular, and represent a wide range of show topics including race in America, prescription drug addiction, divorce in America and weight loss, with popular guests that include favorites Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil and Suze Orman.

EVENTS

Ted Sarandos has been named as a keynote speaker for the BANFF Summit Series, The Banff World Media Festival announced. The Netflix chief content officer who’s responsible for bringing TV shows and films like “Stranger Things,” “Umbrella Academy” and “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” to the streaming service will speak on June 15 in an exclusive fireside conversation. The 41st edition of the Festival will take place June 14-17 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

EXECUTIVE NEWS

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