Film & TV NewsTV Roundup: NBC Orders More Will & Grace, David Hull Signs on for More Crazy Ex-GirlfriendIn other TV news, Janet McTeer and Billie Piper have landed Netflix roles.
By
Andrew Gans
April 07, 2017
An Emmy-winning series is returning to NBC, while several theatre actors have landed roles in new and returning TV programs. Take a look at this news—and more from the small screen—below.
Will & Grace Will Run Longer Fans of Will & Grace, as well as Jack and Karen, have reason to celebrate. NBC now wants 12 episodes of the upcoming limited return of the Emmy-winning comedy, rather than the originally announced ten, according to Deadline. The ninth season of the series, following last year's election-themed mini episode (view a clip above), will feature original cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, and Tony nominee Sean Hayes—all four Broadway alums. The new episodes will be shepherded by Max Mutchnick, David Kohan, and James Burrows.
David Hull Gets a Promotion David Hull, whose Broadway credits include Wicked, The Book of Mormon, and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, has been promoted to a series regular for the forthcoming third season of CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, according to Deadline. Scott Michael Foster, seen in five episodes of the Emmy-winning series' second season, has also been upped to a series regular along with Hull, who plays White Josh. The CW musical series, about a woman who leaves her law firm in Manhattan to find love in California, won two Emmy Awards for its second season.
Janet McTeer in Jessica Jones Tony winner Janet McTeer, seen on Broadway earlier this season in the revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, has landed a role in the second season of the Netflix series Jessica Jones, according to The Wrap. Details have yet to be released about the character McTeer will play, although series creator and executive producer Melissa Rosenberg said in a statement, “Her gravitas and authenticity are the perfect ingredients for all we’re trying to create this year. She disappears into roles, gives her characters extraordinary dimension and depth.” The second season of the series, which chronicles the life of one of the darker Marvel characters, will have all women directors. McTeer won her Tony for her performance in the revival of A Doll's Life.
Billie Piper in Collateral Olivier nominee Billie Piper has joined the cast of the new BBC thriller Collateral, created by Tony-nominated playwright David Hare, according to Deadline. Netflix has also announced that it will be a co-producer of the contemporary work and will release the property outside the U.K. The drama, which stars Carey Mulligan (who appeared in the revival of Hare's Skylight), concerns the shooting of a pizza delivery man and will also feature John Simm and Nicola Walker. Set over a four-day time period, Collateral, the industry website reports, “centers on Detective Inspector Kip Glaspie (Mulligan), who refuses to accept that the murder is a random act of senseless violence and becomes determined to discover if there is a darker truth. Politician David Mars (Simm) instantly is embroiled in the drama through his turbulent relationship with his troubled and unpredictable ex, Karen (Piper). All the while, Jane Oliver (Walker), a compassionate vicar, struggles to conceal her affair with the only witness to the crime."