News

Aisling Bea And Matthew Lewis Join Romesh Ranganathan Comedy ‘Avoidance’

Aisling Bea and Matthew Lewis are among the cast who have joined the upcoming season of Romesh Ranganathan’s BBC comedy Avoidance. Filming started this week, and the returning cast includes Jessica Knappett (Drifters), Kieran Logendra, Mandeep Dhillon (Afterlife), Lisa McGrillis (Mum), and Bruce Mackinnon (The Catherine Tate Show). Also joining the show are Louise Ford (The Windsors), Olive Tennant (Belfast), Alex Ranganathan, Jessica Ransom (Horrible Histories), Paula Wilcox (Upstart Crow), Philip Jackson (Brassed Off), Ed Kear (Here We Go), Colin Hoult (Murder in Successville), Michael Spicer (The Room Next Door) and Brona C Titley (The Outlaws). “I’m delighted to be back on set with this amazing cast, so much so it almost makes up for the crushing agony of my recent spandex-filled wardrobe fitting,” said Ranganathan.

Afua Hirsch And Peter Frankopan To Lead History Podcast

Afua Hirsch and...

Tubi has announced its first unscripted cooking series, “Kitchen Commando,” hosted by US Army Master Sergeant and White House chef Andre Rush. Executive produced by Gordon Ramsay, the new series enlists Chef Andre to help save struggling restaurants and reignite their passion for the service industry.

Over the 10-episode season, Chef Rush will visit restaurants in the D.C. area that are in need of his discipline, resourcefulness and talents to whip these restaurants back into shape. Chef Rush’s skills will be put the test in the first episode, when he meets a defeated married couple whose crab-themed restaurant is now a toxic mess.

“Kitchen Commando” premieres on February 12, 2023 with a new episode rolling out every Sunday for ten weeks. “Kitchen Commando” is a Fox Alternative Entertainment and Studio Ramsay Global production.

Also in today’s TV news:

Renewals

“Say Yes to the Prom” is back for its 11th...

If you thought We Are Not Alone was going to be the kind of comforting comedy you get from Ghosts you’ll quickly find out you’re wrong. The opening scene, in which the main character Stewart ends up suddenly covered in his best friend’s innards after he gets crushed by an alien messaging device, is a pretty big clue that this is a departure into a slightly more grown-up territory.

This new feature-length Dave comedy doesn’t waste any time: we’re straight into the action, discovering Earth has been invaded and conquered by the Gu’uns, a blue, large-foreheaded alien race with Very Big Guns. The Gu’uns don’t muck about – their takeover has included blowing up New Zealand, nixing everyone’s mobile phone signal and blasting the Chancellor of England into space (so it’s not all bad news), and in a brief appearance from...

French film company Orange Studio has acquired international sales rights to Erwan Marinopoulos’ “Kill Ben Lyk,” an English-language thriller set in London and starring Eugene Simon (“Game of Thrones”), Dimitri Leonidas (“The Monuments Men”) and Bronson Webb (“The Dark Knight”).

TF1 Studio will release “Kill Ben Lyk” in France and Orange Studio is unveiling a promo to buyers at the American Film Market.

“Kill Ben Lyk” is the first project of Zorg Studios, which is dedicated to producing tightly-budgeted genre projects in English with actors who have a large following on social media and have either starred in big franchises or hit TV series.

The thriller — Marinopoulos’ directorial debut — revolves around Ben Lyk, a YouTuber who finds out that three unrelated people — a trader, cab driver and surgeon — who share his name have been murdered. The murders prompt Scotland Yard to gather up the eight remaining people named Ben Lyk...

When “Episodes” premieres its final season at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, April 30, it will mark the first time new episodes have aired in over two years. The Season 4 finale of Matt LeBlanc’s scathing Hollywood satire debuted in March 2015, and even though the award-winning Showtime comedy has taken year-plus breaks before, we still don’t have an official release date from Showtime for Season 5.

If the wait has been hard on fans, they should know the creators are pained, as well.

“It’s been torturous, actually,” co-creator Jeffrey Klarik said in an interview with IndieWire. “We finished on June 3 [2016]. The show is done and ready to air. As soon as Showtime finds a time for us, we’ll be on.”

“We can’t wait to get back on the air,” fellow co-creator David Crane said. “It’s been a drawn out process because Jeffrey and I write all the episodes.

In the third episode of its new season, Episodes sets the deck for many of the dilemmas that its following six instalments will probably concern. While a series of late in-episode turns promise to throw the show as a whole into conflict, the road to get to the ending of “Episode 403” involves the characters meandering their way through talky scenes in order to serve the final plot developments. While this episode alludes to future intrigue on the show, “403” has yet to return Showtime’s comedy to the chaotic heights that provides Episodes’ funniest moments.

Matt LeBlanc opens this week by giving his sons a funny, vulgar drawing lesson, demonstrating the similarities between a frog and the female anatomy. Following this quick introduction, the next scene uncovers the crux of tension in “Episode 403.” Sean plans to meet with his former writing partner Tim Whittick (Bruce Mackinnon), which reminds Beverly of the tension between Tim and her.

The BBC has announced the cast for its new adaptation of Just William. The channel confirmed reports that Outnumbered star Daniel Roche has landed the lead role in the series, which is based on Richmal Crompton's novels. The Thick Of It's Rebecca Front and Linda Green star Daniel Ryan will appear as William's parents, while Warren Clarke and Caroline Quentin will feature as new neighbours the Botts. Denis Lawson, John Sessions and Bruce Mackinnon have signed up to play William's teachers, while Martin Jarvis, who worked on the classic Just William recordings, will narrate the series. Isabella Blake-Thomas will play William's nemesis Violet. Other cast members include Judy Parfitt, Roy Hudd, Harry Melling and Bertie Carvel. Cbbc (more)...