Thursday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

FX orders Disinherited from Better Call Saul co-creator

Disney duo FX and Hulu have greenlit Disinherited, the drama from Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould and T-Street.

The show stars Victoria Pedretti and Kiera Allen as a pair of scrappy sisters who have to adapt an unexpected inheritance.

Gould exec produces with Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman and Nena Rodrigue of T-Street. The series is produced by FX Productions.

T-Street was founded in 2019 by Johnson and Ram Bergman, with its TV projects including Peacock original Poker Face and Netflix series Three Body Problem. It is also behind Will Ferrel’s upcoing and as-yet untitled golf comedy on Netflix.

Netflix orders celeb-fronted Squid Game: The Challenge

Studio Lambert and The Garden are expanding their Squid Game: The Challenge universe with a celebrity version of the Netflix reality gameshow.

Spice Girl Mel B will be among the celebrities taking part in Squid Game: The VIP Challenge, alongside US reality stars Ryan Serhant (Owning Manhattan), Kim Zolciak (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Hannah Godwin (Bachelor Nation) and Dylan Efron (The Traitors and Dancing With the Stars), as well as NBA champion Tristan Thompson and content creator Kristy Sarah.

They’ll also be joined by Viper, a player from series two of civilian version Squid Game: The Challenge, who won a fan vote to return to the show.

Squid Game: The Challenge is a real-life gameshow spin-off of the hit Korean drama Squid Game, in which contestants are forced to compete in life-or-death versions of children’s games for life-changing amounts of money. Read more

Lifetime moves into microdrama

A+E Global Media’s Lifetime is moving into microdrama with a short-form spin-off based on an upcoming movie. The channle brand has greenlit microdrama Tides of Temptation, marking its first move into vertical scripted. The show serves as a digital offshoot to Lifetime’s upcoming Love of a Lifetime original movie.

Lifetime has also revealed new production deals with Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit and Taraji P. Henson, while A+E has ordered Scott Peterson: The New Evidence.

The four-hour docusries explores the case and scrutinises new evidence, and is joined by mafia series The Gotti Files and Johnny Cash: The Man Comes Around, which is described as “an intimate family portrait, a true crime thriller, and a revelatory deconstruction of the Man in Black”.

The History Channel’s offerings include History’s Strange Fortunes with Kevin Bacon, Extraordinary Origins with Ted Danson (w/t) and Crime and Justice with Tom Selleck.

New Dominion shows head to Radial

Radial Entertainment has purchased the New Dominion Pictures catalogue for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction adds more than 600 hours of programming to Radial Entertainment’s library, with shows including The FBI Files, The New Detectives, and A Haunting.

Radial previously managed and distributed The FBI Files and The New Detectives on FAST endpoints domestically.

The company was formed last year when Oaktree Capital Management combined US outfits FilmRise and Shout! Studios.

Destination X to return on NBC

NBC has extended Be-Entertainment’s format Destination X into a second season.

The show, which debuted in the US in May, is based on Geronimo’s Belgian format.

The US reboot averaged 14 million on linear and streaming in its first 25 days and was the top show on Peacock, reaching 20 million across its 10-episode run.

It was produced by ITV Studios-label Twofour and is part of the joint entertainment format pact struck between NBC Universal and the UK’s BBC. The latter has not yet extended its show.

Slow Horses indie to reboot Lovejoy

See-Saw Films is to reboot classic detective drama Lovejoy after winning the rights for the bestselling novel series, which was written by Dr John Grant and published under the nom de plume Jonathan Gash.

The story follows the exploits of a charismatic antiques dealer with an uncanny knack for spotting genuine artefacts and scams, with the novels turned into BBC series running between 1986-1994, with Ian McShane playing the titular character.

See-Saw is developing a contemporary reimagining of the novels for its returning crime drama, stripping away the nostalgia of the 1980s adaptation. Lisa Gilchrist, Helen Gregory, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Simon Gillis will exec produce for See-Saw. Joining them will be Lisa Moylett of Coombs Moylett Maclean Literary Agency and Dr Grant.

Netflix renews Little House on the Prairie ahead of launch

Netflix has handed a recommission to the reboot of classic bucolic drama Little House on the Prairie, ahead of its series one bow in July.

The series is showrun by Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Boys) who exec produces alongside Joy Gorman Wettels for Joy Coalition, Trip Friendly for Friendly Family Productions, Dana Fox and Susanna Fogel.

Directors are Sarah Adina Smith, Julie Anne Robinson, Kat Candler, Erica Tremblay and Sydney Freeland. The series is produced by CBS Studios and Anonymous Content.