HBO Renews “Succession” for Season 3; Netflix Orders Family Comedy “The Upshaws”

-Did You Know?:
When “Beverly Hills, 90210” began on Fox in 1990, one of the high school students, Gabrielle Carteris as Andrea Zuckerman, was 29 years old in real life. No wonder she was valedictorian of West Beverly High!

Household Rating/Share
NBC: 5.1/ 9, CBS: 3.0/ 6, ABC: 2.5/ 5, Fox: 1.1/ 2, CW: 0.4/ 1

Percent Change From Year-Ago Evening:
CW: no change, CBS: – 3, ABC: – 4, NBC: – 7, Fox: -15

Ratings Breakdown:
It was all about NBC, of course, with summer favorite “America’s Got Talent” topping the night at a 6.3 rating/11 share in the household overnights from 8-10 p.m. Comparably, this was almost double the household rating of competing “Bachelor in Paradise” on ABC (3.2/ 6). One year earlier, “SGT” scored a 7.0/12 in the overnights.

In week two news, “Mysteries Decoded” on The CW was flat at a 0.4/ 1 at 9 p.m., which was one-tenth of a rating point below lead-in “Pandora” (#5, 0.5/ 1 at 8 p.m.). For more on “Pandora,” click here

For the remainder of the overnight analysis plus the half-hour breakdown for Tuesday, August 20, click here

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Netflix Orders Family Comedy “The Upshaws”
Netflix has ordered multi-camera family comedy “The Upshaws” from comedian Wanda Sykes and Mike Epps. The series will center on a working-class African American family in Indiana struggling to make it work and make it right without the blueprints to do it. Wanda Sykes will star, executive produce, and serve as co-showrunner. Mike Epps will also star and executive produce. Epps will next be seen in Netflix’s feature “Dolemite Is My Name” and was recently on TV in roles in “How High 2” and “Star.”

Regina Hicks (“The LWord,” “Generations Q”) will serve as showrunner and executive producer, with Dan Spilo (Sunnyside), Page Hurwitz (“Wanda Sykes; Not Normal”) and Niles Kirchner (Only One Mike) also executive producing.

Netflix Announces Drama “The I-Land”
Netflix has greenlit a limited series called “The I-Land,” which will be available for streaming on Thursday, September 12. The logline: In this sci-fi adventure series, ten people wake up on a treacherous island with no memory and soon discover this world is not as it seems. Ten episodes will be streamed of “The I’Land.”

HBO Renews “Succession” for Season Three
HBO has greenlit drama “Succession” for a third season, with 10 new episodes expected. Debuting on June 3, 2018, “Succession” follows the Roy family – Logan Roy and his four children – who control one of the biggest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. From Wipekedia: The series tracks their lives as they contemplate what the future will hold for them once their aging father begins to step back from the company.

The season two cast includes Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Hiam Abbass, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Friedman, Rob Yang, J. Smith Cameron, Dagmara Dominczyk and Arian Moayed. Holly Hunter, Cherry Jones, Danny Huston, Jeannie Berlin and Fisher Stevens. Returning guest stars include James Cromwell and Harriet Walter.

“Riverdale” Meets “Stranger Things” on The CW’s “Pandora”
If you happen to watch any series of a scripted nature on The CW, you won’t be surprised when I describe the emotionally complex (and, of course, the highly attractive) cast of the new science fiction drama “Pandora.” Priscilla Quintana is Jax (a.k.a. Pandora, the code name given to her by the EarthCon Intelligence Services), a badass, yet vulnerable young woman who enrolls at Earth’s Training Academy after losing everything. There she connects with a group of also millennial-aged individuals as they learn to defend the Galaxy from threats (amid the typical relationship turbulence of anyone in that age range).

Next is John Harlan Kim as Greg Li, a brilliant medical student and Jax’s initial love interest. Oliver Dench is teacher’s assistant and intelligence agent Xander Duvall. In this role, Dench finds the right balance between heroism and vulnerability. Ben Radcliffe is Ralen, a member of an alien species that was at war with Earth some years ago and who is distrusted by Earthlings. Ralen, who is the son of an alien ambassador, has his own agenda for attending the Academy. Banita Sandhu plays Delaney Pilar, Jax’s roommate, and a young woman who has her own special connection to the “Datastream” of the future. Then we have Raechelle Banno as purple-haired Atria Nine, the bubbly and free-spirited member of the group; and Martin Bobb-Semple as Thomas James Ross, the son of a telepath who retains some of his father’s psychic abilities. For more, click here

PI Podcast with Douglas Pucci – Celebrating the 1990s
Douglas Pucci remembers his favorite shows from the 1990s – “Seinfeld, “Friends,” “All McBeal,” “Sex and the City” and “Melrose Place.” Click here

TV Predictions: Looking Into the Crystal Ball – Click here

Linear or Digital…or Both – Click here

True crime series “The Murder Tapes” will open on Investigation Discovery (ID) on Wednesday, August 28 at 10 p.m. ET. The series uses every conceivable form of taped footage involved in a homicide case, sharing up-close perspectives from those at the scene and showing the aftermath of a murder in in a raw and unfiltered form.

Season two of HGTV’s “One of a Kind,“ featuring home renovation expert and interior designer Grace Mitchell, will premiere on Monday, Sept. 9 at 10:30 p.m. ET following “A Very Brady Renovation.” “One of a Kind “follows Grace as she overhauls uninspired Fort Worth homes to reflect the personalities of the families that own them. Thirteen new episodes have been ordered.