The Warner Bros. Television Group in the United States is restructuring its studios with Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Scripted TV that is merging to form the new Warner Bros. TV Scripted Division.
The Telepictures division is being folded into it as well. The change moves Warner Bros. TV back to how it was originally before Warner Horizon was launched in 2006 as a separate studio to create unscripted and pay-TV content.
Peter Roth, Warner Bros. TV Group chairperson will continue to oversee the new enlarged scripted studio division, with WBTV presidents Susan Rovner and Brett Paul looking after the scripted divisions and with president Mike Darnell who will continue to oversee the unscripted and alternative television section.
The Warner Bros. restructuring is part of the larger and dramatic restructuring at WarnerMedia in a dramatic move that could see as much as 800 WarnerMedia staffers get fired and lose their jobs.
Already out and gone are Jeffrey R. Schlesinger (president, Warner Bros Worldwide Television Distribution) and Ron Sanders (president, Worldwide Theatrical Distribution & Home Entertainment and executive vice president International Business Operations).
Eight years after the teen drama series Gossip Girl ended WarnerMedia has given a straight-to-series reboot order for 10 hourlong episodes of the series.
In the series, once again based on the book by Cecily von Ziegesar, a new generation of fabulously wealthy New York private school teenagers will be subjected to the all-seeing, all-knowing "Gossip Girl" who gossips about all their scandals
The new Gossip Girl will be executive produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage of Fake Empire as well as Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo of Alloy Entertainment.
WarnerMedia in a press release announcing the direct-to-series pick-up, says "The prestige series will address just how much social media - and the landscape of New York itself - has changed in the intervening years".
The Gossip Girl reboot will be produced by Fake Empire and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios.
Gossip Girl that ran for 6 seasons and that starred Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick was previously broadcast in South Africa on M-Net's VUZU on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, and later on the South African public broadcaster's SABC3 channel.
The drama series Supernatural with Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins, seen in South Africa and across Africa on M-Net City (DStv 115) and in South Africa on SABC2, is ending with the upcoming 15th season that will be its last.
That makes Supernatural the longest-running fantasy American TV series in history.
Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins made the announcement late on Friday on social media that the drama series shown on the CW in the United States is coming to an end.
The upcoming 15th season of Supernatural will still have 20 episodes, similar to recent seasons. M-Net City is in the 13th season while SABC2 reached the 11th season.
"Firstly, we would like to thank all the people who have been involved with the show both in front of and behind the camera. For us it has been an experience of a lifetime. The support we have had from both Warner Bros Television and The CW has been incredible," said Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb, Supernatural's executive producers, in a statement.
"We'd like to give special thanks to Jensen, Jared and Misha for making this journey so special. It is now most important to us to give these characters that we love the sendoff they deserve".
Jensen Ackles wrote "Well, it’s official. One more round for the Winchester brothers. Though nothing ever really ends in Supernatural...does it?" with a video that the three Supernatural stars posted on Friday.
In the video, Jensen Ackles says "We just told the crew that though we're very very excited about moving into our 15th season, it will be our last - 15 years of a show that has certainly changed my life, I know it's changed these two guys' life."
"And we just wanted you to hear from us that though we're excited about next year, it will be the finale. The big, grand finale of an institution. I will say this, a little word from Eric Kripke, the creator about this world and these characters, that in a show about family, it is amazing and it is the pride of his life that it became a family. So thank you guys for that."
Jared Padalecki says "We've cried some tears and we'll cry some more, but we're grateful and we're going to work all that emotion into next season."
Misha Collins says "this family is not going anywhere even though the show will come to an end".
Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke and produced by Warner Bros. Television in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision; with Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb, Phil Sgriccia, Jeremy Carver, Eugenie Ross-Leming, and Brad Buckner as executive producers. At its conclusion, it will have produced 327 episodes.
The out-of-control Woolsey Fire spreading through Southern California has destroyed the Paramount Ranch where Wild West scenes of the science fiction drama series Westworld, seen on M-Net (DStv 101), were filmed and has also caused damage to the mansion used for the dating reality series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation on its Twitter on Friday said that the iconic Paramount Ranch's Western Town area has burnt down.
Besides Westworld, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman was also filmed here during its run in the 1990's.
We are sorry to share the news that the #WoolseyFire has burned Western Town at #ParamountRanch in Agoura. We do not have any details or photos, but it is our understanding that the structures have burned. This area is an active part of the incident and we cannot access it. pic.twitter.com/oC4n7KR8ZT
In a statement HBO says "Paramount Ranch was one of the locations used during seasons one and two of Westworld, in addition to the primary location at Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita".
"Westworld is not currently in production, and as the area has been evacuated, we do not yet know the extent of the damage to any structures remaining there. Most importantly, our thoughts go out to all those affected by these horrible fires."
Meanwhile the mansion used for The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, seen on 1Magic (DStv 103) also damaged damage, with the lower house reportedly destroyed and flames reaching the main house's back patio. The show taking place at the mansion in the Agoura Hills is not currently filming.
The lower house is used as the production headquarters.
Warner Bros. Television producing The Bachelor had no statement. Rob Mills, the head of the ABC network's reality programming division, on Twitter said "Yes, The Bachelor mansion is in grave danger as well".
The DC Universe streaming service in America has sold the international rights to its first original scripted drama series, Titans to Netflix.
It means that the new live-action DC Comics superhero drama series produced by Warner Bros. Television will become available on Netflix SA for South African viewers and on Netflix elsewhere in the world outside of the United States.
The Netflix pick-up is similar to the new Star Trek: Discovery that is also on Netflix globally outside America although its a CBS All Access streaming show, and how The Good Fight is on M-Net (DStv 101) although its also made for CBS All Access in the United States.
Titans is the second DC Comics drama series from Warner Bros. Television to do a co-licensing agreement with Netflix for international distribution, following Black Lightning.
The 11-episode first season of Titans, produced by Greg Berlanti will become available from 12 October in America and revolves around the Detroit detective Dick Grayson (the grown-up Robin played by Brenton Thwaites) as he comes into his own and out of Batman's shadow and leads a band of new superheroes.
The superhero group includes Starfire (Anna Diop), Raven (Teagan Croft), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Dove (Minka Kelly), with Seamus Dever as the evil Trigon and Bruno Bichir in the role of Chief.
Netflix hasn't announced an international release date for Titans yet.
