Amazon commissions Australian comedy series

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Amazon commissions Australian comedy series

By Michael Idato
Rebel Wilson.

Rebel Wilson.

Rebel to host Aussie comedy series

The streaming service Amazon has commissioned its first Australian project, a comedy competition series titled LOL: Last One Laughing. The series will be hosted by Rebel Wilson and produced by Endemol Shine Australia. It will feature a cast of 10 comedians and comedic actors who will compete against each other – the finishing line is making each other laugh first – with the last comedian standing taking a prize of $100,000. The concept is based on a Japanese Amazon format fronted by local comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto in which comedians bet their own money in a “battle of laughter". Amazon has a Mexican adaptation also in production. Filming on the six-part series will start later this year and the series will air in 2020 on Amazon platforms worldwide.

Stephen Curry in Mr Black.

Stephen Curry in Mr Black.

Mr Black heads to the US

The US network Fox has commissioned an American adaptation of the Australian comedy Mr Black. The series, created by LA-based Australian writer/producer Adam Zwar and written by Zwar and Amanda Brotchie, is produced by CJZ for the Ten Network in Australia. It is the story of a father, Mr Black, whose life is consumed by a desire to break up his adult daughter and her boyfriend, of whom he disapproves. The Australian version stars Stephen Curry and Nadine Garner as parents Peter and Rowena, Sophie Wright as daughter Angela and Nick Russell as boyfriend Fin. Zwar has previously sold two projects for US adaptation, the SBS comedy Wilfred and the ABC comedy Lowdown.

Daytime soaps return to Nine

Two staples of the Nine Network’s afternoon schedule Days of our Lives and The Young & the Restless will return in September. The two shows had previously been let go by Nine and picked up by Foxtel, which will continue to air new episodes. Foxtel will retain a 90-day exclusive window on new episodes, which will then air on Nine via the 9Gem channel and the 9Now streaming service, with emphasis on the latter. Nine's program director Hamish Turner said the acquisition was made with the network’s digital audience in mind. “We believe there is a very real audience of Australians who will enjoy watching these shows online, at a time of their choosing,” he said.

Star of the new Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

Star of the new Star Wars series The Mandalorian.Credit: Lucasfilm

Disney+ locks Australian launch

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They say it never rains but it pours. The Disney+ streaming service has confimed it will launch in Australia on November 19 with a monthly $8.99 price tag. The service will launch with a large Disney content library behind it, but much of the early focus will be on the first live action Star Wars series ever produced, The Mandalorian, which will be available on the service when it launches. The series, set in the years after Return of the Jedi, is a space western about a lone Mandalorian soldier, the race of mercenaries from which Boba Fett came. Apple is also said to be preparing its streaming platform, Apple TV+, for a November launch in a raft of key territories including Australia.

Fat Pizza returns ... with creator/star Paul Fenech.

Fat Pizza returns ... with creator/star Paul Fenech.

Seven reboots Pizza (and Housos)

The digital channel 7mate has commissioned a new series of the much-loved SBS cult comedy Pizza. The series, Fat Pizza, follows six seaons of the earlier iteration and two feature films, and will star writer/producer Paul Fenech as Pauly Falzoni, a pizza delivery business owner from the fictional suburb of Hashfield. The new series will also see the return of Paul Nakas as Sleek, Johnny Boxer as Bobo Gigliotti and Maria Venuti as Mama, as well as characters crossing over from another Fenech comedy, Housos, including Shazza (Elle Dawe), Vanessa (Vanessa Davis) and Kev (Kev Taumata). Radio host Brendan Jones, comedian Jean Kittson, actress Melissa Tkautz and singer Angry Anderson will also appear. The series will air on 7mate later this year.

Succession returns for third season

HBO has renewed the media drama Succession for a third season. Though its numbers are slim compared to other HBO titles such as Game of Thrones, the series pulled million-plus audiences in the US on both linear channels and online, and posted gains against its first season. “We are elated that Succession and its exploration of wealth, power and family has resonated so powerfully with audiences,” HBO's head of drama programming Francesca Orsi said. The series, created by Jesse Armstrong, is the story of a fictional media dynasty, the Roy family, who are battling for control of an empire built by its patriarch Logan Roy. The series “presents an especially piercing look behind the curtain of this elite, influential and cutthroat community,” Orsi said.

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