| DISNEY REALITY CHIEF ROB MILLS TELLS DEADLINE THAT, AFTER HAVING TO SHELVE AN ENTIRE SEASON, BETTER DAYS ARE AHEAD |
The Bachelor franchise has had a rough 18 months. Allegations of a toxic workplace and the departure of its two top showrunners emerged before ABC was forced to shelve an entire season of The Bachelorette as a result of domestic assault allegations against its star, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Taylor Frankie Paul.
But Disney’s reality chief Rob Mills is confident that the franchise can rise again.
“The Bachelor is almost a perfect format and it is really powerful. It’s over two decades old, and it’s seen really good days and really bad days. But it’s always had a lot of resilience, especially when the people making it really, really care about it, because that fan base also really cares about it,” he told Deadline. “However The Bachelor comes back next year, it will be done with a lot of thoughtfulness and care. I do think better days are ahead for the franchise.” >>>Managing "Ups And Downs"
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‘The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives’ Is Getting Its Orange County Spinoff, But, No, Jen Affleck Is Not The Star
Stassi Schroeder Sets Reality Series ‘House Of Stassi’ At Freeform & Hulu To Debut This Summer
Parker Posey To Host Reality Competition Series ‘The Mob’ For Hulu From ‘The Traitors’ Producer Studio Lambert & Primal Media
Khloé Kardashian Is Bringing ‘The Girls’ To Hulu
‘Project Runway’ Season 22 Set To Feature 22 Designers
‘Dancing With The Stars’ Renewed For Season 35 With Reality Stars Maura Higgins & Ciara Miller Revealed As First Contestants |
Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
'Cop Land' Coming To TV - James Mangold is revisiting the movie that catapulted him into the top ranks of Hollywood filmmakers, 1997’s Cop Land, headlined by Sylvester Stallone. In his return to television after almost a decade, Mangold is set to co-write, direct and executive produce a series adaptation of his movie. >>>Robert Levine Is Showrunner
Reed Starts Short Stack - Nellie Reed, who most recently ran the scripted TV division of Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan’s Story Syndicate since its 2023 launch, is launching a production company of her own, Short Stack Productions, which has signed an exclusive TV overall deal with indie studio A24. >>>Developing Limited Series
Cumberbatch Picks Next Pic - A24 UK looks to have emerged victorious among more than a dozen suitors to option rights to Nick Brucker’s upcoming novel White Smoke, with plans to adapt it into a TV series. A24 will produce alongside Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch and his SunnyMarch production company. >>>Set To Star, As Well
Good Neighbor - Graham Norton clearly doesn’t do things halfway. He spent a month living around the corner from contestants on The Neighbourhood, ITV‘s constructed reality series. The producers making the show revealed the news in Deadline's behind-the-scenes report. >>>Friend Of Taylor Swift
Tuning Up - Michael Sheen and Callum Scott Howells will strike up the orchestra — and each other — in a new West End-bound production of Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus, about the disharmony between music prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and rival Antonio Salieri. "It’ll be wonderful to see the fireworks," director Jeremy Herrin told Deadline. >>> Sheen's West End Return |
Law & Order: SVU, the longest-running primetime drama on American television, is set to return for a 28th season on NBC in 2026-27, part of a two-season pickup the venerable crime drama from Dick Wolf received last year.
The series’ future has long hinged on its star and executive producer Mariska Hargitay‘s desire to carry on as Detective Olivia Benson, a TV character so iconic that Taylor Swift named her cat after her.
At NBCUniversal’s Emmy Kick-Off luncheon Wednesday, Hargitay, who won an Emmy for her role in 2006, was asked by Deadline whether she thinks SVU can make it to 30 seasons.
“I do. How about that? I do,” Hargitay said. “I love my show. I love my cast. I love my showrunner, my writers, my producers. I feel like the luckiest, happiest actress. I love Dick Wolf, and I’m so challenged still.” >>>Read The Interview |
ExclusiveThe Night Agent once again has lined up big-name cast additions for its upcoming fourth season. Bosch star Titus Welliver, Trevante Rhodes, Li Jun Li and Elizabeth Lail are set as new series regulars opposite star Gabriel Basso in the Netflix action thriller from Sony Pictures TV.
ExclusiveVas Saranga has been cast in a recurring role in the Netflix limited series I Will Find You, based on Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel.
ExclusiveSheila McCarthy and Megan Follows have joined the cast of Yaga, the next big drama series at Canadian streamer Crave, along with several others.
Recently, a leaked casting notice hinted that Connor Storrie would star opposite Melissa McCarthy in a new film called Turpentine — and now, we can confirm that he’s in talks to star in the thriller from The Penguin's Craig Zobel.
Kevin McKidd has booked the lead in an ITV drama as he prepares for life after Grey’s Anatomy. The actor will front The Only Suspect, a British drama from Fremantle’s Red Planet Pictures.
Desmond Harrington, who played Joey Quinn on Dexter and for two episodes of Resurrection Season 1, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2. |
BY THE NUMBERS
$25 billion - Amount of stock buyback revealed today by Netflix
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MORE NEWS
🤝 Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted this morning to sell the company to David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance. Compensation for CEO David Zaslav related to the deal, which will exceed $500 million and could soar to $800 million depending on several variables, was rejected by shareholders. The pay vote is non-binding, however, meaning Zaslav will still be able to collect.
📈 Comcast stock rose 10% after the media giant reported first-quarter earnings results. Executives said NBCUniversal brought in $2.2 billion in ad revenue from the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, while Peacock is finally "approaching profitability." Despite a cable and broadband deal spree, execs said they are more focused on reversing negative investor sentiment than on potential M&A.
🌴 The Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday revealed a fresh round of titles for the Official Selection of its 79th edition, including James Gray's Paper Tiger and Judith Godrèche’s A Girl’s Story.
🕶️ Universal Pictures’ upcoming Miami Vice movie officially has its Tubbs and Crockett as well a title, as Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler are set to star in Miami Vice ’85 with Joseph Kosinski directing.
🗣️ Following Brendan Carr‘s latest proposed media crackdown, GLAAD has called out the FCC chair for his inquiry’s “harm on LGBTQ Americans.”
⛺ Maggie Gyllenhaal has been announced as Jury President for the 83rd Venice Film Festival, running from September 2 to 12.
🗣️ Australian actress Charlotte MacInnes has provided tearful testimony on the breakdown in her relationship with Rebel Wilson during the making of The Deb. MacInnes is suing Wilson for defamation in Australia |
| OBITUARIES
🕯️ Darrell Sheets, a longtime regular on the A&E reality competition series Storage Wars died April 22 at his home in Lake Havasu City, AZ. He was 67. 🕯️ 2026 Deaths Photo Gallery
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| ON THE RADAR
Thu - NFL Draft begins
Sat - White House Correspondents' Dinner; Deadline's Contenders Television event (Day 1)
Sun - Contenders Television (Day 2)
Wed - AMC Global Media upfront
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Real Deal - Reality star Stassi Schroeder attends Disney's Get Real unscripted TV event alongside a host of other notable names |
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