NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock features a plethora of upcoming original movies and TV shows. Establishing a streaming service independent of the potential monopoly posed by Netflix has become a crucial priority for many, and 2020 was the year that we saw many of these platforms either premiere or become more prominent. Disney+ has seen its subscriber numbers greatly increase thanks to exclusives like Hamilton and the upcoming Marvel limited series. HBO Max saw WarnerMedia offer a vast library for their decades of material, with the promise of more on the way. Quibi never took off despite its costly investments and is already the subject of “What happened?” pieces despite having been on the market for less than four months. And then there’s Peacock.
NBCUniversal’s contribution to the streaming market officially launched on July 15. Like its competitors, Peacock is selling itself hard based on pre-existing intellectual properties that have been lucrative for NBC over the years, most notably The Office and Parks and Recreation. A free version of the platform is available with ads, as well as a Premium edition for $5 a month and Premium Plus for $10, which makes Peacock one of the more affordable and easily accessible options in streaming right now. Of course, as with its opposition, the devil is in the details. Peacock was supposed to launch in style with exclusive coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the COVID-19 pandemic scuppered those plans. Instead, their launch was much softer and more low-key, with original series like the adaptation of Brave New World.
The lion’s share of Peacock’s original programming is still in the early-to-mid stages of development, with further delays expected because of the coronavirus lockdown and the impact it continues to have on the entertainment world. That means that some of the most intriguing elements of Peacock’s original content won’t be seen for potentially a long time. Indeed, none of the below series have launch dates yet (a rarity for a platform like this), and many of them, while they’ve already been loudly announced by NBCUniversal, are still in planning stages. Here are all the upcoming Peacock originals releasing in the future.
For residents of Los Angeles, Angelyne is a true icon. One of the original “famous for being famous” celebrities, she rose to fame via a series of self-promotional billboards and a hot pink car, all while her personal life remained a total mystery for decades. Shameless actress Emmy Rossum stars and executive-produces this biographical drama based on her life and the whirlwind of ‘80s celebrity culture that she came to redefine.
Sam Esmail, the showrunner behind Homecoming and Mr. Robot, is the new man in charge of the latest reboot of Battlestar Galactica. While little is known about how this series will take shape, Esmail did reassure fans on Twitter that is version will not be a remake of the SYFY series developed by Ronald D. Moore that remains one of the best examples of sci-fi TV ever made. Instead, Esmail said on Twitter, "we’ll explore a new story within the mythology while staying true to the spirit of Battlestar."
The podcast network Wondery has already found TV success thanks to the Bravo adaptation of their limited series Dirty John. Now, Peacock is bringing their 2018 series Dr. Death to life, telling the story of Christopher Duntsch, a Texas surgeon who was convicted of gross malpractice after he maimed dozens of his patients. Jamie Dornan of 50 Shades of Grey fame will play the title role alongside a cast that includes Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater. It was also revealed that the first two episodes of the series will be directed by Oscar nominee Stephen Frears, perhaps best known for The Queen.
Hatching Twitter will be the first installment in an anthology series for Peacock. Based on the non-fiction book by journalist Nick Bilton, the series will offer a Social Network-style history of the creation of the now omnipresent social media platform and how it irrevocably changed the ways that humanity communicates, for better and worse. Peacock describes the anthology as an opportunity to "tell intimate true stories of companies behaving badly and technology gone awry."
With Korean pop music currently one of the biggest phenomena in pop culture, it makes sense to see American media jumping on the bandwagon. Paula Yoo, a writer on Supergirl, will helm Olympic Boulevard, a musical drama about a disgraced former K-Pop star who hopes to stage a comeback and regain his good reputation by teaching at the first KPop training school in America. Kyle Hanagami, a choreographer who has worked with Korean megastars like BlackPink and BTS, is also on board.
Karen M. McManus’ YA novel One of Us Is Lying has been on the New York Times best-seller list for 129 weeks. The murder mystery about five teenagers in detention and the one who gets killed has even spawned a successful sequel. Peacock is hoping to have a teen show on the level of Riverdale or 13 Reasons Why for their platform. Erica Saleh, who previously worked on CBS's Instinct, is on showrunner duties.
Both the British and American versions of Queer as Folk are pivotal pieces of LGBTQ+ entertainment that helped to open doors and offer a more honest, less sanitized for straight people view of gay men’s lives in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Given how dramatically LGBTQ+ rights have evolved since then, it feels right for the show to make a comeback of sorts. Initially developed for Bravo, the show will now be exclusive to Peacock, with writer/director Stephen Dunn in charge.
The original version of Punky Brewster, an NBC sitcom that ran during the '80s, remains something of a nostalgic favorite. The family comedy about a young girl being raised by a foster parent introduced the world to Soleil Moon Frye in the lead role. The revival will continue her story and see her as a single mother of three in the modern-day. The series will also star Freddie Prinze Jr. as Punky's ex-husband.
Another nostalgic revival-slash-sequel, Saved By the Bell reunites Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez. Zack Morris is now Governor of California and finds himself in political trouble when he faces criticism for shutting down too many schools in deprived areas. His proposal to fix the solution: To send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state, one of which is the familiar Bayside High. It's unknown how much the older cast will feature in this story given that the Peacock synopsis focuses more on the new students clashing with their privileged classmates.
Tina Fey is one of the true comedy queens of NBC so it was perhaps inevitable that she would be given such pride of place on Peacock (including the divisive 30 Rock reunion used mostly to plug the streaming service.) Her new comedy Girls5Eva, co-created with Meredith Scardino, a writer-comedian with credits on Saturday Night Live and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, centers on a '90s girl group who had one hit record then disappeared into obscurity as they try to make their music dreams happen one more time.
Will Forte's detailed parody of MacGyver was a staple of Saturday Night Live during his tenure on the series and later became one of the rare skits on the series to land a movie spin-off. While the film didn't make much money at the box office, it did slowly earn a cult fanbase over the decade, to the point that Peacock felt confident in giving MacGruber its own TV series. Will Forte will reprise his role and Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island fame, who helped to develop the original sketches, will direct it.
Comedian Amber Ruffin has been a regular feature on Late Night with Seth Meyers for six years now, having made history by becoming the first black woman to write for a late-night network talk show in the United States. Her segments on the series, including "Amber Says What?" and "Jokes Seth Can't Tell" (with fellow writer Jenny Hagel) have provided the show with some of its best viral moments. Now, Ruffin is headlining her own show exclusively for Peacock, which the platform promises will "showcase Amber's signature smart-and-silly take on the week. A late-night show with just the good parts — the comedy."
The McElroy family have become internet darlings thanks to YouTube series like Polygon's Monster Factory, and their massively popular Dungeons & Dragons podcast The Adventure Zone proved to be a surprise hit thanks to its humor, warmth, and unabashed geekiness. It's already been spun out into a bestselling series of graphic novels but now The Adventure Zone is becoming an animated series, with the entire McElroy family onboard as well as writer/executive producer Adam Higgs, best known for working on Orphan Black.
Indivisible is an action role-playing-platform game courtesy of Studio Trigger, the animation studio behind Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia. The game, which was part of a successful Kickstarter campaign, centers on a young woman who gains mysterious powers after a ravaging warlord destroys her home village and kills her father, sending her on an epic quest to get revenge and discover the origin of her new abilities. DJ2 Entertainment and Legendary Television are making an animated series adaptation for Peacock.
Maggie Carey and Julia Brownell's coming-of-age comedy exclusive for Peacock carries with it some serious celebrity clout. Division One, the story of a ragtag women's collegiate soccer team whose new coach is a former professional player who has hit rock bottom, has an illustrious array of executive producers attached, including Amy Poehler, author Glennon Doyle, and U.S. women's soccer legend Abby Wambach.
Norman Lear, one of the true legends of American television, is still working hard at the age of 97, and he's now executive-producing Clean Slate. The series will star comedian George Wallace as a car wash owner who reunites with his estranged child after 17 years apart. Unbeknownst to him, his child has transitioned genders and is now living as a woman (the role will be played by Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black fame.)
Mindy Kaling has a lot on her plate these days, but she's in no danger of slowing down. Expecting, which will be written and executive-produced by her colleague from The Mindy Project, Chris Schneider, will see Kaling play a single woman who asks her gay best friend to be her sperm donor, thus putting them on the path towards forming their own unconventional family.
Ed Helms from The Office is the co-creator as well as the star of Rutherford Falls, a scripted comedy wherein he plays Nathan Rutherford, a descendant of the founder of a small New England town that borders a Native reserve. The old order of life is tested when plans arise to get rid of a statue that commemorates the divisive founder. Mike Schur of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation fame is also on board, and the series is already notable for the potentially unprecedented number of Indigenous writers working on it.
Jada Pinkett Smith has been making waves with her talk show, Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch, and now her scripted Peacock series Straight Talk promises potentially similar conflicts. Peacock describes the show as "what happens when two opposing ideologies are forced into an odd coupling." Kara Brown, a writer on Grown-ish and former co-host of the podcast Keep It, serves as the creator while Pinkett Smith and Rashida Jones (#blackAF) are on board as executive producers. A pilot has been ordered but no full series pick-up has been announced yet.
It's The Little Mermaid but with a twist. Writer-producer Gracie Glassmeyer, formerly of Jane the Virgin, offers Peacock a reimagining of one of the most famous fairy-tales ever written. Washed Up will follow Ariel 15 years after she gave up her tail to marry the handsome prince, only to end up in a loveless marriage with a human jerk. When her father suddenly dies, she turns detective to solve the case.
Big Dummie - Korean-American rapper Jon Park, better known as Dumbfoundead, will front this comedy inspired by his own life, centering on the mid-life crisis of a rapper falling out of touch with both the music world and his family.
Hart to Heart - Comedy megastar Kevin Hart will front this intimate one-on-one interview show in the style of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.
The Kids Tonight Show – Jimmy Fallon, the adult host of The Tonight Show, will executive produce what is being described as "the only late night talk show for kids, by kids" and will feature "kids doing a monologue, kids playing games, and kids interviewing the biggest stars in the world."
Armas de Mujer - Telemundo's debut original series on Peacock will star Kate del Castillo, best known for her starring role in La Reina del Sur, and signals the network’s growing presence in the American market.
Who Wrote That? - Lorne Michaels and company offer a behind-the-scenes look at Saturday Night Live and the writers who helped to define the show over its four decades on the air.
The Greatest Race - A sports documentary focused on the men's 4x100 swimming relay team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a team that included Michael Phelps, who went on to mount one of the event's most iconic comebacks. The series will hear from both sides of the battle.
Run Through the Line - Based on his memoir Shoe Dog, Nike founder Phil Knight takes viewers through the history of his company and how he helped to create one of the most recognizable and popular brands on the planet.
United States of Speed - Another sports docuseries, The United States of Speed will focus on some of the rising stars in Team USA's track team, all of whom hope to follow in the historic footsteps of figures like Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis and fill the gap left behind by the record-breaking Usain Bolt.
Dream Team USA – While the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been pushed back by a year, Peacock still has lots of sports content centered on the event. Dream Team 2020 follows the basketball superstars of the American side as they trained and prepared for the now-delayed event.
Madagascar: A Little Wild - Dreamworks Animation's Madagascar franchise will get another prequel series in the form of A Little Wind, which will center on younger versions of the four main characters.
The Mighty Ones - Another Dreamworks Animation series, The Mighty Ones follows the madcap adventures of a group of creatures: a twig, a pebble, a leaf and a strawberry, all of whom live in the backyard of a trio of messy humans who they believe to be their gods.
TrollsTopia - This cartoon series will signal the continuing expansion of Dreamworks's hit Trolls franchise.
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