It’s that time of year, at least in the TV world, where the series announcements are coming fast and furious.
On Tuesday, it was news about “Zoo” coming to CBS and a pilot for “American Gods” picked up by Starz. On Wednesday, FXX announced a 10-episode order for “Man Seeking Woman,” a sitcom starring Jay Baruchel which counts “Saturday Night Live” chief Lorne Michaels as one of its executive producers. The series, in fact, was created by former “SNL” writer Simon Rich and will be “a sweet and absurd look at the surreal life-and-death stakes of dating” which centers around Josh Greenberg (Baruchel), a “naive romantic on a desperate quest for love.” What could possibly go wrong? Eric Andre, Britt Lower and Maya Erskine will co-star.
El Rey Network, meanwhile, has added James Callis to the cast of its new series “Matador,” which premieres July 15 (9 p.m.) and stars Gabriel Luna in the title role (as a soccer pro with a seemingly vibrant romantic life who’s really an undercover CIA operative).
El Rey is the network co-founded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (“From Dusk Till Dawn”) and Univision.
Year of Revolt
It will be a year this October since Sean Combs launched his music network, Revolt — and the network will mark its anniversary with the Revolt Music Conference, taking place in October in Miami. Toward that end, Revolt has hired Andre Harrell — credited with discovering Combs, Mary J Blige, Robin Thicke and Jodeci — as its new vice chairman to oversee the conference. He’ll also work to expand the network’s role in business development and strategic partnerships.
Elsewhere: MTV announced on Wednesday’s “Total Ariana Live” that Ariana Grande will be the first performer on Aug. 24’s “MTV Video Music Awards.” That appearance is expected to propel Grande’s new album (“My Everything”) to #1 when it’s released Aug. 25 following the “Video Music Awards.”
Last, but not least …
Family ties: The host of the NJ State Lottery drawings, now airing weeknights on Ch. 11, is Erica Young — the 23-year-old daughter of the late Hela Young, who hosted the nightly drawings for years (she died from breast cancer in 2002) … Chris Vlasto has been promoted to EP of “GMA’s” 7 a.m. hour; Rachel Miskowiec, late of “Katie,” joins the show as EP of the 8 a.m. hour … SNY’s Mets broadcasting team (Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling) squares off in a Mets trivia contest against the team’s WOR radio team (Howie Rose, Josh Lewin) in “Battle of the Broadcasters,” airing next Thursday (10:30 p.m.) on SNY … Repeats of the ABC series “Supernanny” (Jo Frost) begin airing Friday on UP (weekend marathon); the show moves into its regular timeslot (7 p.m.) starting Monday.