The CW Acquires 4 Scripted Series For Broadcast
May 11, 2020 (Burbank, CA) - Adding to its growing roster of scripted programming, The CW Network announced today the acquisition of four scripted series for broadcast, including SWAMP THING, based on the iconic DC character; the investigative drama CORONER; the dark, re-imagined fairy tale series TELL ME A STORY, and the half-hour British comedy DEAD PIXELS from BBC Studios.
SWAMP THING (one season) and TELL ME A STORY (two seasons) will make their network television debuts on The CW Network and stream for the first time on The CW's free, ad-supported digital platforms. Hailing from Canada and the U.K. respectively, CORONER (two seasons) and DEAD PIXELS (one season) will each be making their U.S. debuts on The CW and its digital platforms. Premiere dates and times will be announced later.
SWAMP THING follows Dr. Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed, "Gotham," "Teen Wolf") as she investigates what seems to be a deadly swamp-born virus in a small town in Louisiana but when a mysterious creature emerges from the murky marsh, she finds herself facing the nightmares of a supernatural world where no one is safe. The series also stars Virginia Madsen ("Sideways," "Dune"), Andy Bean ("Power," "It: Chapter Two"), Henderson Wade ("Riverdale," "Extant"), Derek Mears ("The Flash," "Predators"), Maria Sten ("Persuasion," "Channel Zero") and Jeryl Prescott ("The Walking Dead," "Ray Donovan") with Jennifer Beals ("Flashdance," "The L Word") and Will Patton ("Falling Skies," "Halloween").
Based on the DC characters created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, SWAMP THING is produced by Atomic Monster in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by James Wan ("Aquaman," "The Conjuring" films), Mark Verheiden ("Battlestar Galactica," "Constantine"), Gary Dauberman ("It" and "Annabelle" films), Michael Clear ("The Nun," "Annabelle: Creation") and Len Wiseman ("Lucifer," "Sleepy Hollow").
CORONER is a character driven one-hour drama about Dr. Jenny Cooper (Serinda Swan, "Ballers"), a recently widowed, newly appointeed coroner who investigates any suspicious, unnatural or sudden deaths in Toronto. Each death brings Jenny into a new arena in the city and sparks buzzworthy themes... Jenny taps into her intuition, as much as her intellect and heart, as she solves cases along with the help of Homicide Detective Donovan "Mac" McAvoy (Roger Cross, "Arrow," "The X-Files"), a man who isn't afraid of challenging the status quo; pathologist Dr. Dwayne Allen (Lovell Adams-Gray, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," "Power Book II: Ghost"), his assistant River Baitz (Kiley May, "It: Chapter Two"); and Alison Trent (Tamara Podemski, "Run," "Unsettled"), Jenny's assistant who keeps it real. And while Jenny solves mysterious deaths, she also deals with clinical anxiety, a teenage son, Ross (Ehren Kassam, "Degrassi: Next Class," "Degrassi: The Next Generation"), who is still grieving the death of his father, and the prospect of starting a new relationship with the enigmatic Liam (Éric Bruneau, "Trop"). Soulful. Warm. Energy. Coroner.
Executive produced by Morwyn Brebner ("Saving Hope," "Rookie Blue"), Adrienne Mitchell ("Bellevue," "Played"), Jonas Prupas ("Collision Course"), Brett Burlock ("Pure," "Ascension") and Peter Emerson ("Pure," "The Firm"), CORONER is a CBC original series produced by Muse Entertainment, Back Alley Films and Cineflix Studios.
TELL ME A STORY takes the world's most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller. Set in modern-day New York City, the first season of this serialized drama interweaves "The Three Little Pigs," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Hansel and Gretel" into an epic and subversive tale of love, loss, greed, revenge and murder.
The cast of the first season of TELL ME A STORY includes James Wolk ("Watchmen," "Mad Men"), Billy Magnussen ("The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"), Dania Ramirez ("Jumanji: The Next Level," "Entourage"), Danielle Campbell ("The Originals," "Runaways"), Dorian Missick ("Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G."), Michael Raymond-James ("Frontier," "True Blood"), Davi Santos ("Power Rangers Beast Morphers"), Sam Jaeger ("The Handmaid's Tale," "Why Women Kill"), Zabryna Guevara ("Emergence," "New Amsterdam") with Paul Wesley ("The Vampire Diaries," "24") and Kim Cattrall ("Filthy Rich," "Sex and the City").
From Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment, TELL ME A STORY season one is written and executive produced by Kevin Williamson alongside Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Liz Friedlander, who directs and executive produces the first two episodes.
Exploring an entirely new set of characters, season two of TELL ME A STORY features the stories of three legendary princesses – "Beauty and the Beast," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Cinderella" – like you've never seen them before.
Filmed on location in Nashville, season two of TELL ME A STORY stars Paul Wesley ("The Vampire Diaries") as Tucker Reed, Carrie-Anne Moss ("The Matrix," "Jessica Jones") as Rebecca Pruitt, Odette Annable ("House," "Supergirl") as Maddie Pruitt, Eka Darville ("Jessica Jones") as Beau Morris, Matt Lauria ("Kingdom," "Friday Night Lights") as Jackson Pruitt, Natalie Alyn Lind ("The Gifted," "The Goldbergs") as Ashley Rose Pruitt and Ashley Madekwe ("Salem," "Revenge") as Simone Garland. In addition, Danielle Campbell ("The Originals") returns to TELL ME A STORY this season in a recurring role as Olivia Moon. Garcelle Beauvais ("Spider-Man Homecoming") as Veronica Garland, Caleb Castille ("Wu Tang: An American Saga") as Ron and Christopher Meyer ("The Affair") as Derek round out the cast with recurring roles.
From Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment, TELL ME A STORY season two is written and executive-produced by Kevin Williamson alongside Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Michael Lohmann.
Created by Jon Brown ("Succession," "Veep"), DEAD PIXELS follows Meg (Alexa Davies, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again"), Nicky (Will Merrick, "Poldark") and Usman (Sargon Yelda, "Strike") who are obsessed with the online fantasy game "Kingdom Scrolls." Meg would happily cut a date short to go home and defend Castle Blackfinger. Nicky thinks the miscasting of Vince Vaughn as Tanadaal in the "Kingdom Scrolls" movie is an international outrage. And Usman has made a plywood lid for his child's playpen, so he can play the game in peace. Oh, and Nicky definitely isn't into Meg. That would be a cliché. DEAD PIXELS is split equally between the characters' tragicomic real lives and their computer-animated misadventures in "Kingdom Scrolls." Executive Produced by Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Phil Clarke and Jon Brown, DEAD PIXELS is a Various Artists Limited production for Channel 4 that airs on E4 in the UK and distributed by BBC Studios.
Stay tuned for premiere dates.
