News

Ahead of the highly anticipated season six premiere, Paramount+ with Showtime today announced that it has already given the green light to The Chi Season 7. The first half of season six was record-breaking for The Chi, with the drama series delivering its most-watched season yet on streaming, surging nearly 25 percent over season five.

The second half of season six of The Chi returns on Friday, May 10, on-demand and on streaming for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan before making its on-air debut on Sunday, May 12, at 9 p.m. Et/Pt. The seventh season will start production later this month in Chicago.

“Lena Waithe is a generational storyteller, whose authentic and unflinching narratives in The Chi resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America,” said Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer,...

“The Chi” has been renewed for Season 7 at Paramount+ with Showtime.

The news comes ahead of the series’ return for the second half of its sixth season, which will debut on Paramount+ with Showtime on May 10 before its linear debut on Showtime on May 12 at 9 p.m.Et/Pt. Like the first half, the second will consist of eight episodes. The seventh season will begin production in Chicago later this month.

“Lena Waithe is a generational storyteller, whose authentic and unflinching narratives in ‘The Chi’ resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America,” said Nina L. Diaz, president of content and chief creative officer for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. “On the heels of a record-breaking season and ahead of this week’s return, we’re excited to provide fans with the promise...

Showtime is keeping its presence in the Windy City.

The premium outlet, now known as Paramount+ With Showtime, has ordered a seventh season of its drama series The Chi. The renewal for the series, created by Lena Waithe, comes two days ahead of its return to Paramount+ With Showtime for the second half of season six.

Production on the seventh season is slated to begin later this month in Chicago.

“Lena Waithe is a generational storyteller, whose authentic and unflinching narratives in The Chi resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America,” said Nina L. Diaz, president of content and chief creative officer for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. “On the heels of a record-breaking season and ahead of this week’s return, we’re excited to provide fans with the promise of...

Paramount+ with Showtime today released the official trailer and key art for the upcoming second half of season six of The Chi series. The series will return on Friday, May 10, on streaming and on-demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan before making its on-air debut on Sunday, May 12, at 9 p.m. Et/Pt.

The Chi series recently wrapped production in Chicago on the remaining eight episodes of the supersized 16-episode season. Produced entirely in its namesake city, the show is produced by 20th Television.

Created and executive produced by Emmy winner Lena Waithe under her Hillman Grad banner and executive produced by Academy Award and Emmy winner Common (Selma), The Chi is a timely coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.

The record-breaking season-six premiere, which...

Paramount+ with Showtime has released the trailer and key art for the upcoming second half of season six of The Chi, which will return May 10.

The series recently wrapped production in Chicago on the remaining eight episodes of the supersized 16-episode season.

The season-six premiere, which ranks among the top Showtime premieres ever in streaming viewership, picked up with Emmett (Jacob Latimore) and Kiesha’s (Birgundi Baker) blended union tested by his perilous partnership with Douda, (Curtiss Cook), who is dealing with the fallout of Q’s murder and its effect on the shifting loyalty of his inner circle. Victor’s (Luke James) tangled past impacts his new role as city councilman. Newlyweds Jada (Yolonda Ross) and Darnell (Rolando Boyce) fear for son Emmett after he makes a desperate, life-threatening move. Rob (Iman Shumpert) and Tiff’s (Hannaha Hall) cannabis business and Jake’s (Michael V. Epps) apparel line take off,...

Exclusive: Showtime’s The Chi will feature four additional new actors in recurring guest star roles when Part 2 of Season 6 premieres on May 10. They are Kadeem Hardison (A Different World), Leon (Swarm), Brett Gray (I’m A Virgo) and Daniel J. Watts (Werewolf By Night).

Hardison plays Professor Gardner, a college literature professor; Leon plays Alonzo, a charming, street-savvy attorney with old ties to Alicia (guest star Lynn Whitfield); Gray plays Damien, a whip-smart young man who will impact Emmett’s (Jacob Latimore) life in more ways than one; Watts plays Pastor Ezekiel, a charismatic pastor of a megachurch.

Created and executive produced by Lena Waithe under her Hillman Grad banner and executive produced by Common, The Chi is a timely coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.

In Season...

Updated, 12 Pm: Showtime has released the official trailer and key art for Season 6 of Lena Waithe’s critically acclaimed drama series The Chi. New challenges await Kevin (Alex Hibbert), Jake (Michael Epps) and Papa (Shamon Brown Jr) and the rest of the Chi fam in the upcoming expanded season. Season 6, which is split into two parts of eight episodes each, premieres its first half on August 4 streaming on Paramount+ and on demand, followed by its linear debut at 9 p.m. Sunday, August 6.

You can watch the new trailer above and previous teaser trailer below.

Previous, June 21: The Chi is coming back this summer.

Showtime announced the sixth season of its drama series will premiere Aug. 4 streaming on Paramount+ and on demand, before making its on-air debut at 9 p.m. Sunday, August 6, on Showtime. The season will be made up of 16 episodes that will be split into two eight-episode installments.

Exclusive: Emmy winner Lynn Whitfield (The Josephine Baker Story) is set for a key recurring role on the upcoming sixth season of Showtime’s The Chi, from 20th Television.

Created and executive produced by Lena Waithe and her Hillman Grad banner and executive produced by Common (Selma), The Chi is a coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.

Whitfield will play Alicia, an intimidating, old-money matriarch who will spare no expense to get what she wants.

In Season 6, big dreams are finally realized but at a cost and everyone will be tested in unimaginable ways as they calculate the risks and rewards of their next big move. Emmett (Jacob Latimore) and Kiesha’s (Birgundi Baker) blissful blended union is tested by his insatiable drive to...

Season 5 of “Love Island USA” is set to premiere on July 18 exclusively on Peacock, the streamer announced Wednesday.

The fifth season of “Love Island USA” will take place in Fiji with an all-new group of singles. Throughout the season, islanders will compete in challenges, face temptations and forge new relationships. Each week, new episodes will be available for streaming six days a week.

“Love Island USA” stands as Peacock’s most-streamed original reality competition series, heightening the anticipation for the show’s fifth season. David George, Adam Sher, Simon Thomas, Ben Thursby-Palmer, Andy Cadman, Iona Mackenzie and Claudine Parrish serve as executive producers, alongside Tom Gould, Richard Cowles, Mike Spencer, Richard Foster and Chet Fenster. The series is produced by ITV Entertainment.

Watch the concept trailer below.

Greenlights

Roku greenlit “Empty Nest Refresh,” a new home renovation series hosted by Liza Koshy and featuring design expert Orlando Soria.

The six-episode...

We're in an era where everything is smaller, sleeker, and so thin we barely know we have certain devices in our pockets. Trust me when I say I've jumped on the flat and thin electronic bandwagon; for heaven's sake, I'm writing this on an iPad. Although I like a flatscreen as much as the next person, I'm not drawn to thin, copycat, stereotypical characters that often grace flatscreen televisions on a weekly basis.

Noting the recent controversy involving the upcoming ABC comedy Work It, I felt it was worth taking an in-depth look at the responsibility we have as filmmakers when showcasing our work on TV. GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign claim the upcoming cross-dressing comedy "reinforces false and damaging stereotypes about transgender people" and have scheduled a meeting with high-level executives at the network. As a filmmaker, I personally strive to be mindful of the effects our stories...

Courtesy of Deadline… here’s a recap of the WGA-sponsored event, Flipping the Script: Beyond Homophobia in Black Hollywood, which we previously mentioned on this blog, in which African American writers, actors, directors, producers, and execs discuss portrayals of black LGBTs in TV and film. The event took place on Tuesday night, in Los Angeles.

Read the full recap below…

Journalist Diane Haithman filed this report for Deadline about [Tuesday] night’s Writers Guild of America, West, meeting for all leaders in the entertainment industry deeply interested in the realistic portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters that also happen to be black:

I expected a short RSVP list for Wgaw’s Tuesday night panel Flipping the Script: Beyond Homophobia in Black Hollywood. It doesn’t take a demographics expert to notice that, in the mainstream Hollywood product, there just aren’t a lot of African American Lgbt characters waiting to be discussed.

For our L.A. readers, from my inbox:

Flipping The Script: Beyond Homophobia In Black Hollywood – African American writers, actors, directors, producers, and execs explore Lgbt portrayals on TV and film.

What: Co-sponsored by the Writers Guild of America, West’s Gay & Lesbian Writers Committee and Committee of Black Writers, Flipping The Script: Beyond Homophobia In Black Hollywood on Tuesday, March 23rd is set to be a revealing and enlightening look at key issues involving African American gay and lesbian characters on the big and small screens. The evening’s dialogue will explore both positive and negative portrayals of Lgbt characters, recurring homophobia (within black society as well as among black filmmakers/producers) that has limited and/or informed such portrayals, stereotyping controversies and contradictions, and positive gains that have been made – and need to continue to be made – within the entertainment industry.

Who: Panelists currently scheduled to appear include:...