‘iZombie’ Renewed For Season 5 By CW
If you want happier news, you can usually rely on The CW. The US network has renewed ‘iZombie‘ giving it a 5th Season and picked up a bunch of new shows including the ‘Charmed’ & ‘Roswell’ reboots, and TVD/Originals spin-off series called ‘Legacies’. The one bit of bad news is for ‘Supernatural’ fans, as they have opted not to pick up the spin-off series ‘Wayward Sisters’.
‘iZombie’ tells the story of Liv Moore. A rosy-cheeked, disciplined, over-achieving medical resident, who had her life path completely mapped out… until the night she attended a party that unexpectedly became a zombie feeding frenzy, turning her into one of the undead in the process.
The show had been very much “on-the-bubble” this year, but unlike some other networks we could mention, The CW tends to be rather more lenient. Part of the reason for that is because the network owns all its shows outright, so doesn’t have to deal as much with negotiating deals with show producers.
This new take ‘Charmed’ comes from ‘Jane the Virgin’ creator Jennie Snyder Urman, with writers Jessica O’Toole & Amy Rardin, and is described as “fierce, funny, and feminist”. It centres on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches after the tragic death of their mother. Between vanquishing supernatural demons, tearing down the patriarchy, and maintaining familial bonds, a witch’s work is never done.
The three sisters will be played by Sarah Jeffery (‘Shades of Blue’, ‘Wayward Pines’), Madeleine Mantock(‘Into the Badlands’, ‘The Tomorrow People’), and Melonie Diaz (‘Fruitvale Station’, ‘The Breaks’).
Mantock will play the oldest sister Macy. She is a brilliant geneticist who is practical, driven, and has her whole world turned upside down when she discovers magic is actually real. Diaz plays Mel, the middle sister. She is a lesbian and a passionate outspoken activist but loses her way following the family tragedy. Finally, Jeffery takes the role of Madison, the baby sister. She’s a bubbly college freshman and is finding this whole magic deal a huge inconvenience to her partying, and her desire to get into an awesome sorority.
‘Roswell, New Mexico’ is, once again, based on Melinda Metz’s ‘Roswell High’ YA book series, but has a slight twist from the previous version, by adding in an immigration element. In this version, we follow the daughter of undocumented immigrants who has reluctantly returned to her hometown of Roswell, New Mexico. Settling back into the little tourist-trap town, she uncovers the shocking truth about her teenage crush turned local police officer… He is actually an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life! As the duo reconnect, they begin to investigate his origins, whilst keeping his alien background a secret. But when a violent attack and government cover-up point to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him and destroy their deepening romance.
The show stars Jeanine Mason, Nathan Parsons, Lily Cowles, Michael Vlamis, Heather Hemmens, Michael Trevino, and Trevor St. John.
‘Legacies‘ continues the story of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘The Originals’, as we follow the next generation of supernatural beings at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter, 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson; Alaric Saltzman’s twins, Lizzie and Josie Saltzman; and other young adults come of age in the most unconventional way possible, nurtured to be their best selves… in spite of their worst impulses. Will these young witches, vampires and werewolves become the heroes they want to be – or the villains they were born to be?
The network has also picked up ‘In The Dark’ which follows a flawed and irreverent blind woman is the only “witness” to the murder of her drug-dealing friend. After the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer while also managing her colourful dating life and the job she hates at Breaking Blind, the guide dog school owned by her overprotective parents. The show stars Perry Mattfeld, Austin Nichols, Kathleen York, Derek Webster, Brooke Markham, Keston John.
And lastly, US football drama ‘All America’ from Greg Berlanti. When a rising high school football player from South Central L.A. is recruited to play for Beverly Hills High, the wins, losses and struggles of two families from vastly different worlds – Compton and Beverly Hills – begin to collide. The show is inspired by the life of pro football player Spencer Paysinger and stars Daniel Ezra, Taye Diggs, Samantha Logan, Bre-Z, Greta Onieogou, Monet Mazur, Michael Evans Behling, Cody Christian, and Karimah Westbrook.
