CBS All Access has commissioned three new series, including projects from executive producers Will Ferrell and Ridley Scott, the streaming service announced at the TCA summer press tour on Tuesday.
The first project, currently titled “Strange Angel,” is a drama series created by Mark Heyman and based on George Pendle’s book of the same name. It explores the real life of Jack Parsons, a man in 1940s Los Angeles who helped pioneer the field of American rocketry, and by night is a performer of sex magick rituals and a disciple to occultist Aleister Crowley. The series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Scott Free Productions. Heyman, David DiGilio, Scott, and David W. Zucker will serve as executive producers; Clayton Krueger will be co-executive producer, and David Lowery will direct and executive produce.
Ferrell and Adam McKay will produce a comedy series for CBS All Access called “No Activity” through Funny or Die. Set against the world of a major drug cartel bust, the series follows two low-level cops who have spent far too much time in a car together; two criminals who are largely kept in the dark; two dispatch workers who haven’t really clicked; and two Mexican tunnelers who are in way too small a space considering they’ve only just met. It will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Gary Sanchez and Funny or Die and is based on the Australian series produced by Jungle and broadcast by Stan. Ferrell, McKay, Patrick Brammall, Trent O’Donnell, Jason Burrows, and Joe Farrell will serve as executive producers. It will debut before year’s end between the two chapters of “Star Trek: Discovery.”
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Finally, “$1” is a mystery-thriller set in a small rust belt town in post-recession America, where a one-dollar bill changing hands connects a group of characters involved in a shocking multiple murder. It will be produced by CBS Television Studios and Anonymous Content. Jason Mosberg created the series and exec produces alongside Anonymous Content’s Matt DeRoss with Alexandre Dauman and Craig Zobel, who will also direct. (An episode count has not yet been determined.)
“CBS All Access is dedicated to delivering inventive, premium original programming for our subscribers and creating opportunities for world class content creators to find new, creative ways to tell stories,” said Marc DeBevoise, president and chief operating officer of CBS Interactive. “The addition of ‘Strange Angel,’ our first series based on a compelling and true story; ‘No Activity,’ our first comedy series; and ‘$1,’ an innovative thriller, builds on the tremendous momentum CBS All Access has generated in its first season of original programming with ‘The Good Fight’ and the upcoming ‘Star Trek: Discovery.'”
“Discovery” was originally set to launch CBS All Access in January 2017, but the hotly anticipated series has been repeatedly delayed. As Variety previously reported, sources say difficulties casting and behind-the-scenes flux, including Bryan Fuller stepping down as showrunner, are cause for the show’s delay. CBS Corp. boss Leslie Moonves previously said at an investor conference that he was confident in the quality of the series, and the delay is due to requiring a lot of post production. “It’s important to get it right, and ‘Star Trek’ is the family jewels,” Moonves said.
The series will now launch Sunday, Sept. 24 at 8:30 p.m./7:30c on CBS, though that time is approximate due to NFL Football and “60 Minutes” also airing that night. The series premiere will also be available on-demand on CBS All Access and the second episode of the series will be available on the service that same night immediately following the broadcast premiere.
After premiere night, all new episodes will be available on-demand weekly on Sundays exclusively for CBS All Access subscribers in the U.S. The 15-episode season will be released in two parts. The first eight episodes will run from Sept. 24 through Nov. 5. The season will then resume in January 2018.
