After a rousing NBC session yesterday, NBCUniversal basked in the glow of USA’s Mr. Robot Golden Globe wins, while announcing new series pickups for USA and CNBC, and premiere dates for Syfy.

Mr. Robot has no return date set for the summer, but production begins in March, according to Deadline, and it wasn’t too early for teases on what’s to come.

“If there’s a headline for Season 2, it’s how Elliot reconciles with the fact that he’s seeing this fantasy; that’s the struggle that will take over in Season 2,” said Esmail at Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. “In Season 2 there will be a lot more backstory shown.”

Universal Cable Productions’ Playing House, which stars Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham, was picked up for a third season following its massive performance on VOD last year.

Comcast and NBCUniversal allowed viewers to watch every episode of Playing House on VOD before it aired on USA. Playing House doubled its VOD audience from the prior season, increased views of season one 130% year-over-year and was third on Comcast’s Xfinity On-Demand platform when it premiered in August.

Playing House represents a whole new way of financing production with its unique partnership of ad sales, Comcast, studio and network,” said Jeff Wachtel, president and chief content officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, in a statement.

Given the success of the new model, it’s no surprise that Comcast and NBCUniversal plan “a similarly innovative windowing structure and sponsorship model” for season three of the show.

USA Network bolstered its slate with the series pick-up of Falling Water, a “mind-bending” drama series from executive producers Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead), Blake Masters (Brotherhood) and the late Henry Bromell (Homeland).

The series, which follows three strangers dreaming parts of the same dream, stars David Ajala (Fast & Furious 6), Will Yun Lee (Hawaii 5-0) and Lizzie Brochere (American Horror Story: Asylum). There is no premiere date at this time.

Syfy locked in its future Monday night block, with Hunters (new trailer above), a freshman sci-fi thriller starring Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) and Britne Oldford (American Horror Story), premiering April 11 at 10 PM ET/PT. The series is another in the NBCU family from executive producer Gale Anne Hurd and is based on the book series Alien Hunter.

Hunters will team with the second season of 12 Monkeys, which arrives the following week on April 18, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In the meantime, fans can check out the pilot of The Magicians, the massive adaptation of Lev Grossman’s bestselling fantasy trilogy, which is on YouTube in advance of its January 25 premiere (below).

CNBC is the only cable network that can boast eight consecutive quarters of year-over-year gains among persons 25-54, and they hope the two new series announced Thursday will continue the trend.

The Profit host Marcus Lemonis introduced The Partner, a spinoff show debuting in the summer where the investor seeks someone to help manage the businesses he’s saved in The Profit. Reportedly, the winner receives $163,000 and a 1% equity stake in one of the chosen companies.

CNBC’s other big announcement came in the form of Cleveland Hustles, wherein the network teams up with LeBron James, his friend and business partner Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment and Magical Elves (a production company, not the elusive fairy tale creature) for an unscripted series set in the Ohio metropolis.

Slated for the summer, the show is a dream-making vehicle for local entrepreneurs, with the purpose of reinvigorating Cleveland’s poor neighborhoods.

Esquire Network unveiled an extended trailer for its second scripted series Beowulf, based on the legendary poem.

The ambitious 13-episode series premieres January 23 at 10 PM ET/PT. Extended trailers for the newest seasons of Friday Night Tykes and Team Ninja Warrior, which both premiere January 19, were also released, and can be found on the network’s YouTube page.

To round out the day, Oxygen expanded its original programming slate with five new and returning shows:

#killerpost, a docuseries chronicling crimes that began on social media (premieres January 30, 9 PM ET/PT)

Preachers of Atlanta, the franchise moves to ATL and looks through the eyes of five different pastors (February 3, 10 PM ET/PT)

Living with Funny, a half-hour docuseries that chronicles rising comedians like Brandon T. Jackson and the women in their lives (March 29, 9 PM ET/PT)

Like A Boss, a docuseries following four assistants trying to achieve their bosses success, executive produced and featuring Nick Cannon (March 29, 9:30 PM ET/PT)

Quit Your Day Job, Randi Zuckerberg and other moguls explore the world of entrepreneurship in this docuseries (March 30, 10 PM ET/PT)

[All images courtesy of USA]

Tags:


  Save as PDF