Hulu is adding to its growing slate of original programming, including a new animated series from Seth Meyers that will translate his experiences on “Saturday Night Live” to a gang of superheroes.
Meyers previewed the show, “The Awesomes,” at Hulu’s upfront Thursday. He and co-creator Michael Shoemaker, a producer of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” and formerly of “SNL,” said the series will be a behind-the-scenes look at an “Avengers”-like troupe of crime-fighters.
Meyers said “The Awesomes” was based on backstage life at “SNL,” where he is a head writer and Weekend Update host.
The show is planned to debut next year on Hulu, which is co-owned by Disney, News Corp. and NBCUniversal.
Hulu is also producing a series about a group of friends who play pick-up basketball from “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” director Danny Leiner, “Are We There Yet?” writer Kenya Barris and “The Game” writer Hale Rothstein. That show, “We Got Next,” will premiere later this year.
Hulu is also planning a fantasy show called “Flow” built around the urban sport of parkour, which involves running, climbing, or leaping rapidly over obstacles, and a music talent discovery show called “Don’t Quit Your Daydream” that’s based on the 2010 documentary by Adrian Grenier and John Loar.
Those four series add to Hulu’s original programming that includes Morgan Spurlock’s “A Day in the Life” and the scripted series “Battleground.” The event Thursday was the first of a series of planned “newfronts” in which digital outlets present their programming to advertisers, much like the traditional TV upfronts in May.
Hulu said that in February, U.S. users watched 2.5 billion videos on the site. Earlier this week, it announced that will charge advertisers only if viewers watch a commercial in full.
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More