Discovery Reveals Rob Riggle Series & Extreme Makeover Reboot

Discovery’s TCA presentation revealed a raft of highlights across multiple networks, including
Discovery Channel’s Rob Riggle: Global Investigator, which is set for a March premiere, and HGTV’s new version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Rob Riggle: Global Investigator will see Riggle travel the globe in search of answers to some of the world’s greatest legends and mysteries. In his quest for answers to humanity’s biggest questions, Riggle teams up with experts and scholars that help him use history, archaeology, science and more to uncover the truth. The series is produced for Discovery Channel by record-breaking producer Will Packer, Will Packer Media, Anomaly Entertainment and Haunted Steel Mill, in association with Hazmat Productions.

Anchoring the HGTV 2020 lineup is a reboot of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which will premiere with 10 new episodes on February 19, at 9 p.m. The new version will be hosted by award-winning actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson from ABC’s Modern Family.

Also announced was MotorTrend’s U.S. version of Top Gear, Top Gear America, which stars Dax Shepard, Rob Corddry and Jethro Bovington. The official production kick-off date for the series is January 26, 2020, and it is set to come to the MotorTrend app, the only subscription streaming service dedicated entirely to the motoring world, later this year. Top Gear America aims to deliver a fresh, uniquely American take on the classic Top Gear format, following the motorized mischief and supercharged adventures of Shepard, Corddry and Bovingdon across America.

Discovery also unveiled the Girl Scout Cookie Championship, a four-episode prime-time event that captures the country’s obsession with the iconic cookies that is set to air on the Food Network. Hosted by Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), each episode challenges five accomplished bakers to transform Girl Scout Cookies into show-stopping edible pieces of art and takes viewers behind the scenes for an up-close look at how the treats are made. Judges Nacho Aguirre and Katie Lee are joined by a rotating third judge, including panelist Carla Hall, to ultimately determine which competitor made the most stunning creation. The series kicks off Monday, February 3rd, at 8 p.m.

TLC, meanwhile, has set an April premiere for Dragnificent!, featuring some of America’s most beloved drag queens as they flip the switch and sprinkle their glitz on people who desperately wish for a mega-makeover as part of an upcoming life milestone. The series will take viewers on a loud, outrageous and heartwarming ride as the queens help each person reveal the best version of themselves—inside and out. Dragnificent! will premiere in April 2020.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network revealed the premiere date and official trailer for its new original anthology drama Cherish the Day, created and executive produced by Emmy winner and Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay (Queen Sugar, When They See Us). Cherish the Day is set for a two-night premiere on Tuesday, February 11, at 10 p.m., and Wednesday, February 12, at 8 p.m.

Investigation Discovery (ID) has set a slew of new series. First up is Aaron Hernandez: An ID Murder Mystery, slated to bow on January 20, which explores how Hernandez went from the all-American tight end for the New England Patriots to convicted murderer. Further, ID has partnered with Khloé Kardashian for Twisted Love, which looks at how love of any kind can go horribly wrong. The new six-part series shares tales of families, friends and lovers, and documents how at any moment, a trusted love can turn into a treacherous fate. It bows on February 3, at 9 p.m.

The first special is ID new anthology series Who Killed…(working title) focuses on Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier found dead in his prison cell under mysterious circumstances. Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein? will feature exclusive interviews and an in-depth investigation to reveal new clues about Epstein’s seedy underworld, privileged life and controversial death.

Rounding out ID’s announcements is In Memoriam, a film that moves past the polarized gun control debate, focusing on the lasting emotional scars mass shootings leave behind. We hear in detail from survivors and first responders from the attacks that took place over six short months at the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest music festival, the Sutherland Springs Baptist Church and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The film premieres with limited commercial interruption on February 8, at 9 p.m.

Animal Planet, meanwhile, will see the return of the Puppy Bowl with Puppy Bowl XVI, which follows this year’s adoptable puppy players, who make up the rosters of #TeamRuff and #TeamFluff, as they celebrate a “Sweet 16” extravaganza and dig deep and play hard to win the inaugural CHEWY “Lombarky” trophy at GEICO stadium. It airs on February 2, at 3 p.m.

Travel Channel has added to its lineup the six-part series True Terror with Robert Englund, which sees the veteran actor and horror movie icon (Freddy Krueger of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise) scour news reports of yesteryear to bring viewers twisted tales ripped straight from the headlines. In each episode, Englund weaves together a trilogy of spine-tingling tales, guided by newspaper accounts and layered with commentary from historians and experts. The first episode, titled “Twisted Relationships,” premieres on March 18, at 10 p.m.