AMC Networks Reveals Third Walking Dead Series, Project Awe & More

AMC Networks has revealed its lineup of new and returning series—including programming for IFC, SundanceTV and BBC America—which features a greenlit third series from The Walking Dead universe that begins production this summer and bows on AMC in 2020.

Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead universe, will co-create the original drama, and Matt Negrete, who has been a writer and producer on The Walking Dead for the past five seasons, will serve as showrunner for the new series. Produced and distributed by AMC Studios, the series will feature two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come of age in the apocalypse. It joins The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead as the third series to be based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman.

David Madden, president of programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios, said: “We’re thrilled that the dead will keep walking into a new corner of the post-apocalyptic world, a corner that will present stories and characters unlike any that The Walking Dead has dramatized thus far, and that is bound to excite one of the most passionate fanbases in television. Scott has been an invaluable leader for the Universe since taking on the role of chief content officer, with a distinct and innovative vision for the franchise. Likewise, we’re excited to have Matt, who has been a crucial part of The Walking Dead family for over five years and penned many memorable episodes of The Walking Dead, at the helm of this original series.”

Also on AMC’s slate is season two of the horror-infused WWII anthology The Terror: Infamy, which centers on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt a Japanese-American community. It bows on the network on Monday, August 12, at 9 p.m. Immediately following that premiere at 10 p.m. comes the debut of the sophomore run of Lodge 49, an AMC Studios production billed as a “mystic modern-day fable” that boasts Paul Giamatti as an executive producer.

IFC is debuting the new musical variety sketch comedy Sherman’s Showcase, each episode of which sees Sherman McDaniels take viewers through time via music and comedy drawn from the 40-year library of a legendary (but fictional) musical variety show. It premieres on IFC on Wednesday, July 31, at 10 p.m.

Also from IFC, Documentary Now!, created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, Rhys Thomas and executive produced by Lorne Michaels, has been renewed for another season with a seven-episode order from the network. The Emmy-nominated sketch comedy series features unique takes on well-known documentary films and often features celebrity appearances.

“IFC is fully committed to delivering programming for the masses of fans looking for brilliant tributes to both celebrated and obscure documentaries,” said Blake Callaway, executive director for IFC. “We cannot wait to see what this psychotically talented group behind Documentary Now! comes up with next that will top the previous 52 seasons.”

The Name of the Rose, based on Umberto Eco’s eponymous novel, will air on SundanceTV on Thursday, May 23, at 10 p.m. It features a star-studded cast, including Emmy Award winner John Turturro (The Night Of), Emmy Award winner Michael Emerson (Lost, Person of Interest) and Golden Globe nominee Rupert Everett (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children).

SundanceTV will debut the third season of Rosehaven on Thursday, June 20, at midnight. Written by and starring Australian comedians Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola, Rosehaven follows the story of two friends and unlikely real estate agents as they navigate their rocky personal lives. Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter also debuts on the network in June, premiering on the 23rd at 10 a.m. No One Saw a Thing rounds out the network’s newly announced lineup, debuting on Wednesday, July 31, at 8 p.m. and examining an unsolved and mysterious death in small-town America.

Meanwhile, BBC America has unveiled Project Awe (working title), its newly created home for nature programming in the U.S. that is set to launch in the fourth quarter of this year. Every Saturday for 24 hours beginning at 6 a.m., the network will transform into Project Awe (w/t), a television destination for premium nature and wildlife content.

Project Awe is the exclusive U.S. television home to the Planet Earth collection and other iconic landmark series from the BBC Natural History Unit, including The Blue Planet and II, Frozen Planet, Life, Africa, Dynasties and One Planet: Seven Worlds. BBC America recently renewed its partnership with the BBC to co-produce the next installments of Planet Earth III and Frozen Planet II as part of a broader deal that cements BBC America as the U.S. home of the BBC’s biggest natural-history content over the next five years.

Sarah Barnett, president of the entertainment networks group for AMC Networks, said: “As the past, present and future U.S. home to this iconic BBC nature and wildlife programming, we know that epic documentaries about this spellbinding blue planet we all share pulls people from all backgrounds and all ages together in a transcendent way that’s unlike anything else, which is why we have been ‘all in,’ on this groundbreaking programming for many years, and will continue to be for many more to come. It is a privilege to be a home for experiences that make us feel part of something bigger than ourselves and remind us of our profound connectedness. BBC America’s Project Awe is created as a place for audiences to gather together and feel something bigger than themselves.”