Deals round-up: Netflix orders ‘The Corps’ & renews ‘The Diplomat’; ‘Morning Show’ returns to Apple; ‘Black Snow’ travels

The Diplomat

Netflix orders ‘The Corps’ & renews ‘The Diplomat’

Netflix has ordered comedy drama series The Corps (working title) and renewed political drama The Diplomat for a second season.

The Corps hails from executive producers Andy Parker, Norman Lear, Brent Miller, Rachel Davidson, Scott Hornbacher and Sony Pictures Television.

Inspired by the memoir The Pink Marine, by Greg Cope White, the 10-part series is set in 1990 and follows the story of Cameron, a bullied, gay high school student who joins the Marine Corps with his straight best friend, Ray – a dangerous move when being gay in the military meant jail time or worse.

As these two friends plunge into Marine Corps boot camp, where the landmines are both literal and metaphorical, they join a platoon of young men on a harrowing journey of transformation.

Miles Heizer, Vera Farmiga and Max Parker star, while Andy Parker serves as showrunner.

In related news, Netflix has renewed political drama The Diplomat for a second season.

Following Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the US ambassador to the United Kingdom, the series is created by Debora Cahn, who is also executive producer alongside Janice Williams and Keri Russell.

“Fans around the world are loving every minute of The Diplomat‘s gripping and propulsive drama, and embracing Keri Russell’s powerful performance as Kate Wyler. After that jaw-dropping cliffhanger, we can’t wait for them to see what the amazing visionary team of Debora Cahn, Janice Williams and Keri Russell have in store for season two,” said Jinny Howe, VP of drama series for Netflix.

The Morning Show

‘Morning Show’ returns to Apple

Apple TV+ series The Morning Show has been renewed for a fourth season ahead of the debut of its third instalment later this year.

Starring and executive produced by Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, the scripted series is set behind the scenes of a morning news programme. Season three is set to launch on the streamer in the fall.

The series is executive produced by Michael Ellenberg through Media Res, along with Aniston and Kristin Hahn through Echo Films, and Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter through Hello Sunshine. Mimi Leder serves as executive producer and director.

Black Snow

‘Black Snow’ travels

All3Media International has signed its first round of deals for Goalpost Television’s Black Snow, with the mystery drama led by Viking’s Travis Fimmel and produced by Goalpost Television for Stan, Australia, and Sundance, USA, heading to broadcasters across three continents.

Combining a coming-of-age drama with a whodunit, Black Snow made its debut on Australian streaming service Stan in January, with co-producer Sundance Now releasing the six-part drama in the USA, Canada and the UK in late February.

Prime Video has now acquired rights in a pan-territory deal for Africa and will premiere the series in the coming months. This acquisition marks All3Media International’s first deal with Prime Video in this continent.

An additional pan-territory deal has been agreed with OSN ffor the MENA region, where the series will be made available on streaming platform OSN+, as well as on OSNtv. Black Snow will also air on TVNZ in New Zealand. In Europe, All3Media International has signed deals with Canal+ in Austria, Filmin in Spain, NPO in the Netherlands, Magenta TV in Germany, Cosmote in Greece and Sýn hf in Iceland.

Set in Australia’s North Queensland, Black Snow centres on the murder of 17-year-old Isabel Baker (Talijah Blackman-Corowa) in 1995, a crime that devastated her Australian South Sea Islander community. The case was never solved, but in 2020, a discovery from a time capsule reopens the police investigation, casting suspicion across the whole town and fracturing the harmony that has taken 25 years to rebuild.

Black Snow unravels the mystery through two separate timelines – Isabel’s life in the 1990s and the investigation by Detective James Cormack (Travis Fimmel) in the present day.

Kanal D Romania takes to ‘The Floor’

Kanal D Romania is to produce and broadcast a local adaptation of Talpa’s quiz show format The Floor.

The series, which will launch in the fall of this year, sees 100 quiz fanatics face off in quiz duels on a giant LED floor divided into one hundred equal squares, each representing its own field of knowledge. The goal is to conquer the entire floor and take home a huge cash prize.

A random contestant challenges an adjoining opponent in a quiz duel. They play against each other in the category of the opponent’s square and the winner of a duel conquers his opponent’s square, gaining more ground – while the loser leaves the game.

Clara Bomboe, programming and strategy director of Kanal D Romania, said: “We are constantly investing in quality content and we are already trendsetters on the smart quiz and game show segments, with some successful productions. We believe we can enter another level with the spectacular and dynamic The Floor.”