Category: TV

Bowen Yang is talking about his love for Peacock and gave a shoutout to The Traitors and The Real Housewives of Miami.

When the Saturday Night Live star made an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, he was asked about the latest happenings in pop culture. Yang did not hesitate in professing his admiration for the streamer and particularly for a housewife from RHOM.

“I’m not just saying this as an employee of NBCUniversal but the most happening thing in pop culture right now is Peacock — it’s Peacock,” he said enthusiastically.

He continued, “You got The Traitors, you have every Real Housewives including The Real Housewives of Miami which is currently the best franchise because it features Lenny Hochstein, the boob God of Miami. He gives every woman a boob job in Miami. Compulsory boob jobs, which is a [Ron] DeSantis policy.”

Yang then gave details of the season arc around Lisa Hochstein’s divorce from her husband after she found out he was being unfaithful.

“[Lenny] cheated on his wife Lisa, who is one of the housewives and now he is currently one of the most hated men on television, I think,” Yang added. “We are all hugely rooting for Lisa. He tried to kick her out of their house with the kids and she was like, ‘No, I’m staying and I’m raising these two children.’ She is amazing. Lisa Hochstein, I’m with you, I support you. Love her.”

Watch Yang’s moment in the video shared below.

RHOM was also recently in the news after the cast got together to film the Season 5 reunion. Host Andy Cohen seemingly got aggravated at Larsa Pippen which ultimately had him screaming at her, which he later apologized for.

It’s Oscar nominations week, and a jovial Bill Maher zinged out a few Hollywood jabs to start the second Real Time of the spring. But later in the show, a cranky Maher revealed a dirty little secret about travel that he and other celebrities do all the time

“I can’t wait to see who slaps who,” said Maher about the Oscars revelations this week, noting the nominations leader is Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a title which he likened to “what you see when you shine a UV light on a hotel bedspread.”

Avatar: The Way of Water was a sore spot with Maher, who noted he’s against its “Oscars so blue” nomination.

That out of the way, Maher turned to Ukraine and the decision this week to send them tanks. “Biden said they’re the most lethal weapon in our arsenal – if you don’t count the gas stove.”

For his one-on-one segment, Maher brought out Frances Haugen, the social media activist and author of the forthcoming book, The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook.

Maher lamented the rise of the TikTok generation, and how “young people can’t watch a movie,” thanks to the shorter attention spans. “We do seem to be doing an experiment on young people’s brains.”

Haugen is best known as the Facebook whistleblower, and Maher asked whether that service was “the least of the problems,” given its older-skewing audience.

“What we use in the US is the most sanitized version,” she countered. “Facebook is the product most used in the most fragile places.”

Maher also started a jihad on the phone apps, which Haugen agreed “allows us to be more insensitive,” and said the fabulous lives depicted on Instagram promote social disorders and anxiety. The sleep deprivation engendered by taking the phone to bed is also “a leading cause of depression,” she said.

In the panel discussion, Maher brought out Bari Weiss, the founder and editor of The Free Press, and former Ohio Congressman, Tim Ryan.

They had a wide-ranging discussion, going from the police beating in Memphis to nutrition failures in the US bringing on more disease, to the failure in Democratic strategy that’s taking the party toward the radical fringe from its traditional blue collar base.

One of the more interesting segments was a brief talk about the rise of artificial intelligence, which is threatening to take over white collar jobs.

Ryan noted how his biggest applause line during his campaign was that “We need to bring back shop class.” The building trades, nursing, and police work are seemingly immune from AI taking over, he indicated. “We’ll figure it out.”

The Democratic party also needs to figure out what’s wrong with its approach, the panel decided. “Most people, especially after Covid, are looking at a party that has school lockdowns, puberty blockers,” and other issues. “They want to run in the other direction.”

Maher said that schools are to blame, with kids “not learning about the American Revolution and a thousand other things.”

Ryan agreed. “We need aspiration and direction so the country can be unified,” he said. “And it’s not talking about all of this bullshit.”

The New Rules segment offered a Bill Maher confession: he flies private. And most other climate preaching celebrities do, too.

“I know what didn’t work” when it came to fixing the environment, Maher said. “Asking people to be good.” He pointed out various failures, including recycling. “When you tell most humans” about climate issues, “their response is, ‘What’s in it for me?”

“I still believe climate change is an emergency. But I don’t think we’ll win with linen grocery bags or abandoning the gas stoves.”

Maher likened flying private to heroin use. “If you do it once, you’ll never stop,” he said. “There are two kinds of people: those who fly private, and those who would if they could.”

The host pointed to his lack of having kids as a positive in the environmental wars, and then mentioned he once owned a Prius and a Tesla. But no one followed his lead, and now 80% of new vehicles are SUVs and trucks. “That’s what people want,” he said.

“It’s fun to laugh at powerful people,” Maher concluded. “That’s how I can afford to fly private. But we need to get serious,” suggesting nuclear power and more money for research.

But ultimately, the way people are wired will determine whether they will comply. So it’s not really Taylor Swift’s fault that she has a private jet. After all, “Do you want to be stuck on Southwest with a pissed-off Taylor Swift?”

EXCLUSIVE: There was a lot of focus on the fact that Jay Leno’s Garage was canceled by CNBC on Thursday, but it turns out the rubber has met the road on the executive front as well.

The cancellation, which also included Money Court, hosted by Kevin O’Leary and Bethenny Frankel, is part of a swath of changes brought in by CNBC President KC Sullivan.

The news network is moving out of original, primetime entertainment programming and Deadline understands that the two execs that oversaw it — Denise Contis and Timothy Kuryak – will exit as part of the restructure, along with other execs across functions including marketing.

It will focus on repeats of shows like Shark Tank, Undercover Boss and American Greed.

While originals have never been the main focus of the network, Jay Leno’s Garage ran for seven seasons and nearly 90 episodes, Money Court has aired since 2021 and last year it aired Business Hunters, exec produced by Mark Burnett, and No Retreat: Business Bootcamp, which featured Spartan’s Joe De Sena.

Contis was EVP and Head of Content for CNBC Primetime and helped grow audiences for these shows at the network. She joined in September 2019, having previously been at Discovery Channel, where she oversaw series such as the Gold Rush and Deadliest Catch franchises.

Deadline understands that NBCUniversal is in talks with Contis about other internal opportunities.

Kuryak was executive producer at CNBC Prime, where he EPed Money Court as well as No Retreat: Business Bootcamp.

It’s a blow for the unscripted production community – those shows were produced by companies including MGM, Banijay’s 51 Minds and Anvil 1893.

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Academy Award nominee Liz Garbus is set to direct and executive produce the Untitled Orphan Project that’s in the works for Hulu.

The ABC Signature drama will star Ellen Pompeo and is inspired by the true story of a Midwestern couple who adopts who they believe is an 8-year-old girl with a rare form of dwarfism. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, they slowly start to believe she may not be who she says she is.

The real-life story has drawn parallels to the 2009 horror movie Orphan.

The plan is to produce an eight-episode limited series. Pompeo will executive produce through her production banner Calamity Jane with Laura Holstein. The project was created and written by Katie Robbins (The Affair). Erin Levy will serve as showrunner on the series and executive produce alongside Robbins.

Garbus’ first episode of television was for the Season Four finale of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which earned her an Emmy nomination for Best Directing. She’s also a two-time Academy-Award nominee in the documentary feature category for her films What Happened, Miss Simone? and The Farm: Angola, USA. She also directed and executive produced the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan.

Garbus recently directed episodes of the Apple+ series City on Fire and the Showtime series Yellowjackets. She is repped by UTA and Victoria Cook at Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz.

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The initial exuberance and relief following Bob Iger’s return as Disney CEO has been replaced by anxiety as speculation about a pending corporate restructuring is intensifying — and with it, rumors about the layoffs that are likely to follow.

Rumblings of a new org-chart unveiling are growing louder amid mounting pressure on the company (including from activist investor Nelson Peltz) to stage a rebound with Iger back at the controls. Details on the restructuring moves, which could potentially include some sort of consolidation within the company’s marketing operations as well as at Disney Television Studios, are likely to emerge soon and could coincide with the company’s next quarterly earnings report February 8, sources tell Deadline.

And then there is the future of the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution executive ranks.

Iger didn’t waste time issuing one high-profile pink slip after replacing Bob Chapek last November; not even a full day after his restoration to the corner office, DMED chairman Kareem Daniel left the company. Iger had made no secret of his dislike of DMED, which was created by Chapek as a way of centralizing distribution decisions under Daniel, a Chapek loyalist. The division mainly succeeded in fomenting resentment and mistrust, taking decision-making power away from the company’s creative leaders and straining creative relationships.

Disney did not respond to a request for comment from Deadline.

While DMED is going to be dismantled, there are questions about how the unwinding will happen and about the fate of the remaining executives. Atop the list are Debra OConnell, president of Networks for Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, and her top lieutenant, head of business operations Chuck Saftler, both of whom highly respected within the company and beyond.

The longest-tenured FX employee having joined the network in December 1993, Saftler was an integral part of FX Networks chairman John Landgraf’s team before he was promoted to the DMED post. Saftler has been closely involved with the networks in his current role – he is credited with the recent ratings resurgence at FXX through the programming of off-network comedies and movie acquisitions. There are different scenarios about what would happen to him, but it is conceivable he could remain part of the close-knit group of FX executives who have been together for decades.

Another area drawing a lot of speculation is Disney Television Studios, which consists of 20th Television, ABC Signature, 20th Animation and Walt Disney Television Alternative. (Additionally, there are two other separate TV production arms, FXP and Searchlight Television.)

The situation is reviving questions raised at the time of Disney’s $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox assets as to whether Disney would keep then-ABC Studios and 20th Century Fox Television separate. Ultimately, they did remain stand-alone studios with their own infrastructures, though Fox 21 Studios was folded into 20th TV, which is now run by Karey Burke. Meanwhile, 20th Television Animation was made a separate division led by Marci Proietto, and ABC Studios was rebranded as ABC Signature with Jonnie Davis at the helm.

The consolidation chatter is even stronger this time around, with various scenarios circulated about what divisions could be merged. Everything seems to be on the table.

A successful potential consolidation of 20th TV and ABC Signature will depend on melding their two very different cultures. “Can two fried eggs become an omelet?” a well-positioned observer asked. Dana Walden, who has risen to the role of chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, does know plenty about bridging divides as the highest-ranking former Fox exec now in Burbank.

Walden just recently consolidated another area of the division she took over last summer, bringing back together publicity and communications years after they had been split. One position was eliminated as a result, with more cuts a possibility. 

Deadline has heard that the movie studio, currently riding the success of Avatar: The Way of Water, is not expected to be part of the pending cuts. Any Disney layoffs out of the reorg may be smaller and more targeted than what we have seen from other Hollywood outlets in recent months, we hear. Part of that is the sprawling nature of the company. Now that some of the Chapek-era pricing issues have been addressed, and Iger has gone on a few team-building visits to Anaheim and Orlando, the ruptures at the revenue-rich Parks, Experiences and Products division seem to be starting to heal.

Reshaping the company won’t be easy, of course. Disney, like other media companies, is contending with the ongoing decline of linear television and the high cost of streaming, against the backdrop of a fragile economy and uncertain advertising climate.

At the heart of Disney’s bottom line issue, we’re told, is that sexiest of business lines: accounting.

Under the Byzantine nature of the company’s current system, the production company of a particular program or series sends a program to DMED. Then, via an inter-company transaction, DMED reimburses the production for the cost of said program or series. Most importantly to Wall Street, all losses sit on DMED’s books – which is not a good look. “How we fix that will determine in no small way, how Wall Street reacts,” said a Tinseltown dealmaker of Disney’s dilemma.

A primary focus of the cost-cutting effort is stimulating the stock price, whose decline prompted Peltz to initiate a proxy battle. Shares at the end of 2022 bottomed out at a multi-year low after Chapek presided over a disastrous quarterly report. As SEC filings after his exit made clear, he had lost the confidence of the board earlier in the year, further preventing a smooth re-emergence from the Covid cave. Peltz says he wants a seat on the company’s board of directors, a pitch that will go to a vote in March during what is apt to be the liveliest shareholder meeting since the Roy Disney-Michael Eisner affair in 2004.

Regaining the trust of the Street is Job 1 for Iger and the board. “Whatever it takes, whatever costs they have to cut, that’s what they’ll do,” one industry insider told Deadline. “Getting back in the Street’s good graces solves the Peltz and other activist investor issues, it solves shareholder grumbling, it solves everything, for now,” the insider added.

Disney stock, like many media issues at the start of this year, seems refreshed. While still well off its recent high point of $189 in early 2021, it closed Thursday up 1.5% at $108.45 and has risen 24% in 2023 to date.

Anthony D’Alessandro and Jill Goldsmith contributed to this report.

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said execs at the company and parent Comcast are “more confident” than they were a year or two ago that investments in streaming service Peacock will soon yield profits. How soon remains a bit unclear, however.

“We’ve been clear from the start that we’re going to see a return on that investment — I think we feel better about that now based on where we are,” Shell said during Comcast’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

The company said Peacock had passed 20 million subscribers by the end of 2022, more than double its size at the start of the year. It added 5 million subscribers in the quarter thanks to Spanish-language World Cup coverage as well as original programming, other live sports and the addition of first-window movie titles and NBC and Bravo series that used to go to Hulu.

Over the rest of the year, CEO Brian Roberts said, “subscriber cadence will follow content launches, which will fall more heavily in the second half of 2023” than in the first half. President Mike Cavanagh, who recently was promoted from his previous CFO post, said losses at Peacock will rise to $3 billion this year from $2.5 billion in 2022. He reiterated previous guidance that the $3 billion level will represent “peak losses” for Peacock.

Asked directly about when break-even will officially be achieved at Peacock, Cavanagh and Shell did not answer or reaffirm any past outlook. Unlike rival players like Disney and Warner Bros Discovery, NBCU and Comcast have never revised the projections they offered investors before they entered the streaming arena. In early 2020, they projected reaching 30 million to 35 million active accounts by 2025 and break-even by 2024, with revenue of $2.5 billion. By 2022, revenue was already at $2.1 billion, triple the 2021 figure, according to the earnings report. Strategy-wise, at launch the company was more focused on the free, ad-supported tier of Peacock but has since pivoted toward paid subscribers.

“It’s very clear that we picked the right business model given where we are,” Shell said. “We wouldn’t be investing in Peacock if we didn’t think it was going to return the segment to growth over time. … could not be more positive about our trajectory. We’re right where we expected to be in terms of investment and we’re well above where we expected to be as far as paid subs, which is going to pay off.”

Unlike Disney+, which drew 10 million signups upon its launch in November 2019; or HBO Max, which benefited from the pre-existing HBO subscriber base of tens of millions, Peacock faced a tough slog in the early going. Covid forced a delay of the Tokyo Olympics, which had been slated to be the launch platform for the service. Other sporting events and original programming were also badly hampered by the pandemic, and crucial distribution deals with Amazon and Roku took months to develop after the launch.

Adam Scott went on the Boy Meets World rewatch podcast, “Pod Meets World,” on Sunday to air a longstanding grievance.

Scott, a recurring character who played Griff Hawkins on the 1990s sitcom, told cast members Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle about a moment on set that still haunts him.

The incident happened as filming for the Season 2 finale concluded. The episode aired in 1995.

Scott said cheers erupted as the final scene ended. Scott claimed he went up to Strong to give him a high-five and a hug, only to be rebuffed, with Strong pushing him and giving him a look indicating he didn’t recognize him.

Strong then allegedly ran away.

“Literally, this has been tugging on me for 29 years,” Scott said.

Strong claimed that he didn’t remember the moment and questioned, “Why would I do that?”

Laughter ended the moment. No indication whether Scott felt any better at that reaction.

Nominees Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Lizzo and Sam Smith are among those set to perform at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. The Trevor Noah-hosted show will be broadcast live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 5.

Luke Combs, along with Steve Lac and Kim Petras are also scheduled to perform on the telecast that will air 8-11:30 pm ET. More performers are expected to be announced soon.

Bad Bunny is up for three nominations: Album of the Year (Un Verano Sin Ti), Best Pop Solo Performance (“Moscow Mule”) and Best Música Urbana Album (Un Verano Sin Ti). Blige is nominated for six including Record of the Year (“Good Morning Gorgeous”) and Album of the Year; Carlile is up for seven, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year; Combs is up for three; Lacy for four; and Lizzo for five.

First-time nominee Petras is up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Unholy”). Smith is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Unholy”). 

The Grammys is produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Raj Kapoor serves as showrunner and executive producer, alongside Ben Winston and Jesse Collins as executive producers. Phil Heyes joins for the first time as director, Eric Cook as co-executive producer with Tabitha Dumo, Tiana Gandelman, Patrick Menton and David Wild as producers.

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals spoilers for tonight’s episode of NBC’s Night Court Titled, “Just Tuesday.”

It’s been more than three decades since lothario Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) was on the prowl, but on tonight’s episode of NBC’s Night Court, he gets to experience what it was like to be on the receiving end of his sexy propositions.

When we first reunite with Dan, we learn that the now reformed ladies’ man met a woman who changed his life. Her name is Sarah and she is no longer a part of his life. It is unknown if she died or if they are no longer together, but he always speaks of her fondly. In “Just Tuesday,” Dan can’t keep track of the number of women looking for a private “night court” session of their own.

While Larroquette says though there won’t be much more revealed about Sarah this season, she will be mentioned when Dan remembers her.

“She brought him life, one that he didn’t think was possible for him to have,” he told Deadline of Dan’s relationship with Sarah. “So, once that ended, in my mind, that put the end to all of that looking because he had it,” he continued. “He found somebody who loved him, who he also loved. They had a real relationship and a real life together. And once that ended, that’s fine. I had that and that’s all I need.”

With a single Dan back on his old stomping ground surrounded by women who can’t resist him, Larroquette jokes that Dan getting back into the dating scene “is like using a basset hound to pole vault.”

“The man is 75 years old, nobody wants to see that and I certainly don’t want to play that,” he shared. “So whatever we’ll do in the future about that will always be glancing blows to that sort of homage. We’ve got some young people in this cast who all the stories about the amorous nature of being young and falling in love and having relationships that work and don’t work should be left to the young people, not to the old guy.”

Melissa Rauch stars as Abby Stone, the new night court judge, and daughter of Judge Harry Stone (Anderson). She left her loved ones in Upstate New York to take the gig in the Manhattan criminal court, including her fiancé. As Larroquette mentioned, the “young people” are exploring friendships and relationships including Abby who is spending a lot of time with her clerk, Neil (Kapil Talwalkar).

“She’s very much a country girl and a country mouse that is now trying to become a city mouse. That is not a comparison to my size, though accurate,” joked Rauch. “She’s in this relationship with Rand, which is a part of her life before she comes here and she’s really trying to hold on to that. We hear her talk about him a lot. But as she’s finally finding her footing in New York and realizing what she wants, she’s also coming to terms with what she wants in her relationship, too. And it also sets up a sort of love triangle with Neil and what the potential there could be in his feelings for her—which we will discover down the line and see how that unfolds.”

Beyond romantic relationships, at the heart of the series is the relationship between Dan and Abby. When Dan is introduced, he’s kind of a hermit who barely leaves his apartment. Abby, as Rauch explained, is trying to find out who she is and what she really wants. Though the Dan/Abby relationship is a bit tumultuous at times, both fill a void in the other’s life which leads to healing and growth throughout the show’s freshman season.

“They can’t just be this lovely father-daughter surrogate kind of relationship because we need conflict for comedy. In that first scene, he realizes he owes it to Harry’s memory to help Abby temporarily navigate through the miasma that’s going to be New York at three o’clock in the morning,” Larroquette said. “Slowly the rust begins to be chipped away off of him, mainly because of Abby, and then with the other cast members, he begins to have some sort of repartee.”

Adds Rauch, “As much as Abby is reaching out to Dan for that surrogate father-daughter relationship, she also sees that this would be good for him. Abby is a helper but she also genuinely needs a public defender, so she has the idea to go to him not knowing what he’s been up to. It then becomes a mission for her to get him to stay because she sees he needs this and that he would be good at it. As much as it’s always Abby’s mission to help people, it’s important to her that he’s doing okay—the relationship grows from there. And as John said, they’re polar opposites but yet they have this common bond and this common thread and this shared love.”

Larroquette shared that after the original series ended, he was offered a spinoff following his character’s adventures, an opportunity he passed on because it would be Dan without the family and relationships that made the show a success. Though originally opposed to returning to the role as part of this new project, Larroquette eventually came around and now not only stars but also produces alongside Rauch.

He recalls going to work on a set quite similar to the original, was not easy for Larroquette—without them.

“It was hard,” Larroquette said of returning to Night Court after having lost multiple castmates who were also friends. “When we first started this, it was only Harry who had passed away. During the process of this and shortly after this, both Charlie Robinson and Markie Post passed away. When Melissa and I began to meet, I couldn’t look at her and go, ‘Oh, you remember when?’ because she hadn’t been there. We did have a couple of people on the crew who were part of the original, so I could give a side glance to Susie or Pixie who could remember. But it was sort of like, I see dead people, but not in a maudlin way or scary way.”

Larroquette also revealed that Dan’s change of job in the revival now puts him at the desk where Christine Sullivan (Post) previously sat which was a sad experience for him.

“I’m not going to talk about this much, but I actually had some communication with Markie while in the process of thinking about doing this. She was a cheerleader the whole way about it,” he revealed. “She said, ‘We’ve got to see what happened to Dan.’ So she was a touchstone for me during those weeks and months. It was a long time we danced around this. First Covid stopped us, then I stopped while thinking about who’s gonna want to see a 75-year-old guy in a sitcom? And so we did it and I think we did a very good job— better than good. And I tried to help as much as I could and be as present as I could with this new family. Just look at Melissa, and look at Kap, and India [de Beaufort] and Lacretta who are very, very funny people and they inhabit that place just as beautifully as the original did.”

Eight-time Grammy winner Chris Stapleton will sing the national anthem at this year’s Super Bowl LVII, the NFL announced today as the organization released the pregame entertainment line-up.

Twelve-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, songwriter and producer Babyface, a 12-time Grammy winner, will sing “America the Beautiful,” and Abbot Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph will perform the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Oscar-winning CODA actor Troy Kotsur will perform the national anthem in American Sign Language, with Colin Denny, a member of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, signing “America the Beautiful” and Justin Miles will signing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Also as part of the pregame show, the U.S. Navy will conduct a flyover of Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium during the national anthem to commemorate 50 years of women flying in the service.

As previously announced, Rihanna will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. The show will be produced by DPS, with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers. Hamish Hamilton will serve as the director.

The 2023 Super Bowl on Fox Sunday, Feb. 12.

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details for the Season 27 premiere of ABC’s The Bachelor.

Zach Shallcross began his journey to find love during Monday’s premiere of Season 27 of ABC’s The Bachelor. The 26-year-old, who originally appeared on Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey’s Season 19 of The Bachelorette, was introduced to 30 women who will be vying for his heart throughout the next several weeks.

The episode kicked off as it always does, giving viewers a more in depth introduction to Shallcross (Did you know he used to be a DJ?), who admitted that he was flying by the seat of his pants a little bit when it came to leading this season.

“I don’t know how to do this. I have zero idea. I need all the help in the world,” Shallcross said, before seeking advice from former Bachelor Sean Lowe — who has one of the only successful love stories from the series, having been married to his wife Catherine, who was his finalist on Season 17 of The Bachelor, for a decade. 

Lowe said he went into his experience “realistically,” and he didn’t expect to hit it off with Catherine when he first met her. It wasn’t until halfway through the season that he was sure she was the one. He told Shallcross: “You might be surprised, too.”

Then, it was time for Shallcross to prepare for his own suitors. Cue a shirtless exercise montage.

You might remember that Shallcross was introduced to five contestants already during The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose — Bailey, Brianna, Brooklyn, Cat, and Christina. Viewers voted, and 24-year-old Brianna received America’s First Impression Rose, meaning she’s going into night one completely safe from elimination. The other four women will have to take another shot at getting a rose after the first cocktail party along with all the other contestants.

Before the arrivals at the mansion, the episode featured some packages from a few of Shallcross’ other suitors. There’s Katherine, the 26-year-old registered nurse from Tampa, FL; Charity, the 26-year-old therapist from Columbus, GA; Greer, the 24-year-old medical sales rep from Houston, TX; and Kaity, the 27-year-old ER nurse from Austin, TX (which is where Shallcross also currently lives). 

Finally, it’s time for Shallcross to welcome the women to the Bachelor mansion. Many of the women kept their greetings simple, expressing their nerves and sharing a heartfelt first moment with Shallcross. Others took a more memorable approach, like 25-year-old Davia, who popped some champagne and toasted with Shallcross “to the start of something new.” Gabi, 25, brought Shallcross some maple syrup from her home state of Vermont (the gesture fell a little flat when the taste of the syrup made him grimace). Bailey brought a name tag, since he couldn’t remember her name during After the Final Rose, prompting Zach to apologize for the slip up and even give her the first kiss of the evening. 

Perhaps the most memorable of the night was 23-year-old Vanessa, who brought a trumpet player and strutted up the driveway tossing some mardi gras beads to represent her home state of Louisiana. Or it might be Mercedes, 24, who brought her pet pig Henry to the mansion. Without a doubt, Henry stole Shallcross’ heart. 

“All the women impressed me so much,” Shallcross told Palmer after greeting everyone, adding that he “might have” met his future wife. As he toasted the women inside, he expressed how much he values honesty in any relationship, asking all of them to be “open and honest” with their feelings throughout the process (which obviously sets off alarm bells that there may be some issues with honesty that arise later in the season). 

Right off the bat, Shallcross seemed to have a connection with Kaity, and the pair even shared a kiss during their one-on-one conversation at the cocktail party. His next kiss was with Christina after the two of them played a compatibility game, but their moment was quickly crashed by a group of other women. He also changed a baby doll’s diaper with Genevie, who said that Shallcross gave her “husband vibes.” 

And, of course, the night didn’t end without some tears. Madison found herself overwhelmed after her second interaction with Shallcross. When the pair kissed, they both separately told the cameras that they hadn’t felt the spark they were expecting, prompting Madison to storm out of the mansion. That’s when some of the energy began to shift as women who hadn’t had a chance to talk to Shallcross began to wonder if they’d get that opportunity before the night was over. 

After a few more conversations, it was time for Shallcross to give out his first impression rose. That went to Greer, who he said that their conversation was “one of the easiest” he’d ever had.  

And just like that…it’s time for the first rose ceremony. But before he could get started, Madison asked Shallcross for some clarity on where things stood between them. He told her he didn’t feel a connection, and she left without going through the rose ceremony. Since she left before the rose ceremony, that means that nine other women would be eliminated on night one. 

Those women were: Holland, Sonia, Lekha, Olivia M., Olivia L., Viktoria E., Becca, Vanessa, and Cara.

If you can’t keep track (it can get confusing this early in the season), here’s who did receive a rose: Brianna, Greer, Christina, Charity, Bailey, Jessica, Genevie, Davia, Aly, Brooklyn, Kaity, Anastasia, Kylee, Gabi, Katherine, Mercedes, Ariel, Victoria J., Kimberly, and Cat.

Jen Casey and Nick Gilhool, who ran Joe and Anthony Russo’s nonfiction label Wonderburst, are launching their own production company.

The duo are launching LA-based One Traveler with All3Media.

The partnership will see the pair create and produce multi-genre documentaries and unscripted series across broadcast, cable, streaming and digital.

They are behind series and docs including Captive Audience for Hulu, Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy for Netflix and Slugfest: DC vs. Marvel for Roku as well as Clare Danes-narrated IMAX film Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction.

They also produced The Wonderland Murders & The Secret History of Hollywood podcast, in association with Miziker Content and Michael Connelly, for Audible, which is being adapted as a docuseries by MGM+.

Casey was previously creator and producer of Nat Geo Wild’s The Adventures of Dr. Buckeye Bottoms and Nat Geo’s Extreme Weather, while Gilhool has worked on series including Making It, Project Runway, Top Chef and Cold Justice. He has also previously headed up development and series casting for Discovery, and served as a longtime exec at Magical Elves

The deal was negotiated by WME’s Ryan McNeily on behalf of One Traveler.

All3Media CEO Jane Turton said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Jen and Nick as they launch their new company and we look forward to working with them as they develop and produce great, new unscripted content.”

“We are excited to join All3Media and its worldwide family of creative producers. What a great group of people,” added Casey and Gilhool. “One Traveler is hitting the ground running with a multi-genre development slate, and we look forward to bringing compelling documentaries and unscripted shows to different platforms as we grow our new venture.”