The Walt Disney Company kicked off the Summer Television Critics Association 2024 Press Tour in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday, sharing first looks and major announcements for multiple new and returning series from 20th Television, ABC, ABC News Studios, Disney Branded Television, Disney+, Disney Television Studios, Freeform, FX, Hulu, and Onyx Collective.
FX was the first to present its slate, which includes the following premieres:
- The New York Times Presents: “Lie to Fly”
- Friday, August 23, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX
- English Teacher
- Monday, September 2, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX—first two episodes
- All episodes will stream next day on Hulu
- Coming soon to Disney+ internationally
- The Old Man Season 2
- Thursday, September 12, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX—first two episodes
- All episodes will stream next day on Hulu
- Coming soon to Disney+ internationally
- American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez
- Tuesday, September 17, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX—first two episodes
- All episodes will stream next day on Hulu
- Coming soon to Disney+ internationally
- Social Studies
- Friday, September 27, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX—first two episodes
- All episodes will stream next day on Hulu.
- Available on Disney+ internationally in select territories at a later date
English Teacher is a comedy series created by Brian Jordan Alvarez, in which he stars as Evan Marquez, a high school teacher in Austin, Texas who often finds himself at the intersection of the personal, professional and political aspects of working at a high school. The eight-episode season will find Evan navigating relationships, students, and fellow faculty as he tries to answer the question: Can you ever really be your full self at your job?
Acknowledging the political divide over what happens in the classroom, Alvarez said he wanted to “play in that gray area” when it comes to writing for Evan, fellow teachers Gwen Sanders (Stephanie Koenig) and Markie Hillridge (Sean Patton), guidance counselor Rick (Carmen Christopher), Principal Grant Moretti (Enrico Colantoni), and the students. “We are talking about that actively in the writers room,” Alvarez noted. “‘What can we say? What can we not say? What can this character say that another character cannot say?’”
Alvarez added that there is “a lot of trust” on set, which allows them to experiment and toe the line. “If we get in the editing room and it feels over the edge,” he said, “then we just don’t put it into the show.”
Social Studies, from Emmy® Award winner Lauren Greenfield, is a character-driven documentary series that delves into the lives of the first generation raised on social media. Filmed in Los Angeles over a school year, this groundbreaking social experiment features a diverse group of teens who open up their lives and phones to offer an intimate glimpse into how social media has reshaped childhood. From battling bullying, grappling with beauty standards, coping with racism, exploring sexuality, navigating the pressures of constant comparison, and making life-altering decisions, their compelling and relatable experiences reveal a raw and visceral journey through the challenges of growing up in the digital age.
“I have been photographing and filming kids for 30 years, and there’s definitely a shift in how conscious they were about the camera.,” Greenfield said. “They open their lives in a very unconscious and natural way, but they also consciously chose what I could film, what I did. They are extremely savvy.”
Greenfield went on to elaborate on how different the teens could act away from social media. “I think one of the really refreshing things about this is that we did all of these group discussions, and they really approached it in a different way than they approach social media,” Greenfield explained. “In social media, you see them being presentational. They wanted to look good; they wanted to put makeup on and be sexy. But when we were together [for group discussions]… They weren’t showing off. They were extremely honest.”
In Season 2 of The Old Man, former CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and former FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow) set off on their most important mission to date—to recover Emily Chase (Alia Shawkat) after she is kidnapped by Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban), a powerful Afghan tribal leader. With all three men claiming her as their daughter, Emily finds herself in an identity crisis that has dire implications.
“As much as you guys wanted to work together, we wanted to see you together,” co-creator and executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg said to Bridges and Lithgow. “And, in a way, it’s driving the show [in Season 2]. It’s such a treat to be able to write scenes for these two.”
Steinberg sees a future for The Old Man too, saying, “I feel like it still has a lot of things to say.” That suits its two stars just fine, given how easily they relate to their roles. “I’m an old man,” Bridges said. “I don’t have to play it. I bring that to the party.”
During Onyx Collective’s presentation, critics were among the first to get extended looks at Season 2 of UnPrisoned, premiering Wednesday, July 18, on Hulu; Season 2 of Reasonable Doubt, premiering Thursday, August 22, on Hulu; and the new comedy series How to Die Alone, created by and starring Natasha Rothwell, premiering Friday, September 13, on Hulu.
Reasonable Doubt cast members Emayatzy Corinealdi (Jax Stewart), McKinley Freeman (Lewis Stewart), Tim Jo (Daniel Kim), and Angela Grovey (Krystal Walters), along with executive producer Larry Wilmore, appeared onstage to tease what’s coming in Season 2.
Following a tough trial and a deadly affair, Jax is trying to get her life back on track—that is, until one of her closest friends reveals she has killed her husband. While her friend claims self-defense, an uncompromising prosecutor thinks otherwise. Needing all the help she can get, Jax brings in an ambitious defense attorney (Morris Chestnut) to lead the case, but things get tense very quickly. Can Jax defend her friend, save her marriage, and protect her energy—all while being catapulted into the biggest case of her legal career?
“This is multilevel storytelling,” Wilmore said. Compared to a broadcast legal drama, he explained, “What makes the story special is the personal aspect… It’s not just sexy; it’s provocative and dynamic, with complicated issues. And we try to keep it 100 percent real.”
Next up, 20th Television and Hulu debuted the trailer for Interior Chinatown, premiering all 10 episodes on Friday, November 19. Based on Charles Yu’s award-winning book of the same name, it follows Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang), a background character trapped in a police procedural. Willis goes through the motions of his onscreen job, waiting tables and dreaming about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family’s buried history, and what it feels like to now be in the spotlight.
“This isn’t the book,” Yu clarified. “It’s inspired by the book.”
Yu—who was joined onstage by cast members Yang, Chloe Bennet (Lana Lee), and Ronny Chieng (Fatty Choi)—said he wanted the comedy to “be as fun and complicated as life is.” Each actor had to figure out how their character “exists in different ways, which is what the show is about,” he added. “‘Who are you with your family? Who are you at work? Who are you in your most unguarded moments?’ There’s something funny about that—that’s why we have funny people—but they’re also great actors, and the drama is what’s exciting to me.”
Later in the day, Freeform shared a behind-the-scenes look at Wayne Brady: The Family Remix, premiering Wednesday, July 24, at 10 p.m. ET/PT and streaming next day on Hulu.
Not only does Brady star in the docuseries alongside his daughter, Maile Brady; his ex-wife and business partner, Mandie Taketa; and Taketa’s life partner, Jason Michael Fordham, but he serves as an executive producer. While that gives him a certain amount of control, his “intention” was to be as authentic and unfiltered as possible. “We said, ‘If we’re going to tell the story, if we’re going to represent this family and people like us, then we have to see it the whole way through,’” he said. With that in mind, “Let’s see what happens—even if it’s hard.”
Just as the Summer TCA Press Tour was getting underway, ABC announced premiere dates for its action-packed fall, featuring previously announced fan-favorite series, high-octane new dramas, and The Bachelor franchise’s newest iteration.
The announcement came on the heels of the network closing out the 2023-24 season as No. 1 in entertainment among Adults 18-49 for the fifth consecutive season—the longest winning streak in over 10 years.
ABC’s Fall 2024 premiere schedule is as follows (all times ET/PT):
Saturday, August 24
7:30 p.m.: College Football
Tuesday, September 17
8 p.m.: Dancing with the Stars (simulcast on Disney+)
10 p.m.: High Potential
Wednesday, September 18
8 p.m.: The Golden Bachelorette
Friday, September 20
9:01 p.m.: 20/20
Thursday, September 26
8 p.m.: 9-1-1
9 p.m.: Doctor Odyssey
10 p.m.: Grey’s Anatomy
Sunday, September 29
7 p.m.: America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m.: The Wonderful World of Disney
Monday, October 7
8 p.m.: Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
9 p.m.: Press Your Luck
Wednesday, October 9
9:30 p.m.: Abbott Elementary
10:02 p.m.: Scamanda
Friday, October 18
8 p.m.: Shark Tank
All original programming will stream the next day on Hulu.
The cast and creative team behind High Potential appeared onstage to discuss the crime procedural comedy, based on the hit French series. High Potential follows a single mom (Kaitlin Olson) with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective.
“There’s a certain tone we’re going for—this wonderful balance of drama and comedy,” said showrunner and executive producer Todd Harthan. His goal is to find the alchemy between high-stakes cases and the “pockets where we can infuse humor in a natural way.”
As one of the stars of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia—FX’s longest-running comedy series—who better than Olson to thread that needle in High Potential? “I love comedy,” she said. “It’s my one of my very favorite things to do, but I also have a theater background.”
While High Potential allows Olsen to tap into her more dramatic side, she didn’t have “much of a process” for getting into character as Morgan Gillory: “This woman is very grounded. She’s a very loving mother. I’m a very loving mother, so that wasn’t so hard to jump into. It’s just acting! It wasn’t ‘challenging.’ I didn’t need to do any reprogramming.”
To round out the presentations, ABC News Studios brought out producer and director Matthew Felker to promote After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, premiering Wednesday, August 28, on Hulu. The four-part docuseries dives into the untold stories behind the iconic ’90s television show Baywatch that left an indelible mark on pop culture, featuring exclusive cast and creator interviews, never-before-seen cast home videos, and much more.
Felker—joined onstage by Baywatch stars Nicole Eggert, Carmen Electra, Billy Warlock, Alexandra Paul, David Chokachi, Jeremy Jackson, Traci Bingham, and Erika Eleniak—admitted it “took years” for some of the cast members to “trust” him with their stories. “Gregory Alan Williams has never done a Baywatch interview in 30 years. He made me write an essay. He had to understand why I was doing this, how he was being positioned, and he really welcomed me with open arms. He’s absolutely incredible,” Felker said. “Michael Bergen ghosted me for I don’t know long. He’s a real estate agent, so I showed up to a house he was showing. And Nicole had a group of people that trusted her, so she vouched for me.”
Chokachi said viewers will see beyond the superficial by accessing the actors’ real lives “without a filter,” which should result in more admiration for the show. “I think once people see the journeys that we’ve all been on—the good and the bad—it’ll take away the [stigma] of the name. I think people will have a lot more respect for the name Baywatch.”
To cap off the Summer 2024 Press Tour, Disney+ celebrated the world premiere of the Disney Original Movie Descendants: The Rise of Red at the Walt Disney Studios Lot in Burbank, California. The latest film in the global hit Descendants franchise from Disney Branded Television welcomed influencers, celebrity fans, and the film’s stars and creative team to step into Wonderland ahead of the movie’s premiere on Friday, July 12, on Disney+.
