Round-up: Blue Ant expands FAST network; ‘Law & Order’ extends reach; Apple preps ‘Mr Corman’

Ice Cold Blood

Blue Ant expands FAST network

Canada’s Blue Ant Media has launched new FAST channels, HauntTV and Crimetime, on Samsung TV Plus.

The roll-out in Canada will see Samsung TV Plus gaining free access to HauntTV and Crimetime’s unscripted paranormal and true crime programming, including Paranormal Survivor, See No Evil and In Ice Cold Blood.

HauntTV will also offer Ghost Chasers, which explores some of Europe’s most haunted locations in search that proof ghosts really exist, and World’s Scariest Hauntings, which delves into terrifying ghost and horror stories from around the globe.

Crimetime programming on Samsung TV Plus includes In Ice Cold Blood, which is hosted by Ice T, as well as See No Evil and Snapped: Killer Couples.

Jamie Schouela, president of global channels & media at Blue Ant Media, said: “This is the latest step in expanding our rapidly growing FAST offering and there’s more to come.”

Carlyn Staudt, global general manager at Blue Ant-owned Love Nature, told TBI that FAST channels and AVOD platforms offered a “sweet spot” to IP owners, with huge potential for factual programming.

In related news, Blue Ant Media and Smithsonian Networks-owned nature streaming brand Love Nature has made its FAST channel launch via Vizio’s smart TV operating system, SmartCast. Audiences will get access to free sampling of Love Nature’s originals catalogue, including Land Of Gremlins, Secrets Of Wild Australia and Wildlife Icons.

Law & Order Special Victims Unit

‘Law & Order’ extends reach

Dick Wolf’s Law & Order crime drama franchise continues to grow, with NBC in the US ordering a new series set inside a criminal defense firm.

Law & Order: For the Defense will be produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Wolf Entertainment, with Carol Mendelsohn serving as showrunner and executive producer, along with Wolf, Arthur Forney, Julie Weitz and Peter Jankowski.

The series will put the lawyers under the microscope, along with the criminal justice system with each episode delivering a contemporary morality tale.

“This new show is exciting for me personally,” said Wolf. “We spent the last 30 years on shows that played offense. Now it will be great to play defense, and being able to do it with Carol is an honour and an opportunity for both of us to do television that hasn’t been done before.”

The new series will join Law & Order: Organized Crime, the most recent installment in the long-running franchise, which debuted on NBC last month and saw the return of Christopher Meloni to the role of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit character Elliot Stabler.

In related news, Wolf has this week received a series commission from Amazon-owned IMDb TV for On Call, a crime series following a pair of police officers in Long Beach California.

Apple preps comedy Mr. Corman

Apple is preparing to launch a 10-part comedy that has been created and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock From the Sun), who also stars.

Mr. Corman follows the life of a failed artist, who is struggling after his fiancé moves out and is replaced by a former high school friend.

The show has been produced for Apple TV+ by US prodco A24 and is being executive produced by Gordon-Levitt along with Bruce Eric Kaplan, Ravi Nandan and Inman Young. Pamela Harvey-White serves as producer.

It will launch globally on Friday, 6 August, with the first three episodes dropped at once. Following eps will be available weekly.