Following a thundering trailer that garnered 25.5 million views, ABC’s newest thriller just premiered with a rock star cast, featuring Katheryn Winnick, Kylie Bunbury, Ryan Phillippe, and John Carroll Lynch. An adaptation of C.J. Box’s bestselling novel The Highway, Big Sky is the brainchild of David E. Kelley (The Practice, Ally McBeal), marking his grand return to broadcast television following his hit HBO show Big Little Lies.

“What drew me in first was the plot, the tension,” Kelley said during ABC’s virtual press tour. “And then, what resonated after was the layering of the characters…When we set about adapting it, the biggest challenge for me was to be able to deliver what the book did, and that is the tension, the thrill, the drama, the relational equations of the characters, which were rich and profound at times, and then the sense of escapism. It was a great ride, a great journey. And I’m hoping the audience and, particularly, given the times when they throw on the television at the end of the day, we will be able to deliver that sense of fun, drama, and escapism to them.”

CUOCO TAKES FLIGHT
In her first live action role since the Big Bang Theory finale, Kaley Cuoco takes on the title role in HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, a dark comedic thriller based on the book by Chris Bohjalian. The limited series follows the fun and vodka loving Cassie, a thirty something flight attendant, who wakes up hung over in Bangkok next to a dead body without any memory of the night before.

“This was a great kind of a new path, but it wasn’t so far o that people are like, ‘What is she doing?’” said Cuoco at the series’ Television Critics Association digital panel in August. “There’s still that levity. I loved the drama. I loved being scared. I loved the running. It’s been completely new and different. I’ve really never done anything like it before, and I completely enjoyed it.”

“Some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it like, I know that’s going to happen,” the star told the Los Angeles Times. “My whole career has prepared me for that. But I love TV; I grew up on TV. And I can go to bed knowing I made the best show possible, and that thrills me.”

A DYNAMIC PAIR
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant team up for HBO’s American psychological thriller The Undoing. Based on the 2014 novel You Should Have Known by Jean Han Korelitz, the nail biting miniseries follows Kidman’s character, successful therapist Grace Fraser, plus her husband Jonathan (Grant), a New York oncologist, and their son (Noah Jupe) as a chain of horrifying revelations unfold. Grant describes the show as a whodunit meets psychological drama.

We could call it a “Scandi noir,’” he said in a recent press interview. “That’s what we call them in the U.K. when you get a Scandinavian director dealing with death in a very artistic, cinematic way. It’s a dicult series to talk about without giving anything away. But certainly, things are not as perfect as they seem. It’s a question of, is Jonathan just a philanderer or is he also something much worse?” Golden Globe winning director Susanne Bier and Emmy winning creator David E. Kelley are also on the project.

TED SCORES!
Even before the debut of its second season, Ted Lasso already nabbed the green light from AppleTV+ for a third not bad for a concept that began with a couple of NBC comedy promos after the network acquired the rights to the English Premier League. Executive producer/ star Jason Sudeikis charms as Ted Lasso, a small time college football coach from Kansas hired to head a professional soccer team in London, despite having no relevant coaching experience with the sport. Enter a heartwarming and hilarious comedy of errors and mishaps.

Brendan Hunt (We’re the Millers, Horrible Bosses 2) co-stars as Ted’s lovable assistant coach and BFF.

Fellow SNL star Seth Myers recently tweeted his support for the series. “The season one finale of Ted Lasso is out today and totally nails the landing. I knew I’d love this show but I could never have guessed how much I’d love it or in how many different ways.”

RITA’S REVIVAL
Soon after Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks recovered from COVID-19, the actress, singer, and songwriter triple threat was back it, channeling her experience with quarantine to create powerful country music. “While sheltering at home, I was able to stay creative and write music with my songwriting friends,” she told Healthywomen.org. Wilson’s latest song, “What I Would Say,” is a passionate ballad with an important message for anyone with loved ones struggling with addiction. “Addiction not only impacts the addict, but the people that love them,” she said. “A lot of people struggle with the complications and fear addiction of a loved one brings into their lives. In spite of having faith things will turn out okay, it’s not unusual to imagine an outcome that you’d never want to encounter. Sadly, this outcome is all too common for so many.”

Wilson also recorded a song called “Where’s My Country Song?” while in quarantine. “That was really a song that I felt spoke to women. You know, 75% of our healthcare workers and nurses are female. Even though I wrote it before quarantine, it really resonated with me about women who do these jobs that we couldn’t really live without.”