stars on screen
Back in the fold
Jimmy Smits returns to NBC this fall
By Michelle Rose
TV Media
Back in the fold: Jimmy Smits
is back. Then again, the talented
Emmy winner has never been
away.
In a career spanning more than
four decades, the Brooklyn-born
actor has racked up an impres-
sive list of TV credits: he’s played
an attorney in “L.A. Law,” a
detective in “NYPD Blue,” a presi-
dential candidate in both “The
West Wing” and “24: Legacy,”
and a, er, “companionator” in
“Sons of Anarchy,” to name a
few. He’s even tried his hand at
comedy with a guest appearance
in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
So what’s next? This fall, the
hard-working TV veteran is head-
ing back to NBC and the court-
room drama genre in the series
“Bluff City Law.”
The weekly drama centers on
a father-daughter team of social
justice attorneys. Caitlin McGee
(“Grey’s Anatomy”) is Sydney
Strait, a brilliant young lawyer
who left her father’s civil rights
law firm in an attempt to put
distance between them. But the
estrangement doesn’t last: after
a death in the family, dad Elijah
(Smits) attempts a reconciliation
by inviting Sydney to rejoin the
firm in Memphis. She agrees (it’s
not a spoiler if it’s in the pilot). But
they’ll have to find a way to over-
come lingering resentment and
deep mistrust in order to mend
their relationship, or at the very
least, work together to make the
world a better place.
The series is written and co-
executive produced by Dean
Georgaris. If that name seems fa-
miliar, too (maybe not Smits-level
famous), it’s because Georgaris
has been mentioned in recent
articles about another project
of his, ABC’s “The Baker and the
Beauty.”
Barring any delays, “Bluff City
Law” is scheduled to begin film-
ing this week in its namesake city.
It just so happens that Memphis
is celebrating its bicentennial this
year, and there are high hopes
that the Smits-led series will fur-
ther boost tourism.
24 | Screentime
Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee from “Bluff City Law”
Clearly, NBC has high hopes for
Still, many wondered how a
“Bluff City Law,” too. The peacock critically acclaimed, award-win-
network ordered it straight to
ning series with a strong fan base
series and gave it a choice time-
and the support of TV executives
slot after “The Voice” on Monday could go from greenlit to poten-
nights, beginning Sept. 23.
tially canceled.
According to sources, it all
Out of Purgatory: Earpers,
comes down to one thing:
rejoice! Fans of the Western/hor-
money. The series shoots in
ror series “Wynonna Earp” will
Canada, where it airs on Space;
be relieved to hear there will likely stateside, Syfy licenses the se-
be a Season 4 after all.
ries. A deal was struck to air the
Trouble began earlier this year
first two seasons on Netflix for
when production on the fourth
additional streaming revenue,
season was inexplicably delayed.
but that still left IDW Entertain-
When cast members confirmed
ment footing most of the bill
that they had yet to film any
for production costs. And that’s
new scenes, fans rallied around
where the show’s continuation
the show and campaigned on
hit a snag.
its behalf through billboards,
Luckily, the financial difficul-
hashtags (#FightforWynonna)
ties seem to have been resolved
and websites.
with increased support from
July 17, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
networks and partners, who
also took notice of the passion-
ate fan response. This piece of
good news is a rare show of
faith in this industry, which says
plenty about the show’s value
and its potential. Production is
scheduled to resume in January
2020.
’Most Wanted’ premiere:
With all this talk of new series
and fall premiere dates, there’s
one highly anticipated CBS show
that doesn’t seem to be in the
starting lineup for the fall.
The second season of “FBI”
is set to kick off on Sept. 24. But
so far, the eye network has made
no mention of a start date for
the planned spinoff, “FBI: Most
Wanted.”
Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean
the spinoff isn’t happening. The
series order came with a sub-
stantial commitment penalty,
so it’s safe to say the network
would probably prefer to honor
its commitment rather than
pay a hefty sum to executive
producer (and franchise master-
mind) Dick Wolf.
Instead, the series will likely
be a mid-season addition to
the CBS lineup. And that means
you can expect new episodes
sometime between January and
March 2020.
The spinoff, which stars Julian
McMahon (“Nip/Tuck”) and
Alana de la Garza (“Law & Or-
der”), was introduced to view-
ers back in April, when its back-
door pilot aired as an episode
of “FBI” (fittingly, the episode
was titled “Most Wanted”). Its
storylines will center on the Fu-
gitive Task Force responsible for
tracking and apprehending the
criminals on the bureau’s Most
Wanted Fugitives list.
As for the series’ legendary
executive producer, Wolf isn’t
one to rest on his laurels. The
Emmy winner recently told
Variety he’s working on the ulti-
mate crossover event, one that
will cross networks by bringing
together characters from his
NBC and CBS series. It remains
to be seen how/when/if that will
happen, or which shows will be
involved. But if the networks
and Wolf can work it all out,
that would definitely be a “can’t
miss” TV event.