The CW has selected two new series for its fall schedule. According to Deadline, both All American: Homecoming and superhero caper, Naomi, have been given series orders. They are the latest additions from a busy pool of potential pilots.
All American: Homecoming is the spinoff from teen drama, All American, which stars Daniel Ezra (A Discovery of Witches, Undercover) as Crenshaw High School’s football sensation, Spencer James. Homecoming will center Geffri Maya’s (Snowfall, Everybody Hates Chris) Simone Hicks as she graduates to attend college at an HBCU on a tennis scholarship. The series will also star Cory Hardrict (Tia & Tamera, Brotherly Love), Camille Hyde (Power Rangers: Dino Charge, The Thundermans), Kelly Jenrette (Grandfathered, The Handmaid’s Tale), Sylvester Powell (All American, Criminal Minds), Peyton Alex Smith (The Quad, Legacies), and Netta Walker (Chicago Fire, Come As You Are). The backdoor pilot is scheduled to premiere as part of All American’s current season later this summer.
Deadline reports the series is executive produced by Nkechi Okoro Carroll (Apartment A, Forever No More) with Greg Berlanti (Stargirl, Arrow), Sarah Schechter (Pan, Free Guy), David Madden (The Shield, The Americans), and Robbie Rogers (My Policeman, All American). Director Michael Schultz (Kursh Groove, Cooley High) helmed the pilot episode. The series is produced under Greg Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
Naomi is based on the comic written by Brian Michael Bendis (Daredevil, A.K.A. Goldfish) and David F. Walker (Bitter Root, Shaft) with art by Jamal Campbell (The Immortal Naida Greene, Cloak and Dagger: Negative Exposure), according to Deadline. Set in modern times, the series will follow a teen girl’s journey to heroism when she discovers her connection to a supernatural event that changes her town forever. Written and produced by Ava DuVernay (13th, Queen Sugar) Naomi will star Kaci Walfall (The Equalizer, Person of Interest) in the titular role. Wafall’s costars will include Daniel Puig (The System, Eden: The Only One Left to Us), Will Meyers (Supercool, Social Distance), Mary-Charles Jones (Identity Theft, Kevin Can Wait), Alexander Wraith (Orange Is the New Black, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.), Mouzam Makkar (Easy Abby, Champions), and Cranston Johnson (Hap and Leonard, Wu Assassins).
According to Deadline, Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. Television will produce the series with Sarah Bremner (The White Tiger, Death Note) and Paul Garnes (Middle of Nowhere, Selma) serving as executive producers. The pilot episode is being helmed by co-executive producer Amanda Marsalis (Echo Park, The Umbrella Academy).
The CW’s upfront presentation is set for tomorrow, via Deadline. In addition to revealing its fall schedule, viewers may learn the fate of other series vying for the green light. The network already has set a reboot of The 4400, a sci-fi mystery series, for the 2021-2022 season. The live-action Powerpuff Girls series is reworking its pilot; and, the Nancy Drew spinoff, Tom Swift, is still in the running. Unfortunately, Black Lightning’s Painkiller and modern-nun drama, Our Ladies of Brooklyn, are not moving forward.