‘The Comey Rule’ Gets New Pre-Election Premiere Date at Showtime
Ethan Hawke’s “Good Lord Bird” pushed to October
Tim Baysinger | June 24, 2020 @ 10:30 AM
Last Updated: June 25, 2020 @ 2:32 PM
Showtime
Showtime has moved up the premiere date of its upcoming miniseries “The Comey Rule” based on former FBI director James Comey’s memoir. It will air over two nights on Sept. 27 and 28.
Last week, Showtime announced that “The Comey Rule,” which stars Brendan Gleeson as President Donald Trump, would air in late November. The election is scheduled for Nov. 3. Showtime told TheWrap yesterday it was likely to move up.
Additionally, Showtime picked up the six-episode drama “We Hunt Together” from BBC Studios, which “explores the intoxication of sexual attraction and the dangerous power of emotional manipulation. As two conflicted detectives (Eve Myles and Babou Ceesay) track down a pair of deadly killers (Hermoine Corfield and Dipo Ola), the series reveals how finding a volatile form of solace in another can have dire consequences.” It will premiere on Aug. 9, moving back the Ethan Hawke-led “Good Lord Bird” to Oct. 4.
“The Comey Rule” also stars Jeff Daniels as Comey, alongside Holly Hunter as former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Michael Kelly as former FBI director Andrew McCabe, Scoot McNairy as former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Peter Coyote as Robert Mueller and Kingsley Ben-Adir as former president Barack Obama.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that “Comey Rule” director and writer Billy Ray was unhappy with the initial decision to have it air after the election.
“The Comey Rule” comes from Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout and Shane Salerno’s The Story Factory. Along with Comey’s memoir, the series is based on more than a year of additional interviews with a number of key principals.
“A Higher Loyalty,” which was released in April 2018 by Flatiron Books, gets its title from Trump’s reported desire for Comey to give him a loyalty pledge. Comey was first appointed FBI director by former President Barack Obama in 2013 and was fired by Trump less than a year into his presidency.
Here is the logline for the series from Showtime:
THE COMEY RULE takes us on an insider’s journey down the corridors of power, where decision-makers struggle to apply old norms to a dramatic new paradigm in the face of Russia’s deep and unprecedented penetration into American politics, with our nation’s rule of law hanging in the balance. Each character’s actions in these historic months made the careers of some, destroyed the careers of others and helped shape the incendiary political landscape we live in today. Part one of the series examines the earliest days of the Russia investigation, the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails and their impact on Election Night 2016, when Donald Trump stunned the world and was elected president. Part two is a virtual day-by-day account of the tempestuous relationship between Comey and Trump and the intense and chaotic first months of the Trump presidency – where allies became enemies, enemies became friends and truth depended on what side you were on.
14 Lowest-Rated Renewed Broadcast TV Shows of the 2019-2020 Season (Photos)
Why would a low-rated show ever be renewed for another season? Well, the series could be a critical darling or might do well in demos other than the regularly reported adults 18-49 one. Such a program may be particularly cheap to produce or exist at a studio that shares an umbrella with its network.
Maybe there's a global pandemic, and shows with a cast, writing staff, production crew and existing sets are suddenly a better bet than rolling the dice on new development. Or, perhaps the show is simply on Fox.
Scroll through the TheWrap's gallery to see the 14 lowest-rated scripted TV shows of the 2019-20 season that were renewed by Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC. All ratings in this story come from Nielsen's "most current" data, which includes a week's worth of delayed viewing where available. Lowest-rated is first, highest-rated last. And, yes, there are ties. Readers can see the complete list of all the broadcast TV shows that have been renewed, canceled and ordered here
Fox/NBC/ABC/CBS
Series: "Magnum P.I." Net: CBS 18-49 rating: 1.0
Not much to investigate here.
CBS
Series: "MacGyver" Net: CBS 18-49 rating: 1.0
Another CBS reboot that puts up another OK rating.
CBS
Series: "The Unicorn" Net: CBS 18-49 rating: 1.0
Decent enough numbers + Walton Goggins' charm = a second season.
CBS
Series: "Bob Hearts Abishola" Net: CBS 18-49 rating: 1.0
The freshman comedy gave its net as much to heart in the way of Nielsen returns as Goggins' show did.
Series: "Duncanville" Net: Fox 18-49 rating: 0.5 We're not trying to dunk on the freshman animated series when we say this demo rating is pretty darn low for a show that earned a renewal.
Fox
1 of 15
We’ve got good news and bad news, but not necessarily in that order…
Why would a low-rated show ever be renewed for another season? Well, the series could be a critical darling or might do well in demos other than the regularly reported adults 18-49 one. Such a program may be particularly cheap to produce or exist at a studio that shares an umbrella with its network.
Maybe there's a global pandemic, and shows with a cast, writing staff, production crew and existing sets are suddenly a better bet than rolling the dice on new development. Or, perhaps the show is simply on Fox.
Scroll through the TheWrap's gallery to see the 14 lowest-rated scripted TV shows of the 2019-20 season that were renewed by Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC. All ratings in this story come from Nielsen's "most current" data, which includes a week's worth of delayed viewing where available. Lowest-rated is first, highest-rated last. And, yes, there are ties. Readers can see the complete list of all the broadcast TV shows that have been renewed, canceled and ordered here