A roundup of news from the Television Critics Association summer meeting, at which TV networks and streaming services are presenting details on upcoming programs.
FUNNY LADY
Pratfalls, gags, or dry wit, Nicole Kidman says she’d love to give them a shot.
The Oscar-winner says she never gets offered comedic roles and she’d like to change that.
“They always say I’m not funny,” said Kidman Saturday at a panel for TV critics to talk about her upcoming role in the second installment of SundanceTV’s “Top of the Lake.”
The 50-year-old actress said she’s at a point in her life where she’s eager to try anything and isn’t worried about failure.
“I’m willing to fall on my face, I’m willing to get back up again. I want to keep trying.” she said.
She also added that she’s learning about comedy from her 9-year-old daughter with her husband Keith Urban, whom she’s “sure has Lucille Ball in her.”
Speaking to a group of reporters after the panel, Kidman said she grew up watching comedy shows like “I Love Lucy” and her father was a fan of the satirical MAD Magazine.
“The thing that makes me close to people is laughing with them. I love it,” she said.
“Top of the Lake: China Girl” debuts will air on three consecutive nights beginning Sept. 10 on SundanceTV.
Kidman plays the adoptive mother to the daughter Elisabeth Moss’ character gave up at birth for adoption.
TRUTH WILL OUT
Joanne Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd say they relish playing against type in their new TV series, “Liar.”
The contemporary psychological thriller debuts Sept. 27 on SundanceTV.
The minizeries follows Froggatt as Laura and Gruffudd’s Andrew, who go on a first date that leads to violent accusations. The six-part drama looks at both sides of the story before revealing the truth of what happened.
Froggatt told a TV critics’ meeting Saturday that she loved playing the kind-hearted Anna in “Downton Abbey,” but she said “it’s nice to play the baddie sometimes, too.”
Whether or not Laura ends up the bad gal in “Liar” remains to be seen. Froggatt would only say she makes questionable choices.
Gruffudd, who has previously played debonair characters like in “Forever” on ABC or “Ringer” on The CW, enjoys playing a potential antagonist.
“There is something behind that veneer that is slightly disturbing,” he said of Andrew, who is a respected surgeon. “For me personally it was an incredible opportunity to play this kind of part. It’s a part I’ve been itching to play for many, many years.”
THAT’S RADICAL
AMC says it’s green-lighted a new series, “Dietland,” based on the darkly satiric novel about a weight-obsessed society.
The show’s creator is Marti Noxon, whose credits include “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” and “UnReal.”
AMC said the show based on Sarai (sa-RAY) Walker’s novel will explore the emphasis on weight and beauty in a “bold, original and funny way.”
The main character of the 2015 novel “Dietland” is a 300-pound woman, Plum, who becomes involved with an underground group of radical women.
Noxon told a TV critics’ meeting Saturday that the series will be unlike anything else on TV.
The writer-producer said the series is for people who’re saying “enough” to “looks-ism,” sexism and racism, and being told that they don’t count.
The premiere date and casting for “Dietland” weren’t announced.
CANADIAN TRAGEDY
SundanceTV and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. are making a minizeries about Canada’s 1980s tainted-blood scandal.
The eight-part series, titled “Unspeakable,” follows the emergence of HIV and hepatitis C in Canada and the thousands of infections caused by contaminated blood.
The TV project announced Saturday is based on two books, “Bad Blood” by Vic Parsons and “The Gift of Death” by Andre Picard.
Considered one of the largest preventable medical disasters in Canadian history, the contamination prompted a federal inquiry and billions of dollars in claims.
Executive producer Robert C. Cooper said in a statement that he was both thrilled and daunted to tell a story that affected so many. SundanceTV and CBC’s announcement said the minizeries is a passion project for Cooper because he was among the victims, having contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood.
The minizeries will be filmed in Canada for broadcast by the CBC and SundanceTV in early 2018.

Source: Arab News