The streaming service field is becoming more fractured, as more and more media companies break from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu in favor of creating their own streaming services.
While Disney’s Disney+, HBO MAX, and Apple’s TV+ may be the most talked-about right now, NBCUniversal—the Comcast Corp. division that owns NBC, MSNBC, USA, and the Universal Pictures movie studio—is also planning to launch its own streaming service. Here’s what we know:
Peacock Release Date
NBC’s streaming service is set to launch in April 2020, and is said to offer, at least initially, 15,000 hours of programming from the broadcast, cable, film, news and sports operations.
Peacock Shows
NBCUniversal has revealed the first batch of original programming coming to the service:
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The Adventure Zone
“Based on the McElroy Family’s wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons podcast and No. 1 New York Times best-selling graphic novel series, The Adventure Zone is a side-splitting and heart-filled fantasy animated comedy series that follows an unlikely, poorly equipped trio and their beleaguered Dungeon Master as they reluctantly embark on a quest to save their world.” – Per THR.
A.P. Bio (Season 4)
“When disgraced Harvard philosophy professor Jack Griffin loses out on his dream job, he is forced to return to Toledo, Ohio, and work as a high school Advanced Placement biology teacher. As he comes crashing in to Whitlock High School, Jack makes it absolutely clear he will not be teaching any biology. Realizing he has a room full of honor roll students at his disposal, Jack decides instead to use the kids for his own benefit. Eager to prove that he is still king of the castle, Principal Durbin struggles to control the force of nature that is Jack Griffin.”
Angelyne (limited series)
“Limited series based on The Hollywood Reporter feature that explored the identity of L.A.’s mysterious billboard bombshell.”
Battlestar Galactica
“Battlestar Galactica returns to television with Sam Esmail producing.” Read more about this reboot here.
Brave New World
“Based on Aldous Huxley’s groundbreaking 1932 novel, Brave New World imagines a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself.”
Clean Slate
“Old-school car wash owner, Henry (George Wallace), is thrilled that his estranged child is returning to Alabama after 17 years. However, Henry has a lot of soul searching to do when the child he thought was a son returns as the determined, proud, trans woman, Desiree (Laverne Cox).” - Per THR.
Division One
“Division One is a coming-of-age comedy about an underdog women’s collegiate soccer team that gets a new female coach — a former professional soccer player who’s fallen from grace — and must decide whether or not they’re going to take the risk of trying to be great.” The show will be produced by Amy Poehler and soccer star Abby Wambach. - Per THR.
Dr. Death
“Based on Wonderly’s hit podcast, Dr. Death tells the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Jamie Dornan), a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Young, charismatic and ostensibly brilliant, Dr. Duntsch was building a flourishing neurosurgery practice when everything suddenly changed. Patients entered his operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries and left permanently maimed or dead. As victims piled up, two fellow physicians, neurosurgeon Robert Henderson (Alec Baldwin) and vascular surgeon Randall Kirby (Christian Slater), set out to stop him. Dr. Death explores the twisted mind of a sociopath and the gross negligence of the system designed to protect the most defenseless among us.”
Expecting
“Ellie, a fiercely independent but perpetually single music manager, has always wanted a family but never found a man worthy of the role of ‘father.’ That is, until her 39th birthday, when she decides to ask her gay best friend and co-worker, Jonathan, if he’ll be her sperm donor. When Jonathan surprises himself by saying ‘yes,’ it sets off a chain of events that turn Ellie and Jonathan’s personal and professional lives upside down as they try to turn their ‘chosen family’ into a biological family. Mindy Kaling will executive produce.” - Per THR.
Hatching Twitter
“Through exclusive access and exhaustive investigative reporting, New York Times best-selling author Nick Bilton draws on hundreds of sources, documents and internal e-mails to tell intimate true stories of companies behaving badly and technology gone awry. The first installment of this anthology series will be based on Bilton’s acclaimed book Hatching Twitter, a tale of betrayed friendships and high-stakes power struggles that accompanied the meteoric rise of the infamous tech company. 140 characters and a few lines of code changed the world, disrupting the very fabric of the way people communicate. This series will explore the real masterminds behind it all, how it was done, and the colossal ramifications the technology will have on our future.” - Per THR.
MacGruber
After rotting in prison for over a decade, America’s ultimate hero and uber patriot MacGruber is finally released. His mission: to take down a mysterious villain from his past — Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth. With the entire world in the crosshairs, MacGruber (Will Forte), Vicki and Piper must race against time to defeat the forces of evil. Only to find that evil … may be lurking within. - Per THR.
One of Us Is Lying (pilot)
“Based on Karen M. McManus’s best-selling novel, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.”
Psych 2: Lassie Come Home
“Santa Barbara Police Chief Carlton Lassiter is ambushed on the job and left for dead. In a vintage Psych-style Hitchcockian nod, he begins to see impossible happenings around his recovery clinic. Shawn and Gus return to Lassie’s side in Santa Barbara and are forced to navigate the personal, the professional, and possibly the supernatural. Separated from their new lives in San Francisco, our heroes find themselves unwelcome in their old stomping grounds as they secretly untangle a twisted case without the benefit of the police, their loved ones, or the quality sourdough bakeries of the Bay Area. What they uncover will change the course of their relationships forever.”
Punky Brewster (pilot)
“In this multicamera/hybrid continuation of the iconic ’80s sitcom about a bright young girl raised by a foster dad, Punky is now a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self.”
Rutherford Falls
“Ed Helms portrays Nathan Rutherford, the eponymous denizen of a small New England town, who is having difficulty facing the inevitable changes to his way of life.”
Saved by the Bell (reboot)
“When California governor Zack Morris gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state – including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over privileged Bayside kids a much needed and hilarious dose of reality.”
Straight Talk
“Straight Talk examines what happens when two opposing ideologies are forced into an odd coupling. The main characters will be challenged by one another, making the moral lines at which they once stood harder to define.”
Peacock Price
Tucked into the announcement of Disney’s acquisition of Hulu is the news that Comcast is reconsidering the price point of the NBC Universal streaming service. While previous estimates ranged from $12-14 a month, a source now tells CNBC that the final number will be closer to $10.
Unlike other streaming services, NBC’s streaming service will be ad-support rather than subscription-based. That’s a fancy way of saying it will be free to viewers who already subscribe to cable, with an ad-free version also available for $12 to $14 a month. It will also be available to non-cable subscribers for a fee.
Peacock Library
As the official streaming service of NBC Universal, Peacock will have plenty of existing TV shows and movies to include at launch. Here are some that have been confirmed for the service.
TV
– The Office
– Parks and Recreation
– 30 Rock
– Bates Motel
– Battlestar Gallactica
– Brooklyn Nine-Nine
– Cheers
– Chrisley Knows Best
– Covert Affairs
– Downton Abbey
– Everyone Loves Raymond
– Frasier
– Friday Night Lights
– House
– Keeping Up with the Kardashians
– King of Queens
– Married…With Children
– Monk
– Parenthood
– Psych
– Royal Pains
– Saturday Night Live
– Superstore
– The Real Housewives
– Top Chef
– Will & Grace
Movies
– American Pie
– Bridesmaids
– Knocked Up
– Meet the Parents
– Meet the Fockers
– A Beautiful Mind
– Back to the Future
– Brokeback Mountain
– Casino
– Dallas Buyers Club
– Do the Right Thing
– Erin Brockovich
– E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
– Field of Dreams
– Jaws
– Mamma Mia!
– Shrek
– The Breakfast Club
– Bourne franchise
– Despicable Me franchise
– Fast & Furious franchise
Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.