Christmas is coming early for fans of NBC’s canceled musical comedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” Roku has confirmed that it has picked up a holiday-themed, feature-length film based on the Emmy-winning show to air exclusively on its ad-supported The Roku Channel in the U.S. later this year. There’s no official premiere date yet for “Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas,” but Roku says production on the TV movie will begin next week in Vancouver, with an air date in time for the festive season.

“Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas” will also be available to stream on Roku in Canada and in the U.K. As part of the deal with production studio Lionsgate, Roku has also acquired streaming rights to all 25 episodes of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” which will also be available to stream later this fall on The Roku Channel in the U.S.

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The streaming device maker is in negotiations to revive the canceled NBC series for at least one more go.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist may get a new lease on life at Roku.

Lionsgate Television, which produces the canceled NBC series, is in advanced negotiations with streaming device maker Roku — which is making a push into original content — for a holiday movie based on the cult show. A deal isn’t done yet, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, with some cast negotiations still to close.

Lionsgate and Roku declined comment.

NBC canceled Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist in June after two seasons. Lionsgate explored moving the musical dramedy starring Jane Levy to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming platform, but the two sides couldn’t come to terms. Any such move would have required new deals to be completed for things like streaming rights (which Hulu currently holds) and likely were a big factor in the discussions.

If a deal is completed, it would be another step into original programming for Roku. The streaming company acquired the library of short-form streamer Quibi earlier this year, rebranding those shows as Roku Originals. The company also bought the library and production studio for venerable home improvement series This Old House, which includes 1,500 episodes’ worth of past shows and rights to stream new episodes of the series and companion show Ask This Old House after they air on PBS.

Austin Winsberg created Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and executive produces with Kim Tannenbaum, Eric Tannenbaum, Paul Feig, David Blackman, Daniel Inkeles and Sam Laybourne. In addition to Levy, the show stars Alex Newell, Skylar Astin, John Clarence Stewart, Mary Steenburgen, Andrew Leeds, Alice Lee, Michael Thomas Grant, Kapil Talwalkar, Lauren Graham and Harvey Guillén.

SOURCE THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Talks to move the Lionsgate TV-produced series to Peacock fizzled, but the studio plans to shop the Jane Levy musical dramedy elsewhere.

Cue up the sad songs.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has been canceled after two seasons on NBC. Sources say talks between NBCUniversal and producers Lionsgate TV to move the Jane Levy-led musical dramedy to streamer Peacock fizzled. Lionsgate TV plans to shop the series.

“In a world where finding loyal and passionate audiences is never easy, we believe there must be a home for this great, award-winning show with a passionate and dedicated following,” Lionsgate said in a statement.

Season two of Zoey’s wrapped with a 0.6 rating among the all-important adults 18-49 demographic with seven days of delayed viewing. That was down 14 percent from its freshman season.

Lionsgate had been speaking with NBCUniversal about moving the series from its broadcast network, NBC, to its streaming platform, Peacock. Both the network and streamer are overseen by the same content group, headed by Susan Rovner and head of scripted Lisa Katz, with the latter having developed the series.

Unfortunately, the two sides could not come to terms that would have allowed the pricey series to move to the streamer. Such a move would have required new deals to be completed as things like streaming rights — the series runs on Hulu — likely factored heavily into the discussions.

Zoey’s remains a critical and awards hit, with the series currently certified fresh with a 76 percent among critics and 88 percent among viewers on aggregation site Rotten Tomatotes.

From creator Austin Winsberg, the series co-starred Skylar Austin, Alex Newell, Peter Gallagher, Mary Steenburgen and Lauren Graham, with the latter having had a reduced role in season two following scheduling issues that were a result of the pandemic.

Winsberg took to social media after news of the cancellation broke to encourage fans to tweet to save the show. “I refuse to believe the show is dead,” he wrote in the first part of a thread.

NBC has a full slate of rookie series for the 2021-22 broadcast season with American Auto, Grand Crew, La Brea, Ordinary Joe and limited series The Thing About Pam on deck. Additional series are expected to be announced later for midseason as NBC, like other broadcasters, shifts to year-round development.

SOURCE THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

The Cast of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Will Host the ACE Eddies
Jane Levy, Mary Steenburgen, Skylar Astin, Alex Newell and John Clarence Stewart to perform all hosting duties for the awards ceremony.

American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced that the ensemble cast of NBC’s hit musical comedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” including Jane Levy, Mary Steenburgen, Skylar Astin, Alex Newell and John Clarence Stewart, will host the 71st Annual ACE Eddie Awards.

In its second season, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” continues to explore the feelings we keep buried on the inside, the human impulse for connection and the undeniable healing power of music and dance. Critics have adored the series – Variety called the show “the rare broadcast series that keeps winning fans and acclaim,” TV Guide Magazine said it’s a “a whimsically tuneful winner” and USA Today wrote that “Zoey’s” is “delightful” and “brilliantly choreographed.” “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” stars Jane Levy, Skylar Astin, Alex Newell, John Clarence Stewart, Andrew Leeds, Alice Lee, Michael Thomas Grant, Kapil Talwalkar and Mary Steenburgen.

Austin Winsberg writes and executive produces. Kim Tannenbaum and Eric Tannenbaum, Paul Feig, David Blackman, Daniel Inkeles and Sam Laybourne also serve as executive producers. Dan Magnante, Jason Wang, Samantha McIntyre, Emily Fox and Robert Sudduth serve as co-executive producers with Michele Greco and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore serving as producers.

“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” is produced by Lionsgate and Universal Television (a division of Universal Studio Group) in association with the Tannenbaum Company, Feigco Entertainment, Universal Music Group’s Polygram Entertainment and Zihuatenejo Productions.

“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” airs Sunday nights on NBC. All episodes are streaming on Peacock.

Source BROADWAYWORLD