SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2026 — Charlie Sheen is returning to series television, and this time he's bringing his father with him. AMC has ordered Happy Jack, a half-hour multi-camera comedy starring the real-life father-and-son duo as a father and son, giving the six-episode first season a straight-to-series order with production set to begin in early 2027 at Warner Bros. Studios — the same lot where Sheen shot Two and a Half Men — filmed before a live studio audience for a premiere later that year on AMC and AMC+.
The series was created by Jim Patterson and Matt Ross, both veterans of Two and a Half Men and The Ranch, who will serve as writers, executive producers, and co-showrunners. Charlie Sheen plays Jack, described in the official logline as a lifelong ne'er-do-well who has never quite gotten his life together — though he is the father of two successful grown daughters, something his own father (Martin Sheen) believes he deserves considerable credit for. Daughter Kate runs Jack's company and keeps him on the rails; daughter Sam is the wild child who takes after her dad. The family is upended when Sam comes home with Paul, a former investment banker reinvented as a van-life guru — who happens to be the same age as Jack. AMC's official logline puts Jack's choice in plain terms: he must decide whether to keep looking out for number one, or embrace "this last chance to be a real part of his daughters' lives."
The producing team reads like a Two and a Half Men reunion: Charlie Sheen, Todd Christopher, Jason Wang, and former Men executive producers Eric and Kim Tannenbaum executive-produce alongside Patterson and Ross, with AMC Studios, 20th Television, and The Tannenbaum Company producing. "What a thrill to welcome Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen to AMC and AMC+, playing a father and son in this original family comedy," said Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer of AMC Global Media and President of AMC Studios, who noted he worked with Charlie years ago on Spin City and called him "a singular talent who has owned the screen in some of the most unforgettable films and television series ever made."
The order is a notable swing for AMC, which has historically lived in the drama space and kept a thin footprint in traditional half-hour comedy — past efforts like Kevin Can F**k Himself and Lucky Hank blended comedy with darker dramatic elements. For Charlie Sheen, it is a return to the multi-camera format that made him one of television's highest-paid actors, and it puts him on screen as a father opposite his real father for the first time since 1987's Wall Street.
Fast & Furious shifts into television
The weekend's other big series order came from Peacock, which has officially picked up a live-action scripted series based on the Fast & Furious franchise — the property's first scripted television adaptation after 11 films and more than $7 billion at the global box office since The Fast and the Furious arrived in 2001. Franchise star Vin Diesel will executive produce alongside Sam Vincent of One Race, Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and franchise veteran Chris Morgan. Mike Daniels (Sons of Anarchy, Shades of Blue) and Wolfe Coleman (9-1-1: Lone Star) will write the pilot and serve as co-showrunners, with Universal Television producing. Peacock is targeting a 2028 premiere; no cast or plot details have been announced.
The greenlight formalizes what Diesel teased at NBCUniversal's Upfront presentation in May, when he said on stage that the franchise was headed to television — at the time suggesting four shows were in the pipeline, though Peacock later clarified that only one project was actively in development. Diesel has said fans spent a decade asking for the legacy characters' stories to be expanded beyond the films, and he credited Universal Studios chief Donna Langley's oversight of NBCUniversal's television division for making him comfortable taking the franchise to TV. The timing is deliberate: the series would arrive the same year as Fast Forever, the 11th and final film in the main saga, slated for theaters March 17, 2028.
Landman season 3: four up, production rolling
Paramount+ confirmed Thursday that production has begun on season 3 of Taylor Sheridan's Landman in Fort Worth, Texas — and with it, four cast members were upped to series regulars: Colm Feore as the Norris family's live-in attorney Nathan, Mustafa Speaks as crew chief Theodore "Boss" Ramone, Bobbi Salvor Menuez as Ainsley's TCU roommate Paigyn, and Francesca Xuereb as Cheyenne. The four join returning regulars Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Andy Garcia, Ali Larter, and Sam Elliott, along with Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph, Paulina Chávez, Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie, and James Jordan. Michael Kelly (Lioness) also joins the season as William Crockett, described in trade reports as a "titan of industry" running the world's largest oil-management firm.
The promotions follow a record-setting second season: its premiere delivered 9.2 million streams in its first two days, a 262% increase over season 1 and the biggest original premiere in Paramount+'s history. The show was renewed for season 3 in December 2025, weeks after that debut. Season 2 ended with Tommy Norris leaving M-Tex to launch his own venture, CTT Oil Exploration & Cattle, and Thornton has told The Hollywood Reporter he expects the physical danger to come back "a little bit more" in season 3, alongside something unsettling in the family. No premiere date has been announced.
Guest stars and returns: Abbott, Grey's, Scrubs
Abbott Elementary returns to ABC on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and the season 6 trailer revealed a new arrival for Melissa Schemmenti: Katy Mixon (American Housewife, Hot Frosty) guest-stars as a fellow teacher who marches into Melissa's classroom in a pink tracksuit and declares, "That is my chair," per the season 6 trailer — setting up a showdown over the school's unspoken hierarchy. The trailer also shows Gregory Eddie adjusting to his new job as assistant principal, Melissa taking on the role of union representative, and Janine's ex Tariq returning. (See our full Abbott Elementary season 6 preview.)
Over at Grey's Anatomy, Variety first reported the season 23 guest cast: Sarah Levy (Schitt's Creek) as Corrie, described as "witty and a bit of an oddball" and very pregnant, anxious about giving birth to her second child after a traumatic first delivery; Martin Martinez (Never Have I Ever) as Charlie, whose rough upbringing left him guarded and slow to trust; and Trevor Tordjman (Zombies, Bunk'd) as Thomas, a charming boy-next-door type at the hospital to look out for his brother's girlfriend. The medical drama returns to ABC on Thursday, Oct. 15, with James Wolk also joining as surgeon-turned-businessman Dr. Seth Norton — as the show rebuilds following the season 22 exits of Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver.
And the Scrubs revival continues adding familiar faces from the original series: Deadline reports Johnny Kastl is expected to reprise Dr. Doug Murphy — the meek, klutzy pathologist — in one of the final two episodes of season 2 currently being written. Showrunner Aseem Batra told the outlet, "That's my plan. We'll see how it all shakes up, but we're writing two more [episodes], and we have him planned in one of those last two." It would be Kastl's first acting appearance in 17 years; he stepped away from the business in 2009 and has since worked as an attorney and business executive. Scott Foley is also returning as Elliot's ex Sean, while Ken Jenkins — 86 and retired from acting — will not be back as Dr. Kelso this season.
Casting: Tom Hollander joins 'The Audacity'
AMC's busy week continued with casting news for The Audacity, the Jonathan Glatzer-created Silicon Valley satire. Tom Hollander has joined season 2 in a recurring role as "Big Tim," the powerful tech billionaire and CEO of Cupertino whose carefully curated public persona masks an insatiable appetite for control and revenge — a figure referenced throughout the first season but never seen. AMC Global Media announced the casting Sept. 29; production on the eight-episode second season is underway in Vancouver, with a premiere set for 2027 on AMC and AMC+. Hollander joins previously announced additions Miriam Shor, Jess McLeod, and Usman Ally alongside the returning ensemble led by Billy Magnussen, Sarah Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, and Simon Helberg.
Netflix's college-hockey romance Icebreaker, based on the Hannah Grace novel, rounded out its cast with six more series regulars: Gabriel Tierney as Aaron, Auli'i Cravalho as Lola, newcomer Peter Berry as Robbie, Chaneil Kular as JJ, Devin Craig as Henry, and Aidan Shaw as Russ. They join previously cast leads Daisy Jelley (Anastasia "Stassie" Allen) and Connor Simos (Nate Hawkins).
On the calendar: 'Phony,' 'Miss Scarlet,' 'Barbershop'
Three premiere dates to circle. Hulu's Phony, the coming-of-age mystery from Marcel the Shell creator Nick Paley, premieres Tuesday, Oct. 20: Connie Britton and Sam Nivola star as a mother and son whose bond fractures when the teen wakes up in the hospital after a car accident convinced his mom has been replaced by an impostor. Miss Scarlet closes out its run on PBS with its seventh and final season — PBS Passport and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel get the full six-episode season Nov. 29, ahead of the broadcast premiere Sunday, Jan. 17, 2027 at 8/7c, with Kate Phillips and Tom Durant-Pritchard returning as Eliza Scarlet and Alexander Blake. And Prime Video's Barbershop series — eight episodes starring Jermaine Fowler as Travis "Trav" Walker, returning to Chicago to honor his grandfather's legacy at Calvin's — drops all episodes Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2027, following its first teaser reveal at CultureCon. The cast includes Brett Gray, Punkie Johnson, Roy Wood Jr., Bresha Webb, and Bokeem Woodbine, with guest spots from Ego Nwodim, Tituss Burgess, Ziwe, and Zack Fox; Marshall Todd, who co-wrote the 2002 film, co-showruns.
Renewals and the wider slate
The renewal column stays busy: Prime Video's Reacher and its spinoff Neagley both earned pickups (see our Reacher/Neagley double-renewal story), Apple TV+'s French culinary drama Carême was renewed, Netflix's A Different World revival got a second season, and No One Will Miss Us was picked up as well. BBC Studios and Channel 4 ordered The Night They Vanished, an adaptation of Vanessa Savage's romantic thriller starring Callum Scott Howells and Gabrielle Creevy. On the acquisitions front, The Network picked up Miranda Otto's Thou Shalt Not Steal and the Scandi drama The Trio for the U.S., while Paramount+ added the British series It Gets Worse, Major Players, and The Ministry of Time.
And the development pipeline, per this weekend's trade roundups: Amazon MGM Studios is developing the ghostwriter drama Shadow Work from Adrienne Miller's short story; Prime Video is working on a Spider-Man universe series built around the Clone Saga comics; Fifth Season is adapting Alice Feeney's upcoming thriller Twist; Hulu has a Kid Detective movie adaptation and Marlene King's Elle Kennedy thriller Thornbird; Netflix is developing Katharine McGee's alternate-history American Royals; and Peacock has the sci-fi drama Future Housewives starring Ariana Madix plus Mad Men creator Matt Weiner's The Chairman starring Eddie Murphy — his first ongoing series role since leaving SNL in 1984.
