PASADENA, Calif. – Last week, Disney+ renewed “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” for a second season that will be based on the novel “Sea of Monsters” and on Saturday, the show’s three young lead actors described how their lives have changed since the show’s premiere.
“Mostly it’s been with my teachers who tell me how their kids watch the show and every Tuesday they come and give me their rating of [the episode],” said actor Walker Scobell, who plays Percy Jackson and lives in Fairview Township, Erie County.
Leah Sava Jeffries, who plays Annabeth Chase, said school has been “not as crazy as she thought it would be” but when she’s out in public, she often hears people whisper, “Annabeth?”
“If they see me turn my head, then they’ll know it’s me,” she said Saturday during the Disney Branded Television portion of the Television Critics Association winter 2024 press tour. “It’s good to know a lot of people watch the show.”
Based on the book series by author Rick Riordan, the series follows demigod Percy and his friends as they go on a quest.
“Percy Jackson” executive producers Dan Shotz and Jonathan E. Steinberg, brother-in-law of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, said for season two the show’s recipe will remain consistent with season one.
“The goal is to take the book and find its soul and the things that make the experience what it is for a reader and then try to plant that in the ground a little bit and let it grow into something else,” Steinberg said. “I think – I hope – we were successful in season one in engineering that so what’s great with this new format is it looked a lot like the books but felt like it was its own thing. Those are the two masters we’re always trying to serve.”
Shotz said the response from fans of the books has been positive.
“I feel like people are really excited we’re keeping very true to the books and honoring Rick’s work and at the same time they’re excited about all the new things that are being bought to this,” he said. “They’re excited we’re opening up the world.”
Although the show’s renewal was only announced in recent days, clearly, work on scripts for season two has been ongoing for some time. As Steinberg said, producers already have “a couple of scripts in really good shape.” But when pressed Steinberg declined to say when filming on season two will begin or when viewers might see new episodes on Disney+. (My best guess: Mid-2025 at the earliest.)
Actor Lance Reddick, who played Zeus in the show’s first season, died at age 60 of heart disease last year. Steinberg suggested the role will be recast. (There’s precedence: In the “Harry Potter” films, actor Richard Harris died and was replaced by Michael Gambon as Dumbledore.)
“I don’t think anybody is there yet,” Steinberg when asked about how the show will proceed. “There’s a little bit of denial. That’s something we’re gonna have to deal with. We’re incredibly grateful for this character he helped build. I do not envy whoever ends up having to step into his shoes.”
Shotz said Reddick’s widow texted to say “how proud he would have been of seeing” the series.
“We miss him very much,” Shotz said. “We’re just glad the world got to see him in this iconic role that will live forever.”
‘Ghosts’ returns
The third season of CBS’s “Ghosts” debuts at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and addresses the question raised in its second-season cliffhanger: Which ghosts got zapped up to another celestial plane in a ray of light?
There are no spoilers here except to say, having seen the first two episodes of the season, the show’s writers don’t initially go the route I expected.
Potential cast reduction aside, the episode marks a funny, welcome return to one of broadcast TV’s most clever comedies.
Robber baron’s wife Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), the most consistently funny character, gets a hilarious, pitch-perfect line, saying, “Loss is never easy but as I once told the grieving parents of a child factory worker who’d been pulled into a loom… I told them there’s a job opening for your other child and this time be sure to cut their hair! They cried for joy.”
Die-hard “Ghosts” fans will also get a kick out of the brief appearance of a character who hasn’t had dialogue since the show’s pilot episode.
Renewed
ABC renewed “Abbott Elementary” for a fourth season and in the fall will introduce “The Golden Bachelorette,” featuring a woman trying “to find love in her golden years.” Original “Bachelorette” returns this summer.
The fourth Disney Channel “Zombies” movie will be filmed next month in New Zealand, and the animated show “Zombies: The Re-Animated Series” will debut this summer on Disney Channel and Disney+.
Disney+ renewed “Goosebumps” for season two and National Geographic Channel will bring back “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth” for a second season, too.
Channel surfing
Giancarlo Esposito will take over a role originated by the late Andre Braugher prior to his December death in producer Shonda Rhimes’ upcoming White House drama “The Residence” on Netfilx. … Niche streaming service BritBox will stream the “BAFTA Film Awards” Feb. 18 and the “BAFTA Television Awards” on May 12. The canceled Syfy series “Wynonna Earp” will return as a one-off movie on free ad-supported streamer Tubi later this year. … The NFL Wild Card game that streamed on Peaco*ck earlier this year will jump to Amazon’s Prime Video next year. … “The Color Purple” movie musical will stream on Max Feb. 16. … Jessica Capshaw, last seen on “Grey’s Anatomy” in season 14, will return as Arizona Robbins in one episode of the upcoming 20th season of “Grey’s.” … An album of music from Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions’ “Alma’s Way,” including the show’s theme song written and produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bill Sherman, is now available on all digital music platforms.
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen is attending the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Follow Rob on Threads, Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook. You can reach him at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.
