In development news, there’s a pair of Black writers who had a very good holiday season. First up, Master of None cast member Lena Waithe has received a series order from Showtime for her hourlong drama series, The Chi. The show, created by Waithe with Elwood Reid attached as showrunner and Chicago rapper turned actor/producer Common serving as executive producer, will follow six interconnected characters living on Chicago’s South Side. The pilot debuted last year but struggled at first. Execs liked Waithe’s voice and encouraged her to redevelop the show; after assembling a writer’s room and crafting several episode scripts, including a new pilot, The Chi was greenlit to series. The writer/director of recent cult-classic Dope, Rick Famuyiwa, is attached to executive produce and direct the premier episode. Over at FX, Donald Glover is continuing his meteoric rise after landing a development deal with the company. I have previously reported on how swiftly FX renewed Glover’s comedy Atlanta, and it seems that they are eager for him to produce more content for them in the future. The specifics of the agreement are understandably scarce, but it will basically allow Glover to develop new projects for FX as well as other networks and streaming platforms. This is not to say everything is perfect. Due to the sheer number of productions he’s involved with this year, it looks like we’ll have to wait until 2018 for the next season of Atlanta. Can’t stay too mad at him, though. Count your money, Donny G.
