The Roku Channel will be premiering a fresh batch of its original shows on Aug. 13, the company announced Monday. The new slate of 23 shows — all stemming from Roku’s acquisition of Quibi’s library earlier this year — will include a new season of “Thanks a Million,” the pay-it-forward series from executive producer Jennifer Lopez.
The new season of “Thanks a Million” will include guest stars Matthew McConaughey, Chris Rock, Vanessa Hudgens and Lana Condor, among others, Roku said. Other titles coming soon to Roku includes “Mapleworth Murders,” the Emmy-nominated show starring Paula Pell, John Lutz and J.B. Smoove. The comedy-mystery series was first available on Quibi last August and is produced by “SNL” head honcho Lorne Michaels and Seth Meyers.
Other shows coming to Roku that haven’t been seen on Quibi previously are: “Eye Candy,” a game show hosted by Josh Groban that is based on the popular Japanese series “Sokkuri Sweets,” where contestants try to identify if elaborate food arrangements are real or fake; “Squeaky Clean,” a cleaning competition show hosted by Leslie Jordan; and “What Happens in Hollywood,” a docuseries on sex and power in the entertainment industry from director Marina Zenovich.
“While it’s only been a few months since the launch of Roku Originals, the response has been overwhelming,” Brian Tannenbaum, Roku’s head of alternative programming, said in a statement. “We’re excited to keep the drumbeat of premium series, featuring Hollywood’s top talent, available only on the Roku Channel with this next slate of original programming.”
Tannenbaum and Colin Davis, Roku’s head of scripted programming, told TheWrap during a recent interview that they were both pleasantly surprised by how Roku’s first 30 originals performed, following their release in May. Without offering hard numbers on viewership, Tannenbaum and Davis said millions of Roku viewers streamed one of their original shows, including one-third of all accounts that watched content on The Roku Channel. And of those accounts that checked out a Roku original show, those viewers watched an average of 9 episodes overall.
Davis added that while Roku viewers responded well to the 10-minute run time of their shows (something that was based on Quibi’s push for bite-sized content), Roku plans on making new shows that have traditional 30- and 60-minute formats.
Here’s a look at the new shows Roku has coming up:
And here’s a full list of the 23 shows: “&Music,” “The Andy Cohen Diaries,” “Benedict Men,” “Elba vs. Block,” Eye Candy,” “Fierce Queens,” “Floored,” “Gone Mental With Lior,” “Mapleworth Murders,” “Memory Hole,” “Nice One!,” “Nikki Fre$h,” “Run This City,” “The Sauce,” “Sex Next Door,” “Single Out,” “Skrrt With Offset,” “Squeaky Clean,” “The Stranger,” “Survive,” “Thanks a Million” (Season 2), “What Happens in Hollywood” and “Wireless.”