Punk'd is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, which also featured pranks on celebrities. Being "punk'd" referred to being the victim of such a prank. New episodes hosted by King Bach and DeStorm Power aired on BET.
Reno 911! is an American comedy television series created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically Cops, with comic actors playing the police officers. Lennon, Garant and Kenney-Silver all starred in and are billed as creators of the series.
WWE Studios Inc. is an American film studio owned by the professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. WWE Studios movies frequently mix well-known actors and actresses in lead roles with WWE wrestlers, and teams with existing production and distribution companies resulting in lower cost for both parties.
Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever is an American actress, musician and voice actress. She became known for her roles in series such as Justified (2011–2015), Last Man Standing (2011–2021), Unbelievable (2019), and Dopesick (2021). She earned Golden Globe Award nominations for Unbelievable and Dopesick, in addition to a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Dopesick.
Ross Fleming Butler is a Singaporean-born American actor. He is best known for his role as Zach Dempsey in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and as Brett Willis on K.C. Undercover. He was also cast as Reggie Mantle in the Netflix/The CW show Riverdale, but left the role after one season due to filming commitments to 13 Reasons Why. In 2019, he joined the DC Extended Universe as Superhero Eugene Choi in the film Shazam!, and reprised the role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods in 2023.
For extended information about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the American television industry, see Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States.
Quibi was an American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman as CEO. The service raised $1.75 billion from investors. It launched in April 2020, but shut down in December 2020 after falling short of its subscriber projections. In January 2021, Quibi's content library was sold to Roku, Inc. for less than $100 million. The platform's concepts and failure inspired widespread mockery.
Chrissy's Court is an American comedic arbitration-based court show starring television personality and model Chrissy Teigen and her mother, Vilailuck "Pepper Thai" Teigen. The series premiered on April 6, 2020, on Quibi.
Peacock is an American over-the-top subscription streaming service owned and operated by Peacock TV, LLC, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal Media Group. Named after the NBC logo, the service launched on July 15, 2020.
In American television in 2021, notable events include television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; and information about controversies and carriage disputes.
The Now is an American comedy television series, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly. It stars Dave Franco, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Daryl Hannah and Jimmy Tatro. It was originally set to debut in 2020 on Quibi, but it moved to The Roku Channel due to Quibi's shutdown in December 2020. It premiered on The Roku Channel on December 10, 2021.
The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the U.K. Launched in September 2017, it is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. The service leads U.S. viewership for free ad-supported streaming TV and reports 120 million viewers as of 2023.
Die Hart is an American comedy action-adventure television series which premiered on the streaming service Quibi on July 20, 2020. The series stars Kevin Hart as a fictionalized version of himself, with John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel and Josh Hartnett playing supporting roles in the first season. The series received seven nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards for the actors' performances.
The Demi Lovato Show is an American television talk show hosted by its namesake Demi Lovato. It premiered on July 30, 2021, on The Roku Channel.
