WIRE Buzz: Creepshow sets Holiday Special, The Outsider shopping S2; Grinch musical to NBC

Hot on the heels of a successful animated Halloween Special, the hit Shudder original series Creepshow announced Tuesday that the spookiest time of year isn't the only season that gets a fresh episode this year. This December, the horror streaming service will air A Creepshow Holiday Special, a brand-new hourlong episode with seasonally appropriate scares, just in time for Christmas. 

“The Spirit of Christmas is alive and well in true Creepshow fashion,” Creepshow showrunner Greg Nicotero said in a press release. “Reimagining how we look at the holidays and Santa Claus with an outrageous ensemble cast, a myriad of creepy crawlies and a few thrills and chills shouldn't be missed.”

Nicotero wrote and directed the Holiday Special, titled "Shapeshifters Anonymous" and based on a short story by J.A. Konrath. The episode will star Adam Pally (The Mindy Project) and Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), and follows a man with a "unique condition" who, because he's afraid he's turning into a killer, joins an "unusual support group." The first image from the special, featuring Pally and Camp, is above. 

A Creepshow Holiday Special arrives December 18 on Shudder.

If there is a second season of The Outsider, the acclaimed horror series based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, it won't be on HBO. Deadline reports that, despite assurances from King himself that some scripts for Season 2 have already been written, the premium cable network has passed on continuing the series. So, with a pitch for the show's continuation already in place, The Outsider studio MRC is shopping the next season around to other networks and streaming services in the hopes of keeping it going. 

“We thank HBO for a great partnership in the first season, and for helping to bring in a massive audience who fell in love with The Outsider, we are looking forward to finding a new home for this remarkable series,” MRC Television President Elise Henderson said in a statement. 

Starring Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Mare Winningham, and Jason Bateman, the first season of The Outsider stuck relatively closely to King's novel, basically functioning as a miniseries adaptation about a pair of detectives hunting a shapeshifting, supernatural killer. The planned second season, mapped out by showrunner Richard Price with King's "blessing," would follow Erivo's character, Holly Gibney, in an expension of The Outsider mythology. Just weeks ago, King teased that the scripts he's seen for the new season are "really great," but now they'll have to find a new home. Fortunately, as Deadline notes, MRC is an independent studio, which gives them leeway to shop the show around as much as they like, including to streamers like Netflix, where they've set up previous hits like House of Cards and Ozark. 

Whether you go old-school and just consume it in picture book form or you're the kind of person who marathons both feature film adaptations, Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a major part of the holiday season for many people. Now, NBC has revealed that this Christmas we'll get yet another way to experience it. 

The network announced Tuesday that Glee star Matthew Morrison will lead the cast of a stage production of Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical, a TV version of the 2006 Broadway musical with book and lyrics by Tim Mason and music by Mel Marvin. The production will be filmed at the Troubadour in London, and in addition to Morrison as The Grinch himself will star Denis O'Hare as The Grinch's dog Max, Booboo Stewart as young Max, newcomer Amelia Minto as Cindy-Lou Who, and an ensemble of player's from London's West End. 

“In what has been an extremely challenging year for us all,” Morrison said, “it is an honor to bring some holiday cheer into viewers’ homes this December. My wish is to bring some Who-ville magic to this holiday season and, while the pandemic presents some challenges in bringing a stage production to life, we are excited to present a unique version of this seasonal favorite in a new creative and imaginative way.”

The Grinch Musical joins a growing list of NBC musical productions that have aired during the holiday season in recent years, including The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Hairspray, and more. It also joins a growing list of adaptations of the Seuss story, which includes the classic Boris Karloff-led animated TV special, the Jim Carrey-starring live-action film and, more recently, the animated feature starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. 

The Grinch Musical will air December 9 on NBC.