Netflix’s big-budget, underwhelming period drama ‘Marco Polo’ will be back for a second season, the video streaming service announced Wednesday at the TV critics winter press tour in Pasadena, California.
“Creator John Fusco’s tale of Marco’s journey will continue for 10 all-new episodes as Marco navigates Kublai Khan’s world of greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry,” wrote the company in a statement emailed to the press. The series, poised to bolster Netflix’s international footprint, debuted last month to meh reviews.
The subscription video-on-demand service also set premiere dates for several new original series, whose entire first seasons will be available all at once, because that’s how Netflix rolls:
“UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT” (March 6)
Tina Fey and Robert Carlock co-created this comedy starring Ellie Kemper (“The Office”) as Kimmy, a woman who escapes a doomsday cult and and tries to start a new life in New York City. The project originally was slated for NBC before it landed at Netflix. The 13-episode series also stars Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess and Carol Kane.
“BLOODLINE” (March 20)
Kyle Chandler (“Friday Night Lights”) stars in this thriller from the folks behind FX’s “Damages.” The 13-episode drama kicks off when the black sheep of the Rayburn family returns home, exposing secrets that threaten to tear these siblings apart. Ben Mendelsohn (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Linda Cardellini (“Mad Men”), Sam Shepard (“The Right Stuff”) and Sissy Spacek also star.
“MARVEL’S DAREDEVIL” (April 10)
Make way for more Marvel on the small screen. “Blinded as a young boy but imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fights against injustice by day as a lawyer, and by night as the Super Hero ‘Daredevil’ in modern-day Hell’s Kitchen, New York City.” Marvel’s first original series for Netflix, the 13, hour-long episodes will be the first of four live-action adventure series (Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Iron Fist and Marvel’s Luke Cage, all leading up to the teaming of the main characters in Marvel’s The Defenders) that explores the backstory of how Murdock evolves into Daredevil. It stars Rosario Dawson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson, among others.
“GRACE AND FRANKIE” (May 8)
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin star as the titular pair of frenemies whose husbands leave them for each other. The women are left having to start over in their 70s. The 13-episode series also stars Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston, Brooklyn Decker, Ethan Embry, June Diane Raphael and Baron Vaughn.
On the more immediate horizon, be sure to check out Netflix’s addictive serial killer drama “The Fall,” whose second season debuts Jan. 16.
