Fanatic Feed: The Mighty Ducks Assembles OG Cast, Lena Headey and Vera Farmiga Book New Shows, & More

Here is a wrap-up of all the news you need to know from Thursday, March 18.

Apple TV+ has set Vera Farmiga is set to star in the highly anticipated Apple Original limited series Five Days at Memorial from creators John Ridley and Carlton Cuse.

The limited series from Academy Award-winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, American Crime, Guerrilla) and Emmy Award-winner Carlton Cuse (Locke & Key, Jack Ryan, Lost).

Farmiga will play the role of Dr. Anna Pou.

Based on the acclaimed National Books Critics Circle Award-winning non-fiction novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sheri Fink, the series chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans, LA, hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

When the floodwaters rose, the power failed, and the heat climbed, exhausted caregivers were forced to make life-and-death decisions that haunted them for years to come.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones alum Lena Headey is headed back to the small screen.

The actress has boarded the previously announced Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks psychological thriller Beacon 23.

Headey will star in the series as Aster, a woman who mysteriously finds her way to a lonely beacon keeper on his lighthouse in the darkest recesses of space.

She will also executive produce the project through her production company, Peephole Productions, as part of her first-look deal with Boat Rocker Studios.

From creator Zak Penn (Ready Player One, The Avengers), this intimate, suspenseful thriller follows two people whose fates become entangled after they find themselves trapped together at the end of the known universe.

A tense battle of wills unfolds at the edge of space, Halan, the beacon keeper, begins to question whether Aster is a friend or foe as her ability to disguise her agenda and motives could make her a formidable opponent.

Co-commissioned by Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks, co-produced by Spectrum Originals and Boat Rocker Studios, the series is based on the book of the same name by The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Hugh Howey.

After a nine-month exclusive run for Spectrum, BEACON 23 will be an AMC original with a second window across AMC Networks platforms.

Over on Peacock, Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) has been set to work with Rian Johnson on a new 10-episode series called Poker Face.

Plot details are scarce, but Lyonne will be starring and exec producing. Maya Rudolph is also counted as an exec producer.

That's a lot of talent!

Lyonne is currently working on the second season of Russian Doll, which faced lengthy COVID-19 related delays.

Elsewhere, Tom Hiddleston has closed in on his next big TV role.

The actor who is already well-known for The Night Manager, The Hollow Crown, and the forthcoming LOKI, will star in The Essex Serpent, a new Apple Original drama series adapted from Sarah Perry’s bestselling and 2016 British Book Award-winning novel of the same name.

Hiddleston will play the lead role of Will Ransome, the trusted leader of a small rural community.

The series follows newly widowed Cora (played by Claire Danes) who, having being released from an abusive marriage, relocates from Victorian London to the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area.

Over on Facebook Watch, the second season of The Birch has received a trailer, and it's spooky!

"Picking up where season one suspensefully left off, the second season of Crypt TV’s The Birch follows newcomer Rory (Jordyn DiNatale), who calls on the vengeful woodland tree monster, the Birch, to help her combat the cyber bullying and harassment from her peers," reads the logline. 

"As the second season unfolds, Evie (Xaria Dotson) gets her shot at redemption as she tries to stop Rory from making the same mistakes she did, leading to many thrilling and supernatural adventures along the way."

Have a look at the trailer below.

Over in the land of Disney+, the forthcoming Mighty Ducks TV series, titled The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, will be playing host to a reunion of sorts.

EW.com is reporting that the sixth episode of the series will include former Ducks Elden Henson as Fulton, along with Matt Doherty as Averman, Vinny LaRusso as Adam Banks, Marguerite Moreau as Connie, Garret Henson as Guy, and Justin Wong as Kenny Wu.

The series will premiere Friday, March 26.

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.