The Winter Olympics are now streaming on Peacock, and NBCUniversal’s streaming service is taking the opportunity to show fans a glimpse of its very ambitious slate of original programming for the next year. As part of today’s coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Peacock has released a sizzle reel previewing its 2022 original series.
One of Peacock’s most anticipated shows is Bel-Air, a modern reboot of Will Smith’s classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Jabari Banks is stepping into the role of the fictional Will Smith, and his show gets most of the attention in Peacock’s new video because it’s set to premiere on February 13. The Tiger King-inspired Joe vs. Carole is also featured, with John Cameron Mitchell as Joe Exotic and Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin. That series will premiere on March 3.
Some of the other new shows haven’t been given premiere dates yet. For example, there’s Angelyne, which is based on the life story of the model and singer of the same name who rose to fame by paying for suggestive billboards of herself to be placed all over Los Angeles. The Office veteran Craig Robinson is set to headline the comedy series Killing It, which is expected to premiere in April.
Vampire Academy, the adaptation of Richelle Mead’s supernatural teen novels, is also featured in Peacock’s latest video. Sisi Stringer, Daniela Nieves, Kieron Moore, André Dae Kim, J. August Richards, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, and Mia McKenna-Bruce will star in the series.
These are some very big swings by Peacock, and also completely necessary. Via Variety, Peacock had 24.5 million accounts, but only 9 million paying subscribers. Peacock’s parent company, Comcast, also reported that the streaming service lost $1.7 billion in 2021. So it badly needs more paying subscribers, and this original slate of programs is designed to ramp up those numbers. Within the next 12 months, we’ll have a better idea of whether Peacock’s strategy is working.
