MTV announced that Nikki Glaser will host the inaugural “MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted,” airing May 17.
The first-of-its-kind award show will celebrate all things reality television and follow the “MTV Movie & TV Awards,” hosted by Leslie Jones, on May 16.
Glaser, who hosted SiriusXM’s “You Up with Nikki Glaser” and starred in her own Netflix special “Bangin,’” is known for her raunchy, no holds barred style of comedy. In March 2021, she started “The Nikki Glaser Podcast.”
Also in today’s TV news roundup:
DATES
Apple TV Plus announced that “Schmigadoon!,” the six-episode musical comedy series from Lorne Michaels, will premiere on July 16. A parody of Golden Age musicals, “Schmigadoon!” follows romantic partners on a backpacking trip designed to reignite their relationship, when they stumble across a magical town living in a 1940s musical. Played by Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key, the couple realizes they can’t leave until they find “true love.” The first season also stars Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jamie Camil, Jane Krakowski and Ann Harada, with Martin Short guest starring. From Broadway Video and Universal Television, “Schmigadoon!” is co-created by Ken Daurio, who is also a consulting producer and writer, and Cinco Paul, who also serves as showrunner and wrote all of the original songs for the series. Executive producers are Michaels, Andrew Singer and director Barry Sonnenfeld, and Strong serves as producer.
FIRST LOOKS
Juan Avella will make his TV directorial debut on tonight’s episode of “The Blacklist” as part of NBC’s Emerging Director Program, one of the only industry programs that guarantees participating directors will direct an episode of scripted television. The Los Angeles-based Venezuelan writer-director’s work focuses on gritty and social genre stories set in multicultural worlds. Among his filmography are award-winning shorts “Hijo Por Hijo” and “Her Body,” the latter of which is streaming on HBO. In 2019, he received the TFI Sloan Film Fund grant from the Tribeca Film Institute for his thriller “Bolichicos.” Taking his talent to NBC, Avella’s “The Blacklist” episode sees the Task Force hatch a plan to steal a Soviet-era cipher machine in order to decrypt coded messages. It airs at 8 p.m ET/ 7p.m. CT. Watch the exclusive clip below.
DEVELOPMENT
Showrunner Alena Smith will make her directorial debut in Season 3 of “Dickinson,” Variety has exclusively learned. Production of the new season of the Apple TV Plus comedy has not been announced, though the script has been written remotely, with and Smith in the process of its finalization. The Peabody-winning show follows Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) as she grapples with the reality of being a published author. In addition to TV writing, Smith is known for her work as a playwright on “Icebergs.”
LATE NIGHT
James Spader, Abbi Jacobson and Beach Bunny will be on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” while “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will have Jane Fonda, John Oliver, Ringo Starr and Teddy Swims.