Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety’s television podcast. In this week’s episode, Variety TV critic Caroline Framke talks with Jeanine Mason, star of the CW’s new drama “Roswell, New Mexico.” The series is the second adaptation of the “Roswell High” book series by Melinda Metz. The first series premiered in 1999 and starred Shiri Appleby as the main character,
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Former Disney Star Kyle Massey Sued for Sexual Misconduct with Minor 3/15/2019 4:38 PM PDT EXCLUSIVE Former Disney star Kyle Massey is being sued by a 13-year-old girl who claims he sent her sexually explicit photos and video which allegedly include shots of his erect penis. The girl claims in the lawsuit she and her
At South By Southwest on Friday, an animated panel of music business veterans took on the topic: “Is Alternative Radio in the Concert or Radio Business?” The discussion revolved around alt-rock radio concerts, and whether the market has become so saturated with stations looking to book next-big-thing acts and tried-and-true headliners on their multi-band bills
I am forever searching for the next perfect pair of jeans. I have cut the hems off of countless pairs of skinny jeans to get that slightly frayed raw hem. Now, of course, I’m regretful. I miss a finished hem. I’m tired of slim-fitting denim. New denim brand Boyish’s Kirby style is an antidote to
Google is set to unveil its take on the future of gaming at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco next week. Little is known about Google’s plans, with speculation ranging from a cloud gaming service to a full-fledged game console. However, patents filed by the company, code snippets, and other clues suggest that
“American Gods” is returning with a new showrunner. The Fremantle-produced Starz television series based on the Neil Gaiman novel has officially been picked up for a third season and has tapped Charles “Chic” Eglee to lead the season as showrunner and executive producer. The news comes less than a week after the show launched its
The Beastie Boys held a pair of “in conversation” events at SXSW this week, with the group’s Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz taking part in a private, filmed chat about their “Ill Communication” album Thursday night before taking part in a bigger, career-spanning public keynote on Friday. And they’re not done
National Geographic Channel has completed its investigation into “Cosmos” and “StarTalk” host Neil deGrasse Tyson, and will move forward with both shows. The channel didn’t elaborate on its findings, however. “‘StarTalk’ will return to the air with the remaining 13 episodes in April on National Geographic, and both Fox and National Geographic are committed to
’Petra,’ ‘Midnight Family ‘ Win Big at Guadalajara The 34th Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (FICG), boasting a new general director, Estrella Araiza, wrapped March 15 with a bevy of cash prizes spread out among several categories. Documentaries ruled, led by Premio Mezcal best film and best director winner “Midnight Family” by Luke Lorentzen, who also lensed
March 15, 2019 12:54PM PT CBS has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit which accused the company of paying millions to former chairman Sumner Redstone after he was incapacitated by illness. The suit was filed in Delaware Chancery Court in July 2016 on behalf of shareholder R.A. Feuer. It accused the
On a day that saw Spotify and Apple trade barbs in the public arena via strongly worded blog posts, Warner/Chappell co-chair COO Carianne Marshall has written an open letter to songwriters criticizing the four streaming services — Spotify, Amazon, Google and SiriusXM/Pandora — for their recent appeal of the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision to increase the
Amazon is rejiggering the payment structure for its Prime Video Direct self-publishing program to reward the highest-performing content with higher rates — while reducing royalty rates for less-popular titles. Starting April 1, 2019, the standard license fee for all titles made available through Amazon’s Prime Video Direct for Prime subscription access in the U.S. will
A week after “Captain Marvel” lit up the box office, fighting off superhero fatigue and online trolls who feel a female superhero isn’t “realistic,” since apparently only men can shoot fire from their hands, there’s another project that is looking to break barriers. On Friday, streaming service Hulu drops all six episodes of “Shrill,” a
March 15, 2019 11:14AM PT After a series of meetings with Walt Disney Pictures honcho Alan Horn, fired director James Gunn will return to the Marvel fold. Gunn has been re-hired to direct the third installment in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, the Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana series about misfits who protect outer-space,
Before Hannah B. was announced as the next leading lady on ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” Khloe Kardashian’s name was brought into the casting conversation, thanks to Mike Fleiss, the creator of “The Bachelor” franchise. Fleiss — who is known to generate attention for his unfiltered tweets — wrote on Twitter that Kardashian was in talks to
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you’ve watched the fourth and final season of “Catastrophe,” streaming now on Amazon. The central relationship on Amazon’s comedic “Catastrophe” began in the first season when Rob (Rob Delaney) got Sharon (Sharon Horgan) pregnant. The duo that barely knew each other was thrust together in a much longer-lasting way than
March 15, 2019 11:00AM PT The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has set next year’s Golden Globes ceremony for Jan. 5, 2020. Produced by Dick Clark Productions in partnership with the HFPA, the Golden Globe Awards air on NBC, and are viewed in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The Globes fall just two days
March 15, 2019 10:53AM PT Chris Evans narrates this Imax original documentary about heroic dogs trained for rescue missions, emotional support, and sniffing out crime. In a world constantly thirsting for wholesome dog-centric content, the hook of director Daniel Ferguson’s “Superpower Dogs” is an insanely catchy one. Running a museum- and science-center-friendly 47 minutes, this
March 15, 2019 10:30AM PT Freddie Prinze Jr. has boarded the Nancy Drew pilot which is in the works at the CW, Variety has learned. He will play Nancy’s father, Carson Drew, who is described as a dynamic attorney who has become estranged from Nancy following the recent death of his beloved wife – but his
March 15, 2019 10:28AM PT Snapchat is set to unveil a mobile gaming platform for its app at a partner event next month, according to a new Cheddar report. The platform will allow developers to distribute games within Snapchat’s app, according to the report. A Snapchat spokesperson declined to comment. Snapchat’s corporate parent Snap is
Tim Burton’s live-action “Dumbo” launches March 29, a remake of the Disney classic that opened Oct. 23, 1941. That film is remembered as one of Disney’s shortest (64 minutes) and sweetest. It should also be remembered as the animated movie that launched Disney’s studio in Burbank — and one that was completed in the midst
Every year, thousands of artists descend into Austin for SXSW determined to turn in the type of performance that could turn them into stars overnight. It happens, occasionally: Over the years the buzzes around Billie Eilish, Amy Winehouse, Vampire Weekend and Alabama Shakes rose from low to deafening thanks to the kind of rocket-fuel performances
March 15, 2019 10:00AM PT “You” star Elizabeth Lail will lead STX Films’ upcoming horror pic “Countdown.” The movie follows a young nurse who downloads an app that claims to predict exactly when a person is going to die. When it tells her she only has three days to live, she must find a way
“Saturday Night Live” aired last October a sketch about a pumpkin patch where the employees, much to the consternation of the proprietor, engage in sexual intercourse with the product. “The Pumpkin Patch” was lewd, funny, and seasonally appropriate. But according to Nick Ruggia and Ryan Hoffman, it was something else — theft. Ruggia and Hoffman
Don’t tell cinematographer Nancy Schreiber that she’s having a renaissance. That would imply there’ve been slumps in her long career, and she won’t have any of that, even if for a time she was taking smaller jobs as the gaps widened between larger gigs. “It’s never been about the money, for me,” says Schreiber over
Netflix, in an about-face after an outcry over footage in its original film “Bird Box” of a 2013 deadly train disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, said it will now remove the offending segment. “Netflix and the filmmakers of ‘Bird Box’ have decided to replace the clip,” a company spokesman said in an email to Variety. “We’re
The romantic drama “Five Feet Apart” has opened with $715,000 on Thursday night, barely beating previews for the animated film “Wonder Park,” which earned $700,000. Focus Features’ sci-fi movie “Captive State” generated $300,000 on Thursday. The trio of wide openings is expected to be dwarfed by the sophomore frame of Brie Larson’s “Captain Marvel,” which
March 15, 2019 9:17AM PT In Friday’s early hours, Spotify and Apple traded potshots in their ongoing battle over the App Store. That conflict centers around Spotify’s longstanding complaint that Apple charges excessive fees, routinely blocks Spotify upgrades and unfairly promotes its own streaming service in its App Store; early Wednesday, Spotify lodged an anti-competition
When CNN was getting ready to launch Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” in 2013, newly appointed president Jeff Zucker joked that viewers would see the series again and again as CNN used it to offset the slow news periods when its audience often evaporated. These days, it’s hard to find a free moment on any mainstream
Mar 15, 2019 Matthew Sprout When she was passed up for a modeling contract with a major cosmetics brand, Flaviana Matata had one reaction. She celebrated. “I remember wanting that job so much,” she says, reflecting on the casting that took her all the way to the final round. “Sometimes you want it so badly,