Awards

“Respect” — the new musical drama based starring Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin — is proof that the biopic is stale, and it’s time to rework the equation. We keep seeing the same thing. A child loves music, has crappy parental figures, faces struggles or physical ailments, gets famous, does drugs or drinks, and gets

Iconic director, performer and choreographer Debbie Allen has been selected to receive the Television Academy’s 2021 Governors Award, “in recognition of her numerous contributions to the television medium through multiple creative forms and her philanthropic endeavors around the world.” Allen, a staple in TV and film for decades, was chosen by the Television Academy’s Board

“Black-ish” showunner Courtney Lilly looks back on the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic of being stuck inside as being like “Groundhog Day.” Having just moved into a new house in February 2020, he set up an office in the guest house, which is a converted garage, so he and his partner, who is a

Neither Elizabeth Olsen nor Jurnee Smollett are strangers to having to really stretch their imaginations to dive into complex characters and even more complicated worlds. Both have superhero films on their résumés: Smollett portrayed Black Canary in DC’s “Birds of Prey,” while Olsen stepped into Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch’s shoes for Marvel’s “Avengers”

In flashing back to college-age Annie on Hulu’s “Shrill,” Aidy Bryant felt as if she had traveled back in time. “I was getting caught up in my own emotions,” says Bryant. “It was almost like visiting an old self.” The unflattering costume reminded her of a person who used to hide behind clothing and, to

“Pose” co-creator, showrunner and director Steven Canals knew from the beginning that his 1980s- and ’90s-set ballroom culture cable drama was going to rest firmly on the shoulders of Blanca Rodriguez (played by Michaela Jaé “Mj” Rodriguez), a young trans woman and house mother diagnosed with HIV early on in the series’ run. He also

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year

Reality casting is both an art and a science: It’s a bid to select compelling personalities who make great television, yet who aren’t so dramatic that they might bring negative publicity to the show. The fate of a reality show, after all, relies on its cast being engaging year after year. And in these challenging

I don’t think anyone, including the Television Academy, expected to be back where we are in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. But thanks to the stubborn fools across the country who have refused to be vaccinated (and the new super-contagious delta variant), we’re back to a spike in cases and wondering what an in-person Emmy

The Television Academy is taking the Emmys outdoors. The org announced Tuesday afternoon that the Emmy ceremonies, both Primetime and Creative Arts, will be held on the Event Deck at L.A. Live, next to the Microsoft Theater — marking the second year in a row that the Emmys were not actually held inside the Microsoft.

Television has always been about relationships — those depicted on screen and the ones between the series and the viewers. As characters debate whether to trust one another before venturing into whatever premise the plot sets forth, those watching at home have to decide if it’s worth their time (and, sometimes, money) to follow such

For the past decade, writer and executive producer Misha Green has been on the move a lot because the series she worked on, from “Spartacus” to “Underground” to the now Emmy-nominated “Lovecraft Country,” filmed far outside her home base of Los Angeles. When the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on traveling, she found herself getting

In many ways, HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” told two stories: one was a gripping, small-town murder mystery and the other was an exploration of grief and guilt for a mother, the titular Mare (played by Kate Winslet), who lost her son too young. Both pieces of the overall limited series were deeply emotional but, as

David Petruschin is known to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fans as Raven. The fan favorite competed in both Season 2 and “All Stars” Season 1 and has been working as RuPaul’s makeup artist for the past five years. Last year pushed Petruschin to work under new conditions when production resumed on “Drag Race” U.K, U.S and

Television Academy voters aren’t necessarily a nostalgic bunch when it comes to sending off departing shows or series cast members with one final Emmy. Last year, of course, was a tremendous exception, as most of the cast of “Schitt’s Creek” — including creators and stars Eugene Levy and Dan Levy — landed wins in their

Before Michelle Visage became known as a producer and judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” she was a singer — with quite a few hits under her belt. As one-third of the late 1980s/early 1990s group Seduction, she hit the top 40 four times, and also performed on hits for other artists such as TKA and

Earlier this spring, I had the privilege of moderating a panel with the always joyful cast of one of my favorite recent comedies, “Superstore.” But the timing was unfortunate: Just days beforehand, NBC had announced that the show was ending its run. You would have excused the cast for not exactly being on cloud nine

Architecture and real-life period influences were infused into many Emmy-nominated series’ sets. “The Oscars” (ABC)NOMINATED FOR VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE) PRODUCTION DESIGN David Rockwell Production designer David Rock – well turned to previous Oscar ceremonies for inspiration for the 93rd annual event last April. He took cues from Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel, site of the first Oscars,

From extensive world-building to subtle story tweaks, Emmy-nominated visual effects teams do it all. While movie theaters were shuttered for much of the past year and a half, it was up to TV to provide the grandest scale entertainment. And thanks to more players in the original content game, bigger budgets and better technology, projects

The pandemic couldn’t stop these artists’ creativity but required extra resourcefulness. “Black-ish”(ABC)NOMINATED FOR CONTEMPORARY HAIRSTYLING FOR SEASON 7, EPISODE 6, “OUR WEDDING DRE” ABC The hairstyles for the seventh season episode of “Black-ish,” entitled “Our Wedding Dre,” were highly detailed. Hair department head Nena Ross Davis went all out with “a multitude of styles that

Simon Helberg was so invested in landing the role of The Conductor in Leos Carax’s musical movie “Annette,” he became a French citizen. The actor, perhaps best known for his 12-season run on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” steals scenes opposite Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in the film, arriving in theaters on Aug. 6

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year

In last week’s column, I suggested that TV Academy voters got it mostly right with the 2021 Emmy nominations. But what if I told you there was an easy way for them to get it even more mostly right? Yes, welcome to my annual plea for the Emmys to expand some of its key categories

Cross “Blonde” off your Oscar predictions list for this year, as Netflix’s fictionalized telling of Marilyn Monroe’s life starring Ana de Armas will now release in 2022. Directed by Andrew Dominik (“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”), who also adapted the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, “Blonde” was one of the

Bert Kreischer can pinpoint the exact moment his life changed: Dec. 28, 2016. Before then, Kreischer had been a stand-up comedian for about 20 years and had achieved what appeared to be a good amount of success. As a student at Florida State University, he was the subject of a Rolling Stone article that crowned

Emmys Governors Balls Canceled for a Second Year in a Row; Creative Arts Dates Announced I don’t think anyone was surprised when the Television Academy confirmed, first to Variety, that the Governors Balls wouldn’t happen again this year. The shocking news would have been if they were back. But even before the Delta variant of

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four

Filmmaker and Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve and documentary filmmaker, writer, singer and activist Alanis Obomsawin are the first two announced honorees for the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. Set to be honored at the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards, Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award, while Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff

The Television Academy has once again canceled the post-Emmys Governors Balls, and has also announced that the Creative Arts Emmys will return to the weekend before the Primetime Emmys telecast, and take place on Saturday, Sept. 11, and Sunday, Sept. 12. Just like the plans for this year’s Primetime Emmys ceremony, the live audience for