Television

Bud Light, the popular beer that has for years used silly ads and sometimes frat-boyish humor to stand apart from the (six)pack, is getting ready to grow up. When the Super Bowl perennial enters the ad roster of Super Bowl LVII on February 12, it will do so with a new degree of sophistication and

When Netflix dropped its first African Original, “Queen Sono,” in 2020, it was widely heralded as a gamechanger for African filmmakers expecting a wave of investment from global streaming giants in their cash-strapped creative industries. While that prediction has largely panned out, with the Los Gatos-based streamer and Amazon Prime Video in particular inking top

Rebecca Rørmark has been promoted to the newly created role of senior VP, head of streaming marketing, for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), reporting into Patrizio Spagnoletto, global chief marketing officer for direct-to-consumer. WBD is currently preparing for the launch of its global streaming platform that will amalgamate HBO Max

Julia Ragnarsson (“Two Sisters,” “Spring Tide”) and Erik Enge (“Tiger”) are the two leading stars of “End of Summer,” a psychological thriller series based Anders de la Motte’s bestselling Swedish novel of the same name. The show has been ordered by Viaplay and is being produced by Harmonica Films with SF Studios and Film i Skåne

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from the Wednesday, Feb. 1 episode of MTV’s “The Challenge: Ride or Dies.” Throughout 38 seasons of “The Challenge,” there have been quite a few injuries along the way. That said, nothing compares to what Olivia Kaiser went through during part one of the “Ride or Dies” finale. Kaiser

BET has announced a new documentary film, “Black + Iconic: Style Gods,” starring Billy Porter and produced by Stanley Nelson and Firelight Films. The documentary is part of the new four-part “Black + Iconic” series that will showcase the legacy and cultural impact of Black icons across music, film, fashion and dance. Porter will narrate,

“The Cleaning Lady” has been renewed for Season 3 at Fox. In addition, Jeannine Renshaw has joined the show as executive producer and co-showrunner. “After two heart-pounding seasons, we’re thrilled with how audiences have latched on to this incredible story,” said Michael Thorn, president of scripted programming for Fox Entertainment. “The cast, led by the

When it came time to reprising Kelso in Netflix’s “That ’70s Show” sequel series “That ’90s Show,” Ashton Kutcher did not have a choice. As the actor recently told Esquire magazine, his former co-star and wife Kunis refused to let him turn down the sequel project. Not even a potentially bad script would let Kutcher

“Pennyworth” has been canceled at HBO Max after three seasons, Variety has learned. The third season, officially titled “Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler,” was the first season of the show to originate on HBO Max. The series originally debuted on Epix in 2019, with Season 2 airing on that channel in two chunks in

Before Chris Harrison departed “The Bachelor” for good, the longtime host was put on hiatus from the franchise amid controversy. During the time, while Harrison’s status was in limbo, former “Bachelorette” stars Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams were hired to step in as temporary co-hosts for two seasons. Now, Bristowe — one of the most

Heather Olander has been named head of unscripted programming at the CW. Olander will be responsible for overseeing development and production of alternative reality series, events and specials on behalf of the network. Her hiring signals the beginning of a major pivot at the CW, which previously focused largely on scripted programming but will have

Author and anti-Mafia activist Roberto Saviano, whose Neapolitan mob exposé “Gomorrah” is the basis for the popular HBO Max series of the same title, stood his second trial in three months on Wednesday on charges of defaming a member of Italy’s current right-wing government. Saviano first appeared in court in November for a defamation lawsuit

Amazon has renewed “The Terminal List” starring Chris Pratt for Season 2, Variety has learned from sources. In addition, the streamer is prepping a prequel series that will focus on Taylor Kitsch’s character in the original show. Reps for Amazon declined to comment. “The Terminal List” is based on the Jack Carr novel of the

Space travel used to be romantic, both in real life and pop culture. These days, space travel is kind of a bummer. In the real world, rocketship rides are now most associated with billionaires, for whom such trips represent one small step for objectivism and one giant leap for their egos. Meanwhile, on television, NASA

As it approaches one full decade on the air, “The Blacklist” is coming to a close at NBC. The drama series’ upcoming 10th season, which will include its 200th episode, will be its last. Premiering on Feb. 26, Season 10 sees Raymond Reddington (James Spader) confront unparalleled danger. With Reddington’s covert role as an FBI

Uzo Aduba is set to star in the upcoming Shondaland series “The Residence” at Netflix, Variety has learned. The series was originally picked up at the streaming service in March 2022. It is described as a comedic murder mystery set at The White House. It is inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s book “The Residence: Inside

“Kids in Crime,” a high energy 22-minute episode coming of age drama with a notable turn by Scandi superstar Jakob Oftebro (“Kon Tiki,” “Black Crab”) as a not-to-be-messed-with local drug lord, walked off with the 2023 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best drama series screenwriting.  Federation Studios handles international distribution.  Hardly known –

Days after Showtime, which is currently merging with Paramount+, pulled multiple titles from their platform, the streaming service has followed suit. Jordan Peelee’s “The Twilight Zone,” which aired for two seasons between 2019 and 2020 before being canceled, has been removed, along with all three seasons of “The Real World: Homecoming.” Other projects no longer

HBO has given a series order to a documentary program starring and executive produced by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. The project, which is currently untitled, follows Carmichael’s day-to-day life, exploring the comic’s relationships with his family, friends and strangers, all in “his quest for love, sex and connection,” as the logline describes. Ari Katcher and Eli

The “Frasier” sequel will return to where it all began: Boston. That city, of course, was the setting for “Cheers,” the series that first introduced the character of Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer, in 1984. The hit NBC spin-off “Frasier” moved the character to Seattle; in its finale, the Frasier made the quick decision

A decade ago, when NBCUniversal launched COZI TV in just 43 markets, diginets were still a novel concept, so no one was quite sure how to gauge its success. As with many diginets at that time, COZI was powered by direct-response advertising. “It was new ground for our owned stations division,” says Meredith McGinn, exec

Former ABC News producer James Gordon Meek was arrested Tuesday night on criminal charges related to his alleged transportation of images of child sexual abuse. According to the Department of Justice, law enforcement “seized multiple devices that allegedly contained evidence of the transportation of images of child sexual abuse” in a court-authorized search of Meek’s

Melissa McCarthy has won notice for films ranging from “Brideesmaids” to “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Preparations for her next project have been pretty intense. “A Super Bowl ad requires a lot more raw eggs and squats!” McCarthy tells Variety via email. She ought to know. After making an appearance in a Super Bowl commercial

Producer Gene Klein has joined P3 Media, the production banner behind Netflix’s “The Recruit,” as a partner. Klein will lead development efforts for the company formed in 2018 by journalist and producer Adam Ciralsky. Klein and Ciralsky are already working together as executive producers on “Recruit,” which was inspired by Ciralsky’s early career as a

Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz and Todd Haynes’ “May December,” starring Oscar winners Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, are among the new titles added to the Sky Cinema 2023 original films slate. The slate also includes “Bonus Track,” a coming-of-age queer love story created by Josh O’Connor and Michael Gilbert, starring

Indian production house Reliance Entertainment, best known in the streaming space for Netflix’s “Sacred Games,” has 10 shows greenlit for development and four in production. The company, which is a producer on Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” entered the streaming space in 2018 and produced 13 shows in five years. These include “Ghoul” and “Family Tandoncies”

Filmmakers Milad Alami (“Opponent,” “When the Dust Settles”), Kasper Barfoed (“The Chestnut Man,” “Trom”) and up-and-coming creatives Emma Sehested Høed and Jennifer Vedsted Christiansen are some of the Scandi talents plotting projects for the new Danish production banner Uma Film, formerly Good Company Films. The Copenhagen-based shingle is run by three pedigreed female producers with

Copenhagen-based DR Sales has boarded the thought-provoking youth series “Get a Life” (“Stadig ikke død”) produced by one of Denmark’s longest running shingles, Nimbus Film, credited for the cult series “The Bridge” and last year’s biggest Danish movie hit “A Lucky Man”. The seven-part YA series, helmed by Daniel Kragh Jacobsen (“The Summerdahl Murders”) premiered

The reclusive head of India’s Yash Raj Films, Aditya Chopra, has recorded his first on-camera interview for “The Romantics,” a Netflix documentary series celebrating his late father, the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra. The last time Aditya Chopra, director of India’s longest-running film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” gave an interview was to a print magazine in

Novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer George Pelecanos has been tapped to receive the 2023 Honorary Orpheus Award in June by the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF). Known for his gritty crime fiction, Pelecanos has penned 21 novels set in and around Washington, D.C., and was a producer and writer on HBO series “The