Television

January 22, 2020 2:30PM PT ABC has made their third drama pilot pick up and fourth pilot pick up overall for the 2020-2021 season. The broadcaster has ordered the drama pilot “Harlem’s Kitchen.” It is described as an ensemble family drama set in a fine dining restaurant in Harlem. Ellis Rice, Executive Chef and patriarch,

January 22, 2020 1:00PM PT Johnny Flynn has been cast opposite Andrew Scott in the upcoming Showtime series based on Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley novels. Flynn will appear in a series regular role in the eight-episode first season. In “Ripley,” Tom Ripley (Scott), a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York, is hired by

Nearly 10 years and three networks later, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is finally getting its last season. Disney Plus will premiere the seventh and final season of the animated series on Feb. 21, likely releasing the 12 episodes weekly, similar to what the new streaming service did for “The Mandalorian.” It’s been six years

Bill Abbott is exiting his post as president and CEO of Crown Media, the parent company of Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama. The company made the announcement on Wednesday. “After 11 years, Bill Abbott, president and CEO of Crown Media is leaving the company,” said Mike Perry, president and CEO of

James Patterson’s Alex Cross could soon be coming to the small screen. Variety has learned exclusively that Amazon is currently developing an Alex Cross TV series, based on the novels starring the character written by Patterson. Throughout the book series, Cross works as a detective, FBI agent, and psychologist in Washington D.C. There is no

January 22, 2020 11:00AM PT Apple TV Plus is nearing a series order for “Extrapolations,” a new climate change anthology from Scott Z. Burns, the writer, director and producer known for “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Report,” Variety has learned exclusively. The streaming platform is developing the anthology with an eye toward a series order,

Nearly a year after “Grey’s Anatomy” made television history by becoming the longest-running primetime medical drama, the ABC series is taking on a new challenge on Thursday, Jan. 23: becoming more immersed with its spinoff, “Station 19,” for a more unified two-hour weekly block. But while there are natural ties between the two dramas, trying

“This Is Us” lost a little ground in the TV ratings on Tuesday night, however, it still managed to lead NBC to a narrow victory on the night. The acclaimed drama scored a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 and drew 6.5 million viewers, down fractionally on last week’s 1.5 rating and 6.7 million viewers. The

Facebook is doubling down on dishy, daytime TV-style programming: The social media giant announced a three-year renewal of “Red Table Talk” with Jada Pinkett Smith and Westbrook Studios and ordered a new offshoot of the multi-generational family talk-show format with singer Gloria Estefan. The pact will keep “Red Table Talk,” one of the most popular

The Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest, Tribeca, Bentonville, Athena, ATX Television Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival have committed to allot a portion of their credentials to members of the Time’s Up Critical database, Variety has learned exclusively. The online hub aims to increase representation of women, people of color, people with disabilities

Global distributors group Cisneros Media Distribution has announced two telenovelas to be made available on Amazon Prime Video for Latin America, “Amore Secreto” and “Gata Salvaje,” as well as three Mobius.Lab-produced titles, “Cursed Bloodlines,” “Mysterious Earth” and “Super Genios.” Written by César Sierra and starring Miguel de León and Alejandra Sandoval, “Amore Secreto” follows Irene,

MIAMI — In a big, bold affirmation of the value of movies in a new TV world, WarnerMedia’s Turner Latin America, one of Latin America’s biggest pay TV operators, is launching Particular Crowd,  a film production-acquisition company with a 90 English-language movie slate for 2020. Based out of Los Angeles, Particular Crowd will make many

MIAMI — Drew Barrymore has always loved television, but for years she was afraid of working in TV. “I didn’t like the idea of being attached to unknown material,” Barrymore said. “I thought ‘What if the scripts come in and I hate them?’ “ Barrymore conquered that fear when she committed to Netflix’s offbeat comedy

January 22, 2020 3:23AM PT “UnReal” is heading to Brazil. A+E Networks International has sold rights to the TV drama about the off-camera chaos at a dating reality show to Sony-backed Brazilian Brazilian production company Floresta Produções, they announced on Wednesday. The deal marks A+E’s first scripted format sale in Latin America. “UnReal” is a behind-the-scenes look at

MADRID — Movistar Plus’ upcoming original series “Tell Me Who I Am,” based on Julia Navarro’s popular Spanish novel “Dime Quien Soy,” has finished shooting and will head to post-production for delivery later this year. Set across multiple decades of the 20th century, the story kicks off with 30-something internet journalist Javier, tasked by his

Brazilian TV giant Globo has brought to this year’s NATPE conference in Miami one of its biggest access prime time hits in the last eight years. “A Life Worth Living” underscores that, as Globo and its SVOD service Globoplay explore ever more shorter series formats – “Second Call,” “Aruanas,” telenovelas and melodrama are still kings

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “A Hell of a Week: Part One,” the 11th episode of the fourth season of “This Is Us.” It was a moment that made actor Sterling K. Brown scream out-loud when he read it in the script: his “This Is Us” character, Randall Pearson,

In today’s TV news roundup, Marvel TV and Hulu announced the cast of its upcoming animated series, “Marvel’s MODOK” and Netflix set the premiere date for “Gentefied.” CASTING Marvel TV and Hulu revealed that Patton Oswalt, Aimee Garcia, Ben Schwartz, Melissa Fumero, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Beck Bennet, Jon Daly and Sam Richardson are joining “Marvel’s MODOK.” The animated

The cast of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” nabbed two Screen Actors Guild Awards at Sunday’s ceremony, for outstanding male actor (Tony Shalhoub) and outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series, the latter adding one more statue to star Rachel Brosnahan’s collection.  Brosnahan won a SAG Award last year for outstanding female actor in

Los Angeles and Mexico City-based studio Exile Content has teamed up with Spanish journo Ana Pastor’s media company Newtral to produce long-form unscripted premium content in Spanish and English. The joint venture’s first project is a documentary series about the genesis of the first-ever women’s soccer team at Real Madrid, Spain’s most renowned soccer team

UTA co-president Jay Sures has been reappointed to the University of California Board of Regents for a 12-year term. The term, which is still pending Senate confirmation, will be effective from March 2 and was announced among a larger batch of appointments by Governor Gavin Newsom. Sures was first appointed to the position in Jan.

Netflix said “The Witcher,” the fantasy series starring Henry Cavill, is pacing to be its biggest first-season original TV series ever. “The Witcher,” which debuted Dec. 20 on Netflix, was chosen to be watched by 76 million customer households in the first four weeks of release, according to the company. That would appear to mean

January 21, 2020 1:15PM PT RuPaul and JJ Watt will both make their “Saturday Night Live” hosting debuts in February. NBC announced Tuesday that Watt will host the Feb. 1 installment of the long-running sketch series with musical guest Luke Combs. Watt is currently a defensive end for the Houston Texans and three-time AP Defensive

January 21, 2020 1:00PM PT Gary Dauberman has signed a first-look television deal with Universal Content Productions (UCP), the studio announced Tuesday. Under the deal, Dauberman will write and produce scripted projects across all platforms. He will also launch his own production company, Coin Operated. Dauberman is known for his work on the screenplay for

ViacomCBS’ senior leadership ranks are coming into sharper focus as Chris McCarthy, head of the sprawling Entertainment and Youth wing has solidified his senior leadership team. A number of executives closely associated with McCarthy are gaining additional responsibilities, including programming maven Nina Diaz, MTV chief marketing officer Jacqueline Parkes and PR chief Liza Burnett Fefferman.

January 21, 2020 12:00PM PT Jonathan Del Arco is boldly going into the intersection of entertainment and politics. On Tuesday, the “Star Trek: Picard” actor debuted his new podcast “Hollywood Caucus,” with co-host Tara Karsian. Hailing from Dan Harmon’s Starburns Audio, the podcast will feature interviews with figures from both the entertainment industry and the

HBO Max has ordered an animated comedy series centered on the British royal family. “The Prince” hails from writer and executive producer Gary Janetti. Based on Janetti’s Instagram account, the series takes a look at the royals through the eyes of Prince George, the eldest child of Prince William and Princess Kate. Janetti will voice

WarnerMedia has appointed Cheryl Idell as executive vice president, chief research officer of its entertainment and direct-to-consumer divisions. In her new role, Idell will be responsible for overseeing multiple areas of research across WarnerMedia Entertainment, including viewership, content, and strategic market research, insights and analytics. Her purview will also include all aspects of research for

Madrid-based The Mediapro Studio and Paraiso Pictures announced at Miami’s NATPE Tuesday a co-production agreement for a new series based on the true story of a drug kingpin turned government operative after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001. “El Medico,” to be shot in English, is executive-produced and directed by Netflix’s “Fauda” Season 1 director

Steven Canals, who co-created the groundbreaking series “Pose” with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, has inked an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Canals recently made his directorial debut with the eighth episode of “Pose” season 2 titled “Revelations,” and the deal marks his first with any studio. “Pose” is set to return for