Television

When we meet Joyce Mitchell, she’s at a low moment, being questioned about her role in a prison breakout. She’s combative, bristling and insistent on being called by her nickname, Tilly, and evidently dissembling under the gaze of the state’s inspector general (Bonnie Hunt). When we shift back in time to see how her troubles

Jimmy Kimmel is spreading his wings as a producer with the launch of a media banner dubbed Kimmelot, in partnership with producer and former ITV America CEO Brent Montgomery. Kimmelot will serve as a creative incubator for the longtime host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” late-night franchise. The goal is to develop scripted and unscripted

One of Discovery’s top international executives, Animal Planet global chief Susanna Dinnage, is jumping ship to take the top job at the English Premier League. The Premier League is England’s top soccer league and also hugely popular around the world. The TV rights are among the most lucrative in international sports. Dinnage’s move is a

The path to parity in television has been a slow one. Women comprised only 27% of key decision-making behind-the-scenes roles, from show creators to directors, writers, producers, editors and directors of photography, for the 2017-18 season, according to the Boxed In report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film at

ReFrame and IMDbPro have awarded 62 television and streaming series their first-ever ReFrame Stamp for Television, Variety has learned exclusively. The ReFrame Stamp was created by ReFrame, a coalition of industry professionals founded by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute, to recognize projects that have demonstrated success in gender-balanced hiring. Productions that receive the stamp are those that

November 13, 2018 7:49AM PT [embedded content] Awkwafina played chauffeur to comedians John Mulaney and Nick Kroll in a video released by Cadillac on Tuesday. In the video, Mulaney and Kroll – reprise their characters from their Broadway show “Oh, Hello.” With the help of “Val the Vlogger,” played by Awkwafina, the duo goes on

November 13, 2018 7:12AM PT [embedded content] HBO has announced the final season of “Game of Thrones” will launch this April. The news was revealed in a promotional video released by HBO on Tuesday, which teased that all of the conflict fans have seen in the show thus far has all been building to this

Discovery plans to flip the switch on its rebrand of the Velocity cable channel as MotorTrend Network on Nov. 23, also know as the Black Friday kickoff of the holiday shopping season. The switch comes a little over a year after Discovery set a joint venture with the MotorTrend Group, owner of the venerable Motor

In Today’s TV News Roundup, The CW announced its midseason premiere dates and WGN America announced the premiere date for its upcoming drama “Pure.” DATES WGN America’s upcoming religious crime drama “Pure is set to premiere Jan. 23 at 10/9 p.m. CT. Starring Ryan Robbins and Alex Paxton-Beesley, “Pure” follows the double life of a mennonite

November 12, 2018 1:56PM PT David Spade is attached to star in a comedy series currently in the works at HBO from writer Diablo Cody, Variety has confirmed. The untitled half-hour series follows Calvin Wash (Spade), a semi-famous grunge musician in the ’90s who was hooked on heroin. Now he’s clean, sober and working as a waiter

November 12, 2018 1:01PM PT Food Network has struck a multi-series deal with actress and host Valerie Bertinelli that will have her tackling “multiple projects in daytime and primetime,” the Discovery-owned cable network said Monday. Food Network has ordered to series “Family Food Showdown.” a family-focused competition program that Bertinelli will host. In the series,

If you asked “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris a year ago who his dream guest star for the ABC sitcom would be, Kanye West would be at the top of his wishlist. Now, his answer would be a little different. “I still love him, but it’s … different,” Barris said of the rapper, who has drawn

November 12, 2018 12:54PM PT The mystery of “Manifest” is proving too much for viewers to resist. According to Live+7 data through week 5 of the current broadcast season, the freshman NBC drama is averaging a 1.8 rating lift in adults 18-49 thus far, an improvement of 106% over its Live+Same Day haul in that

Emmy-nominated writer, producer and director Marti Noxon has signed a multi-year overall deal with Netflix. Under the deal, Noxon will produce new series programming exclusively for Netflix. Additionally, Netflix will have a first-look option on Noxon’s feature projects through the pact, as well. Noxon will continue to produce all projects through her production company, Tiny

CBS All Access has given out a straight-to-series order to the true-crime series “Interrogation,” Variety has learned. The series is based on a true story that spanned more than 30 years, in which a young man was charged and convicted of brutally murdering his mother. Each episode is structured around an interrogation taken directly from the

Nina Lederman has been named to a newly-created position at Sony Pictures Television (SPT). Lederman will now serve as executive vice president of global scripted development and programming. In her new role, Lederman will be responsible for expanding Sony’s slate of TV series in the U.S. and abroad by facilitating creative and logistical partnerships between Sony’s

Stan Lee, who ushered in a comic book renaissance by co-creating the iconic superheroes Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men — characters who made the leap to film with often-spectacular results — died on Monday, his daughter’s attorney confirmed to Variety. He was 95. Lee was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on

November 12, 2018 9:00AM PT Samantha Bee will air a special holiday broadcast of her TBS’ satire show “Full Frontal,” another example of how late-night hosts are testing all kinds of extensions of their flagship broadcasts to win viewers who don’t necessarily watch their shows at the times they air each week. “Christmas on I.C.E”

November 12, 2018 9:00AM PT Tim Tebow is set to host the upcoming CBS competition series “Million Dollar Mile,” which is executive produced by LeBron James. Tebow is a two-time national champion, first-round NFL draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner. Currently, he serves as a college football analyst for ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, he

UPDATED: Anne Mensah, head of drama in the U.K. for Sky, is leaving the pay-TV business, which recently came under the ownership of U.S. cable giant Comcast and joining Netflix. Sky staff members were told in a memo Monday from content boss Gary Davey that Mensah would be exiting and that her deputy, Cameron Roach,

November 12, 2018 3:59AM PT Facebook has ordered current-affairs show “Uncovered” for its Watch service from the news team at Britain’s Channel 4. It is the latest news show for the platform after earlier orders for series from the likes of ABC News, Fox News and CNN. In the U.K. it is also working with

The founders of animation studio Aardman are transferring the ownership of their multi-award-winning company to its employees. Peter Lord and David Sproxton said they are transferring ownership to staff to ensure that the company retains its independence. A majority of Aardman shares will be transferred to a trust. Senior management will remain in their positions

Italy’s Lucisano Media Group and Pascal Breton’s Paris-based Federation Entertainment have signed a deal to co-develop and co-produce a high-end TV series based on U.S. author Glenn Cooper’s “Library of the Dead” trilogy of thrillers. The partnership to adapt these global bestsellers is being touted by Lucisano Group, which is among Italy’s oldest producers of

Teresa Teng, one of the most famous Chinese-language singers from the 1970s and 1980s is to be the subject of “Memory Eclipse.” The anthology series is an expansion of the original productions slate at Fox Networks Group in Asia. The five-part series is produced by former Media Asia executive and “Infernal Affairs” producer John Chong.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Bluebeard’s Castle,” the first season finale of “You.” On Lifetime’s “You,” Joe Goldberg’s (Penn Badgley) past has come back to haunt him — just in time for the show to take its hiatus between seasons. At the end of the first season, showrunner Sera

SPOILER ALERT: Do not keep reading if you have not seen Episode 6 of Season 9 of “The Walking Dead,” titled “Who Are You Now?” The post-Rick Grimes world of “The Walking Dead” came into focus with this week’s episode, introducing several new characters while offering a fresh look at some old ones. Years have

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t watched “Do No Harm,” the second episode of “Outlander” Season 4. In the second episode of “Outlander’s” fourth season, the show’s writers were tasked with condensing Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) time at River Run into one hour-long episode. Obviously, they shortened the three-month stay

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Do No Harm,” the second episode of “Outlander” Season 4. In the wake of Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) robbing Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) in the “Outlander” season four premiere, the weary travelers still managed to make it to River Run, a

Chuck Lorre has had decades of success producing single camera sitcoms for broadcast television, but “The Kominsky Method” is a somewhat new venture for him both in its single-camera format and it streaming network, Netflix. “[Netflix has] been unbelievably supportive. When in doubt, they encourage you,” Lorre told Variety at the show’s premiere at AFI

Pete Davidson appeared on the Nov. 10 “Weekend Update” segment of “Saturday Night Live” to apologize to veteran and congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw, and this time he brought Crenshaw with him. “In what I’m sure was a huge shock to people who know me, I made a poor choice last week,” Davidson said. “I made a