In her latest comedy special entitled “My Name is Mo’Nique,” which premiered on Netflix on April 4, Mo’Nique tearfully recounts a confession she made to her husband Sidney Hicks. In the special, she tells the story of admitting to Hicks for the first time that she wanted “to be with another woman sexually.” The Academy
Television
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 8 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 5 on Fox. We’re not gonna take it. No, we ain’t gonna take it. Dee Snider’s not gonna be on “The Masked Singer”… anymore! That’s right, the Twisted Sister frontman was the
Leo D. Sullivan, an Emmy-winning pioneer in animation with a career of over 50 years and work on dozens of cartoons, has died. He was 82. Sullivan died March 25 of heart failure at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center. Throughout his career, Sullivan helped bring characters to life through his animation, storyboarding, directing
The “It” prequel series at HBO Max has added its first four cast members, Variety has learned. Taylour Paige (“Zola,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Jovan Adepo (“Babylon,” “Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason,” “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”), and James Remar (“Oppenheimer,” “Megalopolis”) will all star in the series, which is currently titled “Welcome to
Liz Tigelaar and Stacey Silverman’s production company, Best Day Ever, has hired ABC Signature’s Abby Chambers, Variety has learned exclusively. Chambers will now serve as vice president of television and production at Best Day Ever. She most recently worked as director of current programming at ABC Signature, where Best Day Ever is set up under
A series version of the comic book “Hellicious” is in development at TBS with “Red Hot Chili Peppers” frontman Anthony Kiedis attached to star and executive produce, Variety has learned exclusively. In addition to starring, Kiedis will executive produce along with Bob Forrest and Ron Burkle via their newly formed production company, Said and Done
A series of changes have taken place at Showtime. Variety has confirmed the network has canceled “Ziwe” after just two seasons and has picked up Mandy Patinkin’s “Seasoned” to series, delivering a six-episode order. Hosted and executive produced by comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, the talk show focused on presenting trending hot topics concerning race, politics and
Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch could be called upon to testify in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit suit against Fox News and Fox Corp., per a Delaware judge who says he is not against calling upon the media moguls. If the attorneys for Dominion issue trial subpoenas to force a testimony from the Fox leaders,
The “1266” pilot set at Onyx Collective has added Karim Diané, Kristin Dodson, and Kassandra Lee Diaz as series regulars to star alongside Gabourey Sidibe, who will executive produce and play the lead role of Gabby. Anna Maria Horsford, Tisha Campbell, and Judy Reyes have been announced as recurring guest stars. Diané (“One of Us
The second season of Netflix’s “Sex/Life” was a very different experience for Sarah Shahi. In a new podcast interview, the actor opened up about the “challenging” process of filming Season 2 of the risqué drama. “I’m not going to put it down, but I definitely did not have the support that I did the first
Dove Cameron first rose to fame for her work playing the title roles on the Disney Channel’s “Liv and Maddie” followed by her starring role in the “Descendants” franchise. Now 27, she returns for the second season of “Schmigadoon!” as Jenny Banks, a character based on Sally Bowles from “Cabaret.” The sophomore season of the
Sam Page, he of “The Bold Type” and “Mad Men,” has joined the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy” in a recurring role. Page will make his first appearance during the May 4 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” playing Sam Sutton. According to the character description provided by ABC, Sam is “an Air Force pilot who is seriously
Ryan Michelle Bathé has been cast in a leading role in CBS’ comedy pilot based on the “JumpStart” comic strip, Variety has learned exclusively. Bathé will now star in the pilot opposite previously announced cast member Terry Crews. The multi-cam pilot was originally ordered at CBS in February. The official logline states that the show
The Magnolia Network series “Restored” just returned for a seventh season with host Brett Waterman, who isn’t doing just another cable-TV house-flipping show; this series is a serious look at the historic preservation of houses from a wide range of architectural styles. With his keen eye, Waterman is able to coax homes back into shape,
Food Network is adding a sixth series to its “Baking Championship” franchise with the launch of new seasonal competition “Summer Baking Championship,” Variety has learned. Currently comprised of “Kids Baking Championship,” “Holiday Baking Championship,” “Halloween Baking Championship,” “Spring Baking Championship” and the spinoff “Spring Baking Championship: Easter,” the franchise will grow by one upon the
“The Masked Singer” staple Ken Jeong is set to lead a new Fox single-cam sitcom based on Dan Harris’ popular book and podcast “10% Happier,” Variety has learned. Hailing from Lionsgate Television and Fox Entertainment, the comedy, which has a script-to-series commitment at the broadcaster, the centers on a family man and mid-level juice company
Don’t expect Warner Bros. Discovery’s French original programming team to follow Netflix and Amazon Prime Video’s trail and chase teen audiences. Vera Peltekian, VP and head of streaming original production for the banner, says the standalone service’s bow in France “is on the roadmap” with a raft of “bold and director-driven Max originals targeting adult
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” is back for a fourth season and, according to series creator and star Robin Thede, the comedy is bigger and broader than ever. In fact, internally, they’ve been referring to this season in multiversal terms. “These women play hundreds of characters in so few episodes, and they’re so talented, we
Amazon Prime Video is developing a drama series based on the book “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty” by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe, Variety has learned. Patrick Macmanus, who previously created shows like “Dr. Death” at Peacock and “The Girl From Plainville” at Hulu, is adapting the book for the screen
Back in 2008, Don Lemon was co-anchoring CNN’s “Live From” weekday show with Kyra Phillips, a gig that he landed after he arrived at the network two years prior from local news in Chicago. For months, tensions between the pair kept mounting. On more than one occasion, a “Live From” producer and a newsroom supervisor
APPOINTMENT Argonon Group, the parent company behind “The Masked Singer U.K.,” has appointed former Jupiter Entertainment executive VP Steve McGovern as COO of its U.S. business with a remit across Leopard USA, Rose Rock Entertainment and future U.S. operations including acquisitions. Argonon, a global production group headquartered in the U.K. and U.S., owns Scottish indie production
We abhor most in others what we already hate in ourselves. So it is that Amy Lau (Ali Wong) and Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) become mortal enemies despite being kindred spirits. The protagonists of the Netflix half-hour “Beef” first meet when both are behind the wheel, navigating the parking lot of a Lowe’s-like home improvement
“Hannibal” never should’ve worked on broadcast television. When it premiered a decade ago on April 4, 2013, NBC’s take on Hannibal Lecter (masterfully played by Mads Mikkelson) must have been Standards and Practices’ worst nightmare. Each episode presented audiences with brutal, blood-drenched killings that were artfully rendered, as if they were paintings sprawled across the
Judy Farrell, known for her role as Nurse Able in “M*A*S*H,” died on Sunday. She was 84. Her “M*A*S*H” co-star Loretta Swit told Entertainment Weekly, “Judy was a most beautiful woman — inside and out. We grew up together. She was family. This has been a painful loss, but we will always have the beauty
A “Cruel Intentions” TV adaptation has been ordered at Amazon, Variety has confirmed. Sources say Amazon has placed an eight-episode series order for a TV adaptation of the film which will likely be released through Freevee, Amazon’s free streaming service. Though it could potentially move to Prime Video. Amazon declined Variety’s request for comment. The
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in film and television last year was Liam Neeson’s cameo appearance on “Atlanta.” The actor appeared in the fourth season episode “New Jazz” and poked fun at his 2019 racism controversy. The actor ignited outrage on his “Cold Pursuit” press tour in February 2019 after revealing his past reaction
WWE’s WrestleMania 39 delivered the highest weekend usage ever on Peacock. The two-night event was up 29% in hours viewed and 32% in reach compared to last year’s WrestleMania, Peacock announced Tuesday. The NBCUniversal-owned streamer also claims that WrestleMania 39 generated the most hours-watched of any live event on Peacock with the exception of the
Amazon is developing a series version of the Philip K. Dick novel “Clans of the Alphane Moon,” Variety has learned exclusively. The project is being developed under Electric Shepherd Productions and Patrick Moran’s first look deals with Amazon Studios. Moran, via Patrick Moran Productions, is executive producing the project along with John Leguizamo, as well
“Murder Mystery 2” was Netflix’s top film title after its March 31 debut. In its first three days of availability, the film took the title for Netflix’s second biggest opening weekend for a comedy film with over 42 million views. The sequel starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston earned 64.42 million hours viewed total during
New York Times-bestselling novelist Curtis Sittenfeld broke out with her 2005 debut “Prep,” which unpacked the layered coming-of-age of a teenager at a private boarding school. Since then, she’s spun “Pride and Prejudice” for the 21st century with 2016’s “Eligible” and reimagined the fictional lives of Laura Bush in “American Wife” and Hillary Clinton in