Television

Is knowledge power, or is ignorance bliss? That central question drives Apple TV+’s “The Big Door Prize” through its first 10 episodes — although if you’re expecting a concrete answer, you may be disappointed. When the half-hour(ish) comedy debuts its first three episodes on March 29, it presents the residents of a small American town

Ryan Coogler is developing a new take on “The X-Files.” Original series creator Chris Carter made the revelation during an interview with “On The Coast with Gloria Macarenko” to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The X-Files.” During the interview, Carter said, “I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount

“The Bachelor” creator Mike Fleiss is parting ways with the franchise he created more than two decades ago, Variety has learned. Fleiss will be replaced by new showrunners Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich and Bennett Graebner, all of whom have long-term ties to “The Bachelor” franchise. The news of Fleiss’ departure comes the day after “The Bachelor”

FX has set a new docuseries, “The Secrets of Hillsong,” which will feature the first interviews with married couple Carl and Laura Lentz since they were ousted as pastors of the infamous megachurch. The four-part series is based on reporting from Vanity Fair’s Alex French and Dan Adler about Hillsong, which became famous for attracting

Amazon Prime Video has set its first South African original, “LOL: Last One Laughing,” an unscripted comedy series hosted by Trevor Noah. The series, which will launch in early 2024, sees Noah pit 10 famous South African comedians and entertainers against one another to see who can keep a straight face while simultaneously trying to

A series adaptation of “Man on Fire” has been ordered straight-to-series at Netflix, Variety has confirmed. The series is based on the first two novels to feature the former French Foreign Legion soldier Creasy by A. J. Quinnell, specifically “Man on Fire” and “The Perfect Kill.” The first book was originally published in 1981, while

“The Rising” Season 2 has been canceled just months before production was due to start, Variety has learned. Cast and crew were gearing up for the Sky Studios show when they were told to down tools two months before principal photography got underway. “It was canceled before they were due to start filming,” a source

Bruce Miller has stepped down from his post as showrunner of the “The Handmaid’s Tale,” passing his duties on the sixth and final season to Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang, who already served as writers and executive producers. Miller has showrun the Hulu drama since its premiere in 2017. He will remain on staff as

When Ryan Seacrest announced he’d be leaving “Live! With Kelly and Ryan,” at least three people were very concerned: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ children. Ripa and Consuelos’ two adult sons and daughter have grown up in front of America. They’ve also grown up with Seacrest, who Ripa jokes is known as “Uncle Cool” in

Warning: This story contains spoilers from “Daddy,” the Season 2A finale of “How I Met Your Father,” now streaming on Hulu. Is Barney Stinson really a changed man? Well, he’s trying to be! During Tuesday’s “How I Met Your Father” Season 2A finale, Sophie (Hilary Duff) sneaks away from Robert (John Corbett) when she thinks

Tomorrow Studios has acquired adaptations rights to Jeannette Walls’ acclaimed novel “Hang the Moon,” and will develop it as a TV series, Variety has learned exclusively. The novel tells the story of Sallie Kincaid, daughter of the distinguished Duke Kincaid. After an accident with her stepbrother in years past, Sallie becomes an outcast in her

World premieres of Prime Video’s Rachel Weisz-starrer “Dead Ringers,” Paramount+’s “Fatal Attraction, with Lizzy Caplan, and Joshua Jackson, and Netflix’s awaited French bio “Tapie” pack out a 6th Canneseries which boasts its biggest U.S. presence yet, with titles from nearly all the major global streamers. They join Apple TV+’s already-announced “Silo,” another world premiere. Paramount+ will

One of the leading actors of his generation, Korea’s Choi Min-sik is tackling his first TV role in some 25 years, with Disney+ crime drama series “Big Bet.” Choi says the gamble was a challenge, but ultimately worth the risk. While he has notched up iconic cinema roles in “Oldboy” “Shiri,” “I Saw the Devil,”

Powerhouse producer SISTER has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Variety International Achievement in Television Award, to be presented at global content market MipTV in April.  The award is presented in recognition of leadership and innovation in the international television marketplace with co-founder and chief content officer Jane Featherstone accepting the award in Cannes for all

SALES BECOME ANIMATED Indie sales agency All Rights Entertainment has achieved a string of pre-sales on “Lendarys,” a family adventure animation film that is currently in advanced stages of production and set for delivery later this year. The film was licensed to KMBO (France); Flins & Piniculas (Spain); Another World Entertainment (Denmark and Norway); Njuta

Tanya Giles is stepping down as chief programming officer for streaming at Paramount Global. Giles was promoted in June 2021 to help oversee all streaming content programming efforts for the media conglomerate that has invested heavily in its Paramount+ streaming platform. News of Giles’ departure was first reported by Deadline. The move comes as Paramount

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead, if you have not watched “The Bachelor” Season 27 finale, which aired on Monday, March 27 on ABC. 27 seasons later, “The Bachelor” is still handing out his final rose to the sound of tears, heartbreak and joy. On Monday night, leading man Zach Shallcross had a big decision

“The White Lotus” is heading to Thailand, multiple sources close to the production tell Variety. As the first two seasons of Mike White’s “The White Lotus” were shot at Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii and Italy, respectively, it’s possible that Season 3 will take place at one of the luxury hotel giant’s four properties in

Hulu has dropped the first official trailer for Season 3 of “The Kardashians,” which is set to premiere on May 25, followed by new episodes every Thursday. After 20 seasons of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” the Kardashian-Jenners have a new home at Hulu, and the family returns for a third season filled with even

“Yellowjackets” has broken a new record with its Season 2 opener. Following its March 26 premiere, the series became Showtime’s most-streamed debut ever, hitting nearly 2 million viewers across platforms according to figures from Nielsen, comScore, and Showtime’s internal streaming data. “Dexter: New Blood” previously held the title. Showtime also boasts that it’s the best

Kieran Culkin said in a new Esquire digital cover story that Jeremy Strong’s acting process was never affected by various criticisms made about his Method acting, most notably by his “Succession” cast members in an infamous New Yorker profile published in December 2021. “It’s hard for me to actually describe his process, because I don’t

A news King and Sir Charles are getting ready to mix it up in an unorthodox way. Gayle King and Charles Barkley are finalizing a deal that would have them jointly lead a primetime hour each week on CNN, according to people familiar with the matter. The pact is not complete and there is always

A.M. anchors, assemble! Peacock is getting ready to launch a morning-news bundle that includes all of NBCUniversal’s various A.M. offerings from CNBC, MSBC and NBC News. For the first time, under the right circumstances, a single viewers may get real-time access to Savannah Guthrie, Joe Scarborough and Becky Quick, all from the same media source.

Lena Headey is set to star in Kurt Sutter’s upcoming Netflix series “The Abandons,” Variety has learned. The Western series was ordered at the streamer in October 2022. The official series description states: “As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting

Molly Shannon will return to Studio 8H to host “SNL” for the second time on April 8, NBC announced on Monday. Shannon stars in “A Good Person,” which is currently in theaters, and the third season of “The Other Two,” premiering May 4 on HBO Max. She’ll be joined by the Jonas Brothers as the

“One Step Closer,” the theme song for Apple TV+’s upcoming kids and family series “Jane,” is performed by Leona Lewis from music and lyrics written by Diane Warren. The series follows nine-year-old Jane (Ava Louise Murchison), a budding environmentalist who looks up to Dr. Jane Gooddall and is on a quest to save endangered animals

Disney will begin layoff notices this week for more than 7,000 staffers whose positions will be eliminated as part of a deep cost-cutting effort that will be felt across all of the company’s key divisions. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed Monday morning in a memo to employees that the layoffs will come in three waves,

Jessica Chastain will star in the eight-episode limited series “The Savant” at Apple, Variety has learned. The series is inspired by a true story published in Cosmopolitan in August 2019. Exact plot details for the series are being kept under wraps, but the Cosmopolitan article tells the story of a real woman who has come

Amy Poehler kids because she loves. The actor, writer and producer will spoof podcast tropes in a new three-season scripted comedy podcast franchise for Cadence13. Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions together with writer-producer Liz Cackowski inked a 30-episode deal with Audacy’s Cadence13 for the series, featuring stories that parody — and pay homage to — popular

Showing off your late-night hosting skills when you have just four days to do so can be daunting. So Kal Penn brought his ‘A’ game. The actor used his unique connections to the White House — he was an associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs during the Obama