Television

Ayo Edebiri has been cast in “Abbott Elementary” in the guest starring role of Ayesha Teagues, sister of Janine (series creator Quinta Brunson). Throughout the series, Janine periodically mentions having a complicated relationship with Ayesha, who will appear for the first time in the Feb. 8 episode “Valentine’s Day” via FaceTime before returning for a

Ayo Edebiri has been cast in “Abbott Elementary” in the guest starring role of Ayesha Teagues, sister of Janine (series creator Quinta Brunson). Throughout the series, Janine periodically mentions having a complicated relationship with Ayesha, who will appear for the first time in the Feb. 8 episode “Valentine’s Day” via FaceTime before returning for a

Paramount Television Studios (PTVS) has named Dominic Pagone its new head of communications. The news came via a memo sent to staff on Monday by Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount TV Studios. In his new role, Pagone will report to Clemens as well as Chris Ender, CBS’ executive vice president of communications. Pagone enters the

Six years since the “Breaking Bad” finale, Bryan Cranston’s Walter White and Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman have reunited once again, in a PopCorners Super Bowl commercial written and directed by Vince Gilligan. In the ad, Walt and Jesse are back in the iconic “Breaking Bad” RV cooking up a batch of air-popped snacks. As Jesse

Football legend Tom Brady plans to start his sportscasting duties for Fox in the fall of 2024, the retired athlete revealed during an interview Monday of Fox Sports 1. Brady’s arrival had previously been uncertain, particularly after he announced his retirement at the end of the NFL’s 2022 season, then reneged. He is expected to

Peacock has set the voice cast for the adult animated series “In the Know,” Variety has learned exclusively. As previously announced, Mike Judge and Zach Woods will star in the series. They will now be joined by J. Smith-Cameron (“Succession,” “Rectify”), Charlie Bushnell (“Diary of a Future President,” “Percy Jackson and The Olympians”), Carl Tart

Grammy viewers who were using the closed captioning while watching the awards telecast on Sunday night didn’t have much to go on when opening act Bad Bunny hit the Cypto.com stage. That’s because, during the initial live broadcast, the captions only said, “[SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH]” and “[SINGING IN NON-ENGLISH]” during Bad Bunny’s mashup performance of “El

“Everyone Is Doing Great” will continue. A second season of the dark comedy, created by James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti, is currently in production in California and North Carolina. Season 1, which was first distributed by Hulu (U.S.) in January 2021 and later Paramount+ (international), was independently produced. Fifth Season (previously as Endeavor Content) represented

Matthew McConaughey will voice Elvis Presley in Netflix’s forthcoming animated comedy “Agent Elvis,” as revealed in the trailer for the series released Monday morning. “Elvis Presley trades in his jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to battle the dark forces that threaten the country he

Showtime has given a straight-to-series order to the political thriller series “The Department,” with George Clooney attached to direct. Clooney and Grant Heslov will also serve as executive producers via Smokehouse Pictures. The show is based on the French series “Le Bureau des Legendes.” Production is slated to start later this year. “‘The Department,’ based

In “The Consultant,” Christoph Waltz’s Regus Patoff is a pandemic-era corporate worker’s nightmare. “For those who work remotely, you have one hour to get here, or you’ll be terminated,” he says in a trailer for the dark comedy-thriller series exclusively obtained by Variety. The series explores the sinister relationship between boss and employee. When Patoff

Wondrium is bringing a host of new names to its programming lineup including Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens, Michelin-starred chef Curtis Stone, NPR host Ari Shapiro and TV producer/host Selema Masekela. The newest additions joins the streaming provider of nonfiction learning content lineup that also includes Bill Gates, Jonathan Adler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Diana Nyad, Kerry

Pay TV operator Sky has revealed the recruits joining its new two-year assistant commissioner program, which is designed to attract fresh talent from outside the traditional pool of commissioning executives. The program will bring 30% more commissioners to Sky’s teams across Sky Studios and Sky U.K., growing the number from 23 to 30. The assistant

Maura McGreevy has been named Endeavor’s new Chief Communications Officer. She was formerly the head of communications for Endeavor subsidiaries IMG and 160/90. In the new role, McGreevy will lead Endeavor’s global communications team and oversee corporate communications inclusive of public relations, events and hospitality, internal communications, social and creative—for the company and its subsidiaries.

APX Group has snapped up production company Burning Wheel’s development slate for a six-figure sum, Variety has confirmed. The exact figure was not disclosed. As part of the deal, Burning Wheel, who recently produced Danny Boyle’s biopic “Creation Stories,” will effectively be fully absorbed into APX. Altogether, the slate includes over 20 projects, both features

One of the most celebrity-studded ads in the Super Bowl won’t be from the Big Game’s usual roster of Madison Avenue moguls. Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Dan Aykroyd and a bevy of other notables are set to appear in a promo for Fox Nation, suggesting that the subscription-based streaming service is one of the more

In her latest screen project, “Funny Woman,” Gemma Arterton (“The King’s Man”) plays a beauty queen turned comedy queen at the height of the Swinging Sixties. Based on Nick Hornby’s book of the same name and adapted for screen by writer and comedian Morwenna Banks (“Slow Horses”), “Funny Woman” tells the story of Barbara (played

Hardly a year after it inked its first African content deal — a multi-year licensing agreement with Nigerian production outfit Inkblot Studios — Amazon Prime Video is primed to expand its footprint on the continent, looking to unlock a largely untapped African consumer market and lock down deals with the continent’s top talents. “We now

Making “The Elephant Whisperers,” the Indian film nominated in the Oscars’ documentary short film category, was a five-year long journey for director Kartiki Gonsalves. The film follows a couple, Bomman and Bellie, who devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu. The film marks the directorial debut of Gonsalves, a prolific

Los Angeles and London-based management and production company 42 has acquired OB Management, an integrated director management and production firm for commercials and music videos. OB founder Otis Bell will stay on to helm the company alongside COO Frida Nilsson. The company will be rebranded as “OB/42” and continue to operate as a distinct entity

Episode 5 of “The Last of Us” will begin streaming on HBO Max on Friday, Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. ET, two days before the the series’ regularly scheduled Sunday night airing on HBO — which, on Feb. 12, coincides with the Super Bowl. A large fraction of viewership for HBO shows comes from streaming

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from Episode 4 of “The Last of Us,” now streaming on HBO Max.  When “The Last of Us” co-creator Craig Mazin pitched a role in the series to Melanie Lynskey, he started with a bang: “He called me and said, ‘I would love for you to play a war criminal,’” Lynskey

Charles Kimbrough, a stage and screen actor best known for his performance as anchorman Jim Dial on the CBS comedy series “Murphy Brown,” died Jan. 11 in Culver City, Calif. He was 86 years old. Kimbrough’s death was confirmed to the New York Times by his son, John Kimbrough. A celebrated theater actor who earned

REinvent International Sales has picked up “Fatal Crossing,” a crime series based on Lone Theils’s bestselling debut novel was published in 20 countries. The eight-episode series is produced by Shuuto Arctic, the banner behind “Outlier” and “Catch and Release,” two popular Nordic crime series. The Scandinavian cast is led by Marie Sandø (“The Marco Effect”),

“Saturday Night Live” used Pablo Pascal’s appearance as host to push a few buttons on HBO. The NBC sketch comedy show featured a pre-taped segment imagining what an HBO drama using the famous Nintendo videogame characters Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach would look like. The answer: Pretty dystopian. In the vignette, Pascal plays Mario and

In a rare example of using a same-day event as fodder for its usual “cold open,” NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” lampooned Saturday’s shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon by the U.S. military in a sketch that had to be prepared and written the same day it aired. Cast member Chloe Fineman played a fictional

The Directors Guild of America informed members Saturday that it has decided to hold off on bargaining a new contract with the major studios until later this spring, saying the studios are not yet ready to address its major issues. The guild has already signaled that it expects an unusually tough round of bargaining this

Bollywood A-lister Shahid Kapoor makes his streaming debut with crime thriller “Farzi” on Amazon’s Prime Video service. Through his career Kapoor has largely starred in films that are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, including “Jab We Met,” “Kaminey,” “Haider,” “Udta Punjab” and “Padmaavat,” working with the cream of India’s filmmaking talent. “Farzi” is led

Hollywood publicity giant ID PR has lost three of its top executives. Variety has learned that senior vice president Jillian Roscoe and vice presidents Lindsay Krug and Rachel Karten have left the company. Roscoe, who started her career two decades ago at ID in New York City, is launching a solo unnamed venture. She has

Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Melinda Dillon, who played Mother Parker in “A Christmas Story,” and appeared in “Magnolia” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” died Jan. 9. She was 83. Her death was reported by the Neptune Society. Dillon is celebrated for her role as Jillian Guiler in Steven Speilberg’s “Close Encounters of the