Television

As Black History Month runs throughout February, television will celebrate Black voices, icons and stories across entertainment, politics, sports and more. Throughout February, audiences will be able to keep up with Hulu’s year-long initiative in spotlighting Black stories and storytellers on the platform’s “Black Stories Always” hub. In addition to new series and season premieres,

Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad has much to celebrate in just the first few months of the new year: with two films, “A Thousand and One” and “Kokomo City” winning big at Sundance; the family film “Chang Can Dunk” launching March 10 on Disney+ ; a documentary about Mary Tyler Moore premiering at SXSW; and a

Supporters of “Saturday Night Live” post-production editors plan to leaflet outside NBC headquarters at Rockefeller Center today amid what sources described as stalled contract negotiations with the network. On Jan. 12, the 20-odd “SNL” staff members who assemble the live sketch comedy series’ pre-taped segment approved a strike authorization vote. The editors unionized with the

Nearly 15 years after the premiere of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the competition show that puts drag queens through the wringer to crown America’s Next Drag Superstar, the show has spawned 15 international spinoffs, a thriving “All Stars” brand, a “Secret Celebrity” offshoot and the clout to say it has changed the landscape of drag — not

“That ’90s Show” has been renewed for Season 2 at Netflix. The news comes just weeks after the first season of the series debuted on the streamer on Jan. 19. Per Netflix, the show reached Netflix’s Top 10 English TV list in 35 countries, with more than 41 million hours viewed. “All of us at

The Netflix limited series “Eric” starring Benedict Cumberbatch has filled out its main cast, Variety has learned. Variety exclusively reported that Cumberbatch would star in the six-episode series in January. He will now be joined by: Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III, Dan Fogler, Clarke Peters, Ivan Morris Howe, Phoebe Nicholls, David Denman, Bamar Kane, Adepero

Disappointment is the word best used to describe Candiace Dillard Bassett’s feelings regarding the theme of infidelity (both rumored and true) that ran through Season 7 of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Potomac.” Now that the smoke has cleared, and Dillard Bassett has gained more fans throughout the season, the singer/actor has other things on

Cliff Curtis has been cast in a recurring role in Jason Momoa’s upcoming Apple series “Chief of War.” Per the official logline, the nine-episode series “follows the epic and unprecedented telling of the unification and colonization of Hawaii from an indigenous point of view.” Momoa stars in the series, with other cast members besides Curtis

When John heard that Netflix was making a reality show version of the streamer’s hit drama “Squid Game,” he was all in. His love of the original series resonated with casting agents and, to his amazement, he was tapped as one of 456 contestants playing the U.K.-filmed game. As far as John was concerned, that

The Black and Missing Foundation (BAMFI) has expanded to launch a production company, BAMFI Enterprises, continuing the nonprofit organization’s mission to bring awareness to missing persons of color, provide vital resources and tools to missing person’s families and friends and to educate the minority community on personal safety. Announced Friday, in observance of National Missing

Fremantle has struck a two-year, first-look deal with Nine Hours, the new production label set up by Edward Berger, director of the Oscar-nominated “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and his partner Luke Rivett. Netflix drama “All Quiet on the Western Front” recently scored nine Oscar nominations, including best picture, and a record 14 BAFTA

Cineflix Productions has promoted executive producer Jeff Vanderwal to VP, scripted, reporting into J.C. Mills, president and head of content. Based in Toronto, Vanderwal sources, develops and oversees the production of scripted series and movies for the division. Since moving to the scripted team in 2018, Vanderwal has developed and produced a range of projects

“1923” has lassoed a second season at Paramount+. Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” prequel stars Harrison Ford as Dutton patriarch Jacob and Helen Mirren as his Irish-born wife Cara. The series follows their generation of the Dutton family as they face pandemics, drought and the end of the Prohibition era in 1920s Montana. “1923” proved to be

A slew of Sámi TV and film projects are in the works or due for release in 2023. At the North Pitch session at the Tromsø International Film Festival in northern Norway, the variety and quantity of projects in the pipeline was impressive. From the musical “Árru” to the love story “My Reindeerherder;” from documentaries

Shortly before Christmas, the eminent British critic and broadcaster Matthew Sweet embarked on a sponsored, round-the-clock watch of a new DVD set of “Crossroads,” the dogged ITV soap that first ran between 1964 and 1988. The prevailing idea was that negotiating the boxset’s 700 episodes might be as arduous — perhaps even as deadly —

After exploring the tumults of French politics in “Baron Noir,” Oscar-nominated French-Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Doueiri (“The Insult,” “The Attack”) immerses audiences into the rough world of French Special Forces in Iraq in “Dark Hearts.” Ordered by Amazon Prime Video in France, “Dark Hearts” is set on the eve of the battle for Mosul in October

Prominent U.S. producer Christina Wayne, who shepherded “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” has been appointed managing director of MBC Studios, the expanding production arm of top Middle East broadcaster MBC Group. Wayne will replace Peter Smith, the former president of NBCUniversal, who over the past four years has overseen a surge in the Saudi-owned broadcaster’s

Sympatico, a production partnership combining the U.K.’s Argo Films and Malaysia’s Double Vision, is hatching a busy slate of film and TV productions that it says will be authentically Asian. “Too often, Southeast Asia has been portrayed in a mix of styles on screen with, for example, iconic establishing shots of Kuala Lumpur ‘s Twin

HBO has released a first look at its upcoming limited series “The Palace,” starring Kate Winslet. The new series “tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European regime as it begins to unravel,” according to its official logline. Directed by Stephen Frears and Jessica Hobbs, the new

FX is no longer moving forward with its series adaptation of “Never Let Me Go,” Variety has learned exclusively. The show was originally picked up to series by FX back in October and was meant to air exclusively on Hulu. It had originally been reported as being in development at FX in May 2022. According

With just four episodes out so far, “Night Court” has already been renewed for a second season at NBC. “Night Court” is a revival of the series of the same name that ran on NBC from 1984 to 1992 and starred Harry Anderson as Harry T. Stone, a young judge assigned to the night shift

“Stand by Me” star Wil Wheaton and “Full House” alumna Jodie Sweetin are among the slate of voice actors set to star in Keenspot Entertainment’s new animated series “Grubbs,” the company revealed exclusively to Variety. Joining them in the lead are Jerry O’Connell, Jaleel White, Felicia Day, Jason Marsden and Debi Derryberry, along with Andy

In the niche world of comedy touring, Mike Berkowitz has always been “the guy.” Over his 21-year career, the agent has been a go-to dealmaker in the live entertainment space, diversifying the income of star clients and launching digital crossovers. Berkowitz, who co-heads WME’s comedy group, first distinguished himself by tapping into the lucrative college

The most streamed title across all streaming services in the first week of the year was “Ginny & Georgia,” according to Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings. The teen comedy-drama series was watched for 2.5 billion minutes from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, during which its second season on Netflix was available for four days. Following “Ginny

Josh Charles, Dali Benssalah, and Yumna Marwan have been cast in the upcoming FX limited series “The Veil,” Varety has learned exclusively. The series, which will air exclusively on Hulu, was originally picked up to series in August 2022 with Elisabeth Moss in the lead role. Per the official logline, the series “explores the surprising

Disney’s board of directors is firing back against activist investor Nelson Peltz’s proposals to shareholders, issuing a statement to urge investors to reject the Trian Group candidate in the ongoing proxy battle he’s waging against the company and instead vote for their nominated candidate, Michael Froman. Disney’s board said in a statement Thursday that the

Peacock has picked up “The Traitors” for a second season, the streamer announced on Thursday. The renewal comes just on the heels of the show’s successful premiere. The series follows twenty contestants going head to head in a series of challenges to ultimately win a cash prize. Along the way, they must also figure out

UTA has added Main Street Advisors CEO Paul Wachter and Nexus Management Group founder Ceci Kurzman to its board of directors, naming Wachter the board’s chairman. Independent directors Wachter and Kurzman join a board lineup that includes CEO Jeremy Zimmer, president David Kramer, vice chairman Jay Sures and COO Andrew Thau, and UTA’s Rich Paul, Blair

As the online landscape continues to shift and evolve in the screen sector, so too do the conversations surrounding streaming legislation in Canada. The current iteration of that dialogue, Bill C-11, is in the final stages of voting at the Senate this week. It is expected to be passed back to the Commons for a

When Sterlin Harjo sold “Reservation Dogs” to FX, he didn’t quite know what a showrunner was. “I remember calling a showrunner friend of mine and asking, ‘Am I supposed to be like holding meetings?’ There’s no template. It’s not laid out for you. Really, I was just going off instinct.” But Harjo soon realized that