Television

One of the pleasures of a TV festival is bringing people who love television — and work in it — together in one place. After two years of holding a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atlanta-based festival is back in person to connect students and fans with talent from both above- and

The adult animated series “Hit-Monkey” has been renewed for Season 2 at Hulu, Variety has learned. The renewal comes over a year since the show originally debuted back in November 2021. Based on the titular Marvel Comics character of the same name, the series follows a Japanese snow monkey whose entire tribe is slaughtered. He

Calling all OBX fans – the wait for the next season of “Outer Banks” is (almost) over. Netflix dropped the first trailer for Season 3 of its hit series on Thursday morning. “Outer Banks” sets the scene with “two tribes. One island” off the coast of North Carolina. The series follows the story of the

ABC’s new sitcom has a decent enough premise and a winsome lead performance. But it seems to struggle to get out of its own way, exhibiting a fundamental clumsiness that’s off-putting — as if the show itself needed another pass before making it to the air. To wit: We’re told in blurts of exposition that

Montreal-based Rezolution Pictures, behind Sundance winner “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,” and Winnipeg-based OP Little Bird have partnered with Fremantle International on Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch’s original drama series “Little Bird,” which is set to premiere on Crave and APTN in Canada.  The series, which stars Darla Contois and Lisa Edelstein (“House,

Annette Bening has signed on to star in the upcoming Peacock limited series “Apples Never Fall,” based on the Liane Moriarty novel of the same name. Variety exclusively reported that “Apples Never Fall” had been ordered to series at the streamer back in February 2022. Per the official logline, the series “centers on the Delaneys,

Bud Light, the popular beer that has for years used silly ads and sometimes frat-boyish humor to stand apart from the (six)pack, is getting ready to grow up. When the Super Bowl perennial enters the ad roster of Super Bowl LVII on February 12, it will do so with a new degree of sophistication and

When Netflix dropped its first African Original, “Queen Sono,” in 2020, it was widely heralded as a gamechanger for African filmmakers expecting a wave of investment from global streaming giants in their cash-strapped creative industries. While that prediction has largely panned out, with the Los Gatos-based streamer and Amazon Prime Video in particular inking top

Rebecca Rørmark has been promoted to the newly created role of senior VP, head of streaming marketing, for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), reporting into Patrizio Spagnoletto, global chief marketing officer for direct-to-consumer. WBD is currently preparing for the launch of its global streaming platform that will amalgamate HBO Max

Julia Ragnarsson (“Two Sisters,” “Spring Tide”) and Erik Enge (“Tiger”) are the two leading stars of “End of Summer,” a psychological thriller series based Anders de la Motte’s bestselling Swedish novel of the same name. The show has been ordered by Viaplay and is being produced by Harmonica Films with SF Studios and Film i Skåne

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from the Wednesday, Feb. 1 episode of MTV’s “The Challenge: Ride or Dies.” Throughout 38 seasons of “The Challenge,” there have been quite a few injuries along the way. That said, nothing compares to what Olivia Kaiser went through during part one of the “Ride or Dies” finale. Kaiser

BET has announced a new documentary film, “Black + Iconic: Style Gods,” starring Billy Porter and produced by Stanley Nelson and Firelight Films. The documentary is part of the new four-part “Black + Iconic” series that will showcase the legacy and cultural impact of Black icons across music, film, fashion and dance. Porter will narrate,

“The Cleaning Lady” has been renewed for Season 3 at Fox. In addition, Jeannine Renshaw has joined the show as executive producer and co-showrunner. “After two heart-pounding seasons, we’re thrilled with how audiences have latched on to this incredible story,” said Michael Thorn, president of scripted programming for Fox Entertainment. “The cast, led by the

When it came time to reprising Kelso in Netflix’s “That ’70s Show” sequel series “That ’90s Show,” Ashton Kutcher did not have a choice. As the actor recently told Esquire magazine, his former co-star and wife Kunis refused to let him turn down the sequel project. Not even a potentially bad script would let Kutcher

“Pennyworth” has been canceled at HBO Max after three seasons, Variety has learned. The third season, officially titled “Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler,” was the first season of the show to originate on HBO Max. The series originally debuted on Epix in 2019, with Season 2 airing on that channel in two chunks in

Before Chris Harrison departed “The Bachelor” for good, the longtime host was put on hiatus from the franchise amid controversy. During the time, while Harrison’s status was in limbo, former “Bachelorette” stars Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams were hired to step in as temporary co-hosts for two seasons. Now, Bristowe — one of the most

Heather Olander has been named head of unscripted programming at the CW. Olander will be responsible for overseeing development and production of alternative reality series, events and specials on behalf of the network. Her hiring signals the beginning of a major pivot at the CW, which previously focused largely on scripted programming but will have

Author and anti-Mafia activist Roberto Saviano, whose Neapolitan mob exposé “Gomorrah” is the basis for the popular HBO Max series of the same title, stood his second trial in three months on Wednesday on charges of defaming a member of Italy’s current right-wing government. Saviano first appeared in court in November for a defamation lawsuit

Amazon has renewed “The Terminal List” starring Chris Pratt for Season 2, Variety has learned from sources. In addition, the streamer is prepping a prequel series that will focus on Taylor Kitsch’s character in the original show. Reps for Amazon declined to comment. “The Terminal List” is based on the Jack Carr novel of the

Space travel used to be romantic, both in real life and pop culture. These days, space travel is kind of a bummer. In the real world, rocketship rides are now most associated with billionaires, for whom such trips represent one small step for objectivism and one giant leap for their egos. Meanwhile, on television, NASA

As it approaches one full decade on the air, “The Blacklist” is coming to a close at NBC. The drama series’ upcoming 10th season, which will include its 200th episode, will be its last. Premiering on Feb. 26, Season 10 sees Raymond Reddington (James Spader) confront unparalleled danger. With Reddington’s covert role as an FBI

Uzo Aduba is set to star in the upcoming Shondaland series “The Residence” at Netflix, Variety has learned. The series was originally picked up at the streaming service in March 2022. It is described as a comedic murder mystery set at The White House. It is inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s book “The Residence: Inside

“Kids in Crime,” a high energy 22-minute episode coming of age drama with a notable turn by Scandi superstar Jakob Oftebro (“Kon Tiki,” “Black Crab”) as a not-to-be-messed-with local drug lord, walked off with the 2023 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best drama series screenwriting.  Federation Studios handles international distribution.  Hardly known –

Days after Showtime, which is currently merging with Paramount+, pulled multiple titles from their platform, the streaming service has followed suit. Jordan Peelee’s “The Twilight Zone,” which aired for two seasons between 2019 and 2020 before being canceled, has been removed, along with all three seasons of “The Real World: Homecoming.” Other projects no longer

HBO has given a series order to a documentary program starring and executive produced by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. The project, which is currently untitled, follows Carmichael’s day-to-day life, exploring the comic’s relationships with his family, friends and strangers, all in “his quest for love, sex and connection,” as the logline describes. Ari Katcher and Eli

The “Frasier” sequel will return to where it all began: Boston. That city, of course, was the setting for “Cheers,” the series that first introduced the character of Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer, in 1984. The hit NBC spin-off “Frasier” moved the character to Seattle; in its finale, the Frasier made the quick decision

A decade ago, when NBCUniversal launched COZI TV in just 43 markets, diginets were still a novel concept, so no one was quite sure how to gauge its success. As with many diginets at that time, COZI was powered by direct-response advertising. “It was new ground for our owned stations division,” says Meredith McGinn, exec

Former ABC News producer James Gordon Meek was arrested Tuesday night on criminal charges related to his alleged transportation of images of child sexual abuse. According to the Department of Justice, law enforcement “seized multiple devices that allegedly contained evidence of the transportation of images of child sexual abuse” in a court-authorized search of Meek’s

Melissa McCarthy has won notice for films ranging from “Brideesmaids” to “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Preparations for her next project have been pretty intense. “A Super Bowl ad requires a lot more raw eggs and squats!” McCarthy tells Variety via email. She ought to know. After making an appearance in a Super Bowl commercial

Producer Gene Klein has joined P3 Media, the production banner behind Netflix’s “The Recruit,” as a partner. Klein will lead development efforts for the company formed in 2018 by journalist and producer Adam Ciralsky. Klein and Ciralsky are already working together as executive producers on “Recruit,” which was inspired by Ciralsky’s early career as a