Television

“The Masterpiece,” an artistic talent competition show, took to the airwaves on Wednesday in Thailand. The Thai launch is regarded as a proof of concept or experiment that, if successful, could be rolled out as an unscripted format in other territories. The show’s backers have significant pedigree in the sector. They include U.S. companies Fox

ABC has picked “Jeopardy! Masters,” a new primetime version of the game show that will pit six of its top-ranked, current champions in a Champions League style event. The goal: To crown the a new “Jeopardy! Masters” champion. Ken Jennings will host the series, from Sony Pictures TV. The following contestants will be the first-ever

Carole Cook, a veteran stage and screen actor who was a protégé of Lucille Ball, has died in Beverly Hills, Calif., of heart failure. She was 98. Cook was known for her guest roles on “The Lucy Show” from 1963-68 and “Here’s Lucy” from 1969-74. She began her acting career in 1959 when Ball requested

Hoorae Media has appointed Monique Francis as its new head of marketing. Francis will be responsible for handling marketing strategy and operations for Hoorae and its banners (Hoorae Film & TV, Raedio and ColorCreative). She will work closely with the executive leadership team and report directly to CEO Issa Rae and chief of staff Kaylin

“Grown-ish” has been renewed for Season 6 at Freeform. In addition, Variety has learned exclusively that Craig Doyle will take over as showrunner on the new season. Doyle steps in as showrunner on the “Black-ish” spinoff for the team of Zakiyyah Alexander and Courtney Lilly, who became the co-showrunners on the series going into its

“Good Trouble” will be bringing back another familiar face. Maia Mitchell, who played Callie Foster in all 104 episodes of “The Fosters” and 53 episodes of the spinoff, will appear in the Season 5 premiere, Freeform announced on Wednesday. Mitchell left the show in March, last appearing in the second episode of Season 4. She

CNN said it would shuffle anchors across its weekday and weekend daytime schedules, grouping them together in new ways the network hopes will attract viewers as it attempts to work its way out of a longtime ratings shortfall. John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner will lead a three-hour mid-morning program from New York that

The ratings are in for the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, revealing how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s awards show did in its return to NBC. Airing live coast-to-coast from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET Tuesday on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the Jerrod Carmichael-hosted 80th annual Golden Globes drew a 1.1 rating and 6.3 million

Ben Masters, who played Julian Crane in the daytime drama “Passions,” died Wednesday of COVID-19 in Palm Springs, Calif., after battling dementia for several years. He was 75. He played the womanizing heir apparent to the show’s wealthy and powerful Crane family from 1999 to 2008. Masters’ movie roles included parts in Bob Fosse’s “All That

Disney has named board member Mark Parker, Nike’s executive chairman, as its new chairman of the board, succeeding Susan Arnold, the company announced Wednesday. Parker’s appointment is effective following Disney’s upcoming annual meeting of shareholders, which usually takes place in March, with Arnold unable to stand for re-election in her position due to the board’s

Paris-based Miam! Distribution has scored a raft of broadcast deals for its animation slate, securing U.S., European and Chinese berths for the in-house production “Edmond and Lucy,” while banking additional pre-sales on the upcoming, 2D comedies “Goat Girl” and “The MiniWhats.” Launched in 2016 as a socially engaged development and distribution outfit, Miam! grew to

Leading French animation producer Mediatoon is doubling down on its export strategy, based on international shows with iconic characters. During the Unifrance Rendez-Vous With French Cinema in Paris, the company is highlighting several projects in its lineup, including season two of pre-school series, “The Fox-Badger Family,” produced by Mediatoon Studio, Ellipse Animation, and commissioned by

If the rule for covers of widely cherished songs — make it your own, or leave it alone —  holds for adaptations of beloved television shows, then in one respect, HBO Max’s “Velma” is a towering success. To be fair, this thoroughly modern reimagining of “Scooby-Doo” maintains the load-bearing beams of the over 50-year-old cartoon’s

A spinoff of “The Good Doctor” titled “The Good Lawyer” has received a backdoor pilot order at ABC, Variety has learned. The project was first reported as being in development in August 2022. Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman are attached to star. The episode setting up “The Good Lawyer” will air during the current sixth

“Abbott Elementary” got an A+ from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at Tuesday’s Golden Globe Awards, taking home three out of the five Globes awarded to programming airing across Disney-owned platforms ABC, Hulu and FX. Along with “Abbott’s” wins for best TV comedy, and acting victories for creator and lead Quinta Brunson and supporting star

The 29th annual SAG Awards unveiled its nominees Wednesday morning with presenters Ashley Park and Haley Lu Richardson and, as always, there were a few surprises in the mix. Of course, the biggest shock of the morning may have been the 11th hour Hail Mary to save the SAG Awards, as the orphaned kudocast suddenly

Damar Hamlin has been discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center and will “continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills,” his doctor announced. In a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday, the NFL team wrote, “Damar Hamlin has been discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute, a Kaleida Health facility in Buffalo, N.Y.

Jeremy Clarkson’s controversial comments about Meghan Markle have been deemed “outrageous” but not “illegal” by U.K. Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan. Donelan is doing a round of media interviews around the U.K.’s much-delayed Online Safety Bill, which looks to keep websites free of illegal and harmful material while defending freedom of expression. The culture secretary, who

“Gangs of London” star Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù has joined the third season of Apple TV+’s British spy series “Slow Horses” as an ex-security boss, Variety can reveal. Dìrísù is set to play Sean Donovan, the former head of security at the British embassy in Istanbul, in the show, which is based on best-selling author Mick Herron’s

There was no honeymoon period for Warner Bros. Discovery last year after the two companies tied the knot in April. CEO David Zaslav, his top lieutenants and the teams at HBO, Warner Bros., Turner and Discovery went straight into hard months of restructurings, layoffs and management changes. That was expected after a massive $43 billion

Netflix exec Inga Leschek has rejoined German private broadcaster RTL Deutschland, where she will lead content for its channels and streaming operations. Leschek was director of Netflix’s nonfiction shows for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia, a role she started in November 2021. Her shows included “Queer Eye Germany,” the first international

“The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations on Wednesday. The two films each scored five nods apiece, tying the record for most nominations previously set by “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), “Chicago” (2002) and “Doubt” (2008). Both movies are up for the best ensemble prize,

Fremantle’s “Got Talent” has moved from pay-TV operator Sky to Disney+ in Italy, marking the first instance in which the hit show will play on a streaming platform in Europe. The show, which is adapted in 72 countries, has been a longtime staple on Sky Italia where it’s been running for 12 seasons clocking more

Perhaps we should refer to them as the Golden Effin’ Globes. NBC’s censors were busy Tuesday night as freewheeling Golden Globes presenters, winners and even host Jerrod Carmichael threw out what felt like a record number of expletives for a live awards show. “I believe we caught them all,” an exec told Variety after the

Jerrod Carmichael opened the Golden Globes by attempting to deconstruct the show before it began. Addressing the show’s absence for a year, after its presence on-air had paused amid scandals around a lack of racial inclusion in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, among other issues, Carmichael, a Black comedian, described considering whether or not it

An international coalition of producers and distributors have come together to deliver “Citizens at War: A Year in Ukraine.” The six-part documentary series is expected include interviews with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, survivors of a mass execution and a beauty queen who becomes a sniper. The series is backed by Canada’s Blue Ant International, Ukraine’s

During his acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes on Tuesday night, Eddie Murphy offered some key advice for up-and-comers in the industry: Don’t mess with Will Smith. “I want to let you know that there is a definitive blueprint that you can follow to achieve success, prosperity, longevity and

The controversy that enveloped the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was rarely invoked among the Golden Globe Award winners who came backstage at the Beverly Hilton to revel in their victories. Angela Bassett, who won supporting actress in a movie for her work in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” didn’t pause when asked by Variety if she

Kevin Costner won the Golden Globe for best actor in a television series, drama, for his work on Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone,” but the actor couldn’t make it to the awards ceremony due to flooding in Santa Barbara. In a video posted to Instagram before the event, Costner said, “I’m so sorry for everyone who might

The popularity of “The White Lotus” continues. Season 2 of the HBO original, which was among five shows (“Dahmer,” “The Crown,” “Pam & Tommy” and “Only Murders in the Building”) that scored four nominations at the 80th annual Golden Globes, became a two-time winner on Tuesday night. Jennifer Coolidge, who reprised her role as Tanya