Television

Melissa George’s Margot is looking for a way out in the “twisty” second season of “The Mosquito Coast.”  “This couple has been together for 15 years. They’ve got these two kids [played by Logan Polish and Gabriel Bateman]. But they separated when the children were young, for a very good reason. There was an incident, which

ITV in the U.K. has acquired “Bali 2002,” a new four-part drama exploring the everyday heroes directly impacted by the terrorist bombings on the Indonesian island’s tourist hotspots 20 years ago. Represented by Banijay Rights, the drama stars Rachel Griffiths (“Total Control”), Richard Roxburgh (“Rake”) and Claudia Jesse (“Bridgerton”). It will air on the new

Hulu has released the official trailer for “Welcome to Chippendales,” starring Kumail Nanjiani as Somen “Steve” Banjeree, an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the famous male-stripping empire, and quickly learns how unglamorous the live entertainment world can be. Also starring in the series alongside Nanjiani are Murray Bartlett, Annaleigh Ashford, Dan Stevens,

This week proved to be the toughest yet for the “Dancing With the Stars” partners, who had to learn multiple routine. Although there was no elimination during Monday night, Tuesday night put the remaining couples to the test with their second dance of the week followed by a marathon. Although Wayne Brady received one 10

Following a quarter that saw Netflix release several of its most popular titles of all time — per the streamer’s self-reported internal measurements — and a return to subscriber growth after two straight quarters of losses, co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos is feeling “better and better” about the company’s $17 billion content spend

When executive producer and Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was tasked with casting a performer to play Amy Wheeler in “From Scratch,” Netflix’s limited series adaptation of Tembi Locke’s memoir, she looked no further than her dinner table. Witherspoon was dining across from Zoe Saldaña, who was accompanied by her Italian husband and exchanging bits

“The Crown” creator Peter Morgan and his new cast members Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West are standing up for the Netflix drama series against continued claims that it exploits the royal family. The show, which launches Season 5 in November, has come under renewed scrutiny following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The new season

CANNES — In a partnership of the two biggest media companies in Latin America and the Latino U.S., TelevisaUnivision and Globo have created a distribution and co-production strategic alliance, focusing on fiction content. The partnership kicks off with three fiction productions. The first two productions are both productions from ViX+, the SVOD service of TelevisaUnivision:

Scientology was front and center on Tuesday as the rape trial against “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson began with opening statements. Masterson is a Scientologist and each of his alleged victims was a Scientologist at the time of the alleged rapes, which span from 2001 to 2003. Reinhold Mueller, the lead prosecutor, made several

It’s a good week for Ryan Murphy. Now on the fourth year of his five-year Netflix deal, he’s just had the streamer’s most-watched title of the week for four weeks in a row. For the previous three weeks, it was “Monster,” the limited series starring Evan Peters as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, which has now

After gaining rights to “,” Amazon Prime is getting a crack at a game on Friday. The live-streaming giant will launch a new “Black Friday” broadcast in 2023, broadcasting a new game on the day after Thanksgiving. The move will add more NFL football to a period that opens the nation’s critical holiday shopping season

Filling Trevor Noah’s seat at “The Daily Show” may not be a task that can be accomplished with a snap of the fingers. Comedy Central is considering utilizing a rotating array of hosts on “The Daily Show” after the program returns from a hiatus following Trevor Noah’s exit in December, according to three people familiar

As Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias marks the 25th anniversary of the start of his career, the comedian reminisces about the origins of his act. In the first episode of Variety’s new docuseries “My Comedy Journey,” created by Variety’s Alex Castro and Steven Gaydos, Iglesias visits his hometown of Long Beach, Calif., where he recalls his journey

“Watchmen” creator Alan Moore revealed to GQ magazine that he disowned HBO’s Emmy-winning adaptation of his graphic novel and told the showrunner never to contact him. Moore did not cite the showrunner by name, although Damon Lindelof served in the role. According to Moore, the showrunner sent him a letter during the HBO show’s development

Simu Liu is attached to lead a series adaptation of the Ben Mezrich novel “Seven Wonders” that is currently in development at Amazon, Variety has confirmed. Per the official logline, the series follows “brilliant botanist-adventurer Dr. Nate Grady (Liu) as he teams up with the slippery international fixer, Sloane Seydoux, on a breathless race to

Rachel Maddow isn’t on MSNBC’s schedule Monday through Friday any longer, spurring the need for some of her top behind-the-scenes allies to find other things to do. Cory Gnazzo, who has served as the executive producer of “The Rachel Maddow Show” since 2014 and who has been with the show since its launch in 2008,

Candace Cameron Bure is expanding her business and launching a podcast, Variety can exclusively announce. “I’ve been interviewed a whole lot in my 40 plus years on television,” Bure said in a statement. “I thought it was time to have in-depth conversations about things I really care about — and have lots of fun at

Fremantle and Japanese commercial broadcaster Kansai TV have signed a co-development deal to launch a new game show format in Japan.  Details of the show will be revealed imminently, the companies said at the ongoing Mipcom market in Cannes. Kansai TV will produce and broadcast the Japanese original version later this year, and Fremantle will

Banijay will continue to be innovative and sustainable, CEO Marco Bassetti said at Mipcom.  When asked about the company’s future growth, and a recent SPAC deal, he added:  “It’s helping us not to lose all the opportunities the market can give us. We have all that we need in order to grow, definitely.”  “But our growth

Chiney Ogwumike has big plans after striking a new deal with ESPN that extends her stay there and is certain to expand her presence. The 6′ 4″ Los Angeles Sparks forward is gearing up to start calling NBA games for ESPN, adding to her regular presence on “NBA Today” and “NBA Countdown.” She has many

Madrid-based Zeta Studios, the producer behind worldwide hit series “Élite,” HBO Max’s “García!,” Movistar Plus’ “Reyes de la noche” and Prime Video’s “Días Mejores,” has teamed with double San Sebastián Golden Shell winner director Isaki Lacuesta for TV drama project “El hijo del chófer” (“The Chauffeur’s Son”). Lacuesta will direct and write the series alongside

CANNESERIES EXPANDS Set to run April  14-19, Canneseries has introduced a new competition documentary section, the International Documentary Series Competition, to be included in its next go-round in Cannes. The idea is to keep storytelling at the heart of the event. “Whether the main character is sport, history, a crime, a celebrity, the environment or a changing society,

During the 2020-21 TV season, a study found that streaming companies put more women in positions of creative power than broadcast networks did, though broadcasters featured slightly more women as major characters in their shows. But a year later, that same study has found that streamers now beat out networks on both fronts by slight

CANNES  —  An Atresplayer Premium Original, “The Route,” begins as the lead characters’ time together ends, in 1993.  A star DJ on Valencia’s Ruta de Bakalao, Marc’s heart isn’t in it anymore. He visits his family home and sits in his bedroom, still plastered with teenage memorabilia, trying to connect with a younger self who felt music

CANNES – The newly constituted senior entertainment team at Fox Corp. came to Mipcom this year with checkbooks in hand. The trio of executives who offered the keynote address Monday evening at the international content conference were blunt in telling the crowd that they came to make some new friends around the world and strike

CANNES  — TV series “Agatha Christie’s Hjerson” has been picked up by streamer Topic for North America and by the Australian channel SBS, ZDF Studios announced Tuesday at Cannes Mipcom trade fair.  “Agatha Christie’s Hjerson” is being sold as both a 45-minute series and four feature-length stories.  Topic has taken exclusive rights for the U.S. and

In its continued bid to expand its footprint worldwide, Paramount+ is launching its service in France on Dec. 1 and Germany, Austria and Switzerland on Dec. 8. Already available across the Americas, Paramount+ launched in South Korea, the U.K. and Ireland in June and Italy in September. The SVOD platform is expected to be available in 45 markets by

CANNES — Ester Expósito, one of the most preeminent of breakout actors from “Elite,” is set to star in “La Isla Bonita,” a new series created by Ginesta Guindal (“Vida Perfecta,” “Elite”), produced by The Immigrant and Sabado Películas with production-distribution superindie Fremantle handling global distribution. Billed as an irreverent dramedy, “La Isla Bonita” focuses

Fifth Season has acquired international distribution rights to Elisa Viihde original series “The Man Who Died.” The company, formerly known as Endeavor Content, is behind “The Lost Daughter” or “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” It also handles global distribution for such hit shows as “Killing Eve,” “The Morning Show” or “Normal People.”  Based on the bestselling

Each season, “Most Memorable Year” night is the most emotional episode of “Dancing With the Stars.” Monday night’s episode was no different when the evening came to an end with Selma Blair and Sasha Farber saying goodbye to the competition. In a pre-recorded packaged, Blair told her partner that she couldn’t continue due to health