Television

A Dave Chappelle stand-up show in Minneapolis, Minn. was canceled on Wednesday, just hours before the comedian was set to perform. First Avenue, the iconic venue that provided the setting for Prince’s “Purple Rain,” announced that the show would not be taking place at their theater and was instead moving to Varsity Theater. In an

Rebecca Balding, the veteran stage and screen actress best known for her roles in the classic ABC sitcom “Soap” and the original “Charmed,” died on Monday following a battle with ovarian cancer. Balding died in Park City, Utah, according to a statement from her husband, writer-director James L. Conway. She was 73. Balding was born

Freema Agyeman, one of the original stars of NBC’s “New Amsterdam,” will not be returning for the show’s fifth and final season, she announced via Instagram on Wednesday. “Dearest Dam Fam. First off I would like to say a huge heartfelt THANK YOU for your unending, dedicated and deliciously ferocious support! I feel very fortunate

Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell are the latest additions to the cast of Apple and Legendary’s upcoming live-action series about Godzilla and the Titans. The father and son duo join previously announced cast members Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, Kiersey Clemons, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski in the show based on Legendary’s growing Monsterverse franchise. In

Norman Lear knows a thing or two about timely topics. So, what better time than now to recreate the famous “Maude” abortion episode, which originally aired in November 1972 — two months before Roe v. Wade made it legal across the United States. The two-part episode, “Maude’s Dilemma,” featured the lead character (played by Bea

One of last summer’s surprise news stories was an alleged confrontation that took place between Larry David and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. A source told Page Six that the two men fought at a convenience store on Martha’s Vineyard. David allegedly called Dershowtiz “disgusting” to his face. Dershowitz, who was a member of Donald Trump, Harvey

Variety has promoted Manori Ravindran to Executive Editor of International and Senior Writer. Ravindran joined Variety in 2020 as International Editor. In her new role, Ravindran will continue to lead Variety’s award-winning team of correspondents based around the world, while expanding the brand’s presence at key festivals and markets and growing Variety’s events outside the U.S.,

The first trailer has been revealed for FX and Disney+ soccer documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham,” from executive producers Rob McElhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) and Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool”). The series tracks the dreams and worries of Wrexham, a working-class town in North Wales, U.K., as the two Hollywood stars take ownership of the

Step aside, winter, because fire and blood are now coming to Westeros. HBO has released the first official trailer for “House of the Dragon,” the network’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series debuting on Aug. 21. The show, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” follows the tumultuous story of House Targaryen under

H.E.R. is set to play Belle in ABC’s upcoming hybrid special in celebration of the 30th anniversary of “Beauty and the Beast.” The special was originally announced at the beginning of July. Alongside a screening of the film, it will include live never-before-seen musical performances and features brand-new sets and costumes inspired by the classic

Entertainment One (eOne) has promoted Jacqueline Sacerio and Gabriel Marano to co-heads of US scripted television development. Both Sacerio and Marano previously served as executive vice presidents of scripted television at eOne. In their new roles, they will continue to report to Pancho Mansfield, the company’s president of global scripted television. “Although they each have

It’s no secret that working in Hollywood isn’t easy — and can be exhausting. But Norman Lear, who has been in the industry for more than 60 years, has never considered walking away. “Not for a second. We’ve had ups and downs and but it’s always a good time,” the icon told Variety ahead of

With the race tighter than ever, scheduling strategy comes into play for Emmys frontrunners. Here, Variety analyzes the competitive stakes in the key races. Drama Series With one more nominee than last year, this category is again a mixed bag. Early predictions were that it would be a battle between Netflix’s “Squid Game” and HBO’s

“Rap Sh!t” may be grounded in reality, but there’s something lightly surreal about the experience of watching it. Issa Rae’s new comedy, showrun by “Insecure” writer Syreeta Singleton and premiering July 21 on HBO Max, bobs and weaves between its stories and the ones its characters are constantly posting on Instagram. The camera adopts the

The new season of “Only Murders in the Building,” currently streaming on Hulu, sees the trio of amateur sleuths and residents of New York’s Arconia apartments played by Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin becoming suspects in a new crime — the killing of Bunny Folger (played by Jayne Houdyshell). Production designer Patrick Howe

Jennie, part of the K-Pop girl group Blackpink will appear in the upcoming HBO TV series “The Idol.” She joins a cast that is headed by The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp. Co-created by The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye), Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) and Reza Fahim, “The Idol” is set against the backdrop of the music

There’s a storm brewing in Hollywood’s creative community, just as the largest unions and employers are preparing to wrestle anew at the contract bargaining table. The industry is bracing for the prospect of bitter labor strife in the 2023 round of negotiations with the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.

COMMISSION Former Manchester City and England soccer player Micah Richards fronts “Player Pranks,” a show commissioned by Sky, produced by Zig Zag and Krempelwood. The show sees the Premier League winner team up with his Sky Sports colleague Adam ‘Smithy’ Smith for a top-secret mission to prank the great and good of football. In each

Media talent discovery app Husslup has joined with Fuse Media, Keshet Studios and Roadmap Writers to expand its search initiatives in identifying the next generation of film and TV talent. The Husslup app, currently in its beta stage, also revealed the winners of its “Roadmap Writers X HUSSLUP” pitch competition: Writers Sarah Mack and Josh

The Los Angeles-based “electro-soul” band B00TY has dropped “Matter of Time,” its new single featured in Thursday’s premiere of Issa Rae’s HBO series “Rap Sh!t.” The song is released on the new label, A Tiny Universe (ATU), formed by hitmakers Adrian Miller and Om’Mas Keith, who have more than 10 Grammys between them and have

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings declared during the streamer’s Q2 earnings interview Tuesday that linear television will go the way of the dinosaur within the next decade. “It’s definitely the end of linear TV over the next 5 to 10 years,” Hastings said while discussing Netflix’s financial and subscriber results on the pre-recorded Q&A, which came

At 5:15 am on Tuesday morning in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, Johnny Pizarro was working on the crew of “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” Pizarro, who was part of set security and parking enforcement, was approached by a suspect who opened his car door and fatally shot him. In the wake of Pizarro’s murder, Variety spoke

Salli Richardson-Whitfield has extended her overall deal with HBO and HBO Max for an additional two years. Under the terms of the deal, Whitfield will become an executive producer on the HBO basketball drama “Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and will direct the second half of the show’s upcoming second season. She previously

Deep into “The Last Movie Stars” — a six-episode HBO Max documentary series directed by Ethan Hawke — Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward appear on the cover of a 1980 issue of McCall’s magazine. In the headline, his name comes first, then hers, then a reference to “their very private marriage.” This may come as

Some of the top names on America’s sports landscape are ready to share their insights at the Variety Sports and Entertainment Breakfast presented by City National Bank, set for July 21 at the Maybourne in Beverly Hills. From groundbreaking athletes to top industry heads, the morning looks to paint a vivid picture of today’s sports

What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. The Academy of Country Music Awards will be sticking with Amazon Prime Video for a second year in 2023, but not sticking with Las Vegas, where the broadcast has been based almost every year since 2003. The next ACMs will take place May 11, 2023 in

Hugh Jackman has joined the voice cast of the upcoming Hulu adult animated comedy series “Koala Man,” Variety has learned. The series — which was ordered at Hulu in March 2021 — was created by Michael Cusack, who also voices the title character. The show follows Kevin (Cusack) and his not-so-secret identity, whose only superpower is

Showtime’s upcoming limited drama series “Fellow Travelers” has added three new cast members. Jelani Alladin, Noah J. Ricketts, and Linus Roache have all been cast as series regulars in the show. They join previously announced leads Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, and Allison Williams. The series is based on the novel of the same name by

The Critics Choice Association has set its schedule for its upcoming 2022-2023 awards season. The organization announced the upcoming lineup of ceremonies Tuesday morning. The upcoming 28th Critics Choice Awards will take place at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2023. The ceremony will broadcast live on the CW at

RedBird Capital Partners has taken a majority stake in Talent Systems, the casting software and audition network run by entrepreneurs Rafi Gordon and Alex Amin. Talent Spotlight operates a collection of casting-related software and audition network services, including Casting Networks, Spotlight, Cast It Systems, Casting Frontier, eTribez Casting Platform and Staff Me Up. RedBird is