Television

Fully on-site last week for the first time since 2019, Spain’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, its first major TV event, returned to much of the winning formula of its early pre-pandemic editions: A spectacular setting in Spain, here the august historical city of Toledo; TV project pitches; an intense conference strand; marvellous networking opportunities, most

TV program “Insiders,” set up at Spain-based company iZen, has become Netflix’s first Spanish original reality show. The aim was to be innovative and, at the same time, recover the essence of old reality TV. “Insiders” is produced by José Velasco, iZen president and founder, who years ago was behind the local version of “Big

A bonfire of vanities is blazing around the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, as the mid-year mark approaches and discussions intensify over the fate of the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Will the first big stop of awards season make a triumphant return in January? Or will NBC refuse to air the show, and ice out millions

Carol Burnett is breaking bad. The comedy legend will appear as a guest star in the sixth and final season of “Better Call Saul,” portraying a character named Marion, AMC announced. It’s unclear at this point how Marion fits into the denouement of the complicated journey and transformation of series antihero Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk)

TelevisaUnivision had something to sell in this year’s TV upfront market that many of its English-language counterparts did not: growing linear audiences. The Spanish-language media giant has finished its upfront negotiations and expects to see rising volume of advance commitments for its advertising, according to a person familiar with the matter. This person says TelevisaUnivision

Some people gird for battle by putting on armor. Tony Dokoupil just bought a second pair of dress shoes. “I’ve had the same pair of brown, beat-up, nasty dress shoes — my good shoes. I’ve been wearing them for several years now,” the “CBS Mornings” co-anchor confides in a recent interview. Dokoupil, 41 years old,

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has appointed Charlie Perkins as head of comedy, reporting into chief content officer Ian Katz. Former head of comedy Fiona McDermott left Channel 4 in March to join Apple TV+. Perkins will manage a team comprising newly promoted commissioning editor Laura Riseam and commissioning executive Joe Hullait. She will also oversee

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Antonio Banderas are teaming up to create joint production company Amigos Para Siempre (APS), aimed at producing musicals, stage plays and live entertainment for major markets in the Spanish-speaking world, including the Latino U.S. market. Upcoming productions will include Spanish-language makeovers of Lloyd Webber classics, such as “The Phantom of the

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned a two-part documentary about embattled actor Kevin Spacey. Spacey is currently fighting multiple claims of sexual assault in the U.K. courts. He is due to attend a second hearing next month with a trial likely to be set for the end of the year or early 2023. He is

International TV market Mipcom is set to return to the Croisette in October, and major exhibitors have already signed up. Organizers RX France, formerly known as Reed Midem, revealed Monday that a tranche of 200-plus exhibitors are on board for Mipcom. The list includes super-indies such as Banijay, Fremantle and ITV Studios, as well as

Starzplay, Starz’s premium international streaming service, and The Mediapro Studio, one of Europe’s biggest indie film-TV producers, are joining forces again to produce the second season of “Express,” the first Starzplay’s original series made in Spain. Spanish thesps Alejo Sauras (“Estoy vivo”) and “Paradise’s” Laura Laprida are joining the cast of the new season, which

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBDS) will co-produce coverage of both the men’s and women’s Tour de France cycling competition for the first time. The Tour de France men’s competition runs from July 1-24 while the women’s competition will take place July 24-31. WBDS will broadcast every stage of the men’s competition and the first edition

OPTION Transatlantic production powerhouse Sister (“Chernobyl”) has optioned the rights to adapt BAFTA and Emmy winning screenwriter and longtime collaborator Abi Morgan’s (“The Split”) “This is Not a Pity Memoir.” Morgan will adapt her book for screen, and also direct and executive produce, with Sister co-founder and chief creative officer, Jane Featherstone (“Landscapers”). The memoir follows

Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS) has announced that its signature “Sasuke” (aka “Ninja Warrior”) obstacle course series may inspire a new addition to the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The broadcaster, which operates one of Japan’s five major terrestrial TV networks, is partnering with World Obstacle, the Fédération Internationale de Sports d’Obstacles (FISO) and the

The trailer has debuted for six-part travel and magic show “Fantastic Friends,” which is hosted by James and Oliver Phelps, a.k.a. the mischievous Weasley twins of Harry Potter fame. The show’s cast includes the twin’s Harry Potter co-stars Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) and Luke Youngblood (Lee Jordan), as well as “Game

Taraji P. Henson took a moment to be serious in her otherwise upbeat introduction to the BET Awards on Sunday night, delivering the first of three consecutive slams at the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last week. She began light, joking to the crowd, “You look successful… expensive… you look like you

Lil Nas X has protested often and loudly about being excluded from the nominations for the BET Awards, and his friend and “Industry Baby” collaborator Jack Harlow made his own silent statement on the show’s red carpet Sunday by rocking a Lil Nas T-shirt. At the time of this article’s publication, it was not clear

Julian Doucet was always told that his life should be made into a movie or TV show after he’d tell anyone his story—he’s a gay man who was just 20 years old when he had a daughter. While he and the baby’s mother gave the baby up for adoption, they remained in her life. “I

A lot of changes are taking place at CNN after the merger of its parent company, WarnerMedia, with Discovery, but this wasn’t one many people were anticipating. Christi Paul, who has been a regular presence on CNN’s weekend morning programs for nearly nine years, is leaving the news outlet, she announced on air Sunday morning.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Herogasm,” the June 24 episode of “The Boys.” “The Boys” finally blew its biggest load of wild content this Friday with the release of the Amazon Prime Video superhero series’ long-awaited “Herogasm” installment. In just an hour, showrunner Eric Kripke, episode writer Jessica Chou

Glenn Jacobs, who spent more than two decades in WWE’s ring as the sadistic, disfigured wrestler Kane, has taken punishing hits from wrestling fans after he enthusiastically endorsed the Supreme Court ruling Friday overturning Roe v. Wade. Jacobs, a Republican who is currently the mayor of Knox County, Tenn., rejoiced in a tweet about the

At the 49th annual Daytime Emmy awards ceremony on Friday in Pasadena, Calif., several people used the platform to speak up about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end federal protection of abortion rights earlier the same day. National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) CEO Adam Sharp took the

“Woke” has been canceled by Hulu, Variety has confirmed. The series aired its second season on the streaming platform in April. The comedy series had originally premiered on Hulu in Sept. 2020. Both seasons consisted of eight episodes each. Inspired by the life of artist Keith Knight, “Woke” starred Lamorne Morris as Keef, a Black cartoonist

The fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” has been unlike its previous seasons both in tone (this time, it’s full horror) and the length of the show’s episodes (the finale, one of the two Volume 2 episodes premiering on July 1, will be two-and-a-half hours). But according to Matt and Ross Duffer — collectively known

Gangland warfare and a Romeo and Juliet romance with a twist are the main elements of Sky Studios’ first Italian in-house production ‘Blocco 181,’ which is set against the backdrop of a gritty multi-ethnic Milan that has never appeared on screen before. The eight-episode show – which launches this week on Sky in the U.K.

Peacock is developing an American adaptation of the Australian comedy series “Laid” with Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna. Khan and Bradford McKenna will serve as writers and executive producers on the project. It follows a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways. In investigating their deaths, she must come

Madison Avenue’s growing interest in sports and streaming video helped Fox Corp. nab new ad dollars amid a softening market. The owner of the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports and Fox News Channel expects an uptick in advertising commitments made in advance of its next programming schedule, according to a person familiar with the matter,

Kyrre Holm Johannessen, the creator and showrunner of Netflix series “The Girl From Oslo,” has signed with CAA for representation. Originally from Norway, Johannessen began his career in television, writing on the 2016 comedy drama “Meglerne,” about a corrupt real estate broker who suddenly finds himself tutoring a self-absorbed student. He is also a well-known

COMMISSION Former “The Great British Bake-Off” host Mel Giedroyc is set to present a raunchy new show for Channel 4 featuring celebrities and puppets. In each 30-minute episode of “The Really Really Rude Puppet Show,” Giedroyc will invite a different celebrity to read some erotic fan fiction written by viewers in which the celebrity is

Famed chef and restauranteur, entrepreneur and philanthropist Wolfgang Puck is getting into the kids business. Puck is set to announce plans to launch a new children’s animated series, “Wolfgang Puck’s Secret Chef Academy,” which he plans to pitch to networks and streamers. Puck has partnered with Genius Brands International to launch the project. “Wolfgang Puck’s