Television

Michael Schneider has been elevated to Television Editor of Variety, overseeing TV industry coverage as well as TV awards-related news and features. Variety is also expanding its TV presence with editor-at-large Kate Aurthur taking on new responsibilities for leading fan-focused coverage of TV content. Variety is increasing its investment in coverage of current series, from

Amazon Prime Video has doubled down on its investment in Japan with six local originals greenlit and an additional foray into live boxing. At an event in Tokyo on Wednesday, Amazon revealed a reboot of “Takeshi’s Castle,” the iconic game show starring Kitano Takeshi that aired on terrestrial network TBS from 1986-1989. The reboot, with

The United States Football League won’t just kick off its inaugural season on April 16. It will also use the date to launch a new behind-the-scenes docuseries aimed at getting fans more interested in its spring football efforts. “United By Football,” a 13-episode documentary series produced by the league, NFL Films and Fox Sports, will

Why go to the mall when you can shop via NBC’s “Today” program? NBCUniveral News Group, the parent of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC,  has for several years worked to weave e-commerce into the digital counterpart to its venerable “Today” show as well as other areas, and now it hopes to facilitate more purchases by

U.K. broadcaster BBC has revealed ambitions of a more representative workforce as part of its Annual Plan that was published on Wednesday. “We will introduce a new target for 25% of our staff to come from low socio-economic backgrounds by 2027, to ensure our workforce is more representative of the audiences we serve,” the BBC

Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Media company, and Bullrush Pictures, are collaborating on half-hour workplace comedy “Hospital Show.” The series is an adaptation of the popular YouTube series of the same name, created by actor, writer and director Adam Greydon Reid, the founder of Bullrush Pictures. “Hospital Show” is about the actors who play television’s

Sony Pictures Television-owned “Sex Education” producer Eleven has promoted Carissa Hope Lynch to the position of creative director. She will report to Eleven founders Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell. Hope Lynch has been at Eleven since 2019, working on projects including “White Stork” for Netflix and the upcoming young adult horror series “Red Rose” for

Academy Awards co-host Amy Schumer has posted a shocked reaction to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the event. “I think we can all agree that the best way to unpack what happened is to stream my series @lifeandbethhulu and see me on tour this fall,” Schumer began in a light-hearted manner in an Instagram

If you picture a “Lord of the Flies”-style summer camp from the “Great British Bake Off” producers, it might look something like their new reality show for U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, “Kids in the Wild.” The six-part series from Love Productions and “Love Island” co-producer Motion Content Group is fashioned as a wholesome production that

In the run up to MipTV, Keshet International has unveiled a raft of new shows, spanning factual and foreign-language dramas, including “Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism?” from the U.K., “Roomies” from Finland, “Storm Lara” from Belgium and “Family Dinner Date” from Israel. “Storm Lara” is a a real-time thriller produced by Belgium’s A Perfect

SF Studios has boarded “Evil,” an original series adapted from Jan Guillou’s classic bestseller by the same name, which will be directed by “The Last Kingdom” helmer Erik Leijonborg and Daniel Di Grado (“Alena”). Penned by Fredrik T Olsson, the six-episode series is being produced by Tobias Åström at SF Studios and will launch on

Russell T. Davies’ Channel 4 series “It’s a Sin” led the field at the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and the British Academy Television Craft Awards with 11 nominations, while Ed Sinclair’s Sky show “Landscapers” followed with seven. Both shows stream in the U.S. on HBO Max. Nominations for “It’s A Sin” include for

The Royal Television Society Program Awards 2022 started with a slap on Wednesday evening, when nominee AJ Odudu ran up to the stage and pretended to strike host Tom Allen. “Oh my God, AJ, oh my God – I’m the one who’s lost their hair, don’t hit me,” Allen, who is bald, quipped in the

Elliot Page’s “The Umbrella Academy” character will come out as transgender in Season 3 of the Netflix series, the actor said Tuesday. Previously the cisgender woman Vanya Hargreeves in Seasons 1 and 2, Page’s character — whose superpower involves unleashing force through the use of sound — will transition in the upcoming third season, which

“Pistol,” a new limited series about the career of “Sex Pistols” guitarist Steve Jones, will premiere on Hulu this May 31, FX has announced. Based on Jones’ 2017 memoir “Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol,” “Pistol” follows the brief but influential career of The Sex Pistols, a 1970s British punk band that only produced

A prequel to “It” is in development at HBO Max, Variety has learned from sources. The series, currently called “Welcome to Derry,” will begin in the 1960s in the time leading up to the events of “It: Part One,” the 2017 film based on the Stephen King horror novel. The story is also said to include

On a recent Saturday night in Hungary, just days before the official start of spring, principal photography wrapped on “Seven Kings Must Die,” the feature-length spinoff of the Netflix historical drama “The Last Kingdom,” which ranked among the most popular shows on the streaming service when its fifth and final season was released in March.

Gina Rodriguez is set for the lead role of the ABC comedy pilot “Not Dead Yet,” Variety has learned. In the single-cam pilot, Nell Stevens (Rodriguez) is broke, newly single and feeling old. Nell – a self-described disaster – works to restart the life and career she left behind 10 years ago. When she lands the

Apple is adapting the Blake Crouch novel “Dark Matter” as a series with Joel Edgerton set to star, Variety has learned. The nine-episode series will follow Jason Dessen (Edgerton), a physicist, professor, and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his

“The Staircase,” a new true-crime drama miniseries starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette, will premiere on May 5, HBO Max has announced. The series is based on the true story of Kathleen Peterson, who in 2001 was reported dead by her husband Michael after having fallen down the stairs of their home. Michael was soon

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is recognized by the specific image she sculpted herself in: a deep-voiced, highly-mannered CEO decked out in black turtlenecks to emulate her role model, Steve Jobs. But in the Hulu miniseries “The Dropout,” which follows her trajectory from founding the company that would make her famous to being indicted by

Rome Flynn — who played the role of Gabriel Maddox as a series regular on Seasons 5 and 6 of Shondaland’s “How to Get Away With Murder” — is joining “Grey’s Anatomy” in a recurring role. He will play Wendell Ndugu, the brother of Winston (Anthony Hill), and this Thursday’s episode will mark his first

“Chesapeake Shores” has been renewed by Hallmark Channel for its sixth and final season, the network announced on Tuesday. The 10-episode final season, based Sherryl Woods’ books, will premiere this summer. “With a top-notch ensemble cast and creative team, ‘Chesapeake Shores’ has shared stories that are relatable, poignant and unforgettable,” says Laurie Ferneau, SVP of

Last year, Marvel made a serious run at using streaming TV to do something qualitatively different than what it does on the big screen. With “WandaVision,” the first of its series to stream on Disney Plus, the studio used familiar characters to animate a story that, in its early going, was substantially more pliable and

Media-measurement mainstay Nielsen said it had agreed to be acquired by a private-equity group for $16 billion after holding out for a higher price than a previous bid. Nielsen said Tuesday that it would be purchased by a group led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation, an affiliate of activist fund Elliott Investment Management L.P., which

DRAMA “Floodlights,” a feature-length single drama for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer tells the story of Andy Woodward, the former professional soccer player whose revelations about the sexual abuse he suffered as a youth player sent shockwaves throughout the industry. In 2016, Woodward went public about sexual abuse by his youth coach, Barry Bennell. After

Banijay has acquired Tooco, the production banner behind the non-scripted hit “Guess My Age,” to further bolster its French outpost. Under the pact, Tooco will be part of the Banijay France brand and will focus on originating concepts for the French and international markets. Tooco, spearheaded by Aurélien Lipiansky and Mikaël Moreau, has been delivering

Netflix are expanding their European presence with a new office in Poland. The office, which is set to open in the country’s capital of Warsaw later this year, will function as a central hub for Netflix’s Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) productions. “The Netflix office in Warsaw is a natural next step for us and

SPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Boston,” the March 28 episode of “9-1-1.” “9-1-1” made its long-awaited return from its midseason hiatus last Monday, and this week’s installment included the even longer-awaited return of Jennifer Love Hewitt to the Fox first-responder drama’s Season 5. During the episode, viewers learned where

“Snowpiercer” is changing showrunners going into the show’s fourth season. Paul Zbyszewski — whose past credits include “Lost,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” and “Helstrom” — will take the reins of the TNT series from Graeme Manson. Manson famously took over showrunning duties on the drama show after original series creator Josh Friedman and TNT parted ways