Television

Nielsen Holdings PLC has turned down a bid by a private-equity consortium to buy the media-measurement giant, noting that the company feels the proposal “does not adequately compensate shareholders for Nielsen’s growth prospects.” Shares in the company, which has been under scrutiny for months as TV networks that represent some of its biggest clients have

Donald Glover never does press like a conventional actor. So when he arrived at the Paramount Theater in Austin on Saturday night for the SXSW premiere of “Atlanta” Season 3, he turned the camera on his audience. It was actually a disposable camera he had in his hand, and he used the retro gadget to

Israeli director Rama Burshtein-Shai focuses on an unlikely attraction in her eight-episode series “Fire Dance,” now debuting at TV festival Series Mania in Lille, France. Faigie (Mia Ivryn) is just 18 when she starts paying closer attention to Nathan, thirtysomething married son of their ultra-Orthodox community’s leader. Produced by Yes TV, Firma Productions and Kuma

Get those paternity tests in now, because “Maury” won’t help you find out whether you’re the father beyond this September. “Maury” is the latest daytime talker to announce that it’s ceasing production in 2022, in what is now amounting to a major shift in the daypart. Maury Povich is ending his run and retiring after

Just in time for the 20th anniversary of “The Wire,” celebrated during the opening of French TV festival Series Mania currently unspooling in Lille, David Simon returns to Baltimore with HBO’s miniseries “We Own This City.” Co-created with George Pelecanos and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, it focuses on true events described in Baltimore Sun reporter

It takes six episodes for the characters of “Bridgerton” Season 2 to acknowledge the obvious. Ever since they first laid eyes on each other, Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and formidable newcomer Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley of “Sex Education”) have shared such overwhelming sexual tension that most everyone in the same room can feel its vibrations

“I just kept thinking, why isn’t anyone stopping us? Why didn’t anyone stop us?” Amber (Laura Dreyfuss) is addressing her wife (Jamie Neumann), deep into a scheme that has spiraled beyond either one of these two white women’s control. On their way to the madness of this moment, they’ve demonstrated both a powerful and shocking

Following “Gomorrah” and “The Young Pope,” Sky continues to bring to the screen fresh edgy TV series with “The King,” which is Italy’s first prison drama but transcends genre tropes to recount the country’s complex way of contending with evil forces, including terrorism. The dark skein, currently playing in Italy on Comcast-owned Sky’s pay-TV service

O-T Fagbenle has a message to former president Barack Obama, whom he portrays in the upcoming Showtime series “First Lady,” set to premiere April 17: “Barack, call me.” Fagbenle discussed his upcoming turn as the 44th president, alongside Viola Davis’ Michelle Obama, at the premiere of Apple TV Plus’s “WeCrashed” on Thursday at the Academy

Returning barely six months after its 2021 edition, which wrapped in September, French TV festival Series Mania welcomed Jury President Julia Sinkevych,who arrived in Lille from war-torn Ukraine. “I didn’t know if I would be lucky enough to be here tonight,” said Sinkevych to a standing ovation, with Laurence Herszberg, Series Mania general director, observing that

Vidya Balan (“Kahaani”) and Shefali Shah (“Delhi Crime”), two of India’s finest actors, worked together for the first time in Suresh Triveni’s Amazon Prime Video India original “Jalsa.” The result is an acting masterclass. The film is a tense social thriller where the lives of Balan’s Maya, a top journalist and Shah’s Rukhsana, Maya’s housekeeper,

A fourth season of “True Detective” is officially in development at HBO, Variety has learned from sources. The new season is currently titled “True Detective: Night Country.” The plot is largely being kept under wraps, but sources say that it would take place in the Arctic, where night can last more than 24 hours. It is

“East New York,” the drama pilot currently in the works at CBS, has added four new cast members. Ruben Santiago Hudson (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Broadway’s “Lackawanna Blues”), Richard Kind (“Argo,” “A Serious Man”), Lavel Schley (“Barriers,” “Tell My Family I Love Them”), and Olivia Luccardi (“The Thing About Pam,” “The Deuce”) have all joined

Korean superstar Lee Minho sent camera flashbulbs into a frenzy on Wednesday night at the premiere of his new Apple TV Plus series “Pachinko” at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles. Based on the bestselling book by Min Jin Lee, “Pachinko” chronicles a Korean immigrant family across four generations, with its story centered around matriarch Sunja,

ABC has ordered a new pilot for the drama about the National Parks Investigative Services Branch, Variety has learned. The broadcaster commissioned a pilot for the project last year as well with a different creative team, though it ultimately did not go forward. The original team included Kevin Costner as co-writer and executive producer, but Costner

Sacha Baron Cohen says Bernie Sanders’ team threatened to open a congressional hearing over his “Who Is America?” interview. The “Borat” creator opened up about his experience making the 2018 political satire series in an excerpt from Judd Apatow’s upcoming book “Sicker in the Head: More Conversations About Life and Comedy,” out March 29. In

Michael Showalter and Jordana Mollick’s production company, Semi-Formal Productions, has promoted Emily Crook and Devon Albert-Stone to co-heads of development, Variety has learned exclusively. “Emily and Devon have been with Semi-Formal since the beginning,” Showalter and Mollick said in a joint statement. “They have incredible taste, great relationships and their work ethic puts us to

When DeVaughn Nixon and Norm Nixon Jr. both showed up in the casting offices of HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” on the same day — at the same time — it could have been awkward. And at first, it was. “They both lovingly shit talked each other,” says exec producer Max

Adina Porter and Clark Backo have been cast opposite LaKeith Stanfield in the upcoming Apple drama series “The Changeling,” Variety has learned. The series is based on the book of the same name by Victor LaValle. It is descirbed as a horror story, a parenthood fable, and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you

Laysla De Oliveira will star alongside Zoe Saldaña in the upcoming Paramount Plus series “Lioness” from Taylor Sheridan, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is based on a real-life CIA program and follows Cruz Manuelos (De Oliveira), described as a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, who is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to

The suspected robbers of the Netflix shoot of “Lupin” were arrested by police on March 9 near Paris just under two weeks after the dramatic heist, according to local reports. Part 3 of “Lupin” was shooting on the outskirts of Paris in Nanterre with Omar Sy when approximately 20 people who had their faces covered

After delivering “Call My Agent!,” one of France’s most successful series of the last decade, Fanny Herrero returns with her new comedy series “Standing-Up” which is launching Friday (Mars 18) on Netflix and plays at the opening night gala of the Series Mania drama series festival in Lille. The anticipated series follows the coming-of age

Domenico Procacci’s Fandango, the Rome shingle that originated the “Gomorrah” and “My Brilliant Friend” skeins, will be at Series Mania’s Co-Pro Pitching Forum with “The Impossible She,” about Neapolitan aristocrat Maria Teresa de Filippis who during the 1950s became the world’s first female Formula 1 driver. The only Italian project selected for these pitches, “The

A documentary going behind the scenes on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s six-year ordeal is coming to Channel 4 The U.K. broadcaster has commissioned a single documentary, entitled “Nazanin,” from filmmaker and journalist Darius Bazargan. The project claims to give “the definitive exclusive access into one of biggest international news stories of the last 6 years,” and follows

Even from the most casual of glances, this year’s Series Mania boasts a plethora of riches, including, just for starters, the latest series from “The Wire’s” David Simon, and “Vikings’” Michael Hirst and “The Responder,” starring Martin Freeman, which is already being talked up as the European series of the year. The selection below may

U.K media regulator Ofcom on Friday revoked the Russian-backed RT channel’s licence to broadcast in the country with immediate effect. “We have done so on the basis that we do not consider RT’s licensee, ANO TV Novosti, fit and proper to hold a UK broadcast licence,” Ofcom said in a statement. The decision arrives during

Finland has responded to a spike in demand for its content with a slew of new series. As revealed by Laura Kuulasmaa, executive director at Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI), over 30 will be released this year alone, a 20% uptick on 2018. “Compared to eight, ten years ago, when there were maybe only five scripted

Thanks to fresh takes on established genres and highlighting local elements, Finnish drama is commanding attention from international buyers. A Series Mania Focus on Finland will teasing more series to come, from “Nordic blue” to horror for kids and a Christmas fairytale crime story. The biggest event dedicated to television series in Europe will take place March

Looks like Pete Davidson won’t be heading to space after all. Just three days after revealing the “SNL” comedian would be joining their next flight, the Jeff Bezos-founded company announced on Thursday night that the date of the flight had moved and Davidson would no longer be part of the excursion. “Blue Origin’s 20th flight

Disney Television Studios has launched an investigation into “Grey’s Anatomy” writer Elisabeth Finch, following questions about personal stories and essays she has written and shared in the past, Variety has confirmed. As first reported by the Ankler, Finch has been put on administrative leave as the studio looks into whether she exaggerated certain aspects of