APPOINTMENTS Eminent British media personality Afua Hirsch has been named advisory chair for the 2022 edition of Screen Scotland‘s Edinburgh TV Festival. Founder of Born in Me Productions, an independent production company focusing on scripted and non-scripted television, movies and podcasting, Hirsch is renowned for her work on black culture, history, identity and culture in
Television
BBC Studios and Sky Deutschland have agreed an output deal for factual content in Germany. The long-term partnership agreement will see Sky Deutschland as the pay TV home for BBC Studios premium factual content in Germany, which will include 150 hours of factual titles from the BBC Studios catalogue. The factual output from BBC Studios
Entrepreneur Karnesh Ssharma is launching Clean OTT, a streaming service focusing on female-oriented original content, in the first quarter of 2023. Female actors, directors and producers will be at the heart of the service, which aims to move away from the male gaze that plagues Indian content and to create a sustainable platform for female
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Fairytale Wedding,” the Feb. 28 episode of NBC’s “The Endgame.” NBC’s new high-octane crime drama “The Endgame” aired its second episode Monday, revealing many more compelling details about its leading ladies — Morena Baccarin’s international arms dealer/crime boss Elena Federova and Ryan Michelle Bathé’s FBI
The Set Decorators Society of America has penned an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressing its “extreme disappointment” regarding the decision to not broadcast certain categories — best production design, particularly — live during this year’s Oscars ceremony. The letter, addressed to Academy president David Rubin, CEO Dawn Hudson,
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria,” which aired on HBO on Feb. 27. Played by 15-year-old Javon Walton, Ashtray is simultaneously the cutest and the scariest thing about “Euphoria.” The unofficially adopted brother of Fezco (Angus Cloud) is a whiz kid when it comes to selling drugs, converting black
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency,” the Feb. 28 episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star.” Gwyn Morgan (Lisa Edelstein) went as far as she could with her son, T.K. Strand (Ronen Rubinstein), on Monday’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” before leaving him to go the rest of
If it wasn’t for Chris Licht, you might not see Gayle King on TV every weekday morning. King wasn’t the typical host of a national morning-news show. She had worked for nearly two decades at a Hartford TV station before trying her hand at daytime TV. When Licht, who was starting a new morning program
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria,” which aired on HBO on Feb. 27. Eric Dane is having the time of his life on “Euphoria,” HBO’s wildly popular drama from Sam Levinson. “There aren’t words to describe how much I love the show,” he tells Variety on the Monday
Matt Barr, who stars in The CW’s “Walker” as Hoyt Rawlins, is set to play another character with the same name in the upcoming pilot “Walker: Independence.” “Walker: Independence” is an origin story set in the late 1800s following Abby Walker, an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey
The cast of “Ted Lasso” may not have been able to make it the SAG Awards this year, but they did get together to appear remotely from the five-star Claridge’s Hotel in London. Nominee Hannah Waddingham absolutely glowed from across the pond in a gold and bronze Dolce & Gabbana fishtail gown. And Variety has
Ned Eisenberg, a stage and screen actor who played defense attorney Roger Kressler on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and Detective Hauser in “Mare of Easttown,” has died. He was 65. His agents at Nicolosi & Co. confirmed his death. Eisenberg’s wife Patricia said in a statement, “As Ned would say, he was attacked
Benedict Cumberbatch, who was honored on Monday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, paid tribute to his sister Tracy Peacock, who died of cancer last year, and called attention to the crisis in Ukraine at the unveiling ceremony. “I want to mention my sister who we lost last year,” Cumberbatch said. “She
Jennifer Coolidge will indeed return for Season 2 of “The White Lotus.” HBO confirmed the star’s return on Monday, as well as news that production on the new season has begun in Sicily, Italy. Coolidge’s return was expected, although until now HBO had declined comment on initial reports that she would be back. Season 2
If there’s always been an underdog on “NCIS” throughout its 19 seasons, it’s been the nervous, happy-go-lucky guy in glasses down in autopsy played since mid-season-1 by Brian Dietzen, who’s long done a lot with less screen time than some of the characters who aren’t lab-bound. “People were sleeping on Jimmy Palmer, man,” says fellow
Sera Gamble is developing a series adaptation of the Francesca Lia Block book “Weetzie Bat,” Variety has learned exclusively. The series follows Weetzie, her best friend Dirk, and their found family as they traverse the sparkling, dangerous, secret world beneath the surface of 1980s Los Angeles. Weetzie faces the deepest heartbreaks of life with a spirit
Michael Douglas will star as U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in a new limited series for Apple, Variety has learned. The untitled series is based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff. Kirk Ellis, the writer behind HBO’s “John Adams” series, will write the
Fox Entertainment’s MarVista Entertainment is entering into a development and production deal with TelevisaUnivision to produce 10 original Spanish-language films for ViX Plus, both sides announced Monday. ViX Plus is TelevisaUnivision’s Spanish-language subscription-based video on-demand offering; MarVista will produce 10 films across the genres of family, comedy, romance and holiday that will be available to
The showrunner is leaving, but the show must go on. Staffers at CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” aren’t sure who the next top producer will be at the program, according to three people familiar with the matter, with top producers ready to take their time to examine the needs of the show after
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria,” which aired on HBO on Feb. 27. “Euphoria” — which was created by Sam Levinson — has captured the hearts, minds and Twitter feeds of millions. With its Season 2 finale, “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I
CNN will have a new chief for a new chapter in its history. Chris Licht, a veteran producer who has overseen programs like MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS’ “CBS This Morning” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” was named chairman and chief executive of CNN Global — a new name for the news operation
BROADCAST Seven Network in Australia is this week to begin broadcasting “Police Strike Force,” a documentary series made in close partnership with the New South Wales police. The 6×60 minute series is produced by WTFN and licensed internationally by Fred Media. Premiering on Channel 7 and 7plus from Wednesday, the show depicts real-life police investigations,
Timothy Hutton has sued the producers of the TV series “Leverage: Redemption,” alleging that they breached his contract when they dropped him from the show following a report of a sexual assault allegation. BuzzFeed reported in March 2020 that a woman had gone to the Vancouver Police Department, alleging that Hutton had raped her in
Nielsen hopes to regain industry backing of its TV ratings later this year, the company’s top executive told investors Monday. Speaking on a call with analysts, Nielsen CEO David Kenny said the company expects to complete all necessary work to regain accreditation by mid year. He believes the Media Rating Council, the industry organization that
In 2020, one of the first indications that all wasn’t right for a global TV industry just waking up to the threat of COVID was the Chinese delegation of buyers pulling out of the BBC Studios Showcase. As revealed by Variety on Feb. 5, 2020, around 20 Chinese companies skipped the early February event due
Jessica Brown Findlay (“Brave New World”) and Anthony Welsh “Master of None”) are set to star in a new U.K. drama series from Paramount Plus titled “Flatshare.” The six-episode series has already started shooting in Bristol, U.K. Production will also take place in London and Brighton. “Flatshare” tells the story of two twentysomethings trying to
Veteran Hollywood actor Henry Winkler will star alongside Aleeza Chanowitz in “Chanshi,” a U.S.-Israel crossover comedy series for Israeli network HOT. Chanowitz is also the series creator and writer of “Chanshi,” which is currently in production on location in and around Jerusalem. Chanowitz plays Chanshi, a young religious girl from the Jewish community in Brooklyn
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have watched the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria” on HBO. And just like that, Season 2 of HBO’s “Euphoria” has come to an end. In Sunday night’s finale, titled “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name,” reality morphed with Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) play
Indian acting powerhouses Vidya Balan (“Kahaani”) and Shefali Shah (“Delhi Crime”) headline film “Jalsa,” which will bow on Amazon Prime Video. The film is a tale of conflict narrated through the life of a celebrated journalist and her cook. The cast also includes Manav Kaul (“The Fame Game”), Rohini Hattangadi (“Gandhi”), Iqbal Khan (“Crackdown”), Vidhatri
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read this review if you haven’t watched “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name,” the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria.” When Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie Howard charged the stage during her sister’s self-produced theater work in the season finale of “Euphoria,” the audience at the show’s