Television

The Fab Five is complete once again. Interior designer Jeremiah Brent is set to join Season 9 of “Queer Eye” as a host alongside Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown and Tan France. The new season goes into production in Las Vegas this spring. “Queer Eye,” produced by Scout Productions and ITV Entertainment, premiered

Michael Fassbender is in negotiations to star in “The Department,” an espionage thriller series directed by George Clooney. Set to start shooting in London this spring, “The Department” is based on “The Bureau,” the hit French spy show created by Eric Rochant. It has already been given a straight-to-series order by Showtime. The series is

Eugene Levy has joined “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 at Hulu in a recurring role, Variety has learned. He joins previously announced Season 4 cast members Eva Longoria and Molly Shannon in the comedy series, alongside leads Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. Meryl Streep is also set to reprise her role

Multi-talented actor and comedian Marlon Wayans has his sights set on the comedy stage once again, this time with his latest uproarious venture, “Marlon Wayans: Good Grief,” on Amazon Prime Video, exclusively revealed to Variety. In what marks his fourth stand-up special, and set to air this summer, the versatile entertainer is poised to deliver

Paris-based global distribution powerhouse Newen Connect has secured a first round of pre-sales on the French live-action drama series “Cats Eyes,” based on the original cult manga work ‘Cat’s Eye’ from Japanese artist Tsukasa Hojo. The female-led series, produced by Big Bang Production for top French commercial channel TF1, has been acquired by RTS for

There was something perhaps apt about Joe Biden’s appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” Monday night being pegged to the show’s 10th anniversary; as Vice President, in 2014, Biden had appeared on the show’s first broadcast, and now he marked the passage of a decade. It was a booking that made sense, but that

French distribution company Newen Connect is bringing their latest non-fiction series to the London TV Screenings. “Master Sapiens” is a two-episode (45’ and 52’) dive into the Lascaux Cave, considered by experts to be the first art school in history. The series is produced by Pernel Media, with C8 / Planète + holding broadcasting rights

Benito Skinner‘s comedy series “Overcompensating” has been ordered at Amazon Prime Video. The show was originally announced as being in development at the streamer in November 2022. Skinner created the series and will also star. The series’ official description describes it as a “college-set ensemble comedy about the wild, chaotic journey of Benny (Skinner), a

The U.K.’s Film and TV Charity has been liaising with Muslim, Arab and Jewish screen industry workers following the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and the subsequent war against Hamas. Representatives of all three groups have taken part in a total of 10 independent roundtables attended by senior leaders from broadcasters, production companies, newsroom executives,

Germany’s Beta Film is introducing at the London TV Screenings the first episode of “Maxima,” a six-part drama about the love story between future Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. The series is produced by Millstreet Films “The Neighbors”), with Videoland (RTL Netherlands) holding Dutch broadcasting rights. “Maxima” is

The BBC has acquired a new K-pop reality series tentatively titled “Made in Korea.” The show follows a British boyband as they head to a K-pop boot camp in Korea, where the bandmembers will learn from experts behind some of the country’s biggest music exports. “Featuring incredible performances, television gold and a band set to

One of Banijay’s scripted centrepieces at the London TV Screenings, the Swedish crime drama “Fallen” (“Sanningen”), sees the first reunion of star actor Sofia Helin, writer Camilla Ahlgren, and Stockholm-based Filmlance International since the multi-season hit crime show “The Bridge” (2011-2018). Their collaboration has paid off again as “Fallen” has wooed a first batch of

Japan will next month open the first round of film and TV production funding under its previously-teased location incentive scheme. The scheme offers reimbursement of up to 50% of qualifying expenditure in Japan, with an upper limit of JPY1 billion ($6.66 million) on each disbursement. Targeting larger-scale productions, the scheme is open to: film, TV

Israeli surrogacy drama “A Body That Works” has been renewed for a second season. “A Body That Works” (titled “Goof Shlishi” in Hebrew) was Israel’s highest rating drama of 2023. The series, which stars Rotem Sela (“The Baker and the Beauty”) and “Fauda’s” Lior Raz, tells the story of a couple struggling with infertility who

U.K.-based distributor DCD Rights has pre-sold the fourth season of New Zealand’s mystery drama “My Life Is Murder” to a raft of territories ahead of its Feb. 27 official launch at the London Screenings.  Starring Lucy Lawless (“Top of the Lake,” “Spartacus,” “Xena: Warrior Princess”), the series’ brand new season rights have been secured by

European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.” “Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of

Enough with the winter gloom: Feel-good shows are about to take over TV market London Screenings, as distributors echo Russell Crowe’s Maximus iconic words: “Are you not entertained?”  “Most platforms are looking for entertaining shows. Escapism is a big thing,” says Fremantle International CEO Jens Richter.    “You want to take the audience somewhere else

Is this now an age of TV caution? A brace of big swings at this week’s London TV Screenings belie that trend, and few come bigger than the English-language action thriller “Paris Has Fallen,” which Studiocanal launches at this week’s  London TV Screenings.    Like other major LTVS plays, it takes a mainstream genre  – such as,

 Can NBC squeeze ten years’ worth of Jimmy Fallon at its signature “Tonight Show” into just two hours? The network is going to try. NBC plans to celebrate a decade of Fallon at the helm of its venerable late-night program with a two-hour anniversary show slated for 9 p.m. eastern on May 14. The special

The Writers Guild of America East has tapped Sam Wheeler as the union’s new executive director. Chosen by the WGA East council as successor to longtime WGA East leader Lowell Peterson, who exited his post last October after the conclusion of the writers strike, Wheeler enters the role after serving as the national executive director

Looks like the internet won’t have Che Diaz to kick around anymore. According to multiple sources, Sara Ramírez won’t be returning to “And Just Like That” for its third season, which starts production later this year for a 2025 premiere on Max. Ramírez has played nonbinary standup comedian Che Diaz since Season 1, during which

J.K. Rowling criticized Sky News on X (formerly Twitter) after the British television news channel posted a story about a 26-year-old being jailed for murder and referred to her as a “woman” and not a transgender woman. Scarlet Blake was found guilty last week of murdering a man four months after she live-streamed a video

E. Duke Vincent, an Emmy-winning TV producer, died on Feb. 10 in Montecito, Calif. He was 91. With Aaron Spelling, the duo worked on 43 TV series, such as “Dynasty,” “Hotel,” “Vegas,” “Matt Houston,” “The Colbys,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place,” in addition to seven miniseries including Jackie Collins’ “Hollywood Wives” and James Micheners’

Amazon Prime Video has ordered a drama series based on the comic book “El Gato Negro” by Richard Dominguez, Variety has learned. The series, currently titled “El Gato,” will be shot in both English and Spanish. Diego Boneta is attached to star, with Eric Carrasco adapting the comic book for the screen. “Sharing ‘El Gato’

Netflix has acquired the independently produced sitcom “Tires” from stand-up comedian Shane Gillis, who stars and serves as an exec producer. The six-episode scripted comedy, which was self-financed, will premiere on May 23. As part of the deal with Gillis, Netflix will also produce a new stand-up special with the comedian — his second for

Jennifer Yale has joined the untitled Peacock espionage thriller series starring Simu Liu as co-showrunner, Variety has learned. The show was announced with a straight-to-series order earlier in February. Thomas Brandon created the series and will also serve as co-showrunner alongside Yale. The official description of the series states, “Five minutes in the future, a

Charithra Chandran is not in Season 3 of “Bridgerton,” the British star has confirmed, but she has a range of other projects coming up. Chandran, who is of Indian heritage, will produce a reality TV series based on ancient Sanskrit-language text the “Kama Sutra.” While the text was primarily designed as an art of living

Gemma Garcia has been named the new head of Noticias Telemundo, Telemundo’s news division, a move that puts an executive with deep experience in digital content and distribution in charge of the company’s news operations She will report directly to Luis Fernández, chairman of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. Garcia will oversee Noticias Telemundo’s news programming, editorial

“First-Time Buyer’s Club,” the unscripted series where teacher-turned-realtor Amina Stevens supports clients intimidated by buying a home for the first time, has been renewed for a second season by the Oprah Winfrey Network. Production on the next season will kick off later this year, with an air date scheduled for 2024, according to the network.

Picking up on Berlinale Series Market hits, such as “Lost Boys & Fairies,” and teasing some of the big main competition swings at Series Mania – “Apples Never Fall,” “Rematch,” “So Long, Marianne” – the 2024 London TV Screenings are a powerhouse showcase of some of the biggest TV highlights of 2024, plus the trends