Television

For five years, Janet Jackson has been filming a documentary, preparing to share her accounts of the most intimate — and the most widely reported-on — moments of her life. In “Janet,” which aired its first part on Friday and continues on Saturday on Lifetime and A&E, the groundbreaking and private singer digs into everything

Leading Indian streamer Disney Plus Hotstar has revealed the first trailer for its upcoming blockbuster series “Rudra: The Edge of Darkness,” starring top Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn (“Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”). Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with BBC Studios India, “Rudra” is the Indian adaptation of hit BBC series “Luther,” starring Idris Elba. It

Peacock has set seven cast members for the upcoming comedy thriller series “The Resort,” Variety has learned. Luis Gerardo Méndez, Nina Bloomgarden, and Gabriela Cartol will all appear in series regular roles, while Debby Ryan, Dylan Baker, Michael Hitchcock and Becky Ann Baker will recur. The show is described as a multi-generational, coming-of-age love story disguised as

Halle Berry’s new production company has hired WME motion picture department partner Holly Jeter to serve as president, Variety has learned. Jeter currently serves as Berry’s agent. She will stay onboard at WME for the time being as next steps are determined. The hiring news comes after it was announced that Berry had signed a two-picture,

Gayle King, who over ten years at CBS News has become one of that ViacomCBS division’s most recognizable personnel, has signed a deal to stay with CBS News. “I still feel that in many ways I’m just getting started,” King told listeners of her SiriusXM radio program on Friday. Speculation has risen in recent weeks

The climate change anthology series “” at Apple has added eight new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively. Murray Bartlett (“The White Lotus”), Yara Shahidi (“Grown-ish,” “Black-ish”), Diane Lane (“Unfaithful,” “Under the Tuscan Sun”), Heather Graham (“Boogie Nights,” “Wander”), Grammy Award-winner Ben Harper, Judd Hirsch (“Uncut Gems,” “The Goldbergs”), Hari Nef (“Transparent,” “You”), and Neska Rose

“The Santa Clause” series at Disney Plus has brought on Elizabeth Mitchell to reprise her role from the film franchise, Variety has confirmed. The series, which was announced on Jan. 14, will see Tim Allen once again play Santa Claus/Scott Calvin. Mitchell will play Scott’s wife, Carol Calvin, a.k.a. Mrs. Claus. Mitchell first played the role

ABC has announced the midseason premiere dates for the return of original drama series “A Million Little Things” and “Big Sky.” “A Million Little Things” is back with new episodes of its fourth season starting Feb. 23 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. The series, which premiered in 2018, focuses on a circle of friends

A federal judge resentenced Joe Exotic of Netflix’s “Tiger King” to 21 years in prison on Friday, reducing his punishment by one year. The updated sentencing comes after Exotic begged the court for leniency as he begins treatment for prostate cancer. Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was convicted on 17 federal charges of

Adam Brody, Maxim Jasper Swinton, and Meara Mahoney Gross have all been cast in the upcoming FX limited series “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” Variety has learned. The trio joins previously announced cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, and Claire Danes. Based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s novel of the same name, the series centers on recently separated forty-something

Young British actor Ahmed Elhaj is all set for Apple TV Plus series “Bad Monkey,” from “Ted Lasso” co-creator Bill Lawrence, who has written the series and will serve as executive producer. Headlined by Vince Vaughn, the series is based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel of the same name. Elhaj plays a character named Neville,

The 2014 film “John Wick” has spawned several sequels, the upcoming TV series “The Continental,” the spin-off film “Ballerina,” and even video games, theme park rides and comic books. It’s now a full-fledged universe, even though it didn’t start out that way. “It was kind of accidental,” says Tim Heindl, senior VP of global marketing

STREAMING Discovery Plus India’s original investigative documentary series “Dangals of Crime: The Untold Truth About Indian Wrestling,” is now streaming. It traces the meteoric rise of the Olympic sport, in which India has seven summer Olympics medals, and also explores its dark underbelly. Wrestling’s popularity reached a crescendo in India after iconic wrestlers Sushil Kumar

China Media Group has launched CCTV-8K, an 8K ultra-high-definition TV channel, to broadcast the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, state-owned news agency Xinhua reports. To deliver the channel, CMG had to accelerate development of its nascent 8K production, broadcasting and transmission operations, said the Asian Broadcasting Union. CMG has started to install giant 8K screens

Update: In a statement, a spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “We apologize for the significant impact the Red Bee Media incident had on our access services. Channel 4 would like to reassure our audiences that we have thoroughly reviewed the resilience of our systems to ensure that such a catastrophic event cannot harm our ability

WarnerMedia has made three more senior content hires in Asia to bolster its original productions teams in advance of the launch of HBO Max in the region. In the Singapore-based team, Mark Francis has been appointed group lead of production and development (scripted and unscripted) and Wee Shi Ming has been named lead of entertainment

NBC has ordered an untitled drama pilot from “The Village” creator Mike Daniels, based on the award-winning Dutch series “A’dam – E.V.A.” According to the show’s logline, it “chronicles the epic love and lives of two complete strangers whose multiple run-ins begin to defy coincidence and lead both to believe in fate. This show breaks

A judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Georgian chess master who alleged that she was defamed in an episode of the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit.” Nona Gaprindashvili, who rose to prominence as a chess player in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, sued Netflix in federal court in September.

President Joe Biden will be one of many guests for the upcoming primetime special “Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl,” NBC announced Thursday. The special, a tribute to the iconic comedic actress Betty White, will feature a taped tribute from Biden commemorating the late White, who passed away last December. NBC also announced several other

Both “Black Monday” and “Work in Progress” have been canceled at Showtime. “Black Monday” aired its third season on Showtime from May to August 2021. The dark comedy series followed a group of Wall Street traders in the late 1980s into the early 1990s. It starred Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells, Regina Hall, Paul Scheer, and

Draymond Green isn’t waiting to retire until he starts a second career as a sports analyst. Green, the three-time NBA All-Star and longtime member of the Golden State Warriors, has struck an unorthodox multi-year agreement with WarnerMedia’s Turner Sports that calls for him to make appearances on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” and other parts of

Gloria Medel Solomons has joined CBS as vice president of alternative and specials, Variety has learned. In her new role, Medel Solomons will oversee portions of alternative and specials programming for the primetime lineup of CBS Entertainment. She will report to Jack Sussman, CBS’ executive vice president of specials, music, and live events/alternative and reality. “Gloria

Variety asked bonafide Dungeons & Dragons expert Spencer Crittenden — of “Harmontown” and “HarmonQuest” fame — to watch Amazon Prime Video’s new series “The Legends of Vox Machina” and give his take on the show. Crittenden knows a thing or two about turning his experience as a Dungeon Master into a bit of a career,

ABC News is planning a wide array of special coverage in February devoted to Black History Month, including two primetime specials and bespoke segments across the news division’s various programs. “While we remain dedicated to telling the impactful and important stories around the Black community all year long, ABC News will provide special coverage throughout

Retta has signed a talent-holding deal with NBCUniversal, Variety has learned. “I’ve spent most of my career working with NBCUniversal and I was lucky to have my first series regular role on ‘Parks,’ which continues to be beloved by a dedicated fan base,” Retta said. “It was a love for Donna Meagle that motivated Marti Noxon’s preteen

Dave Chappelle’s 2021 standup comedy special “The Closer” nabbed two major nominations Thursday morning, from both the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Producers Guild of America (PGA). Stan Lathan, who directed “The Closer,” was recognized by the DGA for TV directing in the variety, talk, news or sports specials category. Chappelle himself received a

“The Afterparty” isn’t exactly subtle about its conceit. The new Apple TV Plus comedy opens with Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) telling a room full of suspects that “we’re all stars of our own movie — the same thing could happen, but you see it in a different way.” In order to solve the murder of

NBCUniversal is about to begin broadcasting the second half of a rare Olympics doubleheader — and fatigue has set in. The Winter Games in Beijing begin Feb. 4, just six months after the close of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games that were postponed from 2020 because of the pandemic. The Winter Games also overlap with

“Eiffel,” “Around the World in 80 Days” and “The Last Duel” were among the winners at the Digital Creation Genie Awards announced at an awards ceremony held Wednesday in the Centre des Arts in Enghien-les-Bains, Paris. The awards were held as part of the 8th edition of PIDS Enghien, which runs Jan. 26-29. Best visual

Spanish production giant Atresmedia has appointed Miguel García to head its international sales department. García joins Atresmedia from Mediapro, where he has been The Mediapro Studio’s international sales manager for Latin America, the U.S. and MENA for the past five years. Prior to his time at Mediapro the Madrid native held various positions at Mediapro