Television

At a time when the global content business is moving faster than ever, many writers feel like they’re still stuck in second gear by the nature of series deal contracts that haven’t kept pace with the times. At present, networks, studios and streamers can hold writers and talent under exclusive deals for anywhere from nine

“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” alum Kapil Talwalkar has joined the “Charmed” reboot’s fourth season on The CW. The Indian American actor, who played Tobin in the NBC musical dramedy and its follow-up special “Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas” for Roku, has been cast in a recurring role as Dev. The character is described as a handsome, intense and

The roll-up media venture led by ex-Disney execs Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer has set its next acquisition: Faraway Road Productions, the Israeli entertainment company behind Netflix series “Fauda” and “Hit & Run,” Variety has confirmed. The deal for Tel Aviv, Israel-based Faraway — founded by and headed by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz (pictured

Comparisons between “The Silent Sea” — Netflix’s latest Korean-language drama — and this fall’s streaming phenom “Squid Game” extend well beyond their common tongue. On “The Silent Sea,” a group of desperate individuals enter into a perilous situation as a last-ditch attempt for salvation; their quest begins with the painful recognition of the economic inequality

For a genre that’s so often been defined (often by its detractors) as cheap and easy, reality television sure has had to work hard to make it through its adolescence. There were those tough toddler years spent eating scorpions and lying in tarantula tanks; a coming of age obsessed with the home lives of wayward

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 18 finale of “The Bachelorette,” which aired on ABC on Dec. 21. “The Bachelorette” wrapped up its 18th season with a franchise-first: the dating series, which premiered nearly two decades ago, had its first Black winning couple. Leading lady Michelle Young fell in

‘Atlanta’ finally has a return date. The Emmy-winning FX comedy returns for Season 3, after a three-year hiatus, on Thursday, March 24 at 10 p.m. ET with two new episodes. “Atlanta” will consist of ten episodes in Season 3, and this will mark the first time the show will be available to watch via in-season

After their successful collaboration on the “LuLaRich” docuseries, Amazon Studios has greenlit an investigation from the same filmmakers, about the Institute in Basic Life Principles. That fundamentalist organization is associated with the Duggars, the famous reality TV family that has become the subject of scrutiny since it was exposed in 2015 that Josh Duggar had

Breaking out is the stuff of dreams for millions of aspiring actors. And for their managers or agents, too. For some performers, transformation follows years of treading the boards — hundreds of auditions that end up in minor roles before serendipity, or the right director, that allows their star quality to shine through in a

The red carpet premiere of Disney Plus’ “The Book of Boba Fett” has been postponed due to COVID concerns. “Out of an abundance of caution, we will be postponing the ‘Boba Fett’ fan event,” the studio said in a statement Wednesday morning. “It will be relocated to the 8th of February in celebration of the

The European Commission has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of Discovery’s proposed acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia business. “Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery, in a statement on Wednesday. “Today we move one important step closer to creating Warner

It can be hard to write critically about “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” For one thing, after 20 years the show is a bit critic-proof. The audience for “Curb”  is locked in at this point; one is on board for the periodic ten-episode journey through well-meaning gripes and grudges, or one is avowedly not. What’s more, the

Nielsen is in the midst of a battle to count TV audiences of the future, but the company just disclosed it’s still having problems counting them in the present. The media-measurement giant informed TV networks and other clients Wednesday that it has, since September of 2020, undercounted so-called “out-of-home” audiences — the people watching programs

HBO Max has revealed some new looks at a mountain of TV shows coming in 2022 in a new sizzle reel. Some of the shows included in the short video include the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon,” the “Suicide Squad” spinoff “Peacemaker,” Season 4 of “Westworld,” Season 3 of “Barry,” Season 2

Starring “The Lovely Bones’” Stanley Tucci and “Da 5 Bloods’” Clarke Peters and produced by Movistar Plus in association with AMC Studios, “La Fortuna” is set to roll out in half the major distribution territories in the world. First up is Germany, where Sky will air the TV debut of “The Others” director Alejandro Amenábar

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. on Wednesday announced that they have signed definitive agreements to merge ZEEL with and into SPNI and combine their linear TV networks, digital assets, production operations and program libraries. The merged company will retain Zee’s stock market listing in India. But Sony will provide

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the Dec. 21 finale of “The Bachelorette.” Michelle Young already made history as the third lead of color on “The Bachelorette.” During her three-hour finale, an engagement with either suitor would continue her historic trend, marking the first Black couple in “The Bachelorette” franchise. That

Fox has decided against moving forward with its “New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022” production in New York due to the ongoing surge of COVID-19 and its Omicron variant. The network announced its shift in plans on Tuesday evening. “While we are confident in the health and safety protocols for ‘Fox’s New Year’s Eve

Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle know what “Pen15” fans are thinking — that the two ended their hit coming-of-age Hulu series after just two seasons because things got too complicated to do more because of COVID. At least that was some of the online speculation when they announced the news. “It looks like that from

Netflix audiences tossed all their coins to their Witcher during Season 2’s debut weekend. The fantasy show’s premiere debuted at No. 1, with audiences spending a whopping 142.43 million hours immersed in magic and monsters with Geralt (Henry Cavill), Ciri (Freya Allan) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra). The first season of “The Witcher” followed, securing the

While it feels like eons since “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho, in accepting his Golden Globe in January 2020, encouraged American audiences to “overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles,” the strides made in the last two years have only underlined the filmmaker’s message: film and television is well and truly international now, so get on

“The Wheel of Time,” Amazon Prime Video’s latest high fantasy series starring Rosamund Pike, Kate Fleetwood and Madeleine Madden, clocked 1.16 billion viewing minutes during its debut week, making it the streamer’s most watched original series since 2020’s “Hunters.” Per Nielsen’s Top 10 SVOD Lists, the show, based on Robert Jordan’s bestselling novels of the

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” “Star Wars” really is about the fans. So much so that some of the most die-hard will be seen in the Disney Plus series “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” starring Ewan McGregor. So says Maya Erskine, the “Pen15” co-creator and co-star who appears in the “Star Wars” spinoff. “The extras were

Lifetime greenlit “Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez,” a film based on the real-life kidnapping of 14-year-old Abby Hernandez while walking home from school in North Conway, N.H. in 2013. The film premieres on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. “Girl in the Shed” will follow the state’s search for Abby (Lindsay Navarro)

As Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” universe expands, so does its audience. After “Yellowstone’s” Season 4 premiere in November soared to 14.7 million viewers — an impressive feat in today’s bleak linear TV landscape — “1883,” the neo-western prequel, had the biggest new series premiere on cable since 2015. The MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios production’s

As we stroll on Disney’s historic Burbank lot toward the plaza where he is about to be photographed in front of a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse holding hands, I ask Iger if he is feeling melancholy about his decision to leave. “I’m being resolute about it — this time around. I haven’t

Don’t count Nielsen out as the media industry scrambles to find new ways to tabulate audiences increasingly making their way to venues other than a traditional TV set. The media measurement giant, whose work serves as the bedrock for most TV-advertising deals, intends to launch new technology that can provide so-called “cross screen” viewership of

DOCUMENTARY Fremantle has won a bidding war for exclusive rights to produce a high-end documentary about Raffaella Carrà, the iconic Italian singer, actor, dancer and TV host who was a pop culture sensation across Europe and Latin America. Carrà, who died in July at 78, rose to fame in Italy as a singer and dancer

“RuPaul’s Drag Race: U.K. Versus The World” will be the centerpiece of the opening night on BBC Three, the U.K. digital platform that is being relaunched as a linear channel. The commission is one of three revealed by BBC Three on Tuesday. In “RuPaul’s Drag Race: U.K. Versus The World,” the U.K. will be the

“Emily in Paris” has a way of driving viewers crazy. There were groans when the Netflix series’ first season was nominated for best comedy at the Golden Globes and at the Emmys. And it occasioned a widely-circulated New Yorker piece that described it as part of a rising trend of “ambient TV,” describing it as