Television

BET’s Nadja Webb has been named executive VP of programming business operations, and will now oversee scripted programming in addition to her other duties. BET president Scott Mills announced the promotion on Tuesday. As part of her new purview, Webb will now lead BET’s scripted programming functions, including development, casting and current for BET and

The key to Barack Obama’s electoral success — and to the ways his post-presidency will continue to evolve — could be his talent as a writer. It’s not simply his eloquence, his ability to convey his beliefs to a sprawling and fractious electorate. It’s also his gift at packaging his experiences and image of himself.

Netflix has ordered the adult animated series “Chicago Party Aunt,” inspired by Chris Witaske’s Twitter account of the same name. Netflix has ordered 16 episodes of the half-hour series, with the first eight slated to drop on Sept. 17. Lauren Ash will lead the voice cast in the role of Diane Dunbrowski, AKA The Chicago

FX released a teaser for “American Horror Story: Double Feature,” premiering on Aug. 25 at 10 p.m. The 10th installment of “American Horror Story,” which will be available the next day on FX on Hulu, will begin with “Part 1: Red Tide” and “Part 2: Death Valley.” In the teaser, worlds collide as aliens and

“Lego Masters” is heading to China following a major deal from distributor Banijay Rights. Chinese production firm Long Qing Media has been commissioned to create a first run of the show for Shenzhen TV, for which production is already underway. The deal was brokered on the China side by Huo Yuan Media (The Content Connected).

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the July 26 “Men Tell All” episode of “The Bachelorette.” On the heels of Andrew Spencer’s emotional departure, another man said goodbye to Katie Thurston during “The Bachelorette.” Widower and single dad Michael Allio was one of Katie’s final four going into hometowns. But

Mark Gordon Pictures acquired screen rights to “The Code Breaker,” based on Walter Isaacson’s “The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race.” The book was published March 9 by Simon & Schuster, and spent several weeks on the top of New York Times best sellers list. The book centers

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Today is a good day for “Jeopardy” fans, many of whom are excitedly waiting to see LeVar Burton

Starz has succeeded in blocking Disney from launching a streaming service in Brazil under the name “Star Plus.” A judge in Sao Paolo granted a temporary restraining order on Friday, holding that Disney cannot use the brand name when the service debuts on Aug. 31. Disney announced in May that it would launch the new

Mark Ronson takes center stage in “Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson,” premiering July 30 on Apple TV Plus. In the six-part series, the Oscar winning multi-hyphenate (a DJ, songwriter, producer and seasoned A&R) sits down with creators and musicians to look at innovations in the realm of sound, from synths to distortion to autotune

Vicki Dummer has been hired at Warner Bros. Television to serve as executive vice president and head of current programming. Dummer will report to WBTV Group Chairman Channing Dungey, with whom she previously worked during their respective tenures at ABC. Dummer was a 24 year veteran at ABC, most recently working head of current series

Patricia Heaton is attached to star in and executive produce a new comedy project at Fox, Variety has confirmed. The new multi-camera project has received a script-to-series commitment at the broadcaster. No writer is currently attached. Along with Heaton, David Hunt will executive produce under their FourBoys Entertainment banner. Adam Griffin will also executive produce along

Eva Longoria will direct and executive produce a single-cam comedy in the works at ABC that hails from Grace Parra Janney and Josh Bycel. The untitled series is inspired by Grace’s own large Mexican American family in Texas. It is described as a multi-generational comedy about an upper middle class family handling grief, identity, and

Jai Courtney has been cast in the Amazon series “The Terminal List” opposite Chris Pratt, Variety has learned. The series follows James Reece (Pratt) after his entire platoon of Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission. Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. However,

Netflix released a trailer for “Love Is Blind: After the Altar,” premiering on July 28. In the three-episode series, the Season 1 “Love is Blind” cast returns for an anniversary party. Viewers can catch up with their favorite couples and singles as Amber and Barnett reunite with Jessica, and Diamond and Carlton attempt to make

Beloved daytime drama “Days of Our Lives” is expanding its world once again with an upcoming limited series entitled “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.” Five episodes of this new series has been ordered by streamer Peacock, and they will feature the return of Lisa Rinna in the role of Billie Reed. The episodes will

“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” will open the 39th edition of Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival. The big-screen adaptation of the West End musical of the same name will kick off the festival Aug. 13 with its first ever outdoor gala hosted by Cinespia at Hollywood Forever cemetery. Closing night on Aug. 22 will

Prolific television producer Jesse Fawcett (“Big Timber”) has launched new outfit Fireworks Media Group with several production deals. The company is producing new original series “Pamela Anderson’s Home Reno Project” (working title) for HGTV Canada, with “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson returning to her Canadian roots to rebuild the family home of her dreams. The series

“There’s nothing that no one does not know about me,” Robin Roberts says in her new series “Turning the Tables With Robin Roberts.” “And that’s OK! I do keep some things.” That balance — being widely but not deeply known — is what makes a morning-TV star. An anchor of “Good Morning America” since 2005,

A scripted series about Vince McMahon and his federal steroids trial is in the works from WWE and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television, Variety has learned. Currently titled “The United States of America vs. Vince McMahon,” the series will be the first scripted portrayal of McMahon and many legendary figures of the WWE. Blumhouse will develop

Natalia Oreiro (“I’m Gilda”), Gustavo Bassani (“Separados”) and Mercedes Moran (“Spider) head the cast of Argentine Amazon Original “Iosi, El Espía Arrepentido,” one of Amazon Prime Original’s biggest bets to date in Latin America. The series, an espionage thriller, will be available exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Showrun

CNN films is delving into shorter subjects. The CNN non-fiction banner plans to unveil four new short documentaries., two of which will debut Saturday, July 31, and two on Saturday, August 7. Each 25-minute title examines a unique American community or sub-culture, and will be introduced by Anderson Cooper. Scheme Engine, a minority-owned studio and

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until you have watched “Rick and Morty” Season 5, Episode 6, “Rick & Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular.” At this point in “Rick and Morty’s” fifth season, there are now three episodes that could have easily been called “Rickdependence Spray,” including the space semen-filled “Rickdependence Spray.“ A Rickconvenient Mort” obviously could’ve gotten

Michael C. Hall — serial killer Dexter Morgan himself — has known since Showtime’s serial killer drama “Dexter” ended that a return to the character was a possibility. Instead of being killed off in the end, he only faked his death, leaving his young son with another killer (Yvonne Strahovski) and hiding out as a

The wait is nearly over: LeVar Burton begins his stint as a “Jeopardy!” guest host on Monday, July 26. Following a passionate social media campaign led by fans, the “Reading Rainbow” and “Star Trek” star was announced as part of the show’s final lineup of guest hosts in April. “Jeopardy!” has utilized a slew of

Public broadcaster KCET, which had led all local TV stations in nominations for the this year’s Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, also wound up taking home the most (for the fifth year in a row), with nine awards. It was followed by Telemundo’s KVEA and Spectrum SportsNet, both of which landed six. The Television Academy

Jackie Mason, the sometimes-controversial standup comedian who unapologetically embraced Jewish themes and political incorrectness, achieving a national profile through a series of successful one-man shows on Broadway without substantial work in film or television, died Saturday in Manhattan. He was 93. The New York Times said his death was confirmed by his friend Raoul Felder.

“The Walking Dead” dropped a full-length trailer for its final season, Season 11, during a panel for San Diego Comic-Con at Home on Saturday. The trailer saw plenty of zombified action, while also highlighting fan favorite characters like Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Gabriel, Ezekiel, and Negan among many others. Fans also got more in-depth looks at

Rodney Alcala, the serial murderer who became known as the “Dating Game Killer” because of his 1978 appearance on the game show, died July 24 at a hospital near California’s Corcoran state prison at the age of 77. Alcala’s chilling story provided an early glimpse of how the growth of unscripted television with everyday people

Season 33 of “The Simpsons” will kick off in a musical fashion with a little help from “Frozen” star Kristen Bell, the long-running show’s producers revealed on Saturday. During the Comic-Con panel “The Simpsons Season 33 and Beyond,” executive producer Matt Selman teased what fans can expect from the Season 33 premiere, which airs on