Television

STREAMING Discovery Plus will tap into South America’s largest customer base when it launches in Brazil this September. According to Discovery, the streamer’s offer will include original and exclusive content commissioned for the platform, as well as catalog programming from the family of Discovery Channels, TLC, Animal Plant, Food Network and HGTV. Fernando Medin, president

After working on Apple TV Plus’ “Central Park” for “months and months” alone, Emmy Raver-Lampman, the animated musical sitcom’s new vocal talent, felt like most of the cast she heard through her headphones during recording sessions had become her musically gifted imaginary friends. Josh Gad, Kathryn Hahn, Tituss Burgess, Stanley Tucci and Eugene Cordero welcomed

It seems Jared Padalecki was blindsided about the announcement that his “Supernatural” co-star Jensen Ackles is developing a spinoff series about their characters’ parents. After news broke Thursday evening that Jensen and Danneel Ackles are working on a new spinoff titled “The Winchesters,” Padalecki took to Twitter to reveal that he’s had “no involvement whatsoever”

More than two decades after first airing, the first two seasons of “The Chris Rock Show” are available to stream on HBO Max. The late-night talk show created and hosted by Rock originally aired on HBO over five seasons, from 1997 to 2000. Starting Friday, June 25, Season 1 (7 episodes) and Season 2 (12

These days, family TV loves nothing more than a planet in peril. On Netflix, for instance, kids may have recently watched a group of hybrid children undergo a population-decimating pandemic on “Sweet Tooth,” a team of extraordinary children attempting to save London from the supernatural in “The Irregulars,” and a kid superhero face down cataclysm

U.K. experiential company Secret Cinema are set to host their first Regency ball — a “Bridgerton” ball, to be exact. The company has teamed up with Netflix, Shondaland and events outfit Fever to bring the hit period drama to life this November. Fans of the show will be able to choose a title, don a

Conan O’Brien ended his 11-year run on TBS’ “Conan” by touting the “intersection between smart and stupid.” And that’s why, perhaps it was all too appropriate that final guest Jack Black wound up on stage wearing a walking boot for a sprained ankle — an injury he received while rehearsing a song and dance number

With British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell currently awaiting a November 2021 trial, facing charges that range from enticement of minors to sex trafficking of children in connection, the producers behind “Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell” feel the timing of that docuseries’ release could not be more perfect. This is because they did not set out to capture

“Supernatural,” the hit CW drama series starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, is getting a spinoff. The network has given a script commitment to “The Winchesters,” a prequel that will focus on Sam and Dean Winchester’s parents, John and Mary. The one-hour drama will be produced by Chaos Machine Productions, the production banner of Jensen

Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones will star in the FX on Hulu limited series “Under the Banner of Heaven,” Variety has learned. The series hails from write Dustin Lance Black and is based on the Jon Krakauer novel of the same name. In the series, a devout detective’s faith is tested as he investigates a

The premiere episode of the “Gossip Girl” reboot will air on The CW after it debuts on HBO Max. The follow-up to the beloved series, which originally aired on The CW from 2007-2012, will become available on HBO Max on July 8. On July 9, The CW will air the first episode from 8-9:30 p.m.

When then-Turner Entertainment president Steve Koonin pitched Conan O’Brien on launching a show at TBS, he was upfront with the host: We won’t be able to deliver you an audience as big as the one you had at NBC. But you can do whatever you want. “He was true to his word,” said “Conan” executive

ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” has named Erin Irwin, Molly McNearney and Jennifer Sharron as executive producers. All three previously served as co-executive producers. Kimmel also continues as executive producer; Irwin, McNearney and Sharron fill the void left when former executive producer Sharon Hoffman left in January after a brief run. “Erin, Molly and Jen are

Lance Gross has been cast in Lee Daniels and Karin Gist’s series “Our Kind of People,” a drama headed to Fox on Tuesday nights this fall. The “Sleepy Hollow” regular joins previously announced cast members Yaya DaCosta (“Chicago Med”), Morris Chestnut (“The Resident”), Joe Morton (“Scandal”) LeToya Luckett and newcomer Alana Bright. The series is

Juno Temple has signed on to star in “The Offer,” the Paramount Plus series that will explore the behind-the-scenes drama during the making of “The Godfather.” “The Offer” is based on the experience of Oscar-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy (Miles Teller), about the behind-the-scenes events of the original 1972 film. Along with Teller, the series

Almost a year after “Lovecraft Country” first premiered on HBO, series star Jurnee Smollett still isn’t sure if a second season may be coming. “I will accept and surrender to whatever destiny is in store for these characters. If COVID has taught me [anything], it’s taught me that you cannot get attached to certain plans,”

AMC is officially moving forward with a series adaptation of Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire.” News of the series order comes just over a year after Variety exclusively reported that AMC had acquired the rights to Rice’s book series “The Vampire Chronicles” and “The Lives of the Mayfair Witches.” “Interview With the Vampire” is the

“The Upshaws” has been renewed for Season 2 at Netflix. The first season of the multi-cam comedy debuted on the streamer in May. The new season will feature 16 half-hour episodes, an increase from 10 in the first season. “We are so excited we get to bring this amazing show back for a second season,”

Blumhouse Television and ITV America have struck an exclusive, multiyear deal for unscripted television, through which Blumhouse will create a new slate of projects in its signature style. A dedicated Blumhouse team will work with ITV America to “bring the loudest, most intense and unexpected genre, paranormal reality and suspense-driven creative to unscripted,” according to

Colman Domingo, known for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Zola,” is adapting his award-winning play “Dot” as a dramedy entitled “West Philly, Baby.” The series, a co-production between AMC Studios and the AMC Networks-owned streamer ALLBLK, is one of the first projects from Domingo’s Edith Productions to be developed under its

Tracee Ellis Ross and Michaela Angela Davis will executive produce and narrate a new docuseries about Black women, beauty and identity through the distinctive lens of Black hair. “The Hair Tales” hails from the Onyx Collective, Disney’s recently launched content brand for creators of color and underrepresented voices on Hulu. The docuseries, produced by Joy

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the Season 5 premiere of “The Good Fight,” streaming now on Paramount Plus. The fourth season of “The Good Fight” was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic, running for only seven episodes last spring instead of its planned 10. Yet, it ended perfectly, with

Great British soccer star Jamie Vardy has teamed up with Love Productions USA on a new documentary series, “Rhino Reboot,” that will see him attempt to rebuild underdog soccer team The Rochester Rhinos. Vardy, a Premier League soccer player who has also played for England, co-owns the Rhinos along with Sacramento Kings co-owners David and

Open AP and AT&T’s Xandr were once seen as staunch rivals. Indeed, WarnerMedia, one of Open AP’s founders, broke away from the company once AT&T started showing ambitions of dabbling in the new technology that fuels modern advertising. Now the two companies are shaking hands and getting ready to play, not fight, in the same

The hits of Stephen Sondheim are finally back on Broadway — kind of, anyway. A week after moving back to live audiences for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen Colbert welcomed “The Good Fight” star Christine Baranski as a guest on “The Late Show” on Wednesday, and acknowledged that while they chatted during

Emily Heller has signed an overall deal with CBS Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. Under the deal, Heller will focus on developing comedy projects. This will come naturally to Heller, who has racked up an impressive resume in the comedy world in recent years. She has worked as a writer and producer on a number of popular

Entertainment One is expanding its leadership team, bringing on board Gabriel Marano as an executive vice president of scripted television, where he will oversee the development of all of the company’s Hasbro IP. Concurrently, Jacqueline Sacerio, eOne’s current exec VP of scripted TV, will expand her responsibilities and shepherd the company’s first-look ad pod deals.

Supporting the U.K. animation industry is one of the key priorities for the recently launched £7 million ($9.77 million) U.K. Global Screen Fund (UKGSF), which is being administered by the British Film Institute. Each of the three key funding strands of the UKGSF – international business development, co-production investment, and international distribution (see separate story

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you haven’t seen Season 1, Episode 3 of “Loki,” streaming now on Disney Plus. Marvel Studios has its first official LGBTQIA+ superhero — or, depending on your point of view, supervillain. On the latest episode of the Disney Plus series “Loki,” Tom Hiddleston’s titular god of mischief confirms what had

ViacomCBS has shuffled seven top content executives in a new leadership structure designed to bolster its streaming service Paramount Plus. Teased recently by ViacomCBS Streaming president and CEO Tom Ryan, the new structure is intended to bolster original programming and help Paramount Plus achieve scale in a crowded market. Executives George Cheeks, Jim Gianopulos, Bruce