Television

It’s proving to be a pivotal few weeks for the £7 million ($9.77 million) U.K. Global Screen Fund (UKGSF). Launched earlier this year by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the British Film Institute (BFI), the fund is widely seen as the U.K. government’s replacement for the money disbursed by Creative

Apple has given out a straight-to-series order for an animated adaptation of “Strange Planet.” The show hails from creators Dan Harmon and Nathan Pyle, with Pyle having created the webcomic and graphic novels of the same name. Amalia Levari will serve as showrunner. The “Strange Planet” series is said to tell profound and heartfelt stories

Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg are teaming up with Peacock to tackle a new endeavor: recapping the Olympics. Pairing Hart and Snoop as the comedy guides through the Tokyo Olympics 2021, the commentary series “Olympic Highlights With Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg” will be exclusively available on NBC’s streaming service. The pair will set out

Drake Bell, who starred as Drake on the hit Nickelodeon series “Drake & Josh,” pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a felony charge of attempting to endanger children and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. Bell, who appeared virtually via Zoom at the pretrial hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, could face

Jordan Young has been named executive producer and showrunner on the Dan Harmon animated Fox comedy “Krapopolis.” The show was ordered at Fox back in January and is slated to debut in 2022. Young will work under Harmon’s supervision in handling the day-to-day aspects of the production. Young started out as an animator on “The

AWARDS After taking 2020 off, BAFTA’s Children’s Awards are set to return in November 2022 following a review starting in May of last year. The upcoming awards will place a stronger focus on engaging young audiences through updated categories and a ceremony to be held at the end of a larger weekend of BAFTA Kids

Netflix Spain has dropped a trailer for the highly anticipated second season of its high-octane Spanish thriller series “Sky Rojo,” coming to the platform worldwide on July 23. Shifting from the Spanish noir aesthetics of “Money Heist,” “Sky Rojo” opts for a brightly colored, neon palette to mix several genres into something its creators Álex

Veteran producer and reality TV judge Simon Cowell will return to U.K. broadcaster ITV with musical game show format “Walk The Line.” The format sees musical acts take to the stage to perform, as well as a panel of judges headed up by Simon Cowell. The top two performers of the evening then face a

The U.K. government will “consider tightening regulation of video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video,” the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) revealed on Wednesday. The government consultation will explore VOD services being subject to similar rules as traditional linear broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Sky. These

In the months since Alex Trebek’s death, “Jeopardy” has been publicly trying out multiple new angles, looking for someone who might credibly take over for the legendary host. In the main, these fill-ins have been quite successful, providing both some continuity with what Trebek did well while also lending their own personalities to the proceedings.

More than a dozen of music’s biggest stars, from Beyoncé to H.E.R., would love an Emmy to add to their award shelves. A Variety review of the 535 entries throughout the Television Academy’s seven music categories reveals a surprising number of A-list singers, songwriters and music directors apparently eager for TV’s top honor. Among them:

When Discovery launched a new initiative with No Kid Hungry in 2019, the goal was to deliver a billion meals to hungry children in five years. They’ve already pulled it off with years to spare — but the campaign isn’t over. “We’re not done,” said Jessica Beatus, Discovery’s group vice president for standards and social

To succeed in the motley and polyglot world of 21st-century media, where the borders between film and TV have grown porous, and global streaming platforms have become such a disruptive force that the very word “TV” seems old-fashioned, one could do worse than get a schooling in the rough-and-tumble world of Ukrainian television in the

Now that Chris Harrison is out of “The Bachelor,” who will take over his role as host of the reality dating franchise? ABC and Warner Bros. are in no rush to name a replacement after Harrison departed the franchise he had hosted for 19 years, numerous insiders previously told Variety. But the position is a

In the 15 years since its founding, Star Media has grown into an international media group and distribution powerhouse, with a catalog boasting more than 7,500 hours of content available in more than 60 countries worldwide. But the company remains true to its roots as a production house, and its focus is still on the

In Paris Hilton’s “This Is Paris,” the hotel heiress and entrepreneur says her work ethic is driven by money. She says she won’t slow down until she makes one billion dollars. The doc, available on YouTube, was shot two years ago. Now, at age 40, Hilton tells me she truly feels that money isn’t everything.

Fifteen years after launching as an independent production company in Ukraine, Star Media has evolved into an international media group, with a multichannel network on YouTube that’s made it the largest film and TV content aggregator in Russia and CIS. Protecting content in the digital age, however, is an uphill battle, which is what prompted

“Ziwe” has been renewed for Season 2 at Showtime. The second season of the late-night variety sketch series will consist of 12 episodes and be split into two installments. The first season of the series debuted on May 19. “This show has exceeded my wildest imagination thanks to my brilliant cast, crew and iconic guests,”

Channel 4 bosses on Tuesday came out swinging against a U.K. government bid to privatize the “Greate British Bake Off” broadcaster. The cloud of privatization — which would significantly alter the remit of Channel 4, a publicly owned not-for-profit corporation — has been hanging over the org in recent years, and was put in sharp

Norman S. Powell, the veteran Hollywood producer, director and network executive known for his award-winning documentary “Brothers at War,” has died. He was 86. Powell’s career in television and film spanned six decades and included work on “24,” “The Big Valley,” “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Bob Crane Show.” He was the

“Solar Opposites” has been renewed for Season 4 at Hulu. The news comes before Season 3 of the series has aired, with that season set to launch in 2022. The show had received a two-season order when it was first picked up at Hulu. Season 2 of the series was released in its entirety on

Hulu’s upcoming comedy series “Only Murders in the Building” has dropped its first teaser, following three strangers obsessed with true crime, portrayed by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. However, their obsession becomes a little too real when the three murder mystery fanatics unexpectedly find themselves involved in a murder case. In the teaser,

Glenn Close is joining hit Israeli thriller “Tehran.” Close, who has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards, will be a series regular in the upcoming second season of the show, which aired on Apple TV Plus last summer and has become a global hit for the platform. The show originally premiered on Israel’s KAN public

COVID-19 lockdowns have provided the perfect backdrop for companies seeking to reinvent the world of content distribution. With international travel restricted and physical markets on hold for over a year, digital platforms that help TV and film sellers to connect with buyers around the world have come into focus as never before. Prior to the

Warner TV, the French pay-TV channel and on-demand service launched by WarnerMedia, is teaming with Mediawan Group’s MakingProd for its first French original TV series, “Visitors,” a fantasy comedy by Simon Astier (“Zero Corp,” “Mortel”). The eight-part half-hour series was created, written and is being directed by Astier, whose fanboy profile and graphic universe seem

It’s not all — or even remotely — about looks in Netflix’s new dating series “Sexy Beasts,” which will be narrated by “Catastrophe” star and comedian Rob Delaney, Variety can reveal. Produced by All3Media-backed Lion TV, the streamer has signed on for two seasons of the reality show, which sees singles heading into blind dates transformed into

Georges Simenon Limited (GSL) has signed a licence and co-production arrangement with Colin Callender’s Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning Playground (“Howards End”) to co-develop with Red Arrow Studios International a new English-language returning Inspector Maigret drama series. The series will be based on Georges Simenon’s iconic series of novels about the ingenious French detective Jules Maigret.

“Boardwalk Empire’s” Jack Huston will star in a new action/thriller series inspired by “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Alexandre Dumas’ timeless novel. It is being developed by Constantin Film and will be directed by Stephen Hung (“Into the Badlands”). Huston will play a broken man who, upon escaping his imprisonment, sets out to find justice

Allison Mack provided federal prosecutors with an audio tape that helped convict sex cult leader Keith Raniere in which Raniere and Mack have a chilling discussion about how to brand his “slaves,” prosecutors said in a memo on Monday. Mack, the former “Smallville” star, is due to be sentenced on June 30 for her role

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the June 21 episode of “The Bachelorette.” The third episode of Season 17 of “The Bachelorette” led to some emotional declarations, not least of all from lead Katie Thurston, who shared a story about being sexually assaulted. During the first date of the week,