Television

The Mayim Bialik and Jim Parsons comedy “Call Me Kat” is getting a second season at Fox, the media conglomerate announced today. The multi-cam sitcom stars Emmy Award nominee Bialik, Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Swoosie Kurtz, Grammy Award nominee Cheyenne Jackson, Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan, Image Award nominee Kyla Pratt and

Laverne Cox has been tapped as the new face of the red carpet for E! The NBCUniversal-owned cabler has tapped the “Orange Is the New Black” star to serve as host of the “Live From E!” franchise for the cabler that is known for its extensive coverage of the preamble to awards shows and festivals.

Sky on Monday launched high-end TV series “Domina,” which examines Roman history through a female prism, toplining Kasia Smutniak (“Perfect Strangers,” “Devils”) as Livia Drusilla, the politically astute third wife of Emperor Augustus and mother of Emperor Tiberius, who managed to exert great power at a time of crisis for the Roman Empire. The Comcast-owned paybox

“Mystery Science Theater 3000” is coming back strong. The beloved cult series will be back with more original episodes and a custom online distribution platform thanks to another successful Kickstarter campaign. The campaign, which concluded May 7 after 30 days, raised over $6.5 million with over 36,000 backers. Series creator Joel Hodgson will use the

Peacock is expanding its documentary slate, with the streamer announcing three new projects. The first is currently titled “Downey Wrote That.” The documentary will explore the sketches, contributions, and enduring influence of Jim Downey, one of the most impactful comedy writers in the history of “Saturday Night Live.” Downey has worked on over 30 seasons

HBO’s new limited series “The White Lotus” will debut on July 11. Starring Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O’Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney and Steve Zahn, the social satire that takes place at an exclusive Hawaiian resort will air on HBO and be available to stream on

There was an argument to be made that the now-mononymous comedy star Ziwe was among the best television performers of 2020 — even though her existing outside television was what had made her a star. Ziwe’s Instagram Live series, in which she delivered startlingly direct interviews with internet stars and comedian peers about race, made

WarnerMedia is joining Netflix and Amazon Studios in refusing to participate in any more events related to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association until the org demonstrates real, lasting reform and change, according to a letter that has been sent to HFPA president Ali Sar. In the letter, signed by key WarnerMedia execs and shared with

Mandy Chang, the head of BBC documentary strand Storyville, is stepping down after four years in the role to join super-indie Fremantle as global head of factual. Chang, whose role was officially commissioning editor of Storyville and acquisitions, will stay in the post until August, though recruitment for the role will begin in due course.

The Weeknd will perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23 — which is only fitting since he’s the top finalist this year with nominations in 16 categories, riding the success of his blockbuster “After Hours” album and its smash single “Blinding Lights,” which has crushed multiple streaming and chart records. Over the course

Since “Shadow and Bone” premiered on Netflix on April 23, the fantasy epic series has been a fixture at or near the top of the streamer’s Top 10 lists in the U.S. and worldwide. Audiences have devoured its story of orphaned mapmaker Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), who discovers she holds the unique — and

To highlight its Asian American and Pacific Islander creators and talent during AAPI Heritage Month, Netflix is launching a hub on the service dedicated to AAPI content, as well as a national ad campaign. The company joins other streaming services in spotlighting its AAPI shows and movies — HBO Max and Hulu are just two

Adriana Ugarte, star of hit Spanish TV drama “The Time in Between” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Julieta,” will play the lead role in Atresmedia original series “Madre.” A remake of successful Turkish TV drama “Anne,” in turn an adaptation of Japanese series “Mother,” “Madre” continues Spanish media conglomerate Atresmedia’s bet on re-versioning recent standout Turkish scripted

Elon Musk’s turn as “Saturday Night Live” host brought the NBC late-night mainstay its third-highest ratings of the season. The May 8 edition of “SNL” averaged a 4.8 household rating in Nielsen’s overnight metered markets and a 2.7 rating in adults 18-49. That put Musk’s episode at No. 3 behind Dave Chappelle’s outing as host

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the third and final season of “Shrill,” now streaming on Hulu. Halfway through its second season, “Shrill” beat its wayward characters to the punch by figuring itself out completely. Based on Lindy West’s memoir of the same name, the Hulu comedy spent much of tis

Elon Musk declared himself to be the first person with Asperger syndrome to host “Saturday Night Live” in the opening of his May 8 monologue. “Or at least the first person to admit it,” he said on stage at Studio 8H. Musk identified casually and then followed it up with a joke, noting that he’s

Miley Cyrus opened the May 8 episode of “Saturday Night Live” with a song dedicated to “all the moms out there.” Taking place the night before Mother’s Day, this episode has historically been treated as a Mother’s Day episode, with special songs and sketches dedicated to and often featuring cast members’ mothers. This cold open

NBC started broadcasting “Saturday Night Live” live across the U.S in 2017. Now the network is preparing to live stream the show around the world. The network said tonight’s broadcast, hosted by Elon Musk and featuring Miley Cyrus as musical guest, would be shown around the globe via YouTube, a new attempt to broaden the

The president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association wants to meet with Ted Sarandos after the Netflix co-CEO announced that the streamer will no longer work with the group behind the Golden Globes. Sarandos informed the HFPA that he wasn’t satisfied with its plans to overhaul the organization following weeks of criticism for its lack

Julie E. “Tawny” Kitaen, who famously appeared in several music videos for the rock group Whitesnake in the ‘80s, has died. The Orange County, Calif. coroner’s office, which listed her as Tawny Finley, stated that she died at her home in Newport Beach on Friday morning, but a cause of death has not been revealed.

The multibillion-dollar market for sports broadcasting rights is wreaking havoc in Europe, where soccer teams are suffering heavy losses due to pandemic-shuttered stadiums as new media players enter the field. Rapidly abandoned plans by 12 top European teams to form a lucrative breakaway soccer Super League in late April sparked pandemonium among millions of fans,

The untitled “Goonies” reenactment pilot and “Blood Relative” are no longer moving ahead at Fox, Variety has learned. The two projects were holdovers from Fox’s 2020 pilot season that were delayed in shooting due to the pandemic. The decision to ax “Blood Relative” comes as something of a surprise, given that it starred Oscar winner

Hulu has released a first look at Lily James and Sebastian Stan as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in the limited series “Pam and Tommy.” The comedic series takes on the true story behind the release of the first ever viral video in history — the sex tape of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. Along

Michaela Coel is best known as a creator of great art, with “I May Destroy You” and “Chewing Gum,” but she’s also a consumer. And her taste in movies, television, podcasts and books is as varied in tone as that of her work. Over the last year, Coel dove into heady podcasts and books, but

Nielsen, the company that measures TV audiences every day says it still needs a few weeks to get its counting procedures back to normal. In a May 6 letter to TV networks, media-measurement giant Nielsen said it is still working to “resolve outstanding maintenance needs” in approximately 2700 homes that serve in its panel of

Fox has ordered the country music drama series “Monarch” for the 2021-2022 broadcast season from executive producer and creator Melissa London Hilfers. The show, formerly known as “Untitled Country Music Dynasty,” will feature original songs and covers. Per the logline, the one-hour drama is a Texas-sized, multigenerational musical drama about America’s first family of country

Roku paid $97.8 million in cash for This Old House Ventures, the home-improvement media company whose shows include “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House.” Roku disclosed the price tag in its 10-Q quarterly filing Friday. The company said it acquired the This Old House business because it “believes the content aligns with The

Mj Rodriguez will star opposite Maya Rudolph in an upcoming Apple comedy series that hails from Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, Variety has learned. The series was ordered at Apple in March. It follows Molly (Rudolph), a woman whose seemingly perfect life is upended after her husband leaves her with nothing but 87 billion dollars.

As Season 5 of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” heads toward its conclusion at the end of the month, Variety has the scoop on the guest panelists and show formats for the final three episodes. On Wednesday, the “Spicy 6” episode saw actor/singer Tyrese Gibson unmasked as the Robopine. When “The Masked Singer” returns next week

The CW released the first look at Azie Tesfai’s Guardian, who will appear in the sixth and final season of “Supergirl.” Kelly Olsen (Tesfai) will take on the mantle of Guardian in the second half of the final season. The series previously hinted that Kelly will take up the mantle left by her brother, James