Television

With her new Showtime variety series, Ziwe Fumudoh, known professionally as just Ziwe, is ready to create her “Ziwe cinematic universe.” The comedian and author went viral last summer when she hosted an Instagram Live show “from my bedroom.” Not only did she host and interview guests from Alyssa Milano to Alison Roman, but Ziwe

Glenn Close will welcome Demi Lovato to Bring Change to Mind’s virtual event “A Conversation Starter,” which will be held on May 23 at 8 p.m. Anderson Cooper, who lived through the tragedy of losing his brother to suicide, will be moderating the event. Mental health advocates Lovato, Close and Cooper will all share courageous

Gilda Radner was worried no one would remember her. In 1988, as she grappled with ovarian cancer, Radner’s longtime friend and collaborator Alan Zweibel was persuading her to do a guest shot on his Showtime series “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” one night as they walked along the sand in Santa Monica. Radner was hesitant. The

The announcement that Elon Musk was going to host “Saturday Night Live” seemed startling and odd on its face. That’s exactly how publicity stunts are supposed to feel. The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX exists adjacent to the community of performers — actors, comedians, musicians and pro athletes — who usually make up the

The Muppets are ghosting Disney Plus, and it’s a good thing: Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Pepe the King Prawn and the rest of the puppet pals will star in their first-ever Halloween special “Muppets Haunted Mansion,” dropping this autumn exclusively on Disney Plus. The special promises to feature a star-studded Muppets cast, likely

Channel 4 has come full circle with its catfishing reality hit. “The Circle” will come to an end after three seasons. A spokesperson for the U.K. broadcaster told Variety, “‘The Circle’ has been a huge hit for young audiences and has grown successively over three seasons on Channel 4, consistently outperforming slot averages. We’re incredibly

AMC Networks said first quarter profit rose even as it navigated declines in revenue and operating income in the midst of a challenging environment. The New York owner of the AMC, IFC and Sundance cable networks said net income came to $87 million, or $2.02 per share, compared with $68.7 million, or $1.22 per share in

Set to launch in Europe later this year, HBO Max has bolstered its originals pipeline with the announcement of “García!” a new series to be produced in Spain based on the popular graphic novel of the same name by authors Santiago García and Luis Bustos. Miguel Salvat, Steve Matthews and Antony Root, the trio behind

Embattled British star Noel Clarke has been accused of misbehavior of the sets of BBC’s flagship show “Doctor Who” — the program that helped turn him into a household name in the U.K. “Several sources came forward to allege they were sexually harassed or inappropriately touched by the actor on a flagship show, ‘Doctor Who,’”

SPOILERS: Do not read this article if you have not watched the May 6 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.”  Jesse Williams, who has played surgeon Jackson Avery on “Grey’s Anatomy” since the show’s sixth season, will be leaving the ABC medical drama at the end of this season, its 17th. Williams’ final episode, titled “Tradition,” will

What is dead may never die, and thus, the world of “Game of Thrones” will live on at HBO with prequel series “House of the Dragon.” While it’s only been two years since we waved goodbye to “Game of Thrones,” it feels like an eternity since we last traveled across Westeros. A lot has happened

Best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates will moderate a live conversation about the Amazon Prime Video series “The Underground Railroad,” Variety can announce exclusively. Coates will discuss the series with creator and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, as well as star Thuso Mbedu. Presented in partnership with Film at Lincoln Center and the National Center for Civil

In a rare week where no single program exceeded the 1 billion minute threshold, the Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer-led film “Thunder Force” opened with thunderous viewership on Netflix. The movie towered over all other programs on subscription-based streaming platforms in Nielsen’s Weekly Top 10 list, with 950 million viewing minutes for the week of

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has created iconic characters on “Seinfeld” and “Veep,” and with her overall deal with Apple, she’s poised for her next chapter. That future may or may not include more appearances as the Marvel villain Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine on Disney Plus’ “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” — something she can barely

Uzo Aduba’s production company, Meynon Media, has hired Dan DeNicola has senior vice president and head of development, Variety has learned exclusively. News of the hiring comes around two months after it was announced that Aduba had signed a multi-year producing deal with CBS Studios. In his new role, DeNicola will oversee the development of all

Disgraced TV journos Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer are back hosting another small market morning show — but this time, as imagined by Fox’s “Let’s Be Real,” in Fairbanks, Alaska. On Thursday night’s episode, the “Let’s Be Real” puppets imagine Rose and Lauer now toiling in the 49th state — moving on from their previous.

The membership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has approved its board’s plans to radically change the organization behind the Golden Globes. Sources tell Variety that the membership voted on the proposals earlier Thursday. Seventy-two members voted to approve the board’s plan, and three members voted against it. “Today’s overwhelming vote to reform the Association

When Steve McQueen first approached John Boyega about playing London police officer Leroy Logan in his Amazon Prime Video anthology series “Small Axe,” they were both amazed and puzzled by the story of the real-life trailblazer. Logan was a young forensic scientist who gave up that successful career to take on the challenge of a

Supersized K-pop group NCT is looking for new members, and the world will be watching — on television. MGM Television and its chairman Mark Burnett have inked a partnership with producer Soo-Man Lee and Korean powerhouse SM Entertainment to develop a K-pop competition series to find the newest members of NCT. The group is currently comprised

NBC and Lilly Singh will end her late-night program, “A Little Late With Lilly Singh,” after two years, the latest sign that TV networks are rethinking how to handle a widening array of wee-hours programs while viewing habits shift. Singh has signed a first-look deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio

In today’s Global Bulletin, the deceasing average of ages in BAFTA TV actress nominees raises ageism concerns; Gary Barlow sets music show at the BBC; RED Productions hires Chloe Dunbar as head of development; the European Audiovisual Observatory and the U.K.’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announce sustainability conference; “Game of Thrones” prequel

After a year of Zoom calls, virtual happy hours, and friendships confined to screens, “The Circle” should have sent me screaming into that good night with abject horror. And yet, a whole season later, I mostly find myself wishing I had more. Based on a British format, Netflix’s reality series is one of its most

Colton Ryan has signed on to star opposite Elle Fanning in the upcoming Hulu drama series “The Girl From Plainville,” Variety has learned. Fanning as Michelle Carter and is inspired by the true story of her controversial “texting-suicide” case. Based off the Esquire article of the same name by Jesse Barron, the limited series will explore Carter’s relationship

Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches are slated to co-host NBC’s latest summertime competition game show, “Ultimate Slip ‘N Slide,” which will make a splash during a special two-night premiere on Aug. 8 after the Olympic Closing Ceremony. The series, which hails from Universal Television Alternative Studio in association with Propagate, is described as a fresh

A new survey conducted The Actors Fund sheds more light on COVID-19’s impact on the entertainment industry. The organization surveyed 7,163 people who sought its assistance during the pandemic. The results were announced Thursday morning. From people who were surveyed, 76% reported loss of income, 62% lost party-time or gig employment, 50% lost full-time jobs

As “Stranger Things” has proven time and time again, not everything is as it seems. We last saw the gang in 2019 — er, July 1985— for the epic showdown against the Mind Flayer at the pristine Starcourt Mall. The Season 3 finale closed with the beloved Jim Hopper (David Harbour) seemingly dead, the Byers

In February, Stellantis’ Global Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois fulfilled a decade-long pursuit of working with Bruce Springsteen with a Super Bowl spot for Jeep, marking the first time The Boss and his music had appeared in a commercial for a major brand. For his latest musical foray, Francois has scored another commercial coup: a

ViacomCBS said first-quarter profit surged as the company enjoyed the benefits of ad sales associated with Super Bowl LV and lured 6 million new subscribers to streaming outlets such as Paramount Plus. The New York owner of CBS, Showtime and Nickelodeon said revenue increased 14% to $7.41 billion, up from nearly $6.5 billion in the

Federation Entertainment is set to co-develop and co-produce an adventure comedy TV series adapted from the bestselling Lucky Luke comics franchise with popular French actor Michael Youn attached. The company has teamed with French banner Un pour Tous Productions to acquire the audiovisual adaptation rights from Luke Comics, which revolves around a gunslinger in the

More than 800 members of the U.K. entertainment industry have signed an open letter decrying a work culture that’s been put in sharp relief following multiple misconduct allegations against actor Noel Clarke. The industry has been in a febrile state ever since The Guardian broke an explosive story detailing sexual harassment allegations against actor, writer