Robin Thede’s Emmy-nominated sketch series “A Black Lady Sketch Show” is back for Season 2 — packed with many new characters for its core actors to play, while donning dozens of wigs (sometimes more than one in the same sketch) and acting opposite new and returning guest stars. But the road to get there wasn’t
Television
Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, creators of ‘The Knick,” have inked a three-year, overall deal with HBO. Under the pact’s terms, the duo will serve as showrunners and writers on the premium cabler’s reboot of “Perry Mason,” replacing the previous season’s showrunners Ron Fitzgerald and Rolin Jones. Previously, Amiel and Begler were in the Cinemax
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the first season finale of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” streaming now on Disney Plus. The six-episode run of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” has in many ways centered not on the Falcon or the Winter Soldier individually but on the legacy of
A limited series inspired by the story of Cyntoia Brown Long is in development at Starz with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and La La Anthony onboard as executive producers. Based on Brown-Long’s book, “Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System,” the series tells the story of Brown-Long, who was sex trafficked
Diego Maradona, hailed as one the best soccer players ever, will be the subject of a new docuseries from Sofia Vergara’s Latin World Entertainment and Dhana Media. Maradona, who died of a heart attack in November, has been the subject of numerous docs and scripted projects — though this series touts an exclusive archive, and
Alexander Hodge will guest star in ABC’s drama pilot “Epic,” hailing from “Once Upon a Time” creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. The actor joins previously announced lead cast members Eleanor Fanyinka (“Masters of Love,” “Holby City”) and Brittany O’Grady (“Little Voice,” “Star”) in the ABC Signature production. “Epic” is described as a romantic anthology
Ellen DeGeneres, notorious aficionado of internet culture and memes, is the latest to get swept up in the mania for non-fungible tokens — better known as NFTs. DeGeneres is set to drop her first-ever NFTs next week, with proceeds from the stunt to be donated to Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen food-relief organization. NFTs
“The Last of Us” series adaptation at HBO has found its directors in Jasmila Žbanić and Ali Abbasi. Žbanić’s latest film, “Quo vadis, Aida” was nominated for the Oscar for best international film feature. The film won the Film Independent Spirit Award for best international film on Thursday. Abbasi won the Cannes Film Festival’s Un
Bob Costas will return to HBO to host a new sports-interview series, more than a decade after leaving the WarnerMedia outlet to take up duties at MLB Network. “Back on the Record With Bob Costas” will debut later this spring on HBO, and will be available to stream on HBO Max. The program, a play
When Ross Riege was in initial conversations for “Rutherford Falls” with fellow cinematographer and now director Lawrence Sher (DP on Todd Phillips’ “Joker”), one of the ideas was how to explore the quirkiness of a small town. The new Peacock sitcom, which premiered April 22, stars Ed Helms as Nathan Rutherford, a descendant of the
Sheela Birnstiel, formerly known as Ma Anand Sheela, or more simply Sheela, emerged as by far the most colorful character in the Duplass Brothers’ “Wild Wild Country” documentary series, released by Netflix in 2018. While the Rajneesh religious group rose and fell, Sheela’s individual narrative included impassioned entanglements with media and prison time for attempted
“The Flight Attendant” Season 2 at HBO Max is bringing in a new co-showrunner. Natalie Chaidez has joined the critically-acclamed series as co-showrunner alongside Steve Yockey, who developed the series. Season 1 co-showrunners Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin are exiting the series. Chaidez will executive produce along with Yockey, Greg Berlanti, series star Kaley Cuoco,
On a cross-country flight from New York to Los Angeles not too long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Steven Canals got into a conversation with his seatmate, a woman in her mid- to late-50s who, after hearing he was a writer and producer, asked him if he worked on anything she would know. When he
“Quantico” star Tracy Ifeachor (pictured, right), “Star Trek: Discovery’s” James Frain (left) and “Rocks” actor Sharon D. Clarke are set to star in BBC drama “Showtrial” from “Bodyguard” producer World Productions. The five-part series, which will air on flagship channel BBC One, is now in production. Ben Richards (“The Tunnel”) writes, while Zara Hayes (“Poms”)
Producer Chuck Lorre paid tribute to former Warner Bros. TV Group chief Peter Roth as “our happy hugging hero” in a message featured on his custom vanity card that aired tonight at the end of the four Lorre-produced comedies on CBS’ Thursday lineup. For vanity card No. 669, the prolific producer penned a cheeky poem
Heading into Thursday’s Spirit Awards, Film Independent’s inaugural foray into recognizing television had already passed the so-called “smell test.” That’s because, at the very least, HBO’s “I May Destroy You” had already been recognized as best ensemble cast in a new scripted series. And if there was any TV show that embraces the independent spirit,
Disney Plus launched in November 2019, at a time when coronavirus wasn’t on the World Health Organization’s radar yet and quarantine lockdowns seemed a thing of dystopian films. Soon, the streamer had to amass subscribers, maintain audience engagement and shift movie debuts, all while keeping the budding platform afloat. Against all odds, Disney Plus has
With the final season of “Younger” underway, Hilary Duff’s slate was open, as she set her eyes on her next project. And after the hotly anticipated Disney Plus revival of “Lizzie McGuire” fell apart, she was in-demand. The new mother of three was looking for a project that would shoot in Los Angeles, her home
Profane and profound. Shocking and sweet. Absurdist and astute. And above all, hilarious. After 23 outrageous, obscenity-peppered seasons, “South Park” remains television’s most unrepentant animated provocateur, offering up creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s signature, scathing social commentary; twisted characters; deep-dive, pop-cultural references; and off-color, often scandalous, humor that leaves viewers asking themselves, “Did they
ABC’s Oscar telecast may not draw as many viewers as it has in the past, but it will still air a full suite of commercials. The network has sold out all of its available advertising inventory for the annual awards event, Jerry Daniello, senior vice president, entertainment brand solutions, for Disney Advertising Sales, said in
Richard Lewis is coming back to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” after all. After initially stating that he was taking a break from the show to recover from surgeries, the comedian and actor announced Thursday that he will star in one episode of the show’s upcoming season. Lewis tweeted a photo on the set of “Curb,” writing,
“The whales didn’t get the script, so you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get,” said Brian Armstrong, director of underwater odyssey “Secrets of the Whales,” out now on Disney Plus. Armstrong joined editor Meredith Woerner for Variety‘s Doc Dreams, presented by National Geographic, to discuss the making of the continent-hopping, documentary and the
Like so many actors fortunate enough to work over the past year, there was a two-week stretch last fall when Ben Barnes found himself sequestered alone in a Canadian hotel room. He was there for “Shadow and Bone,” the new fantasy series Netflix hopes will become one of its signature genre franchises alongside “The Witcher”
Ice-T drives an electric car. He has solar panels on his house. “I’m not a fanatic when it comes to the environment, but I definitely try to do my part,” says the actor and musician. Now he’s working to help Tide clean up some of TV advertising’s most well-worn elements. Most ads for laundry detergent
Netflix has ordered a documentary series about NASCAR Cup Series driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace. The series is currently in production and will follow Wallace behind the scenes of the 2021 NASCAR season as he competes for the newly formed 23XI Racing team, which was created by Wallace, Michael Jordan, and Denny Hamlin. Wallace is currently
Even in a TV landscape strewn with new streaming services, media is still all about the bundle. The rise of mighty new platforms bolstered with high-wattage content has been heralded as evidence of the great un-bundling in the pay-TV sector, a trend that does not bode well for Hollywood’s balance sheets. But as the TV
Vivendi, the Paris-based parent company of Universal Music Group and Canal Plus Group, saw its revenues rise by 5% to €3.9 billion ($4.6 billion) during the first quarter of 2021. The company’s results were primarily bolstered by Universal Music Group whose revenues went up 9.4% thanks to the growth in subscription and streaming revenues (which
While running NBCUniversal’s boutique TV studio UCP, Dawn Olmstead thought of the company behind such shows as “Dirty John” and “The Umbrella Academy” as something of an indie shingle inside a larger conglomerate. But then she took the job as CEO and partner at Anonymous Content. At UCP, Olmstead had worked with Anonymous on “Mr.
Tracey Ashley is developing a comedy series inspired by her life and stand up at Fox with Wanda Sykes and Tiffany Haddish onboard as executive producers, Variety has learned exclusively. Title “Tracey’s Life Matters,” the single-camera show follows Tracey, a savvy, independent black woman, who moves with her white husband to his hometown in rural
Streaming giant Netflix announced a new collaboration with Hype House, to produce an unscripted series following social media influencers. The currently untitled series, which is already in production, will follow the lives of “some of the world’s biggest social media stars,” per the streamer, including Kouvr Annon, Nikita Dragun, Sienna Mae Gomez, Chase Hudson, Larri