Television

Netflix revealed that it will spend over $17 billion on content this year, according to its first-quarter earnings report. “As we’ve noted previously, the production delays from Covid-19 in 2020 will lead to a 2021 slate that is more heavily second half weighted with a large number of returning franchises,” said the company in its

Between 1971 and 1997, if you said “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers,” you were talking about comics artist Gilbert Shelton’s illustrated pothead underground series. Stoned being the way of the walk, Shelton characters like Phineas T. Phreak and Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek were busy buying weed, selling weed and talking about weed. It is fitting then

In retrospect, the opening of “All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur” tells us everything we need to know about the mentality and calculations that led to the team announcing the hiring and firing of mercurial coach Jose Mourinho, and its part in a proposed European “Super League” that has the entire soccer world in panicked shambles.

When Olivia Holt rose to prominence on Disney XD’s “Kickin’ It” in 2011, she was barely 14 years old — the same age as Jessica Biel when she began working on the family drama “7th Heaven,” 15 years earlier. Now, the two women are teaming up for “Cruel Summer,” Freeform’s psychological thriller in which Holt

Dave Chappelle, Talib Kweli, and Yasiin Bey have partnered with subscription podcast network Luminary on the new podcast “The Midnight Miracle.” The show is described as salon style and features the three hosts and creators as well as their friends and featured guests. “The Midnight Miracle” was recorded during Chappelle’s 2020 Summer Camp at “The

As European soccer kicked off on Sunday, rumors began to fly of an impending announcement from 12 of the world’s most powerful soccer clubs revealing plans to form a new midweek competition, the European Super League (ESL). My two favorite teams, Manchester United in England and Atletico de Madrid in Spain, both won important games

“Ted Lasso” is back. The AFC Richmond coach and team are reunited in the first trailer for the hotly anticipated second season. Along with this first look, Apple TV Plus revealed the premiere date for the new season: July 23, 2021. So what awaits the Diamond Dogs in the new episodes? New characters and the

The “Wings of Fire” books by Tui T. Sutherland are being adapted into an animated series at Netflix with Ava DuVernay set to executive produce. The “Wings of Fire” books have sold more than 14 million copies around the world to date. Netflix has ordered 10 40-minute episodes of the series. The project had been

Endeavor aims to raise about $511 million with its initial public offering that will value the parent company of WME and UFC at about $10 billion. Early Tuesday, Endeavor filed its full prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company aims to sell 21.3 million shares priced at $23-$24 per share. Endeavor is also

Oscar-winning Irish writer-director Terry George (“Hotel Rwanda,” “In The Name of The Father”) and Egyptian writer Mariam Naoum have teamed up to co-write Arabic serial killer series “The Alexandria Killings” on which George will serve as showrunner. The high-end show in Arabic and English is based on the true story of shadowy Egyptian sisters Raya and

Erin Doherty, who won acclaim playing Princess Anne in “The Crown,” headlines the cast of Amazon Prime Video and BBC One psychological drama series “Chloe.” The cast also features rising U.K. acting talents including Billy Howle (“The Serpent”), Pippa Bennett-Warner (“Gangs of London”), and Jack Farthing (“Poldark”), alongside Poppy Gilbert (“Stay Close”), Akshay Khanna (“Grace”),

WarnerMedia has set up two Chinese-language series that will debut later this year. Period drama series “Legacy” hails from mainland China, while crime drama “Trinity of Shadows” is a three-way venture involving partners from Taiwan and Hong Kong. “Legacy” is a 1920s-set drama that chronicles the lives of the wealthy Yi family and three sisters

Adam Monaco was elevated to executive vice president at Disney Advertising Sales, part of a series of new appointments made under the unit’s president, Rita Ferro. Monaco, previously a senior vice president, will lead most sales for Disney’s news, sports and linear and streaming kids operations. He will report to Ferro. “Adam has done a

WarnerMedia has appointed broadcast executive Annelies Sitvast to the newly created role of head of unscripted production for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Based in Amsterdam, Sitvast will commission unscripted programming for streamer HBO Max, which will begin rolling out in Europe by year’s end, and will report into Antony Root, head of original production

French actor Corinne Masiero’s politically charged strip-tease during the Cesar Awards last month was just one of many protests staged across France to support freelance workers in the film, TV and live event industries that are still crippled by the pandemic. Labor organization CGT Spectacle has been spearheading a nation-wide occupation of drama theaters since

A new TV series will chart the rise and fall of Finnish cell phone company Nokia. Rabbit Films has begun production on “Mobile 1.0” (working title), a six-part scripted drama that explores the meteoric rise of Nokia to become the world’s leading manufacturer of mobile phones before a dramatic fall from grace. The Finnish and

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has issued a statement following an email sent by its former president calling the Black Lives Matter organization “a hate movement.” The L.A. Times published an article on Monday detailing the email, which was reportedly sent on Sunday. According to the Times, former HFPA president and current member Phil Berk

Korean-American star Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok), star of the upcoming Marvel film “The Eternals” will produce and star in “The Club,” an action series derived from South Korean scripted format “The Trap.” The production brings together Gorilla 8 Productions, a company owned by Lee, B&C Content’s Chris S. Lee, and U.S.-based Starlings Television. No

It’s always hard to recount and reveal truths about the life of a widely-recognized celebrity in a biopic format. It’s another challenge altogether when that celebrity is Luis Miguel, colloquially known as “The Sun of Mexico.” Carla González Vargas, showrunner of “Luis Miguel: La Serie” on Netflix and president of Gato Grande productions, a joint

In today’s Global Bulletin, BAFTA announces the jury for BAFTA’s Breakthrough India initiative; BFI Southbank outlines several seasons for its reopening; the Iron Throne is heading to Leicester Square in London; and Tony Orsten and Charlie Caminada launch Grand Scheme Productions. JURY BAFTA and Oscar-winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) is the jury chair

Ntertain will give an inside look at one of the most influential families in Latin music with its new docuseries, “Los Montaner.” The unscripted show will follow Ricardo Montaner and his family and is set to feature his wife, filmmaker Marlene Rodriguez; award-winning recording artists Ricky Montaner and Mau Montaner of Mau y Ricky; entertainer

Netflix has ordered the new series “Florida Man,” starring Edgar Ramírez and created by Donald Todd. The eight-episode series, described in the same vein as “Body Heat” and Elmore Leonard’s “Out of Sight,” revolves around a struggling ex-cop who is “forced to return to his home state of Florida to find a Philly mobster’s runaway

Apple TV Plus has ordered to series the bilingual drama “Now and Then” from Bambú Producciones and creators Ramón Campos, Teresa Fernández-Valdés and Gema R. Neira. Campos and Fernández-Valdés will serve as showrunners, with Neira and Campos writing the series. The series, which will be shot in both Spanish and English and set in Miami

Cecilia Suárez and Augusto Aguilera have joined the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned. The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. The pair joins previously announced cast members John Ortiz, Christina Ochoa and Mariel Molino. Suárez will star as

Anything goes in the futuristic anthology series “Love, Death & Robots,” returning for Volume 2 May 14 on Netflix. “Love, Death & Robots” is presented by creator Tim Miller and director David Fincher and Volume 2 consists of eight animated shorts that range from four to 15 minutes in length and feature explorers seeking new

Two TV series are moving production to California to take advantage of the state’s 25% tax credit for relocating shows, the California Film Commission announced on Monday. “The Flight Attendant,” on HBO Max, and TBS’s sitcom “Chad” will move to California for their second seasons. “The Flight Attendant” shot its first season in New York,

The “Joe Exotic” limited series in which Kate McKinnon will play Carole Baskin has cast John Cameron Mitchell to play the infamous “Tiger King” himself, Variety has learned. Mitchell has been cast as Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel, the larger-than-life zoo owner in Oklahoma who loses himself in his hatred for Carole Baskin (McKinnon). As previously announced, the

While “The Simpsons”’ parody of a “depressed British singer from the 1980s” — clearly styled at least partially on erstwhile Smiths frontman Morrissey — has gotten rave reviews in many quarters, the man himself is apparently less than thrilled. The singer was satirized as an imaginary friend of Lisa Simpson’s named Quilloughby, from a fictional

From its title, “Sasquatch” sounds like the story of Bigfoot — and at the start, it looks that way too. The three-part documentary series begins with journalist David Holthouse recounting the time he visited a cannabis farm and overheard the tale of three workers who had been devoured by the legendary beast. “Sasquatch” shares with

A handful of Europe’s biggest clubs — or at least its most profitable clubs — under the cover of darkness late Sunday evening released a letter outlining plans to form a breakaway European Super League, consolidating the power and money for European club football in the hands of those few owners. Unsurprisingly, it boils down