Television

Isha Sesay, who spent 13 years at CNN International as an anchor and reporter, is the new CEO of OkayMedia, a media company dedicated to Black culture and uplifting Black voices. Sesay has also been appointed to the OkayMedia board of directors, which includes Sam Hendel, co-founder of Dataminr, and Shawn Gee, president of Live

Jen Shah from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” has been indicted and arrested for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges, brought about from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, were announced on Tuesday. Shah was arrested

Donald Faison has joined “The Powerpuff Girls” live-action pilot at The CW in the role of Professor Drake Utonium. The series, now titled simply “Powerpuff,” was first announced as being in development back in August. Based on the Cartoon Network series created by Craig McCracken, the new series sees the pint-sized superheroes as disillusioned twentysomethings

“Dancing With the Stars” is waltzing its way back onto our screens yet again, with ABC picking up the reality competition series for a milestone 30th season. Host Tyra Banks and judges Len Goodman, Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli are all expected to return to the dance competition series. A premiere date

Longtime 20th animation exec Marci Proietto has been tapped to lead Disney Television Studios’ new production unit, 20th Television Animation, which currently has 11 series in production. Under Proietto’s leadership as executive vice president of the unit, 20th Television Animation will continue to manage and produce the company’s long-running series, including “Family Guy,” “American Dad,”

Universal Studios Hollywood is back: The Universal City, Calif. theme park has set an April 16 reopening date and will be limited to California residents for the time being. The decision follows adjusted guidelines from state officials that allowed theme parks, ballparks and stadiums to reopen as early as April 1, as vaccinations increase and

Objective Fiction, producer of Netflix/Channel 4 show “Feel Good,” is setting up a permanent U.S.-based operation. Hannah Mackay, previously the outfit’s head of scripted, will be relocating to Los Angeles to take up the role of senior VP, Objective Fiction America, with immediate effect. Mackay’s focus will be on North American original commissions, alongside U.S./U.K.

Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House Press Secretary during the Trump administration, will take on a regular anchoring job at Fox News Channel, co-hosting the daytime program, “Outnumbered,” a move that helps cement the Fox Corporation-backed outlet’s Trump ties in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Starting April 6, McEnany will appear regularly on the

“Rick and Morty” Season 5 will debut this summer on Adult Swim. The network announced Tuesday that the hit animated series will return with new episodes on June 20 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. In addition, the network is declaring the date Rick and Morty Day. The announcement was accompanied by a new trailer. Rick and

U.K. channel BBC Three has commissioned “Wrecked,” a six-part comedy horror series from Fremantle’s Euston Films (“The Sister,” “Dublin Murders”). Written by emerging talent Ryan J. Brown, the six-part series is set aboard a mega cruise ship. It follows 19-year-old new recruit Jamie as he joins the crew in search of his missing sister. She

BBC Drama has revealed eight new commissions from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England and announced four new commissioning roles. From Northern Ireland, six-part BBC One series “Blue Lights” is a police drama created by the writers of “The Salisbury Poisonings,” Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn. It follows probationary police officers working in contemporary Belfast,

WWE and NBCUniversal have signed a new multi-year deal that will keep NXT on USA Network. In addition, NXT will be moving from Wednesday to Tuesday nights beginning April 13. Speaking with Variety, WWE executive vice president of global talent strategy and development Paul Levesque said that the decision to initially have the show on Wednesdays

Actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton, radio personality Trevor Nelson, musician KSI and author Malorie Blackman are among the signatories on a letter by comedian Lenny Henry asking the U.K.’s Black population to take COVID-19 vaccination jabs. An Office for National Statistic survey shows that less than half (49%) of Black or Black British adults

Netflix has boarded new action-packed film projects in France, including the sequel of Guillaume Pierret’s thriller “Lost Bullet,” and Regis Blondeau’s “A Tombeau Ouvert,” a remake of the Korean film “A Hard Day.” The service’s slate of Originals for 2021, meanwhile, comprises the action movie “The Last Mercenary” with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the series

U.K. independent factual production company Icon Films has appointed Belinda Cherrington as creative director. Based in Washington D.C., Cherrington will report into Icon CEO and co-founder Laura Marshall and joins the leadership team of Lucy Middelboe, commercial director, and Andie Clare, director of production, with immediate effect. She is in charge of expanding the Icon

Suzanne Mackie, one of the U.K.’s foremost drama executives, has been selected as the 2021 recipient of Variety’s International Achievement in Television Award, to be presented at the MipTV virtual global content market in Cannes in April. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated leadership and innovation in the international television marketplace. In 2020, Mackie

Nickole Jones, the Emmy-nominated key hairstylist on “Big Little Lies” and hair department head for “Young Sheldon,” has died of cancer. She was 45. Fellow makeup artist Anya Brewster, who is the ESPN hair and makeup department head, confirmed Jones’ death to Variety. In a GoFundMe page dedicated to Jones’ memory, Brewster wrote: “After a long

“Superstore” has really, truly closed its doors. “Bo & Cheyenne,” the spinoff from writers and exec producers Bridget Kyle and Vicky Luu that would have focused on Johnny Pemberton and Nichole Sakura’s characters from the mothership series, is not moving forward, a source close to the project has confirmed to Variety. Cleveland.com first broke the

“American Gods” has been canceled at Starz. The series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name will not return for a fourth season. However, sources tell Variety that the network is open to a potential event series or movie to wrap up any loose ends. “American Gods will not return for a fourth

The CW’s “All American” pilot spinoff starring Geffri Maya, “All American: Homecoming,” has added half a dozen new cast members: Peyton Alex Smith, Kelly Jenrette, Cory Hardrict, Sylvester Powell, Netta Walker and Camille Hyde. “All American: Homecoming,” executive produced and written by “All American” showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll, takes place against the backdrop of the

Capitol Music Group has responded to an allegation made in HBO’s new “Tina” documentary that an executive in the early 1980s disparaged Tina Turner by using the N-word, calling the remarks “reprehensible and appalling.” Said a Capitol Label Group spokesperson, “The incident that John Carter describes in the HBO documentary, ‘Tina,’ would have occurred 40

Comedian Pete Holmes will star as an aspiring Midwestern professional bowler in an untitled CBS comedy from CBS Television Studios and writer Mark Gross. One of three new pilots CBS has ordered this year, the untitled multi-camera pilot revolves around Tom Smallwood, a Michigan man who is laid off from a General Motors automotive plant

Christina Ochoa has been cast in a major role of 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. Ochoa will star as Veronica Sandoval, the eldest daughter of the Sandoval family, a wealthy

In today’s TV news roundup, Discovery Plus released a trailer for “The Swim,” and Apple TV Plus announced original Earth Day programming, including “The Year Earth Changed” and new seasons of “Tiny World” and “Earth At Night In Color.” DATES Apple TV Plus announced new original Earth Day programming set to premiere on April 16,

Amid the rise in vaccinations and decline in COVID-19 case rates in California, Sony Pictures Entertainment is looking to have employees begin returning to the lot in Culver City, Calif. beginning on June 1. The studio has a “tentative eye towards being fully up to speed on the lot by Labor Day,” according to an

The BBC will deliver £880 million ($1.21 billion) of annual savings this year, more than its target of £800 million ($1.1 billion), and has achieved this ahead of schedule, it was revealed it its yearly plan. The plan also projects that ongoing savings will rise above £950 million ($1.31 billion) for the next financial year.

Independent distributor All3Media International has secured sales rights to Roast Beef Productions’ feature-length Channel 4 documentary “Who Is Ghislaine Maxwell?” All3Media will manage global distribution rights, excluding U.K., to the 90-minute film, which will debut on U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 later this year. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell is incarcerated in a New York jail while

Nate Mann will join the Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman executive-produced “Band of Brothers”/”The Pacific” franchise continuation for Apple TV Plus. He joins an ensemble cast that includes previously announced cast members Anthony Boyle (“The Plot Against America,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”) as well as Austin Butler (“The Carrie Diaries”), and

Amanda Seyfried has signed on to play Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the Hulu series “The Dropout.” Seyfried takes over the role from Kate McKinnon, whose exit from the project was reported in February. The series tells the story of Holmes, the enigmatic Stanford dropout who founded medical testing start-up Theranos. She was lauded as

National Geographic is known for sweeping landscape cinematography of visually stunning and often remote locations of the world. Reality television producers Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri are known for following people as they perform intense physical and emotional challenges in global locations. Now, these powerhouses have partnered to deliver “Race to the Center of