Television

Following an investigation into allegations of racially insensitive remarks from “All Rise” creator and co-showrunner Greg Spottiswood during Season 2 of the CBS series, Warner Bros. Television has severed ties with the TV creator. Co-showrunner Dee Harris-Lawrence will become sole showrunner of the show. “Warner Bros. Television has relieved ‘All Rise’ executive producer Greg Spottiswood

“Rival Peak,” the first-ever interactive AI reality series, has ended on Facebook Watch with more than 100 million minutes watched over the course of its 12-week season. The show hailed from dj2 Entertainment, Pipeworks Studios, and Genvid Technologies. It attracted viewers from over 70 countries, with the biggest audiences coming from the U.S., India, Brazil,

A damning parliamentary inquiry into the state of U.K. broadcasters and their battle with American streaming giants has found that domestic channels are being “let down” by antiquated legislation preventing them from competing on a level playing ground. The inquiry, which does not hold back in its criticism of Boris Johnson’s government, is calling for

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the premiere date for the third and final season of “The Kominsky Method,” and Disney Plus released the trailer for “Big Shot,” starring John Stamos. DATES Netflix announced that the third and final season of “The Kominsky Method” will be released May 28. The new season stars Michael

Star power has long greased the wheels of commerce. But the business of celebrity endorsements and business ventures has changed dramatically in the digital era when boldface names can flex their muscle through social media and direct-to-consumer platforms. UTA Ventures chief Sam Wick has a mission to spot innovative and lucrative opportunities for the talent

CBS is adding a third installment of Dick Wolf’s “FBI” franchise to its lineup next season, giving a series order to “FBI: International” from Wolf Entertainment and Universal TV. CBS has also renewed “FBI” for a fourth season and “FBI: Most Wanted” for a third round in the 2021-22 season. “FBI: International” will launch next

Lifetime is expanding its Harry & Meghan Creative Universe to air a third movie about the embattled royal couple. In the wake of Oprah Winfrey’s blockbuster interview with the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Lifetime has greenlighted “Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace,” which promises to “reveal what ultimately lead to the couple’s break

Disney Plus has ordered 10 episodes of a new TV series based on the popular “National Treasure” films. The show, a reimagining of the franchise, will include original producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley. Directed by Mira Nair, the series will explore identity, community and patriotism through the eyes of Jess Morales,

Disney Plus is going to cost a bit more for streamers in the U.S. starting this Friday. As of March 26, 2021, Disney Plus will be priced in the U.S. at $7.99 per month, up a dollar from the current $6.99, or $79.99 per year, compared with $69.99 for the annual plan previously. It’s the

“Vida” showrunner Tanya Saracho, “One Day at a Time” co-showrunner Mike Royce and TV writer and #PayUpHollywood co-founder Liz Hsiao Lan Alper are launching a program to support underrepresented groups in the television industry and provide them with the skill set to become writers’ assistants and script coordinators. The initiative has partnered with the Writers

Jamie Foxx has signed a new production deal with MTV Entertainment Group. Under the agreement, Foxx will produce feature films across the ViacomCBS division’s portfolio. Films hailing from Foxx and his producing partner Datari Turner will be focused on BIPOC creators and diverse storytelling. “Jamie Foxx and Datari Turner are creative forces whose talent is

“A Prophet,” the series adaptation of Jacques Audiard’s 2009 film, will be set in today’s France, in Marseille, with a young, Black protagonist. The original movie, which won Cannes’ grand jury prize and a BAFTA Award, and earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, starred Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”) as a 19-year-old French-Algerian sentenced to six

Bob Odenkirk exudes everyman energy. At a glance, the actor — best known as the morally malleable criminal lawyer Jimmy McGill (who later becomes Saul Goodman) on “Breaking Bad” and later “Better Call Saul” — is more suburban dad than Rambo. Odenkirk gets it. In fact, he was pretty sure he would get laughed out

Nick Pepper is joining Amazon Studios as head of studio creative content, where he will be tasked with packaging and maximizing the studio’s intellectual property and talent deals. The hiring follows a restructuring of Amazon Studio’s executive leadership team last month, which included Marc Resteghini’s elevation to head of development and the addition of Laura Lancaster

So, it’s round two for Ultimate Fighting Championship owner Endeavor Group Holdings, which last week signaled plans for yet another initial public offering following its scotched attempt in fall 2019. On March 18, Variety’s sister publication Sportico broke the news that the parent company of talent agencies WME and IMG had filed confidential paperwork for

In the first co-acquisition partnership between The CW and HBO Max, the broadcaster and streamer have acquired Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s “Wellington Paranormal,” a spinoff from their 2014 movie “What We Do in the Shadows.” The horror comedy will premiere on The CW sometime this summer, and episodes will then be available the next

Joel Steiger, who served as a writer, producer and consultant on some of the most successful television mystery series of the ’80s and ’90s including “Matlock,” “Jake and the Fatman” and “Diagnosis: Murder,” died Sunday in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 79. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of

Late night host and comedian Jay Leno has issued an apology for a series of jokes told over his career targeting Asian communities. The apology comes after nearly 15-year campaign from the activist group Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), for remarks as recent as Variety‘s 2020 report that Leno cracked about Koreans eating

Another film critics association is going where the cool kids are: TV. The Hollywood Critics Association, which launched in 2016 (originally as the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society) announced a plan to add a TV awards ceremony in summer 2021. That puts the Hollywood Critics Association directly opposite the well-established Television Critics Association, which

Meredith said its syndicated “People (The TV Show!) has been renewed for three additional seasons through 2024. The show, which airs on Meredith-owned TV stations in 12 different markets, has seen ratings increase in both households and viewers between 25 and 54, the company said. The most-watched episode of the program so far too place

Veteran Joe Hogan will leave his senior role at WarnerMedia’s ad sales after working at the company for 30 years, and will be succeeded by Katina Cukaj, who takes lead for advertising sales and partnerships under JP Colaco. Cukaj, who led ad sales for a time at CNN and moved on to tackle broader responsibilities

The U.K.’s Edinburgh TV Festival has appointed fashion designer Tan France as international editor of its advisory board, while Screen Scotland will be a joint headline sponsor for the event alongside YouTube. France is known as one of the Fab Five in Netflix’s Emmy-winning makeover hit, “Queer Eye.” The NY Times best-selling author and influential

“Chernobyl” producer Sister — the content studio set up by Jane Featherstone, Stacey Snider and Elisabeth Murdoch — has hired former “Black Mirror” producer Lucy Dyke to lead a new production hub out of Manchester, in northern England. The outfit is called Northern Sister, and will focus on developing and producing high-end scripted projects in

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s latest project for Netflix, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” has found its leads. Evan Peters, a longtime staple of Murphy’s “American Horror Story” anthology series, will take on the role of notorious serial killer Dahmer. Niecy Nash, who starred in Murphy and Brennan’s 2015 series “Scream Queens,” has been cast

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the return of reality competition series “The Circle” and “Too Hot to Handle,” and Bravo set the premiere  date for Season 13 of “The Real Housewives of New York City.” PROGRAMMING Popsugar announced Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Shonda Rhimes, Marsai Martin, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Auli’i Cravalho will join “Girl

By the end of the first episode of “Invincible,” 17-year-old Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) has discovered and embraced his own awesome powers, courtesy of his extraterrestrial father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). He’s learned how to take a punch, fly, and land — after making several alarmingly deep holes in his backyard, anyway. He’s also gotten his

ViacomCBS stock dropped nearly 9.1% Tuesday, as investors exited positions on news that the media conglomerate will sell up to $3.45 billion in stock as part of funding streaming content. The company’s shares closed at $91.25 apiece, coming a day after ViacomCBS’ announcement of plans to raise $3 billion in a stock offering. In addition,

Sherri Shepherd has boarded the ABC comedy pilot “Black Don’t Crack.” She is set to star and produce. Shepherd will play Angela Wright, a native New Yorker who is somewhere between 45 and death. She’s a single mom who’s put aside her musical dreams to raise her son after her husband dies. She’s been holding

After almost a decade, “Home & Family” is signing off of the Hallmark Channel. The morning show, which paused production twice amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to resume filming at the end of March. Now Variety has learned exclusively that that batch of episodes will be its last. “The ninth and current season of ‘Home

The ladies of “A Black Lady Sketch” show are back and the second season will be launching even sooner than fans expected. The sketch comedy series from creator Robin Thede will return on April 23, with a six-episode season airing on HBO and available to stream on HBO Max. “Oh you thought a pandemic was