Television

“Snowfall,” the acclaimed drama set during the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles in the 1980s, has been renewed for a fifth season by FX, the network announced on Tuesday. Currently airing its fourth season, the show has seen a 41% increase in total viewers over its past season, with an average of 5.1 million

Naomie Harris has signed on for a lead role in “The Man Who Fell to Earth” series at Showtime, Variety has learned. Harris joins previously announced series lead Chiwetel Ejiofor. The show is based on Walter Tevis’ 1963 novel and the 1976 Nicolas Roeg film that starred David Bowie, both of the same name. In the

Hulu has ordered the animated comedy “Koala Man” to series. The series hails creator and executive producer Michael Cusack, with Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez onboard as executive producers and showrunners. “Rick and Morty” and “Solar Opposites” co-creator Justin Roiland will also executive produce along with Princess Pictures and Bento Box. 20th Television Animation will

Kosugi Yoshinobu, the president of the Nippon TV network, issued a public apology on Monday for a slur used by a comedian on the NTV infotainment show “Sukkiri” on March 12. The comic was commenting on a documentary that spotlighted a woman belonging to the Ainu, an indigenous people that live primarily on the northern

David Thewlis has signed on to star opposite Olivia Colman in “Landscapers,” HBO’s four-episode limited series from Sky Studios about a seemingly ordinary couple who become the focus of an investigation when dead bodies turn up in their yard. Will Sharpe, who worked with Colman in the offbeat 2016 British comedy series “Flowers,” has signed

Variety executive editor and New York Times bestselling author Ramin Setoodeh is writing a reported nonfiction book about “The Apprentice,” the TV show that single handedly changed the course of American history. HarperCollins has signed a deal to publish the book about the reality TV series starring Donald Trump, which will feature exclusive interviews with

Ben Hardy has been cast in the upcoming BBC One, HBO Max series “The Girl Before,” Variety has learned exclusively. Hardy joins previously announced cast members David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Jessica Plummer. The four-episode series is based on the book of the same name by J.P. Delaney. The series tells the story of Jane (Mbatha-Raw),

Hernán Caffiero, director and producer of 2018’s International Emmy-winning “The Suspended Mourning,” is teaming with up-and-coming director Bárbara Francisca Barrera Morales on “La vida de nosotras” – formerly “Voces anónimas” or “Anonymous Voices” in English – and the two will pitch their new short-format series at this year’s inaugural Sanfic Series Lab, joined by BTF

Roku has formed what it says is a full-fledged branded-content and advertising studio, after inking a deal with digital comedy producer Funny Or Die to hire several FOD execs and employees. Roku entered into an agreement with Funny Or Die’s branded entertainment division under which about a dozen of the company’s branded content team members

Longtime FX business affairs lawyer Shola Ajewole has been named to the newly formed position of senior vice president of creative and cultural diversity at the premium cabler. Ajewole, who will report to FX chairman John Landgraf, will head FX and FX Productions’ diversity and inclusion efforts, to “help ensure they are reflected in all

In today’s TV news roundup, HBO Max announced the release date for its new dark comedy, “Made For Love,” and Disney greenlit “Zombies 3.” DATES “Made For Love,” a dark comedy adapted from Alissa Nutting‘s novel of the same name, will debut on HBO Max with the first three episodes on April 1. The show

Citing no concrete numbers, Disney Plus announced on Monday that “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was the streaming service’s most watched series premiere ever during its opening weekend, exceeding the series premieres for “The Mandalorian” and “WandaVision.” The series premiere was also the most-watched title overall on the service worldwide, including in the Disney

Veteran music executives Tommy Mottola and Lex Borrero have teamed up with Range Media Partners to form Ntertain — a new cross-platform content company focused on Latino talent and storytelling. Ntertain has been quietly operational for the past six months, and is imminently preparing a slate of scripted and unscripted series and features, a well

Patrick Coker and Adam Wiesen have been named the new head writers of the BET series “Tales” going into the show’s third season, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is a scripted anthology of “song stories” weaving classic and current hip-hop songs into visual narratives from the lyrics of some of hip-hop’s greatest hits. Past episodes

“Codigo Implacable,” the first project from a co-development and co-production between Sony Pictures Television and The Mediapro Studio, has gone into production in Colombia. Based on a project originally entitled “35 Years and Counting,” which was announced at the 2019 L.A. Screenings, the series is created by TMS Director of International Content Development Ran Tellem,

Little did anyone know when “The Real Housewives of Orange County” premiered on Bravo on March 20, 2006, that it would change both popular culture and the nature of celebrity. “The Real Housewives” didn’t invent the docusoap format — that distinction goes to MTV for creating “The Osbournes” (2002), “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” (2003) and

“The View” co-host Meghan McCain has apologized for dismissing former President Donald Trump’s racist nicknames for COVID-19. Back in March 2020, the conservative talk show host said she didn’t “have a problem with people calling it [COVID-19] whatever they want.” “I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community,”

Y’lan Noel has been cast as Dan Freeman, the protagonist in the FX adaptation of Sam Greenlee’s spy novel, “The Spook Who Sat By the Door,” which is being executive produced by Lee Daniels. The project is in pilot production at the premium cabler. In “Spook,” the fictional Freeman is the first Black CIA officer

Peter Browngardt, Emmy-winning creator of “Uncle Grandpa” and “Secret Mountain Fort Awesome,” has signed an exclusive, multiyear, cross-studio overall deal with Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. He will develop and produce original animated programming for a variety of audiences, including pre-school, kids, adult and family/co-viewing. Under the terms of the pact, Browngardt, who

For the past year, leagues and teams, looking for new revenue sources, have in many cases turned to additional advertising signage on and around the field of play. In its newest holding, Bruin Sports Capital believes it has found a way to further capitalize on existing digital boards. Following a $100 million investment, according to

Fremantle has near sold the world outside Asia on “We Children From Bahnhof Zoo” – thanks to a raft of sales that include a worldwide deal with Amazon Prime Video for the U.S., English-speaking territories and all Europe’s outstanding major markets. Taking in further sales to HBO Europe, NENT Group and Russia’s More TV, the

David Hasselhoff is heading to Germany to star in a comedy spy series produced by Christian Alvart’s Berlin-based Syrreal Entertainment in what will be the first project from the company’s new international first-look deal with CBS Studios. A straight-to-series order for Mediengruppe RTL’s SVOD platform TVNow, “Ze Network” sees Hasselhoff playing himself as he travels

Long-time Sky executive Jane Millichip has been promoted to chief content officer for Sky Studios, overseeing all of Europe. Millichip, the former managing director of distributor Sky Vision, was tapped as the studio’s chief content officer for the U.K. in July 2020. Now, her remit has expanded to all of the Comcast-backed pay-TV operator’s markets

Tim Mutimer, former CEO of international distributor Banijay Rights, is set to lead the global distribution arm of Cineflix Media. Mutimer takes the reins from long-serving CEO Chris Bonney, the industry veteran who is retiring this year. The executive will be responsible for leading the 30-strong Cineflix Rights team based in London, Toronto and Dublin,

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Survived Much Worse,” the eighth episode of “Batwoman” Season 2. In the summer of 2020 after it was announced that Ruby Rose would be exiting the CW’s “Batwoman,” in which she played the titular role, showrunner Caroline Dries penned a short note on social

With the premiere of Marvel Studios’ “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” on Disney Plus Friday, Winter Soldier co-creator Ed Brubaker admitted in a newsletter that he has “mixed feelings” about the show and his role as a character creator. “Everyone at Marvel Studios that I’ve ever met (all the way up to Kevin Feige)

After his handwritten cover letter went viral on LinkedIn, professional training academy and studio Exceptional Minds offered Ryan Lowry, who is on the autism spectrum, a scholarship to its summer animation program. “I am interested in a job in animation, or in IT,” Lowry wrote in the viral letter to his potential future employer. “I realize

SPOILER WARNING: This story discusses major storylines in the first episode of Disney Plus’ “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” After “WandaVision” debuted in January, many commented that Marvel Studios’ first TV series for Disney Plus felt eerily prescient for the pandemic age, with its heroine avoiding dealing with her grief by creating a world

Sarah Chalke insists she doesn’t know if “Firefly Lane” is getting a second season. “From your mouth,” she says when I ask her about the future of the Netflix series on the latest episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “I’m so hopeful.” The series follows the lives of childhood best friends Tully Hart (Katherine

A year ago Saturday, Netflix launched the series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” a fascinating character study filled with big cats, drugs, sex cults and some very questionable motives. Released at the beginning of an unprecedented quarantine lockdown, the seven-part documentary series quickly became one of the most talked-about shows in the world. Within