Television

CBS has set in motion “an external investigation” into allegations of racist and misogynist behavior by senior executives at its local-TV unit, a sign that the ViacomCBS company continues to grapple with these issues even though it has probed them in the recent past. In a memo sent to staffers Friday, George Cheeks, CEO of

In today’s TV news roundup, OWN announced it will honor the late Cicely Tyson with a special re-airing of “Oprah’s Master Class: Cicely Tyson,” and NBC announced the premiere date for “New Amsterdam” Season 3. DATES Discovery Plus will stream “If I Can’t Have You: The Jodi Arias Story,” a two-hour special on the infamous

NBC has given a put pilot order to a reboot of the classic sitcom “Kate and Allie.” The updated series hails from writer and executive producer Erica Oyama. It follows two best friends raising their kids together in one household. They are like sister wives, only they don’t have to pretend to love the same

Last night’s episode of “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” at 8 p.m., the star-studded ABC spinoff of the original game show led by Pat Sajak and Vanna White, was the winner of Thursday’s Live+Same Day overnight, fast affiliate numbers. The series garnered a 0.8 rating in the key, adults ages 18-49 demographic, and 6.39 million viewers.

ABC has picked up three comedy pilots for the 2021 pilot season. Two of the pilots — a reboot of “The Wonder Years” and “Maggie” — are single-cams and will be produced by 20th Television. The third, an untitled multi-cam from Regina Hicks, is produced by ABC Signature. The “Wonder Years” reboot was originally announced

Even Peak TV felt the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of original scripted series to premiere in 2020 was 493, according to data released Friday by FX Networks — down 7% from 2019. That marks the first such year-to-year decline since FX first began an annual count of scripted series on broadcast, cable

ABC has ordered two drama series to pilot in some of its first pilot pickups of the 2021 pilot season. The broadcaster has given out pilot orders to the one-hour shows “Queens” and “Epic.” Both will be produced by ABC Signature. They join the previously announced ABC drama pilot “Acts of Crime,” which hails from Sam

The HBO Max pilot “Verbatim” is rounding out its cast. Sara Gilbert, Rob Huebel, Leland Orser, Lyiq Bent, Tate Donovan, J.R. Cacia, and Kevin Dunn have all joined the project. The exact details of their roles are being kept under wraps, but the pilot follows the story of the 2019 college admissions scandal. All dialogue

Netflix has renewed “On My Block” for a fourth and final season. For fans of the teen series holding their breath since the third season finale jumped forward a bit into the future, seeing the fracturing of the friend group at the core of the series, answers will be coming soon — but not too

Canadian television has suffered another blow in the wake of the Michelle Latimer scandal. Following the revelation that the “Trickster” director and producer is not of Aboriginal descent, as she previously claimed, public broadcaster CBC has decided not to move forward with a second season of the series. “We have had many conversations over the

Joel Kinnaman has been cast in the upcoming “In Treatment” reboot at HBO, Variety has learned exclusively. The reimagined series brings a diverse trio of patients in session with the observant, empathetic Dr. Brooke Taylor (Uzo Aduba), who is wrestling with her own issues in this half-hour drama series. Kinnaman will star as Adam, Brooke’s long-time

Known to friends and family as Sparky, “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz died in 2000. Since that time, Schulz’s work has remained almost universally beloved — as was demonstrated in October when the internet erupted in outrage at Apple TV Plus’ announcement that it would become the exclusive home to three “Peanuts” holiday specials. (A

Towards the end of the new limited series “The Investigation,” the show’s central police inquiry seems stalled. Nothing is moving in the right direction, and all players seem understandably frustrated. One cop (Laura Christensen) sets things right with an unlikely note of encouragement. “This isn’t a perfect crime,” she tells her boss (Søren Malling). “It’s

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the fourth episode of Season 1 of Disney Plus’ “WandaVision.” What started out as an excessively nostalgic homage to the genre of situational comedies starring two starcrossed Avengers — Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) — is getting more sinister and precarious with

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Pizza,” the third episode of “Servant” Season 2, streaming now on Apple TV Plus. Recently Lauren Ambrose showed her teenage son “The Sixth Sense,” M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 film about a young boy who sees dead people and the man who thinks he is

ITV has pre-emptively pulled the plug on this year’s season of “Britain’s Got Talent” due to production complications arising from the pandemic. The entertainment show is one of the country’s biggest primetime programs, and normally airs from April to June. The 2020 season was disrupted due to COVID-19 and aired in two parts, with the

In today’s Global Bulletin, Alex de la Iglesia is back on set with “El cuarto pasajero,” Laurine Garaude departs Reed Midem, Chinese video app Kuaishou stuns investors in Hong Kong, Tencent finalizes its Universal Music Group share increase, Mopar Studios hire Jessica Pope as creative director and Pluto TV launches six new networks in Latin

A record 500 delegates have signed up for Scandinavia’s leading TV drama confab, TV Drama Vision, which is set to unspool online over Feb. 3-4, parallel to Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival. Next to honorary guest – Danish writer-helmer Susanne Bier (“The Night Manager”, “The Undoing”), 30 keynote speakers will share their insights, business and creative

Steve McQueen, currently riding a wave of global acclaim for his BBC/Amazon anthology “Small Axe,” will executive produce two Black-themed documentaries for the BBC. “Black Power,” which originated from an idea McQueen had while filming “Small Axe,” will examine how the Black Power movement came into being in the late 1960s and fought back against

Leading Finnish streamer Elisa Viihde Viaplay has ordered financial thriller “The Invincibles”  from “Cargo” creator Matti Kinnunen. The series is produced by “Black Widows”’ Moskito TV. Director and head-writer Kinnunen will co-pen the show with Mikko Reitala (“Blind Donna”). Currently in development, the eight-part TV show is set in the turbulent Finnish banking crisis of the early

BAFTA-winning “X-Men” actor James McAvoy, “Star Wars” actor Daisy Ridley, musician Dizzee Rascal and Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall are among the luminaries participating in a celebrity version of hit show “The Great British Bake Off.” “The Great Celebrity Bake Off” is in aid of the Stand Up To Cancer charity and will air on

A Delaware judge has allowed CBS stockholders to sue over the 2019 merger of Viacom and CBS, finding a reasonable claim that former CBS chief Joseph Ianniello “sold” his support for the deal to Shari Redstone in exchange for a $125 million payout. Ianniello was president and chief operating officer under former CEO Les Moonves,

Cicely Tyson’s co-stars and admirers shared their remembrances of the late Emmy and Tony-winning actor, who died Thursday at 96. Viola Davis, who starred opposite Tyson, playing mother and daughter for six seasons on “How to Get Away with Murder,” shared a lengthy tribute to the legend alongside a photo from the set. “I’m devastated.

America doesn’t have a system of knights or dames, as Britain, Australia and New Zealand do. If there were such a system, Cicely Tyson would have undoubtedly been honored. But Tyson, who died on Thursday, a month after her 96th birthday, didn’t need any government-sanctioned titles: Admirers such as Ava DuVernay, Tyler Perry and Shonda

In today’s TV news roundup, Paramount Plus announced the series premiere date for “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years,” and Hulu released the new trailer for Blumhouse’s Valentine’s Day special “Into the Dark: Tentacles.” DATES  ViacomCBS announced that the “SpongeBob SquarePants” spinoff series “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years” will premiere alongside “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on

SAG-AFTRA, the Producers Guild of America and the Joint Policy Committee have jointly agreed to lift their recommendation to pause commercial and independent production in Southern California, effective Monday, Feb. 1. The three organizations, which together represent thousands of actors, producers, commercial advertisers and ad agencies, had first recommended a temporary production halt on Jan.

George Clooney is heading to the 25th century. Through his production company Smokehouse Pictures, Clooney has signed on to executive produce a new limited series for Legendary based on the classic sci-fi character Buck Rogers, Variety has confirmed. Clooney will executive produce with partner Grant Heslov. A rep for Clooney says the actor-director is only

Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Cicely Tyson, who distinguished herself in theater, film and television, died on Thursday afternoon. She was 96. “I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement. “Cicely thought of her new memoir as a

“Titans” Season 3 has cast Jay Lycurgo in the recurring role of Tim Drake. Drake is described as a streetwise kid who’s managed to grow up on the toughest streets without losing his indelible belief in heroism. His easy-going demeanor is backed up by a near-genius mind, a natural detective with a perception of detail

Armie Hammer will no longer star in the upcoming Paramount Plus series “The Offer,” which tells the behind the scenes story of the making of “The Godfather,” Variety has learned from sources. It was announced in early December that Hammer was attached to lead the show in the role of Al Ruddy, who produced “The Godfather”