Television

Mike Fenton, the legendary casting director who worked on the “Back to the Future” franchise, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and scores of other classic movies and TV shows, has died. He was 85. Fenton co-founded what is now known as Casting Society of America in 1982. He was a prominent casting

Bess Kalb didn’t mean to end 2020 by making Christopher Hitchens’ “Why Women Aren’t Funny” go viral. The 2007 Vanity Fair essay is — like so much of its late author’s work — self-indulgent, poorly written and lacking any well-defined quality beside its ability to irritate people. One of those irritated people, more than a

David Petruschin is better known to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fans as Raven. The fan favorite competed in both Season 2 and “All Stars” Season 1, and has been working as RuPaul’s makeup artist since 2017. In 2020, Petruschin worked under truly unique conditions when he went back to work both the U.S. and U.K. iterations

“Cobra Kai” Season 3 just dropped on Netflix, which sees John Kreese (played by Martin Kove) further escalate his plans to reestablish his domination of the San Fernando Valley karate scene. The cast of the series confirmed that Kove and the character of Kreese are all but interchangeable at this point, though Kove is much

In the brief history of the streaming wars, the year 2020 has already borne witness to the sharp rise and fall of various direct-to-consumer entertainment services. Disney Plus flourished beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. Quibi faltered and faded in less than a, well, you know. As the streaming market continues to saturate, the new year finds

The amount of literary content German authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were able to publish during the early to mid-19th century has given Hollywood a seemingly bottomless trove of imaginative narratives to pull from. Inspiration from these more than 200 fairy tales was used, for example, to produce six seasons of the NBC fantasy police

The stalking and intimidation cases brought by four women who have accused TV actor Danny Masterson of rape must now go through mediation within the Church of Scientology, a Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling comes just days before Masterson’s scheduled arraignment on three charges of rape between 2001 and 2003. In early November,

More than two dozen Southern California-based television series have been place on extended hiatus amid calls for a pause in production activity as COVID infection rates rise in Los Angeles County. Warner Bros. TV confirmed Thursday that series productions such as comedies “Mom,” “B Positive,” “Bob Hearts Abishola” for CBS, and dramas “Shameless” (Showtime) and

Voice actor Tom Kane, known for his work on various entries in the “Star Wars” franchise, suffered a stroke two months ago that left him largely unable to speak, according to a Facebook post written by his daughter. “He had a left side stroke that gave him right sided weakness and damage to the speech

Dawn Wells, the “Gilligan’s Island” star who died Dec. 30 at the age of 82, was always considerate of the show’s super fans, as she demonstrated on an episode of Netflix 2019 dating show “Love on the Spectrum.” The series focuses on young adults on the autism spectrum as they navigate the dating world. In

Despite this year’s best efforts, 2020 will in fact still end at midnight on Dec. 31. To mark the occasion, multiple broadcast networks are still planning to hold their annual New Years Eve specials on Thursday night as the ball drops over Times Square in New York City. But like everything else this year, those

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” will stay dark next week amid the growing alarm about rising COVID-19 infection rates in Los Angeles County and the rest of California. The syndicated daytime talk show has been airing reruns since Dec. 10 when DeGeneres announced that she had contracted coronavirus. The show had hoped to resume production on

“1917” cinematographer Roger Deakins, “Phantom Thread” actor Lesley Manville and “Line of Duty” creator Jed Mercurio are among those in the arts named in Britain’s New Year honors list. Deakins, Oscar winner for “1917” and “Blade Runner 2049,” and Oscar nominated for 13 other movies, has been made a Knight Bachelor for his services to

A federal judge has denied WME’s bid to resume representing writers while its lawsuit against the Writers Guild of America plays out in court. Judge Andre Birotte of California’s Central District ruled Wednesday that he did not have the authority to issue the preliminary injunction sought by WME because the guild’s actions in this case

“FOX 11 Special Report” co-host Dr. Drew Pinsky announced Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19. Pinsky shared the news on Instagram, adding that his fever is down and he has been feeling better. After revealing his diagnosis, Pinsky has also taken a number of videos to update followers of his condition. “I was supposed

The NBA delivered its most watched opener since 2012 last week. Over the Dec. 22-25 stretch, the league’s national telecasts across TNT, ESPN and TBS were up 67% from the previous season’s opening week — averaging 3.4 million total viewers vs. 2.0 million in 2019’s October opening week, according to Nielsen data. TNT’s Dec. 22

“Jeopardy!” all-star Ken Jennings, who’s set to guest host the quiz show beginning on Jan. 11, has apologized after tweets with ableist messaging resurfaced earlier this year. “I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things,” he wrote in the first

WME fired back at the WGA on Wednesday, faulting the union for failing to engage in negotiations to settle the fight that has kept WME from representing writers for nearly two years. WME issued a lengthy statement in response to a letter sent Tuesday evening to WGA members by the guild’s negotiating committee in which

A set of five “Jeopardy!” episodes with late host Alex Trebek are scheduled to air from Jan. 4 to Jan. 8,  marking the last new installments of the series to include the beloved host. Taped in late October, the upcoming episodes took place just before Trebek died on Nov. 8. The first episode in the

Dawn Wells, who starred as “good girl” Mary Ann in popular 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19 in Los Angeles. She was 82. Pig-tailed and attired in her ubiquitous dungarees or gingham dress, which is on display at the Hollywood Museum, the Mary Ann character was the girl-next-door to Tina

Normally around this time of year, the bleachers have already been erected through Pasadena, and hundreds of thousands of people are preparing to camp out on city streets to catch a glimpse of the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. It’s a tradition that dates back to 1891, and has only been canceled

Director Linda Mendoza has more than three decades years of production experience across scripted and specials content, and ironically it was HBO’s “Greater Tuna,” which she worked on in 1984, that best prepared her for Amazon Prime Video’s “Yearly Departed.” “Greater Tuna” featured two lead actors playing all of the roles of the inhabitants of

Casting Julie Andrews as the voice of narrator Lady Whistledown on Netflix’s new buzzy period drama “Bridgerton” was such a tightly held secret that the stars of the show didn’t even know about it. Regé-Jean Page, who plays the dashing Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, says he found out when it was announced on Twitter.

In today’s Global Bulletin, Netflix picks up the rights to Spanish feature “Sky High” for a series adaptation, French crime series “Balthazar” posts record audience numbers for TF1, Mexican filmmaker Juan Ernesto Regalado Morales receives this year’s Guillermo del Toro-backed Jenkins-Del Toro Scholarship, and French journalist Augustin Trapenard announces he’s leaving Canal Plus. ADAPTATION Netflix

Howard Rubenstein, the PR strategist who led a boutique firm favored by media moguls and other high-profile figures, died Dec. 29 at his home in Manhattan. He was 88. Rubenstein’s death was confirmed by his son, Steven Rubenstein, in an Instagram post. Steven Rubenstein now runs day-to-day operations at the firm, once known as Rubenstein

A prank call from impressionist Rory Bremner could inadvertently have helped save then U.K. Prime Minister John Major’s leadership in 1993, newly released files from Britain’s National Archive have revealed. In October 1993, as part of his show “Rory Bremner, Who Else?” for U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, Bremner called member of parliament (MP) Richard Body,

The Writers Guild of America has flatly rejected the latest proposal from WME to end the nearly two-year standoff that has kept the agency from formally representing some of its most lucrative clients. In a message sent Tuesday evening, the WGA told members that WME had not yet agreed to the same restrictions on ownership

A number of CBS Studios productions — including “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Seal Team,” “Why Women Kill” and “Diary of a Future President” — are extending their holiday hiatus by one week amid the spiking COVID-19 surge in Los Angeles County, Variety has learned. Those productions will resume on Jan. 11. Other CBS Studios shows

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Bridgerton,” streaming now on Netflix. Netflix pulled out all the stops for Shondaland’s debut scripted series “Bridgerton,” a bonnet-busting take on the period drama that follows the society debuts of the Bridgerton and Featherington clans of Regency-era London. Most fans of the show, which

Even Superman has a difficult time raising children. In a minute-long trailer for The CW’s upcoming series, “Superman & Lois,” the man of steel (played by Tyler Hoechlin) returns as a stressed-out parent raising two sons Jonathan Kent (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan Kent (Alexander Garfin) with his longtime love interest and now wife Lois Lane