Television

The Directors Guild of America has extended its commercials contract with producers — including recently approved COVID-19 safety protocols — for a year until Nov. 30, 2021. The DGA, which represents more than 18,000 members, has announced that its national board had unanimously approved the one-year extension of its National Commercial Agreement with the Association

UPDATED: CAA has reached an agreement with the Writers Guild of America that will allow the agency to resume representing writers after a 20-month standoff with the union. “CAA and the WGA have concluded and signed a franchise agreement confirming CAA can resume representing writers and continue the important work of helping them realize their

The planned “Lizzie McGuire” revival is officially dead at Disney Plus. Series star Hilary Duff made the announcement on Instagram on Wednesday, saying “I’ve been so honored to have the character of Lizzie in my life.” “I know the efforts and conversations have been everywhere tyring to make a reboot work but, sadly & despite

MTV’s “Deliciousness,” a spinoff of “Ridiculousness” hosted by Tiffani Thiessen, features the internet’s most viral food videos and Variety has obtained an exclusive clip of two segments, “BBQ AF” and “31 Feelings” about barbecue and ice cream. The clip shows Thiessen and the panelists reacting to barbecue fails, such as a possum family living in

To celebrate Variety’s 115th anniversary, we went to the archives to see how some of Hollywood’s biggest stars first landed in the pages of our magazine. Read more from the archives here. Politics makes strange bedfellows, but so does showbiz. Carl Reiner and Bob Fosse became showbiz powerhouses starting in the 1950s and ’60s in their

“Insecure” actor Kendrick Sampson was punched by a police officer in Cartagena, Colombia, during an encounter on a street on Tuesday. Sampson posted a video of his arrest on Instagram. The helmeted officer can be seen punching him in the face, pulling a handgun and appearing to cock it before holstering the weapon and putting

There has been a change at the top of a forthcoming Paramount Plus series. Kate Beckinsale is now set to play the lead role in the streamer’s dark comedy “Guilty Party,” after previous headliner Isla Fisher was forced to step away due to COVID-19 circumstances, Variety has confirmed. Fisher was also in place to executive produce the

Leonard Roberts is best known for his roles in the movie “Drumline,” and on the television shows “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “American Crime Story,” “Major Crimes” — and for his performance as D.L. Hawkins on the first season of NBC’s “Heroes.” While the fantasy show debuted in 2006 to immediate blockbuster status, making overnight sensations

As our cover package underscores, 2020 will be a year to remember in so many profound ways — both for the world at large and the industry we cover. Looking back, we will not forget the shock of Tom Hanks’ March 11 announcement on Instagram that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive

Ruth E. Carter made history in 2019 by becoming the first Black person to win an Oscar for costume design for her work on “Black Panther.” It was her third nomination in a career that began when Spike Lee hired her for his second feature, 1988’s “School Daze.” To date, Carter has 66 credits spanning

Dylan Sprouse is returning to TV. The former Disney Channel star has signed on for Mindy Kaling’s HBO Max series “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Variety has learned exclusively, marking his first big television role since his Disney days ended in 2011. He joins previously announced leads Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Reneé Rapp and Alyah Chanelle

Emma Corrin, who plays Princess Diana on the fourth season of “The Crown,” doesn’t believe the hit Netflix series should be labeled as a work of fiction, as was requested this month by Diana’s brother, Charles, and the U.K. government’s culture secretary, Oliver Dowden. “It is very clearly a dramatized version of events,” Corrin tells

Starz’s international streamer Starzplay is expanding its burgeoning international presence with its launch in the Nordic region on streaming service Viaplay on Thursday. Viaplay subscribers will initially have access to a selection of series, including “Normal People” and “The Great” (pictured), with the full Starzplay service to be offered at a later date. Countries included

The BBC has commissioned a four-part adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s (pictured, right) bestselling novel “Life After Life” from House Productions. The story centers on Ursula Todd who dies one night in 1910 before she can draw her first breath. On that same night in 1910, Ursula is born and survives. She finds herself time and

Stockholm-based production company Dramacorp is joining forces with best-selling author Jonas Jonasson for “Whiskey on the Rocks,” a high-profile Cold War-set mini-series. The series will reunite Jonasson with Patrick Nebout, Dramacorp CEO, and creative director Henrik Jansson-Schweizer following the Oscar-nominated “The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared,” which became Sweden’s biggest

Since the U.K. government gave the production sector the greenlight to restart in the summer, shoots have continued uninterrupted — for the most part — despite the tightening of restrictions on other areas of the economy. Some high-profile productions, such as “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “The Batman” and “The Witcher,” have been forced to take short

U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) is asking for the help of streamers when it comes to slowing the spread of COVID-19 this holiday season. In a letter addressed to the leaders of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Hulu and HBO Max, King urged the platforms to make their content available to

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the Dec. 15 episode of “The Bachelorette.” Tayshia Adams’ final four headed to hometowns! Well, sort of. Traditionally, the last four contestants standing — in this case, Ben Smith, Zac Clark, Brendan Morais and Ivan Hall — would spend a day touring their hometown before

Directors behind some of HBO’s biggest TV prestige projects — Susanne Bier (“The Undoing”), Tim Van Patten (“Perry Mason”), Derek Cianfrance (“I Know This Much is True”) and Misha Green (“Lovecraft Country”) —  discussed how they approach their work and its impact on their respective show’s storytelling during Variety‘s FYC Fest. As the TV medium has become more

In today’s TV news roundup, HBO Max unveiled the teaser trailer for the fourth season of its original dark comedy “Search Party” and production company Sister acquired the exclusive rights to adapt Lydia Millet’s critically-acclaimed novel “A Children’s Bible” to a limited series. FIRST LOOKS HBO Max Original “Search Party,” which will debut its fourth

“A Teacher” — a show that examines a sexual relationship between a teacher and her student — was created by Hannah Fidell, and stars Kate Mara and Nick Robinson. During day one of Variety‘s inaugural FYC Fest, Kate Aurthur hosted Fidell, Mara and Robinson for a Meet The Makers of FX on Hulu‘s “A Teacher” panel. The creative team talked about the challenging journey to bring this project to audiences: As a survivor of sexual assault herself, Fidell wanted to tell the

Upcoming NBC series “Mr. Mayor,” starring Ted Danson and Holly Hunter, is pausing production this week after half a dozen COVID-19 cases occurred on set, Variety has learned. Six positive cases were recorded with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health at 100 Universal City Plz, Bldg. 5225, in Universal City, Calif. Four of

Fox’s alternative programming department has unveiled a diversity initiative designed to nurture producers from underrepresented communities. The program, titled “Fastrack,” will select two to three new creatives to join as associate producers of the network’s unscripted programs. “Fox has long been committed to providing viewers with programming that reflects the world in which we live,”

Sebastian Stan and Lily James are in talks to star in a Hulu limited series about Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson. The project will delve into the tumultuous relationship between the rock star and the model/actress, including the infamous incident in which their honeymoon sex tape was stolen and leaked to the public. Rob Siegel

“Servant” has been renewed for Season 3 at Apple ahead of the Season 2 premiere. Season 2 of the series will drop on Apple TV Plus on Jan. 15, with new episodes dropping weekly. The 10-episode second season takes a supernatural turn with a darker future for all lying ahead as Leanne (Nell Tiger Free)

Paramount Plus is in early development on a dark comedy that hails from Katie Wech, Variety has learned exclusively from sources. The project is titled “RIP.” Wech will write and executive produce, with Gina Rodriguez and Jennie Snyder Urman also executive producing. The trio previously collaborated on the hit CW series “Jane the Virgin.” The project

Kelly Clarkson is extending her run as a talk show host. NBCUniversal has announced that it has picked up “The Kelly Clarkson Show” for two more seasons, taking it through 2023. The news comes as the show is well into its second season. “The Kelly Clarkson Show” is produced and distributed by the recently renamed

ABC is eyeing a potential series from two “Stumptown” writers. The network has set up a development plus penalty deal for Latinx family drama “The Three Joaquins,” which hails from scribes Manuel Figueroa and Jordan Heimer. Partially based on Figueroa’s childhood experience, “The Three Joaquins” tells the story of a wealthy and powerful Latinx family who

HBO Max is honoring a request by Dave Chappelle to remove “Chappelle’s Show” from the streaming service at the end of this year. Casey Bloys, chief content officer of HBO and HBO Max, made the revelation during the keynote conversation on day one of Variety’s Virtual FYCFest. “We had a conversation with Dave. I won’t get

Casey Bloys is exploring a whole new range of programming options as he takes the creative reins at HBO Max. Bloys has been at the helm of HBO programming for a few years now, but was promoted to chief content officer of HBO and HBO Max back in August. In a keynote conversation on day