Television

Fox is developing an animated comedy based on the Crag Banyon Mysteries books by James Mullaney. Mullaney and Shane Black will write and executive produce the project, which is titled “Crag Banyon P.I.” It follows the supernatural adventures of an alcoholic ex-cop and current private investigator, Banyon, as he solves cases in an alternate noir,

Thirty years after his first unscripted TV series aired, John Lurie is getting another. HBO will debut “Painting With John,” a new series directed by, written by and starring Lurie, Jan. 22. Each of the new show’s six episodes will feature the artist, musician and actor painting watercolors and reflecting on life. Adam McKay and

Skydance Television has struck an exclusive first-look deal with Exile Content Studio to develop and produce scripted English-language series, Variety has learned. “We are very proud to partner with Exile Content Studio to bring its diverse array of Latinx-based content to our current development slate,” said Jesse Sisgold, Skydance Media president and chief operating officer.

Amber Ruffin’s late-night reign will extend into the new year. NBC’s streaming service Peacock has ordered 10 additional episodes of “The Amber Ruffin Show,” set for release in January. The show has two installments remaining on its original 10-episode order, which will debut on Dec. 11 and 18. The late night show will return after

A second outbreak of COVID-19 has occurred at the Lionsgate TV-produced “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” in less than two months. Sixteen cases of coronavirus were recorded at CBS Studio Center’s Bungalow 3 in the first week of December, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where the Lionsgate TV-produced series was set

U.K. broadcaster ITV is expanding the horizons of celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo and maitre d’ Fred Sirieix with two newly commissioned series and Christmas specials over the next three years. The format sees the titular trio travelling to exotic locations in an RV and exploring new cuisines while exchanging banter. The “Gordon, Gino

VH1 will premiere a “Love & Hip Hop” reunion special entitled “Love & Hip Hop: Secrets Unlocked” on Jan. 4, Variety has learned exclusively. The virtual reunion, the first of a four-part special, marks the franchise’s first event featuring cast members from all four filming locations: New York, Atlanta, Hollywood and Miami. It will air

Raffaele Annecchino has been appointed president and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International, effective immediately. He succeeds David Lynn, who is stepping down and will depart the company following a transition period. Annecchino will oversee all of ViacomCBS’s media networks and related businesses outside the U.S. He will be responsible for networks across six continents, including

Nascar champion Jimmie Johnson is getting ready to take part in a different sort of race. The veteran driver, a seven-time Nascar Cup Series champion, has started a new production company. He  is eager to land his first project, a six-episode series called “One Final Time” that examines his final Nascar season, with a media

Former Amazon Studios executive Bianca Gavin has joined “Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films as it looks to grow its scripted pipeline. Gavin joins Pulse as head of production for scripted television and film, and will be the primary production point of contact for all projects, from development through to delivery. She will report into

Ron Darling, Bill Ripken and Carlos Pena are among eight analysts who will offer tips and instruction to young baseball aspirants as part of a unique twist on a regular MLB Network standby. On Tuesday, December 15 at 7 p.m., fans will be able to take part in an interactive lesson from eight of the

NBC has for years tried to sell glitzy video commercials to the nation’s biggest advertisers. Now it will work to do the same with some of the smallest. After consolidating its local and national ad sales efforts in October, NBCUniversal unveiled plans to make more of its commercial inventory available to local sponsors, the latest

The hit traumedy “Dead to Me” is a one-of-a-kind series that explores the absurdity and twists and turns of life, according to its show creator and main leads. Presented by Netflix, the Variety Streaming Room welcomed creator and executive producer Liz Feldman and stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini for an exclusive Q&A, hosted by

Brent Montgomery was tired of negotiating for nickels and dimes in unscripted TV series budgets. The producer behind the ambitious Wheelhouse venture decided it was time to build a better mousetrap, so in early 2018 he left his lofty perch as head of ITV’s U.S. production operation to start anew. On the latest episode of

Ilene Chaiken has signed an overall deal with Universal Television, Variety has confirmed. As part of the deal, Chaiken has joined the upcoming NBC show “Law & Order: Organized Crime” as executive producer and showrunner. Chaiken takes over showruner duties on the series from Matt Olmstead, who stepped down in October. She is known for creating

Key creatives behind blue-chip natural history producer Silverback Films — the powerhouse outfit behind Netflix’s “Our Planet” — have teamed to form sister company Studio Silverback. The new production outfit will focus solely on films that tackle the world’s pressing environmental challenges, and will be headed up by Jonnie Hughes, Colin Butfield, Keith Scholey and

Craig William Macneill has signed on to direct and executive produce the pilot for the upcoming “I Know What You Did Last Summer” series at Amazon, Variety has learned exclusively. Macneill made his feature directorial debut in 2015 with “The Boy,” which was loosely based on the novel “Miss Corpus” by Clay McLeod Chapman and

In today’s TV news roundup, The CW shared first look images of Tyler Hoechlin in his Superman costume for “Superman & Lois,” and Netflix and Headspace announced three upcoming projects on meditation and sleep. CASTING Showtime announced that Rosie O’Donnell, Donald Faison and Griffin Dunne will guest star on episodes of “The L Word: Generation

Apple has given a series order to “Extrapolations,” an anthology series about climate change from Scott Z. Burns, Variety has learned exclusively. Burns will write, direct, and executive produce the series, which is said to tell intimate, unanticipated stories of how the upcoming changes to our planet will affect love, faith, work and family on a

A revival of the Nickelodeon series “iCarly” has been ordered at Paramount Plus. Original series stars Miranda Cosgrove, Jerry Trainor and Nathan Kress are all set to appear in the new version of the series. Jay Kogen and Ali Schouten have signed on to develop the new version of the series. The original “iCarly” ran

AMC Networks plans to launch two ad-supported streaming outlets on Samsung TV Plus, the appliance-maker’s video service for smart TV sets. One channel, AMC Presents, will let viewers look at episodes of popular AMC Networks series, including “The Walking Dead,” “Turn,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” “Rectify,” “Making of the Mob,” “Into the Badlands” and others.

It takes a village to create television, but often a story’s success hinges on the specific relationship between two characters and their portrayers by extension. Whether they needed to be believable friends, family members, colleagues or some combination of all of the above, the following performers brought to life truly one-of-a-kind on-screen partnerships worthy of

The upcoming Apple dramedy series “Physical” is rounding out its cast. In addition to previously announced series lead Rose Byrne, the cast of the show will also include Paul Sparks, Rory Scovel, Loy Taylor Pucci, Della Saba, Dierdre Friel, Ashley Liao. “Physical” follows Sheila (Byrne), a woman struggling in her life as a quietly tortured

Eitan Bernath has signed on to be the principal culinary contributor on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Variety has learned exclusively. The role will see Bernath make recurring appearances on the daytime talk show, during which he will showcase original recipes and his expertise and perspective on food-related topics. This makes him the first notable TikTok star

Freefrom has ordered a pilot for the comedy “Single Drunk Female,” Variety has learned. In the series, after a spectacularly embarrassing public breakdown, irreverent alcoholic Samantha Fink (Sofia Black-D’Elia) is forced to move back home with her “Smother” (Ally Sheedy) to sober up and avoid jail time. But when her childhood bff (Sasha Compère) reveals surprising

Hollywood’s frantic streaming wars have upended the industry — and some of the ways have been more surprising than others. A+E Networks and Discovery have long been fierce TV rivals, battling for attention from consumers who are fixated on unscripted programming about history, nature and just plain bizarre people from odd walks of life. A+E

VH1 announced on Wednesday that “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will return for Season 13 on Jan. 1, 2021, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, with a brand new cast that features the show’s first trans man contestant. The after-show “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked” will premiere immediately after at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. Season 13 of “Drag Race” shot late

“Cobra Kai” has released its first trailer for Season 3 on Netflix, its new home after originally debuting on YouTube Premium. The new trailer shows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), the original “Karate Kid” leads turned “Cobra Kai” stars more than 30 years later, put aside their differences and team up

Nicolas Cage will host “History of Swear Words,” a proudly profane series about expletives for Netflix in January. The six-episode series will dive into the origins, pop culture usage, science and cultural impact of swear words, such as “fuck,” “shit,” “bitch,” “dick,” “pussy” and “damn.” In each 20-minute episode, Cage will conduct interviews with historians,

Thirteen months ago, Walt Disney shook up the entertainment world with the launch of Disney Plus, its heavyweight entrant into the subscription-video-on-demand arena: The turn into 2020, after all, was supposed to lead to the Year of the Streaming Wars. Little did anyone know that the months ahead would knock Hollywood — and just about