Channing Dungey, who less than two weeks ago left her post as vice president of originals at Netflix, has been tapped to succeed Peter Roth as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group when he steps down in early 2021. “This is a homecoming of sorts for Channing, who was a production executive at Warner Bros.
Television
The new “Supermarket Sweep” managed to weave its way through the competitive aisles of Sunday night to emerge with a decent debut rating. Hosted by former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Leslie Jones, the reboot led the night for ABC with a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49, drawing a total of 4.8 million total viewers.
Cinedigm Corp. has agreed to buy classic film-television specialist The Film Detective for an undisclosed price. Cinedigm announced the transaction Monday. The U.S.-based company said the deal will give it the Film Detective library, comprised of 3,000 content titles, an estimated 10,000 individual film and TV episodes. Cinedigm will also gain The Film Detective movie
BBC Studios and Chinese online entertainment platform Bilibili have announced a strategic cooperation agreement that expands on their past cooperation efforts. It includes a project featuring Liu Cixin, the sci-fi novelist whose “Three Body Problem” adaptation at Netflix has raised questions from U.S. senators. The two companies say that they plan to increase commissioning of
“The Vow” finale hinted at several big interviews gearing up for the second installment on HBO. Any additional details on what we can expect for season two will have to wait until 2021 (when next set of episodes is scheduled to drop). Until then, here’s an update on all the major players in the docuseries
HBO’s buzzy NXIVM sex cult docuseries “The Vow” has been criticized for dragging at times over the course of its nine-episode run. But the closing moments of Sunday’s season finale left no doubt about where the storyline is headed in season two, which HBO formally ordered last week. Warning, spoilers for the finale episode of
CBS’ “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert will hold another live election special this year on Showtime, Variety has confirmed. Titled “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020,” the show will start at 11 p.m. ET on Election Day, Nov. 3. The special will allow Colbert to provide
Pay TV platform Sky and NBCUniversal Global Distribution have announced a long-term partnership that will bring Sky customers in the U.K. and Ireland hundreds of hours of animated series from DreamWorks Animation. The pact follows deals with Discovery in June and Sony Pictures in July. The DreamWorks Animation deal includes access to new spin-off series
Singer-songwriter Adele will soon be saying “Hello” to “Saturday Night Live” for the first time in five years. And, this time, Adele will be assuming hosting duties on the sketch comedy show Oct. 24. H.E.R., who recently performed during the in memoriam section of the Emmy Awards, will be the night’s musical guest. “Saturday Night
Kanye West has spoken out regarding a joke last night’s “Saturday Night Live” host Issa Rae made about his involvement in the presidential election. In the sketch, Rae played a lawyer for the NAACP being interviewed by talk show host Kenan Thompson on “Your Voice Chicago.” When asked about the upcoming election, Rae’s character responded
In a panel discussion, titled “The Black experience: Creating community and diversity in the scripted industry,” hosted by MIA market in Rome on Saturday, TV executives discussed the opportunities for Black talent in television and the challenges they face. Panellists Mo Abudu, CEO of Nigeria’s EbonyLife Media, and French-African artist Nicholle Kobi began by pointing
For HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” production designer Kalina Ivanov’s work had to not only convey and reflect the 1950s Midwest and Chicago, but also tackle the supernatural, monsters, drag queens, 1921 Tulsa, outer space, 1920s Paris and the Dahomey Amazons of 19th century Africa. It was an epic task that Ivanov and her term handled with
In a different era, the sportscaster winding down after a long night of calling balls, strikes, first downs, field goals or what have you might be eager to get to the bar. Joe Buck yearns merely for a steaming bowl of chicken noodle or creamy tomato. “If room service is still open, and a hot
Brandon Cronenberg has proven to be an heir to his father, David, with his grisly sophomore feature, “Possessor Uncut,” which took home best film and director at Spain’s 53rd Sitges Film Festival on Saturday. Running Oct.8-18, the fantastic film fest, Europe’s biggest, wrapped yesterday in Sitges, a picturesque seaside resort just south of Barcelona. With these
Rome’s MIA Market for TV series, feature films and documentaries wrapped Sunday after four days of dealmaking, project presentations and panels done both in person and online. Given coronavirus constraints it constituted a minor miracle. Though final numbers are still not available on the final day of the Oct. 14-18 event (the acronym stands for
In the Oct. 17 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” guest host Issa Rae played a lawyer for the NAACP who swore to vote for “everybody Black” come election day — but when it came to the presidential race, she said, “Kanye? ‘F’ him.” (Kanye West actually appears as the vice presidential candidate on many ballots,
Thursday’s presidential town halls took the spotlight during “Saturday Night Live’s” third episode of its 46th Season. Alec Baldwin was back in his guest role as President Donald Trump, while Jim Carrey portrayed former vice president and current democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden for the third week in a row. Mikey Day portrayed George Stephanopoulos,
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to criticize NBC News anchor Kristen Welker, who will be moderating the final presidential debate on Oct. 22. “She’s always been terrible and unfair, just like most of the Fake News reporters, but I’ll still play the game,” Trump tweeted. “The people know! How’s Steve Scully
Tyra Banks and Jesse Tyler Ferguson weren’t going to let the pandemic restrictions get in the way of enjoying a night out with good food. Sure, they could have gone to a restaurant that offers outdoor seating, but instead, the two were among the many people who had dinner on Thursday at The Resy Drive
Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Leslie Jones opened up about why she doesn’t miss her time on the show. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, the comedian expressed gratitude toward NBC and her fellow cast members, while speaking out on the challenges of the job. “I don’t miss it at all,” she told
On Saturday morning, Disneyland employees and fans gathered for a rally outside the theme park in Anaheim, Calif. in an effort to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue reopening orders. More than 20 people came together, asking the state to allow the reopening of Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood. Most attendees wore masks and maintained
ViacomCBS International Studios is setting its sights on Southern Europe, with company execs outlining their plans for the region at Rome’s MIA market on Saturday. “South Europe is a focus for us right now. We have quite a strong lineup in development in Spain right now, and Italy to us is our next big priority,”
Tony-nominated actor Anthony Chisholm, known for his work in venerated playwright August Wilson’s final installment of the “Pittsburgh Cycle,” has died, his talent management company confirmed. He was 77. “The Katz Company is saddened to announce the passing of our longtime friend and client, Tony-Nominee, Anthony Chisholm,” president Jeremy Katz said. “Affectionately called ‘Chiz,’ he was
If you’re a fan of Pedro Pascal — the star of the Disney Plus series “The Mandalorian,” and the cover subject of the Oct. 14 issue of Variety — odds are high the first time you learned about the actor was during his run on Season 4 of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Pascal played Oberyn
The Sinclair Broadcast Group will hold a town hall with President Donald Trump next Wednesday, one day before the final presidential debate. The event will be taped at the White House and moderated by Eric Bolling, the former Fox News host who left the network amid sexual harassment allegations in 2017. Bolling is now host
In today’s TV news roundup, ABC released a trailer for the fifth season of “American Housewife,” and Apple TV Plus is making the “Helpsters” Halloween special available for free. DATES ABC will debut its five-part docuseries, “Our America: Living While Black,” during the network-owned television stations’ newscasts from Oct. 19 to Oct. 23 and premiere
Writers Guild of America leaders have told their 15,000 members that powerhouse agencies CAA and WME still cannot represent them again after an 18-month standoff. The WGA, in an email sent on Friday afternoon, said the holdout agencies have not supplied enough details as to how they will comply with the guild’s demand that they
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has announced the winners of this year’s Latino Media Fest Awards. Winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on Friday afternoon. “Pose” was named best Latinx TV show. Co-creator, writer, producer and director Steven Canals will accept the honor on the series’ behalf. Netflix’s Walter Mercado documentary
Executives at NBCUniversal, NBC News and the NBC broadcast network are not-so-quietly thanking an employee who has only limited command over the Comcast-owned company’s corporate direction: Savannah Guthrie. Guthrie’s handling of President Donald Trump during a town-hall broadcast organized in last-minute fashion by NBC News helped blunt waves of criticism of the media conglomerate, which
“Star Trek: Discovery” has been renewed for Season 4 at CBS All Access. News of the renewal was announced in a video featuring series stars Sonequa Martin-Green and Doug Jones as well as executive producers and co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise. In addition, they announced that production on Season 4 will officially begin on