Television

Dominated by the charisma of Swedish-Lebanese lead Fares Fares, a “Westworld” co-star, “Partisan,” a Warner Bros.- production for Scandinavia’s Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) walked off Wednesday evening with best series at the 3rd Canneseries TV festival. Due to play on NENT’s SVOD service Viaplay, the slow burning and unsettling Nordic Noir sees Fares Fares’ character,

Jorge Gutierrez is expanding his relationship with Netflix beyond the fantasy animated series “Maya and the Three” he already has coming to the streamer next year. The animator, best known for directing 2014’s “The Book Of Life,” and his his production company Mexopolis have signed an overall deal with Netflix. Under the deal, Gutierrez will

The multi-cam sitcom based on the stand up comedy and memoir of Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams has landed a series order at BET Plus, Variety has learned exclusively. The series was originally set up at Hulu last year with a pilot order. Now, BET Plus has given it a 10-episode order. Williams stars as a fictionalized

“Making It,” the hit NBC show fronted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, is set for an Australian version, commissioned by national free-to-air broadcaster Network 10. Launching in 2021, “Making It Australia” will revolve around a central theme inspired by popular craft and DIY trends and each episode will consist of two challenges, crafted by

After several months of coronavirus production delays, “The Bachelorette” season 16 finally premiered on Tuesday night and managed to match its previous season, despite facing abnormally stiff competition from a one-off (or potentially not depending on COVID-19 complications) NFL game on CBS. The ABC dating show debuted to a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 (down

When the coronavirus pandemic forced much of the entertainment industry to work from home, DreamWorks Animation was able to pivot relatively easily. Thanks to the nature of animation work and the studio’s technological capabilities, the company “didn’t lose much of a beat,” chief creative officer Peter Gal tells Variety. The trick, he says, has been

Bobby Smith Jr. and his Ashore Entertainment and author Brenda Jackson have partnered to launch a film and television company to develop and produce titles from Jackson’s collection of romance novels. Smith Jr. will oversee and write the film and TV adaptations, which will include Jackson’s Bestselling Catalina Cove Series, Madaris Series, Playas Series, Bennett Series,

In today’s Global Bulletin, Screen Ireland gets a 52% budget boost for 2021, Ovation TV picks up four Canadian series, Fremantle will distribute “Day Zero” and All3Media sells “Roadkill” in key territories. FUNDING Catherine Martin, Ireland’s minister for tourism, culture, arts, Gaeltacht, sport and media, has announced a €9 million ($10.56 million) increase in funding

With a newly rejigged global drama unit, Fremantle COO Andrea Scrosati is nurturing a pipeline that features several high-profile projects in advanced stages, such as “Wild Rabbit,” which has attached U.S. director Reinaldo Marcus Green (“Monsters and Men”). Marcus Green debuted with Sundance 2018 Special Jury Prize winner “Monsters and Men” and more recently directed

Nickelodeon released a first look image of its upcoming “SpongeBob SquarePants” prequel, “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years,” set to premiere in 2021. The series will debut exclusively on the newly rebranded Paramount Plus streaming service and air on Nickelodeon later in the year. “Kamp Koral” is a CG-animated series which introduces viewers to a 10-year-old

When Pedro Pascal was roughly 4 years old, he and his family went to see the 1978 hit movie “Superman,” starring Christopher Reeve. Pascal’s young parents had come to live in San Antonio after fleeing their native Chile during the rise of dictator Augusto Pinochet in the mid-1970s. Taking Pascal and his older sister to

“Man Enough,” the New Zealand version of Australian documentary format “Man Up,” which tackles male mental health issues, is due to land on TVNZ 1 this month. Fronted by “Celebrity Treasure Island” host Matt Chisholm, the series (2 x 44′) is backed by men’s health charity Movember and was produced by Wellington-based production outfit Gibson

ZDF Enterprises has snapped up international distribution rights, excluding North America, to new crime thriller series “Before We Die.” Produced by Eagle Eye Drama for Channel 4, the six-episode series is a remake of the eponymous noir show from Sweden. The U.K. version stars Lesley Sharp (“Scott & Bailey”) Patrick Gibson (“The Tudors,” “The OA”)

The Walt Disney Company’s Monday announcement that it was undertaking a major reorganization of its film and television teams with a goal of bolstering its streaming services was a hit with investors.  Shares of the entertainment giant rose on the news that the company would refocus its operations to produce movies and shows and decide

The National Association of Television Program Executives, which puts on the annual TV trade show in Miami, was sued on Tuesday for allegedly failing to pay rent on a Los Angeles office. The plaintiff, 5757 Wilshire LLC, accuses NATPE of breaching the lease by “failing to pay base rent, direct expenses, parking charges, and other

When casting students at Gallaudet University for Netflix’s “Deaf U,” executive producer Nyle DiMarco prioritized inviting diverse voices to represent the community in order to change one-dimensional representation of deafness. “I was adamant that we incorporate a diverse array of talents in the community — not just about race, [but also] sexual orientation, gender and

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the October 13 season premiere of “The Bachelorette.” For once, maybe Season 16 of “The Bachelorette” could be the most dramatic ever. The tagline was familiar, but this season’s conditions were anything but for viewers during Tuesday night’s premiere. Host Chris Harrison said it

In a combative conversation with Megyn Kelly, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban condemned China for its human rights violations but declined to make a full, direct statement singling out Beijing for its campaign against its ethnic minority Uighur population — highlighting the tricky politics of doing ethical business with China. Their discussion came just two

“The Masked Singer” almost caught the Presidential debate in the Live+7 ratings charts. For the week of Sept. 28, which was once again light on scripted content, “Masked Singer” came out as the largest non-sports or politics programming of the week. The Fox singing series grew to a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 after seven

In today’s TV news roundup, Showtime announced the premiere date for “Shameless’s” final season, and “The National Dog Show” returns on Thanksgiving.  CASTING Carly Pope has been cast as a guest star in ABC’s two-part Season 4 premiere of “The Good Doctor,” Variety has learned exclusively. Pope will portray Lily, a woman whose husband has

Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. As many across the country continue to practice self-isolation due to coronavirus, why not while away

Conchata Ferrell, best known for her role as Berta the housekeeper on “Two and a Half Men,” died on Tuesday in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a rep for Warner Bros. Television confirmed to Variety. She was 77. “Two and a Half Men” creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre called Ferrell as “one of the greats.” “We

Netflix is no longer using a free trial membership to attract new subscribers in the U.S., having ended its free 30-day promo offer earlier in October. A Netflix spokesperson confirmed that the company has ended the 30-day free trial in the United States. “We’re looking at different marketing promotions in the U.S. to attract new

Regina King is set to executive produce a drama series currently in development at The CW, Variety has confirmed. Titled “Slay,” the series focuses on Carson Jones. She is described as a bold, witty teenager with afro puffs, leather boots, seventies cool, and – thanks to her mother’s ancient African bloodline – supernatural gifts and the

Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges is turning his hand to animation. The rapper and actor is set to create and executive produce “Karma’s World,” an animated musical kids show which just received a series order at Netflix. The order is for 40 11-minute episodes. “Karma’s World,” which is aimed at children aged six to nine, is inspired

Over the past 16 years VIEW conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez has been steadily growing the event held in Turin – historically the first Italian city to develop a film industry — into one of Europe’s top international symposiums on computer graphics, animation, and visual effects. It’s regularly attended by top creatives and execs coming

British broadcaster Channel 4 and distributor All3Media Intl. picked up multiple prizes Tuesday at the Mipcom Diversify TV Excellence Awards, dedicated to championing and promoting diversity and inclusion across the international television industry. Variety was the awards’ official media partner. U.K. series “Feel Good,” which follows recovering addict and comedian Mae, won the award for

“Insecure” star Nastasha Rothwell and Aziza Barnes have teamed to develop a series based on the Ibi Zoboi novel “Pride” at HBO, Variety has learned. “Pride” is described as a Haitian-Dominican coming of age story explores young love, teenage angst, and gentrification through magical realism fated by the gods of Santeria with an Austenian twist.

After months of COVID-19 production disruption, CBS has finally announced premiere dates for a whole bunch of its scripted shows. The network has set dates for the return of “Young Sheldon,” “Mom” (without Anna Faris) and “NCIS,” as well as the debut of new Chuck Lorre comedy “B Positive.” There appears to be no word

Italy’s VIEW Conference, the week-long confab featuring top creatives from around the world in film, television, games, virtual reality, and more is going entirely digital this year with all live sessions being made available for free to a global audience. Usually the high-caliber event, now in its 21st edition, which spotlights the latest in computer