Television

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America 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 Wednesday afternoon, said that the holdout agencies have not agreed to the guild’s demand that they limit their investment in their respective

“Fleabag” creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge is among the judges of ‘Screenshot,’ a competition seeking the next generation of comedy writer-performers for TV. The competition is set up by “The Queen” actor Olivia Colman and “Landscaper” screenwriter Ed Sinclair’s South of the River Pictures and “Chernobyl” producer Sister Pictures. Joining Waller-Bridge as judges are are

Clare Bronfman — benefactor of Nxivm founder Keith Raniere and Seagram liquor heir — became the first defendant sentenced in connection with the marketing company’s human-trafficking and sexual abuse case. Charged with identity theft and immigration fraud, she was sentenced to 81 months — six years and nine months — in prison for conspiracy to

You say tomato, I say tomato, let’s call the whole thing a series. Fish out of water comedies are a dime a dozen on television (look no further than recent Emmy darling “Schitt’s Creek”), but a string of new shows are taking those fish and flying them across the Atlantic, specifically to France and the

“The Conners” showrunner Bruce Helford knows his titular characters “were built for disaster,” so there was never a question about whether the third season of the ABC family sitcom would tackle the real-life COVID pandemic. “It just seemed natural that we would be in the middle of this and do it,” he said on a

“Dancing With The Stars” has gone through quite a few changes this season, and it’s about to go through another: Derek Hough will step out from behind the judges’ table to take the dance floor once again, on Oct. 19. The six-time Mirrorball champion will perform a routine with his girlfriend and “Dancing” alum Hayley

NBC is adding another big brick to its wall. The network has renewed “The Wall” for a 20-episode fourth season. Chris Hardwick will return as host for season 4, and sources confirm that the three remaining episodes of the previous season will now air Oct. 1, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 in the 8 p.m.

The cast of HBO’s adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” just keeps on getting bigger and more stellar. This time around, nine new players have joined the fray, including Mahershala Ali, Angela Davis and Ta-Nehisi Coates himself. HBO has also announced that the special will premiere Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.

Issa Rae has consolidated her entertainment production ventures for feature film, television and digital under the recently launched Hoorae media company, Variety has learned exclusively. Formerly Issa Rae Productions, Hoorae includes HBO’s “Insecure” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” Rae received Emmy nominations for comedy series and best actress in a comedy series for “Insecure” and

The Producers Guild of America has announced the key dates and timeline for their 2021 Producers Guild of America Awards. Celebrating their 32nd awards ceremony, the PGA awards will be held virtually on March 24, 2021, nine days after the 93rd Oscar nominations are announced. In a joint statement, Producers Guild of America presidents Gail

“Queen Sugar” is getting back in action. The OWN series is officially returning to set for production on season 5 in New Orleans to shoot the remainder of its 10-episode season. Production on the fifth season had previously begun in March, but like almost every show it the planet, it was forced to shutdown due

Eli Holzman, a veteran reality TV producer, used to joke that his company’s specialty was turning out “really good shows that are really hard to make that nobody watches.” But then came the streaming boom. Now, as Holzman tells Variety podcast Strictly Business, there is seemingly insatiable demand for shows that would have been tough

Conan the barbarian could be on his way to Netflix. The streamer is developing a live-action series based on the iconic character created by Robert E. Howard, Variety has confirmed. Conan first appeared in comic books way back in the 1930s, and has already appeared in multiple different big screen adventures. No details on the plot or

Rebecca Cutter is deepening her ties with Lionsgate. Having created drama “Hightown” for the company’s Starz network, Cutter has now signed an overall deal with Lionsgate Television. As part of the new multi-year deal, Cutter will continue to develop and produced scripted content across broadcast, cable and streaming for Lionsgate TV’s slate. “I’m thrilled to

Last night’s first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was regarded as an un-watchable mess by many. And sure enough it’s on course to garner a much smaller viewership than the previous election cycle. According to early fast national numbers for the broadcast networks, a total of just under 29 million viewers tuned

Dwayne Johnson has found the actors who will bring his younger years to life. “Young Rock,” the upcoming NBC comedy executive produced by and starring Johnson, has tapped Bradley Constant to play him aged 15 (at which point he is doing his best to fit in as a normal teenager), and “Marco Polo” star Uli

Studiocanal has hired Sarah Doole to lead its Manchester-based Red Production Company as CEO. Doole takes over from Nicola Shindler. She will oversee Red’s development and production slate in the U.K. and work with Studiocanal’s management team to drive the company’s U.K. and international growth strategy. She will also be responsible for expanding Red’s creative

Mac Davis, the singer-songwriter who parlayed pop and country hits into a network TV variety show and acting career, has died. He was 78. His manager of nearly four decades, Jim Morey, announced Davis’ death on Facebook Tuesday night. “He was a music legend but his most important work was that as a loving husband,

If there’s any aspect of Donald Trump’s power that the mainstream media consistently underestimates (in part because it sounds so trivializing to say it out loud), it’s the power he derives from being the entertainer-in-chief. He’s the first American president who’s at once a shock-jock comedian, a boardroom P.T. Barnum still coasting on his “Apprentice”

Production has shut down on the Vancouver-based “Riverdale” and “Batwoman” due to delays in processing COVID-19 tests in British Columbia, sources tell Variety.  Warner Bros. Television is also delaying production on “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Supergirl,” both of which were supposed to begin filming this week. A representative for Disney Television Studios — which is

President Donald Trump shocked many in the nation on Tuesday with a comment that appeared to be a signal to the violent white nationalist organization Proud Boys. During President Trump’s first presidential debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Trump was pressed by debate moderator, Fox News’ Chris Wallace, to condemn white supremacist groups. Trump ignored

“Chicago Med” has become the latest series to be forced to suspend production due to a positive COVID-19 test. Sources have confirmed that a crew member returned a positive test, and production was halted this morning. The show will now pause production for two whole weeks as a precaution. The positive result was yielded through

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced a new holiday special from Dolly Parton, and ABC released a trailer for “Supermarket Sweep,” hosted by Leslie Jones. DATES  Movie musical “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” will premiere Nov. 22 on Netflix. The film, directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen, stars Dolly Parton, Christine Baranski, Jenifer

Following weeks of lockdown, production for several shows has resumed with new safety protocols in place to protect cast and crew members. Leaders in the entertainment industry are looking to innovate their approaches to content production, including reimagining budget allocations and what series will look like for viewers. The eighth episode of Variety’s Rebooting The

Disney Parks is laying off 28,000 U.S. employees, two-thirds of whom are part-time, due to the pandemic’s impact on Disneyland and Walt Disney World, according to Disney Parks chairman Josh D’Amaro. Calling the decision “heartbreaking” in a letter to employees, he said that this was “the only feasible option we have” due to the COVID-19

Amid a year of the entertainment industry — and the nation as a whole — reckoning with the way it approaches issue of racial representation and gender parity, ViacomCBS is kicking off its annual inclusion week with an eye toward tackling those issues head on. This year it will do so as an enlarged company

Sam Jay is getting her own late-night show. HBO has issued a series order for a weekly show hosted by Jay and executive produced by “Insecure” showrunner Prenitce Penny. The as-yet-untitled 30-minute show, slated to debut on the premium cabler in 2021, will see Jay tackling topics such race, politics, sexual identity, science, celebrity, religion,

BTS kicked off a week-long stint on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Monday with pre-recorded performances from the band of their hits “Dynamite” and “IDOL.” Fallon is hosting “BTS Week” on the show, with performances from the group each night and an interview on Wednesday. [embedded content] “We love having BTS on

Kenya Barris has a lot on his plate already with three comedies in the “ish” universe already airing, as well as #BlackAF on Netflix (not to mention his overall deal to create new content with the streamer in general) — so what made him want to deliver a fourth “ish” series in “Old-ish,” starring “Black-ish’s”

The Lee Daniels and Karin Gist series “Our Kind of People” is picking up speed at Fox Entertainment. Fox is eyeing a potential series order for the drama, according to sources, and the company has now opened a writers’ room led by Gist. Inspired by Lawrence Otis Graham’s book “Our Kind of People: Inside America’s