Television

With the Emmys just around the corner, Variety asked some of this year’s nominees about their first auditions. Nicole Byer was about 21 years old when she read for a part in an off-Broadway show. She was stunned by the casting director’s age. “She looked so young. I was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re so

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a petite woman from Brooklyn who grew up to be a towering figure in American legal history and cultural trailblazer in American life. She was the most intimidating interview I have ever done. I had the privilege of sitting with Justice Ginsburg and her daughter, Columbia University Law professor Jane C.

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will set off a massive political battle over her replacement, and just a few hours later on Friday night, the cable networks were already getting in place to cover it. On MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” the tone was somber, as the show broadcast live images of a vigil

Brian Henson has been head of the Jim Henson Company for nearly 30 years now, following in his father Jim Henson’s footsteps. His latest project, “Earth To Ned” (streaming on Disney Plus) features new puppet creatures, such as the titular alien commander Ned (Paul Rugg) and his sidekick Cornelius (Michael Oosterom), who host a late-night

In today’s TV news roundup, ABC and the Television Academy announce additional special guest appearances during the 72nd Emmy Awards, and HBO Max debuts a trailer for “The Murders at White House Farm.” DATES HBO Documentary Films will release “537 Votes,” a film chronicling the journey toward the contested outcome of the 2000 presidential election,

Christmas might not be until December, but some networks are slapping on their mittens and gearing up for the holiday season as early as October. Families often find themselves gathered around the TV binging some of Hallmark or Lifetime’s latest Christmas-themed films, and this year is no exception. With people around the country encouraged to

The 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards winners may be celebrating alone in their own homes during the live but virtual broadcast on Sunday, but some of them won’t have to socially distance from their awards! Trophy presenters “may be visiting some of the winners live,” ABC, which will air the event, announced Friday. With this

Peacock will finally be taking flight on Roku devices, after months of wrangling — and NBCUniversal’s TV apps will not be going dark on Roku after all. Roku and NBCU reached a deal Friday afternoon that will provide access to the Peacock streaming app on the streaming platform’s players and Roku-enabled TVs. In addition, the

Amy Poehler is set to make her documentary directorial debut with a look at Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. “Ron Howard at Imagine [Entertainment] came to and said, ‘Would you be interested in telling a story?’” Poehler said on Thursday night during the Creative Coalition Television Humanitarian Awards, where she was honored by Seth Meyers.

Barbie Ferreira can’t use Instagram as freely as she used to. The actress, whose credits include the HBO Max movie “Unpregnant” and HBO’s TV series “Euphoria,” now has more than 2 million followers and is trying to reestablish her relationship with the internet at large. “The internet, right now, is a little hectic for me,”

In the run-up to the San Sebastián film festival, where Movistar Plus will world-premiere two of its most ambitious series to date — “Riot Police” and “Tell Me Who I Am” — president Sergio Oslé chatted with Variety about its new phase in production, working with AMC Studios, and the runaway success of a series

“Love Island” has swapped its titular island for Las Vegas this season, and the show just scored its largest dice roll (read audience) of the season. Episode 19 of season 2 drew a total of 2 million viewers, a 6% increase from last episode. That represents it largest tally of the season to date, narrowly

FilmRise has licensed more than 500 hours of content from NENT Studios UK, the production and distribution entity of the Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT). Under the deal, FilmRise has acquired all digital rights, including AVOD and SVOD for the content in both the North and South American territories. The package includes the British comedy “Peep

Ryan Murphy had a very specific look in mind for Lucia State Hospital, a mental institution that’s at the center of his new Netflix series, “Ratched” (premiering Sept. 18), a “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” prequel and origin story for Nurse Ratched (Sarah Paulson) that takes place in 1947. “He wanted the hospital not

The best talk show hosts are made into stars by the medium. To wit: Rosie O’Donnell was a well-known comic and actor but hardly the dynamo she eventually became when she began her daily show. She reinvented the medium that had, before her, been dominated by former local news anchor Oprah Winfrey. Both these stars

Everyone’s favorite familiar-slash-vampire hunter on FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows” will soon show off his musical side on the small-screen: Harvey Guillén will recur on the second season of NBC’s “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” Variety has learned exclusively. In the multi-episode arc, Guillén will play George, a new programmer who is constantly looking for

“Harley Quinn” has been renewed for a third season at HBO Max rather than DC Universe. The news comes as Warner Bros. officially announced Friday that DC Universe will no longer be home to scripted original series and will instead transition to solely a comic book subscription service called DC Universe Infinite. “Harley Quinn” is

“Cheer” coach Monica Aldama said she is “devastated by this shocking, unexpected news” following the Thursday arrest of her co-star Jerry Harris on the charge that he enticed a 13-year-old boy to send him explicit photos and videos. “My heart is shattered into a million pieces,” wrote Aldama on Instagram. “I am devastated by this

European pay-TV operator Sky has greenlit production of Italian prison drama “The King,” toplining Luca Zingaretti, best known as the titular character in the popular “Inspector Montalbano” series. In “The King” Zingaretti will play Buno Testori, chief of the San Michele penitentiary, where “he applies his own personal idea of justice,” according to a Sky

UPDATED: The dispute between Roku and NBCUniversal over distribution of the fledgling Peacock streaming service has taken a nasty turn. Late Thursday, Comcast-owned NBCUniversal notified Roku that the media company plans to force Roku to pull access to NBCU’s TV Everywhere channels on the Roku platform, including the flagship NBC app. Comcast may require Roku

Sarah Jones (“Marriage Story”), Giovanni Ribisi (“Avatar”) and Alexia Landeau (“Day Out of Days”) have joined the cast of Julie Delpy’s upcoming dramedy series “On the Verge,” a co-production between Canal Plus and Netflix. Canal Plus will air the series in France, with Netflix distributing it in the rest of world. “On The Verge” was

In its first three seasons, “Fargo” found a surprising amount of elasticity within its constrained format. Each installment borrowed the tone of Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1996 Midwestern noir, which places human greed against a setting of frigid climate and rigid propriety, to tell increasingly complicated crime stories. Until now, the show’s big swings —

Spain’s northern region of Navarre has fortified its position as a hub for the audiovisual industry in recent years and, mirroring trends seen elsewhere in the country, seen particularly strong growth in TV production in the past year, in spite of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Why is another matter. In 2019, Netflix produced more hours

In its sixth year and first-ever virtual format, the Television Humanitarian Awards, presented by The Creative Coalition, honored television industry figures and 2020 Emmy Award nominees who engage in advocacy work. Streaming exclusively on Variety’s Facebook and YouTube accounts, the event included dinner deliveries, VIP breakout rooms and an award ceremony.  Following an introduction from

The first time Connie the Hormone Monstress takes the screen in “Big Mouth,” she takes it over completely. She emerges from the shadows in a flash of lightning, as if zapped to Earth by some vengeful, horny god. As she takes in her new charge, a tiny redhead scared to death of her changing body,

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross now have an Emmy to add to their Oscar and Grammy awards, having won Thursday night for their score for HBO’s “Watchmen.” The Reznor-Ross team were previously honored with an Academy Award for “The Social Network” and a Grammy for their score for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” (They

Following news reports detailing issues of alleged misconduct at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and TMZ’s newsroom, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar and WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group head Ann Sarnoff each sent out a memo to staff addressing the issues and vowing to hold themselves accountable. BuzzFeed first reported details of the internal memos. Kilar wrote

Quibi, in its awards-season debut, picked up two trophies at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Thursday night. Both were for “#FreeRayshawn,” a police drama from from executive producer Antoine Fuqua: Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Cephas Jones won the acting awards in the Emmys short-form category. It was Fishburne’s third career Emmy win, and the

Former Writers Guild of America East president Michael Winship has been re-elected to the guild’s governing council as a freelance rep along with four other incumbents: Monica Lee Bellais, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Kaitlin Fontana and A.M. Homes. Gina Gionfriddo and Eric Saleh were also elected to open freelance seats. Jason Kim and Benjamin Rosenblum were also seeking freelance

Night 4 of the Creative Arts Emmys was headlined by Quibi winning prizes at TV’s top awards. The short-form content producer went home with two statuettes on Thursday night, both of which went to actors from the series “#FreeRayshawn.” Legendary “Matrix” star Laurence Fishburne won his third individual Emmy for his portrayal of  Lt. Steven