In today’s TV news roundup, ABC announced premiere dates for dramas including “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Good Doctor,” and Amazon Prime Video announced the premiere date for “Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2.” CASTING ABC confirmed the casting of Chloe Jo Rountree, Jecobi Swain and Jordyn Curet for its “Home Economics” pilot. The series, written
Television
At the spry age of 98, Norman Lear has been a longtime advocate for sustainability in Hollywood. During the second episode of Variety‘s Sustainability in Hollywood event presented by Toyota Mirai, the writer-producer spoke with senior TV editor Michael Schneider about how his wife Lyn Lear started the movement, his involvement in politics and why
At the spry age of 98, Norman Lear just made Emmy history, breaking his own record as the award’s oldest winner ever. And when he’s not working on projects such as “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” on ABC, or a new animated version of “Good Times” for Netflix (which Variety exclusively reported earlier
NeNe Leakes — the Housewife who has launched a thousand GIFS — announced on her YouTube channel Thursday that she will not be returning to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” next season. The show has been filming for months already without Leakes, one of the biggest stars who has come out of Bravo’s “Housewives” industrial
Tatiana Maslany is nearing a deal to play the lead role of the upcoming “She-Hulk” series at Disney Plus, Variety has learned from sources. The series centers on lawyer Jennifer Walters (Maslany), cousin of Bruce Banner, who inherits his Hulk powers after she receives a blood transfusion from him. Unlike Bruce, however, when she hulks
[embedded content] In an exclusive interview on the “Tamron Hall” show on Thursday, former “Vanderpump Rules” star Stassi Schroeder addressed for the first time the racial misconduct for which she was fired from Bravo in June. Schroeder and her costar Kristen Doute were fired after former “Vanderpump Rules” cast member Faith Stowers revealed during an
This year’s Academy of Country Music Awards, which saw Taylor Swift deliver her first solo ACM performance since 2013, lost a substantial chunk of their viewership from the previous year. A total of around 6.6 million viewers tuned in to the 2020 edition, which represents roughly a 33% drop year-to-year. The 55th annual ACM Awards
The PBS live performance series “Austin City Limits” has announced a lineup for its new season, which, perhaps expectedly due to the pandemic, includes a higher-than-usual amount of retrospective programming, but does sport freshly filmed sets as well. The 13-episode 2020-2021 season kicks off Oct. 3 with a retrospective of John Prine’s appearances on the
Hugh Davidson has signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. Animation. Under the deal, Davidson will develop, write, and produce animated projects for WBA across all platforms. The deal also allows for him to develop live-action projects for WBTV. “I have been at Warner Bros Animation for 10 years which in entertainment business years is
Paradigm has permanently laid off 180 of its 600 employees, six months after those agency staffers were temporarily laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paradigm chairman and CEO Sam Gores announced the move in a memo to staff. “With disappointment and sadness, today we have informed the temporarily laid off employees whom we have
In a focused media blast, former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe lambasted President Trump as a “bloviating puff-adder sack of lies” during an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on Wednesday and the Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s Covid-19 response in an op-ed in the Guardian Thursday morning. During the Meyers appearance, which you can watch
She still loves game shows. She still answers questions with Rose Nylund’s exclamation points. She’s won six Emmys and hosted three different series titled “The Betty White Show” during her eight decades in television. At 98, Betty White has many gifts, including her unique perspective on the evolution of television. The Los Angeles native starred
The devil is in the detail when it comes to ratings, and it’s fair to say that the producers of “Lucifer” will like these details. The Tom Ellis show has rocketed its way to the top of Nielsen’s weekly top 10 shows on streaming list, removing “The Umbrella Academy” from top spot for the first
In 15 seasons of “Supernatural,” Sam and Dean Winchester have fought vampires and demons, they’ve been to hell and they’ve died a lot. But would the show survive COVID-19? It was a very real question after the Vancouver-based production shut down on March 13 because of the coronavirus pandemic, one day into filming the series’ penultimate
Newly appointed Universal Studio Group head Pearlena Igbokwe outlined, in a Thursday memo to staff, her new leadership team amid NBCUniversal’s greater corporate restructure. That includes Masami Yamamoto as president of business affairs and operations, Brad Melnick as CFO, Tracy St. Pierre as exec VP of communications and marketing, Bryan Mu as senior VP of
Two in three Black Americans don’t feel they see their stories represented on-screen, according to a new study from National Research Group (NRG). The study, entitled “#RepresentationMatters,” also found that 67% of Americans across political ideologies and ethnicities feel there is a greater need on-screen representation of all of the following: mixed race individuals, Black
Carole Baskin is on the prowl to bring animal abusers to justice. The big cat activist, of “Tiger King” and now “Dancing With the Stars” fame, and her husband Howard Baskin are teaming with ITV America’s Thinkfactory Media for a new unscripted series exposing those who engage in animal cruelty, Variety has learned exclusively. The as-yet-untitled
Hollywood’s major studios and key industry unions are close to inking an omnibus agreement to restart TV and film production in the U.S. under newly crafted safety protocols mandated by the pandemic. The sides have been bargaining over all manner of challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis since June, after an industry coalition issued a
Apple TV Plus has unveiled its newest children’s programs, including “Stillwater,” an animated series based on the Scholastic book series “Zen Shorts” by Jon J. Muth. Produced by Gaumont and Scholastic Entertainment, the series centers on three siblings who have a wise panda, Stillwater, for a next-door neighbor. The show premieres on the streaming service
Tim Davie, who recently took charge as director general of U.K. broadcaster BBC, has said that he is trying to create a differentiated service to retain customers. Speaking at a session that kicked off the Royal Television Society Digital Convention on Thursday, Davie referred to the “incredible competition” in the market and said, “You just
U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned six-part crime thriller “Before We Die,” starring Lesley Sharp (“Bob & Rose), Vincent Regan (“300”) and Patrick Gibson (“The OA”), an adaptation of the hit Swedish series of the same name. The Bristol, England-set drama follows a detective who becomes deeply conflicted when she discovers her son is playing
The “America’s Got Talent” semifinals kicked off with a bang on Wednesday night (Sept. 16) as South Korean group BTS delivered a colorful and energetic performance of the hit song “Dynamite” on the NBC show. The band members — comprised of Jungkook, RM, V, Jimin, J-Hope, Suga and Jin — looked dapper in ’70s-inspired get-ups
Taylor Swift made her first performing appearance on a country awards show since 2013 with an appearance on Wednesday night’s Academy of Country Music Awards, singing “Betty,” a song from her recent “Folklore” album. CBS posted a clip of the performance on social media (below). The full song is unlikely to be officially posted until
ABC has canceled “Stumptown” despite previously renewing the show for a second season. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, due to timing and scheduling needs for the current season that have been impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, ABC opted not to move forward with the second season as planned. Studio ABC
Lionsgate and Starz are ready to ramp up production in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “This is going to be a sellers’ market for some time to come because a lot of new content has not been made,” said Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns on Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. “We’re ramping
Production on HBO’s “The Gilded Age” shut down three days before it was slated to begin back in March, and actor Cynthia Nixon has finally had her first fitting as the industry begins to ramp back up. She was picked up at her New York City apartment by a Teamster driver. “I showed him my
Baby Yoda aka The Child is not just a pop culture phenomenon, but now also a major awards winner: “The Mandalorian,” which put its brand-new streamer Disney Plus squarely on the Emmys’ map this year with 15 overall nominations, picked up its first statues at the Creative Arts ceremony on Wednesday night. “The Mandalorian” picked
HBO Max has acquired the rights to stream children’s book author Mo Willems’ collection of animated shorts, “Mo Willems Storytime Shorts.” The collection is scheduled to premiere on the platform Sept. 17, when 15 shorts from 2006 to 2019 will be made available. The complete list of which will be available is provided below. Willems
Long-time Pulse Films executive Lucas Ochoa (pictured, left) has left the “Gangs of London” producer to join “Normal People” outfit Element Pictures as an executive producer. Also joining the production company is Silverprint Pictures’ Michael Dawson (right). Ochoa’s hire is a major coup for Element Pictures, and comes as a surprise given his years spent
ABC has given out a straight-to-series order to the drama series “Rebel.” Katey Sagal stars in the show, which is inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich. It is slated to debut in 2021. Sagal stars as Annie “Rebel” Bello, a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She’s described as a funny, messy, brilliant