Television

South Africa’s Known Associates, the fast-growing parent company of Johannesburg-based Known Associates Entertainment (KAE) and Cape Town-based Moonlighting Films, is launching into unscripted programming, Variety can reveal. The company has acquired a 60% stake in Zero Gravity, a production outfit founded in 2017 by former Endemol Shine Africa and Trace Studios CEO Sivan Pillay, and

BBC Studios has bought British broadcaster ITV‘s 50% stake in streamer BritBox International for £255 million ($322 million), the companies revealed on Friday. The streamer was founded in 2017 as a joint venture between BBC Studios, which is the commercial arm of the British broadcaster, and ITV. “The transaction will provide net proceeds including loan

SPOILER ALERT: This story includes major plot developments on the first episode of “Elsbeth,” airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.  On “Elsbeth,” Carrie Preston reprises her Emmy winning role as the eccentrically shrewd attorney Elsbeth Tascioni, a fan favorite character from the CBS drama “The Good Wife” and its Paramount+ spin-off “The Good Fight.”

Dwayne Johnson now officially owns title to the sobriquet “The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment.” The actor and entertainment mogul, who broke out as a WWE star two decades ago, has gained rights to a number of nicknames, insults and catchphrases from his time in the ring in the 90s and early 2000s

“BMF” has been renewed for Season 4 at Starz, Variety has learned. The news comes ahead of the upcoming Season 3 premiere of the crime drama. Season 3 of the series will debut on March 1 at midnight on the Starz app before its linear network premiere at 8 p.m.ET/PT in the U.S. and at

Netflix is getting into the medical procedural space, with the streamer announcing a pickup for the drama “Pulse.” The series hails from creator Zoe Robyn, who will also serve as co-showrunner alongside Carlton Cuse. In addition, Justina Machado has been cast in a series regular role. The official logline for the series states, “While the

The cheating scandal that rocked “Vanderpump Rules” is now being taken to court. Rachel Leviss has filed a lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court against Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix for eavesdropping, revenge porn, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Leviss, who was a cast member on the reality show, had a

“Outer Banks” Season 4 has added five new cast members, Variety has learned. J. Anthony Crane (“Dead Ringers,” “Billions”), Pollyanna McIntosh (“The Walking Dead,” “Double Blind”), Brianna Brown (“Dynasty,” “Eastsiders”), Rigo Sanchez (“Animal Kingdom,” “Station 19”), and Mia Challis (“FBI: International,” “Clickbait”) have all joined the popular adventure drama series in recurring guest star roles.

Food Network is breaking new ground in the intense culinary competition genre with a series that features 24 chefs taking on 24 food challenges in, you guessed it, 24 consecutive hours. Hosted by Food Network stars and iconic chefs Michael Symon and Esther Choi, “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing” is described as the Warner

Scott Speedman has been cast in a lead role of the upcoming Peacock horror thriller series “Teacup,” Variety has learned exclusively. Speedman will now star alongside previously announced cast member Yvonne Strahovski. Inspired by the Robert McCammon novel “Stinger,” the series is said to follow “a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must

Amazon MGM Studios’ Gato Grande label will launch a new division focused on producing English language series and films sourced from Latin American intellectual properties. Its first project, “Clipperton,” is based on best-selling Colombian author Laura Restrepo’s novel “The Isle of Passion.” “Clipperton” follows the true story of a group of Mexican castaways stranded on

FORMAT The Sony Pictures Television and Nippon TV format known variously around the world as “Dragons’ Den,” “Shark Tank” and “Lions’ Den” is launching its 50th version, “Shark Tank Bangladesh,” on Bongo and Deepto TV this spring. Buoyed by its success in India, where it launched on channel SET and streamer SonyLiv in 2021 with

Kino Lorber’s MHz Choice and Topic will merge into one streaming service, the company announced. The combined product will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of hit German series “Babylon Berlin” starting in April. As of Feb. 29, the series is no longer available in the country on Netflix, which previously held the U.S. streaming

Netflix has revealed its upcoming 2024 Indian slate and Monika Shergill, VP, content has outlined the streamer’s commissioning philosophy and strategy for the country. New titles on the slate include: Luv Ranjan comedy film “Wild Wild Punjab”; Neeraj Pandey heist film “Sikandar Ka Muqaddar”; scripted Anubhav Sinha thriller series “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack”; Kapil

Netflix has unveiled an eclectic, star-studded India slate for 2024. New films on the slate include comedy “Wild Wild Punjab” from producers Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg and director Simarpreet Singh, where a group of drunk boys decide to avenge a friend’s breakup by crashing his ex’s wedding and achieve closure. Varun Sharma, Sunny Singh,

Spain’s Movistar Plus+, the pay TV/SVOD service of telco giant Telefónica, has picked up the Sky and Peacock original series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” starring Harvey Keitel and based on the bestselling novel by Heather Morris. The six-part limited series is one of the key draws on the sales slate of All3Media International, which hosts

Maksim Chmerkovskiy is misunderstood. At least that’s what he’ll say if you ask. The professional dancer, who previously competed on 17 seasons of “Dancing With the Stars” and won once, left the ABC series in 2017 and has a brand new role: judge on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Oddly enough, he’s best

The inevitable M&A question came toward the end of Paramount Global‘s hourlong conference call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday — a session that undoubtedly would have been more contentious for Paramount leaders if they hadn’t started out by serving up sacrifices for the greater good of free cash flow and profit. Paramount Global CEO

It might seem hard to believe after viewing the series, but “Shōgun” production designer Helen Jarvis had never been to Japan, had never read James Clavell’s nearly 1,200-page novel and she had never before worked on a 10-part TV series when she first came on the FX show. However, she was determined to bring authenticity

Brettsey has officially left Chicago. Kara Killmer, who has portrayed Sylvie Brett for 199 episodes on “Chicago Fire” (and dozens of “Chicago Med” and “Chicago P.D” episodes), makes her final appearance on the Feb. 28 episode, marrying Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer) and moving to Portland with him. “It’s bittersweet, but it’s definitely more sweet than

Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly are returning to the “NCIS” franchise, a decade after both stars left the original CBS series. The duo are set to reprise their roles as Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo in a new 10-episode still-untitled “NCIS” series for Paramount+. John McNamara (“Trumbo,” “The Magicians”) serving as showrunner and executive

Nick Offerman and Betty Gilpin have joined the upcoming Netflix historical drama series “Death by Lightning,” Variety has learned. The duo join previously announced series leads Matthew Macfadyen and Michael Shannon in the show, which will tell the story of U.S. President James Garfield (Shannon) and his assassination by Charles Guiteau (Macfadyen). It is based

Richard Lewis, who died Feb. 27 at 76, had a long career as a comic, but has lately been particularly well-known as a part of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — something close to its heart. On “Curb,” Lewis’ frequent appearances needled star and protagonist Larry David in a manner no one else in the ensemble quite

Larry David has offered a tribute to his longtime “Curb Your Enthusiasm” co-star and friend Richard Lewis, who died of a heart attack Tuesday at the age of 76. “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David

“The Sopranos” star Drea de Matteo recently told DailyMail.com that she saved her house from going into foreclosure thanks to OnlyFans, which she turned to last year after her acting career stalled. She launched an account in August that fans could subscribe to for $15 per month. “It saved us,” de Matteo said. “OnlyFans saved

As part of their new deal with Amazon MGM Studios, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne are already at work on breaking stories for Season 3 of the Prime Video series. That comes as Prime Video preps a premiere later this year for Season 2 of

NBC has given a series order to “The Hunting Game,” a drama series from JJ Bailey and Jake Coburn. Per the official logline, “The Hunting Game” is “a high-concept crime procedural about a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers our country has ever seen, all

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from Season 7 of Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty,” now streaming on Max. With its Season 7 finale “Fear No Mort” airing in December, “Rick and Morty” was able to close off what had already been a rollercoaster of a season, one that delivered closure to the arcs of our beloved

Yvonne Strahovski has been tapped for the lead role in the upcoming Peacock series “Teacup.” Described as a horror thriller, “Teacup” hails from writer Ian McCulloch with James Wan and Atomic Monster attached to executive produce. Inspired by the Robert McCammon novel “Stinger,” the series is said to follow “a disparate group of people in

“Hacks” Season 3 has added six to its cast in guest star roles, Variety has learned. Helen Hunt (“Mad About You,” “As Good as It Gets”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men,” “Good Girls”), Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), Dan Bucatinsky (“Scandal,” “Air”), George Wallace (“Clean Slate,” “The Ladykillers”), and Tony Goldwyn