Chi Chi DeVayne, known for her appearances in “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” has died after a battle with pneumonia. She was 34. DeVayne — the drag persona for Zavion Davenport — was hospitalized last week with pneumonia. She was also admitted in July for suspected kidney failure. DeVayne lived with
Television
“The Masked Singer” is officially back in business. Production has begun in Los Angeles on season 4 of the Fox show, which sources say is taking all the usual COVID-19 production precautions, including social distancing and regular temperature checks. The unscripted sensation is scheduled to take its regular Wednesday night slot in Fox’s fall schedule,
Supermodel-turned-businesswoman Tyra Banks has signed a first-look deal with Disney Television Studios’ ABC Signature to focus her efforts on producing scripted programming with ABC Signature and unscripted content with ABC Entertainment. “Ever since I was a little girl growing up in Inglewood, California, I’ve been enamored by the magic of Disney. Joining the family at
“Tosh.0” will end its run on Comedy Central after its upcoming twelfth season. The cancellations comes despite the fact that Comedy Central picked the show up for four mores seasons back in January. Series host Daniel Tosh signed an overall deal with the network at that time, but it is unclear if he will remain
Carlos Portugal is developing the one-hour mystery drama “Miss NG” at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is set in the small town of Nuevo Guerrero, where nothing is more important than the annual Miss Nuevo Guerrero beauty pageant. But when last year’s winner goes missing, her former best friend, her arch-rival and her
WarnerMedia has yet to install a new president of ad sales but in the meantime, it has given some new duties to one of its senior ad-sales executives. Joe Hogan has temporarily been given oversight of media sales at Xandr, the ad-tech unit that was operated separately from WarnerMedia’s ad sales efforts until April, when
Susan Lewis is joining ABC Signature as senior vice president and head of drama development. Lewis will officially join the studio on Aug. 31 and will report to Tracy Underwood. She takes over the role from Patrick Maguire, who exited the studio amid the recent restructuring that saw ABC Studios and ABC Signature combine under
Anyone who believes the old adage that boys will only watch TV shows with male leads, while girls will watch shows with male and female leads clearly hasn’t been paying attention to the teen drama landscape lately. Current series including Netflix hits “Never Have I Ever” and “The Baby-Sitters Club” as well as stalwarts such
Breakout TikTok star Sarah Cooper is developing a single-camera comedy at CBS inspired by her book “How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings.” In a competitive situation with a penalty attached, Cooper is attached to co-write and executive produce the potential series, with Cindy Chupack onboard as co-writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Nina Tassler,
Showtime is up for some astronaut antics. The cable network has picked up half-hour comedy series “Moonbase 8,” starring Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, and John C. Reilly, for six episodes. “Moonbase 8,” which has been in the works at A24 since 2018 and is slated to launch sometime in the fall, is described as a
Just like the first page of a novel, a series’ or episode’s opening 10 minutes acts like a door. If executed successfully, it will make viewers want to run through that entrance, not just walk through it. Those 600 seconds have to not only grab hold of a viewer, but they also have to set
Television has evolved from the days of unrealistic apartments and lavish wardrobes. Instead, as some of this year’s comedy series Emmy contenders prove, money has become a tangible way to mine humor and develop characters or push storylines while still offering a dose of aspirational escapism. Money and class were instrumental in the “Schitt’s Creek”
The old adage about “writing what you know” has paid off exponentially for Daniel Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”). Knowing themselves and their abilities better than anyone else, both men created series in which they would not only star but also make their directorial debuts — and it paid off in spades with
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” has implemented several new perks for its weary staff, including increased paid time off and a liberal medical leave policy, following a dramatic address from the daytime host on Monday. Staffers will receive five paid days off to use at their discretion, birthdays off, and paid time for doctors appointments and
Show business has often proven to be fertile ground for humor, and this year’s Emmy comedy series race is no different. Several of the shows up for the top TV prize in that genre this year offer a funny look inside different aspects of the industry. So what is it that makes entertainment so entertaining?
German sales and production outfit Beta Film has sold hit Canadian man and canine series “Hudson & Rex” to a slew of territories across Europe. UKTV has picked up the show for the U.K. and Ireland, where it will air on the Alibi channel later this year. In addition, Beta has sold to Sweden’s TV4, Denmark’s
French pay TV group Canal Plus has pre-bought exclusive rights for France to the anticipated series “Patria” from HBO Europe ahead of its September premiere. “Patria” was created and written by Aitor Gabilondo (“El Príncipe”), based on Fernando Aramburu’s bestselling novel of the same name. Directed by Felix Viscarret and Óscar Pedraza, “Patria” spans over
Outgoing BBC director general, Tony Hall, will deliver the opening address at the Edinburgh TV Festival, in what will be one of his final public appearances in the position before he steps down in September. Hall will address delegates in the first session of the festival on Aug. 24 about the role of public service
“Bad Blood,” an ambitious new Serbian feature film and TV series, has become the first project from the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Drama co-financing forum to go into production since the event’s establishment in 2016. Set in the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century, “Bad Blood” is based on the works of renowned Serbian writer
Filmmaker Maurice “Mo” Marable signed with the United Talent Agency (UTA) ahead of “Woke,” his latest project set to air on Hulu Sept. 9. He directs and executive produces the upcoming comedy series, which follows a Black cartoonist whose world changes after he is wrongly identified as a criminal suspect by several police officers. Marable
Actor-producer Kerry Washington opened the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention with a fiery warning about the stakes of the 2020 presidential contest between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. “We’re fighting for the soul of this country and for our lives,” the “Scandal” star said in introducing a program
“Drunk History’s” sixth and most recent season will be the Comedy Central show’s last, Variety has confirmed. The show had been renewed for a seventh season last year and was in pre-production on that season when the COVID-19 pandemic forced production to stop in March. Later on, Comedy Central decided to pull the plug on the
ABC-owned KABC-TV (“ABC7”) has named Pam Chen to serve as the station’s vice president and news director. The move makes Chen the first Asian American news department head at a network-owned station in Los Angeles. Chen replaces Rob Elmore, who had headed up KABC’s news operations since 2015. Elmore was recently tapped to take over
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix has revealed the launch date for volume two of “Unsolved Mysteries,” and AMC has released the key art for Season 6 of “Fear the Walking Dead.” DATES Netflix has announced that volume two of the first season of “Unsolved Mysteries” will stream on Oct. 19. Six new episodes will focus
The cast and creators of the FX on Hulu limited series “Mrs. America” sought to bring the ’70s feminist movement and the fight surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment to the screen through exploring the personal motivations of its key players. Now with 10 Emmy nominations, the show has struck a chord by revealing little-known truths
WME partner and literary agent Melissa Myers has been tapped to lead a new joint venture between Kinetic Content founder and CEO Chris Coelen and ProZiebenSat. 1’s Red Arrow Studios. As president and partner of the new company, Myers will oversee the venture’s focus on premium English-language scripted television series targeted at both an American
Remember when the “Saturday Night Live” cast touted itself as the Not Ready for Primetime Players? These days, the long-running NBC sketch comedy series appears to be almost the only broadcast show ready for the Primetime Emmys. “SNL” landed 15 nominations this year, easily the most of anything in broadcast. The second-most-nominated broadcast program was
Daniella Diaz spent months as Elizabeth Warren’s shadow. The CNN producer crisscrossed the country, following the presidential hopeful as she pressed the flesh in a middle school gymnasium in Muscatine, Iowa, or delivered a blistering rebuke of Donald Trump in a packed auditorium in Lebanon, N.H. Anywhere the candidate looked, while working a rope line, taking a debate stage, or posing
Apple has renewed comedy series “Ted Lasso” for a second season, Variety has learned. The news comes less than a week after the series premiered on the streamer, with the first three episodes becoming available at that time. The fourth episode will debut on Friday. The second season will consist of 10 episodes like the first
“The Wheel of Time” series at Amazon has added a few more spokes. Five additional actors are joining the Rosamund Pike-headlined fantasy series, among them “Hotel Rwanda” star Sophie Okonedo and “Game of Thrones” alumna Kae Alexander. Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels, “The Wheel of Time” is set in a high fantasy world