Television

Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, including around 750 Disney live performers, has reached an agreement with the Walt Disney Company for its performers to return to work at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., as the company sets up a COVID-19 testing site outside of the park.

Tess Sanchez, the executive vice president of casting for Fox Entertainment, has left the company, Variety has learned. “We are reorganizing our casting department and made the difficult decision to eliminate the Executive Vice President position,” a Fox Entertainment spokesperson said in a statement. “We thank Tess for her many contributions and wish her the best

“The Crown” has found its final Prince Philip. Legendary British actor Jonathan Pryce has been cast to play the Queen’s husband in the fifth and sixth seasons of “The Crown,” Variety has confirmed. Pryce will be taking over from fellow “Game of Thrones” alum Tobias Menzies, who portrayed the often controversial figure during season 3 and in

In today’s TV news roundup, Nickelodeon announced plans to bring YouTube’s Tiny Chef to its preschool platforms, and Court TV revealed that “Judgment With Ashleigh Banfield” will premiere Sept. 13. DATES Court TV has announced that “Judgment With Ashleigh Banfield” is set to premiere Sept. 13, with weekly episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. The show

“American Ninja Warrior” has beaten the obstacle course that is coronavirus production. NBC has announced that the competition series will premiere its twelfth season on Monday, Sept. 7 in the 8 p.m. time slot. That means it will be taking the place of “The Voice,” which sources say will no longer be ready in time

Admitting to how much one doesn’t know, in an era bent on proving our incompetence, is humbling enough for most of us. But it seems especially difficult for celebrities. Dispatches from Hollywood have often tended towards the smugness of certitude since COVID’s earliest days in America: recall the infuriating “Imagine” video, in which Gal Gadot

CBS Television Studios has signed an exclusive agreement with law enforcement and public safety advisory group 21CP Solutions to consult with the writing staffs of CBS crime procedurals and legal dramas, Variety has learned exclusively. The move comes in the wake of national protests against police brutality, and in Hollywood, discussions about entertainment’s role in

NBC has announced the premiere date for “Transplant,” the Canadian medical drama acquired by the broadcast network back in May. The 13-episode series will begin airing on NBC on Sept. 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, immediately after the live telecast of “America’s Got Talent.” The scheduling move now makes NBC the third broadcaster to set

It seems like it was a lifetime ago, but it was only last year that the busiest Emmy campaign season ever kept us out virtually every night of the week. That included seeing Bruce Springsteen and David Letterman onstage at the Netflix “FYSee” space, interacting with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” exhibit during Amazon Prime Video’s

At the start of 2020, a television show featuring friends and family locked down in their respective homes as a deadly pandemic ravaged the globe would have been labeled as a dystopian drama and been treated as escapist entertainment for those looking to immerse themselves in a world completely unlike their own. But more than

Few can argue that Latinos haven’t been greatly underrepresented in Hollywood, particularly at the creative level. A key reason, many say, is an insufficient comprehension of what the terms “Latino” and the gender-neutral “Latinx” mean. When Hollywood thinks about Latino or Latinx talent, its instinct is to turn to the Oscar-winning Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón,

Variety has selected its 10 Comics to Watch for 2020. This year’s honorees will be profiled in the September 29 issue of Variety and take part in a live virtual panel at this year’s Just for Laughs Digital Festival. Traditionally held every year in Montreal, the festival will going digital this year due to the

Apple has ordered an animated series based on the classic children’s book “Harriet the Spy” by Louise Fitzhugh, Variety has learned. Beanie Feldstein will voice the titular Harriet, while Jane Lynch will play her nanny, Ole Golly. In addition, Lacey Chabert will voice Marion Hawthorne, the queen bee at Harriet’s school. Like the book, the series

Peacock has ordered an eight-episode adaptation of “One of Us is Lying,” the streamer announced Wednesday. The new series, which is based on the best-selling young adult novel of the same name by Karen M. McManus, will be run by “Elite” co-creator Darío Madrona and star Marianly Tejada, Cooper van Grootel, Annalisa Cochrane, Chibuikem Uche,

Those who cast unscripted series often have thousands of audition tapes to pore through. Since the medium requires a diversity of perspective and personality, but not always special skills, what often catches the eye and helps one rise to the top of the pile is being an “open book,” says Goloka Bolte, co-founder of the

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are no longer involved with the planned live-action adaptation of the series at Netflix. “Many of you have been asking me for updates about the ‘Avatar’ live-action Netflix series,” DiMartino wrote in an open letter on his website early Wednesday morning. “I can finally

Both Don Cheadle and Jeremy Strong scored Emmy nominations for the second seasons of their shows. As the prodigal Roy son Kendall in HBO’s family media dynasty drama “Succession,” Strong enters the lead drama actor race for the first time ever (and sees his first Television Academy accolade overall). Meanwhile, Cheadle’s time as Mo Monroe

Sumner Redstone, a towering figure in media who built his father’s drive-in theater business into an empire that included Viacom, Paramount Pictures and CBS Corp., only to see his legacy tarnished in his final years by corporate battles and sordid allegations by former girlfriends, died Aug. 11 at his home in Los Angeles. He was

Australian sitcom, “Metro Sexual” has landed multiple streaming arrangements in North America. It will premiere in the U.S. on Sept. 1 on the free streaming service Crackle, and on Canada’s OUTtvGo and OUTtv’s Apple TV from the same date. It will then play on Prime Channels in Canada. “Metro Sexual” is the first Australian sitcom

When the news broke that Joe Biden selected Senator Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate for the 2020 presidential election, one of the most immediate reactions could be summed up by this tweet from NBC News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett: During the Democratic primary, Rudolph’s joyful performances as Harris were a standout on

In today’s TV news roundup, Apple TV Plus released a premiere date for “Tehran,” and Netflix announced a premiere date for “The Duchess.” DATES Apple TV Plus will premiere the first three episodes of “Tehran” on Sept. 25. The eight-episode series follows a Mossad agent who goes undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran. The

The finale of “Perry Mason” season 1 certainly set things up nicely for the second installment, and delivered season high numbers for HBO in the process. Sunday’s episode drew a total of 1.1 million total viewers in its live network airing, which represents a season high and a 24% increase on the premiere. Overall, 1.6

Kal Penn is trying to help mobilize young voters. The actor and comedian is set to host an unscripted series at Freeform that looks to explore issues and topics relevant to Millennial and GenZ voters, Variety has confirmed. The Disney-owned network has issued a series order for the untitled comedy project. Precisely what kind of format the

Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, co-founded by Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich and Eric Towner, announced on Tuesday that Steve Bastien will lead the studio’s commercial division, Buddy Spots. The Burbank-based studio is responsible for shows like the Emmy-award winning, longest-running stop-motion show “Robot Chicken,” the Emmy-nominated “SuperMansion” with Bryan Cranston and “Crossing Swords,” which

Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could stop Shark Week. The annual Discovery Channel franchise, now in its 32nd edition, remains a juggernaut for the company — which this year is using Shark Week to launch five new series while giving the network (and cable in general) a needed boost. “I’ve worked at Discovery as a

Fox Sports Films is set to air “Tua,” a documentary about Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Variety has learned exclusively. “Tua is a beloved young star with an incredible story,” said Charlie Dixon, Executive Vice President of Content at Fox Sports. “We like to say, ‘Fox is Football’, and since it’s in our DNA, that means

It’s not hard to spot familiar names on the drama side of this year’s guest actor and actress Emmy ballot, whether that’s Ron Cephas Jones in NBC’s “This Is Us” or Cicely Tyson in ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” who have each recurred heavily over the course of several seasons. But on the

WarnerMedia has named Jessica Holscott as the new head of finance of its studios and networks group, the recently formed unit led by Warner Bros. chief Ann Sarnoff. Holscott, who will report to WarnerMedia CFO Pascal Desroches, is tasked with overseeing the group’s financial activities, including financial reporting, budgeting and planning for future business growth.

Continuing the trend of live fan events going virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Comic Con’s producer ReedPop announced on Tuesday that the annual fan convention is canceling its in-person event and partnering with YouTube to stream live panels from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11. NYCC was originally scheduled to take place at Javits

A dramatic reboot of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” is in the works, Variety has confirmed. It will be based on Morgan Cooper’s viral video that reimagined the NBC comedy series as a drama titled “Bel-Air.” The trailer, which Cooper posted online last year, has racked up over five million views on YouTube alone. Watch it