Television

Laura Benanti has joined the ensemble cast of the Fox drama pilot “Big Leap,” Variety has learned exclusively. The one-hour project centers on a group of diverse underdogs from all different walks of life who compete to be part of a competition reality series that is putting on a modern, hip remake of “Swan Lake.” It

Ruth Ammon doesn’t normally come in on the second season of shows as a production designer, but for “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness,” set in 1897 New York, she was willing to make an exception. Ammon picked up where Mara LePere-Schloop left off in Season 1, having turned areas in Budapest into New York’s Gilded

NBC aired its hour-long reunion special “episode” on Thursday night to un-spectacular numbers. The special, which doubled as a lengthy ad for NBCUniversal and its new streaming service, Peacock, averaged a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49 and only 2.5 million viewers across its runtime. It’s of course worth nothing that multiple NBC affiliates (namely Gray

“Briarpatch,” the Rosario Dawson-led anthology series, has been canceled after only one season at USA Network. The cancelation was confirmed by showrunner Andy Greenwald, who posted the news on Twitter. “Briarpatch” finished its brief 10-episode run back in April. “Just wanted to let you know some disappointing news before you hear it from anyone else:

Restrictions may be slowly easing in the U.K., but drama producers are beginning to feel the full force of the vast domino effect triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Crucial components of the production process, such as casting and scouting, are becoming arduous as productions fish from the same pool of bankable actors and attractive locations

In “Cursed,” a new Netflix series that restages the Arthurian legend with a contemporary sensibility, Katherine Langford plays Nimue, a young woman whose sense of righteousness is inflected by, and inflamed with, a destiny to lead her people through a time of upheaval. At one point, a rival of sorts refers to her by the

Robert Irvine will add some new ingredients to Food Network as part of a new two-year deal with the Discovery-owned cable outlet. Irvine will lead new episodes of his series “Restaurant: Impossible” and develop mid- and short-form video segments for both linear and digital venues, including Food Network’s Kitchen app. He will also work to

Leading television industry event the Edinburgh TV Festival has added two sessions to its lineup, with “Succession” writer Lucy Prebble and Russell T. Davies, the former “Doctor Who” showrunner, among the speakers. Davies, executive producer and writer of “Doctor Who,” “Years and Years” and “A Very English Scandal,” will be joined by “Bulletproof,” “The Corrupted”

In “Showbiz Kids,” a rambunctious and revealing documentary about what it’s like to be a child star in Hollywood, Henry Thomas, from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (he was 10 then — he’s now 48), tells a terrific story about what it feels like to learn that your days as a movie star are numbered. Early on,

Scripted by “30 Rock” co-creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the hour-long reunion special “episode” that aired Thursday on NBC (and some of its affiliate stations) brought the cast back together via Zoom calls and side plots with impressively high production values as everyone unites for the common cause of praising NBCUniversal and its new

“Jeopardy!” has announced that it will air a retrospective series starting July 20, rebroadcasting memorable moments from throughout the show’s 36 years on air. The popular quiz show’s four-week series will feature 20 episodes, including the show’s 1984 premiere, which features Alex Trebek. The beloved gameshow host has been on board for all of the

Don Johnson and Chris Redd have signed onto a starring role in “Kenan,” the upcoming NBC series starring Kenan Thompson. “Kenan” was originally ordered to series last year for a spring 2020 debut, but NBC announced in January that the show was being pushed to the 2020-2021 season to continue developing it. Johnson will play

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix reveals a first look at Season 5 of “Last Chance U,” and Telemundo brings back a third season of “La Reina del Sur” starring Kate del Castillo. RENEWALS Telemundo has greenlit a third season of its original series “La Reina del Sur,” starring Kate del Castillo as Teresa Mendoza.

Galyn Görg, known for her roles in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “RoboCop 2,” died on Tuesday. She was 55. According to a Facebook post made by her sister, Tagi Görg, the actor died Tuesday morning. Görg had been dealing with cancer. “Soar high with the birds and dance with the angels beautiful shining starlight,”

When Tina Fey and Robert Carlock first came up with “30 Rock,” Fey writes in her memoir “Bossypants,” they “weren’t trying to make a low-rated critical darling.” They just botched their version of “a hit show” like “Home Improvement.” Looking back at the series, their failure to recreate sitcom normalcy is absolutely for the better.

The “30 Rock” reunion airs this Thursday at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, but NBC’s affiliate stations have opted out of broadcasting the special. The 12 NBC-owned stations, including those in New York and L.A., will air the special on Thursday. On Friday morning, NBC will post the full special to NBC.com, cable video on

Discovery has announced that it will pay tribute to the late Grant Imahara with a marathon lineup of “Mythbusters” episodes. A total of eight episodes will air across Discovery Channel and Science Channel on July 17 and 18. Imahara died from a brain aneurism earlier this week at the age of 49. He served as

Forty million households tuned in to watch Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever” and Steve Carell starrer “Space Force” in their first four weeks on Netflix, the streaming company said in its second-quarter earnings results. Meanwhile, “Too Hot to Handle” reeled in 51 million households, while “Floor Is Lava” brought in a projected 37 million

Each year, the BAFTA TV Craft Awards recognize the behind-the-scenes production talent like writers, editors and costume designers behind the year’s hit shows. In an unprecedented era where the coronavirus pandemic has led to a global lockdown and the cancellation of events, the British Academy Television Craft Awards will go ahead on Friday as a

Super Frog, the production company founded by Hiro Murai and Nate Matteson, has signed first-look deal with FX Productions. Under the deal, the company will develop scripted and unscripted programming for FX and potentially other divisions of Walt Disney Television. “We are thrilled to continue our relationship with FX as we build our company,” Murai

NBC has ordered the unscripted series “Home Sweet Home,” which hails from Ava DuVernay. In the 10-episode hour-long series, two families who lead very different lives go through a full-immersion cultural experiment. The show chronicles walking a mile in another person’s shoes by challenging racial, religious, economic, geographic, gender and identity assumptions as participants exchange

Meghan McCain says one of the biggest lessons in her TV career came when she was working alongside Harris Faulkner in the run up to the 2016 election at Fox News Channel. A viewer had slipped into her direct messages on Twitter with an unpleasant remark, and McCain, who says she is prone to react

Now that the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has mapped out its rescheduled awards ceremonies for the rest of the year, it’s ready to launch its dedicated online viewing platform for all of the Emmy Awards that it produces. As Variety first wrote in February, NATAS has been working on a new over-the-top

For years, the Freestyle Love Supreme experience was a “completely ephemeral” one, as founding member Thomas Kail puts it. Only those in the small, usually 99-seat, theaters who witnessed one of the hip-hop improv group’s shows live shared in the unique memory and magic of what they delivered. But through Andrew Fried’s documentary “We Are

PBS’ 50th year is also its 14th with Paula Kerger at its helm. She is now the longest-serving top executive in PBS’ history — and has guided it through a period of accelerated change. “I don’t think I have words to express how much I feel that Paula’s been the perfect leader for the perfect

Nick Cannon has announced that he will be “taking time away” from his Los Angeles-based radio show, after apologizing for anti-Semitic comments he made on a podcast. Cannon has been host of the morning show on Meruelo Media’s KPWR-FM “Power 106” since June 2019. “Nick Cannon Mornings” also entered national syndication in January via Skyview

The 1967 Public Broadcasting Act created the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, paving the way for the founding of PBS. Section 396 of the act includes the directive, “It is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences.” Justine Nagan,

PBS’ 50th anniversary wasn’t supposed to be quite so interesting. What the public broadcaster had expected was a forward-looking celebration of a half-century of service. But as with any other organization, PBS was forced to change plans in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, PBS has seen its mission made as clear

Ever dreamed of having Mahershala Ali, Keanu Reeves or Nicole Kidman help you drift off to sleep? Well HBO Max is helping make those dreams become a reality. The streamer has issued a 10-episode order for a new series called “A World of Calm,” which “combines mesmeric imagery with narration by A-list stars” to bring

Signaling one of the biggest deals ever struck by a U.S. company on a single Spanish drama series, AMC Studios and Spanish SVOD Movistar Plus are partnering on the production and distribution of a sunken treasure adventure series from Academy Award winner Alejandro Amenábar (“The Others,” “The Sea Inside”). Inspired by the Spanish graphic novel