Television

Dennis “Denny” O’Neil, best known for writing and editing Batman comic books, died on June 11 of natural causes. He was 81. O’Neil wrote “Batman,” “Detective Comics” and “Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight” in addition to serving as an editor for DC’s Batman-related comic books from 1986 until 2000. Along with editor Julius Schwartz

Dave Chappelle, in a new Netflix stand-up special, takes a swipe at CNN anchor Don Lemon — pushing back on Lemon’s call for Black celebrities to speak up on racial justice. “And I’m watching Don Lemon, that hotbed of reality,” Chappelle says in the special, which Netflix surprise-released for free on YouTube early Friday. “He

Oprah Winfrey’s two-night town hall on racism in America drew a substantial number of viewers. Titled “OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?,” the town hall was simulcast on OWN and all of its parent company Discovery’s 18 other networks. Just under 11 million total viewers tuned in across all the networks, with repeats

Tucker Carlson is, once again, losing advertisers. But the real question is whether Fox News Channel is losing any of the cash those sponsors regularly invest in its overall programming. In recent days, another tranche of sponsors has made public statements about yanking commercials from “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” a mainstay of Fox News Channel’s heavily-watched

Hollywood’s major unions have released extensive back-to-work guidelines for resuming production amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, with a heavy emphasis on testing. The 36-page report, titled “The Safe Way Forward,” starts by saying, “This document represents what we believe to be a path for employers to provide a safer workplace for their cast and crew

“Miracle Workers: Dark Ages” executive producer/creator Simon Rich, executive producer/star Daniel Radcliffe, executive producer/star Steve Buscemi and fellow stars Geraldine Viswanathan, Karan Soni and Jon Bass will participate in an exclusive Q&A interview moderated by Variety’s Michael Schneider following highlight clips from the latest season on June 26 in the Variety Streaming Room presented by

Ryan Reynolds’ latest venture, an ABC game show called “Don’t,” debuted to decent numbers and won Thursday night ratings race. The Adam Scott-hosted show, which gives contestants the chance to win a cash prize of up to $100,000 by tackling tasks with one simple rule, premiered with a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 and drew

It’s the evolution of animation. It can be argued that “The Simpsons” opened the door for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, which in turn kicked down the door to let in shows including “Bojack Horseman,” “Archer” and “Rick & Morty.” U.S animators are serving up not only raunchy comedy but also sophisticated storytelling. Outside the U.S.,

The crux of the trans exclusionary movement and argument rests upon the idea that trans women are a threat to cisgender women’s safety and that, by allowing us to exist in public spaces and allowing us to participate in society, we are taking away from the rights of other women. I’m no stranger to this

With multiple coronavirus safety guidelines now published, most countries are taking tentative steps to restart film and TV drama production. In the Nordics, however, production has been up and running for weeks — and the lessons learned there could prove invaluable for those thinking of restarting elsewhere. One of the key learnings is that, with

MIP China, the annual Reed Midem-backed TV project market in China, will this year switch from a physical format to a virtual one. The move was made in response to the lingering effects of the coronavirus on the Chinese economy and those of the countries from which visitors might have travelled. Three previous editions have

John Cleese has attacked the decision to remove an episode of sitcom “Fawlty Towers” from a streaming site as “stupid,” as well as taking a swipe at those who take a revisionist view of history in the context of the Black Lives Matter debate. On Friday, BBC-owned TV network UKTV announced on Twitter that it

Sometimes, breaking news means fixing the best-laid programming plans. CNN has recently tamped down its reliance on a Thursday-night “town hall” devoted to analyzing the latest effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, all so it could focus its primetime schedule on recent nationwide protests of the death of George Floyd while in the custody of

Actor Mel Winkler, known for his work across film, TV, theater and voice acting, died in his sleep on Thursday of unknown causes. He was 78. Most notably, Winkler played Joppy, the best friend of Denzel Washington’s character Easy Rawlins in the 1995 thriller “Devil in a Blue Dress.” He also held minor roles in

The BBC will not receive a dividend from commercial arm BBC Studios this year due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s director of news and current affairs, has said there would be no dividend from BBC Studios due to “the collapse of production and advertising revenues.” “The BBC’s financial

Samantha Ware was 23-years-old when she first stepped onto the set of “Glee.” A few years prior, she chose to leave college, where she was studying to become a music teacher with a minor in journalism, to audition for “The Lion King.” She booked the role of Nala in the Las Vegas stage production, then landed

When Ramy Youssef arrived at the Golden Globes in January as a nominee for his work in his self-titled Hulu comedy series “Ramy,” he asked his publicist what she was hearing about who was the favorite to win. “I was like, ‘Any buzz? What do you think? What’s the mood, what’s happening here?’” Yousef recalls

BET announced Thursday that it is launching a $25 million campaign titled “Content for Change.” The initiative is being carried out by BET and various corporations, civil rights groups, and social justice organizations with the intent to positively impact social justice outcomes for Black Americans. It will support the creation, distribution, marketing, and promotion of

Negotiators for Hollywood studios and SAG-AFTRA have reached an agreement on a three-year successor deal to the current performers union contract on feature films and primetime television after more than a month of talks. Representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had no comment Thursday about the deal other than saying the

Back on Feb. 29, Emmy For Your Consideration season kicked off with a unique panel hosted by Warner Bros. TV: Former “Masters of Sex” stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan reunited on stage to promote their new shows, Fox’s “Prodigal Son” and Hulu’s “Castle Rock,” respectively. They didn’t realize it that night, but Sheen and

OK, get out your playbooks and follow along: FX and Hulu are separate Disney-owned entities. FX produces original shows for Hulu under the “FX on Hulu” banner. But those shows, which don’t actually air on FX, will be credited by the Television Academy as FX entries at the Emmys. National Geographic and Disney Plus are

Keira Knightley could be making a big step into television for the first time in a while. The British actress has signed on to star in a series adaptation of Suzanne Rindell’s novel “The Other Typist,” which is now in development at Hulu. “The L Word” creator Ilene Chaiken is set to pen the pilot,

Byron Allen and Comcast have settled the long-running racial discrimination lawsuit over Allen’s cable channels that went all the way to the Supreme Court last November. Comcast has reached a deal with Allen’s Entertainment Studios to pick up three of his cable channels — Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV and JusticeCentral.TV. The pact also amend the terms of

Kaitlyn Dever is no stranger to auditions, but something was very different when she read for the starring role in “Unbelievable,” the Netflix limited series about Marie, a Colorado teen who was charged with lying about being raped but was later exonerated when two detectives (Toni Collette and Merritt Wever) discovered she had been telling

As a powerful new wave of protests against systemic racism floods the streets of Britain, Black creatives within the TV industry have become increasingly emboldened to speak out and share their experiences of workplace microaggressions, othering and discrimination. In the last week, “Hollyoaks” star Rachel Adedeji — who is exiting the show — tweeted her

After 20 years immersing herself in food culture, Padma Lakshmi still had a burning question without a clear answer: what even is “American food,” anyway? “We throw around a lot of platitudes like, ‘nothing’s as American as apple pie.’ Well, apple pie is not American,” laughs Lakshmi. “Not one ingredient in apple pie is indigenous

ViacomCBS has named Bruce Gillmer president of music, music talent, programming & events, effective immediately. According to the announcement, Gilmer will report to president/CEO Bob Bakish and will guide the company’s strategy to align and optimize all music-driven initiatives. “Bruce is a driving force behind many of our most iconic moments in music,” said Bakish. “Music

Paris and Los Angeles-based Cyber Group Studios and WarnerMedia’s Boomerang International have given the green light to Season 2 of “Taffy,” an original 2D HD animated comedy made in the spirit of “Looney Tunes” and “Tom & Jerry” but targeting modern audiences. Based on an original creation by Cyber Group Studios and developed with Boomerang,

Walmart has figured out a way to get its goods in front of shoppers – even if the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are keeping them from visiting its stores. As part of an advertising agreement struck with Discovery, the large retailer will have products and ad messages woven into and around a new HGTV

You won’t need an hour to watch “60 Minutes” this summer. The venerable CBS Sunday newsmagazine will soon end its current TV season, but it is about to start a whole new cycle on Quibi, the short-form mobile-video service that could use the link to one of TV’s best-known programs to lure subscribers. In the