Television

Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. As many across the country continue to practice self-isolation due to coronavirus, why not while away

Kristoffer Polaha (Hallmark’s “Mystery 101” series, “Wonder Woman 1984”) has entered into a deal with Rosewind Books to co-author a series of romance novels, Variety has learned exclusively. The first in the series, entitled “Moments Like This,” is set in Hawaii and centers on a young woman looking to find herself after losing both her

Newly installed WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has tapped Richard Tom — who was Kilar’s chief technology officer at Hulu and startup Vessel — to be CTO at the AT&T-owned media company. With the move, Jeremy Legg, WarnerMedia’s previous CTO, has joined AT&T Communications as EVP and CTO reporting to Jeff McElfresh, CEO of AT&T Communications.

ABC scored a comfortable ratings win on a Sunday night which was heavily preempted by breaking news coverage of the protests taking place across the United States. The Disney-owned network, which was the only one of the big four to air original content, scored a 1.0 average rating among adults 18-49 across the night with

TV networks have some news for Madison Avenue: TV ads still cost money, even amid a pandemic. The nation’s big media companies are trying to resist great pressure from advertisers and media buyers to take severe cutbacks in ad rates in early talks as part of the industry’s annual “upfront” advertising market, according to three

Millions of Americans forced to shelter at home are tuning in more TV.  But in April many advertisers did not. Ad dollars allocated to national TV fell by 26.7% in April of this year to $2.7 billion, according to Standard Media Index, a tracker of ad spending, one of the first tangible estimates of how

“Surviving R. Kelly” executive producer Dream Hampton has been attached to executive produce and direct a Cineflix Productions documentary series about one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, the Tusla Race Massacre. With the working title of “Black Wall Street,” the limited series weaves together past and present to recount the

The U.K. film and high-end TV sector has moved a step closer to restarting with the publication of government-endorsed guidelines for working safely during the COVID-19 pandemic (access the documents below). The U.K.’s visual effects and post-production sectors have also published their COVID-19 guidance. The confirmation of all guidelines technically allows production to resume, although

Herbert Stempel, the contestant on NBC’s “Twenty-One” who helped uncover the quiz show rigging scandals of the 1950s, died on April 7 at the age of 93. His death, which had not been publicly announced, was confirmed by a former stepdaughter, Bobra Fyne, according to the New York Times. Stempel was portrayed by John Turturro in the 1994

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris and National Executive Director David P. White have spoken out against the death of George Floyd and racism in the U.S. after days of protests around the country. ​“The murder of George Floyd is deeply emblematic of a corrosive inequality and injustice at the heart of America,” Carteris and White said Sunday. “As protests

Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay will host a live discussion of her critically-acclaimed Netflix series “When They See Us,” which tells the story of “The Exonerated Five” — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana Jr. and Korey Wise — the five young men who were wrongfully convicted of the rape and assault of a

Amid widespread protests against police violence across the United States, political leaders took to TV Sunday morning to call for reforms and grapple with the outbreaks of violence that have dominated news coverage of the demonstrations. “We have a lot more work to do on not just how we hire officers, but how we allow

MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi usually gets to do his job from the comfort of a New York studio, surrounded by a helpful crew and the latest technology. On Saturday, he had to worry about being tear-gassed on the streets of Minneapolis. Velshi, who has been delivering reports from the streets of that protest-torn city, was

Argentina’s “Mother Dough,” a four-part doc series portraying how women have fed humanity through their work at home and their doughs, has won the first Iberseries Pitch, ending first year activities at this year’s Iberseries, an event which is setting out to become the foremost Spanish-language drama series festival in the world.  “‘Mother Dough’ is

In an unusual move, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Starz and other major Hollywood players are using their corporate social media accounts to take a stand and support the Black Lives Matter movement amid the ongoing nationwide protests decrying the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. Meanwhile, CEO of ViacomCBS-owned Paramount Jim

NBC News and ABC News broke into their networks’ Saturday-night schedules to cover protests breaking around the country in reaction to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, while the nation’s three main cable-news networks featured ongoing coverage of public dissent instead of  regularly scheduled programming. Viewers saw surprising scenes of protest in cities ranging

SAG-AFTRA is condemning a Friday night attack by a police officer on two of its member journalists who were covering a protest in Louisville, Ky. “Last night, a Louisville, KY police officer aimed and fired pepper balls at WAVE3 News reporter Kaitlin Rust and photographer James Dobson,” the union said Saturday. “Rust and Dobson are

“Insecure” actor Kendrick Sampson was hit by police’s rubber bullets while protesting George Floyd’s death in Los Angeles on Saturday. While the actor went live on his Instagram account to show his view of events, he could be seen on a CNN broadcast simultaneously, with viewers watching Sampson get hit by a police baton on

Former star of “The Bachelorette” Hannah Brown is speaking up after she said the N-word on Instagram Live while rapping lyrics to a song. Brown went on Instagram Live on Saturday to formally address her controversy when she said the N-word singing lyrics to DaBaby’s song “Rockstar” two weeks ago. She had previously issued an

A correspondent for Fox News Channel was harassed and chased by protesters in Washington, D.C., the latest example of TV journalists facing potential harm as they try to do their regular job of chronicling events as they happen. Leland Vittert, a Fox News staffer who has been with the cable-news outlet since 2010, is no

With other creative industries sidelined or figuring out how to proceed once the COVID-19 pandemic hit our shores, television has leapt even closer to the center of the cultural conversation. It makes sense, after all, given that TV is the medium that keeps us company in our lives at home — a place where many

Neil Cavuto spends 17 hours a week on air at Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Today, he is eager to take on one more. Cavuto, who is known for his coverage of the worlds of business and finance, will later this day turn to space, as many news outlets hope that a joint

“Dirty John,” the 2018 Bravo limited series, was set up to shock its audience, but it had more on its mind, too. Connie Britton, playing a woman systematically alienated from the world around her by a vexingly charming lover (Eric Bana), effectively depicted the process by which a person loses themself, and loses grip on

Protesters took to the streets Friday in Los Angeles, New York City, San Jose, Atlanta, D.C. and other major hubs across the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement officers in Minneapolis. In Atlanta, the protest began peacefully but took a destructive turn, as demonstrators smashed the doors of

Much like many other producers and showrunners, Ramy Youssef has spent his quarantine editing remotely, frantically trying to finish Season 2 of “Ramy” on time. Youssef submitted the final locked episodes on Tuesday, only three days ahead of the launch on May 29, and discussed the “intense experience” on the “Variety After-Show,” presented by National

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America have told the major studios that they need to improve their practices on diversity and inclusion as part of the guild’s negotiations on a new master TV and film contract. “For many years, some WGA writers have faced unfair discrimination based on factors that have nothing to do

HBO Max launched on Wednesday with the entire library of “Friends” as its cornerstone selling point. But for completists, HBO Max is still missing a component of the “Friends” Creative Universe: The spinoff series “Joey,” which is nowhere to be found on the new streaming service. An HBO Max spokesperson confirmed that the streamer hasn’t

In today’s TV News Roundup, Apple TV Plus announced the premiere date of its upcoming series “Ted Lasso,” and HBO Max announced it would accelerate the release schedule of “Love Life.” DATES Apple TV Plus has announced that is upcoming comedy series “Ted Lasso” will premiere on the streamer on August 14. The series follows

SPOILER ALERT Do not read if you have not yet watched the series finale of “Defending Jacob,” streaming now on Apple TV Plus. Apple TV Plus’ adaptation of “Defending Jacob” ends with closure regarding the murder case in which the titular character is embroiled, but not necessarily justice, let alone the ultimate truth. Jacob Barber

President Donald Trump gave a press conference on Friday, where many expected him to address the riots taking place in Minnesota sparked by George Floyd’s death. However, Trump focused entirely on China and the coronavirus. The main takeaway from his speech is his intent to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization,