Television

Veteran character actor Richard Herd, best known for portraying Mr. Wilhelm on “Seinfeld,” died on Tuesday at his Los Angeles home of complications from cancer. He was 87. The Boston native broke into show business as a stage actor in New York. He made his film debut in 1970’s “Hercules in New York.” Herd was

Jimmy Fallon is facing backlash after a 20-year-old video of him in blackface portraying Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live” resurfaced online. The hashtag #jimmyfallonisoverparty began trending early Tuesday with Twitter users calling out the “Tonight Show” host for the racist skit, which first aired in 2000 and also features “SNL” alum Darrell Hammond. In

There’s nothing like a major political scandal to deliver TV ratings, and so it proved in the U.K. this bank holiday weekend. Despite it being the hottest day of the year, a reported 3.7 million viewers tuned into BBC One on Monday afternoon to hear Dominic Cummings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief advisor, defend his

Netflix is bolstering its global entertainment formats team, hiring “The Circle” exec producer Daisy Lilley to work out of its London office, Variety has confirmed. Lilley has joined Netflix as a manager in its London-based operation, working closely with former ITV commissioner Ben Kelly. She reports in to Sean Hancock, Netflix’s U.S.-based director of unscripted

When it comes to TV series chemistry, the old jazzman might say, “You either got it or you ain’t.” The stars of IFC’s “Brockmire,” Hank Azaria and Amanda Peet, most definitely got it. Their sizzling, sexy comic chemistry was a key factor in transforming an initial cult hit into a hilarious, time-jumping must-watch in its

“CBS This Morning” anchor Gayle King became emotional on air Tuesday morning while discussing two racially charged incidents involving black men that transpired on Monday. Visibly shaken, King told viewers: “I am speechless. I am really, really speechless about what we’re seeing on television this morning. It feels to me like open season … and

Darren Criss returns to original songs in the new Quibi series “Royalties.” Playing a songwriter for hire alongside Kether Donohue in the 10-episode comedy, the duo navigates the sometimes shameless world of jingles and pop songs. Criss co-wrote and executive-produced the series with longtime collaborators Nick and Matt Lang, fellow co-founders of YouTube sensation Team Starkid.

Distributor NENT Studios U.K., formerly DRG, has made its first drama acquisition since rebranding, picking up New Zealand fantasy action-adventure series “The Dead Lands.” NENT Studios U.K. acquired the rights to the eight-hour series from New Zealand producer GFC Films, which itself reclaimed the rights after the show’s former distributor Kew Media Distribution collapsed into

The U.K.’s Channel 4 has acquired rights to season one and two of Canadian public broadcaster CBC’s original drama “Coroner” from distributor Cineflix Rights. Channel 4 will make the series available to U.K. viewers on its More 4 channel. The deal follows The CW Network’s acquisition of “Coroner” for the U.S. market earlier this month,

There was, clearly, no expense spared in the making of “Space Force.” Imagining what a Space Force branch of the military might actually look like outside the bounds of President Trump’s imagination (though the show never mentions him by name), the new comedy is a splashy flex of Netflix’s powers. It boasts the co-creator team

Hannah Gadsby is the Michael Jordan of standup in one way — her stated plans to retire shouldn’t be taken seriously. “Nanette,” her performance that toured widely and was released on Netflix in 2018, was premised on the idea — not, seemingly, meant literally even in the moment — that Gadsby was walking away from

Roskino topper Evgenia Markova was just weeks into her job at the head of the Russian film promotion body when the coronavirus pandemic struck. With her ambitious plans to mount a splashy showcase for the local industry at this year’s Cannes Film Festival suddenly scrapped, she quickly realized that those plans would have to be

Fellow “Bachelorette” star Rachel Lindsay has opened up on how she was disappointed by Hannah Brown’s apology for saying the N-word while singing the lyrics to a song on Instagram. Lindsay, who is the only black series lead in the history of “The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor,” said Brown told her she was going to

One of TV’s most deliciously awkward shows, “90 Day Fiancé” recently wrapped its seventh season on TLC and continues to be a fascinating experiment in love and culture wars. Which couples are still together? And who called it quits? Here’s an update on all 34 couples from the hit reality series.

Taylor Swift may have finally started to make good on her vow to re-record her entire Big Machine back catalog — although she never said she was going to put her brother, Austin, on lead vocals for the entire epic project. Okay, so the siblings’ (alleged) cover of “Look What You Made You Do,” as

Veteran news executive Bill Small, who served as the Washington bureau chief of CBS News and president of NBC News, died on Sunday following a brief illness unrelated to the coronavirus, CBS News announced. He was 93. Small led CBS News’ political coverage from 1962-1974, covering such major events as Watergate, Vietnam and the Civil

The Champions for Charity golf match is bringing together four sports icons for a good cause on Sunday. Professional golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will face off at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., with two all-time great NFL quarterbacks on their teams. Woods will be paired with Peyton Manning, the retired

BBC Director General Tony Hall has said the corporation has “learned” from its online experiment with youth-skewing brand BBC Three, which is again facing a linear future four years after it was taken off the air. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, Hall said: “We’ve learned. I think it’s absolutely right

Argentine Academy Award winner Juan José Campanella (“The Secret in Their Eyes”) is planning “Outlaw,” a reboot of El Zorro, inspired by his take on the historical figure behind the legend, Joaquín Murrieta, the director announced at an online presentation of Viacom International Studios 2020-21 slate. Part of his first-look deal with Viacom International Studios,

The National Basketball Association said Saturday that it was “engaged in exploratory conversations” with The Walt Disney Company about a plan to resume its 2019-2020 season, the latest in a parade of efforts by big sports leagues and media companies to get live games in play after the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ten minutes into “Central Park” comes the kind of true-blue Broadway group number that brings every character and chord crashing together in a burst of overt ambitions and desires. There’s Owen (Leslie Odom Jr), the quietly competent manager of New York City’s Central Park, determined to make people care about the land’s natural quirks as

Hana Kimura, a Japanese professional wrestler who was also a cast member on the most recent season of Netflix’s reality show “Terrace House,” has died, Variety has confirmed. She was 22. Stardom Wrestling, the organization Kimura was part of, issued a statement on the news on Friday. “We are very sorry to report that our

It’s been 15 years since “Avatar: The Last Airbender” first premiered on Nickelodeon in 2005, becoming a massive commercial success. Now that the animated series is available on Netflix (and the streamer’s no. 1 most popular show this week), fans old and new are able to experience the story of 12-year-old Aang, the Avatar and

Shelter-in-place and social-distancing regulations have been keeping many Americans home in the past few months as the coronavirus pandemic continues to loom over the nation. Households have turned to streaming television shows to pass the time, re-watching familiar favorites for comfort and discovering newer series. CableTV.com recently conducted a survey to discover the most popular

With the Emmy ceremony likely shifting to a remote ceremony this year, HBO is taking some of the money it normally spends on its annual Emmy afterparty and other For Your Consideration events and donating it to COVID-19 pandemic relief. In an announcement Friday, HBO said it would donate $1 million to the Mayor’s Fund

“What We Do in the Shadows” has been renewed for a third season at FX. The news comes as the series is still in the midst of its second season, with the season finale set to air on June 10. Per FX, the series is averaging 3.2 million viewers per episode across all platforms in

Hubbard Broadcasting-owned cable network Reelz has laid off around 5%-10% of its 75 or so staffers, Variety has learned. “After careful consideration of the current economic conditions brought on by the pandemic the decision was made to adjust staffing,” said a Reelz spokesperson. “Those adjustments include temporary pay reductions for most staff, some furloughs and

The following is a compliment: While watching the new “Mythic Quest” quarantine special, I forgot several times that it is, essentially, a very effective commercial for Apple products. The Apple TV Plus comedy, which debuted its first (great!) season back in February, came back on May 22 for a socially distanced scripted special that brought

Annapurna Television has emerged the winner of a multi-studio bidding war for the rights to “Everything I Never Told You,” the debut novel from author Celeste Ng. The company will develop the New York Times best-seller as a limited series, following the release of “Little Fires Everywhere,” the Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington Hulu drama

Before HBO Max even launches — it goes live May 27 — WarnerMedia is trying to lure new subscribers by revealing what’s coming next month to the streamer. The June lineup highlights on HBO Max include all 23 seasons of “South Park,” snapped up in a multiyear, $500 million-plus deal; James Cameron’s Oscar-winning “Titanic”; and