Television

To say “Insecure” creator and star Issa Rae has been keeping busy while sheltering in place due to the coronavirus pandemic is an understatement. “We just locked the finale which means, you know, we finished the sound mix I think last week. I think we officially submitted it and then we started the writers room

Cornhole isn’t new to ESPN. But viewers who tuned into the Worldwide Leader in Sports on May 9 were likely to stumble upon a rare treat: live cornhole action. The American Cornhole League’s “Cornhole Mania 2020” aired on ESPN and ESPN2 Saturday, bringing four hours of live sports to a public and a network starved

Nothing keeps Stephen A. Smith from saying what he wants on ESPN’s popular “First Take.” Except for faulty wi-fi. Magic Johnson joined the late-morning show on May 4, ready to hash it out with Smith and his regular co-hosts, Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim Rose. But as Smith prepared to ask the basketball great a

South by Southwest, the film festival held in Austin, Texas, will show seven competition projects from its virtual cinema program on Oculus TV from May 22 to May 31. SXSW was canceled by local government officials just a week before it was set to kick off in in March. However, 39 shorts, features and episodic

AMC Networks has acquired the rights to Anne Rice’s best-selling book series “The Vampire Chronicles” and “The Lives of the Mayfair Witches,” Variety has learned exclusively. AMC now holds the comprehensive rights for the much sought-after intellectual property and will develop film and television projects for its own television networks and streaming services under the

Bo Stehmeier, president of distributor Red Arrow Studios International, has been appointed joint-CEO of ZDF Enterprises-owned producer and distributor Off the Fence, alongside company founder Ellen Windemuth. The appointment marks a return to Off the Fence for Stehmeier, who rejoins on January 1, 2021. Stehmeier initially worked in purchasing and sales at TVF International, Zodiak

London and New York-based producer and distributor DLT Entertainment has launched a new podcast division, which has made its debut with two new comedy series, “When No One’s Watching” and “National Treasures with Laura Lexx & Will Duggan.” Heading up the new arm of the business is comedy writing duo, Ben Hillyar and David Mayes,

Amazon Prime Video has taken U.K. rights to coming-of-age spy thriller “Alex Rider,” which will launch on the platform in June. Produced by Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television, the show is based on the second novel in Anthony Horowitz’s “Alex Rider” novels, “Point Blanc.” All eight episodes of the series will launch on

The Inspector Ghote series of Indian detective novels is heading for series treatment through Endemol Shine India. The company has optioned the rights to the much-loved series of 25 novels written by journalist turned novelist H.R.F. Keating over a 45-year period. It intends to develop them as a multi-part returnable series. No details are yet

It is not enough to hire more inclusively if the treatment of those hires will be unfavorable. Sixty-eight percent of underrepresented writers in the television industry have reported facing discrimination in their workplace, up from 64% reporting such instances last year. Almost 31% of those underrepresented writers reported specific sexual harassment experiences, while 58% reported

After Hollywood completely shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, Atlanta’s Tyler Perry Studios is reopening for business this summer. Variety can confirm that production at Tyler Perry Studios on BET’s “Sistas” will begin on July 8, with “The Oval” starting on July 28th. BET announced 22-episode orders for both shows on Tuesday.  Filming for each

In today’s TV news roundup, Showtime announced “The Good Lord Bird” will premiere in August, and Netflix released the trailer for the final batch of “Fuller House” episodes. DATES Showtime has announced “The Good Lord Bird” will premiere on Aug. 9 at 10 p.m. The limited series from Blumhouse Television is based on James McBride‘s

Since its premiere May 8, “Solar Opposites” has been the No. 1 most watched title on Hulu, according to the streaming service. The animated comedy, co-created by Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan of “Rick & Morty,” tells the story of a team of four aliens who escape their exploding home world, only to crash land

Nickelodeon has announced that the cast of “SpongeBob Squarepants” will team up for a virtual table read in “The Stars of SpongeBob Fan Favorites Special,” premiering on June 5. Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs) and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton) are all coming together for the

For ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon, “The Last Dance” allows Michael Jordan to finally share his side of the story. According to Wilbon, it’s also the most important piece of the puzzle. “It’s a trip down memory lane and it’s also additive,” he told Variety. “It’s got additive value, because even if you thought you knew

The CW has made two addition series pick ups for the 2020-2021 season. Both a reboot of “Kung Fu” and “The Republic of Sarah” will air on the broadcaster next season. The two shows join the previously announced straight-to-series orders for “Superman & Lois” starring Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch as well as “Walker,” a

After getting a pilot production order at Hulu in late 2018, the adaptation of DC Vertigo comic “Sweet Tooth” is no longer moving forward at the Disney-owned streaming platform. But Netflix has picked up the one-hour drama from Team Downey, the production company founded by Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey, in association with Warner

Tina Fey and Robert Carlock have some unfinished business with “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” After four seasons, the co-creators and showrunners said goodbye to their Netflix comedy about a kidnapping victim who had to learn to live in the real world after spending her formative years in an underground bunker in January 2019. At the time

One of the fastest-expanding companies on the Spanish-language drama series scene, BTF Media, is teaming with Argentina-based author-historian  Uki Goñi on one of BFT Media’s biggest titles ever, a small screen makeover of Goñi’s most celebrated work: “The Real Odessa: Smuggling the Nazis to Perón’s Argentina.” Based on Goñi’s research and access to Argentine, Swiss,

Disney has raised another $11 billion in debt to help the company power through the revenue crisis spurred by the global coronavirus pandemic. On the same day that Shanghai Disneyland reopened at a fraction of its typical capacity after a nearly four-month closure, Disney tapped the debt markets for a series of notes that come

The Premier Lacrosse League, which last week said it would stage a quarantined 16-day tournament, is getting into the sports betting business. The PLL has entered into a partnership with Genius Sports, which becomes the league’s official data and integrity partner for sports betting. As part of the agreement Genius, which has deals with the

Charlie Pavlounis, who as chief financial officer and head of business development helped spur new lines of business at CBS News including a series of podcasts, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, CBS News President Susan Zirinsky told staffers in a memo Tuesday. “I have no doubt Charlie will continue to explore his

CMT has brought more music stars on board for a June special that is slated to pay tribute to first responders and other heroes of the pandemic, with Brandi Carlile, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs and Sam Hunt among those being added to “CMT Celebrates Our Heroes: An Artists of the Year Special,” airing on June

As dubbing studios shuttered with COVID-19, Europe’s broadcasters were forced to pull U.S. shows that they couldn’t dub – France’s TF1 with “Grey’s Anatomy” – or, in the case of global platforms, sometimes release foreign series with subtitles but no audio dub. Dubbing studios are now cautiously returning to work in Spain, France and Germany,

As countries across the EU begin lifting lockdown restrictions, European film and TV producers are busy hammering out national physical production safety protocols with local authorities, unions and insurers. The Brussels-based European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN) is gathering these single EU country production protocols and posting them on their website as part of an ongoing effort to provide

An American actor-turned-screenwriter living in Sweden, Schiaffino Musarra dared to tackle his adoptive country’s “greatest tragedy and biggest embarrassment” in his crime comedy “We Got This,” which bowed May 3 on Swedish broadcaster SVT. The show, which is repped by Banijay Rights, follows George English (Musarra),
 a recently jobless American man living in Sweden who

Japan’s ultra-long-running animation show “Sazae-san” has run out of fresh episodes due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on production. The show will stay on air but with repeats for the foreseeable future. The show, about a suburban housewife called Sazae, has been on air continuously since 1969. It plays on Fuji Television Network

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the fifth episode of “The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart.” The final four couples on “The Bachelor presents: Listen to Your Heart” headed to Las Vegas on the May 11 episode. The eight contestants packed up their bags and hopped on tour busses for a

Harry Jowsey proposed to Francesca Farago with a Ring Pop on Netflix’s reunion episode of “Too Hot To Handle,” but the breakout couple from the streaming reality show isn’t actually engaged — yet. “I asked him, like, ‘Are we engaged?’ And he’s like, ‘I asked you to marry me, so I don’t know,’” Farago told

“LA’s Finest,” a show that two years ago was passed on by NBC, only to be picked up by Spectrum’s video-on-demand service, has finally found a broadcast home in Fox. The network will air Season 1 of the Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union crime series on Mondays this fall. The move is an unusual one