Martin Pasko, a writer best known for working on DC properties in both comic books and television, died Sunday night of natural causes. He was 65. Former DC publisher Paul Levitz, a friend of Pasko, announced the writer’s death through a Facebook post on Monday. “The odds are you’ve read his work, credited or not,
Television
ABC unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming highlight show “The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever!” on Monday night. The series, which was originally titled “The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable – Ever!,” was exclusively reported on by Variety in April. The decision to air it came after production was halted on the upcoming season of
The cast of “Lizzie McGuire” has finally reunited –- though not for the much-anticipated series reboot. Instead, Hilary Duff surprised fans by posting a Zoom table read to Instagram TV. The cast — including Jake Thomas as Lizzie’s little brother Matthew, Adam Lamberg as Gordo, Lalaine as Miranda and Hallie Todd and Robert Carradine as
Actor Martin Freeman and director Paul Andrew Williams joined Variety senior editor Michael Schneider in the Variety Streaming Room presented by Britbox to discuss their new true crime series, “A Confession.” Premiering on May 12, “A Confession” portrays the real-life story of Steve Fulcher, a detective who in trying to catch a woman’s killer, spurs the
In today’s TV News Roundup, CBS All Access announced the premiere date of Season 2 of “The Twilight Zone,” and Bravo announced the premiere date of Season 5 of “Below Deck Mediterranean.” DATES CBS All Access has announced that Season 2 of “The Twilight Zone” will premiere on June 25. All 10 new episodes of
Viewers shouldn’t expect much new fare during the 2020-2021 broadcast season. Last year, the broadcast networks collectively ordered 36 new series out of pilot season, on par with the historic lows of years past. This year, the number of series ordered is on track to be a fraction of that, likely somewhere between 10 and
CAA has signed Dan Stevens for representation. Stevens stars in the upcoming Netflix film “Eurovision: Song Contest: The Story of Fire Sage” alongside Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams and Pierce Brosnan. Also coming up in 2020, Stevens will star in “Blithe Spirit,” an adaptation of Noel Coward’s classic comedy, starring Judi Dench and Isla Fisher. He
BBC America has announced that the cast of “Orphan Black” will reunite for a virtual two-episode table reading. The reunion will stream live on the series’ official Facebook page on May 17 at 12:00 p.m. PT. The reunion is timed to Mental Health Awareness Month in May and International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
Taping of the “Friends” reunion special for HBO Max, which had been delayed indefinitely due to the coronavirus-induced shutdown of all television and film production, will potentially be completed by the end of the summer, said WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt during the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit, produced in partnership with the
Hollywood took to social media to pay tribute to Jerry Stiller, the comedian and actor who was best known for playing beloved fathers on “Seinfeld” and “The King of Queens.” Stiller died of natural causes at the age of 92. His son, actor Ben Stiller, called him “a great dad and grandfather, and the most
When it comes to soliciting advertising from a Madison Avenue roiled by the coronavirus pandemic, NBCUniversal is putting stock in the famous line from the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams”: If you build it, they will come. The Comcast-backed company on Monday reiterated its interest in having advertisers give consideration to a series of new
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
Peacock announced Monday that it will launch a short form series featuring a range of NBCUniversal talent titled “The At-Home Variety Show.” The first episode will be available to stream at 7 p.m. ET tonight. Most shows will be under 10 minutes, and the series will run for four weeks. The show will raise awareness and
Hollywood’s streaming wars are growing more intense. Months after Walt Disney blocked Netflix from advertising on entertainment-focused outlets like ABC and FX, NBCUniversal said Monday that it would not accept commercials “at this time” from rival streaming services on Peacock, its own subscription-based streaming-video outlet. Laura Molen, a president of NBCUniversal’s ad sales and partnerships,
ABC found fewer viewers just around the riverbend with part two of its “Disney Family Singalong,” which only drew half the total audience of volume 1. Katy Perry, Shakira and “The Lion King” cast belting out Disney numbers scored a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 and 5.7 million total viewers, comfortably topping the ratings charts for
Get ready to bust out your cassette tape player for a breath of nostalgia: The fourth and final season of “13 Reasons Why” will launch June 5, Netflix announced Monday. In the final season, Liberty High School’s senior class is preparing for graduation, but of course before they can actually say goodbye to each other
KC Global Media Entertainment has completed its acquisition of a group of Asian pay TV channels from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The transaction, first unveiled in January, now includes another Sony TV brand, Japanese entertainment outlet GEM. KC Global Media is headed by Sony international TV alums Andy Kaplan and George Chien. The two joined forces
Fox became the first broadcast network to announce its fall schedule for the 2020-2021 season on Monday amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the more interesting additions to Fox’s fall lineup is “LA’s Finest.” The police drama, a spinoff of the “Bad Boys” film franchise, stars Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba and aired
Scrantonites, assemble! John Krasinski brought back more than a dozen castmates from “The Office,” including Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling and Rainn Wilson, to throw a virtual wedding for a Maryland couple on his weekly life-in-quarantine YouTube show, “Some Good News.” Susan and John, whose marriage proposal echoed Jim’s to Pam on “The Office,”
Netflix has ordered “Clark,” a drama series about the Swedish criminal Clark Olofsson who will be portrayed by Bill Skarsgård (“It Chapter Two”). The six-episode series is based on Olofsson’s autobiography “Vafan var det som hände” and will chart Clark’s early years until present day. Referred to as a “celebrity gangster,” Olofsson started his criminal
Japanese production company Sunrise is to revive the iconic “Inuyasha” anime franchise and deliver a series “Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon.” Viz Media has come on board to handle digital streaming rights, electronic sell-through, and home video in North America and Latin American territories. Most of the Japanese film industry is currently shut down as a result
Discovery’s British channels have ordered four lifestyle and entertainment shows – including series hosted by Rachel Khoo and Gok Wan – that were shot at the presenters’ homes under COVID-19 production protocols. Food Network gave the greenlight to “Simple Pleasures,” which follows Khoo in her country kitchen as she makes her favorite recipes using everyday
Jerry Stiller, an actor and comedian and father to Ben Stiller, has died of natural causes. He was 92. Ben Stiller confirmed his father’s death early Monday morning, writing on Twitter: “I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most
Episodes 9 and 10 of “The Last Dance” will air May 17 on ESPN. With a week to go until the finale of the epic documentary series about Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, “The Last Dance” executive producer and ESPN VP of special projects, films and original content John Dahl recommends six other great basketball docs
BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation, has promoted Ding Ke to become SVP and GM for Greater China. Ding, who is currently head of content sales and formats in the same region, replaces Kelvin Yau, who left the company in December. Starting the new Beijing-based role from June 1, she will
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Are You From Pinner?” the fifth episode of the third season of “Killing Eve.” Villanelle (Jodie Comer) just committed her most personal murder to date. But it was not one she took lightly. In the fifth episode of the third season of “Killing Eve,”
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Never My Love,” the finale of “Outlander” Season 5. “Outlander” wrapped up its fifth season with “Never My Love,” an episode that includes some potentially polarizing moments, including centering the majority of the action around the kidnap and rape of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) at
Tyra Banks has broken her silence on several clips from “America’s Next Top Model” that have resurfaced on Twitter and have not aged well. The major video that caused Banks to respond was from season 6 of the show, in which she tells contestant Dani Evans that she would never become a model because of
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Never Have I Ever,” on Netflix. In Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever,” Darren Barnet stars as Paxton Hall-Yoshida, the popular swimmer who Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) propositions in an effort to boost her reputation in high school. The teen heartthrob character was originally named “Paxton
Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kristen Wiig returned as the surprise host for the “At Home” finale, that also happened to be the late-night sketch comedy’s Mother’s Day episode, on May 9. After dancing around her home and flashing the camera (which was, of course, pixelated per broadcast standards), the actor and comedian slid