Television

This contains spoilers for the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Season 7 episode titled “Valloweaster.” To celebrate Detective Rosa Garcia’s third time winning “Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s” seasonal “heist” episode, Stephanie Beatriz — who has played Rosa for seven seasons — said her throaty, deadpan character would likely be eight beers in, egging on the rest of the zany members

Since mid-March, the coronavirus pandemic has upended every aspect of life in the United States, causing stay-at-home mandates in most states in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19. As a consequence, the entertainment industry — a multi-billion-dollar global business — has come to a grinding halt, with every television show and movie indefinitely

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the premiere date of “Dead to Me” Season 2, and Quibi announced the premiere date of its “Reno 911” revival. DATES Netflix has announced Season 2 of “Dead to Me” will premiere May 8. The new season picks up in the aftermath of the bloody backyard reveal in

As “Killing Eve” enters Season 3, new head writer Suzanne Heathcote admits it’s getting tougher to sprinkle the show’s signature light-hearted moments into an increasingly darker storyline. “The temptation can be just to put a fun moment in just for the sake of it being a fun moment, as opposed to it being about the

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her longtime friend and creative partner Vicky Jones once made a joke pact that if they ever found themselves in a sticky situation, such as a dead-end relationship or a dull social gathering, one of them would whisper to the other, “Run,” and they would drop everything and make a dash for

Though “Will & Grace” star Debra Messing has often been compared to TV icon Lucille Ball for her comedic timing and their trademark red hair, it still took hours for the hair and makeup department to get her look perfect for the show’s tribute episode to “I Love Lucy.” When the Emmy-winner posted a selfie

You wouldn’t be the first person to tell Debra Messing that she looks like Lucille Ball. You also wouldn’t be the most important person to mention it — that honor belongs to Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz. Last year, the cast of “Will & Grace” filmed a very special “I Love Lucy” tribute episode, which aired

For 16 seasons, Ellen Pompeo has played Dr. Meredith Grey on “Grey’s Anatomy,” one of the most empowered heroines on network TV. The head of surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital has demonstrated poise during the most complicated surgical procedures and unthinkable tragedies, but last month the coronavirus brought production of her ABC medical drama

AMC has tapped “Walking Dead” star Jeffrey Dean Morgan to host a weekly talk show with his wife, actor Hilarie Burton Morgan, that will originate from the couple’s farm in upstate New York. Set to bow at 10 p.m. ET on April 17, “Friday Night In With the Morgans” will originate from the couple’s 100-acre 

Blumhouse Productions has enacted a small round of layoffs in numerous departments, insiders tell Variety, cuts made amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Senior leadership at the company will also take salary reductions. A total of eight roles across film and television were eliminated, ranging from executive assistants to mid-level employees in departments like development, insiders

The cast of “Friends” will be there for you, but not at the launch of HBO Max in May. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, the continued production shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic means that WarnerMedia has been unable to film the show’s highly-anticipated unscripted reunion special. As such, the special

HBO is adding both seasons of drama “Big Little Lies” — 14 episodes in all — adding to its free-streaming buffet of some 500 hours of premium content available for a limited time during the coronavirus pandemic. Based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book, “Big Little Lies” stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz

The XFL is suspending operations and is laying off nearly all employees. XFL CEO Jeffrey Pollack broke the news to staff in a conference call on Friday morning. The league does not intend to return for the 2021 season. ESPN first reported the news. Variety obtained audio of the call, in which Pollack says that “it’s

Sting is notorious — or maybe renowned — for a certain hauteur, and it was on full display during his socially distanced performance of the currently-lockdown-themed 1980 Police hit “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots on “The Tonight Show” Thursday. Among other things, the performance showed that sheltering in

In 1958, 34-year-old Marlon Brando got great notices for his complex and layered performance as Nazi officer Lt. Christian Diestl in Edward Dymtryk’s Oscar-nominated World War II drama, “The Young Lions.” Like Brando in “Lions,” 36-year-old Mexican actor Harold Torres’ turn as dirty soldier Sgt. Manuel Contreras in Amazon’s limited narcoworld series “ZeroZeroZero” has sent

Some new brides may be inclined to unbox appliances and avoid sending thank-you notes. Sophie Turner, however, was desperate to get back on set. “‘Dark Phoenix’ had just come out, I had just gotten married, and as soon as the wedding was over I thought, ‘Thank god I can take a breath, now I want

In this week’s International TV Newswire pay TV struggling despite record audiences, animated content stays hot as families scramble to keep kids entertained, “Casa de Papel” Season 4 races out of the gates, ZDF shops two new historical documentaries, Latin America sees platform launches and announcements, Globo boasts record audiences and AMC, NOS team on

Jerry Seinfeld will debut a new standup special May 5 on Netflix, the streamer announced Friday. Entitled “Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill,” the new hour-long event sees the renowned comedian returning to the Beacon Theatre in New York City to deliver more sharp takes on everyday life. This is Seinfeld’s second standup special with

Amy Schumer is leaping from comedy to cuisine by testing out a new cooking series for Food Network. The Discovery-owned cable network said it will unveil an eight-episode series with the working title “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook.” The show will feature Schumer and her husband, professional chef Chris Fischer, in thirty-minute self-shot episodes that

Mixed martial arts league UFC, a subsidiary of Endeavor, has decided to postpone UFC 249, originally scheduled for April 18, after sports cabler ESPN asked the organization not to go forward with its pay-per-view event. “While the organization was fully prepared to proceed with UFC 249, ESPN has requested the postponement of the event and

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Put on A Happy Face,” the Season 16 finale of “Grey’s Anatomy.” “Grey’s Anatomy” wrapped up its 16th season with a bang — albeit, a bit earlier than originally planned. With only 21 of the ordered 25 hours completed before production had to shut

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced Patton Oswalt’s newest comedy special, and Quibi set premiere dates for “The Stranger” and “Fight Like A Girl.” DATES Netflix will launch Patton Oswalt‘s newest comedy special, “I Love Everything,“ May 19, Variety has learned exclusively. In the new special, the Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian will explore the

The producers behind “The Bachelorette” are weighing their options to try and get the upcoming Clare Crawley season on the air — but only if productions begin to return to normal. After the show was hit by the industry-wide coronavirus shutdown in mid-March, sources close to “The Bachelorette” have confirmed to Variety that the production is looking

The current public health crisis facing the world has changed the way people live, work and consume media — and will undoubtedly have a long-lasting impact on industries across the world. Kicking off the inaugural Variety Streaming Room session with a virtual conversation with executives from NBCUniversal, Spotify, WarnerMedia and PwC, Variety president and chief

Netflix announced Thursday that a “Tiger King” after-show hosted by Joel McHale will premiere on Sunday. The show’s Jeff Lowe, who took over the Oklahoma exotic animal zoo from Joe Exotic, had recently hinted that a new episode would be coming this week. The teaser for the eighth installment features McHale wearing a cowboy hat

The head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will appear on a CNN town-hall broadcast Thursday evening, ending a short stand-off between the White House and the cable-news outlet over its recent coverage of the Trump administration’s daily coronavirus briefings. CNN said Thursday afternoon that CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield had been

Universal Studios is extending the closures of its theme parks in Orlando and greater Los Angeles through “at least” May 31 of this year, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The company also intends to furlough part-time hourly workers starting May 3, and cut staff pay to 80% of their normal wages. Universal Studios issued the

John Finlay considered himself to be a normal zoo employee before “Tiger King” became an overnight sensation. Now, thanks to Netflix’s stranger-than-fiction docu-series, a good part of the country knows his name, his face, and most importantly, his teeth. “Tiger King” dove into the bizarre story of private zoo owner Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, to

“Saturday Night Live” will return this weekend, but it won’t be “live from New York” in the way its viewers have come to expect. NBC said that the venerable late-night series, which has been off the air for several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, would air original content on Satuday, April 11, with material

CNN has been informed by a spokesman for Vice President Michael Pence that it cannot have access to top government health officials grappling with the nation’s coronavirus pandemic unless it televises specific portions of the Trump Administration’s daily briefings on the spread of the disease. “When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials