Television

February 10, 2020 7:00AM PT BBC Studios’ Science Unit will team with environmental activist Greta Thunberg for a documentary series focusing on the young activist’s international campaign. The commercial arm of the British broadcaster announced the project at the BBC Showcase trade show on Monday, emphasizing Thunberg’s worldwide renown and busy travel schedule as key

Blink Film, the BAFTA award-winning production outfit specializing in non-fiction entertainment, will premiere its two latest animal-focused documentaries on PBS’ primetime science showcase NOVA on Feb. 12 and 19. Written and directed by Pete Chinn (“How the Earth was Made”), the films “Cat Tales” and “Dog Tales” will each run 60 minutes, and will include

As the owner of the Paramount movie studio, Viacom is often on the lookout for drama. Who knew its newest potboiler would come from one of the units it got paired with as a result of its merger with CBS? CBS News is in the business of producing “60 Minutes” and “Face The Nation,” but

BBC Studios has signed a licensing deal with Mumbai-based network Viacom18 – a joint venture between ViacomCBS and TV18 – to broadcast season 27 of “Top Gear” in India. The latest instalment of this motor-TV institution, which aired on BBC Two in the U.K. in June, will play on Viacom18’s premium English-language channel Colors Infinity

Family entertainment specialist CAKE has signed a worldwide deal for an animated series based on streaming sensation “Lucas the Spider.” Partnering with Warner Bros. subsidiaries Cartoon Network and Boomerang, CAKE will handle international distribution for the show, which has a planned season order of 78 seven-minute instalments. Produced by Canadian outfit Fresh TV, the CGI

France-based Banijay Group has completed its refinancing drive to raise €2.3 billion ($2.5 billion) for the acquisition of Endemol Shine Group. Banijay announced its $2.2 billion deal for Endemol Shine back in October. The pact, which is expected to receive anti-trust approval this summer, would make the merged entity the largest non-U.S. player in the market, with

Lead produced by Working Title Television, distributed internationally by Fremantle and coming soon to BBC Two, period thriller “The Luminaries” has initiated a global roll-out, closing pre-sales to Australia, France, Russia, Poland and Greece. Given the freshness of the sales, the identity of the buying broadcaster partners remains to be revealed soon. Pre-sales to more

Billie Eilish had already inadvertently created an Oscar meme hours before she took the stage toward the end of the Academy Awards on Sunday night. Her nose-crinkling reaction to something — maybe to Maya Rudolph and Kirsten Wiig’s jokey song or, as some commenters speculated, “Why is the camera cutting to me now?” or “The

Diego Luna has quite the full dance card of projects over the next few years and on deck for the actor is Disney Plus’ “Rogue One” prequel series. Fans can expect plenty of enthusiasm from Luna’s performance as Cassian Andor, who is at the show’s center. “I can’t wait to go back to that universe,”

Justin Bieber livened up his two latest singles, “Yummy” and “Intentions,” by performing them on “Saturday Night Live” last night. During the performances he was joined at various points by an acoustic quartet, four lithe dancers and Migos rapper Quavo. Bieber’s take on the lite R&B of “Yummy” got an unexpected start when he was

Fans of “Power” just hit the jackpot, as Starz has officially ordered another three shows set within the world of the show. The news comes just hours ahead of the series finale of the mothership show. Along with the previously announced “Power Book II: Ghost,” the premium cabler has also commissioned “Power Book III: Raising

A heavy storm that has battered the U.K. overnight is set to cause travel disruptions for those travelling to the BBC Showcase in Liverpool, though it will be business as usual for the annual event. The four-day gathering, at which distribution powerhouse BBC Studios hosts close to 700 global buyers, is set to kick off

RuPaul made history last year when winning a fourth consecutive Emmy for hosting a reality competition program while that program (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) won a second consecutive Emmy in its own category. And by hosting “Saturday Night Live” on Feb. 8, RuPaul made history again — as the first drag queen to host the long-running

The Senate acquitted Donald Trump, ending the impeachment trial earlier this week, so “Saturday Night Live” turned its attention away from the current president and onto who might become the president — by delivering a new democratic debate cold open sketch. The special guest star gang was all back — from Jason Sudeikis as Joe

CBS News came to the defense of one of its star anchors Saturday after morning host Gayle King was subjected to threats of violence by entertainer Snoop Dogg and others in the wake of an interview in which one of her questions pertained to a sexual assault charge against the late Kobe Bryant. The interview,

Actor Robert Conrad, the star of television series including “Hawaiian Eye,” “The Wild Wild West” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep” during an almost five-decade career that also included the occasional feature film, has died in Malibu, Calif. He was 84. Conrad toplined at least one series in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, a

As “Power” prepares to sign off, it does so leaving a legacy that had an impact not only on its cast and crew but also on the wider cultural narrative. “We have not had a lot of really rich, black anti-heroes yet,” showrunner Courtney A. Kemp told Variety, “and I think what’s really important is

After what may have been the most chaotic week imaginable for the Democratic party, various competitors vied for the title of chief uniter. The State of the Union address — which memorably ended with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tearing up President Donald Trump’s remarks — and the President’s acquittal in his impeachment trial

The latest meeting of seven Democratic presidential candidates on a debate stage began on Friday night in New Hampshire with a rapid-fire round of questions about each of the seven contenders’ electability and suitability for office. Health care policy and the question of continuing investigations of President Donald Trump also generated heated responses from the

In today’s TV news roundup, National Geographic released a teaser for “Genius: Aretha” and Quibi released a teaser for “Most Dangerous Game” starring Liam Hemsworth. FIRST LOOKS National Geographic unveiled a teaser for “Genius: Aretha” that will also air during the Oscars on Sunday. The eight-part series will premiere on May 25 at 9 p.m.

Members of the Writers Guild have strongly backed a negotiating proposal that requires studios to bar non-franchised talent agents from representing WGA members. The results were included in a message sent Friday by WGA West president David A. Goodman and WGA East president Beau Willimon. They said that 3,028 (91%) members voted yes on the

“Jane the Virgin” creator Jennie Snyder Urman is celebrating extending her CBS Television Studios overall deal with a pilot order at the Eye. Only a day after announcing Urman’s five-year extension, CBS has ordered her drama project “Good Sam” to pilot, alongside another drama from prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer. “Good Sam” hails from CBS TV

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Locke and Key,” streaming now on Netflix. In March 2018, Carlton Cuse found himself faced with a TV showrunner’s nightmare. He’d been working for nearly a year on “Locke and Key,” an adaptation of Joe Hill’s best-selling graphic novel series about the Locke children, who

People who tune in to the Oscars expect to thrill to seeing famous actors and Hollywood’s favorite films. But those viewers will also get a look at commercials aimed at one of TV’s biggest crowds of the year. General Motors’ Cadillac has prepared at least two commercials tailored just for ABC’s broadcast this Sunday of

February 7, 2020 11:44AM PT ITV’s long-running singing competition “X Factor” is being rested for 12 months in the U.K., Variety has confirmed. The entertainment juggernaut, which has been a fixture on the commercial broadcaster for 16 years despite poor ratings in recent years, will return in 2021. Variety understands that creator and host Simon Cowell is

U.K. Screenings, once the haphazard market piggy-backing off the glam BBC Showcase, has at last become an establishment in its own right. This year’s edition of the week-long event, where a range of global broadcasters and streamers descend on Liverpool and London to peruse the latest wares from international distributors, stands to be the biggest

February 7, 2020 10:32AM PT Sam Claflin has been cast as the male lead opposite Riley Keough in the forthcoming Amazon series “Daisy Jones and the Six.” Best on the best-selling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, “Daisy Jones & The Six” is a 12 episode musical drama detailing the rise and precipitous fall of a

The challenge for shows to stand out in the global market has been thrown into stark relief by research that shows that more than 10,600 new series launched in key TV territories last year, including 4,600 fiction series. The NOTA (New on the Air) report from TV research firm Glance detects new programs from more

As families across the country prepare to sit on their couches and comment on the 92nd annual Academy Award winners, so too will the fictional family members on ABC’s “The Conners.” During the third commercial break of the live film awards telecast on Sunday, Feb. 9, “The Conners” will deliver a live spot where characters

For “Homeland” to do what it does best, Carrie Mathison had to become Nicholas Brody in the show’s eighth and final season. Alex Gansa, co-creator and showrunner of the Showtime drama series, realized the storytelling path for the swan-song year as they were filming the closing scenes of Season 7. Claire Danes’ intrepid, bipolar CIA