Television

Another CW star is signing on for the network’s upcoming “Walker, Texas Ranger” reboot. Variety has learned exclusively that “The 100’s” Lindsey Morgan has signed on for a lead role in “Walker,” which has received a series order at the broadcaster for the 2020-2021 season. Morgan joins previously announced series lead Jared Padalecki, best known for

ViacomCBS is letting go of staff amid a reorganization of its corporate diversity and inclusion department. Sources tell Variety that the cuts are concentrated in CBS’ legacy corporate-diversity department. According to sources, five members of CBS’ nine-person corporate diversity team have been let go or have been told that their positions are likely to be

David Schulner is doubling down with Universal Television. The “New Amsterdam” creator and showrunner David Schulner has inked a four-year overall deal with the studio, extending a relationship which dates back to 2010. Under the deal, Schulner will develop, write and executive produce programming across multiple platforms including network, cable and streaming. Schulner will continue

February 5, 2020 3:00PM PT Ruby Rose Turner has signed with CAA for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. Turner currently stars in one of the title roles in the Disney Channel series “Coop & Cami Ask the World.” The show debuted in late 2018 and Season 2 is currently in production. It is set to return

In today’s TV news roundup, HBO has set a premiere date for the upcoming comedy “Run” and Quibi has greenlit a new series entitled “Moving the Needle with Dr. Woo.”  DATES Comedian Taylor Tomlinson‘s Netflix special “Quarter-Life Crisis” will premiere March 3. Following her debut on “The Comedy Lineup Part 1,” Tomlinson’s first hour-long special

Higher sports rights fees and the cost of launching WWE’s “Smackdown” took a bite out of Fox Corp.’s earnings in the last lap of 2019. The company disclosed Wednesday that it delivered revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, a gain of 5%. Net income soared to $314 million, compared to $24

New original programming may be a part of Peacock, the new streaming service launching this summer from NBCUniversal, but it is the more familiar elements that are generating the most consumer interest so far. That’s what an exclusive poll fielded by YouGov for Variety suggests. The poll, which was conducted among 1,445 adults aged 18

Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max formed a new film label, titled Warner Max, that will generate eight to 10 mid-budget films per year for WarnerMedia’s new streaming service. Formed at the behest of WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey and Warner Bros. Entertainment president Ann Sarnoff, the division will deliver on the promise of synergy by

February 5, 2020 9:55AM PT Adam Sharp had quite a first week on the job as president and CEO of the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Sharp was confronted with a controversy over the submission and judging process for the 2018 Daytime Emmy Awards. In the latest episode of “Strictly Business,”

David Glasser’s 101 Studios and U.K. indie producer Seven Seas Films are partnering to co-produce drama series “The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe,” detailing the turbulent final months of the star’s life before her death in 1962. Based on Keith Badman’s provocative tell-all “The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe: The Shocking True Story,” the series

In the ten years since the Guild of Music Supervisors was formed, the organization has come a long way. Granted, the job still involves low pay, long hours and little respect, but at least the craft has been validated with Grammy and Emmy categories introduced by the Recording Academy and the Television Academy, respectively. The GMS has

February 5, 2020 9:04AM PT President Trump’s State of the Union address is on course for a smaller viewership than in the previous three years of his presidency. Across the four major broadcast networks, his speech on Tuesday drew 15.9 million viewers according to early estimates, a 21% fall from last year. CBS scored the

“First Ladies” will peel back the curtain on the personal and political lives of First Ladies from throughout history, with season one focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama. The series, which hails from hails from Showtime and Lionsgate Television, will turn it lens on the East Wing of the White House, as

Lego building deals in minutiae: The individual bricks and other design pieces used to create works of art or pieces of play are physically small and often required to be stacked on top of each other by the dozen in intricate architecture to resemble anything from a structure to a vehicle to an animal. It

British screenwriter and playwright Charles Wood, known for such productions as “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Tumbledown” and “Iris,” has died at the age of 87. His death, on Saturday, was confirmed to Variety by his agent Sue Rodgers at Independent Talent. Born into a theater family, he began working in his local theater

O’Shea Jackson is now set to star in the Apple drama series “Swagger,” Variety has learned exclusively. Jackson takes over the role from Winston Duke. It was announced that Duke would star in the series back in October, but an individual with knowledge of the situation says he suffered an injury on set, which forced him

February 5, 2020 7:11AM PT Banijay Group-owned company Yellow Bird U.S. has optioned the rights of Krystal Sutherland’s “A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares” to produce a TV series adaptation. The book centers on 17-year old Esther Solar who believes everyone in her family has been cursed with a debilitating phobia that will ultimately kill them.

Next week’s London-based U.K. Screenings sales events are set to be heavily impacted by the absence of key Chinese buyers, a number of whom have pulled out from the BBC Studios Showcase on the back of China’s coronavirus outbreak, Variety has confirmed. Production and distribution powerhouse BBC Studios annually hosts a raft of Chinese buyers in

House Productions, the indie production company founded by former Film4 boss Tessa Ross and ex-Working Title exec Juliette Howell, has acquired the international film and TV rights to Jack Fairweather’s critically acclaimed biography “The Volunteer.” The team behind the Emmy-nominated HBO and Channel 4 drama “Brexit: The Uncivil War,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, secured a multi-territory

Red Arrow Studios-backed Endor Productions has hired former Fox Networks Group (FNG) exec Sara Johnson as creative director. Led by managing director Hilary Bevan Jones, the TV-focused Endor’s recent series include “Vienna Blood” for Germany’s ZDF and Austria’s ORF, which was acquired by the BBC and PBS; two seasons of Matthew Parkhill’s “Deep State” for

In an evening filled with surprises and theatrics, President Donald Trump awarded conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh — who recently revealed his advanced lung cancer diagnosis — with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in the middle of in his third annual State of the Union address Tuesday night. “Rush Limbaugh, thank you for your

Six-time Emmy winner Gene Reynolds, known for his writing, directing and producing for the lauded socially conscious 1970s TV shows “MASH” and “Lou Grant,” died Monday in Burbank, Calif. He was 96. Starting in 1993, Reynolds served four years as president of the Directors Guild of America, which confirmed his death. Asked to produce a

CBS has picked up three more multi-camera pilots and one single-camera comedy pilot for the 2020-2021 season. The first hails from writers and executive producers Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, the co-creators of “Will & Grace.” Their CBS pilot is titled “Please Hold for Frankie Wolfe.” Wolfe is described as an unfiltered, irreverent, powerful businesswoman

February 4, 2020 3:07PM PT “Thor” star Tom Hiddleston is set to front a 10-part political thriller for Netflix, Variety has confirmed. Produced by “Sex Education” firm Eleven, “White Stork” will find Hiddleston, whose most recent credits have largely related to the Marvel universe, playing politician James Cooper whose parliamentary ambitions and personal life are thwarted

In today’s TV news roundup, Danielle Deadwyler joined the cast of HBO Max’s “Station Eleven” adaptation and Netflix unveiled a teaser for “Altered Carbon” Season 2. CASTING Danielle Deadwyler has joined the cast of the HBO Max adaptation of “Station Eleven” in a recurring role, Variety has learned exclusively. She will play Miranda Carroll, the author

February 4, 2020 3:43PM PT HBO Max has announced that actress Jameela Jamil will serve as MC and judge on “Legendary,” the streaming service’s upcoming unscripted competition series. “Legendary” turns modern day ball culture into a competition, featuring divas battling on teams called “Houses” in challenges involving fashion, dance and voguing. Each house is comprised

February 4, 2020 3:30PM PT Stephen Falk has signed on as creator and showrunner of the planned limited series about the rise and fall of WeWork. The series was originally announced in December, with “Succession” star Nicholas Braun attached to play WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann. No network or streaming service is currently attached to the

February 4, 2020 2:41PM PT The spread of coronavirus in China could deal a blow to the operations of Disney’s theme parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Speaking during a call with investors Tuesday, Walt Disney executives said they expected the  virus to result to affect $135 million in second-quarter operating income if its Shanghai

John Travolta is returning to TV for the first time since his turn as Robert Shapiro in “American Crime Story.” The actor has been cast to star opposite Kevin Hart in “Die Hart,” a comedy-action series coming to Quibi, the short-form content provider launching April 6. In “Die Hart,” Hart plays a fictionalized version of

Following a spate of sexual misconduct allegations that prompted PBS to cancel “Tavis Smiley” in late 2017 and led to an ongoing legal dispute between the broadcaster and former talk show host, Smiley has taken to Facebook to defend himself ahead of the trial, which begins Monday. Citing a famous line from Arthur Miller’s “The