Courtney B. Vance has found his next leading role. The “American Crime Story” star has been cast in the upcoming AMC drama “61st Street,” which hails from showrunner and executive producer Peter Moffat as well as executive producer Michael B. Jordan. “61st Street,” which has been ordered as a two-season television event series with eight
Television
Peacock unveiled more of its original programming slate just ahead of its investor presentation on Thursday. First up, the NBCUniversal streamer has ordered a comedy titled “Girls5Eva” from executive producer Tina Fey, about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 90’s that reunites to give their pop star dreams one more shot. Peacock has also ordered
January 16, 2020 1:00PM PT Ch-ching! The original “Law & Order” is finally make its streaming debut later this year on NBCUniversal’s Peacock. The deal between producer Dick Wolf and NBCU calls for six Wolf Entertainment series to be made available on Peacock. The pact covers more than 1,000 episodes of “Law & Order” plus
January 16, 2020 12:50PM PT “Mindhunter” is going on ice at Netflix. Variety has confirmed that the show’s cast members have been released from their contracts. The streamer is not ruling out a third season of the series, however, depending on executive producer David Fincher’s schedule. Fincher is currently working on directing the Netflix film
Less than two weeks after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle issued a controversial statement announcing they were “stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family,” Fox has scheduled a one-hour special investigating the royal crisis which has ensued. Titled “Harry & Meghan: The Royals in Crisis,” the investigation comes from TMZ and features more
Investigation Discovery (ID) has teamed up with Khloe Kardashian for a docuseries about “Twisted Love” and also greenlit a Jeffrey Epstein special as the first in its upcoming, tentatively titled “Who Killed…” series. “Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein?” will feature exclusive interviews and in-depth investigations into new clues about their titular subjects. When it comes to
Riders of New York City’s 7 train were surprised to hear the raspy voice of comedian Awkwafina as the first-ever celebrity enlisted to announce the 22 stops on the train that runs through the heart of Queens and into Manhattan. Comedy Central has set an unusual pact with MTA New York City Transit to have
Programming executives Sarah Babineau and Keith Cox have been promoted to new roles within ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group. Babineau has been upped to head of Comedy Central Content and Creative Enterprises, overseeing all development for the cable channel and its expanding roster of podcasts, games and other endeavors. Cox has been named president of
January 16, 2020 9:06AM PT NBC’s trifecta of “Chicago” dramas dominated the Wednesday night TV ratings in the absence of “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time.” “Chicago Med” and “Fire” both ticked up from a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49, to a 1.2 rating this time around. The former drew 8.4 million total viewers, up
Shannon Bream and Fox News Channel have struck a new agreement that will keep the late-night anchor and chief legal correspondent on board for the next few years. Fox News said Thursday that it had come to terms on a new “multi-year” pact with Bream that will keep her as an anchor of “Fox News
January 16, 2020 8:09AM PT Acorn TV has acquired exclusive North American rights to British drama “Deadwater Fell,” which launched on Channel 4 last week. Produced by Kudos, the dark Scottish-set thriller is headlined by “Broadchurch” and “Good Omens” star David Tennant. “Deadwater Fell” is sold by Endemol Shine International. The four-part drama premiered strongly
“Irishman” star Stephen Graham is getting into the production business. The British actor tells Variety that he has set up a production company entitled Matriarch Productions, which he is to run with his wife Hannah – a close collaborator on all of Graham’s projects. The business, which is currently based out of Leicestershire in northern
NBC News paired Jenna Bush Hager with Hoda Kotb nearly a year ago in the fourth hour of its venerable “Today” morning franchise. And yet, the duo feels like their show is only now just about to launch. After taking time off for individual maternity leaves last year, Kotb and Hager hadn’t really spent much
Peacock is putting Punky in prime position. NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service has officially greenlit a follow-up series to the classic sitcom “Punky Brewster.” The announcement was made Thursday just hours before NBCU is set to demonstrate the service in a presentation for investors. The new “Punky Brewster” will see the return of original series star
Buoyed by a sturdy local industry and sent soaring by the influx of international broadcasters, audiovisual production in Paris rose to record-setting levels in 2019. The French capital remained Gaul’s leading production market, encompassing 40% of all national and 36% of all foreign shoots in the country last year. In harsh numbers, the city of
South Korea media giant CJ ENM has signed on for a local adaptation of “Game of Clones” producer Youngest Media’s NBC-bound entertainment format “Small Fortune.” A four-part pilot series will premiere on CJ ENM’s tvN channel in February. London-based distributor DRG, which is handling sales for the format, sold the show into the market. “Small
In today’s TV news roundup, CBS announced Reba McEntire will guest star in “Young Sheldon,” and TNT announced a premiere date for “Snowpiercer.” CASTING CBS has announced Reba McEntire will guest star in an upcoming episode of “Young Sheldon,“ airing in February. McEntire will be playing June, a character described as “the fun, fiery ex-wife”
As part of greater changes to CAA’s salary policy, the agency has raised the starting wage for assistants from $15 to $18 an hour. The revisions were announced at the agency at the start of the year on Jan. 9, a source familiar with the matter tells Variety. Minimum wage for other hourly positions has
A federal judge in New York has allowed a shareholder lawsuit against CBS Corp. to proceed based on the specificity of statements made by disgraced former chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves at a 2017 Variety conference. Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday dismissed other claims in the securities fraud suit against
ViacomCBS unveiled a new ad-sales team that relies heavily on senior executives who were already reporting to Jo Ann Ross, the newly merged company’s ad-sales chief, when she was leading them at the former CBS Corp. ViacomCBS said longtime Ross lieutenants John Bogusz, Linda Rene, Chris Simon, Dave Morris and David Lawenda will all remain
We now know a little bit more about whether a “Friends” reunion is ever bound for forthcoming streamer HBO Max, if the Harry Potter franchise will make its way to the service, and what the new Green Lantern series will entail. While many fans are no doubt interested in a “Friends” reunion of some sort,
January 15, 2020 4:36PM PT The dust continues to settle from the merger of Viacom and CBS. Global licensing and distribution chief Armando Nuñez on Wednesday rolled out changes to the executive leadership of ViacomCBS’ global distribution group. The announcement in a memo to staff comes as the newly combined company looks to streamline operations,
January 15, 2020 4:34PM PT WWE Hall of Famer and Dwayne Johnson’s father Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson died on Wednesday. He was 75. His cause of death is not currently known. “Soul Man” made history as the first African American world tag team champion as a member of the Soul Patrol alongside Tony Atlas. After
NBC has announced its second drama pilot pickup of the 2020-2021 season. The broadcaster has given out a pilot order for the drama “La Brea,” which hails from writer and executive producer David Appelbaum. In the series, when a massive sinkhole mysteriously opens in Los Angeles, it tears a family in half, separating mother and
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has “over-delivered right out of the gate” for TNT, according to Kevin Reilly. Reilly — the chief content officer for HBO Max and president of TNT, TBS, and truTV — spoke with Variety at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Wednesday in the wake of the announcement that the pro
After bouncing its gritty drama “Snowpiercer” from TNT to TBS and back to TNT again, the networks formerly known as Turner experienced a bit of a brand identity crisis last year. But as its execs prepare to launch the streaming service HBO Max, they’re also re-establishing unique brand markers for basic cable flagships TNT, TBS
Nasim Pedrad first created her comedy, “Chad,” in which she also stars as the titular teenage Persian boy, in 2016. Then it was set up as a pilot at Fox, but now, as Iran is increasingly in the news due to Donald Trump’s strike on military leader Qassem Soleimani, the show prepares to launch its
Hotly anticipated “Game of Thrones” straight-to-series spinoff “House of the Dragon” is likely to premiere in 2022, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys told Variety at the Television Critics Assn. tour on Wednesday, calling that his “best guess.” He was not able to narrow down a more precise premiere date at this stage of development. No
ABC Studios has signed ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ showrunner Liz Tigelaar to a two-year overall pod deal, with Tigelaar’s new company Best Day Ever adding Netflix exec Stacey Silverman as her producing partner. “I am so excited to call ABC Studios home,” said Tigelaar. “I feel eternally grateful to Dana, Craig, Jonnie and their entire team
There are more changes afoot at ViacomCBS as oversight of cable channel Pop TV will shift from the Showtime group to the Entertainment & Youth group of channels headed by Chris McCarthy. At the same time, Bellator MMA, the ViacomCBS-owned company that produces MMA events and manages a roster of fighters, will be now report