“Gentleman Jack” star Suranne Jones has optioned the memoir of five-time female world boxing champion Jane Couch, with a TV adaptation in the works through her fledgling production outfit TeamAkers Productions and “Les Misérables” producer Lookout Point. Jones and writer Laurence Akers’ TeamAkers and BBC Studios-owned Lookout Point will adapt Couch’s memoir “The Final Round”
Television
British film and TV producer Tony Garnett, founder of “Bodyguard” producer World Productions, died Sunday at the age of 83. His death was confirmed by the ITV Studios-backed World Productions, which released the following statement Sunday night: “After a short illness, Tony Garnett, the legendary TV and film producer and founder of World Productions, died
Pay-TV in Asia is coming under ever greater competitive pressure, but the economic growth of the region means that there continue to be opportunities for flexible operators. That is the verdict of a study “Asia Pacific Pay-TV Distribution 2020,” published Monday. Taking together subscription and advertising revenues, the report, put out by research house Media
The picture of how the “Star Trek” creative galaxy will interconnect on TV and in movies became clearer at the TCA winter press tour on Sunday, and the short answer is: not very much. At the panel on Sunday for “Star Trek: Picard,” executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin said that the three “Star
January 12, 2020 6:29PM PT HBO’s “Westworld” will return for its third season on March 15, the cabler announced Sunday. Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, Tessa Thompson and Jeffrey Wright will reprise their roles in the Emmy-winning sci-fi drama. Joining the cast for season three are Aaron Paul, Vincent Cassel, LEna Waithe, Scott
ViacomCBS-owned streaming services CBS All Access and Showtime OTT have reached a collective 10 million subscribers, said ViacomCBS chief digital officer and CBS Interactive chief exec Marc DeBevoise at the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour. That’s up from 8 million at last update. “We’re in a great position to hit our goals of 25
When “The Good Fight” returns for its fourth season this year, it will do so with its same sensibility but lots of new faces. “The show’s not going to lose any of its political sense. That seems to be the niche we have found ourselves in,” co-creator and co-showrunner Robert King said during the CBS
January 12, 2020 1:42PM PT Streaming service CBS All Access has ordered to series an original 10-episode animal rescue docuseries executive produced by filmmaker Richard Linklater and Bill Guttentag. “The Untitled Richard Linklater Project” will explore the “colorful and diverse world of animal rescue through moving, humorous and powerful stories of animals and the humans
CBS All Access has announced the first round of casting for the second season of anthology drama “The Twilight Zone.” Among those who will star in individual episodes are Morena Baccarin, Colman Domingo, Ethan Embry, Jenna Elfman, Tavi Gevinson, Tony Hale, Abbie Hern, Gillian Jacobs, Sophia Macy, Joel McHale, Chris Meloni, Billy Porter, Jimmi Simpson
CBS All Access is further building out its animation lineup with reboots of three classic shows. New editions of “Mr. Magoo,” “George of the Jungle,” and “Lassie” will all be available on the streamer beginning Jan. 17. The new series hail from DreamWorks Animation’s Classic Media. The announcement was made during the All Access portion of
There’s a time-honored tradition of turning celebrated movies into television series. A lot of them have ended up as sitcoms: “The Odd Couple,” “M*A*S*H,” “Alice” (spun out of Martin Scorsese’s 1974 landmark “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”). But not all of them. Did you know that “Casablanca” was turned into two different TV series, one
As Robert and Michelle King’s “Evil” plays with the line of if the terrible things happening in the show are caused by man or monster — humanity or the supernatural — one area that the showrunner duo finds rich to mine is technology. “Unfortunately we don’t have to go looking for techno-weirdness; it just comes
Fox wants you to stay home the day after the Super Bowl. As part of its marketing strategy for the big game, the network has launched a new on-air campaign touting “Super Monday” — a day that everyone should take off and catch up on TV (and, specifically in this case, Fox TV shows). The
“Survivor” will celebrate its upcoming 40th season with a one-hour retrospective special that looks back at the “greatest moments and players,” CBS announced Sunday. The special, aptly titled “Survivor at 40: Greatest Moments and Players,” will air Feb. 5 at 8 p.m., one week ahead of the milestone season premiere. The retrospective will feature new
CBS has given a series commitment to a drama that will follow Clarice Starling after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,” Variety has learned. Titled “Clarice,” the series hails from writers and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. Set in 1993, a year after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,”
January 11, 2020 6:15PM PT NBC has ordered the drama pilot “Debris” for the 2020-2021 season. The series follows two agents from two different continents, and two different mindsets, who must work together to investigate when wreckage from a destroyed alien spacecraft has mysterious effects on humankind. The pilot hails from writer and executive producer
When the original NBC run of “The Biggest Loser” came to an end in 2016 after 17 seasons, it did so with an air of controversy around it due to claims about unhealthy weight loss methods on the show. Entering into its 18th season, now on USA, the format was tweaked for the 2020 audience.
January 11, 2020 12:45PM PT Syfy and UCP are extending the adventures of the iconic fairy tale characters of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys by developing a limited series entitled “The League of Pan.” “The League of Pan” is described as “a thrilling and mysterious continuation of the beloved story of Peter Pan” that
January 11, 2020 12:45PM PT Syfy has given out a straight-to-series order for a show based on the iconic horror character Chucky, the central figure in the “Child’s Play” film franchise. The cabler made the announcement at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Saturday. The news comes just under a year after Syfy
Keep calm; ‘Days of Our Lives’ is in fact carrying on. NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy confirmed at the Television Critics Assn. press tour that the long-running daytime drama will be returning for another season on NBC. “We’re in the middle of knowing very soon [whether] ‘Days of Our Lives’ is going to carry on,”
January 11, 2020 11:16AM PT “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon is coming to primetime for the first time. Fallon is set to host “That’s My Jam” at NBC, a comedy variety event series inspired by the segment on “The Tonight Show.” The announcement was made Saturday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on
“This Is Us” is embarking upon the second half of its fourth season, with two more seasons already guaranteed, and series creator Dan Fogelman says the plan for the overarching story “has held” ever since he pitched the show. “For the most part I thnk we’ve really tried to stick to the plan for the
NBCUniversal’s investigation at “America’s Got Talent,” spurred by judge Gabrielle Union’s exit amid complaints of a toxic work environment, should wrap up by the end of January, NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy told the Television Critics Assn. press tour crowd in Pasadena on Saturday. “I’m very confident that if we learn something… we will put
January 11, 2020 9:33AM PT Dwayne Johnson has scored a straight-to-series order at NBC for a comedy series based on his childhood. The broadcaster has ordered eleven episodes of the single-cam comedy, which is titled “The Young Rock.” It hails from Nahnatchka Khan. Johnson will appear in every episode of the show, which is said
NBC has given the medical drama “New Amsterdam” a massive three-season renewal. The renewal will bring the show to five seasons total, with the second season currently airing. The announcement was Saturday morning by Paul Telegdy, chairman of NBC Entertainment, during the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “New Amsterdam’s” second season is currently averaging
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return to host the Golden Globes in 2021, Poehler announced onstage at NBCUniversal’s Televison Critics Assn. press tour Saturday. “NBC has long been the home to two of the funniest people on the planet — Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — and we didn’t want to wait any longer
After a four-day delay, the Directors Guild of America has finished announcing this year’s TV nominees, includng Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Dramatic Series; Comedy Series; and Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials for 2019. With all of the categories in, Amazon Prime Video’s “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” now ties FX’s “Fosse/Verdon” for most nominations, with three apiece. “Maisel”
January 10, 2020 5:03PM PT CNN has agreed to pay $76 million to settle a back pay case involving union workers that marks the largest “monetary remedy” in the 85-year history of National Labor Relations Board. The dispute began in 2003 when CNN fired a group of unionized subcontractors working as video technicians and in
January 10, 2020 5:00PM PT NBC has given out its first official pilot order of the season to a series adaptation of the comedy film “Night School.” Kevin Hart — who starred in, co-wrote and produced the film — will executive produce the pilot along with Will Packer, who was also a producer on the
In today’s TV news roundup, Comedy Central has renewed “This Week at the Comedy Cellar” and HBO released the premiere date for Season 18 of “Real Time with Bill Maher.” DATES Season 18 of “Real Time with Bill Maher” will premiere Jan. 17, HBO announced. The upcoming season starts off with a bang as it