Television

With all the glam and glitz of the just-wrapped Golden Globes ceremony giving way to the coming madness of January — TCA! CES! Sundance! NATPE! — Hollywood is bracing for a momentous year ahead. The largest media conglomerates are in the throes of a transition that has been simplistically described as the onset of “streaming

The 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, ABC and the Television Academy announced Wednesday. Airing live coast-to-coast (8-11 p.m. ET / 5-8 p.m. PT) on Fox from the Microsoft Theater at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., the host and producers for the ceremony will be announced at

January 8, 2020 4:01AM PT TV broadcaster Tegna is partnering with First Draft, a non profit that trains journalists and academics to identify false information online to work with editorial staffers in its 49 local newsrooms, part of an effort to bolster the quality of reporting it provides its various audiences. “As we head into

Former Sony Pictures Television executives Andy Kaplan and George Chien have cut a deal with Sony to acquire three entertainment networks that serve Southeast Asia and South Korea. Kaplan and Chien have launched KC Global Media to operate the Sony channels, which include the AXN-branded channels in the region, the anime-focused Animax and South Korea’s

Fox Entertainment is in very early stages of development of a newly acquired piece of intellectual property — The Texanist, a column at Texas Monthly magazine. The column will be adapted as a comedy in conjunction with the publication, Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn told Variety at the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour, calling

New Fox, not quite so new anymore, has now spent a full quarter sailing along as its own ship following the Disney-Fox merger that brought 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets under Disney’s umbrella and left a leaner entity in its wake. As part of its efforts to be nimbler and more appealing to talent, the

Just 24 hours after Ellen DeGeneres first aired her “The Masked Singer” spoof segment, “The Masked Dancer,” on her eponymous daytime talk show, Fox’s head of alternative entertainment and specials Rob Wade started making phone calls. “The day after it aired [on ‘Ellen’] was the day I phoned up that production company — January of

Fox kicked off the 2020 Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena on Tuesday, announcing some new projects while showcasing some of their midseason fare. The network made several announcements to kick off the day, including a holiday special from the “Robot Chicken” team and signing a new deal with Mara Brock Akil. Read

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix debuted the trailer for Season 2 of “Sex Education” and Showtime announced the premiere date for Season 3 of “Our Cartoon President.”  DATES AMC announced it will be the home of the television premiere of “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” on Feb. 16. Leading up to that special

Silvio Horta, creator of ABC’s popular series “Ugly Betty,” was found dead in a Miami motel room on Tuesday in an apparent suicide. He was 45. Sources tell Variety that Horta died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A representative for Horta declined to comment. The American version of “Ugly Betty,” which starred America Ferrera, ran

Manny Coto’s new Fox drama “Next” centers on a super intelligent A.I. and the few people who know it not only exists but has gone rogue and is out to harm people. In that way, the first season is one of a man hunt — but for an entity that can’t be physically seen and

Brothers Mark and Jay Duplass have inked a four-year first-look deal at HBO, Variety has learned exclusively. The deal further extends the relationship between the brothers’ company, Duplass Brothers Productions (DBP), and the premium cabler, as they were previously under an overall deal at HBO. They currently produce the HBO anthology series “Room 104,” which debuted

January 7, 2020 1:31PM PT The SAG-AFTRA headquarters in both Los Angeles and New York have been evacuated due to a phone threat, Variety has confirmed. “I can confirm that we received a threat and have closed our offices for the day,” said SAG-AFTRA chief communications and marketing officer Pamela Greenwalt in a statement. “We notified law

“Filthy Rich” creator and showrunner Tate Taylor grew up in the Presbyterian church, but his new Fox drama is not designed to convince the audience that one family’s religious beliefs are better than any others. “The show is not pro-Christianity, it’s not about religion, it’s about people who are all very different who would otherwise

20th Century Fox TV is set for a changing of the guard in June as longtime business operations leader Howard Kurtzman will retire and Carolyn Cassidy will take the solo reins as president. Kurtzman has been with Fox since 1997 and is one of the most highly regarded business affairs executives in the TV biz.

The CW is renewal happy. The network has handed out early greenlights to new seasons of almost every single show on its slate, including a second season of “Batwoman,” a seventh season of “The Flash” and a fifth season of “Riverdale.”  The CW’s other new fall show “Nancy Drew” is also on the long list

January 7, 2020 12:10PM PT The cast of “Nine Perfect Strangers” at Hulu has added another big player. Melissa McCarthy has been cast in the series to star alongside Nicole Kidman, Variety has confirmed. The show, which was greenlit by Hulu in May 2019, is based on the book of the same name by “Big Little

Mara Brock Akil is coming back to Fox. The acclaimed series creator, writer and producer has entered into a network-direct script deal with Fox Entertainment, under which she will develop and write a scripted series to air on the Fox network, with Fox Entertainment producing. “Mara is a truly gifted writer, with a strong point

January 7, 2020 8:27AM PT Season 24 of “The Bachelor” kicked off last night to solid TV ratings for ABC. The premiere episode won the night with a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49 and drew just over 6 million total viewers. That represents a significant 20% up tick from last season’s premiere, which came in

“Game of Thrones” alumnus Robert Aramayo is joining another lofty fantasy series. The British actor, who played young Ned Stark in the HBO behemoth, has been cast as one of the leads in the forthcoming “Lord of the Rings” series in the works at Amazon, Variety has confirmed. He replaces fellow Brit Will Poulter, who had

The Producers Guild of America has revealed its nominees in the motion picture and television categories for its 31st Annual Producers Guild Awards; nominees include recent Golden Globe winners “1917,” “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” “Missing Link,” “Succession,” “Fleabag” and “Chernobyl.” The PGA, which has about 8,200 members, has matched the Oscar for best

There’s likely little common ground between MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, but the executives who run their respective news outlets have found something upon which they both can agree. Both NBCUniversal and Fox Corp. are talking to advertisers about recent or ongoing research that demonstrates viewers don’t think negatively about the

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Bachelor” Season 24 premiere. The new season of ABC’s “The Bachelor” has landed, with Delta pilot Peter Weber leading the franchise into its 24th season. While some of women vying for his heart have already found ways to stand out, it is the

“The Bachelor” is back with its 24th season, starring Peter Weber, who was a fan favorite and finalist on Hannah Brown’s season of “The Bachelorette.” Known for having sex four times in a windmill with Brown, the pilot and California native reunited with his TV ex-girlfriend in the premiere, which escalated into a dramatic turn

Skydance TV president Marcy Ross is leaving her position and transitioning to a overall producing deal with the media company, where she will continue to serve as executive producer on “Grace and Frankie,” “Altered Carbon,” “Condor” and “Foundation.” Skydance Media’s chief creative officer Dana Goldberg will head the TV arm until a successor is named.

The new Bachelor has two things most past contestants lacked: a real job and an aversion to social media. Peter Weber — or “pilot Pete” as Bachelor Nation has been calling him — has the makings of a star online influencer, but, thankfully, he just wants to keep flying until he ages out at 65,

CBS has announced the 20 performers who will participate in its diversity sketch comedy showcase for 2020. The showcase will begin its six-show run on Jan. 14 at the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles.  Beginning 14 years ago, the showcase was created to spotlight diverse talent, and it has developed into a hybrid comedy

January 6, 2020 4:01PM PT A celebrity edition of popular British cooking format “Bake Off” has added an Oscar-winner to its ingredients. Richard Dreyfuss is in the lineup for “The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer,” which will air later this year. The celeb-infused version of the show is a key element

In today’s TV news roundup, Mike Epps has been cast as a guest star in an upcoming episode of “Stumptown,” and Freeform set a premiere date for its upcoming film, “The Thing About Harry.” CASTINGS Comedian Mike Epps has been cast in a guest role on “Stumptown,” Variety has learned exclusively. Epps will portray Judge

January 6, 2020 3:13PM PT Lucy Hale lends charm to a winning CW series set in a fantasyland New York — and in the “Riverdale” universe. “Katy Keene” may be set in the Archie Comics universe. But it’s a long way from “Riverdale.” That point is made, first, by a series-opening sequence in which Katy