Television

Italy’s 39 Films and Argentina-México-U.S.-based Jaque Content are joining forces with Buenos Aires’ Brava Cine to co-produce Mercedes Cordova’s ethno-gastronomy doc series “Masa madre” (“Mother Dough”). Developed at Brava Cine, “Mother Dough” has been selected for pitching sessions and business meetings at Ventana Sur Market’s Fiction Factory sidebar, after winning last year a development contest

December 5, 2019 12:18AM PT U.K. based Passion Distribution, and London- and Los Angeles-headquartered Motion Content Group has licensed magic based show “Dynamo Beyond Belief” to AETN18 Media in India. The three-part special, featuring award-winning British magician Dynamo, will air on the History TV18 channel. The deals were announced this week at the Asia Television

December 4, 2019 4:12PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix revealed the first look at “AJ and the Queen.” Also, Jean Smart and Jason Alexander will guest star in an episode of “Mad About You.” CASTINGS Jason Alexander and Jean Smart will guest star in an episode of “Mad About You,“ Spectrum announced. Smart will

December 4, 2019 4:01PM PT Sky Studios has boarded “Das Boot.” The content arm of the pay-TV giant will invest in and take the international rights to the series, which plays as an original on Sky in Germany as well as in Italy and the U.K. The second season of the well-received drama is in

NBC is launching a deeper investigation into its reality competition series “America’s Got Talent,” eight days after Variety exclusively reported that judge Gabrielle Union would not return to the series amid complaints of toxic culture on set. Union and the network sat for five hours in a fact-finding meeting on Tuesday evening, both parties said,

December 4, 2019 2:54PM PT On “Truth Be Told,” Apple TV Plus’s new drama about a true-crime reporter reinvestigating a case she may have gotten wrong, there’s a moment of confrontation in an early episode. Face to face with a man she believes may be hiding information from her, Octavia Spencer stares him down until

December 4, 2019 2:41PM PT You may have noticed on your Twitter feeds Sunday nights that “Watchmen” appears to be popular. Yet the innovative, critically praised HBO drama series is an actual hit, not merely a zeitgeist talker. Through its seven episodes so far, the show, created and executive produced by Damon Lindelof, is drawing

Jane Lynch has had a wonderful experience on “Hollywood Game Night,” the celebrity game show she’s hosted for six seasons on NBC. But in light of Gabrielle Union’s exit on “America’s Got Talent,” another hit alternative show on NBC, Lynch says the network has a problem. “I don’t know so much about it, but what

Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux are teaming up for an HBO limited series about the Watergate scandal, Variety has learned. The five-episode series is titled “The White House Plumbers.” It tells the true story of how Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt (Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Theroux), accidentally toppled the Presidency

December 4, 2019 1:48PM PT Ousted “America’s Got Talent” judge Gabrielle Union returned to her former workplace this week to resurface complaints of toxicity on the set of the reality competition show, she said Wednesday. “We had a lengthy 5-hour, and what I thought to be, productive meeting yesterday,” Union tweeted. “I was able to,

The shake-out in media and entertainment after a few years of mergers, cost-cutting initiatives and massive restructurings has thrust many experienced executives back onto the job market — but they’re not all landing at mainstream Hollywood companies. A growing number of them are making their way into new roles as partners, advisers or entrepreneurs-in-residence at private

December 4, 2019 12:58PM PT Parker Young has been cast to star opposite Adhir Kalyan in Chuck Lorre’s “United States of Al” comedy pilot, which is in the works in CBS. The show is a multi-camera comedy about the friendship between Riley (Young), a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio,

December 4, 2019 12:52PM PT One of the four planned Marvel animated series at Hulu is experiencing a major behind the scenes shakeup, Variety has confirmed. “Tigra & Dazzler” has parted ways with showrunner Erica Rivinoja and the show’s entire writing staff. According to sources, Marvel and the writing team differed on the creative direction of

Nicolas Celis’ TV series “Perfect Monsters” has found its home. The “Roma” producer and his Mexico City-based production company Pimienta Films have inked an exclusive first-look deal with Exile and Endeavour Content, which announced a scripted television partnership in the spring. “Perfect Monsters,” an epic western created by Celis, Marion d’Ornano and Enrique M. Rizo,

The American Film Institute has announced the recipients of the AFI Awards for 2019, the top ten films and TV shows “deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.” Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” was honored with an AFI Special Award along with “Fleabag,” both works

Tiffany Haddish rang in her 40th birthday Tuesday night by celebrating her black and Jewish heritage with a star-studded “Black Mitzvah” party. One of Haddish’s famous friends, Barbra Streisand, was noticeably absent from the festivities, but sent the comedian a special memento for the occasion. “She got me this beautiful Star of David,” Haddish told

December 4, 2019 7:38AM PT In London on Wednesday to talk about her upcoming scripted series, “Stateless,” Cate Blanchett implored drama producers to be impolite, provocative and to make shows that start meaningful conversations. “I love zombies, I love vampires,” the two-time Oscar-winner said. “But we’re living in a time when the political system, which

U.S. actor and singer Tituss Burgess is working a music contest show for Netflix, which has been shooting near London and is being made by U.K. indie Hello Dolly. Multi-talented Burgess has a string of on-screen credits, including “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” the Netflix comedy series in which he plays Titus Andromedon. He has also appeared

Don Mischer has been named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Cinematographers Guild Publicists. He will be honored at the 57th Annual ICG Publicists Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 7. “Having spent the early years of my career working in live event television, the name Don Mischer is legendary to me. I

December 4, 2019 3:01AM PT Global content creation and distribution company ADD Content has inked a deal with India’s Abundantia Entertainment to develop an Indian remake of the hit Israeli young-adult drama “The Missing.” The original series, created by Yaron Arazi and produced by ADD Content, has had three hit seasons on Nickelodeon Hot in

Top screenwriter, Michael Hirst (“The Vikings,” “The Tudors”) has been appointed to draft the screenplay for “The Ibis Trilogy” a series adaptation that depicts the lives of vividly-drawn characters against the backdrop of the narcotics trade between Britain, India and China and including the “Opium Wars.” The move reunites Hirst with “Elizabeth” director Shekhar Kapur,

Sky Studios has signed a funding and first-look distribution deal with Merman TV, the company founded by “Catastrophe” writer Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford. The two-year agreement covers overhead and development funding for Merman, which has won three BAFTA television awards. Sky Studios is pay-TV broadcaster Sky’s new dedicated production arm, which is being ramped

As entertainment and media figures continue to react to the ouster of “America’s Got Talent” judge Gabrielle Union, former cast member Sharon Osbourne weighed in on Tuesday with her own experience on the show. The reality star and rock matriarch addressed the panel of her syndicated daytime series “The Talk” where, in her notoriously candid

As the iconic “L Word” returned to the small screen in the form of a new spinoff titled “The L Word: Generation Q,” with a premiere celebration at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on Monday night, stand-up comedian and actress Fortune Feimster shared why joining the cast meant more than just a new job.  “When the

Ronan Farrow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting into sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, defended Gabrielle Union following her departure from NBCUniversal’s “America’s Got Talent,” during his time as guest co-host on “The View.” “It’s no secret that I’ve done a bunch of reporting on a number of media companies,” Farrow

December 3, 2019 4:00PM PT Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul are returning to Fox. The pair have signed on as writers of the half-hour single-camera comedy project “Mr. Black,” which was first announced as being in development back in August. Mogel and Paul previously created the Fox comedy series “The Grinder” starring Rob Lowe and

ITV Studios Global Entertainment has struck deals covering over 1,000 hours of scripted and non-scripted programming with Asian broadcasters and streamers. The deals were announced on the first day of the Asia Television Forum in Singapore. KBS in Korea acquired India’s “Wild Karnataka,” narrated by the acclaimed broadcaster-naturalist David Attenborough. Discovery Asia acquired rights to

December 3, 2019 2:35PM PT Rep. Devin Nunes of California, an outspoken ally of President Donald Trump, filed suit against CNN Tuesday, alleging the cable-news network defamed him when it reported on allegations about the President and his representatives seeking information from Ukraine officials that would raise suspicion about the presidential campaign of Joe Biden.

December 3, 2019 2:30PM PT Maggie Carey has signed a multi-year overall deal with ABC Studios. Under the terms of the new deal, Carey will write, produce, and direct drama and comedy projects for the studio across all platforms, including broadcast, cable, and streaming. “Maggie is an incredible talent who has directed some of the

December 3, 2019 1:18PM PT Norah O’Donnell’s move to Washington, D.C. for “CBS Evening News” appears to have sparked new interest in the venerable program. An average of 1.44 million people between the ages of 25 and 54 watched the program’s debut from its new studio in the nation’s capital, according to Nielsen, a figure