December 3, 2019 12:10PM PT “Jack Ryan” season 2 could well be one of Amazon’s most-watched shows. According to Nielsen measurements, the show’s sophomore outing has an average minute audience of over 4.6 million after seven days of delayed viewing, while its premiere episode drew 7.3 million viewers in the same metric over its first
Television
HBO Max is bolstering its comedy offering. The forthcoming streamer, which launches in May 2020, has ordered four new stand-up comedy specials from Tracy Morgan, John Early, Rose Matafeo, and Ahir Shah. “We are incredibly proud to showcase this expansive range of comedic talent on HBO MAX,” said Suzanna Makkos, executive vice president of original programming,
Dorothy Catherine Fontana, a writer on the original “Star Trek” series who had a long association with the franchise, died Dec. 2. She was 80. Fontana’s death was confirmed by the official “Star Trek” website, which described her as “the legendary writer who brought many of ‘Star Trek’s’ greatest episodes to life.” The website reported
When “Vikings” kicks off its sixth and final season on History, it does so in a blaze of glory. Not only has the series grown to include roughly 900 extras in its renowned battle scenes and given new voice to long-forgotten languages, but production has scaled several continents while also reaching more than 30 million
Let “Saturday Night Live” do all the President Trump sketches it wants. Over on HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” there are skits that cleverly parody how slow soul food restaurants are and how it feels to be overlooked in society with a recurring bit called “Invisible Spy.” Meanwhile, “Sherman’s Showcase” on IFC pokes fun
December 3, 2019 11:15AM PT Kristin Chenoweth is set to star in a single-camera comedy series currently in the works at Disney Plus. Titled “The Biggest Star in Appleton,” Chenoweth will star as Carol Dannhauser, a Wisconsin mom and waitress. She finds her deepest joy in life in her starring roles at the local community
Internet sensation Baby Yoda is everywhere lately, including a basketball game, according to Laura Dern. Dern coincidentally spotted the breakout star of Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” (who is a fictional green alien, for those unfamiliar with “Star Wars” lore) the same day she attended the IFP Gotham Awards in New York City. “I think he
December 3, 2019 11:00AM PT Georgie Hurford-Jones is moving from Endemol Shine North America to Universal Television Alternative Studio, where she has been named executive vice president of current programming. Hurford-Jones will manage the studio’s series and pilots across development, casting, creative, formats and production plans, and will report to Universal TV Alternative Studio head
After sitting on the sidelines for a year, Coca-Cola is getting back into the Super Bowl ad game. The beverage giant has purchased a 60-second commercial slated to run in Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LIV on February 2 in 2020, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta company said Tuesday. The creative execution and concept for
“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot is set to executive produce a U.S. version of the hit Israeli crime drama “Queens.” Gadot and Jaron Varsano will executive produce under their Pilot Wave production banner, with Endemol Shine North America and Endemol Shine Israel producing. Endemol Shine Israel is currently producing the second season of “Queens,” which
Beyond Distribution, the distribution arm of Australian production, distribution and digital company Beyond International, announced several sales Tuesday, ahead of the Asia TV Forum & Market in Singapore. HK Television Entertainment Company has acquired a 40-hour package deal for Emmy-nominated series, “MythBusters” that includes “MythBusters Junior” and “MythBusters: The Search.” A&E Asia has acquired the
GMM Grammy Thailand will adapt and produce Nickelodeon’s social influencer format “The Viral Factory,” it was announced on Tuesday, ahead of Singapore’s Asian TV Forum & Market. The Dutch format originally aired in The Netherlands in 2018 under the title “De Viral Fabriek.” The Thai adaptation will feature local talent and will premiere in 2020.
BUENOS AIRES — “El día de mi suerte” begins with Hector Lavoe – or it looks like him – dressed in white suit, putting on a ring, and dark glasses, as he prepares to dance. Cut to Lavoe’s white shoes, cracked and grimed as the camera pulls back to an establishing shot of the figure
December 3, 2019 2:56AM PT Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s ‘Fleabag’ Heads to Japan “Fleabag” will hit Japanese screens after Wowow scooped the local rights to Phoebe Waller Bridge’s award-winning series. Japanese pay-TV outfit Wowow has picked up both six-episode seasons of “Fleabag,” which was written by Waller-Bridge and stars her in the title role as a woman
The first edition of Iberseries, a new international Spanish-language TV series festival, will take place May 25-30 in Granada, Southern Spain. Promoted by the Secuoya Foundation, the event is backed by top TV networks and SVOD platforms across Spain, Latin and North America. Netflix, HBO, Movistar Plus, Atresmedia, Disney España and Azteca TV figure among
December 3, 2019 1:33AM PT Period drama “Miss Scarlet and the Duke” will bow on Masterpiece in the U.S. in 2020. The series comes from the international arm of A+E Networks and Element 8, the producer run by former DirecTV programming exec Patty Ishimoto and Jin Ishimoto, and Harvey Myman, who has had development and
Sony Pictures Television has joined Italy’s Lux Vide and RAI Fiction as co-producer and international distributor of Frank Spotnitz’s high-end TV series about Leonardo da Vinci, which started shooting Monday in Rome. The eight-episode “Leonardo” (working title) stars Aidan Turner (“Poldark”) in the title role and Freddie Highmore (“The Good Doctor”) as Stefano Giraldi, a
Comcast’s Sky plans to open a 14-stage studio at Elstree in the U.K., outside London. The European pay-TV company has recently launched content unit Sky Studios and said its new studio, which needs planning permission, would lead to the creation of 2,000 new jobs. As well as Sky shows, the new studio space is also
December 2, 2019 9:23PM PT Korean fantasy thriller romance “Black” has been given a Malay-language adaptation with a more supernatural spin. The series is produced by Malaysia’s Alpha47 Films, from a CJ E&M format. It is co-directed by award-winning directors, Razaisyam Rashid and Kroll Azri. Cast includes Kamal Adli, Siti Saleha, Nabila Huda, and Zoey
Rain, snow and sleet couldn’t stop the Independent Filmmaker Project from handing out its annual Gotham Awards on Monday night in New York City. Up for best picture this year are “The Farewell,” “Hustlers,” “Marriage Story,” “Uncut Gems” and “Waves.” Willem Dafoe (“The Lighthouse”), Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”), Aldis Hodge (“Clemency”), André Holland (“High Flying
December 2, 2019 4:28PM PT Austin O’Malia has been promoted to vice president of awards and corporate affairs for Showtime Networks Inc. O’Malia oversees Showtime’s marketing and communications awards efforts across all original scripted series, documentary, and unscripted projects. He serves as the main liaison between the network and guilds and awards organizations worldwide. He
December 2, 2019 3:54PM PT The Chernin Group chairman and CEO Peter Chernin will keynote Variety’s Dealmakers Elite Breakfast on Dec. 6. Credited with a long list of box office hits and popular TV shows, such as “New Girl,” “Hidden Figures” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Chernin will discuss his dual interest
In today’s TV news roundup, Comedy Central announces the premiere date of “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens” and BBC America announces “Doctor Who’s” Season 12 premiere date. DATES BET Plus’s new legal thriller, “Sacrifice,” starring Paula Patton (“Precious”) premieres Dec. 19. Patton stars as Daniella, an entertainment lawyer with a bad reputation who is at
December 2, 2019 3:14PM PT The stakes for holiday entertainment are a bit different than for entertainment generally: Given that Christmas programming is generally intended to place the viewer in a cozy state of mind, the urgency of creating characters with whom one wants to spend time is paramount. This is a less apt venue
Ben Ferencz is a name you should know. He should be a known hero, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. But unless you’ve seen a particular “60 Minutes” interview or “Prosecuting Evil” on Netflix, you may never have heard of him. It was while watching the “60 Minutes” interview that director Barry Avrich heard about Ferencz’s
December 2, 2019 2:43PM PT “This Is Us” on NBC and “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC continued their streak of being the two shows to gain the most in the TV ratings after three days of delayed viewing. For the week of Nov. 18, “This Is Us” jumped 73% from a 1.5 to a 2.6 rating
The adventures of Stamford Raffles, a British statesman and founder of modern Singapore, is to be told through the perspective of his wives in “Mrs Raffles.” The independently produced series has attached British writer Alison Hume (BBC’s “Rocket Man,” Tiger Aspect’s “Summerhill”) as lead writer and showrunner. The project is an adaptation of “Olivia &
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read on if you have not watched the first four episodes of Disney Plus’ “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Mandalorian.” Bryce Dallas Howard was the latest name to take the director’s chair for Episode 4 of “The Mandalorian,” titled “Sanctuary,” following in her father Ron Howard’s footsteps into the “Star Wars”
December 2, 2019 12:30PM PT Quinta Brunson is set to star in a single-camera comedy series that has received a put pilot commitment at streamer HBO Max, Variety has learned. Brunson co-wrote the untitled half-hour project with Michelle Nader in addition to starring. It is about ambitious millennial flying up the ladder at a media
Dana Sharpless and Steve Sicherman, senior vice presidents at 20th Century Fox Television, have been tapped to lead the company’s current programming unit, overseeing the executive team responsible for the studio’s live-action TV series across all networks, cable and streaming platforms. Sharpless is slated to oversee 20th Century Fox TV’s dramas, while Sicherman will manage