Television

November 19, 2019 4:05AM PT Kelly Macdonald will be the lead guest star in the next season of Jed Mercurio’s “Line of Duty.” The last season of the serialized cop drama was a ratings smash on the BBC, with the finale in May the most-watched program of the year so far in the U.K., garnering

November 19, 2019 3:03AM PT StarzPlay has snagged rights to Spanish-produced erotic thriller series “Instinto” and psychological thriller “Sanctuary.” The Starz streaming service has scored both series for the U.K., and for unspecified territories in mainland Europe. Movistar Plus and Bambu Producciones-produced “Instinto” follows Marco Mur, an attractive, successful businessman. A trauma from his past

The Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston agency has signed the Writers Guild of America’s Code of Conduct, allowing the agency to return to representing WGA members again. The WGA made the announcement Monday night. RBEL is joining more than 70 agencies allowed to represent WGA members thanks to agreeing to a ban of agency packaging fees

BBC Studios the coproduction and rights sales arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation, has appointed Fiona Lang and Ryan Shiotani as general managers in the Asia-Pacific region. Lang, currently COO for the company in Australia and New Zealand, is promoted to become BBC Studios’ GM in the same geography. Her responsibilities cover marketing, advertising, creative,

Amazon has given an early Season 2 renewal to its forthcoming “Lord of the Rings” series. Pre-production on the project’s first season, which is set to film in New Zealand, is currently underway — although sources tell Variety that the full cast has not yet been set. Several actors, including Markella Kavenagh, Will Poulter, and

A prequel series to the classic film “Chinatown” is in early development at Netflix, Variety has confirmed with sources. David Fincher and Robert Towne, the film’s writer, are attached to pen the script. It will reportedly focus on the exploits of a young Jake “J.J.” Gittes during his early days as a private investigator. Netflix declined

In today’s TV news roundup, Pop TV releases a teaser for the final season of “Schitt’s Creek,” and Nickelodeon kicks off the holiday season with “Top Elf.” DATES Nickelodeon’s “Top Elf” series will premiere Nov. 29. “Top Elf” is a new competition series featuring guest judges Frankie Grande, Amirah Kassem, Peyton List, Alex Wassabi and

Karen Cogan’s “Fled” has come top of The Brit List, a league table of unproduced scripts from British writing talent, this year devoted to television projects. The list, similar to The Black List in the U.S., was compiled from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, financiers and broadcasters. Cogan, represented by Independent Talent Group,

November 18, 2019 2:14PM PT ViacomCBS has named corporate heads of HR and inclusion as the companies prepare for the merger that is set to close early next month. The soon-to-combine Viacom and CBS have tapped Nielsen alum Nancy Phillips to serve as exec VP and chief people officer. Viacom alum Marva Smalls will serve

“The Neighborhood” star Cedric the Entertainer is set to executive produce an untitled multi-camera project in the works at CBS, Variety has learned. The series follows two young women who, after repeatedly being turned down by investors, hatch an outrageous plan to raise capital for their new sports app. According to sources, the project had been

November 18, 2019 2:00PM PT There are plenty of tough places to be an intern, but the CIA must be near the top of the list. HBO Max is developing a comedy series which tackles just how hard that might be, Variety has learned exclusively. The forthcoming WarnerMedia streamer, which is set to launch May 2020,

November 18, 2019 1:48PM PT Sony Pictures Entertainment has bought out AT&T’s minority interest in Game Show Network for about $500 million. The deal makes Sony the sole owner of GSN. AT&T had owned 42% of the company, which the telco giant inherited with its purchase of DirecTV in 2015. AT&T has been on a

Were you one of the thousands flipping tables for not managing to snatch up tickets to the first ever BravoCon? Did you find yourself refreshing your Twitter and Instagram feeds incessantly for updates on who said what to whom and where over the weekend? Are you wondering if you should try harder to get in

Riley Keough has landed the title role in the upcoming Amazon series “Daisy Jones & The Six,” Variety has learned. In addition, Niki Caro has signed on to direct multiple episodes in addition to executive producing the series. Based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the series is a musical drama

Kelly Clarkson’s presence as a talk show host is about to get stronger. NBCUniversal has renewed the “The Kelly Clarkson Show” through the 2020-2021 season, extending Clarkson’s daytime run. The “American Idol” and “Voice” coach’s show has been hitting hight notes in the ratings so far, with its debut back in September scoring the highest

November 18, 2019 11:18AM PT Jenni Konner has signed a multi-year overall deal at Fox 21 Television Studios. Under the deal, Konner will create, develop, produce and oversee series for network, cable and streaming platforms for the studio, which is now part of Disney Television Studios. She and her former producing partner, Lena Dunham, were

November 18, 2019 9:16AM PT John Malone has upped his stake in Discovery Inc. by purchasing $75 million worth of stock on the open market. Malone picked up just under 2.7 million shares in Discovery at $28.03 on Nov. 14, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Malone was already the company’s single-largest individual

Nick Cannon has cleared the runway for the launch of a daytime talk show next year now that the show from Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury has been picked up in crucial major markets by Fox Television Stations. The clearance pact gives “Nick Cannon” guaranteed double runs on Fox-owned outlets in 17 major markets, including nine of the

Vanessa Bayer has some news which is kind of a big deal. Showtime has ordered a half-hour comedy pilot from the “Saturday Night Live” alum, who will star and executive produce. The project in question is called “Big Deal,” and is described as a grounded comedy in which Bayer plays a character, inspired by her

As the Latinx community remains wildly underrepresented in media — making up only 8% of series regular and recurring roles in scripted television, according to GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV” report for 2018-19 — one way that statistic is being boosted is by producers working with known IP. As “One Day at a Time”

Close to two decades after “Dora the Explorer” premiered on Nickelodeon, a wave of animated projects that put Latinx characters front and center has made its way to the small screen. From Disney Jr.’s Latina princess show “Elena of Avalor” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia” trilogy at Netflix, to Nickelodeon’s family sitcom

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Crown” Season 3 on Netflix. The arrivals of Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) midway through “The Crown’s” third season infuse the show with a youthful energy reminiscent of the first two years. But, they also offer a sense of rebelliousness,

Constance Wu (“Hustlers”) and Mindy Kaling (“Late Night”) explained how the internet helped expand the casting pool for their projects during a conversation for “Variety Studio: Actors on Actors.” Wu began the interview: “When I did ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and they were looking for actors, it was crazy how many people said, ‘Well, there are

“Saturday Night Live” kicked off its Nov. 16 episode with a take on the biggest news story of the previous week (and foreseeable future): the impeachment hearings. But another big story of the week, especially in Hollywood, was how NBC’s last remaining daytime drama, “Days of our Lives,” had let its actors out of their

November 16, 2019 10:55AM PT Bravo announced Saturday during its first annual BravoCon that a tenth “Real Housewives” series, “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” will debut in 2020. Bravo host and “Real Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen made the announcement during a panel titled “Ask Andy” at the NYC convention. “We’ve always tried

Sterling K. Brown can’t quite comprehend the awards attention he’s receiving for his work in the A24 drama “Waves.” “If the Academy sees fit to put me in a category with people who I absolutely adore, I will pee all over myself, dude” the Emmy winner says on the latest episode of “The Big Ticket.”

In today’s TV news roundup, Humanitas has released the finalists for the 45th Annual Humanitas Prize, and YouTube announced a new beauty competition series hosted by James Charles.  CASTINGS Jason Kennedy has been named as the host of E!’s new series “In The Room.“ The “E! News” host will bring viewers inside celebrity homes for

November 15, 2019 3:00PM PT “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation” reruns will continue to air on Viacom linear networks for the foreseeable future. The company announced that it has reached a new deal with NBCUniversal to keep “The Office” on Comedy Central through 2021. The series will then air in a non-exclusive window on

HBO Max has ordered two shows to pilot, one a comedy and the other a drama. The streamer will produce both pilots. The comedy is titled “Gumshoe.” It follows a sweet, optimistic young cop and a creepy, crime-obsessed teenager who secretly team up to solve a murder. Aaron Brownstein and Simon Ganz will write, executive

Everything We Know About ‘The Mandalorian’s’ Baby Yoda – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds November 15, 2019 12:34PM PT (SPOILER ALERT: Do not read on if you’re not caught up on Disney Plus’ “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Mandalorian.”) Baby shark is yesterday’s news. Today, we celebrate the dawn