Television

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Rest in Pieces,” the eighth episode of “American Horror Story: 1984.” It’s almost time for the big finish on “American Horror Story” Season 9. The penultimate episode of the “1984” season, entitled “Rest in Pieces,” started on the day before Halloween, 1989, and saw a

November 6, 2019 4:01PM PT With the first-ever U.K. edition of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” just over halfway through its run, the BBC has greenlit a second season and will crown another “Queen of Great Britain.” “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” plays on the BBC’s youth-skewed online channel, BBC Three, and its on-demand service, iPlayer. It has

November 6, 2019 3:52PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix dropped the trailer for Iliza Shlesinger’s latest comedy special and ATX Television Festival announced its first wave of programming.  FIRST LOOKS Netflix has released the official trailer for Iliza Shlesinger‘s latest comedy special, “Unveiled,“ premiering Nov. 19. In the special, Shlesinger dishes newly-wed lifestyle,

November 6, 2019 3:45PM PT “Happy Together” creator Austen Earl and writer Luke Cunningham have set up a project at Fox. The network has given a script commitment to “G-Men,” a multi-camera comedy from the pair that hails from 20th Century Fox TV and Fox Entertainment. “G-Men” centers around two estranged brothers who both claim

Indie production company Hot Snakes Media, whose credits include TLC’s “Breaking Amish” and Animal Planet’s “Extinct Or Alive,” has tapped veteran media executive Colleen Conway Grogan as their senior vice president of development. Grogan will focus on expanding the company’s scripted and unscripted slates, as well as being involved in its efforts in podcasts and

November 6, 2019 2:59PM PT ABC is in development on a follow up to the drama series “Revenge,” Variety has confirmed. The new project hails from “Revenge” creator Mike Kelley and original series writer Joe Fazzio. It is said to follow a young Latinx immigrant who is guided by an original series character as she

Endemol Shine is closing its China-based production and development operations and turning instead towards a centralized licensing strategy driven by local agents on the ground, ContentAsia said Wednesday. The decision will impact its 12-person Beijing office, and the transition completed in the first half of next year. Despite a number of strong IP licensing deals “the

November 6, 2019 1:22PM PT Fox Corporation said that profit in in the first quarter of its fiscal 2020 fell, even as the fees it collects from cable and satellite operators helped buoy the period. The New York owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcasting network said Wednesday that net income attributable to

November 6, 2019 12:30PM PT The planned reboot of the classic series “Kung Fu” is on the move. The one-hour series, which was previously set up at Fox with a put pilot order, is now in development at The CW. In addition, Albert Kim has exited the project, with Christina M. Kim now attached to

Leading Spanish-language media company Univision reported robust digital and soccer viewership as key growth drivers in its third quarter financials report. A further boost came from higher subscriber fees as well as its return to Dish Network after an almost nine-month carriage dispute with the satellite pay-TV service was resolved last spring. Digital video views

For the first time in its 38-year history, the American Film Market is producing a conference about what was once considered taboo at the confab’s Loews Santa Monica digs: television. The Nov. 11 event will address how indie filmmakers can cash in on the tidal wave of new streaming services — Apple TV Plus, Disney

November 6, 2019 10:30AM PT The “Queen Sugar” team of Kat Candler and Ava DuVernay are re-teaming for a drama series that is in development at TNT. The currently untitled one-hour drama follows a struggling young wife and mother who, in the aftermath of a deadly oil refinery explosion that takes the life of an

November 6, 2019 8:21AM PT ABC’s live (or semi-live) musical adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” made a splash in the TV ratings on Tuesday night. The show scored a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 and just under 9 million total viewers, solid numbers for a live TV musical. For comparison, Fox’s “Rent” live musical event

“Supernatural” leading man Jensen Ackles made his directorial debut on the show in the sixth season and then went on to direct a handful more. But after Season 11’s “The Bad Seed,” it seemed like he was taking a break from pulling double duty on the demon-hunting CW drama. His work in front of the

While theatrical exhibitors continue to reap profits showcasing the stories of military men and women on the big screen, streaming services have not only become a destination for smaller and sometimes lesser-known projects, but have also provided a new and expanding opportunity to serve the veteran community with more consistent and eclectic depictions of heroism

November 6, 2019 8:00AM PT [embedded content] Apple has released the creepy trailer for its M. Night Shyamalan series “Servant.” The half-hour thriller series, exec produced and directed by the “Sixth Sense” and “Split” helmer, premieres on Nov. 28 on Apple TV Plus and centers around a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy

Some of TV’s most popular programs are rooted in a blockbuster creative concept. Others are designed to cater to a unique insight about audience behavior. The current third hour of NBC’s venerable “Today” was spurred by a different factor: sheer necessity. NBC News didn’t have the luxury of focus groups or a test show when

As Veterans Day approaches, A+E Networks has enlisted boldface names to participate in the new “Thank Our Veterans” PSA campaign to run across its portfolio of cable and digital assets. Kevin Bacon, Simone Biles, Ciara, Terry Crews, Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson, Toby Keith, Matthew McConaughey, Olivia Munn, Colin Powell, Andy Samberg, Tom Selleck and Russell

Sundance Now has stocked up on international drama, buying five shows from around the world that will drop on the streaming service in the U.S. AMC Networks’ Sundance Now has snagged the drama package from Banijay Rights, the distribution arm of France’s Banijay Group, which is in the throes of buying Endemol Shine. The deal

“Leaving Neverland” director and producer Dan Reed, the BBC and HBO are teaming up on antibiotics documentary “Superbug,” which will be sold internationally by Kew Media Distribution. Produced by Reed’s Amos Pictures, the feature-length film will tell the story of how humanity gained a wonder cure in antibiotics, but now faces losing it as so-called

“The Little Mermaid Live!,” ABC’s often-jittery, ultimately charming concert special, strode into a heavy wake. It follows NBC’s now-shelved holiday-season tradition of live musicals whose very appeal was their dancing on the edge of catastrophe, as with ambitious stagings of “The Sound of Music” in 2013 and “Peter Pan” in 2014, shows whose occasional shortfalls

MADRID — Viacom International Studios (VIS) has reached an agreement with Spain’s biggest domestic box office draw, Santiago Segura, and his production company Bowfinger International Pictures. The deal gives VIS first right of revision and preferential acquisition over any upcoming projects for film or TV to come from the company. Segura first gained widespread recognition

Fox Corp. has cut a deal with Nexstar Media Group to acquire three stations in Seattle and Milwaukee for $350 million. The pact also calls for Fox to sell two of its stations in Charlotte, N.C., to Nexstar for $45 million. The station deal had long been expected as part of Nexstar’s divestiture of assets

In today’s TV news roundup, Universal Content Productions announces a new podcast platform, and Netflix announces Ronny Chieng’s debut comedy special.  DATES HGTV announced that the holiday special “Outrageous Holiday Houses” will air Nov. 28 with NSYNC founder Lance Bass as the host. Bass will take viewers on a coast-to-coast tour of North America’s holiday

The second installment of the ABC special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” has a premiere date as well as the lineup of shows it will feature. The new special will air on Dec. 18 and will recreate episodes of the classic sitcoms “All in the Family” and “Good Times.” “All in the Family”

November 5, 2019 3:38PM PT HBO will be relieved to see that “His Dark Materials” doesn’t appear to be all dust and no substance. The fantasy show premiered on Monday night to 700,000 total viewers across all the premium cabler’s platforms. That may not be a Iorek Byrnison-sized debut, but it’s not too shabby considering

Apple TV Plus may need to be patient with its first original series. Analysis of the U.S. market indicates that Apple’s shows generated fairly modest levels of demand immediately post-release (see charts below). That’s according to exclusive data from Parrot Analytics, which examined the 24-hour period following the Apple TV Plus launch last Friday, and

“Superstore” fans will be doing a little dance in the aisles. NBC has ordered four more episodes of the hit comedy, lengthening its fifth season to a full 22 episodes. So far in season 5, “Superstore” is averaging a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49 and 3.9 million total viewers after seven days of delayed viewing.

Frequent collaborators David Wain and A.D. Miles are teaming up to develop a daily sitcom for WarnerMedia, Variety has learned. The project, titled “Today’s Special,” has been given a pilot order plus a four episode commitment, given that the show will be shot and aired daily should it go to series. It takes place in

Cara Delevingne is the latest name to join the Quibi content push. The “Suicide Squad” and “Carnival Row” actor is set to host and executive produce a practical joke-based show for the fledgling short-form content platform. In each episode of the show, Delevingne and a group of female accomplices will “wreak havoc,” executing a new