Robin Roberts. Gretchen Carlson. Alex Cooper. Wendy Williams. Jo Frost. Ashley Graham. As Lifetime hits its 35th anniversary as a network, it does so with a plethora of pivotal partnerships to further the brand’s promise to keep women’s perspectives the drivers of their narrative stories. “Our women are survivors, not victims,” says Tanya Lopez, executive
Television
Teams of animators and artists from across Cartoon Network’s numerous properties are getting the chance to expand into virtual reality storytelling via the company’s pilot program, Journeys VR. The work of the first three teams — including experiences based on action, nature and comedy — was unveiled to global audiences Oct. 1 on Steam and
From her very first role in “Freaks and Geeks” to her scene-stealing performance in “Mean Girls,” Lizzy Caplan has cemented herself as an on-screen chameleon. Turns in “Party Down,” “New Girl,” “Masters of Sex” and “Das Boot” only added to an eclectic mix that continues on the second season of Hulu’s “Castle Rock,” in which
Viewpark has formed a strategic partnership with Phoenixx Digital Studios and the For Us by Us Network to co-finance a slate of content for the African-American market, headed by reality show “Lamar and Sabrina,” starring Lamar Odom and his girlfriend, Sabrina Parr. Streaming platform Forusbyus.com will debut a slate of docu-reality shows, starting with “Lamar
October 10, 2019 9:02AM PT [embedded content] Apple dropped the first trailer for its upcoming original series “Truth Be Told” on Thursday. The series follows podcaster Poppy Parnell (Octavia Spencer) as she is compelled to reopen the murder case that made her a national sensation and comes face to face with Warren Cave (Aaron Paul),
October 10, 2019 9:00AM PT ABC’s upcoming live staging of “The Little Mermaid” has added Amber Riley to its cast. Riley will appear as the emcee for the show and will present the Daughters of Triton with a special performance for King Triton and his subjects. She joins previously announced cast members Auli’i Cravalho (Ariel), Queen
MADRID — “Dry Water” starts with a steadily advancing aerial shot of Lisbon, then its iconic squares, next cuts to stables used to fence firearms, then to Teresa, as she mounts her motorbike to pick up younger brother Paulo, whom she dotes on, at Lisbon’s extraordinarily modern central railway station. After they meet their mother,
HBO has announced it will add mental health awareness “bumpers” ahead of select shows in order to identify specific mental illnesses that appear in the episode and provide a call to action for anyone seeking help. The move comes as part of an initiative at the network called “It’s OK,” which aims to destigmatize mental
October 10, 2019 3:59AM PT Altitude Film Entertainment has landed the rights to a raft of classic movies, including Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits,” after acquiring the library of Handmade Films, the British banner co-founded by former Beatle George Harrison. Altitude, a seasoned seller at the major film markets, will add the Handmade titles to its
Constantin Television and Amazon Studios have revealed the lead cast – and have released the first photo of them on location – for their coproduction “We Children From Bahnhof Zoo.” The high-end series, inspired by the 1978 non-fiction book about teenage drug users in Berlin that was previously adapted as the shocking 1981 film “Christiane
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “True Killers,” the fourth episode of “American Horror Story: 1984.” The ninth season of “American Horror Story” is four episodes in and already revealing who is truly pulling the strings (and stabbing the knives) when it comes to the murders around Camp Redwood. The episode,
Lionsgate shares rallied slightly Wednesday as the market appeared to respond positively to the prior day’s Wall Street Journal report that the film and television studio was mulling a sale, spinoff or sponsored spin of its premium cabler, Starz. But sources indicate that the company is not expected to take any imminent action, and does
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Chapter Fifty-Eight: In Memoriam,” the fourth season premiere of “Riverdale.” The titular town of the CW’s “Riverdale” is down one more beloved member in Fred Andrews (Luke Perry), who was officially written out of the show in the fourth season premiere, aptly titled “In
In today’s TV news roundup, Starz announces more “American Gods” Season 3 cast and Netflix orders “Ghee Happy.” CASTING Starz announced Dominique Jackson (“Pose”) and Eric Johnson (“The Girlfriend Experience”) will recur in the upcoming third season of “American Gods.” Jackson will play Ms. World, an incarnation of Mr. World, while Johnson will play Chad
Tyler Perry has put down deep roots in the state of Georgia, becoming the first African American to independently own his own studio — one whose acreage exceeds that of Warner Bros, Paramount and Walt Disney’s Hollywood lots combined. But Perry’s decision to put down those big, expensive roots hasn’t come without controversy — or
NBC News and its leadership are painted in an extremely dark light in Ronan Farrow’s new book, “Catch and Kill.” The book about his Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on Harvey Weinstein’s history of alleged sexual assault details Farrow’s assertion that NBC News tried to kill his investigative report because it was compromised by a history of
Mindy Kaling was a writer on “The Office” from the show’s start, in addition to appearing on camera as Dunder Mifflin staffer Kelly Kapoor. But in a recent interview with Elle magazine, Kaling said that she had to fight to be initially be included among the producers listed by the Television Academy for the show.
October 9, 2019 11:00AM PT Jenna Dewan has scored her next hosting gig after “World of Dance.” The multi-hyphenate has been announced as the emcee for “Flirty Dancing,” a new dancing-dating show hybrid coming to Fox. The show, based on the U.K. format, is set to premiere in winter 2019. The setup for “Flirty Dancing”
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles has selected Norman Lear as the recipient of the Britannia Award for Excellence in Television. He will be honored at the Britannia Awards ceremonies on Oct. 25 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Previously announced honorees are Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Jane Fonda,
Fox has given a put pilot order to the single-camera comedy “Diversity Hire,” Variety has learned. The series hails from Cameron Johnson and Felicia D. Henderson. Henderson met Johnson on the Fox series “Empire,” where Henderson served as a consulting producer and writer and Johnson is currently a story editor. Johnson wrote the script for “Diversity
Since Perry Simon joined PBS a year ago, he has instituted a programming strategy that is tailored to the unique set of challenges that the public broadcaster faces in the evolving media world. He has also employed a fair number of silly references and acronyms. When PBS’ new programming chief says “LOL,” for instance, he’s
HBO Max is continuing to build out its children’s programming with series orders for two kids competition series. The two shows, “Karma” and “Craftopia,” have both received eight-episode orders at the nascent streamer. “Karma” will be hosted by YouTube star Michelle Khare, while “Craftopia” will be hosted by Lauren Riihimaki, aka LaurDIY of YouTube fame.
Pearlena Igbokwe was an English major at Yale, so it’s no surprise that she loves the process of reading and analyzing a literary work, breaking down the text and identifying its major themes and conclusions. In grade school, she was the type of kid who didn’t groan when a book report was assigned. These instincts
“This Is Us” dipped a little in the ratings from last week, but still came out on top on Tuesday night. The NBC drama scored a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 and 7.2 million total viewers, down a meager 6% on last week. Coupled with its lead-in “The Voice,” which came second with a 1.5
To capitulate to Chinese censorship, or not to capitulate? That’s the billion-dollar question increasingly facing U.S.entertainment companies that wish to retain their access to China’s enormous 1.4 billion-person market while maintaining a veneer of integrity in the eyes of supporters back home. A “South Park” episode and a single tweet from an NBA employee have
“Treadstone,” which begins in East Berlin in 1973 and zooms ahead to multiple locations in the present day, is, we’re told in its credits, “based on an organization from the Bourne series of novels by Robert Ludlum.” The description seems apt, in its clunky way. The Treadstone organization, which trains people to be supersoldiers and
Matt Lauer penned a letter on Wednesday morning, staunchly denying former NBC News co-worker Brooke Nevils’ allegations that he raped her in his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Lauer says the accusation — as detailed in Ronan Farrow’s new book, “Catch and Kill” — is “categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common
Mediaset is moving into the international TV arena with a high-end series about Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking member of Cosa Nostra to break the Sicilian Mafia’s oath of silence. Working-titled “Don Masino” the eight-episode show is being shepherded by prominent producer Pietro Valsecchi through his TaoDue film and TV shingle, which is fully owned
Actor Patrick Dempsey and showrunner Darren Star will be feted by Canneseries, the series festival, at next week’s TV market and conference Mipcom. Dempsey will receive the Excellence Award in recognition of his 30-year career in television and cinema. He is best known for his portrayal of Dr. Derek Shepherd on the hit ABC series
MADRID — France’s M6 Group, the country’s second-biggest broadcast network, has acquired free-to-air TV rights to Leticia Dolera’s Canneseries winner “Perfect Life,” a banner Movistar Plus Original Series sold by Beta Film, where three women friends see their life turned upside down by over-30s crises: Hence the photo. . The deal marks the second milestone