Television

Amazon’s upcoming series about Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II has made some high-profile additions to its creative team. Actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have come onboard the series as executive producers, while Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego are now attached to direct all four episodes of the series. Production

October 3, 2019 10:00AM PT “Empire” star Nicole Ari Parker could be making the move to a new music drama at Fox. Variety has learned that Parker is attached to star in and executive produce the one-hour drama “Opus,” which has received a script commitment with a penalty attached at the broadcaster. Parker would play

October 3, 2019 10:00AM PT “Florida Girls” has been renewed for a second season at Pop TV, the cable network announced Thursday. The single-camera comedy about life below the poverty line in Clearwater, Fla. is inspired by the life of creator and star Laura Chinn. The show follows four friends who are making the most

October 3, 2019 9:07AM PT AMC has released a few first look images at the upcoming third series in “The Walking Dead” universe. This new, still untitled, series will feature two young protagonists and focus on the first generation to come of age in the post-apocalyptic world that has already been established in flagship series

In its first hour, ABC’s new revival of “Kids Say the Darndest Things” seems more focused on making clear to its audience that Tiffany Haddish says the most familiar things. Haddish, a thrilling arrival on the comedy scene in 2017 with her breakout supporting role in “Girls Trip,” is a performer who lives within her

October 3, 2019 3:58AM PT Goldfinch is reaching out to games developers and wants to find 10  projects that it can adapt for film and TV. Specifically, it wants to find projects created using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine platform. U.K.-based film and TV finance and production business Goldfinch has set out its submission policies for

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Slashdance,” the third episode of “American Horror Story: 1984.” When last we left our intrepid “American Horror Story: 1984” camp counselors, they had split into two groups and each seemed to be facing one of the killers at their respective doors. However, nothing is

HBO Max is filling out more executive posts, this time in its family friendly divisions. Billy Wee has been named senior vice president of original animation, and Nikki Reed has been tapped as vice president of kids and family scripted originals at the upcoming streaming platform, which debuts in the spring of 2020. Both report

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix reveals the ensemble cast for its forthcoming “Shadow and Bone” series and announces the departure of Allie Goss, vice president of original series. CASTING – Netflix has announced the cast for “Shadow and Bone,” a series adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s “Shadow and Bone” and “Six of Crow novels.” The

In a case of whiplash worthy of a speeding train, the “Snowpiercer” series is now moving back to TNT, the cabler announced Wednesday. It was announced earlier this year that the show was moving to TBS after it had been in development at TNT for years. The show will now debut on TNT in spring

October 2, 2019 3:00PM PT Sony Pictures Television and Sharon Hall’s Mom de Guerre Productions have optioned the photo book “The Endings” for series development, Variety has learned exclusively from sources. The book features A-list actresses like Tessa Thompson, Kiera Knightly, and Julianne Moore in photographic vignettes that are described as capturing female characters in the

TBS is adding another one-hour series to its slate. The cabler has handed out a straight-to-series order to the dramedy “Obliterated,” which hails from the creators of the YouTube Premium series “Cobra Kai” — Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald. The series is focused on an elite special forces team who is tracking a

October 2, 2019 2:30PM PT The producing team behind the upcoming Fox drama “Deputy” have set up their second development project at Fox this season, Variety has learned. Both David Ayer and Chris Long of Cedar Park are set to executive produce the one-hour drama “Troubleshooter” currently in the works at the broadcaster. The series

October 2, 2019 2:30PM PT Melanie Frankel has been upped to the head comedy role at ABC Studios. Frankel takes over for Amy Hartwick, who stepped down in July following a significant reorganization at the Disney-owned studio that saw Patrick Moran exit the company. Frankel was previously the vice president of current series for ABC

October 2, 2019 12:00PM PT Amazon is developing a one-hour crime drama that boasts Michael B. Jordan and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg among its executive producers. Variety has learned exclusively that the streamer is currently working on the drama “Middle West.” In the series, two Chicago FBI agents get called to Gary, Indiana as

October 2, 2019 12:00PM PT Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain have landed a put pilot order at ABC for the one-hour drama “Plastics,” Variety has learned. The project follows three women who band together to start their own practice in the competitive and male-dominated world of plastic surgery. Having put it all on the line to

Nancy Lesser, HBO’s long-serving head of entertainment PR and talent relations, is leaving the TV powerhouse that she helped build as the steward of campaigns for “The Sopranos,” “Game of Thrones,” “Angels in America” and many other indelible programs. For industryites, Lesser has become synonymous with HBO, given her wide-ranging role at the company. Lesser

October 2, 2019 11:43AM PT Netflix has ordered a sketch show from comedian Iliza Shlesinger, Variety has confirmed. The order is for six half-hour episodes, which will see the comedian delve into a secret world filled with absurd characters, insight into the female experience, and “irreverent social commentary.” “The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show” hails from Avalon Television

October 2, 2019 11:30AM PT Lisa Cholodenko, known for her directorial work on the “Olive Kitteridge” miniseries at HBO and the 2010 feature “The Kids Are All Right,” has been tapped to helm a Showtime pilot. The project in question is “Rita,” an hour-long dramedy which is set to star “Game of Thrones” actress Lena

Randall Park, the star of “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Always Be My Maybe,” has formed a production company with longtime friends and creative partners Michael Golamco and Hieu Ho, with the aim of developing “comedy-forward stories from Asian American perspectives for all audiences,” according to the company. “Our immigrant parents came to America with

HBO’s pilot based on the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s continues to build out its cast. Variety has learned that Gaby Hoffmann has been cast as Claire Rothman, while Hadley Robinson has been cast as Jeanie Buss. Rothman is the general manager of the Forum — the first and only female manager of any major

Get ready to return to Winchester University for one final ride. Netflix has renewed “Dear White People” for a fourth and final season, with creator Justin Simien returning as co-showrunner for the 10-episode send-off. Yvette Lee Bowser will continue as co-showrunner and executive producer. Set against the backdrop of a predominantly white Ivy League university

Most of those who have earned the honor of VES Fellow in the past decade have been recognized by the Visual Effects Society for on-screen innovation. But this year’s honoree, Susan Zwerman, is equally distinguished by her off-screen accomplishments. Zwerman is the studio executive producer for Exceptional Minds, a visual effects and animation school for

Kew Media Distribution has signed a multi-year distribution agreement with Participant, the L.A.-based company behind “Spotlight,” “Green Book” and “Roma,” to start handling global television and digital rights on some new projects from Participant. As part of the deal, Kew Media will distribute Participant’s socially and politically engaged documentaries and narrative feature films, as well

WarnerMedia’s Brett Weitz is officially adding another domain to his purview: the general manager of TBS and TNT has now been tasked with overseeing TruTV, and will manage all three networks and steer the creative executive teams and development for TBS, TNT and TruTV in Los Angeles and New York. Additionally, Thom Hinkle, most recently

ABC has pulled the plug on “Grand Hotel” after a single season, Variety has confirmed. Based on the original Spanish series and starring Demian Bichir, Eva Longoria and Roselyn Sanchez, “Grand Hotel” provided an upstairs/downstairs look at the scandals and secrets of both the Mendoza family and the staff that works for them. The show was

October 1, 2019 12:06PM PT NBC has come out on top in both the ratings and total viewership charts for premiere week. The Peacock’s win snaps CBS’ 10-year streak atop the total viewership table. 2019 is the first time NBC has come out on top in the metric since 2001. The network’s top performers came

October 1, 2019 12:05PM PT AMC has ordered two new projects to series, Variety has learned from sources. Both the legal drama “61st Street” and “Kevin Can F— Himself” have been picked up by the cabler. AMC had previously opened writers’ rooms for both projects under their script-to-series model. Both shows are AMC Studios producitons. “61st

October 1, 2019 11:31AM PT Henry Capanna, the former head of the Go Go Luckey production banner and a former agent at Broder Kurland, died Sept. 26 of cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was 43. Capanna worked at the Los Angeles-based unscripted production company Go Go Luckey from 2007 through 2015, when

“Black Panther” star Winston Duke has been cast in the lead role of the Apple TV Plus series “Swagger.” Inspired by NBA champion Kevin Durant’s youth basketball experiences, “Swagger” explores the world of youth basketball, and the players, their families and coaches who walk the fine line between dreams and ambition, and opportunism and corruption.