Television

Margaret Atwood, upon the worldwide publication Tuesday of her sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” said she was inspired to return to that repressive world because that repressive world had returned to her. “Instead of moving away from Gilead, we started moving towards it, especially in the United States,” Atwood said in London on Tuesday, in

September 9, 2019 9:15PM PT Disney Plus has abandoned plans for a scripted Muppets series that was being worked on by Josh Gad, Adam Horowitz, and Edward Kitsis. Though the trio’s planned take on the beloved Jim Henson characters had never been formally announced, sources confirm that it had been in the works for months

In today’s TV news roundup, Kelly Ripa will reprise her role on “American Housewife,” and Bravo sets a premiere date for the Viola Davis-produced limited series “In a Man’s World.” CASTING Beth Behrs, Joe Keery, Keegan-Michael Key, Dylan McDermott and Paula Pell are among the new guest cast members joining season three of CBS All

September 9, 2019 3:34PM PT A new entry in the world of “Dark Shadows” is in the works at The CW, Variety has confirmed. Based on the original series created by Dan Curtis, the one-hour drama “Dark Shadows: Reincarnation” is described as a modern-day continuation of the strange, terrifying, and sexy saga of the Collins

Forest Whitaker is the sort of star seemingly built to make the leap to television: He’s a decorated leading man whose subtlety of approach and whose commitment to delicate, unusual acting choices would seem to potentially play even better on the small screen. After stints on various network shows, Whitaker finally gets his showcase in

Hailee Steinfeld could soon be part of the Marvel family. Variety has learned exclusively from sources that Steinfeld has been offered a lead role in the upcoming “Hawkeye” series at Disney Plus. The limited series will see Jeremy Renner reprise the role of the titular bow-wielding hero that he has played through multiple films in the

E! President Adam Stotsky is stepping down as head of the cable network after spending five years at the company, and 18 years at NBCUniversal, E!’s parent company. Frances Berwick will assume Stotsky’s duties for now, according to sources familiar with the situation. Berwick is currently President, Lifestyle Networks, NBCU Cable Entertainment, overseeing Bravo Media,

Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. This week, the third and final season of “The Deuce” premieres on HBO, and “Undone”

September 9, 2019 10:30AM PT The Federal Communications Commission continues to crack down on misuse of the Emergency Alert System tone on television. The government agency has proposed a $272,000 fine against CBS Broadcasting for allegedly airing a simulated emergency alert tone during a nationally televised episode of “Young Sheldon” on April 12, 2018. The

September 9, 2019 10:00AM PT Paramount Network is promoting Lauren Ruggiero to senior vice president of scripted original series, where she will lead the scripted development team and oversee all scripted programming, from development to production. Ruggiero will also be responsible for working on a development strategy that will further the Paramount brand through the

Comedy series “The Righteous Gemstones” has been renewed for a second season at HBO. The news comes midway through the show’s nine-episode first season. The series tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Danny McBride created the series and stars alongside John Goodman, Edi

Make way for another new streaming service. BET Plus, a joint venture between Viacom’s BET Networks and Tyler Perry Studios, will launch domestically on Thursday, Sept. 19. The ad-free subscription video-on-demand service, priced at $9.99 a month, will kick off with more than 1,000 hours of shows, movies and stand-up specials, including content from Tyler

This year, USA will air the final season of “Mr. Robot,” the show that launched creator Sam Esmail and that seemed, for a moment, to foretell a very different future for a network that had for years prior been best-known for its sunny, light dramas set in unconventional workplaces. Little in the show’s wake, though,

USA Network has revealed the two leads and the plot for season 2 of “Dirty John.” Amanda Peet and Christian Slater will star in the anthology series’ sophomore outing titled “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story.” The second installment will be based on another true tale of love gone wrong, centering on a story that

Activist shareholder Elliott Management, which has pressed for big changes at companies including Barnes & Noble and Interpublic Group, said Monday it had taken a stake valued at $3.2 billion in the shares of telecommunication giant AT&T, and urged the company to focus more intently on its operations after a series of big acquisitions and

Emily Watson will play a psychiatrist assigned to work with a woman accused of a heinous crime but who claims she can’t remember a thing in “Too Close,” a new drama for ITV. The series will be produced by Snowed-In Productions, which is a sister company of J.K. Rowling’s Bronte Film and Television. All3Media International

Former HBO Europe producer Gabor Krigler has launched indie producer, Joyrider Television. It goes out of the gate with a non-exclusive development deal with HBO Europe, which has moved heavily into original programming with numerous series out of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as originals from Scandinavia and Iberia The new shingle will be

White issued the condemnation Sunday night in response to a now-deleted Tweet by actress Daria Rumi that said, “Let’s get rid of her once and for all!” in reference to Carteris, accompanied by an image of a man pointing a firearm at the viewer, then firing. “We are aware of the threat in question and

September 8, 2019 4:01PM PT Jenna Coleman will switch from starring as the long-reining British sovereign in “Victoria” to play Marie-Andrée Leclerc, the partner and accomplice of French serial killer Charles Sobrhaj, in the BBC and Netflix drama “The Serpent.” Coleman will star alongside the previously announced Tahar Rahim, who plays Sobrhaj, as well as

Alec Baldwin was burned by comedians, athletes, Robert De Niro and even his own daughter at his Comedy Central Roast, which was taped on Saturday night at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles. But another person on the dais served as a lightning rod for just as many of the barbs. Caitlyn Jenner, who turned

The CW’s “Nancy Drew” may technically be adapted from the long-running mystery novel series of the same name, but diehard television viewers may be unable to resist comparing pieces of the show to another teenage sleuth series, “Veronica Mars.” After all, both shows center on a young woman who sets out to solve crimes and

“And that’s the way we remade the Brady House…” chimes the theme song of “A Very Brady Renovation,” the upcoming HGTV series that follows the recreation of the classic TV set inside the L.A. property which served as the home’s on-camera exterior. It’s just the latest stop as the nostalgia train keeps on, keeps on,

“Will & Grace,” “Roseanne,” “Murphy Brown” and now “Mad About You.” The list of multicamera revivals is only continuing to grow, although unlike the first three on this list, “Mad About You’s” return will be for Spectrum, rather than its original home, NBC. But the network is one of few things that has changed. The

September 7, 2019 11:40AM PT Gillian Anderson has joined the fourth season of “The Crown” as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Netflix announced Saturday. “I am so excited to be joining the cast and crew of ‘The Crown’ and to have the opportunity to portray such a complicated and controversial woman,” Anderson said in

Dark-eyed actress Olivia Colman was originally fitted with blue contact lenses for “The Crown” to make her eyes match those of Claire Foy, her predecessor in the role of Queen Elizabeth II, but the show’s makers quickly abandoned the idea because it made Oscar-winner Colman seem as though she were “acting behind a mask,” the

Author Walter Mosley says he recently quit a television series on which he was writing after another writer complained about his use of the n-word in the writers’ room. Mosley, who is African-American and Jewish, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times that he had used the word while telling a story from

September 6, 2019 5:00PM PT Facebook Watch’s adaptation of the popular podcast makes for a tense, efficient thriller. “Limetown” is about as meta on the persistent true crime phenomenon as it gets. The new Facebook Watch drama, based on Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie’s 2015 scripted podcast, follows a radio reporter who’s chasing down an

September 6, 2019 4:49PM PT Darren Criss is reteaming with Ryan Murphy on the latter’s upcoming Netflix series “Hollywood.” Criss is set to star in and executive produce the series, breaking the news on Instagram on Friday. “Honored to say that I’m heading back to the House of Murphy where I’ll be starring in but also

“The Spy,” Netflix’s new limited series, places Sacha Baron Cohen in a relatively unfamiliar position: stripping him of his humor and placing him within the bounds of a script. On shows and in films ranging from “Borat” to last year’s “Who Is America?,” Baron Cohen has gone into without-a-net scenarios and never broken character. There’s

In today’s TV news roundup, HBO drops the first trailer for its four-part series “Catherine the Great,” and Lifetime’s “The College Admissions Scandal” movie sets a premiere date. DATES Lifetime‘s “The College Admissions Scandal” will premiere Oct. 12. The movie stars Penelope Ann Miller and Mia Kirshner as two wealthy mothers who pay their way,