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, “Mayans M.C.” returns for its second season and the 2019-2020 NFL season kicks
Television
Pan-European pay-TV giant Sky has hit Venice with two of its original series in tow, “The New Pope” and “ZeroZeroZero,” the only TV shows with premieres on the Lido this year. Both are Italy-based but conceived with global audiences in mind, and come from the new Sky Studios in-house production unit headed by Gary Davey.
John Wells has endorsed the dissident candidates the Writers Guild of America West, which is embroiled in a bitter dispute with Hollywood agents. Wells, a prominent showrunner and two-time WGA West president, issued the statement of support in an email Sunday to members. He urged members to vote for the Writers Forward Together slate, which is
A call by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to boycott Israel’s Keshet has had seemingly little effect, with the TV network continuing to dominate the ratings. Netanyahu had lashed out at the HBO miniseries “Our Boys” on Friday, describing it as anti-Semitic and calling on Israeli TV viewers to boycott “the propaganda network Keshet,” which
When “This Is Us” returns to NBC for its fourth season, the ensemble will be growing significantly. Joining the cast in various capacities still to be announced are “When They See Us” stars Asante Blackk and Marsha Stephanie Blake, as well as Omar Epps, Bahara Golestani, Jennifer Morrison, Timothy Omundson, director M. Night Shyamalan, Julian
Gordon Bressack, a prolific Emmy-winning writer of animated television series, has died. He was 68. Bressacks’s filmmaker son James Cullen Bressack confirmed the death in an Instagram post. He wrote, “Words can’t begin to describe how I am feeling right now. You were my mentor, my writing partner, my hero, my best friend, but most
Valerie Harper was a fighter, and that may ultimately be her Hollywood legacy. That was true with her career, and also in her 10-year battle with lung cancer. Harper will forever be best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern, her “Mary Tyler Moore Show” character that earned the actress four Emmys and was later spun off
August 30, 2019 5:19PM PT Celebrities took to social media on Friday to mourn the death of Valerie Harper, who played the Bronx-accented Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its topline spinoff “Rhoda.” The Emmy-winning actress died Friday at 80 years old after being diagnosed with lung and brain cancer in 2009.
Valerie Harper, who played Rhoda Morgenstern, the brash, Bronx-accented sidekick to the Mary Richards character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and went on to topline spinoff “Rhoda,” died Friday after being diagnosed with lung and brain cancer in 2009. She was 80. Her daughter Christina tweeted the news. My dad has asked me to
August 30, 2019 11:16AM PT Shares of Lionsgate fell in Friday trading after a report said Comcast had informed the company it planned to drop its premium-cable Starz network, home to series such as “Power” and “Outlander” – a move that would deprive the outlet of millions of subscribers. A Comcast representative declined to comment
August 30, 2019 10:00AM PT Garcelle Beauvais is about to make history as the first black woman to join the cast of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” Sutton Stracke joins her as the second cast member added to season 10 following Lisa Vanderpump’s exit in the ninth season after feuding with costars. “As the
August 30, 2019 9:33AM PT “Fleabag” creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been selected by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles to receive the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. The trophy will be presented on Oct. 25 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at the British Academy Britannia Awards. She joins previously announced
The “His Dark Materials” adaptation coming to HBO has found its Iorek Byrnison. Joe Tandberg, whose credits include “The Innocents” on Netflix, will voice the famous armored bear. Byrnison comes from the frozen wilderness of the North and is both a skilled metal worker and a fierce warrior. Also joining the voice cast of the
TNT is hitting the highways and byways of the United States in its latest Spanish original series, “Road Trip,” produced by Atresmedia Studios and featuring local personalities Nuria Roca and Esty Quesada. The factual show will accompany the odd-couple celebrities on a car trip that begins in Miami, where Roca, a popular TV host, and
In today’s TV news roundup, Hulu announces the premiere date for season two of “Castle Rock” and Netflix reveals the first look at “Disenchantment Part Two.” DATES Season two of “Castle Rock” is slated to premiere Oct. 23, Hulu announced Thursday. The latest season of the psychological horror series will detail the budding feud between
August 29, 2019 3:30PM PT Ellen DeGeneres is teaming up with the couple behind the hit musical “Come From Away” to develop a one-hour drama at The CW, Variety has learned exclusively. The potential series will be based on Katie McKenna’s memoir “How to Get Run Over by a Truck.” At age 24, McKenna was run
August 29, 2019 2:48PM PT Walt Disney has laid off employees of the National Geographic unit it acquired from the former 21st Century Fox, according to two people familiar with the matter, as it seeks to more fully combine the companies it purchased with its existing business. As many as 70 to 80 National Geographic
In the further wake of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment portfolio, Disney has laid off nearly 60 employees, Variety has learned, within its Media Distribution division, impacting those within both Disney and Fox. Counted among those layoffs are 20th Century Fox TV Distribution’s worldwide marketing executive vice president Greg Drebin and 20th Century
AT&T and TV-station owner Nexstar Media are connected once again, The two companies, which have been at odds since early July over a carriage deal that affected around 120 different affiliates of big networks, said they had come to terms on a new multi-year deal that will put Nexstar stations back on AT&T’s DirecTV satellite,
Lifetime has no more scripted content left on its slate. The network has canceled “American Princess” after a single season which, coupled with “You” season 2 moving to Netflix and “UnReal” season 4 moving to Hulu, means its slate is now entirely made up of TV movies and docuseries. “American Princess” hailed from Jamie Denbo
Walt Disney Co. has sold its stake in a regional sports outlet devoted to New York Yankees baseball, effectively ridding itself of a passel of TV-sports properties it acquired as part of its recent $71.3 billion buy of the bulk of 21st Century Fox. Disney said Thursday that it sold its 80% interest in YES
August 29, 2019 1:00PM PT “When They See Us” star Marsha Stephanie Blake has been cast in the upcoming sixth and final season of “How to Get Away With Murder.” Details on Blake’s role are being kept under wraps. She was recently nominated for the Emmy Award for best supporting actress in a limited series
“How to Make Love to a Black Woman (Who May Be Working Through Some Sh*t),” the intriguingly-named pilot in the works at Showtime, has kicked off its casting. Variety has learned exclusively that Tony award winner Tonya Pinkins, “New Jack City” director and veteran actor Mario Van Peebles, and newcomer Amandla Jahava have joined the cast
Julia Phelps, a veteran of Viacom’s corporate communications staff, has been named to lead all communications efforts after the company merges with CBS. Phelps, who has long worked with Viacom CEO Bob Bakish, slated to take charge as CEO of the combined company, is currently executive vice president of communications, culture and marketing for Viacom,
Netflix has ordered a new Swedish original from FLX, the producers behind “Quicksand.” Romantic dramedy “Love & Anarchy” is the first TV series created by filmmaker by Lisa Langseth. The commission marks Netflix’s second time working with the SF Studios-owned FLX, which produced crime drama “Quicksand.” “Quicksand,” which debuted on Netflix in April, was the
BBC Studios and Anton have commissioned short-form series “Cheaters” from “The End of the F***ing World” producer Clerkenwell Films. The premium short-film scripted series is the first commission under a development pact between the three companies, first announced in September 2018. “Cheaters,” an 18-part comedy-drama told in 10-minute chapters, will be produced by Clerkenwell and
William Schmidt has dropped out of the race for the WGA West presidency and support Phyllis Nagy against incumbent WGA West president David Goodman in the upcoming election. Schmidt, whose credits include “Yellowstone,” “Outsiders” and “Charmed,” has campaigned for the past two months in opposition to Goodman’s directive for members to fire their agents if
Lawrence O’Donnell has won distinction during his time at MSNBC for the verbal flourishes and deft monologues he brings to the segments of his 10 p.m. program. On Wednesday night, he had to use his powers of speech to ward off some of the scrutiny he has drawn. The former “West Wing” writer and Congressional
August 28, 2019 5:43PM PT “The OA” — which Netflix canceled earlier this month after two seasons, inciting intense fan outcry, a flashmob, and even a hunger strike — has truly crossed its last border: There will be no movie to wrap up the series. A source close to the discussions told Variety that Netflix
August 28, 2019 4:44PM PT “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary was involved in a boating accident Saturday that left two people dead. The accident occurred at 11:30 p.m. on Lake Joseph in Ontario, Canada after O’Leary’s boat collided with a larger boat and went over its bow. 64 year-old Gary Poltash was struck and killed