NBC has given a script commitment to a prospective series inspired by the 2001 Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack movie “Serendipity.” The project hails from Miramax Television, whose film division produced the original film, and writer Jonny Umansky. The idea for the show seems like a romantic one, here’s the logline: Harry and Claire fall
Television
BritBox, ITV and the BBC’s joint “best of British” streaming service, is not being positioned as a rival to Netflix and Amazon but offers something those two streaming giants don’t, ITV director of television Kevin Lygo said. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Friday, Lygo said BritBox would be a “different thing” that allowed
Stefano Sollima, the Italian director known in Hollywood for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” and TV show “Gomorrah,” is the main creative force behind cocaine-trafficking series “ZeroZeroZero,” which will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 5. Festival chief Alberto Barbera has praised it as blowing “Narcos” out of the water. Sollima directed
“Ballers” is coming to an end after five seasons on HBO. Star and executive producer Dwayne Johnson confirmed the news via an emotional Instagram video. “My heart is full of gratitude to all of you for rocking with us every season. You made us HBO’s highest rated comedy for years and most importantly, you helped
In a world filled with elections, social movements and national tragedies, how open should the doors of a writers’ room actually be? For some of this year’s Emmy-nominated shows, those doors are wide open. Before the 71st annual Primetime Emmy Awards air on Sept. 22, the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild Foundation,
In today’s TV news roundup, NBC has revealed that Matt Bomer, Vanessa Bayer, and Blythe Danner will return for the 11th and final season of “Will & Grace,” and Netflix announces the premiere date for the new Paul Rudd series “Living With Yourself.” CASTING Matt Bomer, Vanessa Bayer, and Blythe Danner are all set to
August 22, 2019 4:29PM PT Disney Plus has decided to not move forward with “Book of Enchantment,” a series based on some of Disney’s most iconic villains, Variety has learned from sources. The news comes the day before Disney is set to unveil its streaming service at the biannual D23 convention in Anaheim. The prospective
August 22, 2019 4:01PM PT Oscar-nominated Brenda Blethyn is set to star in the new sitcom “Kate and Kolo” for ITV, the U.K. broadcaster announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Blethyn takes on the title role of Kate in the comedy alongside theater and film actor Jimmy Akingbola as Kolo. Blethyn is a popular star
ABC faced backlash this week after casting former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on “Dancing with the Stars.” But that outrage might actually spice up the dancing competition’s dwindling ratings — particularly in Trump Country. “Dancing with the Stars” has faced a relatively alarming decline in ratings over the past two cycles, falling 32%
Toymaker Hasbro is acquiring studio Entertainment One in an all-cash transaction valued at $4 billion, bringing My Little Pony and Nerf under the same umbrella as “Peppa Pig” and “PJ Masks” and furthering Hasbro’s growth goals in the infant and preschool categories. Sources say the news came as a surprise to most people at Entertainment
August 22, 2019 1:00PM PT Sarah Michelle Gellar is looking to reunite with “Ringer” creators Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder on a dramedy co-produced by Fox Entertainment and UTV. Fox is developing “Other People’s Houses,” Variety has learned, and has given the project a script commitment. Charmelo and Snyder will write and executive produce, while
Showtime has released the first look at the next generation of “The L Word” and its new cast including Rosanny Zayas, Jacqueline Toboni, Sepideh Moafi, Arienne Mandi, and Micah Lee. Along with some of the original cast, including Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey, and Katherine Moennig, the series sequel picks up where its creator Ilene Chaiken
After a spate of recent layoffs and the departure of host Natalie Morales, “Access Hollywood” is extending its brand with a new half-hour series. “All Access,” premiering Sept. 9, will take an in-depth look into the national headlines and look to uncover the real-life drama occurring in everyday places, exploring a blend of true crime
The BBC is teaming with Michael and Paul Clarkson, the twin brother writers behind the second season of Netflix series “The Haunting of Hill House,” for a new horror thriller, the U.K. pubcaster announced Thursday at the Edinburgh TV Festival. “Red Rose” is being produced for the BBC’s youth-skewing online platform BBC Three. The new
August 22, 2019 7:41AM PT Sarah Huckabee Sanders, one of the more controversial holders of the office of White House Press Secretary in recent memory, will join Fox News Channel as a contributor. The former Trump administration advisor is expected to contribute commentary to Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox News Digital and the
Back in July 2013, then-NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt announced a miniseries about Hillary Clinton, set to star Diane Lane and focus on her life in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Call it cynical, but many of us gathered at the Television Critics Association press tour that day were skeptical that the project
The BBC has unveiled three new drama commissions for flagship channel BBC One from leading writers, including a new four-part drama from “Sherlock” co-creator Steven Moffat. New dramas from Sarah Solemani and Gwyneth Hughes were also announced by BBC director of content Charlotte Moore at the Edinburgh TV Festival. The broadcaster also announced a new
August 22, 2019 3:56AM PT Channel 4’s director of programs Ian Katz says the British broadcaster has learned a good lesson from the failure last year of its big-budget Hulu co-production “The First” to resonate with U.K. audiences. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Katz described the Sean Penn-starring drama about a mission to Mars
Hugh Laurie, the Golden Globe-winning star of “House” and “The Night Manager,” will play a beleaguered politician in a new four-part thriller for the BBC, “Roadkill,” from acclaimed playwright and screenwriter David Hare. The series is being produced by The Forge (“Collateral”). Laurie stars as Peter Laurence, a charismatic Conservative Party government minister who remains
ABC News has announced the moderators for the third Democratic debate, as well as the qualification rules. The debate will be held on Thursday, Sept. 12, and will spill over to Friday, Sept. 13 if more than 10 candidates qualify. The moderating team will consist of chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, “World News Tonight” anchor and
Stephan James and Hong Chau are coming back for more, as far as “Homecoming” is concerned. James, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in season 1 opposite Julia Roberts, will reprise the role of Walter Cruz, while Chau will return to play Audrey Temple for the Amazon series’ sophomore outing. The show has
August 21, 2019 3:48PM PT Starz has put out a pilot order for “Shining Vale,” a horror comedy which hails from “Divorce” creator Sharon Horgan and “Trial & Error” co-creator Jeff Astrof. The prospective series is about a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have
Bethenny Frankel is stepping away from the “Real Housewives” franchise. Variety has learned exclusively that Frankel is poised to exit Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York” ahead of its upcoming twelfth season. Frankel first joined the acclaimed reality series back when it premiered back in 2008 before exiting the series in 2010 during the
August 21, 2019 2:30PM PT Universal Content Productions (UCP) is developing an anthology series based on Ann Shen’s book “Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World.” The project will be titled “Bad Girls,” with each episode featuring a different influential woman throughout history, including famous figures like Ada Lovelace, Rosa Parks,
August 21, 2019 10:09AM PT Amazon has greenlit a six-part survival-cum-engineering series featuring “The Grand Tour’s” Richard Hammond and “Mythbusters’” Tory Belleci. The commission was announced Wednesday by Georgia Brown, director of European Amazon original series, speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival. The as-yet-untitled pop-science series from Chimp Productions sees Hammond and Belleci shipwrecked on a
August 21, 2019 7:49AM PT Walter Presents has acquired Swedish thriller “Stockholm Requiem” for the U.K. and Australia from ZDF Enterprises. It marks the fourth Swedish drama series the global on-demand service, which specialises in non-English language drama, has picked up from ZDF following “Blue Eyes,” “Thicker Than Water” and “Before We Die.” Walter Iuzzolino,
August 21, 2019 7:00AM PT Bill Bellamy has joined the cast of the forthcoming Netflix limited series “Madam CJ Walker,” which tells the story of the black hair care pioneer and mogul. The four-part series hails from executive producers LeBron James and Octavia Spencer, who will also star as the titular Madam. The series is inspired by the
August 21, 2019 6:45AM PT The BBC has acquired FX’s “American Crime Story: Impeachment” and Ken Burn’s upcoming PBS documentary series “Country Music,” the broadcaster announced Wednesday at the Edinburgh TV Festival. “American Crime Story: Impeachment” will air on BBC Two in the U.K., while “Country Music” has been picked up by sister channel BBC Four.
U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 has unveiled a slate of original dramas, marking the latest step in the Viacom-owned broadcaster’s push into scripted content. The new dramas include a two-hour ghost story from Awesome Media & Entertainment and Two Rivers Media called “The Small Hand” adapted from novel by “The Woman in Black” author Susan Hill;
August 21, 2019 4:38AM PT The BBC’s production division, BBC Studios, has won its first YouTube Originals commission, “The Edge of Science.” Starring presenter and science enthusiast Rick Edwards and YouTuber Colin Furze, “The Edge of Science” will carry out a range of stunts and experiments to explore if it’s possible to levitate. The presenters