Television

The cast and creative team behind the Showtime series “On Becoming a God in Central Florida” discussed the impact that multi-level marketing schemes during a panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Friday. Set in a small Orlando-adjacent town in 1992, the series follows Krystal Stubbs (Dunst), a minimum-wage water park employee

August 2, 2019 4:26PM PT When Tarell Alvin McCraney first brought the idea of “David Makes Man” to the Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN wasn’t looking for stories with the narrative of a 14-year-old genius, shaken by the death of his friend, and must decide to either pursue higher education or the streets to bring his

August 2, 2019 3:53PM PT In today’s TV News roundup, Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell join a new limited series at Showtime, and the network drops a first look at its upcoming comedy series “Back To Life.” CASTING Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell have been cast in Showtime’s “The Good Lord Bird.” Grammy and Tony

William Schmidt has offered to drop out of the race for presidency of the Writers Guild of America West and endorse David Goodman — if Goodman returns to the bargaining table with agents by September. Schmidt disclosed the offer Friday, saying he had breakfasted with Goodman and found him to be warm, gregarious and funny.

“In my mind, media representation for transgender people is a life or death issue,” said GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Representation Nick Adams at ‘The Power of TV: Trans Visibility in Storytelling’ panel on Thursday night. “Humans are creatures who want to see themselves reflected back from the screen. When you look to the media and

Showtime is increasing its original content this year by 30% more programming hours in both scripted and unscripted fare, announced co-president of entertainment Jana Winograde at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour Friday. “For the past five years, there’s been this incredible growth in content and huge behemoths coming into the over-the-top world and

Lilly Wachowski discussed her upcoming Showtime comedy series “Work In Progress” at the network’s Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, alongside the show’s creators Abby McEnany and Tim Mason, and tackling the series’ central themes of mental illness and depression. “I think comedy and humor are essential ingredients in trying to overcome mental illness and

CBS and Viacom moved one step closer to a highly anticipated reunification after the companies agreed upon an executive structure, the latest signal that the two media conglomerates, controlled by the Redstone family, were heading toward a new merger. The agreement remains fluid, according to people familiar with the situation, but calls for Viacom CEO

August 2, 2019 11:48AM PT There will not be any room for Jason Mitchell to return for “The Chi” in Season 3 of the Showtime drama. Gary Levine, Showtime’s co-president of entertainment, said Friday that Mitchell’s character on the series will be killed off in the new season. “There is a lot of great life

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until you’ve watched the third season of “Dear White People,” streaming now on Netflix. The third season of “Dear White People” picks up right where Season 2 left off: in cavernous-looking darkness, hearing the voice — but now, also, seeing the face — of the show’s long-time narrator (Giancarlo Esposito),

Michael Stuhlbarg and “The Night Of” star Sofia Black-D’Elia are joining Bryan Cranston in the Showtime limited series “Your Honor.” The 10-episode series is described as a legal thriller that rips through all strata of New Orleans society. Cranston will star as a respected judge whose son is involved in a hit-and-run that leads to a

The “Halo” series at Showtime is rounding out its main cast. The premium cabler announced Friday that Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, and Kate Kennedy have all joined the series adaptation of the megahit video game. They join previously announced series lead Pablo Schreiber, who will play the Master Chief,

Pop TV has renewed “Flack” for a second season. The Anna Paquin drama set in the world of high-stakes celebrity public relations will return for six more episodes, two of which will be directed by executive producer Stephen Moyer. The CBS-owned network also announced that Daniel Dae Kim and Sam Neill will be joining the

Barcelona-based online platform Filmarket Hub announced British screenwriter Peter Harness as a special guest of honor at the 2nd London TV Pitchbox on Sept. 20. The day-long event is dedicated to series development and takes in a case study of a successful series from the host country, as well as training and networking opportunities. This

In this week’s International TV Newswire, new German studio to be formed by Tele MünchenGroup (TMG), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film share licensing division details; soccer leagues jointly condemn a Saudi pirate broadcaster; Franco-Belgian comic superstar “Marsupilami” gets a 3D reboot and Spain’s Atresmedia steps up its on demand game. German

Giorgio Stock has taken the new role of president, WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, distribution and advertising sales, for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Asia Pacific region (APAC). Stock, previously president EMEA at Turner, takes on responsibility for all entertainment networks, distribution of all networks, advertising sales and the kids’ networks operations for EMEA

Is Netflix too square, or too costly, for most young Brazilians? Or just not the place where they’d ever sample cool Brazilian content? The U.S. streaming giant may soon find out. Simply put, its latest Brazilian series, “Sintonia,” launched globally Aug. 9, can be seen as an acid test of Netflix’s ability to leverage original

BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the British broadcaster, has brought its international sales and distribution businesses, encompassing content sales, branded services and ancillaries, into a single group, with Paul Dempsey taking the role of president of global distribution. Dempsey will relocate to New York and have responsibility for BBC Studios’ overall sales and distribution

CBS All Access is ramping up its offerings to at least 12 original series in 2020, said streaming service execs at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour Thursday, with additional plans to expand programming into sports, movies and nonfiction titles, and series acquisitions. Part of that early selection includes World Series of Poker bracelet

Hop on Twitter, and you will find a multitude of posts from frustrated black women decrying everything from cultural appropriation – to be clear, Kim Kardashian did not create cornrows – to the deplorable and racist way four freshman congresswomen of color have been villainized by the POTUS. In contrast, much-needed moments of levity by

August 1, 2019 4:38PM PT Producer Neal Moritz has signed a new three year overall deal at Sony Pictures Television. The deal covers live action drama and comedy series as well as animation for network, cable and streaming platforms. In addition, Pavun Shetty has signed on to remain head of TV at Moritz’s Original Film

August 1, 2019 3:40PM PT In today’s roundup, Adam Scott will host the new ABC game show “Don’t” and AMC has released first look images of the new character Virgil from “The Walking Dead.”  CASTING Adam Scott will host ABC’s new game show “Don’t.” Family and friends will band together to take on comedic “don’t”

“The Man Who Fell to Earth” has fallen to CBS All Access. The streaming service has ordered a series based on Walter Tevis’ 1963 novel and the 1976 Nicolas Roeg film that starred David Bowie, both of the same name. The series will follow an alien who arrives on earth at a turning point in

CBS All Access has set four of the leads for its upcoming series “The Stand.” Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, “The Stand” will star James Marsden, Amber Heard, Odessa Young and Henry Zaga in main roles. The streaming platform has also revealed that the prolific author himself will write the

Jason Clarke is suiting up for the HBO drama pilot “Showtime.” The one-hour series focuses on the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. Clarke has been cast as Jerry West. West first joined the Lakers as a player in 1960, being named an All-Star in all of his 14 seasons with

Viacom relied on Madison Avenue’s interest in new forms of video advertising to drive activity in the industry’s annual “upfront” market, but captured a level of advance commitments that was similar to last year’s benchmarks, a signal that the current ad market is proving more robust for broadcast TV than it is for cable. The

August 1, 2019 11:06AM PT Last night’s second Democratic debate on CNN, which was marked by a protestor interruption and featured a rematch between California Sen. Kamala Harris and Former Vice President Joe Biden, topped the first in total viewership. With 10.7 million, Wednesday night’s affair was up 24% on the first. Wednesday’s debate was

HBO Max is stepping into the world of Time Lords, sonic screwdrivers and the TARDIS. The forthcoming WarnerMedia streaming platform has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to “Doctor Who,” with all 11 seasons of the historic BBC series coming to the service upon launch in spring 2020. The news comes as part of a deal

“The Bachelorette” Season 15 finale got plenty of attention for a messy breakup with star Hannah Brown ending her engagement to contestant Jed Wyatt after finding out he has a girlfriend back home in Tennessee. But long before the finale, Brown was generating headlines for drama throughout her season — and not just typical reality

August 1, 2019 10:36AM PT “Evil” creators and showrunners Robert and Michelle King discussed how their new CBS series will not be a typical procedural during the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Thursday. “We want to avoid an exorcism of the week,” Robert said, referring to the demon possession storyline featured in the