July 12, 2019 5:55PM PT HBO said Friday that it is “extremely proud” of the work of “Big Little Lies” director Andrea Arnold, in response to an IndieWire story earlier that day that said creative control over the series was “yanked away” from her in favor of executive producer and Season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallee.
Television
The expectations going into the second season of “Big Little Lies” — a season that initially was never going to exist, before the first become such a success — were perhaps insurmountably high. Its all-star cast added yet another unparalleled performer in Meryl Streep, and with original director and editor Jean-Marc Vallee busy with “Sharp
July 12, 2019 5:36PM PT Chloe Dan, the senior vice president of drama development for 20th Century Fox Television, is leaving her position at the studio, Variety has confirmed. Dan assumed her current role with 20th TV in 2017 and first joined the studio in 2014. Among the shows she worked on during her time at
In the last few years, popular TV shows such as “Game of Thrones,”and “Once Upon a Time” have brought fantasy back to pop-culture. Marc Guggenheim, whose production and writing credits are linked to “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Arrow,” and “Green Lantern,” sat down to talk about two new series — Netflix’s “3Below: Tales of Arcadia,”
July 12, 2019 4:16PM PT “Riverdale” star Marisol Nichols and Patrick Fabian of “Better Call Saul” are among the notable actors seeking SAG-AFTRA national board seats as allies of president Gabrielle Carteris through the Unite For Strength faction. Other prominent national board candidates for UFS included Kate Flannery (“The Office”), Yvette Nicole Brown (“Mom”) along
The 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards was filled with incredible athletes, inspiring moments and — of course — a massive amount of slime. “I love the kids. I love the slime. I loved the games. I love seeing celebrities and athletes like become kids again. And it’s like my favorite thing,” Michael Strahan told
In today’s TV news roundup, HBO sets the premiere date for the third and final season of “The Deuce,” and Netflix reveals when “Mindhunter” will return for season 2. CASTING Kyle Bornheimer and Jessica St. Clair are set to join the cast of HBO’s “Avenue 5,” an upcoming comedy from Armando Iannucci about a space
July 12, 2019 3:18PM PT Stephanie Niznik, an actress who appeared on “Everwood” and in “Star Trek: Insurrection,” died unexpectedly in Encino, Calif. on June 23. She was 52. A native of Bangor, Maine, she originally intended to become a geneticist before graduating from Duke U. with majors in theater and Russian. She pursued a
July 12, 2019 3:00PM PT “The Bachelorette” finished comfortably top of the L+3 rankings in both rating and viewership for the week of July 1. The ABC reality dating show posted a 1.5 in Live+Same Day, which then grew to a 1.9 in delayed for a 27% gain. Its closest competition came from CBS’ “Big
Kumail Nanjiani’s last-minute “Conan” cancellation left the host scrambling for a new guest. At the eleventh hour, he filled the spot with an impromptu interviewee — his longtime assistant. Nanjiani was scheduled to appear on the Thursday night show to promote his upcoming comedy film “Stuber.” Half an hour before the taping, Conan O’Brien received
July 12, 2019 1:48PM PT [embedded content] The first season of Disney Plus’ live-action “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” hasn’t even debuted yet, but executive producer Jon Favreau is already working on Season 2. “The Lion King” director revealed as much in an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday night, telling the host, “We’re done
July 12, 2019 12:48PM PT The Imagen Foundation announced that Cris Abrego will receive this year’s Imagen President’s Award at the 34th Annual Imagen Awards. Abrego is the chairman of Endemol Shine Americas and CEO of Endemol Shine North America. The Imagen Awards was established in 1985 to encourage positive portrayals of Latinos in the
When “Suits” closes the file on its final stretch of episodes this fall, it leaves behind a legacy of nine seasons, 134 episodes, two remakes (in Korea and Japan), a slew of international broadcasters, and a royal wedding that transformed series star Meghan Markle into a global, household name. The July 17 premiere also marks
On July 16, 1969, Variety ran a package of stories under the headline “Greatest Show Off Earth,” detailing the three TV networks’ fever over the July 19 moon landing. CBS exec producer Robert Wussler predicted “the world’s greatest single broadcast.” Variety called it a “31-hour TV super-special,” running all day Sunday through midday Monday. The
In this week’s International TV Newswire: Frédérique Bredin announces she won’t run for another term at France’s National Cinema Center (CNC); Mexican broadcaster Televisa’s profits plummet; HBO pre-buys Keshet’s “Our Boys” for Latin America and Europe; Patrick Vien changes roles at A+E; new Greek government re-aligns public broadcasters; and VODs are still under the upcoming
The first-look trailer for female-led anthology series “I Am” sees Gemma Chan, Vicky McClure and Samantha Morton performing in the much-anticipated show for Channel 4 in the U.K. The series consists of three separate stories, each bearing the name of its lead character. It comes from BAFTA-winning writer and director Dominic Savage, who asked the
The U.S. Women’s national soccer team can count Michael Strahan as a supporter — and not just because of their World Cup win on Sunday. “I think it’s amazing. I think they should enjoy it. I think they should soak it all in because they deserve every bit of it,” Strahan told Variety on the
July 11, 2019 3:37PM PT In today’s roundup, Quibi announces development on a “Varsity Blues” series adaptation and FOX releases the trailer for the series premiere of “BH90201.” FIRST LOOKS AMC released the first trailer for the second season of “Lodge 49.” Ex-surfer Dude and his fraternal order will return in the modern day stoner
July 11, 2019 3:31PM PT Disney Channel announced that it’s canceling the red carpet premiere event for “Descendants 3” following the death of star Cameron Boyce last weekend. “We’re proud to be part of Cameron Boyce’s legacy by showcasing his talents on screen but we are cancelling the red carpet premiere event for ‘Descendants 3’
July 11, 2019 2:58PM PT Sports and entertainment agency Wasserman, which was founded by entertainment exec Casey Wasserman and represents thousands of athletes, coaches and social media influencers, has announced it is launching a new division dedicated to raising the visibility of women in sports and entertainment. The company’s new arm, named The Collective, will
July 11, 2019 10:43AM PT Ryan Murphy has given fans their first real look at the cast for the upcoming season of “American Horror Story.” In a video posted on Instagram, Murphy revealed the very ’80s looks of the cast, which includes: DeRon Horton, Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Leslie Grossman, Matthew Morrison, John Carroll Lynch, and
The title of the new Disney Channel series “Just Roll With It” appears to be as much a directive for its cast and crew as it is a description of the multi-camera hybrid sitcom, which is part scripted and part improv. The plot revolves around the blended Bennett-Blatt family — strict mom Rachel (Suzi Barrett),
July 11, 2019 8:30AM PT Entertainment One is buying U.K. unscripted production company Daisybeck Studios, which makes factual shows for British broadcasters such as “Springtime on the Farm” and “Big Week at the Zoo.” Daisybeck is based in Yorkshire, northern England, and close to where Channel 4 is about to set up a large office.
July 11, 2019 8:27AM PT After last year’s ESPY Awards saw a 36% rating drop-off from 2017, the 2019 edition held firm for ABC. Last night’s sports awards ceremony, which was hosted by Tracy Morgan, scored a 0.9 rating in the key 18-49 demographic and 3.87 million total viewers, almost identical figures to 2018’s 0.9
The upcoming sixth season of “How to Get Away With Murder” will be its last. The news comes only a day after it was revealed that the first Shondaland series under Shonda Rhimes’ colossal Netflix deal will debut in 2020. Rhimes left ABC for the streamer last year after more than a decade with the studio. However,
July 11, 2019 1:57AM PT Firefighters are on the scene of a fire at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. Fifteen fire trucks plus support vehicles have been called out to tackle the blaze, which was first reported late Wednesday, but there are no injuries reported, and the fire is on a sound stage that was not
Hello Sunshine, the media company founded by Reese Witherspoon, has launched a kids and animated division to be led by Nickelodeon vet Claire Curley. The unit will create content for younger audiences aged 3-5 and 6-9, “shining a light on where girls are right now and helping them chart their path forward,” according to the
The FCC on Wednesday voted to revise some of the obligations that broadcast TV stations have to carry informational and educational programming for children. The changes, adopted on a 3-2 vote, reflect the push by broadcasters to loosen the obligations established under the landmark Children’s Television Act in 1990, which established a detailed set of
In today’s TV news roundup, Showtime sets the premiere date for season 4 of its docu-series “The Circus,” and Pop TV orders a new coming-of-age comedy “Best Intentions.” CASTING Hulu has added four new series regulars to its upcoming original series “Reprisal.” Craig Tate is joining the cast as former Special Forces operative Earl, Wavvy Jonez
It’s hard to imagine loyalists of “The Hills” — the MTV network’s brilliant reality soap opera, which aired in its first run from 2006 to 2010 — finding much to keep them tuned into the ambitiously subtitled “The Hills: New Beginnings,” which began its run last month. The new series is focused on a group