Television

NBC News will deploy some of its best known anchors to moderate coverage of the first debate among candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, and air the event for two hours across not only MSNBC,  but on its Telemundo and NBC broadcast networks, underscoring the intent interest in the run-up to the 2020 race

FX is known for its edge and unpredictability. But one of the secrets to the brand’s success over the past 25 years has been management stability. Under the leadership of FX Networks and FX Prods. chairman John Landgraf, the company has coalesced into a tight-knit group of seasoned pros in programming, marketing, production, research, business

ANNECY  —  Unveiled on the eve of this year’s Annecy Intl. Animation Festival, Play Big, the newly-established distribution-production company of longtime Ankama Planet Nemo Animation head Frédérich Puech, has unveiled its first title: ‘Musenito.’ Produced by Play Big and Taiwan-based Dottodot, the 52-part, five-minute episode CGI animated series will also see a collection of apps

June 10, 2019 4:46PM PT The final Live+7 numbers for the 2018-2019 TV season are in. Discounting any football content, which once again dwarfed all other programming on TV, there was a three-way tie for the biggest series of the year in the key 18-49 demographic. One of those shows is “The Big Bang Theory,”

Eva Longoria still believes “Desperate Housewives” may have been TV’s “perfect pilot.” “It has everything, it sets up everything,” Longoria told Variety‘s “My Favorite Podcast.” “It’s super balanced in its storytelling. It was beautiful, it was stylized, it was stylistic and was so unique.” Longoria credits creator Marc Cherry, who spent years developing and pitching

June 10, 2019 4:01PM PT In today’s roundup, Michelle Obama will appear on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and HBO released the first look at “Succession” Season 2.  CASTING The Urban Movie Channel (UMC) series “Stuck With You” has recast the role of Luvell with Timon Kyle Durrett, taking over for Thomas Q.

Former Showtime programming executive Joan Boorstein has been named president of PatMa Productions, the banner founded by producer Denise Di Novi and former CBS chairman Nina Tassler. Boorstein began her career at Showtime where she ultimately rose to the position of SVP of creative affairs. She was originally a film executive, working on over 100

WarnerMedia’s streaming service has given a straight-to-series order to the sci-fi project “Dune: The Sisterhood.” The series hails from Legendary Television, with Legendary also producing the upcoming “Dune” film reboot from director Denis Villeneuve. Warner Bros. is distributing the film. Set in the universe of Frank Herbert’s epic “Dune” novel series, “Dune: The Sisterhood” is

AMC Entertainment Networks president Sarah Barnett said she is strongly opposed to recent laws that have been signed in states including Georgia to curtail abortion rights, backing up her company’s statement that it will reconsider its work in the state should the restrictions go into effect. Speaking at the Banff World Media Festival in Canada

Voting for the 71st annual Primetime Emmy Awards is now open, and despite many heavy-hitter dramas such as “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Stranger Things” and “Westworld” sitting out this year’s race, submissions have actually increased in that series category. Call it a sign of peak TV refusing to actually peak, but this year sees 165 entries

June 10, 2019 12:00PM PT BET is the latest brand to jump into streaming. The Viacom-owned cable channel is prepping a standalone streaming service, BET+, that would launch later this year, an individual with knowledge of the service confirmed to Variety. The service would be the home for Tracy Oliver’s planned “First Wives Club” series

Adaptations of such international shows as “BeTipul” and “Prisoners of War” introduced American audiences to Israeli formats (becoming “In Treatment” and “Homeland,” respectively). Now a batch of popular Israeli series are thrusting up-and-coming actors into the spotlight, poised to take Hollywood by storm. Tomer Capon, who was cast by Natalie Portman in her directorial debut,

June 10, 2019 11:00AM PT Amazon is developing a series loosely inspired by Sandra Bullock’s college years, Variety has learned. Bullock will executive produce the series along with Akiva Goldsman and John Legend. K.C. Perry will write and executive produce. The series is described as a dramedy set in the world of music and dance.

Georgia has been the recent center of Hollywood consternation, as the entertainment industry tries to balance its majority disdain for new restrictive abortion legislation there with its desire to keep business going in the bustling production hub. But fellow Southern filming locale Louisiana is now coming into focus as a secondary, albeit smaller, battleground for

‘Love, Death, and Robots’ Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds June 10, 2019 9:16AM PT Netflix has ordered a second season of “Love, Death, and Robots.” The announcement was made on Twitter Monday morning. Jennifer Yuh Nelson has joined the series as supervising

As the newly emerging Golden Age of Television continues, navigating the increasing amounts of content has become more than a full-time job for many in the industry. In Canada, however, there’s a larger picture to consider as network executives populate their schedules with a slew of acquisition programming and government-mandated content, pulling together lineups that

June 10, 2019 8:35AM PT Last night’s Tony Awards produced the lowest ratings for the theater awards show in five years. Despite the best efforts of “Late Late Show” host James Corden, who was back hosting the Tony’s for the second time, the 2019 awards scored a 0.8 rating in the key 18-49 demographic and

June 10, 2019 8:05AM PT The reimagining of the anthology series “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” is coming together at Nickelodeon. The new limited series, which will consist of three hour-long episodes, will premiere this October and introduce a new Midnight Society group of kids who will tell the terrifying tale of the Carnival

The cast and producers behind “When They See Us” sat down for a very special conversation with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night at Netflix’s FYSEE location in Hollywood. But the night’s discussion wasn’t just about the stars of the limited series – Winfrey also sat down with the five men, formerly referred to as “The

June 9, 2019 10:50PM PT Cartoon Network has greenlit a third season of Indian-produced comedy “Lamput,” with a new run of longer episodes heading to its networks around the world. The show has been a hit on digital platforms, notching 250 million views on Cartoon Network’s digital apps and channels in Asia, and a further

Steven Spielberg is penning a horror series for Quibi that users will only be able to see when their phone knows it’s dark outside, founder Jeffrey Katzenberg said on Sunday. Katzenberg was at the Banff World Media Festival in Canada to answer more questions about his and CEO Meg Whitman’s burgeoning short form programming incubator,

”A large part of what the story is, is about redressing the media narratives and how these boys — and men now — were done wrong in the narratives that were told that around them and about them and that’s one of them,” ‘When They See Us’ actor Joshua Jackson told Variety on the red

Linda Fairstein, the newly-embattled prosecutor in the Central Park Five case, declined to participate in the Netflix series “When They See Us” because the production consulted with the five young men wrongfully convicted, one of the filmmakers says. Jane Rosenthal, a producer on the well-received Ava DuVernay project about the infamous 1989 rape of a

Sarah Paulson and Tracee Ellis Ross sat down for a chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors. For more, click here. Tracee Ellis Ross continues to find new notes to play on ABC’s “Black-ish,” on which she stars as a sitcom mom with off-kilter humor and a deep backstory. On FX’s “American Horror Story: Apocalypse,” Sarah Paulson had

While stories that directly depict the stories of refugees and asylum seekers seem few and far between, even in the increasingly more crowded content landscape of television, sometimes such tales can be hiding in plain sight. “What is ‘Game of Thrones’ if not the story of Jon Snow, who saves a bunch of refugees, gets

As Hollywood grapples with the lingering fallout of #MeToo and abuse of power on sets, some performers are calling for a industry-wide standard to better protect performers during scenes requiring intimate contact or nudity. “You won’t want to have to cross your fingers and hope to have someone [with a] beautiful [heart] in charge,” actress

With “Veronica Mars” about to return to TV, the one-time teenage private investigator is all grown up, and series creator/showrunner Rob Thomas said that the upcoming fourth season will reflect that. Speaking at the 8th annual ATX Television Festival on Saturday, Thomas said the opportunity to revisit the character came from the fact that she

Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph sat down for a chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors. For more, click here. Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph are two of TV’s funniest stars — and this year, both confronted mortality on-screen. In “Russian Doll,” co-created by Lyonne, the actress dies over and over again, trying with each reincarnation to finally

“The Good Place” will end its run after its fourth season next year, creator Mike Schur revealed on Friday at the show’s Emmy FYC panel. Speaking in front of an full house at the TV Academy’s Saban Theatre in North Hollywood, Schur revealed that the show’s writers plan was to tell a four-season story and

CAA co-chairman Bryan Lourd called on the Writers Guild of America to dig in with the Association of Talent Agents on the nitty-gritty of a revenue-sharing proposal to settle the packaging fee battle that led to mass firings of agents by guild members nearly two months ago. Lourd delivered what was described by sources as