May 24, 2019 9:19AM PT Hulu has greenlit a series adaptation of Nathan Ballingrud’s short story collection “North American Lake Monsters.” The untitled series will be an anthology, with the first season consisting of eight episodes. In the series, encounters with vampires, fallen angels, and other monsters force Louisiana natives to re-examine their broken lives.
Television
This week’s International TV Newswire sees Nickelodeon’s influence grow in Mexico, Navratilova host a trans-athlete debate for the BBC, Globo and Warner Bros. extend in Brazil, Apple pick up Starzplay and HBO profile a polemical Spanish soccer legend. Nickelodeon Signs Mexican Influencer Nickelodeon Latin America has signed an exclusive global representation deal with popular Mexican
Seth Meyers became host of “Late Night” — the franchise that had, in previous iterations, been home to David Letterman, then Conan O’Brien, then Jimmy Fallon — in 2014. The first conversation he had with anyone about taking over the show was on the phone with executive producer Lorne Michaels, who called Meyers while the
Fox Network Groups in Spain and Globomedia, the Barcelona-based parent company of production house The Mediapro Studio, have announced a spinoff to Mediapro’s flagship Catalan series “Vis a Vis” (“Locked Up”). Set to air on Fox networks in 2020, “Vis a Vis: El Oasis” will close the circle on narratives from the original series, bringing
May 24, 2019 3:04AM PT Steven Knight is adapting “SAS: Rogue Heroes,” bringing the story of the elite British special forces unit to TV. Knight has enjoyed enormous success with his series “Peaky Blinders,” and also penned “Taboo” and the feature films “Locke” and “Eastern Promises.” His SAS series will be based on Ben Macintyre’s
May 24, 2019 12:33AM PT Sky has ordered a third season of “Riviera” with filming starting this fall. Julia Stiles will return as Georgina Clios and the action is set to move from France’s Cote d’Azur to an international stage. Stiles will also exec produce the new season, which was announced soon after season two
May 23, 2019 5:58PM PT Endeavor’s IPO filing Thursday offers a hard look at the company’s financial performance during the past three years during a period of rapid growth for the company that’s home to UFC, WME, Professional Bull Riders and a clutch of other assets. Endeavor is generating solid free cash flow from operations
Blake Jenner first rose to fame in 2012 when he won “The Glee Project” and therefore earned a role on “Glee” proper. In the years since, though, he graduated from teen heartthrob status to meatier, edgier roles in films such as “American Animals” and now the Netflix limited series “What/If,” in which he stars opposite
May 23, 2019 4:30PM PT Mario Lopez and Seth Kurland are teaming up for a new comedy series at Netflix. Variety has learned that the streamer has given a 16 episode order to the multi-cam comedy “The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia” co-created by Lopez and Kurland. In the series, when Ashley Garcia — the
May 23, 2019 3:22PM PT In today’s roundup, Fox Nation announces a fresh slate of programming for the summer and HBO announces the recipients of its HBOAccess Writing Fellowship. DEVELOPMENT: HBO has announced the recipients of its 2019 HBOAccess Writing Fellowship. The eight writers selected out of the 3,000 submissions will participate in an 8-month
May 23, 2019 2:51PM PT With 2018-2019 broadcast season wrapping up, certain shows stand head and shoulders above their competition in the Nielsen Live+7 rankings. Live+7 data is currently available only through May 5, but the top dogs will likely see little change once the final numbers are in for the traditional September-May season. The
Anna Kendrick and Paul Feig are coming to the WarnerMedia streaming service Variety has learned that the upcoming streamer has ordered the romantic comedy anthology series “Love Life,” the first season of which will star Kendrick with Feig executive producing. WarnerMedia has ordered a 10-episode first season of the half-hour series. Lionsgate Television and FeigCo
May 23, 2019 12:00PM PT “Gentleman Jack” will return to TV screens on both sides of the Atlantic after the BBC and HBO ordered a second season of the period drama. The series is based on a true story and stars Suranne Jones as Anne Lister, a lesbian, and the proprietor of her family’s coal
Marla Gibbs never won an Emmy for playing Florence Johnston on “The Jeffersons” for 11 seasons. But now she may get her chance. Sony Pictures TV is submitting the cast of Wednesday night’s ABC special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’” for Emmy consideration —
May 23, 2019 11:20AM PT Jane Austin, the National Secretary-Treasurer of SAG-AFTRA, has become the third candidate for the presidency of the performers union, joining incumbent Gabrielle Carteris and Matthew Modine. Austin is running as an independent for the top post at SAG-AFTRA, which has 160,000 members. Carteris will seek re-election as the head of
Three episodes into the second season of “Vida,” there’s a wedding so gloriously and specifically queer that I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. After watching countless couples walk down the aisle onscreen before, Starz’s “Vida” takes care to show a ceremony quite unlike any other, featuring drag queens, a pair of Latinx grooms in bedazzled
As the number of Emmy contenders continues to skyrocket in this era of too much choice, “For Your Consideration” events are evolving into full-fledgedexperiential activations. The traditional Emmy screenings and panel discussions are still around — and have grown to a point that the Television Academy now allows competing events on the same day. But
May 23, 2019 10:41AM PT The ABC special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” handily walked away with Wednesday night in the overnight ratings. “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” pulled in a 1.7 rating in adults 18-49 and 10.4 million viewers. For comparison, its closest competition in the demo were the season
CBS All Access has released the first look at “Star Trek: Picard,” the new series that will see Sir Patrick Stewart reprise the iconic role of Jean-Luc Picard. Little is known about the plot of the series other than it is said to tell the story of the next chapter of Picard’s life. Stewart played
May 23, 2019 9:00AM PT “Sydney to the Max” has been renewed for a second season at Disney Channel, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is set in the present day with flashbacks to the 1990s and follows outgoing middle schooler Sydney Reynolds (Ruth Righi) who lives with her single dad Max (Ian Reed Kesler) in
On many days, wringing humor out of the current news cycle seems a fruitless task. CNN is going to give it a try. On Monday at 9 p.m. – in the last hours of Memorial Day – the cable-news outlet will air an hour-long show featuring comedian Colin Quinn, who will perform a version of
May 23, 2019 4:27AM PT Anna Cronin has been upped to director of digital content at BBC Studios, a new role at the production and distribution arm of the U.K. pubcaster. The position is within BBC Studios’ content partnerships division, which oversees the company’s programming and IP partnerships. Cronin will work with U.K. and international
MADRID — HBO Europe is adding to its growing Spanish slate with “Por H o por B,” a comedy series original produced by Globomedia, part of TV giant The Mediapro Studio and new Madrid-based company Lacoproductora. Written and directed by Manuela Burló Moreno, the 10-episode half-hour takes the characters from her Goya-nominated short film “Pipas,”
The zombie apocalypse is coming to the U.K. and will be seen on British and U.S. TV after ITV and Hulu greenlit “Zomboat!” The upcoming comedy will star Leah Brotherhead (“White Gold”), Hamza Jeetooa (“Doctor Who”), Ryan McKen (“White Dragon”), and Cara Theobold (“Downton Abbey”). It will bow on the ITV2 channel this fall and
May 23, 2019 2:00AM PT In the wake of revealing to “Busy Tonight” viewers that she had had an abortion — and creating the #YouKnowMe hashtag on social media — Busy Philipps is teaming up with the ACLU on a “You Know Me” ad campaign meant to rebut recent legislation in several states that restrict
In retrospect, it was only a matter of time before reboot and revival fever manifested as verbatim repeats — but if TV’s gonna go there, bringing back eerily timely shows like “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” is the way to do it. That Norman Lear’s comedies are timely, or at least prescient, is
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elaine W. Mandel has replaced Craig D. Karlan to handle the Writers Guild of America’s lawsuit against Hollywood’s four major talent agencies. Mandel was appointed Wednesday. She is the third judge assigned to the case, which was filed April 17 by the WGA against CAA, WME, UTA and ICM Partners
In today’s roundup, Bravo announces its first ever BravoCon and the trailer for the fourth season of “Queen Sugar” dropped. DATES The buddy comedy “Partners in Wine,” starring Lauren White and Jasmine Curry, will be available for streaming on Amazon Tuesday, May 28. It follows best friends Mia and Anne, who support, challenge, and judge
Hollywood’s largest talent agencies have offered to restart negotiations with the WGA to end the standoff over the guild’s effort to impose new rules on talent agents. In a letter to WGA West president David Goodman sent Wednesday, UTA co-president Jay Sures extended an olive branch and suggested resuming talks next week. UTA later sent
May 22, 2019 3:00PM PT FX is in early development on a series based on Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel “Freshwater,” Variety has learned exclusively. The series focuses on Ada, a Nigerian student in her final year of college who finds out that she has three spirits living in her subconscious. They eventually take control of