Mexican director-writer-producer Manolo Caro whose hit Netflix series “The House of Flowers” (“La Casa de las Flores”) was renewed for two more seasons last year, has inked an exclusive production pact with the streaming giant. In an unprecedented multi-year deal for a Mexican director, Caro has committed to creating several TV series for Netflix. First
Television
May 9, 2019 5:50AM PT Discovery and ProSiebenSat.1’s joint streamer has a new name, Joyn. The partners said it will have the biggest collection of free-TV content in the German market, with programming and live streams from more than 50 channels. They also set a June launch date for the newly branded streamer. Joyn is
Kimmy Schmidt, meet Bandersnatch. Netflix is bringing back “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” for an untitled, one-off interactive special, set to debut in 2020. It’s the first interactive comedy for the streamer. As with Netflix’s “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” movie and other interactive shows, viewers will be able to make choices on behalf of the “Kimmy Schmidt” characters
May 8, 2019 7:04PM PT SAG-AFTRA members have ratified a three-year successor deal to its commercials contracts with nearly 97% approval among those voting. The union announced the ratification Wednesday night shortly after voting concluded. It touted the deals as landmark agreements due to “flexible” alternative compensation models to promote growth of union-covered commercial work
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Roughest Day,” the fifth season finale of “Empire.” It’s been quite a year for “Empire.” The fifth season kicked off by teasing that before the end of the season someone important to Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) would die. Over the course of the 18
Norah O’Donnell won’t take over as anchor of “CBS Evening News” until this summer. But the current anchor of the program isn’t going to stay at the show until that time. Jeff Glor, who has been the face of “CBS Evening News” since late 2017, has told staff he will step down as anchor of
May 8, 2019 3:10PM PT In today’s roundup, the “Beverly Hills, 90210” revival “BH90210” sets a release date and Starz announces the premiere date for “The Rook.” DATES The “Beverly Hills, 90210” quasi-revival “BH90210” will return with many of its original cast members for the new event series and premiere on Fox on Aug. 7 at 9 p.m.
May 8, 2019 2:24PM PT Fox Corporation outperformed Wall Street’s expectations by delivering strong earnings in the newly minted company’s fiscal third quarter. Fox delivered year-over-year profit growth of 16%, to $529 million, on revenue of $2.75 billion, which was up 12%. Earnings of 85 cents a share surpassed analyst expectations that were in the
For its final DVD Emmy screener, “Family Guy” is taking on its biggest target yet: The “Game of Thrones” juggernaut. The “Family Guy” mailer, now being sent to voters, features Peter Griffin, looking a lot like Jon Snow on the Season 8 poster of “Game of Thrones.” At his foot, Brian the dog is doing
May 8, 2019 1:43PM PT Troy Shafer, star of the DIY Network reality series “Nashville Flipped,” died at his father’s home in Erie, Pa., on April 28, the Erie County Coroner’s Office confirmed to Variety. He was 38. Shafer’s death was unexpected as he died in his sleep and did not have any known medical
May 8, 2019 1:21PM PT MTV has severed ties with “Teen Mom 2” star Jenelle Eason (née Evans) after her husband, David Eason, killed her dog in late April. “MTV ended its relationship with David Eason over a year ago in February 2018 and has not filmed any new episodes of ‘Teen Mom 2’ with
Hilary Swank is on her way to Mars. The two-time Academy Award winner has been cast in the lead role in Netflix’s upcoming drama “Away,” from Jason Katims and Matt Reeves. Swank will play American astronaut Emma Green, who must leave her husband and teenage daughter behind to command an international space crew embarking upon
May 8, 2019 12:40PM PT Xbox is honoring the final season of “Game of Thrones” with a giveaway worthy of a king (or five). It’s offering fans the opportunity to snag one of two custom consoles featuring designs inspired by the hit HBO television show, it said in a blog post on Wednesday. The custom
May 8, 2019 12:00PM PT ABC has ordered the drama based on the graphic novel series “Stumptown” to series, marking the network’s first series pick up for the 2019-2020 season. The now untitled project, formerly known as “Stumptown,” follows Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders), described as a strong, assertive, and sharp-witted army veteran with a complicated
“Billions” has been renewed for a fifth season at Showtime. The news comes as the hit drama series is still in the midst of its fourth season, with the fourth season finale set to air on June 9. The series was created by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who serve as co-showrunners and executive producers.
May 8, 2019 10:28AM PT Russell T. Davies’ upcoming future-set drama “Years and Years” will be on HBO Europe and HBO Latin America. The series is already set for HBO in the U.S. “Queer as Folk” and “Doctor Who” scribe Davies’ new series follows one family over 15 years, through a period of political instability,
WarnerMedia is shaking up program sales, with HBO and U.S. Turner programming falling under Jeffrey Schlesinger’s Warner Bros. distribution unit. Schlesinger is president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution, which will now handle global sales of HBO Enterprises and Turner’s U.S. live-action and animation titles. The new structure also sees HBO Home Entertainment transferring to
Variety has exclusively learned that Australia’s Seven Studios has begun principal photography on the series “Secret Bridesmaids’ Business.” The show stars Abbie Cornish (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Katie McGrath (“Supergirl”), and Georgina Haig (“Once Upon A Time”). In the series, a bride’s perfect wedding turns deadly after one of her bridesmaids unknowingly invites a
Late-night comedy is making a meal out of the toxic three-ring circus of the Trump administration. Every weekday evening into earliest morning, faux pundits take to their desks armed with quick punchlines and arch deep dives into the political disasters of the day, mining as many jokes as possible for an increasingly hungry audience from
Only television could contain “Catch-22.” Joseph Heller’s capacious World War II novel, stuffed with philosophical monologues, paradoxes, and a wide-ranging cast of expendable flyboys centered on the inertly gloomy Yossarian, provides little foothold for any potential reworking. A 1970 feature adaptation (Mike Nichols’ little-remembered third film, made after “The Graduate” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia
May 8, 2019 6:19AM PT Billy Bush will return to entertainment reporting as the anchor of a the syndicated Warner Brothers magazine show “Extra Extra,”marking his return to the format after leaving NBC under a cloud. Bush was discovered on an old 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape laughing at vulgar remarks Donald Trump made about sexually
For its centerpiece commercial in the build-up to the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which kicks off June 7, Fox Sports knew it had to shoot to score. The spot, titled “All Eyes On Us,” poses the question which soccer fans around the world will be asking: can anybody challenge the U.S. team, the undisputed queens
May 8, 2019 5:59AM PT UPDATED: The new royal baby has a name, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The world got its first glimpse Wednesday of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s newborn son. The couple later announced the baby boy’s name. The proud parents, the duke and duchess of Sussex, showed off their first child to the
May 8, 2019 4:00AM PT Apple has greenlit “Prehistoric Planet,” a natural-history series that will recreate the last days of the dinosaurs. Jon Favreau and “Planet Earth II” producer Mike Gunton are teaming on the series for Apple’s soon-to-launch streaming service. It will be produced by BBC Studios’ highly-regarded Natural History Unit, which is based
May 8, 2019 12:34AM PT Overall revenues were down at ITV in the first quarter as ad sales took a hit amid Brexit uncertainty, but the U.K. broadcaster’s content and distribution division, ITV Studios, posted a small revenue increase. CEO Carolyn McCall flagged the likely Brexit impact earlier this year in a warning about the
May 7, 2019 6:35PM PT NBC has ordered one-hour drama “Council of Dads” to series. “Council of Dads” tells the story of an extended family when Scott, a “loving father of four, has his entire life’s plan thrown into upheaval by a cancer diagnosis [and] calls on a few of his closest allies to step
The CW has picked up three of its pilots to series. “Batwoman,” “Katy Keene,” and “Nancy Drew” have all been ordered for the 2019-2020 season. In addition, an individual with knowledge of the situation said that “Jane the Novela,” a spinoff of sorts of hit CW series “Jane the Virgin,” will not move forward at
In today’s roundup, Netflix has released the first official trailer for “Nailed It!” Season 3, and OWN’s new family saga “Ambitions” is set to debut in June. FIRST LOOKS Netflix has released the first official trailer for Season 3 of “Nailed It!”, which returns May 17. Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres are back as hosts
May 7, 2019 2:26PM PT The American Cinema Editors organization has moved the 70th Annual ACE Eddie Awards forward by three weeks to Jan. 17. The show will be held at its usual location at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. ACE said the earlier date reflects a shift in timing to almost
May 7, 2019 2:13PM PT A TV series based on the recent college admissions scandal is in the works, Variety has confirmed. Annapurna TV has optioned the rights to the upcoming book “Accepted” by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz. The book is set to be published by Portfolio, a division of Penguin Random House. D.V. DeVincentis