“Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu has signed a significant four-year overall deal with Disney’s 20th TV, Variety has learned. Under the new deal, which represents his first overall in television, Chu will develop and executive produce projects – some of which he will direct – as well as potentially direct existing projects. Chu’s deal is
Television
CBS is doing all it can to make sure the “Star Trek” franchise lives long and prospers. The network has announced it is launching a “Star Trek” global franchise group that will “manage and maximize the expansion of the brand beyond the traditional boundaries of linear broadcasting and streaming,” with the goal of broadening the “Star Trek”
May 6, 2019 9:30AM PT Amandla Stenberg has been cast as the lead in Damien Chazelle’s Netflix series “The Eddy,” which will globally debut in 2020. The eight-part musical drama is expected to debut in 2020. It revolves around a club in Paris, highlighting its owner, the house band, and the chaotic city that surrounds
May 6, 2019 7:57AM PT Call her the Mother of Lattes? HBO’s “Game of Thrones” episode 4 season 8 included a scene in which a takeout coffee cup — possibly from Starbucks — is clearly visible on a table in front of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) at around the 17:40 mark. The anachronism was spotted
May 6, 2019 7:44AM PT E! has pulled the plug on “Busy Tonight,” the late-night talk show hosted by actor Busy Philipps, after seven months. “Busy Tonight” bowed Oct. 28 and airedSunday through Wednesday in the 10 p.m. slot before moving in January to a Monday-Thursday 11 p.m. rotation. The half-hour series blended celebrity interviews
May 6, 2019 7:00AM PT Topic Studios has hired veteran HBO executive Maria Zuckerman as executive vice president to lead overall strategy including development, financing and production of films, documentaries, TV, podcasts and digital programming. Zuckerman worked for nearly 20 years at HBO, where she most recently served as senior VP of HBO Films. She
Australia’s SBS is to launch a free-to-air movie channel dedicated to international cinema. SBS World Movies will begin operating from July 1, 2019. SBS or Special Broadcasting Service is a public private partnership operating as a TV, radio and online broadcaster. SBS World Movies describes itself as “a celebration of the diversity of global cinema.”
CBS News made headlines of its own Monday by unveiling anchor changes at two of its best known programs, a radical maneuver that underscores how its programs have fallen behind rivals at a time of heightened competition. The network will overhaul both “CBS This Morning” and “CBS Evening News,” adding two new anchors, veteran Anthony
“Game of Thrones” has picked up a step in its final season — and the third-to-last episode of the series was proof of “Thrones’s” ability, still, to toggle between plotlines and tones elegantly even as the story winnows down to a few key characters. The two episodes preceding Sunday night’s had been tightly focused on
During the opening sequence of Sunday night’s “Game of Thrones,” in which drunken members of the realm celebrated their victory over the White Walkers, Tyrion Lannister, played by Peter Dinklage, turned to Davos Seaworth and said: “”We may have defeated them, but we still have us to contend with.” It was one of many great,
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read on unless you’ve seen Episode 4 of Season 8 of “Game of Thrones,” which aired Sunday May 5. The fourth episode of “Game of Thrones‘” final season, titled “The Last of the Starks,” pushed the plotline forward to King’s Landing and hinted that Daenerys Targaryan might be headed towards the
SPOILER ALERT: Do not keep reading if you have not seen Season 8, Episode 4 of “Game of Thrones,” titled “The Last of the Starks.” Sunday’s episodes of “Game of Thrones” was a true doozy if ever there was one. After the events of last week’s episode — in which the armies of the Stark-Targaryen
May 5, 2019 7:43PM PT SPOILER ALERT: Do not read on unless you’ve seen Episode 4 of Season 8 of “Game of Thrones,” which aired Sunday May 5. As “Thrones” fans have come to know, the penultimate episode is always the biggest in the land of Westeros. And as we prepare for the impending series
Charlie Kessler has dropped his idea theft lawsuit against Matt and Ross Duffer on the eve of trial, acknowledging the brothers came up with the idea for the Netflix show “Stranger Things” on their own. Kessler had alleged that the Duffer brothers stole his idea for the series after the trio got to talking at
Adam Sandler paid tribute to his former “SNL” castmate and friend Chris Farley Saturday, performing a song he wrote about the late comedian. “He was a one man party/You know who I’m talking about, I’m talking about my friend Chris Farley,” the song, which Sandler originally performed on his Netflix special “100% Fresh,” began. Photos
May 5, 2019 10:21AM PT Let the leaks continue! As consistent with each of the previous episodes, scenes apparently from episode four of “Game of Thrones‘” final season have leaked online, with a roughly 30-second video appearing on Twitter and YouTube hours ahead of the episode’s premiere. The video appears to show the death of
Lots of familiar faces have popped up in Westeros across the eight seasons of “Game of Thrones.” From musicians to comedians to the severed head of a former U.S. president, the HBO series has a habit of throwing in easter eggs for eagle-eyed viewers to spot. Many of the hidden celebrities meet grisly ends, so
Adam Sandler returned to “Saturday Night Live” for the first time since 1995 to sing a chorus of “I got fired by NBC” in his opening monologue, with help from Chris Rock and Pete Davidson. In his first turn as “SNL” host, Sandler noted the length of time that had passed since he was a
Following the Los Angeles ceremony in March, the 30th GLAAD Media Awards went to New York to continue honoring the celebrities, films, shows and media organizations that have made strides in supporting the LGBTQ+ community this past year. Drag superstar Shangela hosted the event, which presented Madonna with the Advocate for Change award and Andy
The title of the just-completed documentary “Dave Grusin: Not Enough Time” reflects the subject’s lament that there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the year for all the music that needs to be made. That desire to stretch the clock might seem hyperbolic coming from other musicians, but not for someone whose
May 4, 2019 11:38AM PT Though the end is nearing for the “Game of Thrones‘” original series, the saga is potentially continuing with one or more spinoffs. And according to George R.R. Martin, fans could have as many as three to look forward to. The author of the “A Song of Ice & Fire” saga,
The 46th annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Friday recognized the top achievements in daytime television. CBS took home 12 awards, the most of any network, with Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and PBS right behind at 10 awards each. With five nods, the Eye’s “The Young and the Restless” soap was the program with
Variety took home a Daytime Creative Arts Emmy award on Friday for its “Actors on Actors” series. “Variety Studio: Actors on Actors” is a production with PBS SoCal that features two actors discussing their craft and thoughts on Hollywood. The winning season includes interviews with actors promoting their television projects including: Bill Hader (“Barry”) with Jason
Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety’s television podcast. In this week’s episode, senior features editor Danielle Turchiano talks with Craig Mazin, executive producer of HBO’s “Chernobyl,” which premieres May 6. The five-part miniseries is a dramatization of the nuclear disaster that took place just outside the titular Ukrainian town in 1986, and the far-reaching aftermath of the
In today’s roundup, Showtime debuts a trailer for its upcoming drama “City on a Hill,” and MSNBC expands into weekend programming with “Saturday Night Politics With Donny Deutsch.” DATES: MSNBC‘s “Saturday Night Politics With Donny Deutsch” will premiere this Saturday, May 4 at 8 p.m. ET. The new program, which is part of the network’s expansion
Veteran exec Peter Golden is departing his longtime post as head of casting at CBS, Variety has learned. The move follows complaints to human resources about Golden’s behavior made by members of the CBS casting department. It also comes just months after Golden’s name surfaced in reporting on sexual-misconduct allegations against ousted CBS CEO Leslie
May 3, 2019 2:18PM PT “The Big Bang Theory,” “Young Sheldon” and “Survivor” helped CBS claim the top three spots in the Live+3 ratings for the week of April 22. In what was a slow week overall, “The Big Bang Theory” led the way with a 2.8 rating in delayed, having posted a 1.8 in
Disney has finalized its deal to sell 21 Fox regional sports networks to Sinclair Broadcast Group in a transaction valued at $10.6 billion. Byron Allen, the entrepreneur behind Entertainment Studios, has teamed with Sinclair as an equity partner in the newly formed Diamond Holding Group. The agreement covers outlets serving major markets around the country.
For 18 years, Chris Kattan has harbored a secret that he’s finally ready to share: The comedian believes he broke his neck while performing a sketch on “Saturday Night Live” in 2001, an accident that he says nearly paralyzed him, led to years of addiction struggles and sidetracked his career. In his new memoir, “Baby
You can’t keep a good devil down. Nearly a year after its Fox cancellation, “Lucifer” returns with a 10-episode fourth season at its new Netflix home. Creatively, the shift came at a pivotal moment for the series. The Season 3 finale found the title character (Tom Ellis) revealing his true devil face to his partner/potential