Twenty-five years after the finale of “In Living Color,” creator and star Keenen Ivory Wayans still knows that his groundbreaking show took big chances to make television history. Speaking at a sold-out Tribeca Film Festival panel honoring the sketch comedy series on Saturday, he said that “the intent of the show was to include everybody.
Television
April 27, 2019 2:12PM PT The WHCA will host its annual dinner Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET. President Donald Trump will not be attending the dinner for the third year in a row. American presidents and statesmen biographer, Ron Chernow, will be the featured speaker this year. Chernow wrote the biography of Alexander Hamilton that
A+E Networks is warning viewers of a possible blackout of A&E Network, Lifetime, History and other channels across DirecTV platforms as the sides go down to the wire on carriage renewal negotiations. DirecTV and A+E Networks are facing a deadline of midnight ET Tuesday to strike a new deal that will keep A+E Networks channels
“Game of Thrones” felt a little too happy last week, didn’t it? The Night King and his army spoiled our heroes’ quiet night of swapping stories and catching up with each other as the battle of Winterfell is finally here. Get your tissues ready as several fan favorites will surely be taken off the playing
“California Dreams” may have been a hit 1990s sitcom, airing for four years on Saturday mornings on TNBC, but aside from a 2010 performance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” its cast has rarely come back together publicly in the almost 25 years since the band-within-the-show strummed its last note. But then came reboot
It makes perfect sense that “Chernobyl” feels more like a horror movie at times than a traditional drama. Tracing the catastrophe events before, during, and after the nuclear explosion that continues to send radioactive ripples throughout Europe to this day, the HBO’s new limited series is, in fact, recounting one of the modern era’s most
RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio Creative Conference (Rio2C), the largest film-TV gathering in Latin America, wrapped its market sessions Friday April 26 with Christian de Castro, president off Ancine, Brazil’s foremost public-sector source, vowing to fully re-establish its incentives. Castro spoke to an audience of producers and other players Brazil’s heavily incentive-dependent industry still in
Locked in a bitter stand-off with Hollywood agents, the Writers Guild of America has announced that it’s expanding its nascent staffing submission system for television work. The WGA and the Association of Talent Agents saw talks crater on April 12 over efforts to revamp the 43-year-old rules governing how agents represent WGA members. The guild
Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety’s television podcast. In this week’s episode, TV reporter Joe Otterson talks with executive producers Jon Hurwtiz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald of YouTube’s “Cobra Kai.” Set roughly 30 years after the original iconic “Karate Kid” films, “Cobra Kai” centers around grown-up versions of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Maccio) and Johnny Lawrence (William
Netflix has canceled dark-comedy series “Santa Clarita Diet” after three seasons. “The world had never known a ‘zom-com’ until Santa Clarita Diet, and we’re indebted to creator Victor Fresco for bringing this idea to Netflix,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “To their endless credit, the incredible Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant were totally
April 26, 2019 5:57PM PT TBS has pulled the plug on “Wrecked” after three seasons, Variety has confirmed. The show starred Asif Ali, Zach Cregger, Rhys Darby, Brooke Dillman, Will Greenberg, Jessica Lowe, Ally Maki and Brian Sacca, and was executive-produced by Justin Shipley, Jordan Shipley and Jesse Hara. Season 3 of the single-camera comedy, which
In today’s TV news roundup, Variety has obtained an exclusive clip of Gabriel Mann guest starring on “The Blacklist” and Netflix releases a trailer for the final season of “Easy.” FIRST LOOKS Variety has obtained an exclusive first look clip of Gabriel Mann guest starring on “The Blacklist.” The two-hour NBC event begins on Friday at
April 26, 2019 3:07PM PT Joseph Ianniello, CBS’ president and acting CEO, is in line to earn at least $23 million this year per the terms of the contract extension he signed earlier this week. Ianniello agreed to continue as acting CEO for another six months, through year’s end, as CBS’ board of directors considers
Shannen Doherty is set to reprise the role of Brenda Walsh in Fox’s upcoming “BH90210” reboot series, Variety has learned. She will join fellow original “Beverly Hills, 90210” cast members Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling, who have all already signed on to the project. The six-episode reboot
April 26, 2019 1:45PM PT The Dead or Alive hit was also famously covered by Adam Sandler in ‘The Wedding Singer.’ [embedded content] Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd once again teamed up for a return to ’80s video glory, this time recreating Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” on “The Tonight
April 26, 2019 12:11PM PT Without any NCAA basketball or “This Is Us” to get in its way, “The Big Bang Theory” returned to the top of the Live+3 rankings for the week of April 15. The behemoth CBS show, which only has a few episodes to go before it waves goodbye to audiences, posted
When HBO Films bought the world-premiering “Native Son” earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, it felt that the movie, based on Richard Wright’s seminal 1940 novel of the same name, would focus on a subject to which modern audiences could certainly relate: the complicated issue of racism in America. But the filmmakers faced a harder
April 26, 2019 9:40AM PT “Blindspot” has been pulled off the NBC schedule for the May sweeps period of April 25 – May 22. According to NBC’s updated schedule, the series will not air in its normal Friday 8 p.m timeslot beginning tonight and continuing May 3-17, with the show returning on May 24 and May
April 26, 2019 9:11AM PT Comcast chairman-CEO Brian Roberts saw a bump in his total compensation for 2018 while NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke’s haul declined by more than $6 million last year. Roberts’ total compensation reached $35 million last year, fueled by a $10.7 million performance bonus and more than $10 million in stock options
WATCH ‘DARK’ SEASON 2 TEASER Season 2 of Netflix’s globally popular German genre series “Dark” will drop worldwide on the platform on June 21. The company has released first-look images and a teaser to accompany the news. In the trailer, we get a peak of Jonas who is trying desperately to get back to 2020
“Peaky Blinders” fans will be able to join the gang – virtually – in a new VR game that will allow players to interact with characters from the hit series. Start-up immersive studio Maze Theory teamed with the show’s producers and is making the game, which will launch in 2020. Artificial intelligence technology means characters
April 25, 2019 3:29PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, HBO released the trailer for the “Deadwood” film, and CNN announced a premiere date for “Apollo 11.” DATES The documentary “Apollo 11” from director/producer Todd Douglas Miller will premiere on CNN Sunday, June 23 at 9 p.m. Using only archival sources, the film captures NASA’s
Former Fox Television chief marketing officer Shannon Ryan has been tapped as the new president of marketing for ABC Entertainment and Disney Television Studios. The announcement was made by Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment, and Craig Hunegs, president of Disney Television Studios, to whom she will report. Rumours had been circling for a while
Rideback, Dan Lin’s production company, and MRC have announced the inaugural class of writers and mentors for their TV incubator. The new TV writers residency program, which was launched in February, offers a paid, eight-month residency program to a group of writers who have each previously been staffed on series and want to create their
The CBS Corp. board of directors is moving closer to initiating acquisition discussions with Viacom, according to multiple sources close to the situation. The move has been expected for months, although there may still be obstacles on the road to a reunion for the two sides of the Redstone media empire. Price could still be
April 25, 2019 10:06AM PT [embedded content] A&E has renewed “Wahlburgers” for a 10th and final season. The reality series following brothers Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg will debut the new installment at on May 15. A&E has also released a trailer for the season. Season 10 will continue to focus on the Wahlberg brothers
By this time next year, many of the brightest lights in the current TV universe will cease to shine. Some of the most popular and acclaimed shows are set to air their swan songs this year and during the 2019-20 broadcast season. While programs come and go all the time, the sheer number of iconic
April 25, 2019 9:00AM PT Christina M. Kim has signed a multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, Variety has learned exclusively. Kim is currently an executive producer on the WBTV series “Blindspot,” which is currently in its fourth season on NBC. Should “Blindspot” get picked up for a fifth season, Kim would remain an executive
April 25, 2019 8:36AM PT Last night, Jussie Smollett’s final episode of “Empire” season 5, and potentially his last episode on the show ever, went up in the ratings from previous weeks, but still posted low figures for the series. The episode, in which Smollett’s character Jamal Lyon tied the knot in TV’s first-ever black,
Madison Avenue can’t place ads in NFL TV broadcasts in the off-season – there aren’t any – so it’s doing the next best thing. Disney says ad slots for its coverage of the NFL Draft, slated to air Thursday, Friday and Saturday on both ABC and ESPN, sold out about a week ago. Football can