Television

The worlds of entertainment, business, sports and academia were rocked by the recent revelation that wealthy parents such as Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin allegedly paid college admissions consultant Rick Singer large sums to get their children into elite colleges. New developments in the scandal, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues by the FBI, continue to pop

Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety’s television podcast. In this week’s episode, Variety TV critic Caroline Framke talks with Jeanine Mason, star of the CW’s new drama “Roswell, New Mexico.” The series is the second adaptation of the “Roswell High” book series by Melinda Metz. The first series premiered in 1999 and starred Shiri Appleby as the main character,

“American Gods” is returning with a new showrunner. The Fremantle-produced Starz television series based on the Neil Gaiman novel has officially been picked up for a third season and has tapped Charles “Chic” Eglee to lead the season as showrunner and executive producer. The news comes less than a week after the show launched its

National Geographic Channel has completed its investigation into “Cosmos” and “StarTalk” host Neil deGrasse Tyson, and will move forward with both shows. The channel didn’t elaborate on its findings, however. “‘StarTalk’ will return to the air with the remaining 13 episodes in April on National Geographic, and both Fox and National Geographic are committed to

March 15, 2019 12:54PM PT CBS has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit which accused the company of paying millions to former chairman Sumner Redstone after he was incapacitated by illness. The suit was filed in Delaware Chancery Court in July 2016 on behalf of shareholder R.A. Feuer. It accused the

A week after “Captain Marvel” lit up the box office, fighting off superhero fatigue and online trolls who feel a female superhero isn’t “realistic,” since apparently only men can shoot fire from their hands, there’s another project that is looking to break barriers. On Friday, streaming service Hulu drops all six episodes of “Shrill,” a

Before Hannah B. was announced as the next leading lady on ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” Khloe Kardashian’s name was brought into the casting conversation, thanks to Mike Fleiss, the creator of “The Bachelor” franchise. Fleiss — who is known to generate attention for his unfiltered tweets — wrote on Twitter that Kardashian was in talks to

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you’ve watched the fourth and final season of “Catastrophe,” streaming now on Amazon. The central relationship on Amazon’s comedic “Catastrophe” began in the first season when Rob (Rob Delaney) got Sharon (Sharon Horgan) pregnant. The duo that barely knew each other was thrust together in a much longer-lasting way than

March 15, 2019 11:00AM PT The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has set next year’s Golden Globes ceremony for Jan. 5, 2020. Produced by Dick Clark Productions in partnership with the HFPA, the Golden Globe Awards air on NBC, and are viewed in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The Globes fall just two days

March 15, 2019 10:30AM PT Freddie Prinze Jr. has boarded the Nancy Drew pilot which is in the works at the CW, Variety has learned. He will play Nancy’s father, Carson Drew, who is described as a dynamic attorney who has become estranged from Nancy following the recent death of his beloved wife – but his

“Saturday Night Live” aired last October a sketch about a pumpkin patch where the employees, much to the consternation of the proprietor, engage in sexual intercourse with the product. “The Pumpkin Patch” was lewd, funny, and seasonally appropriate. But according to Nick Ruggia and Ryan Hoffman, it was something else — theft. Ruggia and Hoffman

When CNN was getting ready to launch Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” in 2013, newly appointed president Jeff Zucker joked that viewers would see the series again and again as CNN used it to offset the slow news periods when its audience often evaporated. These days, it’s hard to find a free moment on any mainstream

HBO has confirmed that the first two episodes of the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” will be slightly shorter than the rest. The final six episodes of the megahit show were originally rumored to be 90 minutes long each, but it’s now clear that only the last four episodes will be longer

With TV advertising in decline and stark competition from the likes of Netflix and Amazon, European broadcasting giant RTL Group is looking to significantly boost its own streaming services in its major markets. The company, which owns London-based production and distribution powerhouse Fremantle, said this week that it would invest at least €350 million ($396

MIPDRAMA BUYERS’ SUMMIT: SCALE, COMEDY, NOIR European drama serie production continues to scale up, is driving ever more into comedy, while Nordic Noir’s is still going international, if the selection of 10 productions at this year’s MipDrama Buyers’ Summit is anything to go by. Meanwhile, established players are driving ever more into drama series production.

Many TV viewers know Donnie Wahlberg for the way he helps solve crimes on the CBS drama “Blue Bloods.” Starting this weekend, they may come to know him for the way he does the same on HLN. Wahlberg, known for his CBS role and his time in the band “New Kids on the Block,” will

March 15, 2019 4:10AM PT Posters proclaiming Michael Jackson‘s innocence in the wake of the “Leaving Neverland“ documentary will be removed from the sides of London buses, following a decision by the city’s transport agency. Supporters of the late pop up superstar had paid for the posters, which bear the singer‘s face and the words

“The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds,” one of the most popular factual shows on Britain’s Channel 4 in recent years, has gotten a Japanese remake. NHK will air a local version of the show, which has cameras follow a group of small children and how they interact with one another and their surroundings. The

The iHeartRadio Music Awards show is many people’s favorite awards show of the year, by virtue of lasting only two hours. If it’s not music’s biggest night, it’s music’s shortest, which counts for a lot. But Thursday night’s telecast, broadcast live on Fox from L.A.’s Microsoft Theater, had even more going for it than that—

When “Project Runway” first premiered in 2004, it premiered in a different world. It was a time of low-rise jeans and chunky highlights, trucker hats and skinny scarves, body glitter and “accidental” nip slips. Pop culture was ruled by rude boys and stumbling starlets — the messier, the better. In retrospect, it was a truly

Lilly Singh, who first amassed fame as a YouTube star, has been tapped to replace Carson Daly as the host of NBC’s 1:35 a.m. talk show. The retitled “A Little Late with Lilly Singh” will launch in September, and as noted by NBC, will make her the only female to currently host a late-night talk

March 14, 2019 4:00PM PT Amazon has given a pilot order to a half-hour series that hails from Jason Katims. The series is based on the Israeli format “On the Spectrum” created by Dana Idisis and Yuval Shafferman. It is described as a coming-of-age comedic drama about three 20-something roommates on the autism spectrum, striving

March 14, 2019 3:52PM PT Jim Raman, an orthodontist who competed on the 25th season of “The Amazing Race,” died on Tuesday morning in South Carolina, according to the TV station WIS TV. He was 42. Raman participated on the CBS reality competition show with his wife, Misti, in 2014. The duo, nicknamed the Married

In today’s roundup, Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong star in a new Netflix animated comedy, “Tuca & Bertie,” debuting on May 3. DATES MTV‘s newest dating show “Double Shot at Love with DJ Pauly D and Vinny” will premiere with back-to-back episodes on April 11. “Jersey Shore” alums Vinny Guadagnino and DJ Pauly D will

March 14, 2019 3:26PM PT Apple has given a formal series order to the drama based on Min Jin Lee’s “Pachinko,” Variety has confirmed. “Pachinko” chronicles the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family. The story begins with a forbidden romance and crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan

Season 23 of “The Bachelor” wrapped up this week with an unprecedented finale: Leading man Colton nearly quit the show when he was dumped by contestant Cassie. He ended up getting a second chance with her, the couple reunited, and ended the finale in a relationship, but without a proposal and engagement. Typically, “The Bachelor”

A month after dropping the third season of “One Day at a Time,” Netflix announced that it won’t be renewing the acclaimed series for a fourth. It wasn’t a huge surprise; the scrappy family sitcom has been fighting for its life since day one, doing its best to stand out amidst Netflix’s increasingly enormous tidal

The Hallmark Channel has announced it is cutting ties with Lori Loughlin, who starred in the network’s show “When Calls the Heart,” after she was arrested on a charge of mail fraud in connection with the widespread college admissions bribery scheme. Hallmark is pulling an upcoming episode of the show, which was due to air this

Michael Douglas will encounter a familiar face on a Season 2 episode of his Netflix sitcom, “The Kominsky Method”: His “Romancing the Stone” co-star Kathleen Turner. Turner has signed on to play Ruth Bederman, Sandy’s (Douglas) ex-wife and the mother of his daughter Mindy (Sarah Baker). As of now, Turner is scheduled to appear in

“One Day at a Time” has been canceled at Netflix after three seasons, Variety has learned. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, producer Sony Pictures Television plans to shop the series elsewhere. The reboot of the classic Norman Lear sitcom was co-created Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce, who also serve as co-showrunners.