Television

March 8, 2019 1:29PM PT “The Masked Singer” has ended season one on a high note. In Live+3 for the week of Feb. 25, the finale of the hit Fox singing show achieved a season high rating of 4.3 in in adults 18-49, raking in almost 14 million total viewers. The show ended with a

Three years ago, when Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg (“Deliver Us From Evil”) set out to document the case of Adnan Syed — the teen convicted of killing Hae Min Lee in 1999 and made famous through podcast’s first breakout hit, “Serial” — she intended to follow Syed’s new trial. But while new testimony and discredited

March 8, 2019 1:00PM PT Juliet Rylance has been cast as the titular hypnotist in the ABC drama pilot “The Hypnotist’s Love Story,” Variety has learned. In the show, after a string of failed romances, successful hypnotherapist Ellen (Rylance) is optimistic about her current boyfriend (Adan Canto). But then he reveals a disturbing truth: a stalker

March 8, 2019 12:12PM PT HBO has canceled the comedy series “Crashing” after three seasons, Variety has confirmed. The Season 3 finale set to air this Sunday will now serve as the series finale. Series executive producer and director Judd Apatow made the announcement during a recent appearance on “Conan,” which can be seen below. “Well,

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “After Life,” streaming on Netflix. In “After Life,” Ricky Gervais plays a middle-aged man who dispenses withering one-liners and verbal abuse at pretty much anyone who crosses his path. On the surface, the role may not seem like a stretch for the infamously mean comedian.

Finn Jones has been cast in the lead role of the Fox pilot “Prodigal Son,” Variety has confirmed. The one-hour series centers on Malcolm Bright (Jones), an acclaimed criminal psychologist. He knows how killers think, how their minds work. Why? His father (Michael Sheen) was one of the worst — a notorious serial killer called “The

“Riverdale” actress Hayley Law shared fond memories of her co-star Luke Perry, who died on March 4 following a stroke, and vowed the entire series would be dedicated to him. “Every episode is for him. The whole show is for him. The show wouldn’t be what it is without him,” she told Variety at the premiere

About 2 million viewers tuned into controversial Michael Jackson documentary “Leaving Neverland” in Britain this week as the pop superstar’s fans took to the streets and plastered London buses with messages protesting his innocence, and his nephew sought funding for a series refuting the sex-abuse allegations made in the film. The two-part documentary was broadcast

SKY U.K. E.U. DEAL: A PANDORA’S BOX? Has outgoing European Competition Commissioner  – and maybe next Commission president – Margrethe Vestager opened a Pandora’s Box? On Thursday evening, the E.U. competition authorities announced they had accepted commitments from Sky U.K. and Disney, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. regarding their film licensing deals in

Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell, John Dickerson and Bianna Golodryga have scored a notable string of scoops for “CBS This Morning” in recent weeks. Now executives at the network’s news division are considering something that would also make headlines — a new anchor lineup for the show. As CBS News president Susan Zirinsky examines the division

The Simpsons episode “Stark Raving Dad” is considered one of the most iconic episodes from the show’s early run — but it will now be harder for fans to view. Michael Jackson infamously provided a voice for the episode, which aired as the show’s Season 3 premiere on Sept. 19, 1991. His involvement was uncredited,

March 7, 2019 5:31PM PT In commemoration of the final season of “The Big Bang Theory,” the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation announced that it will double support for “The Big Bang Theory” Scholarship Endowment at UCLA and established a new graduate-school grant program for “The Big Bang Theory” UCLA scholars. The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation

WonderCon returns to the Anaheim Convention Center from March 29-31, bringing some of the biggest superhero and other genre-specific television to Southern California. To keep up with all of the happenings of the weekend, Variety has compiled a list of the screenings and panels attending the event. Keep an eye on this page as it will

March 7, 2019 5:00PM PT Indira Varma has been cast in the untitled legal drama pilot at ABC from Hank Steinberg and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Variety has learned. The project follows Aaron (Nicholas Pinnock), a prisoner who becomes a lawyer, litigating cases for other inmates while fighting to overturn his own life sentence for a

The Amazon drama “Homecoming” will see another big change going into its second season. In addition to Julia Roberts not returning to star, Sam Esmail will not direct any episodes for Season 2, Variety has learned. Both Esmail and Roberts will remain on the show as executive producers, however. Amazon declined to comment. Esmail directed

In today’s roundup, Netflix has announced the release date for Season 2 of Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” and YouTube drops the first trailer for the second season of “Cobra Kai.” DATES Season 2 of Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” will return to Netflix on May 24. The comedy follows Nola Darling (DeWanda

The NBC pilot “Council of Dads” has added four more regulars to its cast, Variety has learned. Michael O’Neill, Steven Silver, Thalia Tran, and Emjay Anthony have all been cast in the drama pilot. They join previously announced cast members Sarah Wayne Callies, Clive Standen, Michele Weaver, Blue Chapman, and J. August Richards. Based on Bruce Feiler’s

Natasha Leggero has joined the CBS comedy pilot “Broke,” rounding out the show’s three main roles. She joins previously announced stars Jaime Camil and Pauley Perrette. In the multi-cam, when an outrageously wealthy trust fund baby (Camil) is cut off by his father, he and his wife (Leggero) move into her estranged sister’s (Perrette) Reseda

March 7, 2019 12:45PM PT Thomas Lennon has been cast in the title role of the Fox single-camera comedy pilot “Richard Lovely,” Variety has learned exclusively. The project follows Richard Lovely, the disgruntled author of the best-selling children’s book series, “Mr. Mouse.” He doesn’t hate children, but rather just everything about them. After a publicity fiasco

March 7, 2019 12:44PM PT Carlton Cuse will not be returning as showrunner for season three of “Jack Ryan,” Variety has learned. The former “Lost” helmer will stay on as Executive Producer, and Amazon has launched a search to find a replacement showrunner for the John Krasinski thriller series. News of Cuse’s departure comes less than

The eighth annual ATX Television Festival has added Freeform’s “Good Trouble,” Comedy Central’s “Alternatino with Arturo Castro,” IFC’s “Sherman’s Showcase,” USA’s “Dare Me” and a special panel on casting to its lineup. “Good Trouble” will deliver an early look at the second season of “The Fosters” spinoff. This screening will be followed by a Q&A

March 7, 2019 10:50AM PT Adriana Barraza is the latest addition to the cast of the upcoming Showtime series “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” Variety has learned. Barraza joins previously announced cast members Natalie Dormer, Daniel Zovatto, Jessica Garza, Johnathan Nieves, and Nathan Lane. She will play Maria Vega, the powerful matriarch of the Vega family,

After eight years of holding the Gallagher family together, Emmy Rossum announced in August she was leaving “Shameless.” Her final episode, the Season 9 finale, airs on Mar. 10, and at the Emmys FYC red carpet for “Shameless,” series star Jeremy Allen White said he’s unsure how the family will move on from losing Fiona.

The Paley Center for Media will launch a subscription service to live stream the upcoming PaleyFest LA panels and offer on-demand access to older Paley Center events. The service dubbed PaleyTV will be offered as a $7.99 option to live stream all of PaleyFest LA, which is set to run from March 15 through March

March 7, 2019 9:00AM PT The reboot of reality TV show “Wife Swap” has swapped networks. Paramount Network has announced it is taking over the show from CMT, and will start airing 10 new episodes on April 4. Each episode of the show takes two families from different walks of life and switches spouses, regardless

Jennifer Morrison has been cast in the lead role of the CBS drama pilot “Under the Bridge,” Variety has learned. Morrison will play Kate, a cardiothoracic surgeon who has managed to be ambitious without offending anyone, a skill-set one acquires as a woman. Curious, open, but never naive, Kate is forced to return to work after a

R. Kelly talked about his family and his financial situation in the second part of his highly emotional interview with Gayle King on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday. The singer was taken into police custody on Wednesday just hours after the first part of the special aired, due to his failure to pay around $165,000

Cattleya, the Italian company behind hit series “Gomorrah” and Amazon’s upcoming “ZeroZeroZero,” is making its first foray into the detective genre with “Petra,” featuring a hard-boiled female inspector played by actress Paola Cortellesi. The four-part Italian-language series is being produced as an original for Sky Italia. Production has kicked off in Genoa with Italy’s Maria

Famed Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet, whose credits include multi-prized “The Secret Life of Words” and “The Bookshop,” is directing her first TV series, “Foodie Love,” for HBO Europe. Coixet is just back from the Berlin Film Festival where her Netflix movie, “Elisa and Marcela,” played in competition. She will now serve up her first series

The CW’s Archie Comics-inspired teen drama “Riverdale” dedicated its first episode back on-air after series regular Luke Perry’s untimely passing to the late actor. After the episode ended, an “in memoriam” card came up with his name and the years of his birth and death (1966-2019). The Mar. 6 episode entitled “Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk