March 5, 2019 10:30AM PT Nicole Sun has been cast in the Fox single-camera comedy pilot “Richard Lovely,” Variety has learned exclusively. The project follows the title character, 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 involving an unexpectedly
Television
CBS has announced that Jeanne Mau, a longtime programming and diversity exec at the company, has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Entertainment Diversity and Inclusion. In her new role, Mau will supervise the CBS Directing Initiative and Writers Mentoring Program, while serving as liaison with other networks and studios in their diversity and inclusion
March 5, 2019 10:00AM PT Walton Goggins has been cast in the lead role of the CBS comedy pilot “The Unicorn,” Variety has learned. Goggins will play a recent widower and devoted father to two adolescent girls. The character is described as a big-hearted open-book of a guy, but without his wife, he’s finding himself at
Adan Canto has been cast in a lead role 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 is optimistic about her current boyfriend (Canto). But then he reveals a disturbing truth: a stalker ex-girlfriend (Graham) has been following him for
Winter has definitely come, and it looks icy. HBO has released the first trailer for the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones,” teasing the epic final battle every fan of the show has been waiting for. The new footage opens with Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) running for her life. “I know death, he’s
One of the first things Vincent Sadusky did after taking the reins of Univision Communications as CEO last June was to shift the company’s headquarters from New York to Miami. Under previous CEO Randy Falco, the locus of power at the company had been in New York. But Sadusky felt it was important to be
In Adnan Syed’s ongoing legal struggle, our culture seems to have stumbled on a successor to the O.J. Simpson saga — a “trial of the century” for the age of micro-fame. Born and raised in Baltimore, Syed was a teenager when he was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee; his story provided grist
AT&T’s plans to reorganize WarnerMedia had been expected for months. But the telecom parent’s aggressive moves to shake up the media giant’s senior management ranks and begin consolidating key divisions have left company executives reeling and bracing for further turmoil. The sudden forced departures of two veterans — HBO chief executive Richard Plepler and Turner
MADRID — Upcoming trans-Atlantic dark comedy “Villa Santa” will pitch at this year’s first edition of the FICG TV Pitchbox at the Guadalajara Intl Film Festival, a pitching and networking event hosted by Spain’s Filmarket Hub where promising TV projects can seek out co-producers, distribution or sales. “Villa Santa” was created and is lead-written by
Audible has released the cover art for “Heads Will Roll,” the audiobook giant’s first foray into comedy originals. Set to launch May 2nd, the absurdist 10-episode medieval series comes from the minds of “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kate McKinnon and her sister Emily Lynne, who both star. McKinnon plays the evil Queen Mortuana of
March 4, 2019 5:15PM PT NBC is not moving forward with “Law & Order: Hate Crimes” as planned. The drama, which received a straight-to-series order at NBC in September, was originally set to debut in a planted spinoff episode during “Law & Order: SVU” this season. That plan has now been scrapped, but the show
Major media companies like Disney, Comcast, CBS and Fox are always jockeying for the rights to broadcast America’s most popular sports. AT&T may join their ranks. The telecommunications giant, through its WarnerMedia subsidiary “will certainly continue to be a significant player in the sports-rights arena,” says Jeff Zucker, who was just named chairman of WarnerMedia’s
Luke Perry, the actor who made a generation of viewers want to pack up their JanSports and move to Beverly Hills, died Monday at the age of 52. As Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the Ohio native evoked a Pepsi-era James Dean. Perry’s Marlboro Lights, golden tresses and furrowing brow made him dangerous, caused
In today’s roundup, Netflix has released the official trailer for season three of “Queer Eye” and Hulu gives the first look at true crime series “The Act.” CASTING Netflix has added more cast members to “Cursed,” the upcoming reimagining of the legend of King Arthur. Based on the novel of the same name by Frank
March 4, 2019 3:30PM PT “The Masked Singer” narrowly came out on top in the Live+7 ratings for the week of Feb.11. With a final Live+7 rating of 3.6 in the key adults 18-49 demographic, Fox’s “The Masked Singer” was the highest rated show of the week, with NBC’s “This Is Us” very close behind
Tragedy, resilience, and family ties are at the heart of Netflix’s upcoming family drama “Northern Rescue.” Created by David Cormican, the series debuted on the streaming service March 1. Following the West family in the midst of tragedy and loss, the first two of the series’ ten episodes seethe death of the family matriarch, which
March 4, 2019 3:00PM PT “Superstore” has been renewed for a fifth season, NBC announced Monday. The single-camera comedy series takes place in fictional big box store Cloud 9 and stars America Ferrera, Ben Feldman, Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Bloom, Mark McKinney. It was created by Justin Spitzer, who serves as an
Jonas Brothers fans, remember to breathe. Amazon Studios has announced it is partnering with Philymack, and Federal Films, a division of Republic Records, on an upcoming documentary about the Jonas Brothers, to premiere on Amazon Prime Video. The doc will give fans “an intimate look” into the lives of Kevin, Nick and Joe. “Our fans
March 4, 2019 2:30PM PT Fran Drescher has joined the NBC multi-camera comedy pilot “Uninsured” in a lead role, Variety has learned exclusively. She joins previously announced cast members Adam Pally, Abby Elliot, Jessy Hodges, and Amer Chadha-Patel. The story centers on young parents Dave (Pally) and Rebecca (Elliot), who end up having to take care
March 4, 2019 1:45PM PT The cast of the Captain Jean-Luc Picard series at CBS All Access has begun to take shape. Santiago Cabrera and Michelle Hurd have both joins the upcoming “Star Trek” streaming show in series regular roles. The exact nature of their roles is being kept under wraps. As previously reported, the CBS All
March 4, 2019 10:42AM PT After Luke Perry died on Monday following a stroke last week, celebrities have shown an outpouring of support for the “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Riverdale” actor. His “Riverdale” co-star Molly Ringwald wrote, “My heart is broken. I will miss you so much Luke Perry. Sending all my love to your
March 4, 2019 10:33AM PT Shares of AT&T were off more than 3% in midday trading Monday after the company unveiled its plans to restructure its WarnerMedia unit. The stock dip takes place on a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off more than 300 points. Share of the telecommunications giant fell $1.08
March 4, 2019 10:15AM PT Walt Disney has named Ravi Ahuja as the president of business operations and chief financial officer of Walt Disney Television, to take effect once the acquisition of 21st Century Fox closes. Ahuja is currently the CFO for Fox Networks Group, managing the company’s finance and accounting and overseeing business development
Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. This week, HBO’s “Leaving Neverland” concludes and “American Gods” returns for season two. “Leaving Neverland,”
Actor Luke Perry, known for roles in “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Riverdale,” died on Monday after suffering a massive stroke on Wednesday. He was 52. “[Perry] was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiancé Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, step-father Steve Bennett, brother Tom Perry, sister Amy Coder, and other
Cop comedy “No Activity” has been renewed for a third season at CBS All Access, Variety has learned. The show, based on the Australian series of the same name, was the first original comedy series to launch on CBS’ streaming service when it debuted in 2017. Its second season found detectives Cullen (Patrick Brammall) and Tolbeck
Netflix has announced it will pay tribute to the iconic sketch comedy show “Laugh-In” with a special event at the Dolby Theater on March 8. “Still Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate” will serve as a 50th anniversary celebration of the NBC show which aired from 1968 to 1973 and won two Emmy’s. Lily Tomlin will take
AT&T has just handed the keys to WarnerMedia’s most high-profile business initiative to Bob Greenblatt, the seasoned TV executive whose resume includes helping to build the Fox network in its infancy, bringing Showtime to prominence with original series and revitalizing NBC during the past eight years. As of Monday, Greenblatt is driving WarnerMedia’s bid to
March 4, 2019 8:01AM PT French studio Gaumont (“Narcos”) is collaborating with Indian producer Dina Dattani (“The Ashram”) on a series adaptation of Preti Taneja’s debut novel “We That Are Young.” A re-imagining of William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” set in contemporary India, the novel follows the tumultuous lives of the aging patriarch of a business
Paramount Network International has acquired the first two seasons of “Yellowstone,” the hit Paramount Network original drama series created by Taylor Sheridan (“Wind River”) and starring Kevin Costner. The series, which launched last year in the U.S., will roll out on Paramount’s channels in the Nordics, Hungary and Poland in the spring, followed by the