Television

Broadcasters around the world have acquired “Leaving Neverland,” the Channel 4 and HBO documentary about alleged abuse by the pop superstar. Kew Media Distribution is selling the two-part project, and has sealed deals spanning 130 territories. Major TV buyers include free-to-air giants ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany, M6 in France, and Network 10 in Australia. Swedish pubcaster

March 4, 2019 2:28AM PT Israeli vampire series “Juda” is heading to Channel 5’s streaming service as the Viacom-owned broadcaster begins adding non-English-language drama to My5. The broadcaster has inked a deal with Israeli cabler HOT and will get several of its series to stream in the U.K. In addition to “Juda,” which was recently

Ousted ABC star Roseanne Barr used her interview on Sunday’s first episode of “The Candace Owens Show” to issue a fresh round of incendiary comments, questioning the #MeToo movement and slamming several politicians along with Christine Blasey Ford. Regarding the #MeToo movement and sexual misconduct, Barr explained that someone she had spoken to had said,

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s sex scandal and “Empire” star Jussie Smollett’s alleged staging of a hate crime took center stage on the Mar. 2 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” in a “legal edition” of ABC reality series “Shark Tank.” Beck Bennett played the businessman who was accused of soliciting prostitutes earlier this week,

Ben Stiller reprised his role as Michael Cohen for the Mar. 2 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” in which the late-night NBC sketch comedy series addressed the Congressional hearings of Donald Trump’s former lawyer. Former “SNL” player Bill Hader also dropped by to play Ohio’s representative, Jim Jordan. “For any other president, this hearing would

First introduced as a national proclamation by Congress in 1981, Women’s History Month has been celebrated every year since then, using the 31 days of March to promote and amplify the voices of women across the country — and around the world. To celebrate Women’s History Month, we asked nine actresses to tell us about

Jeff Zucker, the leader of cable-news outlet CNN, is about to add sports to his portfolio, giving him expanded oversight of more of the most valuable content in today’s media landscape –  live programming. Zucker is expected to head AT&T’s Turner Sports, according to three people familiar with the matter, expanding his influence at the

Both Fernanda Andrade and Aaron Moten have been cast in the Fox drama pilot “neXt,” Variety has learned exclusively. They join previously announced cast member Eve Harlow. “neXt” is described as a fact-based thriller grounded in the latest A.I. research. It features a brilliant but paranoid former tech CEO who joins a Homeland Cybersecurity Agent

March 1, 2019 3:33PM PT In today’s roundup, Netflix gives a first look at Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” and Seth Rogen joins the “Twilight Zone” reboot. CASTING Seth Rogen will star in an episode of the upcoming “Twilight Zone” reboot by executive producer Jordan Peele on CBS All Access. The comedian will lend his

Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety’s television podcast. In this week’s episode, Variety’s executive editor of TV, Daniel Holloway, talks with Jeremy Carver, showrunner of the new series “Doom Patrol,” which is currently streaming on the DC Universe platform. Based on the weird 1960s comic series created by Arnold Drake, “Doom Patrol” stars Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, Diane

March 1, 2019 1:07PM PT The Oscars unsurprisingly wiped the floor in the delayed viewing numbers for the week of Feb. 18. The awards show, which this year went hostless, saw a 12% increase in total viewers from 2018 and finished with a 7.9 rating in Live+3 and 30 million total viewers. Not so close

March 1, 2019 12:57PM PT John Stamos credits his “Fuller House” co-star Jodie Sweetin with helping him get sober. The actor was on hand on Thursday night at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles to present Sweetin with Writers in Treatment’s Experience, Strength and Hope Award for her memoir “Unsweetined” and her work and

March 1, 2019 11:00AM PT E.J. Bonilla has joined the ABC drama pilot “Until the Wedding” in a lead role, Variety has learned. He joins previously announced series lead Olivia Thirlby. Based on the Israeli format, the project tells the story of how one couple’s decision to get married can affect everyone in their lives. The

The new “Star Trek” series centered on Capt. Jean-Luc Picard has brought Hanelle Culpepper onboard to direct. As previously reported, the CBS All Access series will see Patrick Stewart reprise the role he played for seven seasons on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Culpepper will direct the first two episodes of the series. In doing

Emmy-nominated actress Katherine Helmond, best known for her role on “Who’s the Boss?,” died on Feb. 23 at her Los Angeles home due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 89. The star, whose career spanned more than five decades, played matriarch Jessica Tate on Billy Crystal’s primetime soap sitcom, aptly titled “Soap,” which ran

Richard Plepler’s move Thursday signaling his departure as HBO chairman marks the end of what is likely the single most consequential run in the TV industry — and a definitive break with HBO’s history as the cable network moves into its new era as a property of AT&T. Plepler, after all, is the living institutional

Fans keep going back to “Futurama,” as Matt Groening’s animated series enjoys a healthy life in syndication, 20 years after it began. The day after it debuted on March 28, 1999, Variety carried a story quoting Groening, who spoke of the series as a celebration of science-fiction absurdity: “We’ve taken bits and pieces of all

NBC drama “Good Girls” launched last television season by thrusting its three main characters, Beth (Christina Hendricks), Ruby (Retta), and Annie (Mae Whitman), into a new life of crime after they robbed a grocery store, but that inciting incident was only the tip of the iceberg. What was supposed to be a one-time event turned

In 1962, legendary soap scribe Agnes Nixon wrote a uterine cancer storyline involving beloved Bert Bauer (Charita Bauer) on “Guiding Light,” prompting many women to visit their doctors and get Pap smears. There were no Daytime Emmys back then to acknowledge Nixon’s tale, but since 1973, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS)

March 1, 2019 9:05AM PT Nathaniel Taylor, the actor who played Rollo Lawson on the 1970s sitcom “Sanford and Son,” died Feb. 27 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after suffering a heart attack. He was 80. As part of the recurring cast on “Sanford and Son,” Taylor appeared in 32 episodes from 1972

March 1, 2019 9:00AM PT Michael Emerson could be returning to CBS. The former “Person of Interest” star has been tapped for a lead role in the drama pilot “Evil” at the broadcaster, which hails from Robert and Michelle King. He joins previously announced cast members Katja Herbers and Mike Colter. “Evil” focuses on a

Jack Williams and his sibling Harry are behind Two Brothers Pictures, which has become a leading drama and comedy shingle since it launched in 2014. The company was bought by All3Media in 2017. Its credits include BBC and Starz series “The Missing,” ITV and Sundance’s “Liar,” and BBC and Amazon comedy “Fleabag.” Next up is Amazon

MADRID —  Sports streamer DAZN dazzled on Wednesday in Madrid, officially launching in Spain, its eighth territory worldwide, with rights to Spain of MotoGP, Premiere League and Euro League basketball, a thumping promo at a press conference, a beaming MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez on stage, and the double-backed announcements that Brazilian soccer icon Neymar

David Levy is getting ready for what is likely to be his last insider’s view of the NCAA Final Four. In 2010, Levy was one of the principals in a surprising sports deal that brought the lucrative basketball tournament – long a mainstay broadcast event – to cable. With rights fees for the match-ups exploding,

MADRID — Continuing its strong line in cutting-edge Spanish drama series, Germany’s Beta Film has acquired international distribution rights to Mariano Barroso’s “What the Future Holds” (“El día de mañana”), one of the best-received of Movistar +’s recent Original Series. Beta Film will introduce the series to buyers at next month’s MipTV market. Directed by

Paris-based Mother Production, the company behind hit series “Call My Agent!,” now with Season 4 in development, is teaming with Silex (“French Touch”) and writer-creators Judith Havas and Noemie de Lapparent on “Purple,” a drama set at a ‘90s Paris lesbian nightclub. Pushing the envelope on French TV’s treatment of gender issues, “Purple” was announced

Rachel Feldman’s “Kinks,” Monica Bellucci-starrer “Radical Eye,” Nabil Ayouch’s “Black-Out” and “Perfect Monsters,” from “Roma” producer Nicolas Celis, all figure among the 16 drama series projects to be pitched at this year’s second – and expanded – In Development, a joint venture of MipTV and Canneseries. Also making the cut at In Development, known as

Last July at an HBO town hall meeting, the pay cabler’s CEO, Richard Plepler, asked newly minted WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey to map out his plans. To the chagrin of Plepler, Stankey didn’t mince words. “It’s going to be a tough year … you will work very hard, and this next year will — my

It was only a matter of time before the #MeToo movement emerged from behind the scenes to our screens. In fact, so many in and out of Hollywood are grappling with a seismic cultural shift surrounding sexual violence  — or, at the very least, a new urgency to meaningfully address it — that it might

In today’s TV Roundup, Idris Elba stars as a struggling DJ in the first trailer for Netflix’s upcoming comedy series “Turn Up Charlie.”  FIRST LOOKS The first trailer has dropped for Netflix’s “Turn Up Charlie,” in which Idris Elba stars as a struggling DJ who is given a shot at making it, if he agrees