Television

Fox’s live staging of “Rent” on Sunday night delivered the lowest ratings ever for a live broadcast musical. In the overnight ratings, “Rent” averaged a 1.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.4 million viewers. That is below previous last place holder, “A Christmas Story Live,” which drew a 1.5 rating and 4.5 million viewers for

January 28, 2019 8:00AM PT SeriesFest has partnered with Kyra Sedgwick, Meredith Bagby and Valerie Stadler’s Big Swing Productions for its Women Writing Competition. SeriesFest will celebrate the new partnership with Big Swing at the Sundance Film Festival Monday with an invite-only reception in honor of female creatives. Launched in 2016, SeriesFest seeks new series

January 28, 2019 2:37AM PT “The Hobbit” actor Richard Armitage will star in “The Stranger,” Netflix’s latest series in collaboration with bestselling author Harlan Coben. The eight-part thriller, produced by the same team that did previous Netflix Coben series “Safe,” starring Michael C. Hall, and “The Five,” goes into production in March. Coben will executive

HBO Europe has greenlit the Swedish original miniseries “Beartown,” which will be directed by Peter Grönlund and is adapted from Fredrik Backman’s (“A Man Called Ove”) bestselling novel of the same name. The series, five episodes of an hour each, is being produced by Filmlance International, a company owned by Endemol Shine Group. Written by

The writing was on the wall when Fox’s live production of “Rent” opened with a hefty asterisk: This musical event, despite every effort otherwise, was “previously recorded.” As the cast explained after the first commercial break, the actor in the lead role of Roger (Brennin Hunt) broke his foot during dress rehearsal the night before,

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the fourth season finale of “Outlander.” The “Outlander” finale brought to a close another adventure-filled season, this one focused on the main characters finding a family and a place to call home and settle down, something executive producer Toni Graphia tells Variety was the goal from

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Man of Worth,” the Season 4 finale of “Outlander.” With almost 900 pages in “Drums of Autumn” and only 13 episodes in which to adapt them, the “Outlander” writers had a lot of material to get through in Season 4 — and a lot

The 2019 Screen Actors Guild awards are taking place Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The 25th annual ceremony will highlight performances across film and television. Megan Mullally is hosting the show, with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “Ozark” leading the TV noms and “A Star Is Born” dominating nominations on the film front. See

Brennin Hunt, who was set to perform as Roger Davis in Fox’s live version of “Rent,” injured what was originally thought to be his ankle during the live dress rehearsal on Sat. 26. But, as they say, the show must go on. Hunt posted a video in his Instagram story showing off his cast and

Steve Martin made an appearance as Roger Stone on “Saturday Night Live” on Jan. 26 in a cold open mocking the Trump administration’s handling of the government shutdown, as well as the raid of Stone’s home and his subsequent arrest. In a send-up of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Alex Moffatt opened the show as the Fox

Naomi Watts got her first taste at “Game of Thrones” madness, laughing her way through an interview, trying to deflect questions about the upcoming HBO prequel. Speaking at Variety’s Sundance Studio, presented by AT&T — where Watts was on hand for her film “Luce,” which premieres Sunday night at festival — the actress insisted she had

January 25, 2019 5:33PM PT Anthony Scaramucci is officially out of the “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” house. The second season of “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” was underway for less than a week when viewers of the live feeds got their first hint that something was amiss: Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House director of communications,

The fourth season of the CW’s “Supergirl” has leaned heavily into parallels with the real world, as some humans in its fictional story are viciously — occasionally violently — opposed to the aliens whom have been living amongst them…including Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) herself. However, their latest quasi-ripped from the headlines story was a coincidence, at

January 25, 2019 4:30PM PT NBC has ordered a pilot for a single-camera comedy with Bradley Whitford attached to star and executive produce. The now untitled project was formerly known as “All Together Now.” In the series, a rural church choir gets the director it never thought it needed when a salty, Ivy League music

January 25, 2019 3:41PM PT Barbara Claman, a casting director known for her role in helping discover stars like, George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen, has died. She was 89. Claman died in her sleep on Jan. 17, according to her son, Eric Claman Sr. Claman was an accomplished casting director in New York

January 25, 2019 3:36PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, MTV announces a new dating show starring DJ Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino from “Jersey Shore” and “The Outsider” at HBO rounds out its cast.  CASTING HBO has revealed several cast members for its upcoming miniseries “The Outsider,” based on the Stephen King horror novel of the

CBS has given out pilot orders to the drama projects “Under the Bridge” and “Nancy.” In “Under the Bridge,” when a scandal rocks the medical practice she runs with her husband and their friends, a surgeon rises to the occasion and takes the lead in trying to mend both the practice and her own marriage. The

To truly understand how Byron Allen, the guy from “Real People,” became Byron Allen the media mogul that owns the Weather Channel, you have to hear his story about the courtroom set that needed a home. The CEO and president of Entertainment Studios, one of the largest distributors and independent producers of first-run syndicated programming

CBS has renewed the freshman shows “FBI,” “The Neighborhood,” and “Magnum P.I.” “Each of these distinctive shows has made their mark in a variety of ways,” said Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment. “Our goals this season were to introduce new series that audiences are passionate about, add more strength to a winning schedule and

Former ICM Partners agent-turned-producer Ruthanne Secunda has signed a two-year overall deal with ABC Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. ABC Studios International’s 13-episode summer series “Reef Break” marks her first project, which began production in Queensland, Australia, last week. Secunda developed the show while she was still at ICM with longtime client Poppy Montgomery, star

January 25, 2019 12:54PM PT Fatima Ali, known as Chef Fati on season 15 of “Top Chef,” has died from a rare form of cancer. She was 29 years old. Ali was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in 2017. She was found to be cancer-free in early 2018, but the terminal

The Weather Channel is a locomotive in Entertainment Studios’ portfolio of businesses generating sizable cash-flow profit, enlarging entrée to advertisers because of its heft and, in what is often unappreciated by outsiders, serving as a media-technology engine. To keep the Weather Channel cable network relevant in an era when information is readily available online and

January 25, 2019 10:36AM PT Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson will present an interview with Roger Stone on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” during the show’s 8 p.m. Friday, the network said. During the interview, Stone is expected to react to his indictment, revealed Friday morning, as part of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Stone,

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the final episodes of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” streaming on Netflix. Sometimes in comedy all it takes is the idea for a one-line joke to spark a conversation that leads to something greater. That was the case for “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” co-creators and co-showrunners Robert Carlock

Mediapro’s international distribution arm, Imagina International Sales, has closed sales on key titles in its catalog with networks and platforms across Europe. In France, Montblanc TV acquired the rights to the Spanish version of reality adventure show “El Conquistador del Aconcagua” (“Mountain Challenge”), produced by Mediapro’s Hostoil. Another Spanish-language title, Globomedia’s “Estoy Vivo” (“I’m Alive”)

After buying MGM in 1986, legendary media mogul Ted Turner marveled that go-go media moguls are celebrated for being so rich, while their bankers constantly remind them that they owe a fortune. “That’s exactly right,” chuckles Byron Allen of the parallels to his company Entertainment Studios, founded 25 years ago as CF Entertainment. “And Ted’s

For the cast and crew of TNT’s new mystery drama “I Am The Night,” filming in the John Sowden house was all too real. Nicknamed the “Jaws House” for its sharklike facade, the famous Los Angeles residence was once home to Dr. George Hodel, a well known Hollywood gynecologist in the 1940s and prime suspect

It’s not easy being computer animated, especially if you want to look more like the puppets on which you’re based. The team behind Disney Junior’s “Muppet Babies” worked countless hours to create a technique that makes today’s animated versions of Kermit, Piggy, Animal and the rest of the gang appear like the puppets used in

Variety has received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for overall magazine coverage of LGBTQ issues. In addition to Variety‘s almost daily coverage of LGBTQ stories across its digital platforms, the magazine published its first transgender issue in August featuring a cover with Hollywood trailblazers Chaz Bono, Laverne Cox (“Orange Is the New Black”), and Alexandra Billings (“Transparent”).

Endemol Shine North America subsidiary 51 Minds Entertainment is bumping three executives up the ranks as it embarks on the new year, Variety has learned exclusively. Chris Kinsella has been tapped as executive VP of development, rising from his previous post as senior VP of development. He played a key role building “Truck Night in