Television

In 1994 O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, and the 24-hour news cycle was born. Yet, the death of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis by members of the Hutu ethnic majority in Rwanda during that same period went largely unnoticed in the West. That inconsistency was in part what

Scandinavian and German drama series are putting in a strong showing at the market screenings in Berlin, along with high-profile series out of Israel, Spain and the U.K. The screenings are part of the growing Drama Series Days event in Berlin, which runs alongside the film festival. A 24-strong roster features eight projects with a

January 25, 2019 2:17AM PT Sky will show “Pagan Peak” in the U.K., and Rai has acquired the high-concept series for Italy. Inspired by Scandi hit drama “The Bridge,” which has already been remade in several territories, the show hails from the producers of Netflix’s German-produced hit “Dark” and is an original for Sky in Germany.

In today’s roundup, Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” releases its official trailer, and Kate Beckinsale’s new drama unveils the premiere date. FIRST LOOKS Netflix has released the official trailer for “The Umbrella Academy,” which premieres globally Feb. 15. The series centers on six superhero siblings who come together to solve the mystery surrounding their adoptive father’s death. It

January 24, 2019 3:00PM PT Fox has given out pilot orders to projects that hail from Lon Zimmet and Billy Finnegan.  20th Century Fox Television will produce both projects. The Finnegan project is a single-camera comedy currently titled “Richard Lovely.” It follows the title character, the disgruntled author of the best-selling children’s book series, “Mr. Mouse.”

After creating “The Real Bros of Simi Valley” for his YouTube channel, LifeAccordingToJimmy, star Jimmy Tatro wanted to go bigger and better for the sophomore season. “Season 1 was able to live on YouTube because I financed it and we just did it,” Tatro tells Variety. “Season 2, I wasn’t really interested in losing that much

January 24, 2019 2:00PM PT NBC is taking another pass at the multi-camera comedy “Friends-in-Law.” The broadcaster has ordered a new pilot for the comedy series after passing on the pilot they ordered last season. In the series, Brian and Jake are polar opposites who must quickly figure out how to coexist when their respective

January 24, 2019 12:00PM PT USA Network has given a series order to the anthology drama “Briarpatch” starring Rosario Dawson, Variety has learned. The first season is based on the Ross Thomas book of the same name. It follows Allegra Dill (Dawson), a dogged investigator returning to her border-town Texas home after her sister is murdered.

When ABC drama “A Million Little Things” airs this evening, it may come with a little added flavor. The newest commercial for Hidden Valley Ranch dressing will appear not only in a commercial break during Thursday night’s broadcast of the program, but in the show itself. Romany Malco’s character Rome Howard will be seen pitching

The consistent expansion of the U.S. television landscape coupled with an increasing number of emerging platforms has meant the hunger for new content is greater than ever. While streamers such as Netflix often fulfill that appetite by acquiring international series outright, the demand for adaptations of successful formats from series created in other countries is

Coca-Cola is pulling back from the Super Bowl after an 11-year run, opting to run a commercial just before kickoff of the CBS broadcast of the game on February 3, but not in the event itself. CBS is seeking between $5.1 million and $5.3 million for commercial packages that air in the game itself. Ads

Amazon is getting into stand up comedy. The streamer has ordered its first original stand up special: Jim Gaffigan’s “Quality Time,” which will launch on the service in late 2019. “I am so honored to be Amazon’s first original stand up special,” Gaffigan said. “This is going to be exciting.” “Quality Time” will be recorded live

Marisol Nichols has been a fixture in film and television since the late-1990s, most well-known for her portrayal of Audrey Griswold in “Vegas Vacation,” as well as her turn as a CTU agent on “24,” the Desert Wolf on “Teen Wolf” and now as Hermione Lodge on the CW’s “Riverdale.” Acting is only one of

The world of Gilead is expanding even further in the third season of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” with Christopher Meloni and Elizabeth Reaser joining the cast in guest starring roles. Meloni, who is best known for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as well as his current starring role on Syfy’s “Happy!”, will play Commander Winslow,

January 24, 2019 9:15AM PT AMC has renewed “Ride with Norman Reedus” for a fourth season. “Season 3 was a blast – we had a ton of fun traveling the world and the U.S. with some really awesome guests,” said Reedus. “We’re looking forward to turning that up even further for season four. I can’t

Launched in 2017, Spain’s Conecta Fiction TV co-production meet has already become one of the most important bridges for the European and Latin America television industries. Held in Galicia’s Santiago de Compostela for the past two years, the 2019 edition of the event will move to the Navarre city of Pamplona, famous for its annual

January 24, 2019 8:36AM PT MGM Worldwide Distribution and Mexico’s Televisa have established a format license deal for MGM Television’s competition show, “TKO: Total Knockout.” As part of the deal, Televisa will produce 24 episodes of the CBS format. Companies have also agreed for Televisa to serve as MGM’s production partner in Latin America, designing and operating a production hub that will

MIAMI  — Announcing at NATPE one of its first big new deals, Brazil’s Globo Studios has confirmed the sale of Globoplay exclusive series “Harassment” to Mega, Chile’s broadcast network audience leader. The deal, clinched by Globo’s Raphael Correa, comes as “Harassment,” which was released by Globo streaming service Globoplay, has just been selected for the

Greg Berlanti has been selected by Hollywood publicists as Television Showman of the Year. He will received the honor at the 56th Annual International Cinematographers Guild Publicists Awards on Feb. 22 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. ICG National President Steven Poster said, “Greg Berlanti has produced a prodigious amount of quality

The CW has picked up four pilots, including one for the potential spinoff of “Jane the Virgin.” “Jane the Novela” is described as a telenovela anthology series in the tradition of “Jane the Virgin,” where each season is based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself. The first

Hours before the third episode of the second season of “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” aired on CBS, houseguest and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was making headlines for leaving the game. Viewers of the “Big Brother” live feeds noted his absence, but the linear broadcast on the Eye did not address it because

January 23, 2019 4:01PM PT A new documentary about Oscar Wilde will tell the celebrated writer’s story with a star cast recreating excerpts from his greatest works, including “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Freddie Fox, Claire Skinner, Anna Chancellor and James Fleet will all perform in the 80-minute show, “The

In today’s TV news roundup, FX announced the premiere date for “Fosse/Verdon,” and Comedy Central released a new trailer for the final season of “Broad City.”  DATES “Workin’ Moms” is set to premiere Feb. 22 on Netflix. The series, which is currently in its third season, first aired in Canada on CBC Television and is

Throughout the run of “Broad City,” creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have been conflicted about how much of their on-screen characters (also named Abbi and Ilana) should come directly from their personalities and lives. But when it came to the final season, Jacobson in particular experienced a life-changing shift that she wanted to impart

January 23, 2019 3:15PM PT NBC has ordered a pilot for the multi-camera comedy “Uninsured.” In the series, young parents Dave and Rebecca end up having to take care of Dave’s parents who have mishandled their finances and need help to pay down a sizable debt. Dan Levy will serve as writer and executive producer, with

January 23, 2019 3:00PM PT Writer and producer Emily Kapnek has signed a three-year overall deal at ABC Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. Kapnek most recently developed the ABC single-cam comedy series “Splitting Up Together,” which is based on the Danish series “Bedre skilt end aldrig.” She was previously under an overall deal at Warner Bros.

Michael Angarano is in a unique position on “This Is Us.” Although his character, Nicky Pearson, is one of the adult characters on the show — and one of the ones who is alive in the multiple time periods the series covers — he does not portray the role at every age. Instead, Griffin Dunne

Ten years ago, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer wrote themselves a web series about their close friendship and the glorious paradox of being dirtbag ladies in New York City. With Jacobson playing the game Mary Tyler Moore character to Glazer’s wilder Rhoda, “Broad City” was frank, incisive and, most of all, funny as hell. But

SAG-AFTRA is keeping up the pressure on the advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), holding a spirited mid-day rally at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Reps for the union said the noon event on Wednesday drew sign-ups from nearly 1,000 members and supporters at national headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard, followed by a two-block

After Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider’s tenure at “Saturday Night Live,” where they became the show’s youngest co-head writers and wrote music videos like the instant hit “(Do It On My) Twin Bed,” the two headed to Comedy Central to do more “big dumb broad stuff and make fun of pop culture,” says Kelly. Their