Television

Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper rang in 2024 with some boozing on live television — bringing back alcohol consumption to CNN after staying sober for last year’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. “It’s the top of the hour and we’ve been here for seven years doing this, and for most of those years at the top

Inspired by a recent screening of Netflix’s animated series “Blue Eye Samurai,” “Game of Thrones” creator George R. R. Martin penned a new blog post praising the work of Amber Noizumi and Michael Green. And while he was in a sharing mood, Martin decided to drop news about his own up-and-coming animation aspirations. “‘Blue Eye

Maybe it’s time for Dave Chappelle to try some new material. The comedian’s newest special, “The Dreamer,” debuted on Netflix on Dec. 31, and largely focuses on his early years in entertainment and how he manifested his success. But he floods the first 12 minutes of the set revisiting his favorite target in recent years:

Paramount Global has clinched a deal that is crucial to its future — but it’s not the transaction that Wall Street has been buzzing about for a few weeks. Paramount Global and Comcast have extended the broad carriage agreement covering Paramount’s cable channels and CBS-owned stations. The pact averts the prospect of a blackout for

What a relief it is to close the door on 2023, an annus horribilis for the entertainment industry (and the world).  After the dual strikes effectively shut down most production from May through November, the doors have reopened again onto a landscape that’s been forever changed. The realities of the streaming bubble and the rifts

Ring in 2024 with Variety‘s list of New Year’s Eve specials to watch, including performances by stars like NewJeans, Ivy Queen, Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Cardi B and Maroon 5. ABC’s “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” The most-watched annual New Year’s Eve special, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” returns

Netflix has garnered a reputation for canceling a large number of its original series, a superlative that seems inevitable given its high content output compared to other streaming services. And while the stat has lessened since 2022, when 20 shows were canceled, there were still 14 on the chopping block in 2023. Five of the

The dual Hollywood strikes wiped out much of the scripted programming this fall on the linear networks. And yet, according to Variety‘s annual list of the year’s 100 most-watched primetime telecasts, we actually watched more entertainment fare this year. CBS’ “NCIS” led the pack in 2023 with 12 episodes making the list, followed by the

Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired Turkish streaming service BluTV, the company announced on Friday. For the past three years, Warner Bros. Discovery and BluTV — Turkey’s first local SVOD service — have had a partnership that made WBD a 35% shareholder in BluTV. Since its 2016 launch, BluTV has shown rapid growth both in original

In Hollywood, 2023 was a year defined by the “Barbenheimer” box office craze and the dual strikes that shut down the industry for months. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé dominated live music, and translated their blockbuster world tours into moviegoing events that bolstered the fall box office. Artificial intelligence became Hollywood’s next hot button issue, and

If you don’t know the actor Milana Vayntrub by name, then chances are high that you would recognize her face. Since 2013, Vayntrub has been the on-and-off again star of many AT&T commercials as the character Lily, a jolly AT&T employee who has comedic interactions with customers. Vayntrub’s Lily was the face of a national

There are several popular social media accounts that graph weekly cable network schedules, and it’s always stunning to see how many schedulers have just given up. Nearly every cable network, large and small, now mostly program marathons of their most popular shows. You know about “Ridiculousness” on MTV, of course. But did you know how

Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison on parole Thursday morning after serving eight years for the 2015 murder of her mother, the Associated Press reported. Blanchard was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder of her mother, Dee Dee, who she alleged abused her by deliberately making her

Bobby Rivers, who hosted Food Network’s “Top 5” and VH1’s celebrity talk show “Watch Bobby Rivers,” died at 70 on Tuesday in Minneapolis, according to WISN. His sister Betsy Rivers also posted on Facebook, “Bobby passed away last night and is no longer in any pain.” Many journalists and critics paid tribute to him on

Lionsgate closed its $375 million acquisition of studio Entertainment One (eOne) from toy company Hasbro Wednesday. The deal adds 6,500 film and television titles to Lionsgate’s existing library, including Showtime hit “Yellowjackets,” ABC’s “The Rookie” and Discovery’s “Naked & Afraid” franchise. The sale is subject to purchase price adjustments, plus Lionsgate’s assumption of production financing

One of The Onion’s classic headlines reads: “Marilyn Manson Now Going Door-To-Door Trying To Shock People.” The satirical article, published in 2001, was a devastating blow to a musician whose career consisted of dressing like a lunatic and screaming profane lyrics. Once you shine a light on it, the shtick becomes embarrassing quickly. That headline

Hollywood had a rough year in many areas — but the stock market largely was not one of them. Wall Street is poised to finish out 2023 up double digits: As of Dec. 27, the S&P 500 index has climbed 25% year to date and is nearing an all-time high record close. And in general,

John Cleese spent Boxing Day courting controversy on X (formerly Twitter) after he posted a joke in which he compared Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. The joke rubbed many of the comedian’s followers the wrong way, prompting Cleese to issue several responses in which he somewhat trolled those who took his post as fact and

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium,” Episode 3 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” For fans of Rick Riordan‘s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” books, Medusa represents one of Percy’s first big victories: After being tricked into spending time with “Aunty Em,” he beheads the snake-haired woman, and

Colman Domingo is having a banner year thanks to acclaimed performances in “Rustin” and “The Color Purple,” the latter of which opened to a triumphant $18 million on Christmas Day. But things were considerably different for the actor back in 2014. Despite being a Tony nominee for “The Scottsboro Boys,” Domingo couldn’t get his screen

Taraji P. Henson revealed during a recent SAG-AFTRA conversation moderated by Variety’s Angelique Jackson that she fired members of her team after her career hit a wall despite the global success of “Empire,” the Fox musical drama series that she starred on for six seasons from 2015 to 2020. Henson played the outspoken and ferocious

The first episode of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” brought in 13.3 million viewers in its first six days on Disney+ and Hulu. This number puts the series among the top five most-watched season premieres in all of 2023 on both streaming services. While the exact titles that make up the top five lists are

Matt Napolitano, an anchor and reporter for Fox News Audio, died Dec. 23 in New York City after a short illness. He was 33. Napolitano had been with Fox News since 2015, starting out as a writer for its Sirius XM channel, Fox News Headlines 24/7. He quickly advanced to serving as a sports reporter

Adam Petlin, who joined Fox News weeks after its debut in 1996 and was longtime head of Chicago bureau operations, died on Dec. 23 after a long illness. He was 58. Petlin was one of the first six field photographers hired for the then-fledging news operation in August 1996. He was quickly promoted to supervisory

“Survivor” (Season 45, Episode 6) Season 45 of “Survivor” was one for the books thanks to the return to 90-minute episodes, explosive arguments from the get-go, a head-scratching showmance and more. But the best thing about the season, despite that he was taken too soon, was Kaleb Gebrewold. Kaleb was the strongest player on a

Amazon Prime Video India‘s streaming service has had a record 2023 with 22 series and three feature films commissioned, the most since it launched in 2016, and a high level of consumer engagement. India continues to top the charts when it comes to Prime member engagement with Prime Video, the service informs Variety. No other

Kamar de los Reyes, who played the villain Raul Menendez in the popular video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” and starred as Antonio Vega in the soap opera “One Life to Live,” died on Sunday in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer, his wife’s publicist confirmed to Variety. He was 56.

Netflix has released the official trailer for Dave Chappelle’s newest comedy special, “The Dreamer.” The trailer is narrated by Morgan Freeman, who also makes an appearance alongside Chappelle. “What do you dream about? Not the dreams you have in your sleep: the ones you hold in your heart. Don’t be intimidated by the audacity of

Neel Nanda, a stand-up comedian who appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and Comedy Central’s “Adam Devine’s House Party,” has died. He was 32. His longtime manager Greg Weiss confirmed the news to Variety, saying that he was a “great comic” and “great human being” whom he had known since Nanda was 19 years old. No

Selma Archerd, an actress who was well known in Hollywood as the vivacious wife of longtime Variety columnist Army Archerd, has died. She was 98. Selma Archerd died Dec. 14 in Los Angeles, according to a Legacy.com posting on the Los Angeles Times’ website. Selma Archerd was seen as a hostage in 1988’s “Die Hard”