November 27, 2018 7:33PM PT Facebook Watch’s newest series “Queen America” takes place in the often controversial world of pageantry, and star Catherine Zeta-Jones is clearly aware of its potential ups and downs. “Yes, there is a preconceived idea of what the pageant world is,” said Zeta-Jones said at the Variety sponsored world premiere of “Queen
Television
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” the Season 3 midseason finale of “This Is Us.” The third season of “This Is Us” has entered into its holiday hiatus but, true to form, it didn’t go out without one more big twist. Kevin (Justin
The UFC is poised for a big year in 2019, starting with the kickoff next month of its broad five-year rights pact with ESPN. Lawrence Epstein, chief operating officer of UFC parent company Zuffa, LLC, has no shortage of growth ambitions for the sports league that is the marketing leader in the growing arena of
Joe Murray, the creator of Nickelodeon series “Rocko’s Modern Life,” remembers “SpongeBob Squarepants” creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died on Monday at the age of 57. I first met Steve through the big screen at the Ottawa Film Festival in 1992. His film “Wormholes” was in competition and, after watching it, I immediately knew we would
November 27, 2018 3:31PM PT In today’s TV News Roundup, watch the trailer for the upcoming fourth season of “Fuller House.” FIRST LOOKS “Fuller House” returns for a fourth season Dec. 14 exclusively on Netflix. This season, Steve and DJ rekindle their flame, and the Tanner-Fuller-Gibblers prepare to welcome a new member of the family
The epic fantasy novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” and its mega-popular HBO adaptation “Game of Thrones” may have made author George R.R. Martin a pop culture superstar, but it was “Nightflyers,” a 1980 novella mashing up horror and sci-fi and the 1987 film adaption that followed, that Martin believes saved his life
November 27, 2018 3:00PM PT Netflix has ordered a new procedural series that will be set in four different countries. “Criminal” is a police procedural that takes place exclusively within the confines of a police interview suite. It is described as a stripped-down, cat-and-mouse drama that will focus on the intense mental conflict between the police
November 27, 2018 2:11PM PT Telltale Games’ episodic point-and-click adventure series “Minecraft: Story Mode” is now on Netflix. “Minecraft: Story Mode” features a cast filled with celebrities and veteran voice talent, including Patton Oswalt, Catherine Taber, Brian Posehn, John Hodgman, Matthew Mercer, David Fennoy, and Corey Feldman. The first three episodes are available now, with
November 27, 2018 1:30PM PT Tracy Oliver’s “The First Wives Club” series is going to air on BET rather than Paramount Network as originally planned. The series adaptation of the film and book of the same name was ordered to series at Paramount Network back in April. It will follow a group of New York
Discovery and Tiger Woods have struck a multi-year agreement that will weave content crafted with the golfing legend part of the company’s soon-to-launch golf-focused streaming service, part of a joint venture with the PGA Tour. GolfTV is slated to launch in January of 2019, and Woods will collaborate with Discovery “on a wide range of
November 27, 2018 10:55AM PT Ava DuVernay has signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Television. Under the agreement, which goes into effect in January, DuVernay will develop and produce television projects exclusively for Warner Bros. through her company Forward Movement. “Ava DuVernay is one of the leading lights in our industry, a brilliantly talented
November 27, 2018 10:51AM PT Don Mischer will receive the Directors Guild of America’s lifetime achievement award for distinguished achievement in television direction. “Don’s mastery of directing live events is a sight to behold: a fast-paced symphony of meticulous planning and on-the-spot decision-making that brings our nation’s greatest cultural events into our living rooms,” said
November 27, 2018 10:00AM PT Brian and Mark Gunn are developing a one-hour supernatural drama project at CBS, Variety has learned exclusively. The project is titled “Otherworld.” After discovering that she has the ability to communicate with spirits, a young woman is drawn into the world of the paranormal where she partners with a rag-tag team of
Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the megahit Nickelodeon cartoon series “SpongeBob SquarePants,” died on Monday. He was 57. The cause of death was ALS, which Hillenburg revealed he had been diagnosed with in March of last year. “We are incredibly saddened by the news that Steve Hillenburg has passed away following a battle with ALS,”
On December 15, after 236 performances since October of last year, all at the Walter Kerr Theatre, the cast of “Springsteen on Broadway” — Bruce and, for two songs, singer/wife Patti Scialfa — will give their final performance. But the following night, fans can see the premiere of a Netflix special of the show, which was
November 27, 2018 8:00AM PT Netflix and Millarworld have set their third comic book collaboration: “Sharkey the Bounty Hunter.” The new project hails from writer and creator Mark Millar, along with comic book artist Simone Bianchi. Set in a new sci-fi universe, Sharkey is a blue-collar bounty-hunter tracking criminals across the galaxy in his converted,
Bidding on two prime collections of local TV assets — Fox’s 22 regional sports networks and Tribune Media’s 42 TV stations and WGN America — will heat up this week in separate auctions that are expected to be concluded by year’s end. The nature of the players lining up for these properties, which include Amazon
The problem with repeats is that many viewers have already seen them. Now NBCUniversal wants people to look at the commercials that accompany reruns in a completely different way. NBCU plans in early 2019 to unveil a new offering that places commercials in reruns, movies and syndicated programs containing segments that align with the mission
“The Walking Dead” has hit a new midseason finale ratings low for the second year in a row. The episode that aired this Sunday, the midseason finale for the show’s ninth season, averaged a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Live+Same Day data. The Season 8 midseason finale was
Oprah Winfrey has her own magazine. So do Dr. Oz, the Food Network and HGTV. Now the ABC program “Shark Tank” is the latest TV creation to test the concept. Hearst Magazines, the publisher behind those aforementioned periodicals, is releasing a limited-edition “bookazine” celebrating a decade of the reality show in which young entrepreneurs hope
Studiocanal has pre-sold Movistar+’s original drama “Instinto” to Amazon Prime Video in Latin America and to Pantaya, the premium Spanish-language streaming service recently launched by Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media Group. An erotic thriller, “Instinto” is produced by Bambú Producciones, the Studiocanal-owned Spanish company behind Spanish-language hit series such as “Velvet” and “Grand Hotel.” The series
“If you have a good idea and can execute well, these days you will definitely find a buyer. That’s a healthy market,” says a source at a one of the major channel operators in Asia, after looking with barely disguised jealously at the Netflix upfronts held in Singapore in mid-November. “This is a golden time
In Today’s TV News Roundup, AMC announced a new premiere date for the return of “The Walking Dead” season nine and director Patty Jenkins released a new trailer for TNT’s upcoming drama “I Am the Night,” starring Chris Pine. DATES AMC announced the return of “The Walking Dead” season nine on Feb. 10 at 9:00 p.m.
November 26, 2018 3:35PM PT George Eads is leaving CBS’ reboot of “MacGyver,” Variety has confirmed. Eads has been with the drama series since it debuted in 2016 in the role of Jack Dalton, starring opposite series lead Lucas Till. His last episode of the series, which is currently in its third season, is expected to air
November 26, 2018 3:22PM PT “Twin Peaks” star Kyle MacLachlan has signed on to play U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in “Atlantic Crossing,” the Norwegian-produced World War II drama series. MacLachlan will star opposite Swedish actress Sofia Helin (“The Bridge”) in the eight-part show, which is being produced by Cinenord for Norwegian pubcaster NRK and
November 26, 2018 2:08PM PT ABC has given out a pilot production commitment to a single-camera comedy project that hails from two writers on “Modern Family.” Titled “Happy Accident,” the series sees two Pittsburgh families — a father with three adult daughters, and a hotel lounge singer with her med student son –as they are forced
Meredith Vieira is returning to syndication as the host of a quiz show set for a fall 2019 national launch via Fox Television Stations, Twentieth Television and Lisa Kudrow’s Is or Isn’t Entertainment. Based on a popular board game of the same name, “25 Words or Less” is described as a quiz show that challenges
November 26, 2018 1:53PM PT For the week of Nov. 5, three shows posted Live+7 gains of 150% or more in adults 18-49. NBC’s “Manifest” grew from a 1.2 rating in Live+Same Day to a 3.1 for 158% growth for the week. ABC’s “The Good Doctor” went from a 1.0 to a 2.5 with fellow
November 26, 2018 12:15PM PT Starz has given out series orders to two drama series: “P-Valley” from Katori Hall, based on her play “Pussy Valley,” and “Hightown” from Rebecca Cutter. The Hall project, which has been in development at Starz since 2016, is an hour-long series set deep in the Mississippi Delta. It tells the story
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, “F Is for Family” returns for Season 3 while “Manifest” airs its first