Job cuts are expected at HBO Max Europe following a major strategic review that will see development of local originals halted in the Nordics and Central Europe.
20.06.2022 - 23:11 / variety.com
Joe Otterson TV ReporterComedian Aida Rodriguez is stepping behind the camera to direct two installments of the comedy special series “Entre Nos” for HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively.Rodriguez will direct a standalone special featuring comedian Ian Lara as well as a special featuring both Ralph Barbosa and Gwen La Roka. Barbosa and La Roka are the two winners of the HBO & NYLFF Latino Stand-Up Comedy Competition.
The two specials will be Rodriguez’s directing debut.Directing both specials represents a homecoming of sorts for Rodriguez. She previously appeared in an earlier edition of “Entre Nos” in 2018.
HBO Max is also currently streaming Rodriguez’s stand up special “Fighting Words,” which was released in 2021. Topics in the special included being worn out by political comedy as well as her attempts to get back into dating.
Rodriguez has appeared in front of the camera in both scripted and unscripted projects. In addition to her own specials, she is known for appearing in the eighth season of the NBC competition series “Last Comic Standing” and for her appearances on the news program “The Young Turks.” As an actress, she has been in shows like “Illegal,” “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” “Latino 101,” and “Pause With Sam Jay.”Rodriguez’s comedy takes on issues of the day as well as stories from her personal life.
Job cuts are expected at HBO Max Europe following a major strategic review that will see development of local originals halted in the Nordics and Central Europe.
Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Time Traveler’s Wife” has been canceled after one season at HBO, Variety has confirmed.The series was based on the book of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger. The six-episode first and only season debuted on HBO in May with the finale airing on June 19.“Though HBO will not be moving forward with a second season of ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife,’ it was our privilege to partner with master storytellers Steven Moffat and David Nutter,” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterKate Winslet is returning to HBO, with the acclaimed actress set to star in a limited series for the network based on Hernan Diaz’s novel “Trust.”The rights to the novel were acquired by HBO in a competitive situation. The series is currently in development with the search on for a writer to adapt the book for the screen.
Legendary DC villain Harley Quinn is back on our screens with Season 3 of the adult-animated comedy “Harley Quinn” series. Originally created as a sidekick to the Joker, Harley made her first debut in “Batman: The Animated Series” and quickly grew to stardom.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterMelissa Benoist and her Three Things Productions banner have renewed their overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.In addition, Benoist has officially signed on to star in and produce the upcoming HBO Max-WBTV series “The Girls on the Bus.” She was first reported as being in talks for the series back in February.Under the terms of the overall deal, Benoist and Three Things will continue to develop and produce programming across all platforms for WBTV. Benoist runs three things with Sahar Kashi, the company’s vice president of development.“The Girls on the Bus” is inspired by a chapter in Amy Chozick’s book “Chasing Hillary.” Benoist will play Sadie McCarthy, a journalist who romanticizes the original “Boys on the Bus” and who scrapped her whole life for her own shot at covering a presidential campaign for the paper of record.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe Netflix action-comedy series “Obliterated” from the creators of “Cobra Kai” has found its first two cast members, Variety has learned.Nick Zano and Shelley Henig are set to star in the series, which was picked up at Netflix in May after having originally been ordered to series at TBS.The show tells the story of an elite special forces team who thwarts a deadly threat to Las Vegas. After their celebratory party, filled with booze, drugs and sex, the team discovers that a bomb they deactivated was a fake.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock is developing an American adaptation of the Australian comedy series “Laid” with Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna.Khan and Bradford McKenna will serve as writers and executive producers on the project. It follows a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways. In investigating their deaths, she must come to terms with her complicated past.Khan executive produces the show via Fierce Baby Productions along with Jennifer Carreras. John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment also executive produce along with Liz Watts, Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher of Porchlight Films.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterRobin Thede has signed a three-year overall deal with HBO.Under the deal, Thede will develop content exclusively for HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Television.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterShowtime has ordered a comedy pilot starring real-life husband and wife Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody.The show is inspired by the couple’s real life and relationship.
EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max has rounded out its cast of series regulars for comedy pilot Wild Life, which is fronted by Izabella Alvarez in the role of Ciara.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterDana Delany has joined the cast of “Tulsa King” opposite Sylvester Stallone at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively.Stallone leads the series, with other cast members including Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, Jay Will, A.C. Peterson, and Garrett Hedlund.The show follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla.
“Hacks.” HBO Max has renewed the award-winning comedy for Season 3 following the side-splitting yet tear-jerking season 2 finale earlier this month. “We congratulate ‘Hacks’ extraordinarily gifted executive producers and cast, and our partners at Universal Television,” Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s head of original content, said.
Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels will be back for more stand-up stories after HBO Max renewed Hacks for a third season.
HBO Max's upcoming series, , which will premiere Thursday, July 28 with the first three episodes, it was announced Wednesday. Two episodes drop Aug.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterRob Lowe and John Owen Lowe’s Netflix comedy series “Unstable” has added six new cast members, Variety has learned.Sian Clifford, Rachel Marsh, Emma Ferreira and Aaron Branch have all joined the show as series regulars, while Fred Armisen, Tom Allen and JT Parr will appear in recurring guest star roles.“Unstable” was picked up to series at Netflix in April, with the Lowes having created the series along with Victor Fresco. The show follows an introverted son (John Owen Lowe) who goes to work for his very successful, wildly eccentric father (Rob Lowe) in order to save him and his successful biotech company from disaster.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterJon Bernthal has played cops, criminals, and everything in between. But his role in the HBO limited series “We Own This City” presented a new challenge for the celebrated actor.The series is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Justin Fenton.
Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Lincoln Lawyer” series has been renewed for Season 2 at Netflix.The series adaptation of the book series by Michael Connelly debuted its first season back in May. The first season consisted of 10 episodes and was based on the book “The Brass Verdict.” Season 2 will also be 10 episodes and will be based on the book “The Fifth Witness.”It was also announced that Dailyn Rodriguez will board the show in its second season in the role of co-showrunner and executive producer.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterA+E Studios is developing a series adaptation of the Peter Bognanni book “Things I’m Seeing Without You” with Alyssa Milano onboard to write, Variety has learned exclusively. Milano will executive produce in addition to writing the project. Peter Farrelly, who won two Oscars in 2019 for his work on “Green Book,” will direct and executive produce. Tim Mason will executive produce and serve as showrunner.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterLesley Manville is set to appear in Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming Apple series “Disclaimer,” Variety has learned exclusively.Manville joins previously announced series leads Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline in the series, as well as cast members Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Hoyeon, and Louis Partridge.Based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight, Blanchett will star as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past.