‘Better Call Saul’ Baddie Tony Dalton Teases Final Season Ending: ‘Let’s Burn the House Down’

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeSPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 7, Episode 10, of “The Masked Singer,” “Season Finale: I’m Team Good, Thanks for Masking,” which aired May 18 on Fox.It came down to a battle of the Good in the season finale of “The Masked Singer” but only one could emerge victorious: Singer/actress/dancer Teyana Taylor.“The Masked Singer” ended its seventh season with three finalists, all from “Team Good,” competing for the Golden Mask trophy. Landing behind the Firefly, “The Goldbergs” star Hayley Orrantia came in second place, as the Ringmaster, while “Call Me Kat” star Cheyenne Jackson earned the bronze as the Prince.For Firefly, Robin Thicke and Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg guessed right, with Taylor. Nicole Scherzinger thought it was Monica, and Ken Jeong guessed Alicia Keys.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeFox is bringing back the post-Super Bowl series lead-out, and turning to chef Gordon Ramsay to help do it. The network plans to premiere the second season of Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” right after Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, Feb.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

William Earl Variety is pleased to announce programming for its third annual Virtual TV Fest on June 7-9, featuring three days of engaging conversations with the year’s top contending creators, talent and industry executives including Henry Winkler, Octavia Spencer, Robin Thede, James Gunn, Jessica Biel and David Nevins. Winkler will be honored with the Variety TV Legacy Award, recognizing his extensive creative achievements in TV storytelling. He will participate in a conversation with Variety TV editor Michael Schneider, celebrating his journey from “Happy Days” to current series “Barry.” Spencer, star and executive producer of the Apple TV+ series “Truth Be Told,” joins an exploration into the making of the series which dives into the world of true-crime podcasting.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeJames Corden is heading home — to visit, as part of a week-long trip to Blighty for “The Late Late Show” on CBS. This will mark the fourth time “The Late Late Show with James Corden” has filmed from the U.K., but marks the first major initiative for the show since Corden announced that he would depart next year.“The Late Late Show” will broadcast four episodes from Freemasons’ Hall in Central London, marking the show’s first time in that venue. The episodes will air on Monday, June 27, through Thursday June 30 — in the show’s normal 12:37 a.m.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeAs Season 3 of “Barry” finally returned last month, the walls were closing in on all of the show’s characters — even the always chipper NoHo Hank, played by Anthony Carrigan. On this episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, we talk to “Barry” fan favorite Carrigan about the character, his new love interest with rival gangster Cristobal (Michael Irby), and how the show continues to balance light and dark.But first, our Awards Circuit Podcast Roundtable discusses this year’s supporting actress categories in comedy, drama and limited series. Listen below!“Barry” may be funnier than ever in Season 3, but it’s also more intense.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeI can almost guarantee that the Oscars would have handled the Slap better had a seasoned TV awards show producer been in charge. (Thank goodness for veteran director Glenn Weiss, but he didn’t call the final shots.) And while AMPAS tears up its Oscars playbook every year, ABC has limited say in bringing on an experienced producer who could at least steady the ship.

Selome Hailu Though the sixth and final season of “Better Call Saul” didn’t debut until April 18, the show took the No. 2 position on Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the week of April 4-10 as viewers presumably rewatched the series on Netflix in preparation for its return.Accruing 915 million minutes viewed, this is a notable achievement for the AMC crime drama, as acquired titles typically don’t chart as strongly as series that have their debuts on streaming services.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeSerenity now: “Sweet Magnolias” has been renewed for a third season by Netflix, Variety has exclusively learned.Stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley are all set to reprise their roles on the series, which debuted on May 19, 2020. Season 2 of “Sweet Magnolias” dropped Feb. 4 on the streaming service.“Sweet Magnolias” takes place in the small town of Serenity, S.C., and stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Maddie Townsend, a divorced woman with three children.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeYou know what I’m talking about. The event that changed the course of Oscar history.

EXCLUSIVE: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Better Call Saul actress Kerry Condon is joining Liam Neeson and Ciarán Hinds in thriller In The Land Of Saints And Sinners, according to sources.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThere’s a bit of serendipity that some of ABC’s “Black-ish” takes place at an advertising agency, where Andre Johnson (played by Anthony Anderson) works. Throughout eight seasons of “Black-ish,” viewers have seen Dre dream up with ways to capitalize and promote various brands, both fictional (“Boxable”) and not (Starbucks).As Dre was helping brands expand their footprint, so too was “Black-ish” turning into a lucrative and far-reaching franchise itself for Disney, ABC and creator Kenya Barris. The comedy concludes its eight-season run on April 19, but that doesn’t mean the end of the “-ish” universe.

“Better Call Saul”Monday, April 18 at 9 p.m., AMCIt’s been almost two years since the previous season of “Better Call Saul,” Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s sharp-as-a-knife prequel series to their beloved “Breaking Bad.” That’s a long time to wait, especially given that the show left off with Kim (Rhea Seehorn) inching towards the dark side. (Considering she never appears in “Breaking Bad,” we should consider this a very bad thing.) Quite frankly, after Bob Odenkirk’s health scare last year, we’re lucky the show is back at all – and that he is feeling okay! A word of caution, though: you might want to re-watch season 5 before jumping into this new season, just to refresh yourself on the intricacies of the ongoing drug trade and the relationship between franchise heavy Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton, who stole every scene he had in “Hawkeye”), amongst other things.

Aaron Paul is spilling about Better Call Saul!

Bob Odenkirk) morphs into Saul Goodman.The first two Season 6 episodes don’t differ much from the series’ canon: they’re by turns riveting and plodding and are underscored by a cinematography template inherited by “Better Call Saul” from its predecessor, “Breaking Bad.” (It was fresh and new … back then.) Enough already with close-ups of bugs crawling in the parched desert dirt or of dripping water or unorthodox camera angles. We get it.

Bob Odenkirk is taking a moment to be grateful for the journey so far.«I'll never have a role this well-written again in my life,» the actor and comedian raved to ET's Will Marfuggi at the season 6 premiere event. «I'll have, you know, three pages that are pure comedy and two pages later, earnest, heartfelt emotion. It's just an amazing dynamic that you just don't see anywhere else, so that's OK -- I got to have it once, that's more than most people get.»The final season of the prequel series kicks off April 18 on AMC, and Odenkirk promised that there's plenty for fans to look forward to in the last 13 episodes.«It's the beginning of the end, but it's gonna tale a while,» he noted. «There's a lot of story to tell and there's a lot of cliffhanger moments coming.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

Ready for more? The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul will finally reveal how the kind, but conflicted lawyer Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) became the morally challenged criminal attorney Saul Goodman.