Disney Dreamlight Valley Showcase Reveals: New Characters Jack Skellington and Tiana, What Comes in Paid Expansion ‘A Rift in Time,’ and an Apple Arcade Edition

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Even Meghan Markle can’t fathom what has made her old USA Network drama “Suits” pop off on streaming services this year, but she’s here for it. While walking the red carpet at Variety’s Power of Women event Thursday, Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, was informed by Variety’s senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson that the legal drama has now crossed 45 billion minutes streamed on Netflix and Peacock combined, as of Nielsen’s latest weekly streaming report, released earlier Thursday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of “Gen V, titled “Guardians of Godolkin,” now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. As a member of the “Gen V” cast, Chance Perdomo has gone through many on-set experiences specific to those in “The Boys” franchise: being repeatedly covered in fake blood and bodily fluids, shooting scenes with giant genitalia, and saying some truly filthy lines coming out of a superhero’s mouth. But Perdomo has another surprising connection to “The Boys.” “I came into this as a fan of ‘The Boys,’ I actually had originally auditioned for Hughie, years ago.” I read it and I thought it was such a great script.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s name graced many a picket sign during the Writers Guild of America’s 148-day strike, with everything from his exec comp to content-cutting choices called out in writers’ anti-Hollywood studios jokes. Now that the work stoppage is over, the writers might consider reexamining their opinion of Zaslav, who concedes the WGA was “right about almost everything.” In a profile published by Wednesday by The New York Times Magazine, Zaslav said he does not regret the concessions that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) made to finally close that tentative deal with the writers union Sept.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Tosca Musk‘s romance-centric streamer Passionflix has found the leads for its film adaptation of Alice Clayton’s 2012 New York Times best-selling romance novel “Wallbanger.” Playing the steamy love story’s leads Caroline and Simon are “Heels” vet Kelli Berglund and “Hidden Strike” actor Amadeus Serafini. “Wallbanger” is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight, according to the film’s official synopsis.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of “Gen V, titled “Guardians of Godolkin,” now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. You’ve had a week since the “Gen V” Season 1 finale to theorize about where Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Andre (Chance Perdomo), Jordan (Derek Luh/London Thor) and Emma (Lizze Broadway) are at the end of “The Boys” spinoff’s cliffhanger episode. So, do you have a plausible explanation for the medical facility with no doors that the four supes are stuck in? It’s OK, we don’t either, and just like “Gen V” showrunner Michele Fazekas, star Luh is no help to us by keeping his lips sealed — even though he’s finally allowed to talk about the Amazon series after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended — and refusing to be the spoiler-ific Tom Holland of the Vought Cinematic Universe.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer NBCUniversal has laid off less than 50 employees across three divisions: Peacock marketing, NBCUniversal Entertainment and ad sales. The majority of these cuts, approximately 30 to 40, were made at Peacock as part of a restructuring under CMO Shannon Willett, a source within the company told Variety.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains massive spoilers for Rebecca Yarros‘s best-selling fantasy novel “Fourth Wing” and its sequel “Iron Flame,” released Nov. 7. It could be a while before the “Fourth Wing” TV series that’s in the works at Amazon makes it to the screen, but with the release of the sequel novel titled “Iron Flame,” we have more than enough source material to begin anticipating the small-screen adaptation that’s set to cover all five planned books in the series.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney+ topped 150 million streaming subscriptions by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter of the year, up from 146.7 million in the previous quarter. On Wednesday, Disney reported Core Disney+ subscriptions are at 112.6 million subs, as of the quarter ended Sept. 30, and the India-based Disney+ Hotstar is at 37.6 million.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “The Boys” Season 4 will pick up where “Gen V” Season 1 left off, just ahead of an in-universe presidential election. And from the looks of the first promo images released by Amazon for the new episodes of “The Boys,” the Vought supes led by Homelander (Antony Starr) are going to have a good Election Day, and Billy Bucher (Karl Urban) and The Boys are going to be left crushed by defeat.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav opened the company’s quarterly earnings presentation with remarks on the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, remaining “hopeful” that the work stoppage will end “soon” following the Hollywood studios’ move to adjust AI language in its “last, best and final offer” to the actors union. “We are hopeful we will reach a resolution to the SAG-AFTRA strike soon,” Zaslav said during WBD’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Roots founders Questlove and Black Thought‘s have sold a significant stake in their production company Two One Five Entertainment to Peter Chernin’s content studio The North Road Company. Under the pact, North Road will finance future film, TV and other creative projects from Two One Five, which previously produced the Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul,” “The League” and “Descendent.” The partnership will also see North Road helping Two One Five expand its scripted slate after years of mainly focusing on unscripted content.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Rita Wilson and more stars performed as a tribute to U.S. veterans and their families at the New York Comedy Festival and Bob Woodruff Foundation’s Stand Up for Heroes event Monday. Held at David Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the night included performances from musicians and comics, including Stewart, Springsteen, Wilson, Josh Groban, John Mellencamp, Tracy Morgan, The War and Treaty, Jimmy Carr, Ronny Chieng and Shane Gillis.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Episode 8 of “Gen V,” the Season 1 finale (“Guardians of Godolkin”), now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. Marie (Jaz Sinclair) survived her first semester at supe college Godolkin University — barely — but it doesn’t look like she’s going into a second one any time soon. As the Season 1 finale of “The Boys” spinoff “Gen V” concludes, Marie and her friends stuck inside some kind of hospital room with no doors and no clue how they got there. For now, “Gen V” co-showrunner Michele Fazekas is mum on what comes next.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Chip and Joanna Gaines‘ Magnolia Network is producing four unscripted series with a family-friendly focus for Max, including one called “Human vs Hamster” that, aptly, pits humans against hamsters in challenges. The unscripted projects, which are set to debut in 2024, are described as “ambitious large-scale competitions” and “out-of-the-box social experiments” that are intended to create a co-viewing experience on Max for parents and children.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer HBO and Max CEO and chairman Casey Bloys apologized to TV critics Thursday for using fake Twitter accounts to respond to negative reviews on HBO series, following a Wednesday report that revealed Bloys’ past behavior. “For those of you who know me, you know that I am a programming executive very, very passionate about the shows that we decide to do. And the people who do them and the people who work on them,” Bloys said Thursday morning at the start of a presentation at HBO’s New York headquarters, an event to promote HBO and Max’s upcoming slate of programming, which has been planned since Oct.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Bobby’s Triple Threat” has been renewed for a third season at Food Network. Hosted by Bobby Flay and featuring his three culinary “titans” — Tiffany Derry, Michael Voltaggio and Brooke Williamson — the show sees the trio go up against a new guest chef and mystery judge each episode, with each titan being responsible for one of three courses in the successive cooking competition with a $25,000 weekly prize. “Bobby’s Triple Threat” Season 2 debuted Aug.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A “Fourth Wing” TV show based on Rebecca Yarros’ best-selling fantasy book series is in the works at Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, which has an overall deal with the studio, have acquired the rights to not only “Fourth Wing,” but its follow-up “Iron Flame,” which will be released Nov.

Pep Guardiola could make several changes to his Manchester City starting XI for the derby showdown with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney Dreamlight Valley will leave its year-long “early access” phase Dec. 5.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Retail-focused sister streamers QVC+ and HSN+ are marking their second year of original holiday programming with a new TV movie starring Ashlee Simpson. Titled “The Recipe Files,” the holiday baking mystery — filled with cameos from QVC hosts and plenty of plugs for tie-in products and partner brands — is directed by Lindsay Hartley (“Passions,” “Days of Our Lives”) and will launch on QVC+ Nov.