Emmy FYC Events Experience Packed Houses as Stars and Writers Return, a Year After the Hollywood Strikes

Selena Kuznikov “Palm Royale” showrunner Abe Sylvia relied on his “guru” Joni Mitchell (via her song “People’s Parties”) when figuring out the tone for his Apple TV+ comedy: “Laughing and crying are the same release.” “Our show took itself really seriously even as it went absurd,” Sylvia said. “It’s a gay ‘Fantasia,’ right? It’s tone is maximalist gay.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Perhaps the toughest takeaway from Ron Howard’s documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man” is the fact that his sudden death in 1990, at just age 53, robbed us all that “The Muppets” creator might have created in the computer age. Henson was already experimenting with technology before he died — and we can only imagine what he might have done with the tools we now have. “It would have been fantastic,” Howard says.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Reservation Dogs” ended its three-season run back in September, so we’ve had time to accept the sad truth that we won’t be seeing any new stories about this group of Indigenous teens in Oklahoma anytime soon. I would have truly enjoyed another season, and when I get on a Zoom call with series star Paulina Alexis — who played the outspoken Willie Jack — it’s clear she’s also still a bit disappointed that the show has wrapped. “I feel like I could have went way longer, but not my choice,” she says.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large It’s been more than a year and a half since Rob Wade took over as CEO of Fox Entertainment. On Monday at the Banff World Media Festival, Wade made his first extensive public comments about how it’s been going so far — and elaborated on any new acquisition plans he might have for the company, the fate of some of the third party shows still on his air (including “9-1-1: Lone Star”) and the decision behind his recent corporate restructuring network, studio and distribution operations into their own divisions.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Will Arnett is expanding his relationship with Fox Entertainment. The actor and comedian, who hosts Fox’s “Lego Masters,” has sealed an overall producing deal for his Electric Avenue Prods. to produce fare for the network’s in-house production company.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Legendary actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke has made history, winning the 2024 Daytime Emmy award for guest performer in a daytime drama series — via his spot on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives.” At 98, that makes Van Dyke the oldest actor to receive a Daytime Emmy win. Van Dyke came into Friday’s 51st Daytime Emmy Awards already making a mark as the oldest Daytime Emmys nominee ever. Night one of the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards took place live on CBS on Friday, June 7, from the Westin Bonaventure hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Night one of the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards are taking place live on Friday, June 7, starting 8 p.m. ET at the Westin Bonaventure hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Major awards passed on Friday include daytime drama series, daytime talk series, entertainment news series, daytime talk series host and the major daytime acting categories.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large I can’t help admiring the sheer audacity of Aram Rappaport. He’s the creator, writer and director behind “The Green Veil,” a drama series starring John Leguizamo that debuted with two episodes at the Tribeca fest in 2022. When he couldn’t find an outlet to pick up the full series, Rappaport decided to launch his own ad-supported streaming service — dubbed The Network — from scratch.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large George Russell, one of the most prominent characters in HBO’s sprawling period ensemble “The Gilded Age,” is many things: a self-made man; a loving husband; a titan of industry. But Morgan Spector, the actor who plays George in Julian Fellowes’ fictionalized tale of 19th century New York City, is comfortable calling the character out for who he really is. “Robber baron,” Spector declares on Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Public broadcaster KCET is once again the leader in Los Angeles Area Emmys nominations, landing 22 this year (down slightly from last year’s 24), thanks to expecially to the locally produced series “Artbound” and its “10 Days in Watts.” Cable news outlet Spectrum News 1 was in second, with 17 — up from 14 last year. Meanwhile, KABC-TV — aka ABC7 — saw a nice surge to 14 noms, up from 7 last year and good enough to top the commercial broadcast outlets. Nominees included the late Sam Rubin, who was nominated in the entertainment news story for his coverage of the SAG-AFTRA strike on KTLA.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Angel Studios is planning to appeal an arbitrator’s ruling that ended its relationship with the producers of faith-based TV megahit “The Chosen.” The news comes as The Chosen LLC — the company behind the production of series — announced this week that the show’s Season 4 would exclusively stream on “The Chosen” app starting with the first two episodes on June 2. In a statement, Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon said it will “pursue the appeal provision that Angel and The Chosen agreed to as the process for resolving disagreements privately.” In a unique distribution model, “The Chosen” Season 4 was first released in theaters this February, where it scored big box office returns. But after that, the show’s TV premiere remained in limbo as Angel Studios and The Chosen LLC tussled over the season premiere plans.

William Earl Variety’s 13th annual “A Night in the Writers’ Room” returns on June 13 in Los Angeles, featuring three panels moderated by Variety’s esteemed journalists Michael Schneider, Emily Longeretta, and Angelique Jackson, with this year’s Emmy-contending writers in the drama, comedy and limited series categories. An invite-only audience of industry voters will attend the event with a cocktail reception before the panels.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Now, imagine being a critically acclaimed drama on a premium network/streaming hybrid in a season where the drama race is pretty wide open. You’ve got big stars, high production values and well-known source material. Shoo-in, right? Not if you’ve been canceled.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Alan Cumming isn’t much of a reality TV fan — so as host of Peacock’s “The Traitors,” he enjoys being a bit blind to the baggage that many of the contestants carry to the Scottish Highlands. “When I go to do ‘The Traitors, I have a crash course in reality TV stars, and random people,” he tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I don’t know who many of the people are.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large That’s why I wasn’t happy in the late 1990s when hourlong shows like “Ally McBeal” and “Desperate Housewives” entered (and won, in some cases) the Emmy comedy race. Hourlong dramedies are not comedies! No one ever called “All in the Family” — which had some deep, dark moments — a drama, and yet there were a couple of laughs in “Desperate Housewives” (which opened with a death!) and suddenly it’s a comedy? Sadly, I lost this battle years ago. And as we know, the comedy race is really now a dramedy race.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Entertainment Tonight” anchors Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner are back to once again host the Daytime Emmys, as the 51st edition of the kudocast airs live on Friday, June 7, at 8 p.m. ET (tape delayed on the west coast) from the Westin Bonaventure hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The event airs on CBS and Paramount+, marking the 18th time the Daytime Emmys has been broadcast on the Eye network.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Details follow for Season 11, Episode 13 of “The Masked Singer,” “Finale: One Mask Takes It All,” which aired May 22 on Fox. “The Masked Singer” winner Vanessa Hudgens admits she didn’t necessarily play the hiding game: At least among her friends and fans, they figured out it was her under the Goldfish costume rather quickly. “Rita [Ora] guessed it was me straight from the jump,” Hudgens said. “But she’s also my friend.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Super Bowl LVIII on CBS and “Toy Story Funday Football” on Disney+ and ESPN+ led this year’s tally of Sports Emmys winners, with three each, as announced Tuesday evening by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Hosted by The Kid Mero, the 45th annual Sports Emmy Awards featured the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Honor to sportscaster and three-time Emmy Award-winner James Brown, by Sean McManus (former Chairman, CBS Sports).

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Seth Rogen has gotten into TV in a big way: As star and EP of Apple TV+’s “Platonic,” exec producer of Prime Video’s “The Boys” franchise, animated series like “Invincible” and “Sausage Party: Foodtopia,” and his upcoming Hollywood satire “The Studio,” also for Apple. But he’s still bullish on film as well. “I think people still like movies,” he tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Mouse House is bringing its Emmy-themed “Disney FYC Fest” back for the third consecutive year, kicking things off May 29 with an preview event for FX’s “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” and ending with “Shōgun” on June 11.