Fox’s Michael Thorn on That ‘9-1-1’ Renewal Delay, More ‘Lone Star’ Crossovers and What It’s Like Attracting Talent With Fox News as a Sibling Network

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney has upped PR exec April Carretta to head of communications for its direct-to-consumer business. In her new role, Carretta will lead communications globally for Disney’s portfolio of direct-to-consumer video streaming businesses under its Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division (DMED), including consumer, content publicity, international, crisis communications and incident management, as well as internal employee communications. DMED, which is led by chairman Kareem Daniel, manages operations for streamers Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ Hotstar, as well as broadcast and cable television networks. The direct-to-consumer arm handles P&L management and all distribution, network and engineering operations, sales, advertising, data and technology functions worldwide for these platforms.

EXCLUSIVE: Anyone who tuned into the first two episodes of Monarch, Fox’s primetime soap that stars Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins as the king and queen of country music, saw uncomfortable parallels to the real-life death of Naomi Judd. Besides depicting how Dottie Cantrell Roman (Sarandon) orchestrates her own suicide in the premiere, the drama’s second episode on Sept. 20 featured a funeral that was meticulously organized by Dottie before her death — just like what Judd did before committing suicide on April 30.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Alex vs America” has been renewed for a third season at Food Network, Variety has learned exclusively. Production is set to begin this month on Season 3 of the primetime cable series, with new episodes to debut next year.  “Alex vs America” Season 2, which aired July 31-Sept. 11, averaged more than 9.1 million total viewers, up 44% from Season 1, and a 0.6 rating with adults ages 18 and up, an increase of 17%, according to Nielsen’s Live + 3 Day ratings. Per Food Network’s description for “Alex v. America”:

Martina McBride became a household name as a country singing sensation nearly three decades ago, and she recently received a host of new fans while starring on the new FOX drama "Monarch." "I’m so excited," McBride exclusively told Fox News Digital. "I mean, I read the script, and I was like, ‘This is juicy, it’s big, it’s exciting.’ I was really thrilled to be asked to be a part of it." McBride was shocked to even be included in the roster when it came to casting country all-stars to appear on the epic series, which stars Trace Adkins, Anna Friel, Beth Ditto and Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon.

Anna Friel is captivating audiences in her new role as Nicolette 'Nicky' Roman in Fox's new drama series Monarch.RELATED: Inside country music singers' jaw-dropping homes: Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert + moreThe show stars Susan Sarandon (Dottie Cantrell Roman) and Trace Adkins (Albie Roman) as the King and Queen of country music whose reign as country royalty is put in jeopardy, leaving their heir to the crown Nicolette to protect her family’s legacy, while ensuring her own quest for stardom.WATCH: Monarch will be your new TV obsession - see the official trailerWhile there's no hiding her private life on-screen, Anna prefers to keep her personal life out of the spotlight, but here's what we know about her love life…Most recently, Anna dated Regimental Corporal Major Mark Jaworski, who previously served alongside Princes William and Harry. However, Anna endured heartbreak in 2020 as the two decided to part ways at the beginning of lockdown. She told The Times: "Going through heartbreak during lockdown hasn't been easy.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Let the Games Begin,” the “9-1-1” Season 6 premiere. “9-1-1” returned in all its zany glory Monday on Fox with the premiere of its sixth season. During the episode, Oliver Stark’s Evan “Buck” Buckley tackled a blimp emergency with his team at the 118 — and yet that somehow wasn’t the biggest hurdle he had to overcome in the Season 6 premiere. Here, Variety breaks down the episode, titled “Let the Games Begin,” with Stark and how it lays the groundwork for Buck’s journey throughout the rest of “9-1-1” Season 6.

Bill Maher thinks Joe Biden is currently doing a good job. But he also warned against fan fiction as history, perhaps offering a contradiction that only he understands.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer As a Sunday night series, the first episode of “House of the Dragon” was only available for streaming during the final three hours of Nielsen’s window for calculating its weekly SVOD ratings for Aug. 15-21. But in that brief period of time, the “Game of Thrones” prequel managed to be watched for 327 million minutes via HBO Max, according to the ratings currency company’s new rankings. “House of the Dragon” premiered Sunday, Aug. 21 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and was immediately available for streaming on HBO Max at that time. The Nielsen-provided figure here only counts streaming viewership, meaning anyone who watched “House of the Dragon” via HBO’s linear channel or any other platform is not included in the count.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Ina Garten is bringing four new companions over to chat and eat on “Be My Guest With Ina Garten” Season 2, including Faith Hill, Nathan Lane, Emily Blunt and chef Marcus Samuelsson, Variety has learned exclusively. The second season of the Barefoot Contessa’s Food Network and Discovery+ series will debut Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. ET. Per the “Be My Guest” second season description, “In the season premiere, Ina greets Faith Hill with frozen palomas and fresh guacamole and they become fast friends while talking about family, love and music. Faith’s daughter Gracie joins the party to help bake her family’s cola cake recipe and they then take a drive to Topping Rose House to celebrate their new friendship.  In the following episode, Ina serves Nathan Lane a taste of nostalgia with her Rum Raisin Rice Pudding recipe, and they discuss his childhood, personal life and show business career from the early years to his prolific roles on stage and screen.  She also gives cooking-novice Nathan a lesson in making Mussels with Saffron Cream. 

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Funko is hard at work on its first-ever console game, which the CEO of the fan-collectibles company says will feature the “mixing” of characters from multiple popular IPs transformed into the brand’s iconic Pop! format. “You will know them. And we are excited because we think the interaction between these IPs will speak to who Funko is by mixing the IPs in the game,” Andrew Pearlmutter told Variety at Funko’s investor day press preview Tuesday. “And they’re not young IPs, so that’s the fun part. That’s all I can say.” For reference, Funko has long worked with “not young” brands like Marvel, DC, Disney, Star Wars and Harry Potter — just to name a few.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox’s Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins-led country music drama “Monarch” didn’t the highest of Nielsen notes Sunday night, but it did manage to keep enough of its NFL lead-in audience to land the network’s most-watched fall scripted premiere in three years. Immediately following an NFL doubleheader, “Monarch” debuted at 7:45 p.m. ET/4:45 p.m. PT to a 0.8 rating among adults in the 18-49 age demographic and 3.8 million total viewers, according to initial Nielsen data. Due to the nature of live sports, these results will likely adjust (likely down) when finalized numbers come in later Monday.

Be it through love, heartache, passion, sorrow or pure lust for life, music has always fulfilled a common purpose: bringing people together. Country music is known for evoking a wide range of complicated emotions, and viewers of the upcoming "Monarch" FOX television show are in for a wild ride with equally energetic acoustics from Trace Adkins as he stands at the helm of the Roman family.  Fox News Digital exclusively spoke with several of the featured musicians on the soulful TV series, starring Susan Sarandon, Anna Friel and Beth Ditto, which highlights the lives of a dynasty of country musicians and the excitement that ensues as a family needs a little help remembering their roots.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Better Call Saul” actor Michael Mando has signed on to star opposite Brian Tyree Henry in Peter Craig and Ridley Scott’s upcoming Apple TV+ series “Sinking Spring,” Variety has learned. Based on the book “Dope Thief” by Dennis Tafoya, Apple’s eight-episode series “Sinking Spring” follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard. Mando will play the co-lead role of Manny Cespedes, a good-hearted friend of Ray’s (Henry), who he first met when they did time together in the Youth Authority, per the official character description.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-Jae has been cast as the male lead in Disney+’s “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” Variety has confirmed. “Russian Doll” co-creator Leslye Headland is showrunning the series, with Amandla Stenberg (“The Hate U Give”) set to star in the leading woman role. Going farther back in time than any live-action “Star Wars” title before it, “The Acolyte” is set a century before the events of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.” The series promises to depict the galaxy at the peak of the era of the High Republic, when the Jedi were at their strongest and the Sith were believed to have been eradicated from the galaxy.

Fox has waited a long time for its Monarch.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Desperate Housewives” and “Devious Maids” creator Marc Cherry is developing a new female-fronted drama at Fox. Titled “Jenny Is a Weapon,” the one-hour series follows the story of a sheltered Maryland housewife who, at the moment her marriage falls apart, discovers she has special psychic powers and is recruited by a secret government agency where she will have to juggle her broken family and save the world, per its official logline. The drama has received a script commitment from Fox Entertainment and is being eyed for a potential straight-to-series order at the broadcaster under a direct deal with Cherry.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer CBS’ 24th season of “Big Brother” has been watched for more than 8 billion minutes just over two months into its run, with still one-third of the season to go. Since the July 6 Season 24 premiere on CBS, “viewers have already watched nearly 8.3 billion minutes of ‘Big Brother’ so far this summer on the CBS Television Network, Paramount+ and CBS.com/the CBS app,” per Nielsen linear ratings and Paramount+ internal data provided by Paramount Global Wednesday. That tally encompasses both full episodes of “Big Brother” Season 24 watched via broadcast and streaming, as well as the live feeds from the “Big Brother” house that are only available on Paramount+. This data marks the first time that Paramount Global has released specific viewership figures surrounding broadcast content available on Paramount+. (For reference, Paramount+ now has 43.3. million paid subscribers, as of August.)

Emily Longeretta Grab your cowboy boots. Fox is making a major push for the upcoming premiere of “Monarch,” Variety can exclusively share. On Thursday, Sept. 8, the “Monarch” retail pop-up shop will open in New York City on 27 Mercer Street. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Sunday, Sept. 11, the premiere date. The fully customized space will include items from many of the show’s partners including Allen’s Boots, Fret Zealot Music, Nyrelle Jewelry and Union Western Apparel. There will be a photo opportunity for fans to sit in the “Queens of Country” throne and attendees can take home a customized bandana or snapback hat.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox’s “Bloom County” animated series has signed “The Simpsons” writer Tim Long as co-showrunner on the project, Variety has confirmed. Long will write, executive produce and showrun the comedy, which is still in the development stage at Fox, alongside original “Bloom County” comic strip creator Berkeley Breathed. Per Fox, “Bloom County” centers on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and an overly-carbonated penguin immigrant living in the world’s last boarding house in the world’s most forgotten place deep in the dandelion wilds of FlyWayThe@%!#OVER country. To wit, today’s America at a glance.

Trace Adkins is right there with the next generation.