Gender Swapped ‘Sober Companion’ & Jorma Taccone-Directed Comedy ‘The Hug Machine’ Land CBS Pilot Orders

CBS Sports and Turner have sold out virtually all ad inventory for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, punctuating a turnaround for the marquee event after two compromised Covid seasons.

EXCLUSIVE: Diane Farr (Splitting Up Together), Jordan Calloway (Black Lightning), Stephanie Arcila (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels) and Jules Latimer (Guilty Party) are set as series regulars opposite Max Thieriot in CBS’ drama pilot Cal Fire, from Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios. They join previously announced series regulars Billy Burke and Kevin Alejandro.

EXCLUSIVE: Billy Burke (Maid) and Kevin Alejandro (Lucifer) have been tapped as leads opposite Max Thieriot in CBS’ drama pilot Cal Fire,fromJerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios.

Bebe Rexha and her boyfriend Keyan Safyari are enjoying a night out!

CBS has given a pilot order to Unplanned in Akron, a multi-camera comedy from Schuyler Helford (Call Me Kat), Eric Feig’s Picturestart and CBS Studios.

Clayton Davis The Critics Choice Association announced the nominations for the 2nd annual Critics Choice Super Awards, honoring the most popular, fan-obsessed genres across film and television.Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and Jon Watts’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” led the film nominations with five noms each. Two of the three Peter Parkers landed acting mentions for Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, but Tobey Maguire was omitted from the list.“Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” the four-hour cut of his superhero film with Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, also landed in the best superhero movie category alongside “Black Widow,” “Eternals,” “Shang-Chi,” “Spider-Man” and “The Suicide Squad.” On the television side, Paramount Plus’ “Evil” and Netflix’s “Midnight Mass” led with six apiece.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterCBS has ordered comedy pilots from “Jane the Virgin” creator Jennie Snyder Urman and Lonely Island crew Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone.The Urman-produced multi-cam project is called “Sober Companion” and follows Eliza, a hot-mess alcoholic who owns a bar with her uncle in New Orleans. She is forced to get her life together when the court appoints her an exhaustingly upbeat sober companion with whom she has to live 24/7.The potential series is based on a story by Urman, Gracie Glassmeyer and David Rosenthal.

Political comedy prince Bill Maher will be featured in a new, one-hour HBO comedy special, #Adulting, which will air sometime this spring, exact date TBA. It will debut on the network and will stream on HBO Max.

Sasha Urban editorBill Maher has a new HBO comedy special on the way. Slated for release this spring, “#Adulting” will mark Maher’s 12th special with the network and is scheduled to be taped on March 4 and 5 at the Fillmore Theater in Miami.Maher’s first HBO special dates back to 1989, and he’s since starred in the hour-long presentations “Bill Maher: Live From Oklahoma,” “Bill Maher: Live from D.C.,” “Bill Maher… But I’m Not Wrong,” “Victory Begins at Home,” “Be More Cynical,” “The Golden Goose Special,” “Stuff That Struck Me Funny” and the Emmy-nominated comedy specials “The Decider” and “I’m Swiss.” He also appeared in two half-hour stand-up specials as well as the specials “30 Seconds Over Washington” and “Comic Relief VI.” Maher is best known for hosting the talk show “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO, which is currently in its 20th season.

Selome Hailu Adriana Martínez Barrón has joined CBS as vice president of drama series development.In her new role, Martínez Barrón will oversee a significant portion of the drama programming development for CBS Entertainment’s primetime lineup. She will report to Yelena Chak, executive vice president of drama series development.Martínez Barrón most recently served as vice president of film at Unbelievable Entertainment, Eva Longoria’s production company.

Adriana Martínez Barrón, most recently VP of Film at Eva Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, has moved to CBS as Vice President, Drama Series Development.

CBS is moving on to its comedy pilots.

Manori Ravindran International EditorDavid Duchovny (“Californication”) and Ron Livingston (“A Million Little Things”) round out the cast of Signature Films’ inheritance battle comedy “The Estate.”The actors join a star-studded cast that includes leads Toni Collette and Anna Faris, alongside Kathleen Turner, Rosemary DeWitt and Keyla Monterroso. Production is currently underway in New Orleans.Directed by Dean Craig, who also wrote the script, the film revolves around sisters Macey (Collette) and Savanna (Faris), who learn their wealthy but estranged Aunt Hilda is dying from cancer.

Emily Longeretta Paramount Plus and CBS are expanding their reality TV lineup. On Tuesday, the streaming service announced the renewals of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” “Queen of the Universe,” “The Real World Homecoming” and “The Challenge: All Stars,” as well as multiple new series.“The Challenge: All Stars,” which landed a Guild of Music Supervisors Award nomination for best music supervision in reality TV, will launch its third season on May 11, Chris McCarthy, chief content officer of unscripted entertainment at Paramount Plus, announced on on Tuesday’s ViacomCBS’s Investor Day event, sharing that the universe is expanding across broadcast and cable channels.Internationally, the streamer will launch “The Challenge: Argentina,” “The Challenge: Australia” and “The Challenge U.K.” Each will be available to stream on demand in their respective markets.

ViacomCBS is supersizing reality competition franchise The Challenge.

Merging the male and female acting categories into gender-neutral ones at the Bafta Awards is something that has been discussed and remains under consideration, according to outgoing chief executive Amanda Berry. 

Caesars Sportsbook, the NFL’s exclusive casino partners, just released a 30-second commercial for the upcoming Super Bowl that features a play on Roman times with a Caesar and Cleo dinner theme. In the clip, which can be seen above, comedian JB Smoove plays Julius Caesar while actress Halle Berry plays his lover, Cleopatra, and they are sitting at a table for dinner with sports legends Eli Manning and Peyton Manning as well as their family members Archie and Cooper Manning. It doesn’t take long before their exchanges of pleasantries become quite amusing.

Olivia and Alex Bowen have unveiled their interior plans for their baby's nursery, with the room set to be safari-themed. The Love Island stars revealed that they're expecting their first child together at the beginning of January, and mum-to-be Olivia, 28, has been busy documenting her pregnancy journey over on Instagram ever since.