HBO Orders Steve Carell Comedy Series From Bill Lawrence, Matt Tarses & Warner Bros. TV

Dennis Harvey Film Critic For many viewers, the scenes hardest to take in viral streaming cringefest “Baby Reindeer” weren’t the ones of overt stalking or abuse, but those depicting the DOA stand-up comedy of Richard Gadd’s alter ego — moments whose flop-sweating public failure seemed to stretch into tortuous infinity. Canadian feature “I Used to Be Funny” likewise hinges on a paralyzing intersection between stand-up, anxiety and depression. Mercifully, however, here it’s not the protagonist’s stage act that is the cause of massive self-doubt.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Erika Henningsen is re-teaming with Tina Fey on the latter’s upcoming Netflix series “The Four Seasons,” Variety has learned exclusively. Henningsen and Fey previously worked together on the Broadway musical version of “Mean Girls,” for which Fey wrote the book based on the movie of the same name she also wrote. Henningsen originated the role of Cady Heron in the original Broadway production.

Odessa A’zion (Sitting in Bars with Cake), Jordan Firstman (Rotting in the Sun), Miles Robbins (Blockers) and True Whitaker (Godfather of Harlem) have joined HBO‘s Untitled Rachel Sennott Comedy Pilot.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Rachel Sennott‘s upcoming HBO comedy pilot has added four cast members, Variety has learned. Odessa A’zion (“Sitting in Bars with Cake,” “Grand Army”), Jordan Firstman (“Rotting in the Sun,” “Dave”), Miles Robbins (“Blockers,” “Old Dads”), and True Whitaker (“Godfather of Harlem”) are all set to star in project, which was picked up to pilot at HBO in March. Sennot will also star in the series.

Broadway box office held fairly steady as the industry settled into a post-Memorial Day summer, with most productions reporting some slippage from the holiday traffic highs.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Colman Domingo is the latest addition to the cast of “The Four Seasons” series at Netflix. He will star alongside previously announced cast members Tina Fey and Steve Carell. The show is based on the 1981 film of the same name that was directed by and starred Alan Alda with Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Sandy Dennis, and Len Cariou also among the cast members.

Colman Domingo (Rustin) has closed a deal to join Tina Fey and Steve Carell in The Four Seasons, Netflix‘s forthcoming comedy series based on the Universal Pictures title of the same name.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has dipped into the acquisitions market for European drama series The Crimson Rivers.

Michaela opened up in October 2023 about her father’s cancer battle after being diagnosed.She said that the tumor had “elusively grown on the bottom of his mouth and it began encroaching on his teeth.”The actor underwent a 10-hour surgery on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, and according to Michaela, it was successful.“The cancer was removed successfully, and his jaw bone has been reconstructed from his fibula and attached.

Netflix is putting toxic masculinity under the comedy microscope.

The Office continues to be one of the most popular TV shows on the air today, and salary info for three leading stars has been unearthed!

Andy Cohen once described the Real Housewives franchise as “guilt free gossiping,” and now he, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros Discovery and others are denying any guilt in the workplace discrimination and retaliation claims from RHONY vet Leah McSweeney.

Steve Carell is getting a new show!

Though Steve Carell has tried his best to work on great TV shows in recent years, he still can’t shake “The Office.” Sure, he’s made plenty of films and proven he’s a wonderful actor, but everytime he works on a new show, such as the Netflix comedy, “Space Force,” it’s always just a reminder that he was at his peak on “The Office.” Well, now he’s headed to HBO (a network synonymous with quality) to once again try to shake off that ‘Office’ smell.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO has given out a straight-to-series order for a single-camera comedy series starring Steve Carell from Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, Variety has learned. The untitled, half-hour series has been given a 10 episode order. The official logline states that the show is “set on a college campus, centering on an author’s complicated relationship with his daughter.” “HBO has long been a standard bearer of quality TV,” Lawrence said.

imaginary friends movie “IF” claimed the top spot at the box office this weekend according to studio estimates Sunday. Its $35 million North American debut was also a bit lower than some projections.Is that a disappointment? An ominous sign of the box office times? Or is the final story on “ IF ” yet to be written? It’s not just your imagination: In these bumpy early weeks of the 2024 summer box office season, in which nothing has been a runaway hit and every new movie has more and more pressure to succeed, “IF” hit a nerve.Starring Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, and an army of A-list voices including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Maya Rudolph, “IF” was an original idea from Krasinski, who wrote, directed and co-stars.Paramount debuted the film, which cost a reported $110 million to produce, in 4,041 locations in North America.

J. Kim Murphy Paramount’s family comedy “IF” is leading domestic charts in its opening after earning $10.3 million from more than 4,041 locations across Friday and preview screenings. But the John Krasinski-directed fantasy feature has decidedly fallen behind its projections heading into the weekend, which had originally forecast a debut around $40 million.

Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG (thematic elements and mild language.) In theaters.John Krasinski has written, directed and stars in a new movie about imaginary friends.

Jordan Moreau John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds are imagining box office success this weekend. Their new movie “IF,” which stands for and follows “imaginary friends,” has made $1.75 million in previews so far at the box office. The family-friendly Paramount film is on track to dethrone last week’s box office champ, Disney’s “The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” “IF” is projected to make around $40 million in its opening weekend, with some estimates lower at $35 million and others as high as $45 million.

The star-studded film IF hits theaters at midnight, and many theater-goers might be wondering if there’s an end credits scene for this one.