John Oliver Dings “Business Daddy” Warner Bros. Discovery For Taking “Content Purge Up A Notch” With HBO Max Rebrand

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The TV Academy has denied the petition for Apple’s “Schmigadoon!” to move from submitting for outstanding comedy series to the scripted variety category, Variety has learned exclusively. It had been reported that the streamer had filed an official petition to move the show into the newly titled scripted variety category where it would face off against “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” However, the news seemed to be premature, with the Television Academy confirming the petition has been denied and Apple has been notified. Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Emmy predictions in all categories.

Very unfortunate news has just been revealed: Pete Davidson‘s episode of Saturday Night Live is officially canceled.

“Saturday Night Live” due to the writer’s strike. Repeats will be aired until further notice, the network said.Pete Davidson was set to host the May 6 show with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert.The news, which was expected, comes as the various late night shows all plan to go dark starting Tuesday after the WGA called for a strike.

Writers Strike has officially begun, which will result in writers stopping all work to picket the studios. This halt means that many scripted projects will inevitably go dark, resulting in a Hollywood shutdown not seen since COVID, and not felt since the last WGA strike took place 15 years ago. Variety will keep readers updated with a rolling list of everything that has been on hold as a result of the strike, which went into effect Tuesday. For more information about the strike, check out Variety’s FAQ primer on what it means in the industry. LATE-NIGHT SHOWS GO DARK. ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’ “The Late Show,” and NBC’s “Tonight” and “Late Night” are all going on hiatus and repeats will be shown. HBO will also cease live production of “Real Time with Bill Maher” and “This Week Tonight” with John Oliver. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” (which was currently being hosted by a rotating cast of comedians) is also on hiatus.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor TV’s late-night shows are going to bed early for the foreseeable future. ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’ “The Late Show,” and NBC’s “Tonight” and “Late Night” are all going on’ hiatus as a result of the start of the Hollywood writers’ strike — and the shows could be off the air for at least a few weeks. In place of new programs, NBC, CBS and ABC will air repeats of those shows. HBO will also cease live production of “Real Time with Bill Maher” and “This Week Tonight” with John Oliver. Immediate word on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” was not available. Writers play an integral role in TV’s late-night schedule, bashing out multiple jokes, one-liners and sketches each day that play off current events and trending popular culture. The contract between the Writers’ Guild of American an the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents about 350 TV and film production companies, ended on May 1.

Late-night shows will be shut down after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced they will strike.

John Oliver gave it a thorough roasting on Sunday night’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO. The app was designed for those who are seeking exemptions from Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy that severely restricts who qualifies for asylum in the United States.

John Oliver was back at it on Last Week Tonight making fun of slogans. This time, the late-night talk show host gave his “business daddy” Warner Bros. Discovery a break and instead took a swipe at Fast X.

EXCLUSIVE: The days of war between late-night hosts like David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien are long gone.

J. K. Rowling had a nonchalant response to criticism about her involvement on the upcoming Harry Potter TV series.

wave of backlash to partnering with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch has released a new ad for Budweiser, relying on its signature Clydesdales and even invoking memories of 9/11. So on Sunday night, John Oliver scorched the company for being “so afraid of offending anyone” that they produce a commercial that seems as if an artificial intelligence program made it.In response to a trend of videos showing conservatives destroying Bud Light they paid for and Anheuser-Busch already profited from, the company released a statement, not apologizing for the campaign, but not denouncing the backlash either.

John Oliver is not done taking swipes at the decisions being made by “business daddy” Warner Bros. Discovery. On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver came up with a possible slogan for the streaming service Max.

A new generation of wizards! HBO announced that a new Harry Potter series was officially in the works.

While Harry Potter and Game of Thrones may have scored the biggest headlines at this morning’s newly rebranded Max launch event, one of the more understated nuggets was the handful of unscripted originals coming to the service.

Despite author J.K. Rowling coming under fire during the pandemic over her comments on transgender issues, Warner Bros has boldly stood by the Harry Potter and Wizarding World architect, in particular this morning, when it was made official that Warner Bros Discovery has greenlit a Harry Potter Max streaming series.

“Harry Potter” TV series reboot with author J.K. Rowling attached to executive produce, HBO CEO Casey Bloys said the author’s insights will be “incredibly helpful,” meanwhile sidestepping the controversy surrounding Rowling’s string of anti-trans comments.“She will be involved; she’s an executive producer on the show and I think her insights are going to be incredibly helpful on that,” Bloys told press during the Q&A portion of Warner Bros.

HBO is giving “Game of Thrones” fans another reason to celebrate, announcing the pay-cable channel has given a straight-to-series order to a new prequel series, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight”.

is coming to TV. On Wednesday, Max, formerly known as HBO Max, announced that it's ordered a scripted series based off of J.K.

a new “Harry Potter” TV series served as the climax of Warner Bros. Discovery’s presentation to press and investors on April 12 to tout the combination of HBO Max and Discovery+ into a new service dubbed simply Max. During a Q&A with press after the presentation, however, executives were less forthcoming about the involvement of the franchise’s creator, J.K. Rowling. The author, who will be an executive producer on the series, has become an increasingly controversial figure for repeatedly sharing views that trans women are not women, and trans men are not men. HBO and Max content chief Casey Bloys declined to comment on Rowling’s views when asked how they may affect the ability to find talent for the series.

JK Rowling may be exec producing the new Harry Potter series for Max but Warner Bros. Discovery is now starting the search for a writer/showrunner.