Julia Child-Inspired Cooking Competition Set at Food Network and Discovery Plus (EXCLUSIVE)

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDan Abrams’ true-crime channel Law & Crime has struck a carriage deal with Dish Network, Variety has learned exclusively.Live trial and 24/7 true-crime network Law & Crime, which recently aired national coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the trial of Brett Hankison, a former police officer charged in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, has now launched on Dish and is available to customers on Channel 252. The new distribution pact between Law & Crime and Dish increases the channel’s reach to more than 27 million households across the U.S., the Bahamas and Virgin Islands.“We’ve had a deal with Sling for a number of years now and have always been aspiring to also be included in Dish,” Law & Crime founder, ABC News chief legal affairs anchor and NewsNation host Abrams told Variety. “And so this has been a number-of-years effort to add Dish to our roster of partners.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterKal Penn has joined the “Santa Clause” limited series at Disney Plus, Variety has confirmed.The series, which was announced on Jan. 14, will see Tim Allen once again play Santa Claus/Scott Calvin and Elizabeth Mitchell reprising her role as Scott’s wife, Carol Calvin, a.k.a. Mrs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSelwyn Seyfu Hinds has signed an overall deal with UCP, which will see him adapt the Civil War graphic novel series “The Sixth Gun” into a TV series for the Universal Studio Group-owned studio.Under the pact, Hinds will produce projects across various platforms through his production company Mad Massive Entertainment. First up is “The Sixth Gun,” based on the graphic novels from Oni Press by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt.Per UCP’s description for the potential show, “During the darkest days of the Civil War, vile men unearthed six pistols of otherworldly power.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMary J. Blige’s iconic ’90s song “Real Love” is being turned into a Lifetime movie, with the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul executive producing the made-for-TV film.One of her most beloved and memorable tracks, “Real Love” was Blige’s first song to hit the Top 10 and was certified gold two months after its release in 1992.Per Lifetime, in the coming-of-age romantic drama “Real Love,” Kendra sets off on her own for the first time to a college in upstate New York, determined to focus on her studies.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Fairytale Wedding,” the Feb. 28 episode of NBC’s “The Endgame.”NBC’s new high-octane crime drama “The Endgame” aired its second episode Monday, revealing many more compelling details about its leading ladies — Morena Baccarin’s international arms dealer/crime boss Elena Federova and Ryan Michelle Bathé’s FBI agent Val Turner — than it did in its week-ago series premiere.In the episode, “Fairytale Wedding,” we saw the titular nuptials go up in flames when the church where Elena and her now-husband Sergey Vodianov (Costa Ronin) were to be wed was blown up with everyone they loved inside.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJax Media executives Sarah Madigan and John Skidmore have joined Imagine Entertainment, the parent company of Jax, as head of business affairs and strategic partnerships and head of production, respectively, Variety has learned exclusively.Both will continue in their current roles at Jax Media, with Madigan remaining head of business affairs and Skidmore, a founding partner of Jax Media, still chief operating officer of the Imagine Entertainment-owned production company.Skidmore, who will be overseeing all projects across all divisions for Imagine, has produced some of Jax’s most popular titles, including “Broad City,” “Search Party,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Russian Doll” and the Netflix stand-up specials “Chris Rock: Tamborine,” “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous” and “Mike Birbiglia: The New One.” Madigan currently runs business affairs at Jax Media and previously held roles at MGM and Netflix.“Skidmore is a founding member of Jax and Madigan has been integral to the company’s growth over the past few years, and we couldn’t imagine doing this new job without them,” Imagine Entertainment presidents Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns said in a joint statement to Variety.Jax Media co-founders Hernandez and Burns were promoted to co-presidents of Imagine Entertainment in January and continue to lead Jax Media as CEO and CCO, respectively.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAT&T and Discovery are expecting to close Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia to create new company Warner Bros. Discovery as early as mid-April, Variety has learned.According to two people familiar with the matter, with Discovery’s shareholder vote on the deal — which has already received regulatory approval from the DOJ — set for March 11, the two companies are preparing for a close between April 11-April 28.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Red vs. Blue,” Monday’s episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star.”Lisa Edelstein is exiting “9-1-1: Lone Star” after playing Gwyneth Morgan, the wife of Rob Lowe’s Chief Owen Strand and the mother of Ronen Rubinstein’s T.K. Strand, for two seasons on the Fox drama, Variety has learned exclusively.Edelstein’s departure was hinted at in the final moments of Monday’s episode of “Lone Star,” when T.K.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIna Garten’s new Discovery Plus series, “Be My Guest With Ina Garten,” has been renewed for two additional seasons ahead of its launch on March 26.The show will launch with full episodes on Discovery Plus, to be followed by a “food-centric half-hour” airing on Food Network at 12 p.m. ET, along with the debut of a companion podcast.Season 1 consists of four episodes, rolled out weekly in the same manner as the premiere.“Be My Guest With Ina Garten” features Barefoot Contessa inviting friends old and new to her East Hampton home for a day of conversation, connection, food and fun visits to some of her favorite local spots.

Kate Aurthur editorDiscovery Plus has unveiled the trailer for its three-part docuseries “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed,” an investigation into the church made famous by its celebrity congregation, such as Justin Bieber, various Kardashians and other stars. All three episodes will drop on the streamer on March 24.The series explores the rise of Hillsong, which was founded in Australia by Brian Houston as an offshoot of his father Frank’s Sydney-based Pentecostal church.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Yellowstone” prequel “1883” has been renewed for Season 2 at Paramount Plus, and the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service has ordered another Taylor Sheridan-created origin-story show following the Dutton Family called “1932.” Yes, you guessed it — the show will follow a new generation of Duttons “during the time of western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.”“1883″ stars Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Billy Bob Thornton, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen and James Landry Hébert.The show follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of western expansion and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land — Montana.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus will begin integrating Showtime content this summer, launching an in-app upgrade that includes access to the pay TV channel’s programming, ViacomCBS announced during its Tuesday investor event.“So let’s talk about how we’re helping subscribers access even more of our amazing streaming services, right there in the Paramount Plus app,” Tom Ryan, president and chief executive officer of streaming at ViacomCBS, said during the virtual presentation, which covered the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 results and forward-looking goals for this year. “Our existing bundle, of Paramount Plus and Showtime, has performed very well out of the gate.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus and Showtime topped a combined 56 million subscribers by the end of last year, ViacomCBS revealed Tuesday ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings presentation and investor event. That’s up 9.4 million from where it was in the previous quarter.At the end of Q3 of 2021, Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access) and Showtime OTT added 4.3 million global subscribers, raising their combined total to nearly 47 million.For comparison, HBO and HBO Max ended 2021 with 73.8 million global subscribers, Disney Plus closed the year with nearly 130 million worldwide, and Netflix reached 221.8 million total in Q4.ViacomCBS said last February it expects to reach 65-75 million global subscribers between Paramount Plus and Showtime by 2024.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Euphoria” hit another series high on Sunday, drawing 5.1 million viewers across multiple platforms, a 20% increase from last week and up 45% from the season average. That number was reached despite the HBO drama airing opposite Super Bowl LVI on NBC.As Variety previously exclusively reported, “Euphoria’s” Season 2 per-episode-viewership average is up nearly 100% from its first season.“Euphoria” Season 2 takes place amidst the intertwining lives in the town of East Highland, where 17-year-old Rue (Zendaya) must find hope while balancing the pressures of love, loss, and addiction.The series stars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Nika King, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Maude Apatow, Javon Walton, Dominic Fike, Storm Reid and Austin Abrams.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMelissa Joan Hart will star in multiple new “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” holiday movies, as well as the made-for-TV hoarder film “Dirty Little Secret” at Lifetime, as part of a new multi-year deal with the cable channel, Variety has learned exclusively.Under her new pact, Hart will star in, direct and executive produce several movies for Lifetime. For the “Ripped From The Headlines” movie “Dirty Little Secret” (working title), which is set to debut this summer, Hart stars as a mother hiding her extreme hoarding tendencies that are destroying her family.Additionally, Hart will star in and executive produce new movies for Lifetime’s 2022 and 2023 Christmas slates, having previously starred in six holiday films for the cabler, including “Mistletoe in Montana,” “Dear Christmas” and “A Very Merry Toy Store.” Hart has previously executive produced eight Lifetime films with her production company Hartbreak Films, including the recent “Christmas in Tune” starring Reba McEntire.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWhoopi Goldberg returned to her co-host seat at ABC’s “The View” on Monday following a two-week-long suspension due to remarks she made on the program last month about the Holocaust that drew backlash.“Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to ‘The View.’ And yes, I am back… And I missed you all, too,” Goldberg said to viewers and her co-hosts at the top of Monday’s show. “I’ve got to tell you, there’s something kind of marvelous about being on a show like this, because we are ‘The View” and this is what we do.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery Plus has ordered “Serving the Hamptons,” a spinoff of “Selling the Hamptons” following the “young, sexy restaurant staff” at a hot Hamptons restaurant and all of the drama they dish up on and off the clock, Variety has learned exclusively.Premiering on Thursday, April 7, the five hour-long episodes take viewers into one of the most exclusive enclaves in the world while showcasing the juicy lives of the staff at Southampton’s “it” destination for dining. The show brings viewers inside 75 Main Restaurant as its staffers hook up, argue and work together to make sure the clients come back for more, per the show’s official logline.To attract the best employees to serve his elite clientele of celebrities, politicians and the uber rich, 75 Main owner Zach Erdem provides his staff with a gorgeous beach house — provided they follow his rules and take care of his customers.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Los Espookys” co-creator Julio Torres has signed a two-year first-look deal with HBO and HBO Max.Torres has two new projects already in development under the pact, “Little Films” (working title) and “Lucky,” the former of which he’s set to star in and is produced by Emma Stone.In “Little Films,” which has a production commitment at HBO, the former “Saturday Night Live” writer stars as himself. The potential show follows this version of Torres as he tells the tale of when he lost a golden oyster.

, the newest spinoff series from Lucasfilm, will premiere on Wednesday, May 25 on Disney+. The news comes as debuted its final chapter, bringing the fan-favorite character’s saga to a close. , meanwhile, sees Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the titular Jedi master, with the series picking up with him 10 years after the events of. At the time, Kenobi suffered his greatest defeat as his apprentice and friend, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), turned to the dark side and became Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Obi-Wan Kenobi” has received a May 25 premiere date at Disney Plus, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced on the company’s earnings call Wednesday.Disney Plus ended 2021 with 129.8 million paying customers worldwide, gaining 11.8 million for the quarter ended Jan. 1, 2022 and blowing past expectations.