‘Los Espookys’ Co-Creator Julio Torres Signs First-Look Deal With HBO and HBO Max

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 WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency,” the Feb. 28 episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star.”Gwyn Morgan (Lisa Edelstein) went as far as she could with her son, T.K. Strand (Ronen Rubinstein), on Monday’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” before leaving him to go the rest of the way on his own — both in the past and the present.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Euphoria” is now HBO’s second-most-watched show since 2004 behind only “Game of Thrones,” per the pay TV channel.The Zendaya-led drama hit yet another series high with its Season 2 finale episode Sunday, drawing 6.6 million viewers. According to HBO, “Euphoria” Season 2 episodes are now averaging 16.3 million viewers, the best performance for any season of an HBO series other than “Game of Thrones” since 2004.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Celebrity Book Club” podcast host and Apple’s “The Problem With Jon Stewart” head writer Chelsea Devantez has signed a multi-year overall deal at Disney’s 20th Television.Under the pact, Devantez will write and produce her own comedy projects for the studio, as well as supervise others.Devantez began her TV writing career on Stewart’s writing staff on his never-released and untitled HBO show. Her other TV credits include Tina Fey and Meredith Scardino’s Peacock comedy “Girls5Eva” and Liz Meriwether and Lake Bell’s ABC comedy “Bless This Mess.” Last year, Devantez sold her pilot, “This Is Our Year,” to 20th Television and CBS.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMarna Grantham, senior vice president of programming acquisitions at Epix and a longtime TV industry veteran, has died due to complications related to COVID-19. She was 63.“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Marna twice, both at Turner Broadcasting and here at Epix,” Michael Wright, president of Epix and MGM Scripted Television, said in a statement to Variety Monday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFox’s animation house Bento Box Entertainment has signed a development deal with former TruTV executives Chris Linn and Marissa Ronca, and their consulting firm Contrast Media.Under the pact, Linn and Ronca will work closely with Bento Box’s development department, advising on creative strategy, packaging and development of animated projects for Fox Entertainment and ad-supported streaming service Tubi, as well as third-party platforms.Additionally, the WarnerMedia alums — Linn the former president of TruTV and Ronca the cable network’s former executive vice president and head of original programming and development — “will offer support” regarding Bento Box’s NFT studio, Blockchain Creative Labs. “Chris and Marissa are fantastic executives whose work we’ve admired for quite some time,” Scott Greenberg, co-founder and CEO of Bento Box Entertainment, said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterShowtime’s upcoming “The First Lady” anthology series is described as “a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House.” While the first season focuses on icons Michelle Obama (played by Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson), the executive producers are not opposed to a potential future season including possibly the most divisive first lady: Melania Trump.During a virtual panel promoting the show at the Television Critics Association’s press tour Wednesday, “The First Lady” showrunner Cathy Schulman and director and executive producer Susanne Bier playfully tossed a reporter’s question about featuring President Donald Trump’s wife as subject before Bier answered definitively, but with a laugh: “Look, I do think that the series could do with a fun season — so let’s talk about that.” Star Anderson, who was sitting on the panel alongside co-star Davis, added: “I think the hope is that there’s going to be future seasons and there will be the opportunity to have many, many more first ladies represented. So maybe not just four — but maybe 104.”But Bier says that no matter how many seasons they do, she’d like to keep the number of first ladies to three per installment for a very specific reason.“Three is a great number for a season because you can do in-depth contrasts, but it’s also incredibly interesting how the three ladies reflect upon each other,” Bier said.

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 WriterReese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has acquired lifestyle brand The Home Edit, the company announced on Wednesday.Founded by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, The Home Edit offers “full service organizing” in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, NYC, Nashville, Orange County, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, as well as “travel and DIY services” globally. Shearer and Teplin are the authors of New York Times bestseller “The Home Edit Life” and the creators of multiple product lines, including a recently announced exclusive Walmart collection.Shearer and Teplin are also the stars of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated “Get Organized with the Home Edit,” which is produced by Hello Sunshine and will debut its second season this year.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWith Peak TV still getting peak-ier, it’s harder than ever for a series to really break through with audiences. And that means it’s even harder for a new writer to get their project noticed with the studio executives who are sifting through pitches looking for the next show that will break through with audiences.During a “Meet the Executives” virtual panel at SCAD TVfest last Thursday, five top programming execs offered up some key advice to SCAD students on what they are looking for in a script from the next generation of TV series creators.The panel, which was hosted by Variety‘s TV business writer Jennifer Maas, included JoAnn Alfano, executive vice president of scripted current series and head of international business development at Universal Studio Group; Jasmine Russ, vice president of development and production at Fabel Entertainment; Max Kisbye, executive vice president of development and production at MGM/UA Television; Tana Nugent Jamieson, senior vice president of creative affairs at A+E Studios; and Naomi Funabashi, senior vice president of film and television at Hillman Grad Productions.

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 WriterBon appetit! A cooking competition inspired by culinary legend Julia Child and featuring her “superfans” as contestants has been ordered at Food Network and Discovery Plus, Variety has learned exclusively.Based on the legacy of Child, who motivated generations of home cooks with her talent, enthusiasm and humor, “The Julia Child Challenge” will see eight top-notch home cooks compete in high-stakes culinary challenges to find out who has the fire, skill and passion to win the first-ever primetime competition series dedicated to all things Julia, per the show’s official description. The competitors, all Julia Child superfans, share personal stories about their hero, cook in a kitchen recreated in the likeness of where Julia herself cooked, using the same ingredients Julia used and are even guided by Julia herself through a larger-than-life television screen right in the middle of all the action.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAt around $7 million per 30-second spot, an ad for Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI did not come cheap. But with more than 112 million viewers having tuned in for the Los Angeles Rams victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the companies who shelled out that cash would likely think it was worth it to have their spot viewed by that many eyeballs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBC briefly misidentified singer Mickey Guyton as Jhene Aiko during a preshow performance at Super Bowl LVI on Sunday.As seen in the video below, the broadcast network first panned over Guyton with a chyron that labeled her as “Jhene Aiko” during Aiko’s performance of “America the Beautiful.” A few seconds later, the incorrect name disappeared under Guyton and cameras shifted to Aiko, who was singing, and a new chyron correctly identified her as “Jhene Aiko.”When Aiko concluded her performance of “America the Beauitful,” Guyton sang the National Anthem ahead of the kickoff for the big game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.Representatives for NBC Sports did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment on the error Sunday. More to come…@NBCNews #SuperBowlLVI ummm… who confused Jhene Aiko and Mickey Guyton? Its tone deaf….

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“9-1-1: Lone Star” has already featured guest appearances by two “Angel” alums, Julie Benz and Amy Acker, during the first few episodes of its currently airing third season. And if showrunner Tim Minear — who was a writer and executive producer on “Angel” and brought in Gina Torres, a vet of the WB series, as a lead on “Lone Star” at the start of Season 2 — is down for it, an actress from one of Minear’s other beloved series would love to make another reunion happen: “Firefly” star Morena Baccarin.“Oh, that would be fun! I haven’t seen those guys in forever,” Baccarin told Variety Friday, during an interview for her upcoming NBC drama “The Endgame.” “I love Tim.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer NBC drama development exec Lisa Roos has been named head of television at Keshet Studios, the U.S.-based production arm of Keshet International.In her new role, Roos will focus on developing original IP to bolster Keshet Studios’ ambitious lineup of limited and returning series. She will report to Keshet Studios president Peter Traugott.Roos comes to Keshet from NBC, where she was most recently senior vice president of drama development.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBC has placed drama pilot orders for “The Brave” creator Dean Georgaris’ “Blank Slate” and an adaptation of the novel “Predictably Irrational.”Written by Georgaris, “Blank Slate” follows Special Agent Alexander McCoy, a legend in law enforcement, the agent we all hope is out there, the agent we’d all like to be, per the project’s official logline. The only issue is … he doesn’t actually exist.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“The Boondocks” reboot series has been scrapped at HBO Max, Variety has learned.In September 2019, HBO Max ordered a two-season revival of the animated series before the WarnerMedia-owned streaming service had even launched.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterEsports is the biggest opportunity in TV that nobody’s talking about — yet.That’s the view from video game industry veterans who see esports — or the exploding world of live video gaming competitions, complete with crowds of virtual fans cheering them on — as poised to explode in the coming years.Riot Games and Activision Blizzard are among the gaming giants making big investments to juice the burgeoning market for esports TV rights deals. A new round of consolidation and fresh capital coming into gaming, as evidenced by Microsoft’s pending $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, will raise the stakes, as esports content is a clear growth engine for gaming.“We don’t necessarily see obstacles in front of us — we see opportunity,” Brandon Snow, head of Activision Blizzard esports, tells Variety.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterStarz dropped the first teaser for its Sean Penn and Julia Roberts-led Watergate limited series “Gaslit” on Wednesday, revealing the actors’ on-screen transformations into Attorney General John Mitchell, President Richard Nixon’s most trusted advisor and best friend, and his whistleblower wife Martha Mitchell.Also announced was the show’s premiere date, which Starz has set for Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m., the pay TV channel said during its Wednesday presentation at the virtual Television Critics Association press tour.Executive produced by Sam Esmail, “Gaslit” is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal — from Nixon’s bumbling and opportunistic subordinates, to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes, to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down, per Starz. Along with Penn (who rattled production with his insistence on strict enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates on set) and Roberts, “Gaslit” also stars Dan Stevens (who replaced Armie Hammer on the series) as John Dean, Betty Gilpin as Mo Dean, Shea Whigham as G.