‘Mrs. Davis’ Switches to Limited Series Emmys Category, but Season 2 Isn’t Off the Table

Editor’s Note: The co-creator & showrunner of Mrs. Davis, Tara Hernandez has put artificial intelligence at the core of her creativity in the just completed Peacock limited series. Today, in a guest column on the Writers Guild of American strike, the Young Sheldon writers’ room alumna takes a different POV on AI and the notion of the individual in a greater collective

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Mrs. Kasha Davis’ run on “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” Season 8 was short-lived — the returning Season 7 alum was eliminated after just three episodes — but you haven’t seen the last of the queen. She can be found hosting Drag Story Hour. Drag Story Hour, a storytelling event for kids and teens, has been at the center of anti-drag and anti-trans legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers in the U.S in efforts to ban children from drag performances. Davis says the popularity of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and drag being in the mainstream is what creates fear among conservative Americans as the LGBTQ community comes under legislative attack and anti-queer hate crimes appear to be on the rise.

Selome Hailu With “The Last Thing He Told Me,” Apple TV+ has achieved its most watched limited series ever since the streamer’s launch in 2019. According to Nielsen data obtained by Variety, the series reached 4.5 million unique viewers in its first 31 days of streaming, beating out previous Apple limited series as well as several titles on the overall drama slate, such as “Black Bird” (2.6 million viewers) “Slow Horses” (1.9 million), “Echo” (1.4 million) and “Shining Girls” (1.3 million). The series premiere of “The Last Thing He Told Me” reached 3.4 million viewers, becoming Apple’s most watched drama episode of the year so far.

The CW has released trailers for its new series for the 2023-24 season: the AMC Studios-produced drama 61st Street; Canadian series Children Ruin Everything, Run the Burbs, Son of a Critch, The Spencer Sisters and Sullivan’s Crossing; UK series Everyone Else Burns; documentary film series I Am; reality series Fboy Island; and German eco-thriller drama series The Swarm. You can read about each and watch below.

EXCLUSIVE: Edi Gathegi (For All Mankind) has been tapped for a prominent role opposite Robert De Niro, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Joan Allen and Connie Britton in Netflix’s limited series Zero Day, the six-episode conspiracy thriller from creators Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim and Michael S. Schmidt.

“Justified: City Primeval,” the long-awaited spinoff to FX’s Western drama, finally has a premiere date. Ahead of Fox’s upfront, the network announced that “City Primeval” would premiere on July 17. Additionally, FX announced the premiere dates for “What We Do in the Shadows” Season 5, “Reservation Dogs” Season 3 and “Archer” Season 14.First premiering in 2010, “Justified” quickly became a critical darling.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday. Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Stockport County have paid tribute to former record-signing Neil Matthews following his death with cancer aged 56. Matthews played a key role in County's legendary 1990-91 season, scoring two goals in the club's final day 5-0 win over Scunthorpe that secured the club's first promotion in 20 years.

Tom Holland, Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum are coming together in, the gripping, new limited series from Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman (). Ahead of its debut, Apple TV+ shared the official trailer following a first-look reveal at the star-studded cast and premiere date announcement for the 10-part season in April.In the upcoming thriller created by Goldsman, Holland, who also serves as an executive producer, plays a man named Danny Sullivan, who is arrested following his involvement in a 1979 shooting in New York City. Told through a series of interviews conducted by a curious interrogator, Rya Goodwin (Seyfried), the story of Danny's life unfolds, revealing how elements of his past shaped his future, including the twists and turns that led him to a life-altering incident. Rossum, meanwhile, plays Danny's mother, Candy, while the rest of the cast is rounded out by Sasha Lane, Will Chase and Lior Raz as well as guest stars Jason Isaacs, Christopher Abbott, Thomas Sadoski and Zachary Golinger.In the trailer, released Wednesday, Holland's Danny opens by reflecting on a traumatic night from his past that he says «marked me.» «Everything that came afterwards couldn't be a coincidence, could it?» he questions.When Danny meets Rya in a sparse room, she comments that he «doesn't seem like a dangerous person.» But there's always more to what meets the eye as it flashes back to the moment a burly man suddenly shows up and saves Danny from trouble, taking him in as one of his own.As Rya tries to get to the bottom of a shooting that Danny is involved in and a prime suspect, details of whatever transpired start to come out and suspicion grows around him.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Mrs. Davis” may be one of the most surprising and unconventional new series of the spring — and now it’s making a surprising and unconventional move in the Emmy race as well. As the Television Academy deadline for category submissions ends today, Peacock has decided to make a last-minute shift and move the series into the limited/anthology series categories. Betty Gilpin stars in “Mrs. Davis” as Simone, a sometimes nun who takes on her nemesis, the artificial intelligence being known only as “Mrs. Davis,” and strikes a deal with the algorithm — which promises to shut down if Simone finds and destroys the holy grail. This exploration of faith and technology comes from executive producers Tara Hernandez (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Damon Lindelof (“The Leftovers”).

A group of top showrunners met today to discuss the WGA strike – a day after it emerged the studios told writer/producers were not excused from producing duties during the labor action.

“Yellowstone” is coming to an end, but the world will live on. The series will wrap on Paramount Network with its fifth season, set to air in November, and will be succeeded by a new sequel series.The new series will air on Paramount and stream on Paramount+ in December, and Matthew McConaughey remains in talks to star in that show.“’Yellowstone’ has been the cornerstone on which we have launched an entire universe of global hits – from 1883 to ‘Tulsa King,’ and I am confident our ‘Yellowstone’ sequel will be another big hit, thanks to the brilliant creative mind of Taylor Sheridan and our incredible casts who bring these shows to life,” said Chris McCarthy, President & CEO Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios.“The Dutton story continues, picking up where ‘Yellowstone’ leaves off in another epic tale.

“Star Wars” franchise is ever-present, and there’s plenty more to come. After Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm spurred the dawn of a new sequel trilogy and a couple of prequel films, things have been on hold for “Star Wars” on the big screen ever since the release of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” But now, at long last, it sounds like there’s some significant movement for the franchise on the big screen.Below, we run down every upcoming “Star Wars” movie currently in the works, what it’s about, and its current status – and we even look back on the many “Star Wars” movies that have yet to be made.Likely the next “Star Wars” movie to be released is an untitled film that will feature the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey, as announced at Star Wars Celebration in April 2023.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Big names from across movies and television are coming together to voice their support for the Writers Guild of America strike, which officially started on Tuesday. Notable creators speaking out include “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, “Dopesick” writer and director Danny Strong and “Mrs. Davis” writers and producers Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez.

The CW has confirmed that it is going on a date with FBoy Island and its female spinoff FGirl Island.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Austin Butler is bald and terrifying in the first look at the villainous Feyd-Rautha from Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” Butler, a recent Oscar nominee for his performance as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” is one of the high profile new additions to the “Dune” cast along with Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. Feyd-Rautha was previously played by Sting in David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation. Feyd-Rautha is the evil nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and the brother of the sadistic Glossu Rabban, played by Dave Bautista in Villeneuve’s film franchise. The two brothers are in competition to become the Harkonnen family’s successor on the planet Arrakis.

David Arquette opened up about being married to ex-wife Courteney Cox during the height of her "Friends" fame.  During an appearance on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM radio show, the 51-year-old actor admitted that he felt "inferior" to the 58-year-old actress when she starred on the mega-hit sitcom.  "Yeah, absolutely. It's difficult," Arquette said.

EXCLUSIVE: Nina Bloomgarden (The Resort), James Tupper (Big Little Lies), Theo Germaine (They/Them) and Paige Collins (Big House) have signed on to star alongside Mary Beth Barrone in the indie erotic thriller Good Girl, which Lauren Garroni is directing, in her feature debut. No details on their roles have been disclosed.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Damon Lindelof’s exit from the Star Wars universe was not a mutual decision, the writer confirmed in a new Esquire interview. The “Lost” and “The Leftovers” co-creator boarded a new Star Wars movie in 2022 with “Ms. Marvel” director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attached to direct. Lindelof brought on Justin Britt-Gibson (“Counterpart,” “Into the Badlands”) to co-write the project with him. The duo exited the film in February. “I was in more than talks to join the Star Wars universe,” Lindelof told Esquire. “I joined the Star Wars universe and was asked to leave.”  Lindelof and Britt-Gibson were replaced as writers by Steven Knight, best known in recent years as the creator of “Peaky Blinders.” Obaid-Chinoy remained as director amid the screenwriting transition. Lindelof told Variety earlier this month that his script was “a true labor of love.”

Netflix’s Italian drama The Leopard, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s classic novel, has gone into production and unveiled its cast.