PBS Leads as Peabody Announces 27 Nominees for Documentary and News Honors

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large James Corden said farewell to CBS on Thursday evening by doing something no one ever thought would be possible: Getting Tom Cruise to sing Elton John’s hit ballad “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” After an opening “The Last Last Late Late Show with James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special” by singing “Last Show” (to the tune of “Last Dance”), and quick opening monologue, Corden switched to its heavily promoted final pre-tape with Cruise.  As previously announced, the action star icon and the host joined a performance of “The Lion King” at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The first part of the clip showed the two rehearsing and singing on stage in costume — but from there, the sketch turned into a bit of a farewell between the two.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large HBO Max’s “We’re Here,” Netflix’s “Mo” and Amazon Prime Video’s recently canceled “As We See It” are among the programs set to be recognized at the Television Academy’s 16th Television Academy Honors, the org announced Thursday morning. The Honors this year recognize “six remarkable television programs and producers who have harnessed the extraordinary power of storytelling to fuel social change.” Honorees that have been recognized include what the Academy calls representing “some of the most significant and impactful television of 2022.” The programs honored include “37 Words,” “As We See It,” “Mo,” “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks,” “The U.S. and the Holocaust” and “We’re Here.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 11 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 26 on Fox. Lou Diamond Phillips managed to do something few other “The Masked Singer” contestants have done: He shocked the show’s panel into silence. Phillips was the latest celebrity to be unmasked on the Fox series, revealed as the Mantis on Wednesday night’s show. Also unmasked on this episode: Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen, who was revealed to be the Gargoyle. It was “Battle of the Saved” night, as Medusa, Gargoyle and Mantis — three contestants who had been saved earlier this season — faced off to move on to the next round. New this season was “Ding Dong Keep It On,” a new twist to the competition, where panelists had the opportunity to save a singer from looming elimination, The bell could only be rung three times during the first three rounds, leading Medusa, Gargoyle and Mantis to face off in this week’s battle to rejoin the competition.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As Carol Burnett turns 90, she bristles at the idea of looking back at her legacy. She’s not one to watch old episodes of her iconic “The Carol Burnett Show,” for example. “I’m not like Norma Desmond,” she quips, referring to the fading star in “Sunset Boulevard.” “The only time I do it is if I have to for a reason.” In this case, NBC gave her a good one. The network is set to air “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” on April 26, and the special features both new performances and clips from Burnett’s storied career. And it gave Burnett a chance to reminisce with old friends — and new. “It’s exactly what I wanted,” Burnett said. “I didn’t want a birthday party with cake and balloons and confetti and all of that. What I wanted was to have an entertaining show. And that’s what we got. It’s a variety show, with live entertainment by Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Billy Porter, Katy Perry, Darren Criss and Sutton Foster. And then funny moments with Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney and Laura Dern. We had a 19-piece orchestra live.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is starting to reveal nominees for its landmark 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, starting with multiple categories announced on Tuesday night via entertainment shows “Extra,” “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight.” Via the categories announced so far, CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” — also in the middle of its 50th anniversary celebration — has taken an early lead in nominations, with six total (including drama series). The rest of this year’s nominations will be announced on Wednesday morning. This year’s main Daytime Emmys telecast will air live June 16 on CBS and Paramount+. It’s part of a new two-year telecast deal that the academy has set with CBS. (The Daytime Emmys Lifestyle & Creative Arts Ceremony will take place the next day, on June 17.)

All a ruse? Tom Schwartz asked Tom Sandoval to help him figure out his lack of chemistry with Raquel Leviss — while his business partner was having a secret affair with her.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Issa Rae will be honored with the Peabody Trailblazer Award, while Lily Tomlin will receive the org’s Career Achievement Award, as the Peabody Awards celebrates this year’s kudos on June 11 in Los Angeles. Also announced on Thursday, “Shrinking” star and “The Daily Show” alum Jessica Williams has signed on to host this year’s ceremony. “Beyond our annual awards recognizing the most compelling stories, Peabody is dedicated to recognizing individuals that inspire and delight us,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. “Lily Tomlin has made so many people laugh over the decades with her remarkable talent, and Issa Rae has proven herself a profound entertainment storyteller, performer, and force for good. We’re thrilled to recognize Issa and Lily for not only their extraordinary contributions to storytelling, but also for their important role and place for women in comedy and entertainment.”

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The inside story behind the ascent of Finland’s outgoing prime minister, Sanna Marin, is the subject of a new three-part docuseries from HBO Max. The streamer has unveiled the Finnish original “First Five,” which is billed as an “intimate” portrait of Marin and her headline-grabbing female cabinet. The project comes just weeks after Marin and her centre-left Social Democratic Party was defeated by the conservative National Coalition Party. Marin was sworn in as prime minister in December 2019. At just 34 years old, she was the country’s youngest PM, and formed a cabinet with four other women — a number of whom were also under 35. Mere months later, the group was thrown into an unprecedented challenge when the COVID crisis hit Finland.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Dear Edward” is now dearly departed. The Apple TV+ drama will not move forward with a second season, Variety has confirmed. Executive producer Jason Katims is now set up at Imagine TV, but “Dear Edward” came from his deal with Apple Studios, which produced the show. Written, showrun and executive produced by Katims, the 10-episode “Dear Edward” was adapted from author Ann Napolitano’s novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the only survivor of a commercial plane crash. Newcomer Colin O’Brien played Edward, while “Dear Edward” was also notable for its reunion between Katims and his “Friday Night Lights” star Connie Britton, who played a woman whose husband was killed on the plane. Taylor Schilling also starred as Edward’s aunt, who takes custody of the boy after he loses his parents and brother to the crash.

Placing blame. Vanderpump Rules alum Jax Taylor thinks his former costars Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney would still be married if it weren’t for Tom Sandoval.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Abbott Elementary,” “Better Call Saul,” “Severance,” “Mo,” “Reservation Dogs” and “We’re Here” are among the entertainment nominees as the Peabody Awards’ board of jurors revealed 42 nominees for this year’s Peabodys in entertainment, arts, children’s/youth, podcast/radio, interactive & immersive, and public service. They join the 27 news and documentary nominees announced by Peabody earlier this week. According to Peabody, the total of 69 nominees were culled from a list of 1,200 entries in those various categories; the final nods were chosen by a unanimous vote of 17 jurors. PBS led all total nominees with 13, followed by HBO Max (6), Apple TV+ (4), Disney+ and FX (3 each), and ABC, Channel 4, Netflix, and Vice (2 each). 

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Just in time for Earth Day, DirecTV has sealed a deal to add the environmental lifestyle channel EarthxTV to its lineup. EarthxTV will be added to the mix for DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers starting Saturday, April 15. This marks the widest distribution deal to date for EarthxTV. “EarthxTV is a great addition to bring to our DirecTV entertainment lineup in this week leading up to Earth Day, and we look forward to offering the service for years to come,” said DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun in a statement. “We’re proud to engage with organizations that help benefit our environment and offer support to their grassroots efforts in the communities where our employees live and work.”

Weighing in. Raquel Leviss was thrilled by her hookup with Tom Schwartz — but her Vanderpump Rules costars had different thoughts on the matter.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 9 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 12 on Fox. It was “Masked Singer in Space Night,” but “The Masked Singer” could have also been celebrating “’90s Night.” That’s because the two celebrities unmasked on Wednesday’s episodes were both TV stars from that era: Melissa Joan Hart (of “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” fame) and Alicia Witt (“Cybill,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”). Hart was revealed to be Lamp, while Witt was Dandelion. Witt had won the previous week as Dandelion, but her journey ended here. For Dandelion, panelist Ken Jeong guessed Witt right. Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg thought it was Milla Jovovich. Robin Thicke went with Sara Bareilles and Nicole Scherzinger named Zooey Deschanel.

Andy Cohen isn't happy with Howie Mandel's surprising sit-down interview with Tom Sandoval. The Bravo host is taking the  judge to task for his recent chat with Sandoval on hisduring which Mandel appeared — to some fans — to lack knowledge about the intricacies of Scandoval, and appeared to side with the embattled reality star when it came to the drama.Scandoval is the term used to describe the cheating scandal that shocked the Bravo-verse last month.

The Peabodys on Tuesday revealed a total of 27 nominees in the Documentary and News categories for the 83rd annual Peabody Awards.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large NFL Network’s “NFL 360” and NBC’s coverage of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games led the nomination pack, at ten each, for this year’s 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the ceremony, which takes place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Monday, May 22. Previously announced: Bryant Gumbel will receive the lifetime achievement award for his role in sports journalism.  “Today we honor these esteemed nominees and celebrate those who bring the thrill of competitive sports into our lives on a daily basis,” said Adam Sharp, president & CEO, NATAS. “We are excited by the extraordinary quality of this year’s submissions and equally excited by the opportunity to honor this year’s Lifetime Achievement honoree, Bryant Gumbel, celebrating his more than five decades of sports broadcasting excellence.” 

Katie Maloney and Lala Kent tuned in to watch Tom Schwartz on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen — and it’s safe to say they weren’t impressed.

Tom Schwartz got through the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen hot seat, but now he has to deal with Katie Maloney and Lala Kent. The reality star was put on the spot Wednesday night as host Andy Cohen grilled him about Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' affair.Schwartz spoke candidly throughout the interview, telling viewers he found out about Sandoval's «one-night stand» with Leviss in August, but he didn't find out about the alleged affair — which ended Sandoval's nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix — until January.«It was like a crisis — midlife crisis,» Schwartz explained. «And what happened in the fall, there's a lot of gray area there. Apparently not though.

It's being reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be part of the group on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the King's Coronation next month.