‘Poker Face’ Finale: Showrunners and Natasha Lyonne on Charlie’s Family Reunion and Season 2 Plans for New Guest Stars

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Lego’s answer to “Mario Kart” will drive into the video game market in May with the arrival of “Lego 2K Drive.” But the execs behind the title assure Variety this game has way more to it than just racing. The driving adventure game comes from Take-Two Interactive publisher 2K and developer Visual Concepts, and will feature a game play experience “with a vast, open world where players can build any vehicle, drive anywhere and become a Lego racing legend.” “Yes, it is a racing experience but, actually, it’s just about enjoying driving and digging into those things that you can only really get if you’re adding Lego into the mix,” Kate Bryant, head of licensed games at Lego, told Variety. “So the cars transform — that’s super Lego-y, the idea that you can take and remix things and build your own cars.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Darnell Ferguson-hosted primetime competition “Superchef Grudge Match” has been renewed for Season 2 at Food Network. Production on the eight-episode second season is set to begin later this year, with new episodes scheduled to debut in early 2024. Hosted by “Tournament of Champions” alum Ferguson, “Superchef Grudge Match” seeks to settle two long-standing personal and professional food feuds in one-round, one-dish winner-takes-all heavyweight battles. Per Food Network’s official description: “The food world is filled with rivalries and on ‘Superchef Grudge Match,’ host Darnell Ferguson stages battles between chefs who have beefs with each other to finally bury the hatchet and win $10,000 cash, a prized knife from the losing chef and lifelong bragging rights over their food foe. From food competition rivalries and business partner squabbles to mentor vs. protégé grudges, sparks fly in and out of the kitchen in this one-hour series.”

Jordan Moreau Variety’s 2023 Power of Women: New York event will honor Judy Blume, Natasha Lyonne, Rosie Perez, Kelly Ripa and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. The Power of Women issue will release on Wednesday, March 29, and the event, in partnership with Lifetime, will celebrate the honorees in New York on Tuesday, April 4. This year’s honorees include: The program will be hosted by actress, comedian and writer Ego Nwodim, who has been a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” since 2018.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala have been on the job for less than two weeks as co-CEOs of Vice Media Group. But despite the newness of their current roles, Lokhandwala and Dixon are already well versed in the inner workings of the Brooklyn-based company, having served for several years in senior roles under recently exited CEO Nancy Dubuc. Lokhandwala has been chief strategy officer at VMG since October 2018, and Dixon has held the position of CFO since 2021 and was previously CFO of Vice Studios. Both were brought in by Dubuc — who departed the company Feb. 24 after nearly five years as CEO — and now seek to follow in her footsteps while shaping the future of Vice, a company that has been seeking a buyer over the past year.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The dazzling, sequin-adorned Dolce & Gabanna dress that Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie wears for the entirety of the “Poker Face” finale was the very first dress that costume designer Trayce Field picked for the show. “We tried on like 58 other dresses and then we came back to the first one,” Field tells Variety.

win Best Picture still seemed crazy. After all, nobody had seen any of the fall festival movies that often dominate the awards lineup.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Because triples is best, “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” has finally set the premiere date for its highly anticipated third season, just under a year after Netflix announced its renewal. And it just so happens that the debut is planned for May 30, one day before the 2023 Primetime Emmy eligibility cutoff, meaning the six-episode third season of Robinson’s absurdist sketch comedy series will be in the running for this year’s noms at TV’s biggest night. Created and written by Robinson and Zach Kanin, Netflix promises the third season of “I Think You Should Leave” will see the duo “bring their distinct comedy style and observational humor to the forefront, continuing to poke fun at life’s most bizarre and mundane situations.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Shrinking” has been renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV+. Co-created by Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, the series stars Segel and Harrison Ford in one of his first television roles. “Shrinking” follows grieving therapist Jimmy (Segel) who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives, including his own, per Apple’s description. In addition to Segel and Ford (as Paul), “Shrinking” stars Jessica Williams (Gaby), Christa Miller (Liz), Lukita Maxwell (Alice), Michael Urie (Brian) and Luke Tennie (Sean).

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the “Poker Face” Season 1 finale, “The Hook,” now streaming on Peacock. Benjamin Bratt sucked it in like Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn to shoot one standout scene in the Season 1 finale of “Poker Face.” The bit in question featured a poetic recitation of the entire third verse (and one line of the hook) of Blues Traveler’s 1994 earworm “Hook” by Bratt’s character, Cliff Legrand, to Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale while taking her back for judgement by his boss, casino mogul Sterling Frost Sr. Why does he do this (an act that makes Charlie call him “the fucking worst”)? Only “Poker Face” creator Rian Johnson really knows for sure — but Bratt, Lyonne and “Poker Face” showrunners Nora and Lilla Zuckerman were all on board with the idea once the “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” filmmaker wrote it into Episode 10, aptly titled “The Hook.”

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “Not drinking any liquids after 12 o’clock noon because I didn’t want to miss a thing, didn’t want to have to go to the loo and missing anything — not just my category but anyone’s category. I just wanted to soak it all in.” “Yea, it was 2019 with ‘Knives Out.’ I remember hanging out at the bar with Adam Driver, Noah Baumbach and the whole ‘Marriage Story’ crew and discovering the bar is the cool place to be during the ceremony. I remember when ‘Parasite’ won.

The British Film Institute has hired Kristy Matheson as its new Festivals Director.

J. Kim Murphy We’ll be right back. “The Eric Andre Show” has set a date for its long-awaited return to Adult Swim. The network announced Tuesday morning that Season 6 of the nightmarish talk show series will premiere on June 4 at midnight. “Eric is back behind the desk like never before; ripped, shredded, full of energy, complete with beads of sweat dripping down from his taut nips onto his glistening six pack abs,” reads Adult Swim’s announcement. “Watch pampered celebrities regret their choices, rappers get the runaround and a slate of street pranks so egregious they collectively inspired a record 30 phone calls to 911.” Billed as “sexy season six,” the series will welcome guests such as Natasha Lyonne, Jaleel White, Blac Chyna, Jon Hamm, Raven-Symoné, Diplo, Daymond John, Meagan Good, Rico Nasty, Waka Flocka Flame, Tinashe, Cypress Hill and Lil Yachty. The network also states that the season will also feature “a host of other celebrities so big we legally can’t use them in promotions.”

Adult Swim will release Season 6 of The Eric Andre Show on Sunday, June 4 at Midnight ET/PT.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from Fox’s “9-1-1” Season 6 spring premiere on Monday, entitled “In a Flash.” The sixth season of Fox first-responder drama “9-1-1” returned Monday after a months-long winter hiatus, with an episode in which almost everything goes surprisingly right for the 118 — until it goes horribly wrong. Before the bad came the good, when Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) hosted their families at their new house with daughter Jee-Yun. Maddie was expecting her and Buck’s (Oliver Stark) parents, and imagining that they would be quite judgmental and rude, as they have been in the past. Chimney, meanwhile, had invited only his brother Albert (John Harlan Kim), but got a surprise visit from his estranged father and stepmother, as well — immediately assuming they would be even harder on him than Maddie’s parents would be on her.

*WINNER.   ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert *WINNER“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner “The Menu,” Written by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy “Nope,” Written by Jordan Peele “Tár,” Written by Todd Field   ADAPTED SCREENPLAY “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Story by Ryan Coogler, Based on the Marvel Comics “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson “She Said,” Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Based on the New York Times Investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the Book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey “Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Based on Characters Created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr.

*WINNER.   ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert “The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner “The Menu,” Written by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy “Nope,” Written by Jordan Peele “Tár,” Written by Todd Field   ADAPTED SCREENPLAY “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Story by Ryan Coogler, Based on the Marvel Comics “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson “She Said,” Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Based on the New York Times Investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the Book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey “Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Based on Characters Created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “Poker Face” Episode 9, “Escape From Shit Mountain,” now streaming on Peacock. A week before the “Poker Face” Season 1 finale, Thursday’s episode featured one of series creator Rian Johnson’s favorite collaborators — Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And with “Poker Face” being the show it is, if you aren’t Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale, you’re either a murder victim, the murderer or an innocent bystander who gets caught in the crossfire. Lucky for Gordon-Levitt, who says he was thrilled to learn that “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” filmmaker Johnson had assigned him a ultimate “total dick” role. Gordon-Levitt was not just the murderer in this installment, “Escape From Shit Mountain,” but the most prolific murderer of the first season — someone who actually attempts to kill Charlie herself.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor ID PR vice president Alla Plotkin has left the company. Plotkin, whose clients have included Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, Holland Taylor, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nicholas Braun, Michelle Williams, Titus Burgess and Jessica Williams, has not announced her next move. She had been with ID for almost 16 years. At the same time, ID PR announced that 20-year company veteran Rebecca Sides Capellan has been promoted to senior vice president. Her client list includes Lupita Nyong’o, Rachel Weisz, Natasha Lyonne, Lena Dunham, Cynthia Nixon and Broadway producer and theater owner Jordan Roth.

EXCLUSIVE: Peacock has an ace up its sleeve with Rian Johnson‘s Poker Face.

Lily Moayeri When Rian Johnson comes to television, he does so with a “big swing,” as music supervisor Thomas Golubić puts it. The multiple Emmy and Grammy nominee (“Better Call Saul,” “Six Feet Under”) is on board for Johnson’s “Poker Face” starring Natasha Lyonne, who also executive produces the hour-long dark comedy (and co-wrote and directs the eighth episode, “The Orpheus Syndrome”). A former Guild of Music Supervisors president, and three-time GMS Award winner, most notably for “Breaking Bad,” Golubic brings his more than 20 years of music supervision experience to “Poker Face.” The first season put Golubić’s cross-section of skills to the test with hurdles like difficult clearances to on-camera musical performances and creation of original songs. Golubić met these challenges head-on with support from his team at SuperMusicVision, which includes Olivia Schlichting and clearance services by Jill Meyers Music.