‘Reginald The Vampire’: Mandela Van Peebles & Em Haine Join As Series Regulars; Syfy Dramedy Series Adds 4 As Recurring

Jennifer Garner, James Marsden and more are joining as new characters. They’ll join original cast members Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Ken Marino and others as they reprise their roles from the first two seasons. Garner, whose last starring TV role was on HBO’s, joins as Evie, “a successful producer of studio franchise movies, who, in the wake of a breakup, is reconsidering her life choices.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Party Down” revival at Starz has added Jennifer Garner, Zoë Chao, and Tyrel Jackson Williams as series regulars, Variety has learned. James Marsden will also appear in the series in a recurring guest star role.The new cast members join previously announced returning original series cast members Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen, and Megan Mullaly.Garner (“Alias,” “Dallas Buyers Club”) will play Evie, a successful producer of studio franchise movies, who, in the wake of a breakup, is reconsidering her life choices.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent“You’re a horse person?” a Belgian stable owner asks Johanna, a young Finnish journalist delving into the discovery of a microchip in a baby’s meat patty at a Helsinki daycare center. Only creator-director Auli Mantila’s own horse affiliations as a qualified farrier may explain in part one of the most singular of entries at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize: “Transport.”This is Scandinavian crime drama, but “ordi-noir,” Mantila told the Nordisk Film & TV Fond newsletter, in that it “happens in broad daylight, involves people with no special talent or trauma, and takes place in locations anyone could just walk in.”It also addresses a massive but little explored subject, turning on pan-European food fraud which embroils three women: Marianne, a by-the-book bank loans exec forced to money launder earnings of a sinister food import company; an insurance investigator checking the disappearance of a border control veterinarian; and the indefatigable Johanna.

EXCLUSIVE: Brely Evans and Ben Stephens, who recur on Carl Weber’s The Family Business as Sonya Duncan and Curtis Duncan, have been promoted to series regulars for the upcoming fourth season. Additionally, Bern Nadette Stanis (Good Times), Nayirah Bosley and Sacaiah Shaw have joined the BET+ series in heavily recurring roles. Filming on Season 4 got underway last week in Los Angeles.

Clayton Davis After a stampede of awards announcements that include ACE Eddies, Producers Guild and Writers Guild of America Awards, the prestigious Directors Guild of America Awards finally weighs in with their own set of nominees that recognizes achievements in directing.In the motion pictures category, the group nominated Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast” (Focus Features), Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix), Paul Thomas Anderson for “Licorice Pizza” (MGM/United Artists Releasing), Steven Spielberg for “West Side Story” (20th Century Studios) and Denis Villeneuve for “Dune” (Warner Bros).Notable snubs included Joel Coen (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Adam McKay (“Don’t Look Up”), Siân Heder (“CODA”), Guillermo del Toro (“Nightmare Alley”) and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”). Campion is the second woman ever to receive a second nod from the Directors Guild.

child sexual abuse trial. A 911 dispatcher told People that the reality TV star suffered "double engine failure" and was forced to land in a field. The Humphreys County Sheriff's Department confirmed that the accident took place the evening of Oct. 29, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn.

When is a painting series not about learning how to paint? Well, it’s when you have John Lurie running the show, as we see in the new trailer for “Painting with John” Season 2.

Caroline Framke Chief TV CriticHalfway through the pilot of “Astrid and Lilly Save the World,” best friends Astrid (Jana Morrison) and Lilly (Samanatha Aucoin) stare down a mysterious stranger (Oliver Renaud) with awe and suspicion. “I’m your guide,” he insists.

Howie Mandel has a bone to pick with his longtime friend Jay Leno.

While John Krasinski made the jump to writer/director well before the horror thriller “A Quiet Place” and the sequel “A Quiet Place Part II,” the major success of that first film really changed everything for him as a filmmaker. And perhaps in a sign of going back to his indie dramatic roots, instead of directing the third ‘AQP’ movie right away, Krasinski is making another film for Paramount Pictures titled “IF.” An original project created and written by Krasinski, “IF” has some stellar actors joining and a bit of reunion as well.

LOS ANGELES -- Howie Mandel has a bone to pick with his longtime friend Jay Leno.On the podcast “Howie Mandel Does Stuff,” he tells Leno he should have publicly defended himself in the “Tonight Show" rivalries of decades past, when Leno and David Letterman and then Leno and Conan O'Brien tussled over the plum job of host.“This is what bothers me about you, you didn’t change the narrative” and were painted as the bad guy, Mandel said on Tuesday’s Apple podcast. “The vitriol that people were attaching you with, and people that we both know.”Leno, who hosted “Tonight” for a combined 22 years after Johnny Carson retired, insisted that the public has zero interest in hearing celebrities gripe.“That worked for me by not whining, by not complaining," Leno said.

EXCLUSIVE: George & Tammy, the country music drama series centered around Tammy Wynette, is bulking up its cast.

Syfy has handed a 12-episode straight-to-series order to The Ark, from Independence Day writer-producer Dean Devlin and his Electric Entertainment. Stargate SG-1 writer/producer Jonathan Glassner will serve as co-showrunner and executive produce alongside Devlin.

APA has signed Jana Morrison, the Canadian actress  who stars in the new Syfy comedy series, Astrid and Lilly Save the World, in a competitive situation.

Annika Pham Helsinki-based Tekele has unveiled the international trailer of its first premium crime drama “Transport”, which is in the running for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic TV screenplay. The prestigious award will be handed out Feb.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMary Elizabeth Winstead has signed on for a role in the upcoming Ahsoka Tano live-action series at Disney Plus, Variety has confirmed.Rosario Dawson is set to star in title role in “Ahsoka,” whom she first played in Season 2 of “The Mandalorian.” It was previously reported that Natasha Liu Bordizzo would star as Sabine Wren and that Ivanna Sakhno would play what is believed to be a new “Star Wars” character in the series. Details on Winstead’s character are currently being kept under wraps.Reps for Disney and Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.Winstead’s recent feature credits include projects such as “Birds of Prey,” “Gemini Man,” and “10 Cloverfield Lane.” She has also starred in numerous TV shows in recent years, including Season 3 of “Fargo” at FX opposite “Star Wars” alum Ewan McGregor, who will reprise the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in his own Disney Plus series.

Brothers Osborne star John Osborne has bravely opened up on his mental health battles, sharing that "therapy and medication" has been working for him as well as "good sleep".MORE: CMA Awards 2021: Nicole Kidman and DWTS' Jimmie Allen leads the fashion packDescribing himself as "the classic tortured musician", the singer admitted that he had become "very good at hiding it, but I've done a lot of therapy and I medicate even, I'm not ashamed to admit that because I do need help". "We all need help," he added.WATCH: Brothers Osborne join Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley at CMA Summer JamIn 2021 John shared details of a 2019 "meltdown" while on tour that led to him seeking help at a retreat.He has also shared that his anxiety got so bad that he considered quitting the industry while the pair made their most recent album Skeletons.MORE: Miranda Lambert's incredibly cozy living room inside $3.4million mansion RELATED: How Shania Twain dealt with debilitating health diagnosis which left her unable to sing But speaking on an episode of Today's Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music Country, the 39-year-old added: "If anyone out there that's listening to this is struggling with it, just get help, there's nothing wrong with it."No one cares.

Peacock’s prowling along with its limited series about now-jailed Tiger King star Joe Exotic, which is set to make its debut in March. The series hails from showrunner, executive producer and writer Etan Frankel.

health delays — Elton John is resuming his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour.His retirement tour began in 2018, but due to a series of postponements, he was forced into a performance hiatus.But now, the 74-year-old British singer is back on the road and played at the Crescent City in New Orleans on Wednesday night.“Wow, we haven’t played a show since the 6th of March 2020. This is a new experience for us, I’ve never had this amount of time off in my life … playing music, well at least since I was 17 years of age,” the “Tiny Dancer” singer said to the New Orleans audience, who hung onto their coveted tickets for 745 days.“I can’t thank you enough for being so patient,” he continued.