Sacha Baron Cohen Developing Animated Series For HBO Max & Cartoon Network With Mike Judge, Greg Daniels & Michael Koman

As 2022 coasts into the summer months, it’s time for studios to decide which of their new TV series get axed and which ones live on for another season or more. And it looks like two of this spring’s most critically acclaimed shows just had their lives extended.

Acclaimed filmmaker Nanfu Wang’s new docuseries, “Mind Over Murder,” will premiere June 20 at 10 p.m. PT on HBO Max.

HBO Max is getting into business with Omar Sy.

The first-ever Scooby-Doo preschool series is headed to HBO Max and Cartoon Network. CGI-animated adventure comedy series Scooby-Doo! And the Mystery Pups will join the Cartoonito preschool block in 2024.

More Care Bears: Unlock the Magic is on the way. HBO Max and Cartoon Network have greenlighted six new 22-minute Care Bears: Unlock The Magic specials for the Cartoonito preschool block. Production is currently underway. Additionally, season 1 of the 2D animated series (48 11-minute regular episodes and two 22-minute specials) has been extended into early 2027 for the linear and streaming platforms.

Tanya Saracho, who created the Starz series Vida which ran for three seasons, has set a new project at the streamer. Saracho is currently developing the half-hour drama Lovesong, it was announced on Thursday.

Does the world of DC Films seem a little schizophrenic at times? Well, that happens when you change leadership seemingly dozens of times over a few years and or when a company is acquired by a larger parent company, as in the case of Discovery and their recent acquisition of Warner Bros. That might be the long way of saying that it sounds like another DC Comics film adaptation may have been axed.

It’s been a busy few months for Lizzo and there’s no sign of slowing down.

Selome Hailu HBO Max and Cartoon Network announced a new family-oriented animated special called “Chelm: The Smartest Place on Earth” from Sacha Baron Cohen, Greg Daniels, Mike Judge and Michael Korman. Baron Cohen is set to star.“Chelm: The Smartest Place on Earth” is set in the mythical “Town of Fools” that has long existed in Yiddish folktakes and shares the original stories’ absurdist humor and interpretive questioning in a nod to Jewish intellectual traditions.

EXCLUSIVE: The single-camera teen comedy Wild Life from Imagine Kids+Family has received a pilot order at HBO Max with rising star Izabella Alvarez (Euphoria, The Casagrandes) set as the show’s lead.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHong Kong-based sales firm Golden Network has picked up international rights to Jackie Chan’s upcoming film “Ride On.”The feature has recently wrapped production and is scheduled to be released on Dec. 31 in time for what is normally a peak cinemagoing period in China and elsewhere.Asian films are currently struggling to achieve pre-sales in international markets, but “Ride On” could be an exception.

EXCLUSIVE: Brian Yorkey (13 Reasons Why) has optioned the film rights to Dan Mathews’ memoir Like Crazy: Life with My Mother and Her Invisible Friends, tapping Ted Malawer (Halston) to adapt it for the screen.

Bruno Fernandes might have already offered incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag an insight into what type of signings he would like the club to make this summer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorYouTube earlier this year wound down most of its originals division, in a significant pullback on its investment in scripted and unscripted programming.But it’s not totally out of the game: YouTube is continuing to bulk up its slate of kids and family originals, as part of its previously announced $100 million fund earmarked for kids, family and educational content.YouTube announced the greenlight of four new projects: “Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island,” an animated series from Lilly Singh set to premiere in 2023; “The Big Tiny Food Face-Off” from B17 Entertainment; “Buster’s Big Halloween” from Moonbug Entertainment; and music series “Jam Van.”YouTube also announced the Season 2 renewal of popular preschool series “Tab Time,” starring Tabitha Brown, an actress, vegan foodie and mother — aka “America’s mom.” Tabitha (or “Ms. Tab” as the kids call her) taps into her skills as a cook, storyteller, mom and motivational leader, to teach children how to live their best life.

In a further expansion of their kids and family programming slate, HBO Max and Cartoon Network are teaming on new live-action coming-of-age comedy series, Home Sweet Rome, from Emmy-nominated Hannah Montana and That’s So Raven creator Michael Poryes, for premiere in 2023.

Selome Hailu HBO Max and Cartoon Network has greenlit and acquired several projects for their kids and family live action slate, Variety has learned exclusively. The slate includes two specials based on Mattel’s American Girl franchise and a supernatural romance starring Peyton List.The first American Girl special has the working title “American Girl: Corinne Tan,” inspired by the doll brand’s 2022 girl of the year and the first doll of Chinese descent.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max has given a script-to-series order to Anon Pls, a one-hour drama based on DeuxMoi’s upcoming debut novel, from Berlanti Productions and Warner Brothers Television.

EXCLUSIVE: A podcast about the disappearance and murder of a number of Grateful Dead fans is the latest audio series to be adapted for television.

The first three episodes of The Staircase are streaming now on HBO Max and fans have a lot of questions already.

Carson Burton Ludacris was given an honorary degree on Wednesday by Georgia State University during commencement exercises at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, GA on May 4. The Bachelor of Science in Music Management was bestowed upon the noted rapper, actor and entrepreneur, whose real name is Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, though the Grammy winner could easily teach an entire curriculum on the music business, considering his track record and still flourishing career.Ludacris attended Georgia State in the 1990s before signing a record deal that would launch his career in hip-hop.“My time on campus sharpened my skills,” Ludacris told more than 800 master’s degree recipients.