SAG Awards Announce 2024 Date for First Netflix Livestream, Will Return to Shrine Auditorium

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large It’s still unbelievable to think that Riley Keough didn’t have any real singing experience before starring in Amazon Prime Video’s “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Actually, most of the cast didn’t — which makes the tremendous sound of the band all the more impressive. “Daisy Jones & the Six” did what few other shows have done (perhaps “The Monkees” being the other most notable): turned a group of actors playing characters in a band… into an actual band. But back to Keough for a second. Yeah, every story about her and “Daisy Jones” says the same thing: What? She hadn’t sang before? But she’s ROCK ROYALTY. (Granddaughter of Elvis Presley, c’mon, you know the drill by now.) Some might argue it’s in the genes, but that’s just a fraction of it. Don’t sell Keough short. It was hard work and talent. And a lot more hard work. Keough and the “Daisy Jones & the Six” cast also had a bit of weird timing on their side too, as COVID-related production delays forced them to keep practicing. And after all that rehearsal time, they got good. Real good.

Billy Joel is wrapping up his long-running residency at Madison Square Garden.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Ch-ch-check it out: Hulu’s gotta fight… for the right… to part–ake in some Emmy FYC campaigning. The streamer hopes it has a sure shot at nominations for “Only Murders in the Building,” which is why it has partnered with Yeastie Boys to give out what’cha what’cha want (what’cha want): free food. “Only Murders in the Building”-themed bagel sandwiches will be passed out by Yeastie Boys this weekend and next, prior to the start of Emmy voting on June 15. Of course, it’s only while supplies last, so no sleep till Brooklyn. Here’s why Hulu says it went with bagels for this FYC stunt: “The series takes place in a typical New York apartment building and we wanted to celebrate New Yorkers’ favorite breakfast meal.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The official 2022-2023 TV season ended on May 24, according to Nielsen and as you may have seen via my annual TV series rankers (which I posted on Monday), we’ve got the wrap on this year’s winners and losers in the good ol’ fashioned linear TV world. Football, “Yellowstone” and procedurals, oh my! But we’re not living in a good ol’ fashioned linear TV world anymore. Television didn’t grind to a halt on May 24, and the Memorial Day weekend gauntlet of finales and premieres (!) was a fine reminder that TV no longer plays by the rules of a Nielsen calendar. Three of the biggest on-screen events of the year all took place on Sunday night: The series finales of HBO’s “Succession” and “Barry,” as well as the mind-blowing Season 2 ender for “Yellowjackets,” which hit Showtime’s linear channel that same evening.

ENHYPEN have announced their 2023 ‘Fate’ world tour, featuring shows in the US, Japan, South Korea and more.ENHYPEN are set to embark on a tour of Asia and the US this year, featuring 13 shows over three countries so far. The boyband’s ‘Fate’ world tour will kick off this July with a two-night concert in Seoul’s KSPO Dome.In September, ENHYPEN will play four shows in Japan.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large And of course, at the top of that list is star Bob Odenkirk, who turned what began as a guest spot on “Breaking Bad” into one of the most iconic characters in TV history. Last year we finally got an Emmy nomination for Rhea Seehorn, and the show overall has landed 46 noms over the years. But that’s not enough.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Television Academy has canceled plans to hold its 16th Television Academy Honors, which had been slated to take place next Wednesday, May 31. “After discussions with the WGA and out of deference to those impacted by the ongoing labor dispute, the Television Academy is cancelling the Television Academy Honors reception which was scheduled for the evening of May 31. We appreciate everyone’s understanding,” the org said on its website. “The Academy would like to congratulate this year’s Honors recipients and thank them on behalf of the entire industry for their groundbreaking and inspiring work,” the org added. HBO Max’s “We’re Here,” Netflix’s “Mo” and Amazon Prime Video’s recently canceled “As We See It” were among the programs set to be recognized at the event.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Last year, Jesse Collins won an Emmy. This year, he’s producing the Emmys. Fox and the Television Academy are set to announce on Thursday that Jesse Collins Entertainment has been tapped to serve as producers of this year’s landmark 75th edition of the Primetime Emmy awards. No host has been named as of yet, and there are still a lot of questions to be answered as to how the writers strike may impact this year’s Emmy Awards, or if the calendar might shift. But for now, the main event is still scheduled to air on Monday, Sept 18 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Fox. Jesse Collins Entertainment takes over from Done+Dusted and Hudlin Entertainment, which had jointly produced the Emmys in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the first two of which were COVID-impacted events. D+D had actually produced the Emmys for five consecutive years, having already been producing the Emmys telecast for two years when it was paired with Hudlin in 2020 to handle the unconventional, no-audience COVID-impacted Emmys. At the time, Hudlin made history as the first Black executive producer of the Primetime Emmys.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The MTV Video Music Awards return to New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, September 12, the network announced Tuesday. The show will air live at 8 p.m. ET and PT. “Celebrating one of our biggest nights in music with the Garden State’s incredible fans has been our goal since last year’s highly successful event,” said Bruce Gillmer, President of Music, Music Talent, Programming & Events, Paramount and Chief Content Officer, Music, Paramount+. Last year’s show was hosted by Nicki Minaj, who was honored during the show with the Video Vanguard Award, while the Global Icon Award was given to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As TV Academy members toasted the stars of “Ted Lasso” on May 1, things were about to change dramatically in the Emmy campaign space. Apple TV+ was celebrating the opening of a “For Your Consideration” activation at Goya Studios, where it erected a massive tent to showcase its bevy of contenders. It’s a well-appointed and pristine space, with an almost Apple Store-meets-Emmys vibe. Displays celebrating Apple TV+ shows were front and center, along with an open bar, passed bites and a theater room for screenings and panels for celebrated shows like “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Bad Sisters,” and more. But now here’s the problem with FYC: The writers strike has upended everything. The clouds were already forming at that “Ted Lasso” event, as the strike was called at the same moment co-creator/star Jason Sudeikis and team were celebrating the show’s Season 3 on stage. Many of the “Lasso” stars double as writers — Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein and Brendan Hunt included — so the power and importance of writers was on everyone’s minds. Sudeikis even remarked on how surreal it was to be there on stage talking about writing “Ted Lasso” just as the issues facing the town’s scribes took center stage. “Shout out to the writers,” he said. “What a day to be doing this.”

The 2024 Critics Choice Awards will return to the CW, airing on Jan. 14, the network announced today as part of its 2023-24 schedule. Once again, the show will follow the Golden Globes, which have set a Jan. 7, 2024 date but no network yet.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Producers Guild of America will hold its next PGA Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 25, 2024, presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald DeLine announced on Wednesday. The 2024 installment will mark the 35th annual PGA Awards ceremony. Here is this year’s PGA Awards calendar: Eligibility Period for 2024 Producers Guild Awards Notice of Producing Credits Form Deadline

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As Amazon Freevee’s hoax reality series “Jury Duty” is currently garnering huge amounts of attention, the format originator is staging a comeback. TBS is set to announce Wednesday that it has ordered a revival of “The Joe Schmo Show,” which will air next year on the cabler. The original “Joe Schmo” premiered in 2003 on Spike TV, with a follow-up in 2004 and then a third season revival in 2013. Created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (both of whom went on to a successful screenwriting career, including the “Deadpool” films), “Joe Schmo” made waves when it first debuted for parodying the then-relatively new and white-hot reality competition genre.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Daytime Emmys are once again planning to pivot, as next month’s awards show to won’t go forward as previously planned. With the ongoing writers strike, the National Academy of TV Arts & Sciences confirmed on Tuesday that this year’s 50th Daytime Emmys would move from its planned June 16 ceremony to an undetermined later date. “The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards planned for Friday, June 16 on CBS is postponed due to the WGA strike,” NATAS president/CEO Adam Sharp said in a statement obtained by Variety. “In addition, the Creative Arts & Lifestyle ceremony, planned for Saturday, June 17, has been postponed pending a strike resolution. We look forward to our community gathering together as one to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and all of the talented nominees and honorees at a later date.”

a combined 1.5 million viewers across various online platforms, again highlighting the disparity between a streaming success and an old-school network broadcast success. Submissions for nominations will open on August 28 and close on Oct. 27.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Peabody Awards won’t be throwing a return celebration this year after all. The org has scrapped this years event, which would have been the first in-person Peabody ceremony since 2019 (before the pandemic), in the wake of the writers strike. Originally set to be held on Sunday, June 11, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, this also would have been the first Peabody Awards to be held in Southern California. “As an organization dedicated to honoring the most compelling and empowering stories in broadcasting and streaming media, we recognize and respect the position that many of this year’s Peabody Award winners find themselves in,” the org said in a statement. “Due to the ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist industrywide, we have decided to cancel the 83rd annual Peabody Awards ceremony that was set to take place on June 11 in Los Angeles. Canceling the ceremony is extremely disappointing as this year’s 39 winners are immensely talented and have brought forth powerful stories that deserve to be celebrated.”

The Sundance Institute announced that the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival will be January 18-28, 2024. Sundance returned to an in-person event for the first time since 2020 with a rich online component this year.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large BET will launch a new lower-priced ad-supported tier to its BET+ streaming service, which launched in September 2019. The “BET+ Essential” service will cost $5.99 a month, compared to $9.99 for the ad-free version, and will launch at 9 a.m. PT on June 25 — timed to the live 2023 BET Awards that night. BET president/CEO Scott Mills and BET+ exec VP/general manager Devin Griffin were set to announce the new tier on Thursday morning, as they and BET Media Group media sales president Louis Carr prepare to pitch it to advertisers. As part of that pitch, BET is revealing subscriber numbers for BET+ for the first time: More than 3 million. The company expects to grow that number, and although some users will migrate to the lower-cost tier, Mills said he expects to see a net gain.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 13 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired May 11 on Fox. Pentatonix is pretty easy to recognize, as perhaps the best-known a cappella group performing today. So from the start, it was pretty easy to tell it was them on “The Masked Singer” – and indeed, the five-person group was unmasked as California Roll on Thursday’s show, which also doubled as the Season 9 semifinals. For their first song, “Paparazzi,” group member Scott Hoying said they tried to avoid doing any harmonies at first, “so we could hide the iconic Pentatonix harmony sound for  at least a minute. For the first minute, I was trying to really change my voice. But it didn’t work, because every comment on every video was like, ‘I knew from the beginning it was Pentatonix and I was confirmed as soon as they all came in. We know that sound so much.’ But it honestly it was a compliment. It was very flattering to know that we can’t even hide our voice because it’s become part of what people have heard so many years.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Roz is back! Marsha Warfield, who played the caustic bailiff on “Night Court” for six seasons, made a surprise appearance on Tuesday night’s episode of the series’ 2023 revival. Warfield’s appearance came on Tuesday during part 2 of the episode “The Honorable Dan Fielding.” In the episode, Dan Fielding (as reprised for the revival by Emmy winner John Larroquette) has taken a job as a judge and is reading what’s next on his docket: “Another fight at a bachelorette party in the French Quarter. OK bailiff, bring in this bride to be!” Turns out it’s Roz, wearing a “bachelorette” banner. “Fielding? They made you a judge?” she stares at disbelief, and then storms out of the courtroom. (Scroll down to watch.)