‘Severance’ Renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV Plus

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Farnsby & B,” the Season 2 finale of “Ghosts.”Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) finally opened their bed & breakfast in the “Ghosts” Season 1 finale Thursday — only for their dreams to come literally crashing down moments later thanks to a curse. In the closing seconds of the episode, titled “Farnsby & B,” Sam and Jay are ready to welcome their first guests to the Woodstone B&B after defeating their enemy neighbors the Farnsbys in a game of pickle ball to get them to close their spitefully opened competitor, the Farsnby & B.But just as they open the doors, the floorboards crumble beneath them, suggesting the curse Thor (Devan Chandler Long) put on them before he got to know Sam is actually real.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix’s “Bridgerton” was viewed for more than 2.5 billion minutes during the week of its Season 2 debut, according to Nielsen’s newly released streaming Top 10 rankings.The Chris Van Dusen-created period romance was easily the No. 1 program on streaming for the week of March 21-27 on Nielsen’s charts, even though only its first season was available for the majority of that week, as Season 2 premiered on March 25.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAfter months of criticism and anticipation, “The Masked Singer” episode featuring the unmasking of Rudy Giuliani finally aired Wednesday on Fox. The show’s installment with the disgraced former mayor of New York City and former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, got a 0.6 demo rating and 3.6 million total viewers, according to fast-affiliate Nielsen data.Viewership for Season 7 has been in flux since its March 9 premiere, with the Fox celebrity singing competition drawing a season high 4.3 million viewers on March 30, only to reach a season low of 3.9 million last Wednesday — which was beat by last night’s new low.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Matryoshka,” the Season 2 finale episode of “Russian Doll.”In Season 2, “Russian Doll” broke out of its first season’s “Groundhog Day”-style time-loop format with a “Quantum Leap”-like time-travel device that allowed Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett) to jump into the bodies of their deceased loved ones by taking a trip on the New York City subway. Nadia becomes her mother, Lenora “Nora” (Chloë Sevigny), in the East Village in 1982, and grandmother Vera (Irén Bordán, younger version Ilona McCrea), in World War II-era Budapest, while Alan is inhabiting his grandmother Agnes (Carolyn Michelle Smith) in Germany during the Cold War in 1944.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAll hail the viscount. The second season of “Bridgerton” has knocked the show’s first season out of the No.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Ariadne,” the Season 1 finale of “Russian Doll.”It’s been more than three years since the first season of “Russian Doll” launched on Netflix, and as such, even the most die-hard fans of the Natasha Lyonne time-loop dramedy need to forgive themselves if they don’t remember exactly how the first-season ending played out. But it is important we get that straight now if you want to enjoy Season 2 right when it launches Wednesday.So here to clear up what she considers a “misnomer” about the conclusion to “Russian Doll” Season 1, which had a lot of threads to follow in its closing moments, for Variety is star and co-creator Lyonne herself.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Bridgerton” Season 2 has landed the title of Netflix’s third-most popular English-language TV series — a list that is calculated based on shows’ first 28 days on the streaming service — in just 17 days.Per Netflix’s newly released Top 10 data for April 4-10, “The series had 115.75M hours viewed on the English TV list, appearing in the Top 10 in 91 countries, making it the most viewed title for the third week in a row. The season also entered the Most Popular list at #3 with 560.50M hours viewed.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe CMT Music Awards aired for the first time on CBS and Paramount Plus Monday night, drawing 5.16 million viewers for the live telecast in early Nielsen numbers, which is up 521% from last year’s show on Paramount-owned cable channel CMT.The 5.16 million total viewer tally accounts for both linear ratings on CBA and live streams via television sets for Paramount Plus and other digital CBS platforms. The final Live + Same Day ratings for the 2022 CMT Awards, including out-of-home-viewing, will be released later Tuesday.

The new Apple TV+ series Severance just ended its first season and it is one of the most highly-acclaimed shows of the year already!

Clayton Davis Apple TV Plus is finalizing its Emmy plans for acclaimed hit “Severance,” which just had its season finale last week. Variety has learned exclusively how the streamer plans on dividing its large ensemble into the drama categories.Stars Adam Scott and Britt Lower will try their luck in the lead drama actor and lead drama actress races.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Among the chrome skyscrapers and beckoning show lights in Downtown Miami stands The Freedom Tower, a government building with a distinctive Mediterranean flair that processed Cuban refugees who fled the nearby Caribbean nation to pass the time between Fidel Castro and democracy.Cuban-born actor Yul Vázquez was one of those thousands of exiles who found themselves in that immigrant wave’s Ellis Island, waiting for rations of powdered milk, cans of SPAM and surplus eggs, holding his mother’s hand next to his sister.Everyone in that tower thought the situation was temporary. That was in 1971.

, the Apple TV+ puzzle box series from creator and writer Dan Erickson and director and executive producer Ben Stiller, has come to a shocking yet satisfying end, the cast and creative team has opened up to ET about spoilers, including Stiller’s secret cameo, and hopes for season 2. In the workplace thriller, Adam Scott plays Mark Scout, an employee at the mysterious biotech company, Lumon Industries, that has undergone a controversial surgical procedure, which divides a person’s workplace and home life memories and results in separate lives led by the innies, those inside the office, and outies, those at home and beyond. “I certainly understand why my character in the show wants to do this — it's just so that he doesn't have to feel anything for eight hours a day,” Scott told ET about Mark’s decision to become “severed,” which is a way to spare himself the grief he still suffers from after his wife Gemma died in a car accident. But after the unexpected departure of Petey (Yul Vazquez), the leader of Mark’s department and the arrival of a new recruit, Helly (Britt Lower), the balance in office is quickly thrown into chaos, much to the chagrin and concern of supervisor of the severed floor, Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman), and his boss Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette). “It’s an amazing part.

Released to almost universal acclaim, the gritty drama Severance has been taking Apple TV+ fans by storm. The show's finale aired on Friday (April 8), and it gave us some troubling revelations about the real work/life balance at Lumon Industries.

Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette hit the red carpet for the season finale event for Severance at DGA Theater Complex on Friday night (April 8) in Los Angeles.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Dancing With the Stars” is moving to Disney Plus after airing for 30 seasons airing on ABC, Variety has confirmed.The show has received a two-season renewal at the Disney-owned streaming service for Seasons 31 and 32, with the new season to debut in the fall. “DWTS” will be the first live series to stream on Disney Plus.Variety has confirmed the series will not air repeats on ABC and strictly be available via Disney Plus.“’Dancing with the Stars’ has entertained fans for 16 years on ABC, and we are excited to bring this beloved show exclusively to Disney+ as the platform’s first-ever live series,” said Kareem Daniel, chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The We We Are,” the April 8 Season 1 finale episode of “Severance.”The Apple TV Plus drama “Severance” ended its first season with a truly big finale payoff for those who’ve patiently awaited answers to the workplace’s thriller many mysteries.Helly R’s (Britt Lower) Outtie is actually Lumon CEO Jame Eagan’s newly severed daughter, Helena Eagan, and she’s just revealed to a party full of Lumon shareholders the company is torturing its severed employees — despite Ms. Cobel’s (Patricia Arquette) desperate attempt to stop her.Mark Scout’s (Adam Scott) Innie has discovered Outtie Mark has a supposedly deceased wife named Gemma (Dichen Lachman) — who is really the very much alive Miss Casey — and shouted the news to a roomful of people at Devon (Jen Tullock) and Ricken’s (Michael Chernus) book party.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterLamorne Morris’ Keef Knight ended Season 1 of the Hulu comedy “Woke” with all eyes on him, as the Black cartoonist was thrust into the spotlight after standing up against the white police officer who had racially profiled and assaulted him in the series premiere. Now that the apolitical artist-turned-activist has a following, what is he going to do with it in the show’s Season 2, which launches Friday?“That’s 100% the thing.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Melrose Place” co-stars Daphne Zuniga and Grant Show will be reunited when Zuniga guest stars on an upcoming episode of the CW network’s “Dynasty,” Variety has learned exclusively.Zuniga is set to play Sonya Jackson, a woman from Blake’s (Show) past who comes in and stirs things up for the Carringtons. The episode of “Dynasty,” titled “A Friendly Kiss Between Friends,” will air Friday, April 29, at 9 p.m.

Severance has been renewed for a second season at Apple TV+.The mind-bending dark satire, directed by Ben Stiller and featuring a cast led by Adam Scott (Parks And Recreation), follows a team at the mysterious Lumon Industries who have opted to undertake a “severance” procedure, which surgically divides employees’ memories between their work and personal lives.As the story develops, the characters permanently living out their consciousness inside the office, known as the “innies”, begin to question what kind of work they’re performing for Lumon – and what kind of lives their “outies” lead on the other side of their consciousness.Severance also stars Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Dichen Lachman, Jen Tullock, Tramell Tillman, Michael Chernus and Christopher Walken.The news arrives just ahead of Friday’s (April 8) highly-anticipated season one finale – you can watch the first season trailer below.“It’s really exciting to see the response from people who are loving the show – and the level of fan engagement,” Stiller said in a statement Wednesday. “It has been a long road bringing Severance to television.