Sports Emmys: ‘NFL 360,’ 2022 Winter Olympics and ESPN Lead This Year’s Nominations

At 3pm on Saturday, June 3, Manchester United and Manchester City will face each other in an FA Cup Final for the first time. And just to add to the prestigious occasion Wembley stadium will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large James Corden said farewell to CBS on Thursday evening by doing something no one ever thought would be possible: Getting Tom Cruise to sing Elton John’s hit ballad “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” After an opening “The Last Last Late Late Show with James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special” by singing “Last Show” (to the tune of “Last Dance”), and quick opening monologue, Corden switched to its heavily promoted final pre-tape with Cruise.  As previously announced, the action star icon and the host joined a performance of “The Lion King” at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The first part of the clip showed the two rehearsing and singing on stage in costume — but from there, the sketch turned into a bit of a farewell between the two.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large HBO Max’s “We’re Here,” Netflix’s “Mo” and Amazon Prime Video’s recently canceled “As We See It” are among the programs set to be recognized at the Television Academy’s 16th Television Academy Honors, the org announced Thursday morning. The Honors this year recognize “six remarkable television programs and producers who have harnessed the extraordinary power of storytelling to fuel social change.” Honorees that have been recognized include what the Academy calls representing “some of the most significant and impactful television of 2022.” The programs honored include “37 Words,” “As We See It,” “Mo,” “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks,” “The U.S. and the Holocaust” and “We’re Here.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 11 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 26 on Fox. Lou Diamond Phillips managed to do something few other “The Masked Singer” contestants have done: He shocked the show’s panel into silence. Phillips was the latest celebrity to be unmasked on the Fox series, revealed as the Mantis on Wednesday night’s show. Also unmasked on this episode: Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen, who was revealed to be the Gargoyle. It was “Battle of the Saved” night, as Medusa, Gargoyle and Mantis — three contestants who had been saved earlier this season — faced off to move on to the next round. New this season was “Ding Dong Keep It On,” a new twist to the competition, where panelists had the opportunity to save a singer from looming elimination, The bell could only be rung three times during the first three rounds, leading Medusa, Gargoyle and Mantis to face off in this week’s battle to rejoin the competition.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As Carol Burnett turns 90, she bristles at the idea of looking back at her legacy. She’s not one to watch old episodes of her iconic “The Carol Burnett Show,” for example. “I’m not like Norma Desmond,” she quips, referring to the fading star in “Sunset Boulevard.” “The only time I do it is if I have to for a reason.” In this case, NBC gave her a good one. The network is set to air “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” on April 26, and the special features both new performances and clips from Burnett’s storied career. And it gave Burnett a chance to reminisce with old friends — and new. “It’s exactly what I wanted,” Burnett said. “I didn’t want a birthday party with cake and balloons and confetti and all of that. What I wanted was to have an entertaining show. And that’s what we got. It’s a variety show, with live entertainment by Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Billy Porter, Katy Perry, Darren Criss and Sutton Foster. And then funny moments with Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney and Laura Dern. We had a 19-piece orchestra live.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is starting to reveal nominees for its landmark 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, starting with multiple categories announced on Tuesday night via entertainment shows “Extra,” “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight.” Via the categories announced so far, CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” — also in the middle of its 50th anniversary celebration — has taken an early lead in nominations, with six total (including drama series). The rest of this year’s nominations will be announced on Wednesday morning. This year’s main Daytime Emmys telecast will air live June 16 on CBS and Paramount+. It’s part of a new two-year telecast deal that the academy has set with CBS. (The Daytime Emmys Lifestyle & Creative Arts Ceremony will take place the next day, on June 17.)

This year Netflix is returning to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival as newly crowned kings, having just secured the Oscar for Best Animated Feature for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio.” Not that they have any intention of slowing down, as this year they are bringing a slate of potential commercial and artistic triumphs to the rolling hills of the French countryside – from Annapurna’s “Nimona” to Aardman’s highly anticipated “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” and much, much more.On Wednesday, June 14, Annecy will present an exclusive screening of their absolutely fabulous new feature film “Nimona” at the Theater Bonlieu at 6 p.m. which will include appearances from directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, creator ND Stevenson (whose graphic novel is the basis for the film), producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary and production designer Aidan Sugano.

All a ruse? Tom Schwartz asked Tom Sandoval to help him figure out his lack of chemistry with Raquel Leviss — while his business partner was having a secret affair with her.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Issa Rae will be honored with the Peabody Trailblazer Award, while Lily Tomlin will receive the org’s Career Achievement Award, as the Peabody Awards celebrates this year’s kudos on June 11 in Los Angeles. Also announced on Thursday, “Shrinking” star and “The Daily Show” alum Jessica Williams has signed on to host this year’s ceremony. “Beyond our annual awards recognizing the most compelling stories, Peabody is dedicated to recognizing individuals that inspire and delight us,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. “Lily Tomlin has made so many people laugh over the decades with her remarkable talent, and Issa Rae has proven herself a profound entertainment storyteller, performer, and force for good. We’re thrilled to recognize Issa and Lily for not only their extraordinary contributions to storytelling, but also for their important role and place for women in comedy and entertainment.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Dear Edward” is now dearly departed. The Apple TV+ drama will not move forward with a second season, Variety has confirmed. Executive producer Jason Katims is now set up at Imagine TV, but “Dear Edward” came from his deal with Apple Studios, which produced the show. Written, showrun and executive produced by Katims, the 10-episode “Dear Edward” was adapted from author Ann Napolitano’s novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the only survivor of a commercial plane crash. Newcomer Colin O’Brien played Edward, while “Dear Edward” was also notable for its reunion between Katims and his “Friday Night Lights” star Connie Britton, who played a woman whose husband was killed on the plane. Taylor Schilling also starred as Edward’s aunt, who takes custody of the boy after he loses his parents and brother to the crash.

Bringing work home? Andy Cohen shared 4-year-old son Benjamin’s reaction to Raquel Leviss‘ infamous TomTom sweatshirt.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Just in time for Earth Day, DirecTV has sealed a deal to add the environmental lifestyle channel EarthxTV to its lineup. EarthxTV will be added to the mix for DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers starting Saturday, April 15. This marks the widest distribution deal to date for EarthxTV. “EarthxTV is a great addition to bring to our DirecTV entertainment lineup in this week leading up to Earth Day, and we look forward to offering the service for years to come,” said DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun in a statement. “We’re proud to engage with organizations that help benefit our environment and offer support to their grassroots efforts in the communities where our employees live and work.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 9 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 12 on Fox. It was “Masked Singer in Space Night,” but “The Masked Singer” could have also been celebrating “’90s Night.” That’s because the two celebrities unmasked on Wednesday’s episodes were both TV stars from that era: Melissa Joan Hart (of “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” fame) and Alicia Witt (“Cybill,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”). Hart was revealed to be Lamp, while Witt was Dandelion. Witt had won the previous week as Dandelion, but her journey ended here. For Dandelion, panelist Ken Jeong guessed Witt right. Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg thought it was Milla Jovovich. Robin Thicke went with Sara Bareilles and Nicole Scherzinger named Zooey Deschanel.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large PBS landed eight nominations, the most of any outlet, as Peabody Awards Board of Jurors announced this year’s 27 nominees for its documentary and news categories. Among PBS series, “Frontline” landed four noms, the most of any program. Peabody Award nominees are “selected to represent the most compelling and empowering stories released in 2022 across broadcasting and streaming media,” the org said. Nominations are chosen by a unanimous vote of 17 jurors from over 1,200 entries from television, podcasts/radio and the web in entertainment, news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth, public service and multimedia programming. Additional nominations in categories including entertainment, arts, children’s/youth, podcast/radio, interactive & immersive, and public service will be announced on Thursday, April 13. The 83rd annual Peabody Awards will announce winners on May 9, followed by a celebratory ceremony on Sunday, June 11 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards. Leading the list are NFL Network’s NFL: 360 and NBC’s coverage of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games with ten nominations each. The ceremony will take place live and in-person at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Monday, May 22.

th Annual Sports Emmy Awards, which recognizes all that is outstanding in the world of competitive athletics.“NFL 360” (on the NFL Network) and the XXIV Olympic Winter Games (on NBC) tied for the most nominations with 10 each, with 2022 NCAA March Madness (several networks) next in line with eight nods. ESPN received 59 nominations, the most of all network groups, followed by NBC Sports (38) and Fox Sports (33).

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Pastrami-infused martinis, pink and white cookies and a “Maisel Tov” hot dog are on the menu as Amazon Prime Video has partnered with several different brands to help promote the final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” And it’s not just food partnerships. Companies ranging from Pantone to Saks Fifth Avenue are part of an ambitious marketing campaign tied to the April 14 premiere of “Maisel” Season 5. Activities that day include the series’ cast, along with exec producers Amy Sherman Palladino and Daniel Palladino, ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, as well as a mile-long “takeover” of Fifth Avenue in New York from 46th Street to 56th Street and a 4 p.m. ‘60s-themed fitness class at the TWA Hotel at JFK airport.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air live June 16 on CBS and Paramount+. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences unveiled the date as part of a new two-year telecast deal that the academy has set with CBS. “We are thrilled to be back with our incredible broadcast partner CBS for two years,” said Adam Sharp, president and CEO of NATAS. “In commemorating the show’s golden anniversary this year, we look forward to honoring and celebrating the beloved world of daytime television.” Mackenzie Mitchell, VP of specials, music and live events for CBS, added, “CBS has a storied history in daytime and we are delighted to continue having the Daytime Emmys on the network for the next two years.”

CBS has extended its agreement with NATAS to air the Daytime Emmys through 2024.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Stranger Things” and “The Last of Us” led all nominees as the MTV Movie & TV Awards announced this year’s nominations for the upcoming 2023 awards show. Also earning noms this year were first-timers the Cocaine Bear, from “Cocaine Bear,” and creepy murder doll “M3GAN” from “M3GAN.” The MTV Movie & TV Awards returns to Santa Monica’s Barker Hanger for a live telecast on May 7 at 8 p.m. ET. Drew Barrymore, also nominated for an MTV Movie & TV Award this year, will host. This year’s awards show includes 26 gender-neutral categories. Fans can vote on the show from now until April 17 at 6 p.m. ET.