‘The Bachelor’ Fantasy Suites & ‘FBI’ Dominate Tuesday; NBC Debuts ‘The Thing About Pam’

Ripped from the headlines! True crime isn’t only a podcast phenomenon — many chilling stories have also been brought to life on the small screen.

Renée Zellweger covers the April “Reinvention” issue of Harper’s Bazaar to talk about her incredible transformation in “The Thing About Pam” and how she explored reinvention as a personal project in both her private and professional lives over the last few years.

Jon Burlingame editorPam Hupp, the real-life murderer played by Renee Zellweger in NBC’s “The Thing About Pam,” apparently had a habit of slurping her flavored soft drink from the local convenience store. It’s a recurring gag in the six-part series, and it even became part of its musical score.Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, the composing team whose music for “The Witcher” became a viral hit in early 2020, have spent the last five months coming up with unique sounds for “Pam,” which dramatizes a small-town Missouri murder in 2011 and the botched police investigation that followed.“This is a true-crime, network show,” Ostinelli notes, “and there is a certain sound that goes with this.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe series premiere of NBC’s Renée Zellweger-led limited series “The Thing About Pam” has increased its key demo rating by nearly 400% when counting a week’s worth of delayed and digital viewing, Variety has learned exclusively.The debut episode of the Blumhouse Television-produced show, which aired at 10 p.m. on March 8, initially managed a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49 and 2.9 million total viewers in Live + Same Day Nielsen data.When adding in seven days of delayed viewing across linear and DVR, plus digital platforms Hulu, NBC.com, the NBC app and Peacock, “The Thing About Pam” series premiere jumped to a 1.93 demo rating (up 387%) and 8.7 million viewers (+205%).From the initial live + same day viewing, the first episode is up 387% in the demo (0.40 vs.

Juliette Lewis has been tapped for a key role opposite Kumail Nanjiani and Murray Bartlett in the Hulu limited series Immigrant (working title), from Pam & Tommy creator Robert Siegel.

Diane Garrett Morally compromised women seem to be everywhere on the small screen, as performers dig into juicy roles full of questionable behavior on the part of real-life characters. Says Jenny Klein, showrunner of NBC’s “The Thing About Pam”: “One of the core questions of the show is, how could something like this happen?” The same might be said about the misdeeds of each of these shady ladies.Anna DelveyPortrayed by: Julia GarnerShow: “Inventing Anna,” a Netflix series from Shonda Rhimes that debuted Feb.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior CorrespondentSPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead, if you are not up-to-date with Clayton Echard’s season of “The Bachelor.”With only a few days left until the season finale, “The Bachelor” has a lot of explaining to do.Last week’s “fantasy suite” episode — when the couples get to spend an overnight date together for the first time with no cameras around — ended with a bang.With the final three women left vying for Clayton Echard’s heart, ABC’s leading man told each of the women that he was in love with them. Susie Evans, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia all expressed their love to Echard, who admitted he’d had sex with both Windey and Recchia.

Michael Appler Renée Zellweger and showrunner Jenny Klein gathered on Monday at the chic Whitby Hotel in New York City to fete the release of their NBC series “The Thing About Pam.”In “The Thing About Pam,” a limited series based on the viral “Dateline” episode and true crime podcast of the same name, Zellweger plays Pam Hupp, a sadistic, yet unassuming Missouri woman who was charged with the murder of her best friend Betsy after framing Betsy’s husband. But the real Hupp looks nothing like the two-time Oscar winner.

EXCLUSIVE: Marc Barson has been upped at Blumouse Television.

Amazon Studios has handed a two-season order to an adult animated comedy series from Emmy-nominated Ramy Youssef and A24. The series is part of a new first-look deal between Amazon Studios and Youssef’s production imprint Cairo Cowboy. The as-yet untitled comedy will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

As the season 26 finale of The Bachelor approaches, Clayton Echard is continuing to try to explain how everything came crumbling down at fantasy suites.

Explaining himself. Clayton Echard is speaking out about the backlash he received after sending Susie Evans home on the Tuesday, March 8, episode of The Bachelor.

A dramatic finish. Clayton Echard abruptly sent Susie Evans home during the Tuesday, March 8, episode of The Bachelor — and his behavior drew plenty of criticism from his former contestants.

Far from a fantasy! Clayton Echard’s relationship with Susie hit a major roadblock after he took his romances with Rachel and Gabby to the next level on The Bachelor.

Clayton Echard has narrowed it down to his final two women. Tuesday night's episode of , saw its leading man travel to Iceland for Fantasy Suite dates with Rachel, Gabby and Susie, all of which ET is breaking down in the recap below.Clayton went into the week believing he «might be falling in love with all three of these women, and I also might already be in love with Susie,» and his love for all three women grew even more throughout the episode.He went deep with Rachel, had a dune buggy date with Gabby, and enjoyed a swimsuit-clad adventure with Susie, but one woman broke things off after revealing her biggest deal breaker.Keep reading for a full recap of episode 9 of .Rachel landed the first date of the week, which left Susie stewing in uncertainty, as Susie told the cameras, «If I find out that he’s falling in love with other women, or that he has become physically intimate with another woman, that would be devastating.”Rachel, meanwhile, went into the date with nerves, after hearing her name called last during the rose ceremony the week before. The pair embarked on a scenic helicopter ride full of PDA, as Clayton admitted that he and Rachel have „the strongest physical connection“ out of his remaining women.When they landed, the couple headed 400 feet underground inside an inactive volcano.