The CW Acquires Canadian Drama Series ‘Family Law’ With Jewel Staite and Victor Garber

EXCLUSIVE: We’ll be seeing a new face on NCIS. The Fosters alumna Teri Polo is joining CBS drama series in a recurring role opposite Gary Cole.

EXCLUSIVE: We’ll be seeing a new face on NCIS. The Fosters alumna Teri Polo is joining NBC’s flagship drama series in a recurring role opposite Gary Cole.

The candy man is coming to Hulu! The streamer has ordered eight episodes of a limited series about Sammy Davis, Jr. from Lee Daniels and 20th Television. It’s based on the Wil Haygood book, “In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.”

Dana Calvo (Good Girls Revolt) has been tapped as showrunner and executive producer on ABC’s Avalon, a drama series based on Michael Connelly’s short story, from David E. Kelley (Big Sky, Big Little Lies), A+E Studios and 20th Television. It’s slated to be part of ABC’s 2022-2023 programming slate.

Glamorous, starring Fuller House’s Miss Benny, was previously in the works as a pilot for The CW. It has now been handed a series order at Netflix.

Emmys snubs! Peak TV has never seen snubs like this. And the Outstanding Drama Series is going to have a ton of them.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTom Hiddleston is set to star in the Apple limited series “The White Darkness,” Variety has learned.The series is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann. It is inspired by the true life account of Henry Worsley (Hiddleston), a devoted husband and father, a former soldier, a man of deep honor and sacrifice, but also a man deeply obsessed with adventure, manifesting in an epic journey crossing Antarctica on foot.Soo Hugh, who most recently created and showran the Apple series “Pachinko,” will serve as writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner on “The White Darkness.” Mark Heyman will executive produce and co-showrun. “Pachinko” executive producer Theresa Kang-Lowe and Caroline Garity of Blue Marble Pictures will also executive produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Jayden Elijah (School’s Out Forever) rounds out the lead cast of Saint X, joining Victoria Pedretti, Josh Bonzie and West Duchovny in Hulu’s eight-part series from writer Leila Gerstein and director Dee Rees.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

TOKYO -- The HBO Max drama series “Tokyo Vice” takes the perennial story of a novice reporter on the police beat but places it in the bustling exotic landscape of the Japanese capital of the 1990s.Ansel Elgort of “West Side Story” immersed himself in the leading role not only by learning Japanese so he could speak like a native, but also learning the ropes of an investigative reporter, interviewing people, getting quotes and writing up a story.“It was really cool,” he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.The characters had to feel real, not just be archetypes, Elgort said.The series, which premieres Thursday, weaves in allusions to the Japanese film genre depicting organized crime, called “yakuza,” as well as exploring the glitzy night life of hostess bars, where powerful corporate Japanese men rub shoulders with their underworld counterparts.“You see the yakuza characters. You see them as a family, too.

Apple TV+ has given a formal green light to Constellation, a conspiracy-based psychological thriller drama series starring Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul). The project was created and written by Peter Harness (The War of the Worlds), with Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad) set to direct the series from Turbine Studios and Haut et Court TV.

West Duchovny (Linoleum) is set as a lead opposite Victoria Pedretti and Josh Bonzie in Saint X, Hulu’s eight-part series from writer Leila Gerstein and director Dee Rees.

EXCLUSIVE: Leonard Cohen’s relationship with muse Marianne Ihlen is going under the microscope in a 1960s-set drama co-production for Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Bonzie (The Politician) is set as a lead opposite Victoria Pedretti in Saint X, Hulu’s eight-part series from writer Leila Gerstein and director Dee Rees.

Carson Burton Emmy-award winning composer Geoff Zanelli is slated to compose the music for “The First Lady,” premiering on Showtime. The new hour-long anthology drama follows the lives of three of America’s First Ladies and stars Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt.Zanelli served as composer of films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and “Christopher Robin,” and he won an Emmy award for his work in the Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks miniseries “Into the West.” He also was nominated for HBO’s “The Pacific,” another Spielberg collaboration.“I’ve had the honor of writing music for ‘The Pacific’ and ‘Into The West,’ both shows about distinct times in America’s history, but nothing as intimate as ‘The First Lady,'” Zanelli said.

Emily Longeretta The CW has expanded its slate of scripted acquisitions, picking up one-hour Canadian drama series “Family Law.” Entertainment One (eOne) previously secured international distribution rights for the series, which stars Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Zach Smadu and Genelle Williams. Dan Loewy, eOne’s executive vice president of sales, brokered the deal.“Family Law,” produced by Seven24 Films and Lark Productions for Corus Entertainment’s Global, follows lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail Bianchi (Staite) as she attempts to put both her personal and professional life back together.

The CW continues to expand its scripted acquisition slate with the addition of Canadian drama series Family Law, a one-hour legal drama, from Entertainment One. A premiere date is TBD.

J. Kim Murphy NBCUniversal has announced that it is developing “Pinned,” a new dramatic scripted series about the world of wrestling.“Pinned” comes from Universal Content Productions and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. The production is billed as a dramatic series with a logline touting “an adrenalized upstairs-downstairs soap that gives a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional wrestling promotion and the unforgettable characters that populate it.”“Pinned” will offer a look into the world of wrestling culture, documenting the mayhem both within the locker room and the boardroom of wrestling organizations.Craig O’Neill serves as an executive producer on the series, alongside Tom Rinaldi.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterVictoria Pedretti has signed on for a lead role in the upcoming Hulu drama series “Saint X,” Variety has learned.The series is based on the Alexis Schaitkin novel of the same name. It is described as a psychological drama, which is told via multiple timelines and perspectives.