TV Talk Podcast: Handicapping Emmy Comedy Contenders Even Though There’s Not Much To Laugh About In Hollywood Right Now

highest-earning all-time “Jeopardy!” contestant, pulled back the curtain on his relationship with fellow champions Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer. “It’s both a brotherhood and it’s very competitive,” Rutter, 45, told The Post on Monday.“If the three of us are in the green room at the ‘GOAT [‘Greatest of All Time’] Tournament,’ we’re being cordial to each other.

Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast is now at Week 8, as we complete a stretch in which the standoff between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers passed the 50-day mark, halfway to the 100-day dispute that decimated Hollywood in 2007 and the 253-day dispute of 1988.

Editor’s note: The interviews conducted in this podcast were recorded at Deadline’s Contenders TV event, prior to the WGA’s strike starting on May 2.

There were several royal bombshells about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry revealed in two recent royal books: “Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait” by writer Gyles Brandreth and royal expert Katie Nicholl‘s new book, “The New Royals.”

A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.

As part of the 2023 Tribeca Festival, David Fincher candidly discussed his career, filmmaking process and philosophy with Steven Soderbergh before a capacity crowd in the Indeed Theater at Spring Studios for an hour on Thursday evening. The two have known one another for 31 years, and have been in frequent contact for 20, showing each other rough cuts for feedback.

Actor in a Drama Series increased from 94 last year to 102 this year, and Emmy rules say that gender-divided categories  should have parity in the number of nominees, which will keep the guest actress category at six.Overall, more than half the categories that are shrinking in size this year are specifically devoted to comedy – and others, including Character Voice-Over Performance and Sound Editing and Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half Hour) and Animation, are dominated by comedic shows.Other categories that are slated to shrink include Outstanding Reality Competition Program and Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program, both of which are dropping from six nomination slots to five, as well as Main Title Design, Music Supervision and Original Music and Lyrics.Only a handful of categories are in line to grow in size, including Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Scripted Variety Series (which has different qualifying requirements this year) and Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.Overall, more than half the Emmys’ 120 categories had fewer entries than they did last year, while only 30 had more entries. But in most cases, the change in the number of entries was not enough to trigger a change in the number of nominees.(Note: While the Emmy rules set the number of nominees by the number of contenders, several categories each year will end up with more or fewer nominees because of ties.)The result of this year’s submissions will make some of the comedy races even more competitive than they already were.

Editor’s note: The interviews conducted in this podcast were recorded at Deadline’s Contenders TV event, prior to the WGA strike starting on May 2.

“I like when I’m working on something that I don’t understand,” says 7x Oscar nominated filmmaker Wes Anderson on how he cracked his new off-kilter comedic period opus, Asteroid City, which hits theaters in New York and LA this Friday. The Focus Features release goes wide on Friday, June 23.

Vanessa Feltz admits she's not thinking far into the future following her heartbreaking split from Ben Ofoedu earlier this year.

For his sophomore feature, the follow-up to 2004’s little-seen indie House of D, David Duchovny serves up a similarly niche confection, a sometimes-zany black comedy based on his 2016 novel of the same name. The elevator pitch is a tough one; though it’s funny in places, the tone is all over the place, one minute aspiring for the arch, stoner laughs of PTA’s Inherent Vice, the next veering into straightforward sentiment with a rambling final section that hits a similar highway to the 2006 Sundance hit Little Miss Sunshine. There’s also the f-word: the looming curse of American baseball movies that don’t have the word Field in the title, which could hamper its commercial prospects in the wider world.

Billy Ray and Todd Garner are back for Week 6 of the Writers Guild standoff on Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast. Click below to listen.

Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the talks.The goal is to reach a deal by the end of the year, the report said, noting the exact details are not yet worked out.While music sales have risen in recent years, artists and record labels say they are not getting paid enough. And now that music industry growth is slowing, even as fraud and piracy continue to siphon revenue from everyone in the business, the issue is even more complicated.Streaming giant Spotify, for instance, said earlier this year that it has paid out nearly $40 billion to music rights holders since its launch in 2006.

Dani Dyer has recently shared her thoughts on a vibrant West Ham fan chant about her and her partner, top goal-scorer Jarrod Bowen. Jarrod scored the winning goal in West Ham's Europa Conference League victory over Fiorentina in Prague on Wednesday evening to hand the Hammers a first trophy in over 40 years.The winger said post-match: "I obviously dreamed of scoring but to score the winner in the last minute...

"Spider-Man" actor Tom Holland announced he’s momentarily taking a step back from his acting career.  After the British star struggled to play the role of producer and actor simultaneously, Holland revealed what pushed him to take a break from Hollywood.  "It was a tough time, for sure," the 27-year-old said during an interview with "Extra" for his film "The Crowded Room." "We were exploring certain emotions that I have definitely never experienced before. And then on top of that, being a producer, dealing with the day-to-day problems that come with any film set, just added that extra level of pressure." While Holland executive produced the dark psychological-thriller series, he admitted that portraying a character who is suffering from mental health issues at the same time wasn’t an easy task.  "I’m no stranger to hard work," Holland noted.

Gruesome tales of grisly murder. Horror stories of kids in cults. False confessions and authentic admissions.

Aside from The Kardashians, Selling Sunset is probably the most extra reality show on TV right now. For anyone new to the hit Netflix series, the show follows the owners and agents of The Oppenheim Group - the LA based brokerage responsible for selling luxury, million dollar properties in-and-around the affluent area of Beverly Hills.

Eamonn Holmes has once again taken Phillip Schofield to task live on GB News. When Phillip's revelatory public statement was released at the end of May, Eamon, 63, made his personal opinions crystal clear in a series of interviews with Dan Wootton. Phillip took part in his own chat with BBC's Amol Rajan, too, yet his claims have been rubbished by his former This Morning colleague, Eamon.

Billy Ray and Todd Garner are back for Week 5 of the WGA standoff on Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast. Click below to listen.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday. Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below: