What Programming Execs From NBCU, MGM, A+E and More Are Looking for in Next Generation of TV Creators

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFox hopes to greet a big audience with its new small-town docu-comedy “Welcome to Flatch” when the Paul Feig and Jenny Bicks-produced show launches later this week. But if “Flatch” doesn’t bring in the viewers with its linear premiere on Thursday at 9:30 p.m., Fox execs won’t be talking about cutting the mockumentary from the network’s midseason lineup Friday morning.That’s because the broadcast network is launching the first half of the 14-episode Season 1 via Hulu and other digital platforms at midnight on Thursday, and promises it’s not going to be giving much weight to “Welcome to Flatch’s” Live + Same Day Nielsen ratings over those first seven weeks of airing, when the episodes will all be available for streaming well before they rollout weekly on Fox.

EXCLUSIVE: star Tony Todd wants the world to know he’s not retiring.

Kristen Stewart is glowing for her latest red carpet appearance!

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Laser Baby’s Day Out,” the first episode of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys Presents: Diabolical.”Longtime buddies and producing partners Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have been “obsessed” with Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan for the past few years, and the idea of “doing something that had no words, no dialogue and purely physical humor.” Enter the offshoot of “The Boys,” which they executive produce, Amazon’s animated shorts anthology series, “The Boys Presents: Diabolical,” which launched Friday with all eight-episodes: the first being the Rogen and Goldberg-written “Laser Baby’s Day Out.”“We’d been messing around with some live-action movie ideas,” Goldberg told Variety. “And then when the idea to make the ‘Diabolical’ show came around, we were like, this is perfect.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterTurning a comic book into a live-action TV series is not a revolutionary idea in the current TV landscape — but turning a comic book into a live-action TV series that is then itself turned into an animated series set in the same universe is not a pitch studio and network execs get every day.That’s what “The Boys” executive producers Seth Rogen, Eric Kripke and Evan Goldberg set out to do when they came up with the idea for the very adult cartoon shorts “The Boys Presents: Diabolical,” while they were simultaneously working on the upcoming third season of the mothership Amazon Prime Video series and its recently ordered untitled superhero-college spinoff.“We were deep in the pandemic and we were looking to get something from what we’re calling the VCU on the air go before Season 3,” “The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke told Variety, citing the show’s Vought Cinematic Universe. “And with all the shooting restrictions, it was just impossible to even do a small live-action thing.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMarna Grantham, senior vice president of programming acquisitions at Epix and a longtime TV industry veteran, has died due to complications related to COVID-19. She was 63.“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Marna twice, both at Turner Broadcasting and here at Epix,” Michael Wright, president of Epix and MGM Scripted Television, said in a statement to Variety Monday.

Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino hit the stage at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, and hilariously paid tribute to their iconic bestie characters from the beloved classic “Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion”.

Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino hit the stage at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, and hilariously paid tribute to their iconic bestie characters from the beloved classic .Kudrow and Sorvino came out rocking bright pink and shimmering blue suits, thematically inspired by the iconic styles they made famous in the 1997 comedy.The pair also presented the award — for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series  — with dialogue that was clearly in the spirit of their characters, with Kudrow asking, «Do you think that this is the cutest anyone's ever looked at an awards show?»«Totally,» Sorvino replied. «I just realized this, we're wearing great ensembles, while at the same time presenting to great ensembles.»«You are so right!» Kudrow shot back. «And these cast ensembles are so hilarious.

The stars and sun seemed to have aligned on red carpet at the 28th SAG Awards.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJax Media executives Sarah Madigan and John Skidmore have joined Imagine Entertainment, the parent company of Jax, as head of business affairs and strategic partnerships and head of production, respectively, Variety has learned exclusively.Both will continue in their current roles at Jax Media, with Madigan remaining head of business affairs and Skidmore, a founding partner of Jax Media, still chief operating officer of the Imagine Entertainment-owned production company.Skidmore, who will be overseeing all projects across all divisions for Imagine, has produced some of Jax’s most popular titles, including “Broad City,” “Search Party,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Russian Doll” and the Netflix stand-up specials “Chris Rock: Tamborine,” “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous” and “Mike Birbiglia: The New One.” Madigan currently runs business affairs at Jax Media and previously held roles at MGM and Netflix.“Skidmore is a founding member of Jax and Madigan has been integral to the company’s growth over the past few years, and we couldn’t imagine doing this new job without them,” Imagine Entertainment presidents Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns said in a joint statement to Variety.Jax Media co-founders Hernandez and Burns were promoted to co-presidents of Imagine Entertainment in January and continue to lead Jax Media as CEO and CCO, respectively.

“Aziz Ansari is an incredible talent and, with this script, he brings a singular combination of insightful humor and pathos,” Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with him on his feature directorial debut which is long overdue, and of course working with the genius Bill Murray once again.”Taylor Friedman and Cameron Chidsey are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures.

Aziz Ansari (Master of None, Parks and Recreation) is making his feature directorial debut with an untitled dramedy for Searchlight, based on the 2014 non-fiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by surgeon Atul Gawande, in which he’ll star alongside Oscar nominee Bill Murray (The French Dispatch, Lost in Translation), Deadline has confirmed.

recall effort in San Francisco that led to the ousting of three school board members for prioritizing wokeness over the well-being of their students. Maher then asked Brooke Jenkins, the former assistant San Francisco district attorney who is leading the recall effort against liberal DA Chesa Boudin, if it was “about time to chuck” the masks on kids. Jenkins agreed. “Having a 5-year-old in school right now, I would like to see them go,” Jenkins said. “They don’t need them,” Maher responded, referring to face coverings. “I mean, kids are the least, least vulnerable.

The Guardian in a 2016 profile of Hill. “He always took being a drag king to a new level, which was more fully realized than most kings.” As the years have gone by, Hill has become far more than a pioneering drag king, queer New York nightlife fixture, or campy, charismatic trans comedian/actor. The 50-year-old has long struggled to find the right words and terminology to describe himself.“I keep saying, when I talk to young people: We just didn’t have the language and the ID politics, we had nothing.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Good News About Hell” and “Half Loop,” the first two episodes of “Severance,” which premiered Friday on Apple TV Plus.The Ben Stiller-directed “Severance” debuted its first two episodes Friday, revealing a fictional world where people, like Adam Scott’s Mark Scout, are able to undergo a procedure that allows them to mentally separate their work and home lives. Why a person would choose to do this and why Lumon, the company that created the process, would require it of some of its employees is just the start of the questions posed by the initial pair of “Severance” episodes.“What we know of them is that they are a med-tech company.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Global (formerly known as ViacomCBS) expects to direct-to-consumer content spending to increase to more than $6 billion in 2024, the company revealed Tuesday during its Q4 earnings and streaming investor day presentation.This is a jump from its previous guidance, which was that Paramount expected streaming content spend to exceed $5 billion 2024, including $4 billion of expenses associated with its DTC services. In 2021, Paramount spend $2.2 billion on direct-to-consumer content.Additionally, Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra said that the company formerly known as ViacomCBS is increasing its DTC revenue goal to over $9 billion for 2024.

CD Projekt Red has released the next-gen upgrades for Cyberpunk 2077, optimising the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMelissa Joan Hart will star in multiple new “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” holiday movies, as well as the made-for-TV hoarder film “Dirty Little Secret” at Lifetime, as part of a new multi-year deal with the cable channel, Variety has learned exclusively.Under her new pact, Hart will star in, direct and executive produce several movies for Lifetime. For the “Ripped From The Headlines” movie “Dirty Little Secret” (working title), which is set to debut this summer, Hart stars as a mother hiding her extreme hoarding tendencies that are destroying her family.Additionally, Hart will star in and executive produce new movies for Lifetime’s 2022 and 2023 Christmas slates, having previously starred in six holiday films for the cabler, including “Mistletoe in Montana,” “Dear Christmas” and “A Very Merry Toy Store.” Hart has previously executive produced eight Lifetime films with her production company Hartbreak Films, including the recent “Christmas in Tune” starring Reba McEntire.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterRebecca Franko and Kenny Tsai have been named senior vice presidents of current programming at Universal Studio Group’s Universal Content Productions (UCP).In these newly created roles, Franko and Tsai will manage day-to-day current series across cable and streaming platforms for the studio, per UCP. They will both work closely with development on series pick-ups, serve as a liaison between production and other studio departments, manage up-and-coming writers for the studio and build and maintain industry relationships.Franko will oversee the shows “Joe vs. Carole,” “Ted,” “Gaslit” and more.

CD Projekt Red has announced that the next-generation versions of Cyberpunk 2077 are available now alongside a free trial and patch 1.5During the latest REDStream, the developer revealed the first gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077 running on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, confirming that both versions will run at 60FPS and will include both a ray tracing and performance mode.Alongside the announcement, the team also shared the details for patch 1.5 which will include a variety of upgraded features, along with brand-new mechanics for the game.Probably the biggest update arriving with patch 1.5, and the most requested by players, includes the ability to change appearance. Players will only need to use a mirror to change their look, with the option to change their hair, hair colour, and makeup.Additionally, players will now be able to pay rent on their apartments and buy renovations to makeover their homes.