‘Will Trent’ Season 2 Premiere Shows Growth for ABC in Multiplatform Viewership

EXCLUSIVE: Will Trent is digging up some strong viewership for ABC.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Fresh off her recent stint hosting “Saturday Night Live,” Sydney Sweeney made her way to Austin and SXSW for the world premiere of her new religious horror film “Immaculate” — and on Tuesday night, she had the crowd screaming (and laughing at their own reactions) at the Paramount Theatre. The jump scares, in particular, had the entire theater jumping — and then giggling at their own fear. “Immaculate” leans into horror but also has plenty of moments of dark humor.

He might have swapped the Caribbean for sleepy Devon, but the lack of sunshine won’t stop DI Humphrey Goodman from solving crimes and putting criminals behind bars. Humphrey and his team – DS Esther Williams (Zahra Ahmadi), PC Kelby Hartford (Dylan Llewellyn) and Margo Martins (Felicity Montagu) – all return for the second series of Beyond Paradise, with plenty more baffling crimes to solve. “The show seems more confident,” says Kris Marshall, who plays the lead detective.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Conan O’Brien Must Go” is finally going. The long-in-the-works project, announced last year during Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfronts presentation, has been given a premiere date: Thursday, April 18 on Max.

Madonna had a very special guest at her third of five Celebration Tour shows in Los Angeles!

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large From “Scandoval” to soccer ball. Reality TV uber producer Alex Baskin (“Vanderpump Rules,” “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”) and his 32 Flavors shingle have partnered with tech mogul Alexis Ohanian, soccer star Midge Purce and sports doc producers Box to Box Films (“Drive to Survive,” “Break Point”) to produce the sports docuseries “The Offseason.” National Women’s Soccer League player Purce, who is also a U.S.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 11 season premiere of “The Masked Singer,” which aired March 6 on Fox. “The Masked Singer” kicked off its 11th season on Wednesday night — and in perhaps the show’s most unusual reveal ever, comedian Kevin Hart brought his prank war with host Nick Cannon to the show. Hart brought his one-night-only appearance to “The Masked Singer” as Book, singing the song “So Sick,” by Ne-Yo (who happened to be the Season 10 winner on the show). The performance… was a bit pitchy, dawg.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Tim Allen is one step closer to returning to ABC for a third time. The Alphabet net has given a pilot order to his latest sitcom, “Shifting Gears,” from 20th Television. Allen is on board to star and executive produce the multi-cam sitcom pilot — which is still a working title — which will also be written and executive produced by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Dessert is served: Fox has given a Season 3 order to its baking competition series “Crime Scene Kitchen,” hosted by Joel McHale. The pickup, announced by the network on Monday, also includes the return of chef Curtis Stone and cake artist Yolanda Gampp as celebrity judges.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Jamie Foxx is returning to once again host Fox’s musical game show “Beat Shazam,” after he took last season off in the wake of his hospitalization for a still-undisclosed medical emergency. Nick Cannon took over as host last season. Foxx’s daughter, Corinne Foxx, is also back as the show’s co-host DJ, after she was temporarily replaced last season by Kelly Osbourne.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large On a windy evening in Las Vegas, U2 were finally reunited in the same arena for the first time in five years — sort of. Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. attended Friday night’s penultimate U2 show at the Sphere in Las Vegas, where he watched from a box seat in the audience.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As part of their new deal with Amazon MGM Studios, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne are already at work on breaking stories for Season 3 of the Prime Video series. That comes as Prime Video preps a premiere later this year for Season 2 of the series. A Season 3 writers room isn’t yet open, but the showrunners are at work on the initial story outline.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large It’s finally here. Variety joined the producers and contestants — including host Phil Keoghan — on a private charter to Puerto Vallerta to kick off “The Amazing Race” back in October 2022.

People were left stunned after The Voice UK judges, including Black Eyed Peas star Will.i.am, were seen buying their lunch from Greggs at Salford Quays on Tuesday (February 27).

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Former Jax Media president Brooke Posch has opened her own shingle, Good&Done, aiming to focus on comedy projects from new and undiscovered voices. As part of the launch, Posch has hired former Broadway Video and Universal TV exec Hannah Kitziger to serve as head of development.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Pro tip for Screen Actors Guild Awards viewers: Watch it live. That’s because even those Netflix subscribers on the cheaper advertising tier will still get a commercial-free experience when the telecast runs live on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 3, Episode 2 of “Ghosts,” titled “Man of Your Dreams,” which aired Feb. 22 on CBS. “Ghosts” just revealed a game changer of a storyline that could help give Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) more interaction with the show’s spirits. In the Season 3, Episode 2 installment “Man of Your Dreams,” viewers discovered the ghost power that Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) has been harboring: The ability to enter the dreams of the living.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Cheers to Paramount+‘s “Frasier” revival, which has just landed a Season 2 order at the streamer. The new “Frasier,” which stars Kelsey Grammer in the role he first made famous on “Cheers,” and then on the original “Frasier” (1993-2004), premiered in October with 10 episodes. Last November, Grammer expressed his desire to keep the new “Frasier” going for as long as possible.

Will Smith couldn’t believe meeting Lionel Messi. It’s a common feeling that Messi has inspired ever since he moved to the US to play for Inter Miami, becoming one of the biggest attractions to the state. Yesterday, Smith attended the Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake game, waiting for Messi to exit the field in order to greet him.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large We don’t talk much anymore about live+same day ratings, since it’s the earliest measurement of a long tail that now includes time-shifted, streaming and more viewership. But if we look at good ol’ fashioned linear live viewing for the week of February 12, CBS has quite the story to tell. Thanks to the halo effect of its Super Bowl LVIII coverage on Feb.