1-20 of 52 items « Prev | Next »
Smash Cast Reunites for Bombshell Charity Concert, Remains Amazing
4 hours ago | E! Online | See recent E! Online news »
Some very lucky Smash fans got the chance to fade in on a girl with a hunger for fame once more last night at the "Bombshell on Broadway" Smash reunion concert. Katharine McPhee, Megan Hilty, Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Will Chase, Jaime Cepero, Jeremy Jordan, Leslie Odom Jr. and more of the show's cast reunited to perform all of the songs from the fake Marilyn Monroe musical that was at the center of NBC's short-lived Smash. Those songs included "Let Me Be Your Star," "Don't Forget Me," "Cut, Print...Moving On" and "They Just Keep Moving the Line." The cast, assembled by executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and the men behind the music, Marc Shaiman and Scott »
The Boondock Saints Might Get a TV Prequel
11 hours ago | Vulture | See recent Vulture news »
Everybody's favorite Irish Catholic twin brothers might be on their way to screens in new form, if all goes according to plan. Deadline reports that Troy Duffy, writer-director of the original 1999 Boondock Saints and its sequel, is planning on writing a potential Boondock TV series to serve as a prequel to the movies. Stars and Saints Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery might even come aboard as co-executive producers to help Duffy. "For years I’ve been obsessed with telling a real origin story with Boondock, [about the twins as Irish immigrants in South Boston], and Im Global TV has stepped up," Duffy said in a statement. "Television is the perfect medium to explore these controversial characters on a much deeper level and to bring Boondock Saints to a whole new audience." Amen — fingers crossed. »
- Sean Fitz-Gerald
New ‘Scream’ Trailer Shows Teens in Panic as ‘Blood Bath Commences’ (Video)
4 hours ago | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
In a new trailer for MTV’s “Scream” series, we finally get a look at the mysterious masked killer as he or she begins picking off a group of high school students. The series focuses on the town of Lakewood. After a cyber bullying incident goes too far, the killer wreaks havoc on young people in the town. It exposes painful memories from everyone’s past and forces people to confront the choices they have made. The series is based on the film franchise created by the legendary horror master Wes Craven, which originally starred Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette. »
- Joe Otterson
Feinberg Forecast: Will 'Mad Men's' Jon Hamm Finally Win an Emmy?
4 hours ago | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »
This story first appeared in a special Emmy issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Why is this year's lead actor in a drama series Emmy race different than six of the last seven? Because Bryan Cranston is no longer in the running for Breaking Bad, which exhausted its Emmy eligibility last year. Cranston's absence opens up one of the category's six slots for new blood. But who will be the beneficiaries of these vacancies and compete alongside -- presumably -- three perennial nominees: Mad Men's Jon Hamm, House of Cards' Kevin Spacey and The Newsroom's Jeff Daniels? Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk,
read more
»
- Scott Feinberg
Demi Lovato to Guest Star on Robert Rodriguez’s ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’
2 hours ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Demi Lovato will guest star on the upcoming second season of Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series.”
The singer and actress will appear in the season finale of the 10-episode season, which is currently in production. Lovato posted photos from the Austin, Texas, set with both Rodriguez, the series’ creator, director and El Rey Network chairman, and fellow cast member and boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama on Tuesday.
The show travels between Mexico and Texas in the sophomore season, when the disparate cast of characters will come together to face off against an even bigger threat.
The show returns to El Rey Network and Miramax on August 25.
Lovato is represented by CAA’s Charlie Jennings and managed by Phil Mcintyre.
»
- Maane Khatchatourian
Once Upon a Time Ups Sean Maguire, Rebecca Mader to Series Regulars
25 minutes ago | TVLine.com | See recent TVLine.com news »
ABC’s Once Upon a Time has promoted both Sean Maguire and Lost alum Rebecca Mader to series regulars for Season 5, TVLine has learned.
RelatedOnce Upon a Time Season 5: Get Details on Merlin and Other New Roles
The news comes just hours after TVLine revealed details on three new characters being cast for the coming half-season: Merlin, King Arthur and Guinevere.
RelatedOnce Upon a Time Bosses Tackle ‘End Date’ Topic
Maguire made his debut as Robin Hood in Once‘s Season 3A premiere, and over two seasons gradually secured his place as Regina’s one true love.
Mader first »
‘Life in Pieces’ Kicks Off CBS’ New Fall Schedule: See All Premiere Dates
26 minutes ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
“The Big Bang Theory,” paired with new family sitcom “Life in Pieces,” will kick of CBS’ fall 2015 schedule, premiering the night of Monday, Sept. 21.
“NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans” premiere their new seasons Tuesday, Sept. 22, followed by new drama “Limitless.”
Premiere week concludes Sunday, Sept. 27 with the series finale of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” which wraps up with a two-hour special.
New shows also on the fall schedule are medical drama “Code Black,” which bows Sept. 30, and the hotly anticipated “Supergirl,” which debuts Oct. 26.
Here’s CBS’ full fall schedule and premiere dates:
Thursday, Sept. 17
7:30-8:25 Pm, Et Thursday Night Football Pre-game Show
8:25 Pm, Et NFL Thursday Night Football (Denver @ Kansas City)
Monday, Sept. 21
8:00-8:30 Pm The Big Bang Theory (9th Season Premiere)
8:30-9:00 Pm Life In Pieces (Series Debut)
9:00-10:00 Pm Scorpion (2nd Season Premiere)
10:00-11:00 Pm NCIS: Los Angeles »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
CBS Fall Premiere Dates: Supergirl Gets Big October Launch
26 minutes ago | TVLine.com | See recent TVLine.com news »
CBS is first out of the gate this year in detailing its premiere plan for the 2015-16 TV season, and the network once again kicks things off with Thursday Night Football on Sept. 17.
But the big news is the Eye’s decision to launch Supergirl after The Big Bang Theory in late October. Greg Berlanti’s anticipated drama will debut on Monday, Oct. 26 at 8:30/7:30c after an original episode of Big Bang. It will then move into its regular Monday-at-8/7c slot on Nov. 2.
RelatedFall TV Grid 2015: What’s on When? And Versus What?
Elsewhere, CSI’s »
A 'Queer As Folk' Reunion? Series Producers Say They Are 'Open To It'
34 minutes ago | Indiewire Television | See recent Indiewire Television news »
"Queer As Folk: The Next Generation"? An interview with The Hollywood Reporter finds the producers of "Queer as Folk" -- Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman -- suggesting that could very well be the case. “We'd be open to it, depending on the venue of a reboot,” Lipman said. “I think what would be interesting would be to explore our characters who are now in their 40s and bringing in a new generation and seeing how that mix would go.” So maybe not so much "the next generation" as a sequel series, which we'd probably prefer anyway. And really, with all due respect, what are all the cast members up to these days anyway? Read the full interview at The Hollywood Reporter, which goes into very interesting detail about the struggles the producers had getting the series out there, and how it opened doors for shows that followed. “It's very »
- Jeremy Staley
Moving Supporting TV Characters to Lead Roles is a Delicate Balance
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Earlier this year, Bob Odenkirk pulled off what many actors before him could not, transitioning his supporting character Saul Goodman from “Breaking Bad” into the lead of its spinoff show, “Better Call Saul.”
Prior to the show’s February premiere, there were doubts. Saul was a fun ancillary character, but could he carry a show on his own? Were people really interested in the backstory of a cheesy billboard attorney?
Judging by the ratings — the premiere set a record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in cable history — the answer was a resounding yes. But even more than eyeballs, the response from critics and “Breaking Bad” fans was overwhelmingly positive. People were interested, intrigued and, perhaps above all, relieved.
Saul isn’t the first character to do well striking out on his own; Kelsey Grammer was maybe sixth on the call sheet on “Cheers,” but as the star of “Frasier” walked away with five Emmys. »
- Jenelle Riley
Many Emmy Supporting Actor Contenders Compete Against Themselves
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Matthew Goode spent season six of CBS’ “The Good Wife” playing Finn Polmar, a charming potential love interest for the show’s leading lady, Julianna Margulies. In March, he appeared in a guest spot on PBS’ “Downton Abbey” as Henry Talbot, a charming potential love interest for the show’s leading lady, Michelle Dockery. The roles are actually very different, set almost 100 years apart, but the series both have a fantastic ensemble of actors.
“The sheer unadulterated delight of being present in two such beloved shows is the wealth of experienced and delightful actors I have had the chance to work with on both sides of the Atlantic,” says Goode. “One day it’s Christine Baranski and Nathan Lane, the next it’s Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton. Lucky? Without question!”
Playing two characters with nothing in common has been fun for Mary Steenburgen, who is a mysterious widow on »
- Christy Grosz
Emmy Guest Star Contenders Create Full Characters in Short Time Frames
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
When Corey Stoll accepted the guest role of Pakistan station captain Sandy Bachman on Showtime’s “Homeland,” he knew his biggest challenge would be convincing the audience that Bachman was a cool, confident professional with a long career ahead of him, although that wasn’t actually true.
“It was important that the audience not think that I was going to die in the first episode,” Stoll says. “Part of what the creators wanted was for the audience to assume that I was going to be a major part of the story moving forward.”
Though Bachman did not survive that season four premiere, Stoll says he read as much as he could about the life of a spy in the short time he had to prep.
“I don’t really speak that much in the one episode I’m in, but it was important for me have a sense of a biography, »
- Christy Grosz
A-List Actors Find Meaty Roles, Artistic Satisfaction on the Smallscreen
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Josh Gad has taken Broadway by storm in “The Book of Mormon,” headlined the hit film “The Wedding Ringer” and voiced one of the most beloved animated characters of all time as Olaf the snowman in “Frozen.” So what prompted him to accept the role opposite Billy Crystal in the FX comedy “The Comedians?”
“The paycheck, obviously,” he dead-panned.
Attending Variety’s first Actors on Actors Emmy Studio, Gad said, “It really is the Golden Age of TV right now, especially on cable.”
That theme would be echoed again and again by all the A-list talent who visited our studio over the course over a weekend in March, including two-time Academy Award winners Jessica Lange (FX’s “American Horror Story”) and Jane Fonda, who’s tackling her first gig as a TV regular in Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie.” As we paired up TV’s top stars for conversations about »
- Jenelle Riley and Debra Birnbaum
‘Mythbusters’ Call in Buster When Things Get Too Dangerous
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
While “Mythbusters” hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage frequently serve as their own test subjects, some experiments are too dangerous for mere humans. That’s when they call in Buster, perhaps the most famous crash test dummy in the world.
The not-so-secret secret?
There’s more than one Buster. Five versions of Buster exist to fit the parameters of specific experiments. For instance, if a test involves electrical current, a dummy without a metal skeleton will be used.
“As we like to say, just as Air Force One is any plane the president happens to be in, Buster is whatever crash test dummy we happen to be abusing at the moment,” says Savage. “Not only does Buster have his own fan club, there’s an Intl. Church of Buster because he’s been resurrected repeatedly for your scientific knowledge.”
Indeed, according to “Mythbusters” records, Buster — whose body is made of »
- Paula Hendrickson
‘The Jinx’ Duo Reflect on Robert Durst, Making Documentaries for TV
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Talk about a surprise ending! By capturing murder suspect Robert Durst’s surprise confession on tape — “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course?” — HBO’s “The Jinx” filmmakers Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling not only busted open a cold case of the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathie, but also riveted millions of viewers with their painstaking research that uncovered new evidence pointing to Durst’s complicity in the the 2000 death of writer Susan Berman and the 2001 murder of his neighbor Morris Black.
Variety: What drew you into producing documentaries?
Andrew Jarecki: We met when we were 9 years old, and we’ve been friends ever since. And when we first had this idea that later became “Capturing the Friedmans,” we decided to work on it together. And that was a fateful thing for us because we have very complementary skills.
Marc Smerling: Documentaries are awesome, »
- Debra Birnbaum
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jeffrey Tambor on the Responsibility of Their Roles (Video)
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
The following story is part of Variety’s Actors on Actors Emmy Studio. For more videos, click here.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: “Veep” came to me through my agent. He said to me, “They’re developing a show at HBO about an unhappy vice president.” I was like, where do I sign?
Jeffrey Tambor: I had the same experience with Jill Soloway. I saw the script of “Transparent,” and by page 8, I said, “I’m in!” You just know immediately.
Louis-Dreyfus: You were so smart to take that part.
Billy Kidd Variety
Tambor: I love that part. I said, “Jill, I said you know you’re giving me a life-changing role.” I feel that Maura’s my new best friend. And I get into wonderful conversations now. People will take me aside and tell me some personal story about some experience in their family either with the transgender community or »
- Variety Staff
‘Mythbusters': Can Season ‘Lucky 13′ Finally Nab an Emmy Win?
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
If a 13-year-old show — with six Emmy nominations and zero wins in its first 12 years — snags another Emmy nomination, could that validate the term “lucky 13”?
Maybe, if it’s “Mythbusters.”
“I love ‘lucky 13,’ considering we’ve spent our entire show debunking superstitions,” says Adam Savage, who, with fellow host Jamie Hyneman, has conducted roughly 2,800 experiments disproving — and sometimes proving — the plausibility of nearly 1,000 urban legends, myths and common misperceptions since filming began in 2002.
Luck was also involved in Hyneman and Savage becoming hosts of what’s now Discovery’s longest-running series.
“The idea for ‘Mythbusters’ was actually a creation of Beyond Prods. out of Sydney,” Savage says. Producers had trouble finding the right host until they remembered meeting Hyneman and Savage when the duo created a robot for “Robot Wars” in the early 1990s. They contacted Hyneman, who asked if Savage was interested in co-hosting.
“Unbeknownst to Jamie, I’d »
- Paula Hendrickson
Claire Danes, Don Cheadle on the Rise of the Antihero (Video)
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
The following story is part of Variety’s Actors on Actors Emmy Studio. For more videos, click here.
Claire Danes: What do you look for in a role? What attracts you to a project?
Don Cheadle: I think a lot of times it’s just something I haven’t done before. A way to stretch out and try to play something that really kind of scares me a little bit. I had this conversation with the producers (on “House of Lies”) when we were developing the role, and I was like, “This dude’s a douchebag. Where’s the connectivity? How do we root for him?” And my producer said, “It’s about being relatable. He doesn’t have to be likable, we just want to be able to understand him.”
Billy Kidd for Variety
Danes: I tend to make kind of reactionary choices. (“Homeland”) was really intimidating. »
- Variety Staff
Julianna Margulies, Clive Owen on Their Big Breaks (Video)
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
The following story is part of Variety’s Actors on Actors Emmy Studio. For more videos, click here.
Julianna Margulies: What was the role that you feel suddenly changed your career?
Clive Owen: I landed a TV show when I was very young. I’m probably awful in it. It was called “Chancer,” which was very big at the time. And I remember it kind of rocked me. Coming from nowhere and being on this TV show with posters everywhere. And then, I did this tiny film “Croupier.”
Margulies: I saw it. Loved it.
Billy Kidd for Variety
Owen: It didn’t really get properly released in the U.K. But somebody in America loved it and championed it, and got it released, and it became a small indie. And it changed my career. It opened the door.
Margulies: Isn’t that amazing? Just one person. It just took one person to say, »
- Variety Staff
Tune In: TV Summit Keynoters Look for New Ways to Target Core Series Fans
1 hour ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Over the past decade, television has ballooned to such an extent in terms of content, it’s almost impossible to keep up with the ever-expanding slate of programming. But with niche audiences on the rise and budgets per show sinking, the challenge becomes how to create high-quality content without always having the benefit of a bottomless checkbook and the desired amount of production time.
“In an era of declining budgets, but increasing opportunity, you’ve just got to do everything,” says Tom Forman, CEO of Relativity Television.
Forman, along with Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, will deliver keynote addresses on the changing face and future of the television industry at Variety’s annual Tune In: TV Summit, held June 9 at the Four Seasons Los Angeles in Beverly Hills.
Both Forman and Albrecht agree that television is currently blessed with an abundance of content consumption, but is also contending with an increasingly segmented audience. »
- Seth Kelley
1-20 of 52 items « Prev | Next »
« Prev | Next »