Week of « Prev | Next »
1-20 of 57 items « Prev | Next »
Five Highlights From the Gop Debate in Las Vegas
4 hours ago
Trump vs. Bush. Rubio vs. Cruz. Carson, Christie, Fiorina, Kasich and Paul vs. oblivion.
CNN’s Republican debate on Tuesday night was predictably dominated by sparring among front-runner Donald Trump and his closest competitors: Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and former Florida governor Jeb Bush. The remaining five candidates on stage struggled to muscle in on the discussion, with Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson openly complaining about their lack of airtime. John Kasich, Chris Christie, Rand Paul ddin’t even get that much time.
Amid the posturning, the pontificating and the verbal sparring, here were five highlights of the two and a half hour debate at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, moderated by CNN veteran Wolf Blitzer.
— If you build it, they won’t come. Trump and Cruz agreed that the nation’s borders would be more secure if giant walls were erected to stop illegal immigrant and drug trafficking. »
- Cynthia Littleton
‘House of Cards’ Season 4 Teaser Runs During CNN Gop Debate
5 hours ago
Frank Underwood is back on the campaign trail.
Netflix unveiled a promo for the upcoming fourth season of political drama “House of Cards” during CNN’s Republican presidential debate on Tuesday night.
The spot was positioned as a re-election campaign ad for the series’ central character, political animal turned commander in chief Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey.
“America, I’m only getting started,” Underwood says in the spot.
The spot also teased an elaborate Underwood campaign website, fu2016.com.
“House of Cards” returns on March 4.
»
- Variety Staff
Gop Debate: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush Spar Over Muslim Ban
6 hours ago
Donald Trump and Jeb Bush sparred in the opening moments of CNN’s Republican presidential candidates debate over Trump’s controversial proposal to temporarily ban non-u.S. Muslims from entering the country.
From the stage in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Trump defended his call to ban Muslims by arguing that national security takes precedence over other concerns at a time when radical terror groups are gaining strength.
“We’ve opened up a very big discussion that needed to be opened up,” Trump asserted. “People like what I say. People respect what I say.”
Bush was asked by moderator Wolf Blitzer about his characterization of Trump as “unhinged” for advocating such a draconian proposal.
“Donald is great at the one-liners,” Bush said, “but he’s a chaos candidate. He would be a chaos president.” Bush argued that such a policy would alienate the Arab world just at the moment when the U. »
- Cynthia Littleton
New York Police Dismiss School Bomb Threats as Work of ‘Homeland’ Fan
9 hours ago
New York City public schools received bomb threats on Monday, but didn’t close down any campuses, dismissing the email threats that caused the shutdown of all Lausd schools as a hoax from a possible fan of the Showtime drama “Homeland.”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton noted that the author of the viral threats is most likely a “Homeland” viewer.
“The instigator of the threat may be a ‘Homeland’ fan,” Bratton told reporters. “Basically, watching ‘Homeland’ episodes that it mirrors.”
Although the email threat has been traced to an IP address in Frankfurt, Germany, the sender could have masked his/her location.
“There has been some initial reporting that it may have come from an IP address out of Germany. We are doing that attribution now back to possibly Europe, where the source of this threat may have come from,” Mike McCaul »
- Margaret Lenker
TNT Cancels ‘Legends,’ ‘Public Morals’ and ‘Agent X’
9 hours ago
Following a slew of renewals, TNT has pulled the plug on “Legends,” “Public Morals” and Sharon Stone’s “Agent X,” Variety has learned.
Currently airing Monday nights on the Turner-owned cable network, “Legends” failed to bring in viewers this season despite having a strong lead-in from “Major Crimes.”
The action drama from “24” producer Howard Gordon and starred Sean Bean as an undercover FBI agent who was a master of disguise, premiered in August 2014. It was not much of a ratings force in its first season last year on Wednesdays, averaging a 0.32 rating in adults 18-49 and 1.53 million viewers overall in Nielsen’s “same-day” estimates.
The series was “completely re-imagined” for Season 2. But it fared even worse in its second season, averaging about 1 million viewers, including 267,000 adults 18-49 since its Nov. 2 premiere.
Period-set police drama “Public Morals,” which was created by and starring Edward Burns, debuted in August. All episodes were »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
NBC Cancels ‘Best Time Ever’ But Stays In Business with Neil Patrick Harris (Exclusive)
9 hours ago
NBC and Neil Patrick Harris have pulled the plug on “Best Time Ever,” the ambitious live variety show hosted by Harris. But the network and Harris are committed to working together on new projects through NBC’s deal with Harris’ Prediction Productions.
“Best Time Ever” came to NBC with much fanfare in the fall. It was based on the long-running U.K. series “Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway” and was part of NBC’s push to add must-see live TV to its schedule.
As with the original ITV series, the hourlong “Best Time Ever” served up a raucous mix of stunts, taped segments featuring Harris pulling pranks on everyday people, and celebrity guest appearances. But the series never quite gelled for NBC over its eight-episode run that began Sept. 15. The live format made it an expensive undertaking for the network and an exhausting regimen for Harris.
NBC execs »
- Cynthia Littleton
TNT Renews ‘The Librarians’ and ‘Major Crimes,’ Confirms ‘Murder in the First’ Season 3
10 hours ago
TNT has renewed “The Librarians” and “Major Crimes” for new seasons, the cable net announced Tuesday.
As previously reported, “Murder in the First” has also been renewed for its third season.
Currently in the midst of its second season, airing on Sunday nights, fantasy-adventure series “The Librarians” has been picked up for a third season, which is slated to premiere with 10 episodes in fall 2016. A follow-up to Turner’s “Librarian” movie franchise, the TV series centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath the Metropolitan Public Library dedicated to protecting the unknowing world from a secret, magical reality.
Crime drama “Major Crimes,” currently airing Mondays, has been renewed for its fifth season with 13 episodes set to debut in summer 2016. Starring Mary McDonnell, it is a spinoff to long-running Kyra Sedgwick drama “The Closer.”
“Murder in the First” will also return next summer.
In Live+3 estimates from Nielsen, “Major Crimes” logged its »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
Morocco Approves 20% Cash Rebate For Foreign Shoots
11 hours ago
Less than a week after the 15th Marrakech Film Festival, Morocco’s parliament has approved a new 2016 Finance Law that includes a new 20% cash rebate scheme for foreign shoots.
The final text will enter into force on March 31. The new Moroccan cashback mechanism offers a 20% cash rebate on all eligible spend in Morocco, provided that there is at least 10 million Moroccan dirham ($1 million) of eligible expenditure in Morocco and at least 18 days work – including set-building and/or the shoot. Given this, a production with only a six-day shoot but which also involves 12 days of set building can still qualify. General pre-production activity, such as location scouting, does not count for qualification.
Sarim Fassi Fihri, the president of the Moroccan Cinema Center (Ccm) who has lobbied for this new scheme since taking office in late 2014, told Variety he was “delighted” by the parliament’s decision to adopt his proposal.
According to Fassi Fihri, »
- Martin Dale
TV Roundup: Tyler Perry to Host Easter Event ‘The Passion’ on Fox
11 hours ago
Fox is adding a religious twist to the live musical event genre, tapping Tyler Perry to host and narrate a two-hour special about the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life.
Titled “The Passion,” the project will air live on Palm Sunday and will tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth, from presiding over the Last Supper and his betrayal by Judas to his trial by Pontius Pilate, conviction, crucifixion and resurrection.
The story will be set in modern-day New Orleans, Perry’s hometown. It will unfold live at some of the Crescent City’s most iconic locations and feature a procession of hundreds of people carrying a 20-foot, illuminated cross from Champion Square outside the Superdome to the live stage at Woldenburg Park on the banks of the Mississippi River. A cast of as-yet-to-be-announced stars will feature a variety of popular music, arranged by music producer Adam Anders (“Glee, »
- Whitney Friedlander
‘Fargo’ Season 3 To Premiere In 2017, With New Cast and Setting
13 hours ago
“Fargo” showrunner Noah Hawley doesn’t expect Season 3 of the acclaimed anthology to be ready before 2017.
Hawley revealed that and a few other details about his plans for the third season during a postmortem conference call for the second season of the FX drama.
“The reality is you won’t see it in 2016,” Hawley said. “It’s a winter show for better or worse. There is not time to shoot another year before this winter is over.”
Hawley also wants to ensure as much of the third season is written before shooting begins. “It’s also very important to me and the other producers that we separate the writing from production. We take our time and break the whole story, write eight of the 10 hours at least and we end up knowing exactly what we’re doing and exactly what the whole story is. We’re going through the writing process now. »
- Geoff Berkshire
Donald Trump is Top Target in Late Night — By a Huge Margin (Exclusive)
13 hours ago
Here’s a superlative that Donald Trump may not embrace: he’s the top target of late-night comedians by a huge margin. He has drawn more jokes than the rest of the Gop field combined.
The figures come from a study from the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. The organization tracks late-night humor.
“Donald Trump is the gift that keeps on giving to TV comedians,” said Robert Lichter, the center’s director and Gmu communications professor. “They may not vote for him, but they will be sorry to see him go.”
The study covered opening monologues from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.”
Trump was the target of 308 jokes; that’s compared to 282 jokes for the rest of the Gop field combined.
In second place was Hillary Clinton with 107 jokes, »
- Ted Johnson
Grateful Dead Roadie Memoir In Development as Amazon Limited Series
14 hours ago
Amazon is taking a stab at the long, strange trip of the Grateful Dead by developing a limited series based on the memoir by one of the band’s longtime roadies.
Founding Dead member Bob Weir is on board to executive produce and oversee all of the music for the project, based on the 2003 book by Steve Parish, “Home Before Midnight: My Life on the Road with the Grateful Dead.”
The project is about to begin shopping for a writer. Bernie Cahill and Roar will also serve as exec producers on the project. Stephen Emery will serve as as co-exec producer.
A product of San Francisco’s psychedelic scene of the mid-1960s, the Grateful Dead became a rock ‘n’ roll institution over nearly 50 years of touring, which continued on and off even after Weir’s fellow guitarist Jerry Garcia died in 1995. The Dead played what were billed as the »
- Cynthia Littleton
Brian Williams Makes Brief Return To NBC In Special Report
14 hours ago
Depending on the whims of various NBC affiliates and stations, Brian Williams returned to deliver the news on NBC Tuesday afternoon for the first time since he was removed as the anchor of “NBC Nightly News” in February.
The network relied on him to deliver a special report about school closings in Los Angeles while regular NBC News anchor Lester Holt was out sick.
NBC News said Williams would anchor an “optional special report” being provided to stations on officials from Los Angeles Unified School District delivering an update on the closing of schools in the city Tuesday in the wake of a “credible” threat of violence delivered to authorities. The danger was later revealed to be without foundation.
Williams’ report was to be simulcast on MSNBC, the cable-news network where he is seen most these days.
Williams began anchoring on MSNBC in September after serving a suspension that lasted more than six months. »
- Brian Steinberg
Watch: ‘Lip Sync Battle’ Throws Down Season 2 Trailer
15 hours ago
“Lip Sync Battle” has offered a very meta entry for its season two trailer: footage of Christina Aguilera appearing on the show to perform a rendition of one of her own songs.
“The Voice” judge will compete on the second season of the cult Spike series with a depiction of the 2001 cover of “Lady Marmalade” she recorded with Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink. Just as her early aughts version did, this routine includes big hair and a corset.
The series, which is hosted by LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen, became a social media phenom for the Viacom-owned cabler when it premiered earlier this year. A recent holiday special, which featured Joseph Gordon Levitt doing a dead-on rendition of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” went viral and soared to the top of cable and satellite leaderboards. The series is also nominated for a Natpe Reality Breakthrough award.
As Variety exclusively reported, »
- Whitney Friedlander
Teen Drama ‘East Los High’ Gets Season 4 on Hulu
15 hours ago
Hulu has given a fourth season to “East Los High,” making the teen drama the first original series on the digital channel to achieve such a feat.
The series, which purports to be the first English-language show with all-Latino actors, creators and writers, is about teens growing up in a working-class neighborhood in East Los Angeles. The young cast has included Gabriel Chavarria, Danielle Vega, Alicia Sixtos and Vannessa Vasquez. Singer-actress Christina Milian appeared in season three.
The Wise Entertainment series is exec produced by creators Carlos Portugal and Kathleen Bedoya, and by Katie Elmore Mota and Mauricio Mota. Co-exec producers are Carlos Reza and Troy Combs.
Season four of “East Los High” will premiere in 2016, as will Hulu’s high-profile new projects “The Path” and “11.22.63.” Last week, Hulu received its first Golden Globe nomination, for the Jason Reitman-produced comedy “Casual.”
»
- Whitney Friedlander
Showtime Greenlights 2016 Presidential Race Documentary Series ‘The Circus’
16 hours ago
Showtime has ordered a documentary series that promises to chronicle the 2016 presidential race in real time, starting next month in advance of the Iowa caucuses.
“The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth” hails from Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and veteran political consultant Mark McKinnon. The series will serve up half-hour episodes on a weekly basis from January through November. The emphasis will be on behind-the-scenes stories and the trajectories of key players, or as Showtime put it: “what really goes on behind the carefully constructed facade of a presidential campaign.”
“Americans are captivated by the 2016 presidential election and a real-time political series of this nature has never been done before,” said Showtime Networks president David Nevins. “People don’t want to wait a year to see how and why things played out and the impact they had. Everything today is immediate, so there »
- Cynthia Littleton
Ryan Gosling Gives ‘Saturday Night Live’ Viral Lift
16 hours ago
“Saturday Night Live” climbed to number three on this week’s Late Night leaderboard after uploading this season’s most viral video to date.
The clip, which features Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong and Ryan Gosling sharing stories of an alien abduction, crossing the 10 million view mark faster than any other video this season.
Although the video hasn’t yet caught up to the “Thanksgiving Miracle” clip (12 million views), it already outperforms this season’s political “cold open” clips, including the Democratic Debate featuring Larry David. Since the start of November, “SNL’s” most viewed videos of the season have taken a turn away from politics, with just one political skit ranking in the top five most viewed videos of the season to date, down from three videos at the end of October.
This shift occurred as political issues in the world have only gotten more tense, suggesting that fans of »
- Jason Klein
‘Voice,’ ‘Adele Live’ Power NBC to Mammoth Monday Ratings
16 hours ago
NBC was hitting all the right notes Monday, drawing more young adults than the other major networks combined thanks to the first half of “The Voice” finale and impressive ratings for its concert “Adele Live in New York City” — the latest Peacock holiday special to score with viewers.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “The Voice” averaged a 3.2 rating/10 share in adults 18-49 and 13.9 million viewers overall to rule as the night’s No. 1 broadcast in both categories. The music competition, which wraps its fall edition tonight, was up 14% (0.4) over its performance on the same night a year ago.
It was followed by “Adele Live” (3.0/10 in 18-49, 11.2 million viewers overall), which beat its firstrun ABC-cbs competition combined in 18-49 and logged the time period’s second best result of the fall — just a tick behind the “Blindspot” premiere in September (3.1, following a 3.5 for “The Voice”). The special, recorded Nov. »
- Rick Kissell
Super Bowl 50’s First Advertising Rookie is PayPal
17 hours ago
The Super Bowl has its first rookie move: PayPal Holdings, the online-payment company, disclosed that it will advertise in the Big Game for the first time, marking another step in the ongoing parade of sponsors who have put down millions of dollars on the gridiron classic and expect to be rewarded for doing so with massive amounts of consumer attention.
PayPal said it had purchased an unorthodox spot from CBS, the network that will broadcast Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, February 7, 2016. Most companies buy Super Bowl ads in 30-second or 60-second increments, but PayPal said it bought 45 seconds of time, slated to air during the first quarter of the game. CBS has sought anywhere from $4.5 million to more than $5 million for a 30-second commercial, according to ad buyers and other people familiar with the situation.
The PayPal announcement could give CBS and Madison Avenue some signs for hope. In recent years, »
- Brian Steinberg
TV Review: ‘Luther’
18 hours ago
“Luther” never got any better than it was in its first go-round, thanks to sparks that flew between Idris Elba and a pre-“The Affair” Ruth Wilson. Yet if the fourth installment, presented by BBC America as one long movie, has a certain rote quality to it — especially after the title character’s break from the grind last time out — there’s still fun to be had in watching Elba occupy this role, playing a troubled detective who has the misfortune to run across a lot of bad guys prone to committing truly sadistic, gruesome crimes.
Without giving too much away, it takes another personal loss — for a character that has already suffered a lot of them — to rouse Elba’s John Luther from his idyll and semi-retirement at a seaside cottage that looks borrowed from “Broadchurch.” Pretty soon, though, quite a lot is happening, with Luther not only investigating »
- Brian Lowry
1-20 of 57 items « Prev | Next »