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TV Ratings: ‘Undercover Boss,’ Foster Farms Bowl, Final ‘Monday Night Football’ Numbers
1 hour ago
A quiet TV ratings week continued Wednesday evening, with the only new programs on the broadcast dial being CBS’ “Undercover Boss” and Fox’s telecast of the Foster Farms Bowl.
“Undercover Boss” on CBS drew 6.25 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic; the first half-hour tied a repeat of “The Goldbergs” on ABC in the demo, but won the hour as a whole. CBS finished the night with a couple of repeats (“MacGyver” and “Criminal Minds”).
The Foster Farms Bowl pit the Indiana Hoosiers against the Utah Utes on Fox, reeling in an average audience of 2.73 million from 8:30 to 11 p.m., with a 0.7 in the demo. The Utes ended up winning on a field goal in the last two minutes of the game. Pregame coverage of Fox’s sole college football bowl game brought in a 0.5 in the demo and 2.14 million viewers.
ABC, NBC, and The CW were all in repeats for the »
- Oriana Schwindt
‘Will & Grace’ Cast Remember Debbie Reynolds, Debra Messing’s TV Mom
3 hours ago
Debra Messing and the cast of “Will & Grace” paid tribute to legendary entertainers Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, who both died this week. Reynolds played Messing’s TV mother, Bobbi Adler, in ten episodes of the NBC show between 1999 and 2006.
“So heartsick. Debbie went to be with Carrie. It’s such a devastating 1, 2 punch,” Messing tweeted. “She was my ‘mom’ for years & I loved her dearly. A legend.”
Later on Wednesday night she wrote a longer tribute on Instagram and posted a picture of the two on the set of “Will & Grace.”
“My heart is literally broken,” she wrote. “For 8 years she was my mom. She was pure energy & light when she came on stage. She was loving, and bawdy, and playful — a consummate pro — old school and yet had the work ethic and investment in her craft of a new fiery up and comer.”
Messing also paid tribute to the actress’ endurance and work ethic.
“She »
- Seth Kelley
Inside Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Upcoming HBO Documentary: ‘It’s a Love Story’
13 hours ago
The deaths of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher over the past 48 hours have left the team behind the upcoming HBO documentary on the mother and daughter reeling from shock.
“Bright Lights: Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher” is a chronicle of the extraordinary bond that mother and daughter forged over six decades in the unrelenting glare of showbiz’s spotlight. Documentary vets Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom directed and produced the film, which screened in October at the New York Film Festival and before that in Cannes.
“It’s a love story,” said HBO Documentary Films president Sheila Nevins told Variety Wednesday night after the news broke of Reynolds’ death at the age of 84.
“Carrie wanted to make ‘Bright Lights’ for Debbie and Debbie wanted to make it for Carrie,” Nevins said. The sudden loss of two women only magnify the importance of Fisher and Bloom capturing the material for the movie when they did.
Fisher »
- Cynthia Littleton
Watch: Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Amazing ‘Oprah’ Interview From 2011
14 hours ago
Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, who both died this week, rose to some of the highest peaks in Hollywood during their fabled movie careers. But life wasn’t always glamorous for this mother-daughter duo. In fact, both Reynolds and Fisher became almost as famous for their off-screen challenges as for their onscreen triumphs: Debbie’s relationships with men, Carrie’s drug abuse and mental health issues, the Elizabeth Taylor scandal.
In this interview in which they appeared together on “Oprah” in 2011, Reynolds and Fisher show off their razor-sharp wit and humor in recalling the darker days and show why, as a family, they have been so resilient.
In the 40-plus minute footage, the duo also perform a medley of “You Made Me Love You” and “Happy Days Are Here Again” to the delight of the audience.
Reynolds, 84, died suddenly on Wednesday only one day after her daughter, 60, died of heart failure.
»
- Variety Staff
‘Vikings’: Ep Michael Hirst on Ragnar’s Fate (Spoilers)
15 hours ago
Spoilers abound for those who haven’t seen the Dec. 28 episode of “Vikings.”
“Vikings” began with Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), but it was never just his story. There was shieldmaiden Lagertha, and Ragnar’s brother Rollo, and, later, his sons. Yet Ragnar bound all threads together. And now, as history — or, at least, his story — told us would happen, Ragnar is dead, cast into a snake pit by the vengeance-seeking King Aelle of Northumbria (Ivan Kaye) after being handed over by his friend (and enemy) King Ecbert of Wessex (Linus Roache). “Vikings” showrunner Michael Hirst talked to Variety about putting Ragnar and Fimmel through hell, and what comes next.
When did you tell Travis Fimmel this was coming? Presumably he knew just from the historical nature of the series.
Travis came to the show late because I was very unhappy about the people they were trying to cast. I didn’t want a loud Viking, I »
- Oriana Schwindt
Debbie Reynolds, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ Star and Carrie Fisher’s Mother, Dies at 84
16 hours ago
Debbie Reynolds, the Oscar-nominated singer-actress who was the mother of late actress Carrie Fisher, has died at Cedars-Sinai hospital. She was 84.
“She wanted to be with Carrie,” her son Todd Fisher told Variety.
She was taken to the hospital from Carrie Fisher’s Beverly Hills house Wednesday after suffering a stroke, the day after her daughter Carrie Fisher died.
The vivacious blonde, who had a close but sometimes tempestuous relationship with her daughter, was one of MGM’s principal stars of the 1950s and ’60s in such films as the 1952 classic “Singin’ in the Rain” and 1964’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” for which she received an Oscar nomination as best actress.
Reynolds received the SAG lifetime achievement award in January 2015; in August of that year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences voted to present the actress with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Nov. 14 Governors Awards, but she was unable to attend the ceremony due »
- Carmel Dagan
Brother of JonBenet Ramsey Sues CBS for $750 Million Over TV Special
17 hours ago
The brother of JonBenet Ramsey has filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit against CBS and Critical Content in connection with the four-hour documentary series “The Case of JonBenet Ramsey” that aired in September.
Burke Ramsey, 29, asserts in the complaint filed in Michigan’s Wayne County state court that CBS and series producer Critical Content sought to generate ratings by pointing the finger at him as the killer of his younger sister, who was found dead in the family’s Boulder, Colo., home on Dec. 26, 1996. The mystery of the Ramsey murder was revisited by CBS and a number of other outlets this year as the 20th anniversary of the 6-year-old’s brutal death approached.
The suit also names as defendants seven individuals who were featured in the documentary series as criminal experts or students of the case: Jim Clemente, Laura Richards, Henry Lee, A. James Kolar, James Fitzgerald, Stanley Burke and Werner Spitz. Kolar »
- Cynthia Littleton
Church of Scientology Slams A&E for Yanking Kkk Docuseries While Promoting Leah Remini’s Show
21 hours ago
Just days after A&E pulled their Klu Klux Klan docuseries, the Church of Scientology is lashing out at the network for not canceling “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”
A&E canceled the Kkk series last Saturday before it even aired, after discovering that producers on the show had paid some some participants on the project. The network stated that cash payments were a “direct violation of A&E’s policies and practices for a documentary.”
On Wednesday, a lawyer for the Church of Scientology, Gary Soter, slammed A&E, saying that the network is hypocritical for canceling the Kkk show, while continuing to tout the Scientology show.
In a letter first obtained by TMZ, the Church counsel argues that A&E has paid on-air subjects in Remini’s series, writing: “Church of Scientology understands that two on-air accusers/participants in Leah Remini’s docuseries, ‘Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,’ received »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
Jimmy Kimmel to Host Primetime ABC Special on ‘The Bachelor’
21 hours ago
If you watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” you know that the late-night host is a big fan of “The Bachelor.” This season, he’s taking his super-fandom to a whole new level.
Kimmel will host a primetime special dedicated to “The Bachelor” on Jan. 2 at 10 p.m., immediately after the Season 21 premiere of the dating show on ABC. The special is titled “Jimmy Kimmel Live: Here for the Right Reasons.”
That same night, in lieu of an original episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 11:35 p.m., the late-night series will air as a repeat of the primetime special.
No details have been released regarding the primetime special, but insiders say it will be full of original “Bachelor” content with reaction to the premiere episode, plus Kimmel’s picks of the final four and winner prediction. No word on interview subjects, but “The Bachelor” frontman typically sits down with Kimmel, following the season premiere, and »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
TV Review: ‘Beyond’ on Freeform
28 December 2016 9:47 AM, PST
In a nod to the way its target audience consumes TV these days, all 10 episodes of Freeform’s sci-fi-flavored drama “Beyond” will be available on the Disney cabler’s app and on Hulu on the day of the show’s premiere. If only the show itself were a binge-worthy addiction. As it is, “Beyond’s” characters are so bland and their dilemmas so unremarkable that it may be difficult to make it through the show’s two-hour pilot.
In “Beyond,” Burkely Duffield plays Holden, a young man who wakes up from a coma with unusual abilities. Despite multiple demonstrations of those powers, it takes Holden a long time to acknowledge their existence and their destructive tendencies. That might be acceptable if Holden — or any members of his family — had any memorable qualities, but they are unremarkable in every way.
Most aspects of “Beyond” — from a slo-mo showdown in the rain to an all-American family struggling with an »
- Maureen Ryan
‘The Grand Tour’s’ Richard Hammond Sparks Controversy With ‘Ice Cream Is Gay’ Remark
28 December 2016 8:20 AM, PST
“The Grand Tour” was expected to provoke controversy, and the sixth episode of Amazon Prime’s flagship motoring show has delivered with a gag from co-host Richard Hammond suggesting that “eating ice-cream is gay.”
Hammond’s comment came as Jeremy Clarkson, addressing a live audience, pointed out that you “couldn’t enjoy a chocolate Magnum ice cream” in a Volvo with white seats.
“It’s alright, I don’t eat ice cream,” Hammond said. “It’s something to do with being straight,” he added, to applause and cheers from the audience.
Probed by Clarkson — “You’re saying all children are homosexual?” — Hammond went on to maintain that “Ice cream is a bit… you know. There’s nothing wrong with it, but a grown man eating an ice cream — it’s that way, rather than that way.”
U.K. newspapers The Independent and The Guardian, which called “The Grand Tour” a “zombified corpse” of “Top Gear,” have »
- John Hopewell
Carrie Fisher Set to Appear in Two New ‘Family Guy’ Episodes
27 December 2016 9:49 PM, PST
Carrie Fisher, who died Tuesday, is set to appear in two forthcoming episodes of Fox’s animated comedy “Family Guy.” Variety confirmed that Fisher completed voice-acting work for the two episodes, which will premiere on dates yet to be determined.
Fisher first guest starred on the animated comedy as Angela, supervisor to Seth MacFarlane’s Peter Griffin at the brewery where he works, in 2005. She voiced the character in 20 episodes that have aired, most recently last season in an episode that premiered Jan. 3. »
- Daniel Holloway
Carrie Fisher: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Her Life
27 December 2016 5:07 PM, PST
Carrie Fisher was born in the spotlight, the Hollywood offspring of two stars, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, who were red-hot at the time their first child arrived on Oct. 21, 1956. That notoriety colored her life and career. But here are some things you might not have known about the actress, writer and advocate, who died Tuesday at the age of 60.
Reynolds and Fisher had completed production on their first movie together — Rko’s aptly titled “Bundle of Joy” — just two months before Carrie was born. The cast and crew gifted the couple with a bassinet at the wrap party. Reynolds and Fisher gave director Norman Taurog a faux gold record with the inscription: “To Dr. Norman Taurog who delivered our first production, ‘Bundle of Joy,’ ahead of the Stork,” according to Variety. In the department of odd coincidences, about six weeks after she was born, Variety’s Army Archerd reported that “baby Carrie Fisher” received a gift »
- Cynthia Littleton and Dave McNary
What Carrie Fisher, Bowie, Prince and Muhammad Ali Taught Us
27 December 2016 4:36 PM, PST
Nothing I can say will make the losses of 2016 hurt less. But it’s possible to take something from this year’s long parade of deaths (which, for me, include a personal loss).
When someone famous dies, and we mourn and feel the pain of a lost connection, it’s because that celebrity transmitted something important into the world. They didn’t just make art that we remember and cherish, they put messages into the world in the way they lived their lives. These were ideas we needed to hear, and those wild and unruly transmissions changed us — and the culture around us.
As 2017 dawns, we will undoubtedly still be in mourning, and quite probably afraid that this difficult year was a mere tune-up for what’s to come. A terrifying thought, that. Scraps of comfort are hard to come by.
But when I can, I’m thinking about how we can build on what people like »
- Maureen Ryan
‘These Old Broads’ Director Recalls Carrie Fisher’s ‘Love Letter’ to Debbie Reynolds
27 December 2016 1:23 PM, PST
Carrie Fisher’s affection for her mother was never more prominently displayed than in “These Old Broads,” the 2001 ABC TV movie she wrote as a starring vehicle for Debbie Reynolds and her one-time stepmother, Elizabeth Taylor.
The movie was true to Fisher’s form as a writer who excelled in offering unvarnished looks at the downside of celebrity and the ephemeral nature of success in showbiz. “Broads,” which Fisher co-wrote with Elaine Pope, offers a biting take on how hard it is for actresses to maintain a career, let alone age gracefully on screen.
The pairing of Reynolds and Taylor ensured that the movie generated advance buzz from the get-go. The two had starring roles in the real-life scandal that erupted when Fisher was a toddler in the late 1950s after her father, singer Eddie Fisher, had an affair with Taylor that ended his marriage to Reynolds.
The heat from those “Eddie Dumps Debbie” headlines still had »
- Cynthia Littleton
Carrie Fisher, ‘Star Wars’ Actress and Writer Who Rocketed to Fame as Princess Leia, Dies at 60
27 December 2016 9:56 AM, PST
Carrie Fisher, the actress, writer and daughter of Hollywood royalty who became internationally famous as Princess Leia of “Star Wars,” has died, Variety has confirmed. She was 60.
Fisher died Tuesday morning after suffering what was described as a massive heart attack on Friday while on a flight from London to Los Angeles. She had been in London filming episodes of the Amazon/Channel 4 comedy “Catastrophe.” Fisher was rushed from Los Angeles International Airport to UCLA Medical Center after the plane landed around noon Pt.
Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, confirmed the death on Tuesday: “It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” the statement reads. “She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly.”
Fisher was the daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, whose marriage famously broke up when Eddie Fisher had an affair with »
- Seth Kelley and Cynthia Littleton
Garry Shandling Died From Blood Clot, Coroner Report Reveals
27 December 2016 9:00 AM, PST
Garry Shandling’s cause of death has been revealed. A Los Angeles County coroner’s report obtained by Variety Tuesday states that the comedian died from pulmonary thrombosis — a blood clot in his heart. The fatal clot developed from blood clots in his lower extremities.
Shandling had complained about leg pain and shortness of breath on March 23, 2016. A friend recommended he go see a doctor and he said he would the following day. He called 911 on March 24, 2016 because he couldn’t breathe and collapsed while on the phone. He was transported to St. John’s Hospital emergency room where he was declared dead. Shandling was 66 years old.
The toxicology report found some therapeutic amounts of Xanax and opiates (prescribed after recent dental work) in his system, as well as some standard cold medications.
The coroner’s report listed his death as an “accident” and “natural.”
In 1986, he created his own sitcom “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show »
- Lawrence Yee
House Republicans Move to Block Live Streaming, Photos From Floor of Congress
27 December 2016 8:25 AM, PST
House Republicans have proposed new rules that would make it harder and costlier for members to live stream or post photos from the floor of the chamber.
The newly proposed policy backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is seen as a response to the “sit-in” protest that House Democrats mounted last June in an effort to force a vote on gun control legislation that had been blocked by Republicans. Democrats turned to live streaming via Facebook Live and Periscope to spread the word about their protest after Ryan ordered the House’s C-span camera turned off. C-span typically offers a live feed of House and Senate sessions.
The proposed rules would fine members $500 for live broadcasting or photos sent from the House floor. The fine would rise to $2,500 for subsequent offences. The fines would be deducted from each members’ salary, according to NBC News.
“These changes will help ensure that order and decorum are preserved in »
- Cynthia Littleton
Amazon Prime Video’s Global Launch Looks Soft, but It’s Just a First Step
27 December 2016 5:00 AM, PST
Amazon’s sudden recent rollout of its Prime Video service in more than 200 territories, in tandem with the global availability of its new series “The Grand Tour,” clearly announced the company’s intention to take on Netflix as ruler of the video-streaming world.
Yet what’s equally clear is that Amazon has some way to go in terms of tailoring Prime to local tastes and maximizing its appeal. Indeed, in some ways, the Dec. 14 global rollout almost seemed like a soft launch.
In several countries looked at by Variety, the company hasn’t even bothered to translate the PrimeVideo.com website’s interface from English into the local language. And its content offerings seem scant and lacking in local flavor.
In the United Arab Emirates, for example, the new streaming service offers original shows produced by Amazon Studios, including “Transparent” and “The Man in the High Castle,” plus a few other licensed series like “Seinfeld” and “Community »
- Nick Vivarelli and John Hopewell
Our Staff Picks: TV Shows to Watch the Week of Dec. 26, 2016
26 December 2016 11:00 AM, PST
Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter, offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV.
Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch it. This week, social media superstar Cameron Dallas gets his own show, plus “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s” Kaitlin Olson debuts another new comedy: Fox’s “The Mick.”
“Every Brilliant Thing,” HBO, Monday, 8 p.m.
The off-Broadway show heads to the small screen for a television film adaptation, written by Duncan Macmillan and starring British comedian Jonny Donahoe. The “heart-wrenching yet humorous” show recounts a life lived in the shadow of suicide, centering around a young boy who attempts to cure his mother’s depression by creating a list of the best things in the world. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato directed the project, which was filmed at the Barrow Street Theatre »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
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