TV News

Phillipa Soo has been cast in the upcoming CBS drama pilot “The Code,” Variety has learned.

The tells the story of the military’s brightest minds as they take on our country’s toughest challenges – inside the courtroom and out – where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, an investigator – and a Marine.

Soo will star as 2nd Lieutenant Harper, described as a hyper-organized officer capable of sub-dividing any problem into color-coded action points. Harper is a highly capable lawyer who wishes she could skip the small stuff and take on bigger cases.

Soo is best known for playing Eliza in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton.” She was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. She has also had a handful of on-screen roles, including the NBC series “Smash” as well as providing voices for the hit Disney film “Moana.”

She is repped

You can bookmark the premiere date for Amazon Prime’s The Dangerous Book for Boys. The streamer said today that its single-camera comedy series from Emmy-winning Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston and Superbad director Greg Mottola will launch Friday, March 30.

Created by Cranston and Mottola based on the book by Conn and Hal Iggulden, the series follows the McKenna family as they cope with the untimely passing of Patrick (Chris Diamantopoulos), their patriarch and a…

Miranda Otto has been cast as a series regular in the upcoming Netflix series based on “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” Variety has learned.

Otto will play Zelda Spellman, Sabrina’s sterner witch aunt. Proud and devout, Zelda believes there is no greater honor than serving the Dark Lord as a member of the Church of Night. She is the family’s disciplinarian, fiercely protective of Sabrina, and very much Cain to aunt Hilda’s Abel. The role of Zelda was played by Beth Broderick in the multi-camera comedy series “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

Otto starred as Eowyn in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and the sequel “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” She has also appeared in films like “The Thin Red Line,” the 2005 version of “War of the Worlds,” and “Annabelle: Creation.” On the TV side, Otto recently appeared in “24: Legacy” for Fox and in Showtime’s “Homeland.”

Lauren Cohan is eyeing her departure from The Walking Dead.

The actress, who has starred as Maggie since season two of the AMC zombie drama, has booked a lead role in ABC drama pilot Whiskey Cavalier.

Cohan has emerged as one of the most in-demand actresses this pilot season. Sources tell THR that she had been actively looking for her next role as she battles AMC over her season nine salary. With Walking Dead already renewed for a ninth season, Cohan does not have a deal in place to return to the AMC series. Sources say Cohan and her...

Netflix is expanding its animation slate with a 10-episode series order to Tuca & Bertie, from the team behind Bojack Horseman, with Girls Trip star Tiffany Haddish on board to voice the lead character and executive produce. Created by Bojack Horseman supervising producer Lisa Hanawalt, Tuca & Bertie is a comedy about the friendship between two 30-year-old bird women who live in the same apartment building: Tuca, a cocky, care-free toucan (voiced by Haddish), and Bertie…

We have our first glimpse at one of the new Charmed sisters!

If you know anything about the world of Charmed, you will know that the original show's primary focus throughout its eight-year run was the bond between the sisters.

That will be the same for The CW's new version of the series, and we now know one of the leading ladies!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Melonie Diaz will take on the role of Mel, who is described as "a passionate, outspoken activist who loses her way in the wake of family tragedy."

The reboot will be penned by Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin, and The CW describes it as follows: “This fierce, funny, feminist reboot of the original series centers on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches."

"Between vanquishing supernatural demons, tearing down the patriarchy,and maintaining familial bonds, a witch’s work is never done.”

CBS' The Big Bang Theory is adding another on-brand guest star.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has booked a one-episode appearance on the current 11th season of the geek-tastic comedy.

Gates will play himself in a March episode during which Penny (Kaley Cuoco) hosts him at work. And as you'd expect from Big Bang, the Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Raj (Kunal Nayaar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) do everything in their power to meet him.

The episode will air later in March.

Gates becomes the latest big name to book a gig on Big Bang. Gates joins a guest list...

Meet Katie Holmes, G-Woman.

The Dawson’s Creek alum will star in and executive-produce a Fox drama pilot about a controversial FBI agent, TVLine has learned.

The as-yet-untitled potential series centers on Special Agent Hazel Otis, who is in the middle of a terrorism investigation when her affair with a high-level general becomes public knowledge. As the world sees her as “the mistress,” she fights to rebuild her personal and professional lives.

Ilene Chaiken (Empire) and Melissa Scrivner Love (Person of Interest) will write the project and executive-produce alongside Holmes, Judy Smith (Scandal) and Oly Obst (The Mick).

In addition to

CBS has found its modern-day Magnum.

Jay Hernandez (Scandal, Last Resort) has nabbed the title role in Magnum P.I., the Eye net’s in-the-works reboot of the classic ’80s action-drama. He succeeds Tom Selleck, who played the iconic private eye during the series’ original CBS run.

Hernandez’s Thomas Magnum is a decorated ex-Navy Seal who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. Reboot vet Peter Lenkov (Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver) penned the pilot along with his fellow Five-0 writer Eric Guggenheim. Fast & Furious‘ Justin Lin will handle directing duties.

Hernandez

Freeform has given a pilot order to Girls Code (working title), a half-hour women-in-the-workplace comedy from playwright/New Girl writer-producer Kim Rosenstock, Freaks and Geeks creator and Ghostbusters helmer Paul Feig, Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. The project, which had been in development at Freeform since last fall, sets up the odd couple partnership between a brazen, self-centered tech CEO and a community-building social entrepreneur who must…

CBS has picked up a new competition series from “Survivor” executive producer Mark Burnett, and this one focuses specifically on obstacle courses.

“TkKO” (a working title) is a 10-episode show produced by MGM Television, set for a summer 2018 premiere, Sharon Vuong, the network’s senior vice president for alternative programming, announced Tuesday. According to the logline, the series features one player racing through daunting obstacles while the other contestants are manning battle stations along the course, firing over-the-top projectiles in an attempt to knock them off and slow them down. It’s a physical and funny “us versus them” scenario, with the...

Sterling K. Brown, star of the hit NBC series “This Is Us,” will make his “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut in March, NBC announced Tuesday.

Brown will host the long-running sketch show on March 10. In addition to his Emmy-winning role on “This Is Us,” Brown also currently appears in “Black Panther.” Joining Brown and making his “SNL” debut as musical guest is three-time Grammy nominee and multi-platinum English singer-songwriter James Bay. His single, “Wild Love,” from his forthcoming sophomore album was released on Feb. 8.

In addition, NBC also announced that Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley will return to as host for the fourth time on March 3. Grammy Award-nominated recording artists Migos will join Barkley as musical guest for the first time. Their new album, “Culture II,” recently debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in its first week.

Finally, “SNL” alum Bill Hader will host for the second time on March 17. He is the creator

“Das Boot” is about to set sail after principal photography wrapped on the $32.8 million TV epic. Filming in Malta brought a 105-day shoot to an end, and the German, French, and English-language series bows on paycaster Sky in late-2018. Bavaria Fiction, Sky Deutschland, and Sonar Entertainment produced the eight-parter.

“Das Boot” is set in the fall of 1942, months after Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 movie ended. The tide is turning against the German war effort after the Allies solve the Enigma code and opposition to the Nazis intensifies. It tells dual stories: there is the journey of the U-boat, and the story of the Resistance movement in La Rochelle. The multilingual series was filmed in German, French and English.

Joe Morton has joined the cast of the CBS drama pilot “God Friended Me,” Variety has learned.

The series follows an outspoken atheist named Miles (Brandon Michael Hall) whose life is turned upside down when he is “friended” by God on Facebook. Unwittingly, he becomes an agent of change in the lives and destinies of others around him.

Morton will appear in the series regular role of Reverend Arthur Finer. A thoughtful and intelligent man, Miles’ father has been the Reverend of Trinity Church for the past 25 years. Although he doesn’t agree with his son’s strong rejection of his faith, he wants him back in his life. He joins previously announced cast members Hall, Suraj Sharma, and Javicia Leslie.

Morton, a veteran actor with an on-screen career spanning nearly five decades, currently stars as Rowan Pope in the hit ABC-Shondaland drama “Scandal,” which is currently wrapping up its seventh and final season. He is also

Jordan Klepper stayed in character to interview two seniors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida where a former student gunned down 17 classmates and staff last week. Carly Novell and Delaney Tarr told The Opposition host they’re hoping for legislation that’s a “step in the right direction, something small” to advocate for safe schools without gun violence. “We are fighting for common sense gun laws,” Tarr said. “We want people to stop getting…

Tyler Ritter is headed back to The CW, where he recurred on Arrow as Detective Billy Malone.

The actor will headline the network’s dysfunctional-family dramedy pilot Playing Dead, our sister site Deadline reports.

The potential series from writers Rina Mimoun and Josh Reims (Mistresses, Everwood) centers around a mortician and his teenage son whose lives are turned upside down when the woman who abandoned them 15 years ago returns and asks them to fake her death. Ritter, who starred on CBS’ short-lived comedy The McCarthys, will play the wry father/funeral home director.

In other pilot casting news:

* Scandal‘s

Tavis Smiley filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing PBS of using a sham investigation into sexual misconduct complaints as a pretext to suspend his long-running talk show.

In the complaint, Smiley states that his relationship with the public broadcaster had been rocky for years, and that he was not viewed as a “team player.” He also accuses PBS of racial bias in its oversight of his program, saying that the network criticized his controversial black guests but not the controversial white ones.

Smiley also accused PBS of conducting audits of his books, while not auditing the books of shows that are managed by white people.

“PBS’s audits are based on the insulting stereotypical premise that an African American owned business will have shoddy accounting records,” the suit alleges.

PBS announced that it had suspended Smiley’s program, “The Tavis Smiley Show,” on Dec. 13, following complaints that Smiley had engaged in numerous sexual relationships with subordinates. Some employees

Former TLC development executive Elvia Van Es Oliva has joined Studio Ramsay as Evp/Head of Current Programming. Based at Studio Ramsay's Los Angeles office, Van Es Oliva will oversee the company’s existing slate and work closely with London-based Chief Creative Officer Chris Brogden to take the production company's formats to the U.S. market. Van Es Oliva, who will take up her new role later this month, will join Head of Digital and Short Form Content Justin Mandel in…

Here we go again with the yelling game featuring Al Pacino Folks! Yeah, that’s about how it feels when Pacino gets rolling, you get the nice guy, the quiet guy, and then he Shouts and you feel like you just verbally pimp-slapped by the sound of his voice. That’s the quiet before the immediate storm, the sudden buildup into something that there’s no preparation for and no defense against that hits you square in the face and makes no apologies before bowling you over where you sit or stand. Pacino has honed this ability throughout so many years of acting

The Top Five Al Pacino Yelling Scenes in Movies

Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) is set as a series regular in CBS' drama pilot The Code. Written by Limitless creator Craig Sweeny based on a story by him and Craig Turk and directed by Marc Webb, in The Code, the military's brightest minds take on our country's toughest challenges – inside the courtroom and out – where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, an investigator – and a Marine. Soo will play 2nd Lieutenant Harper. A hyper-organized 2nd lieutenant…