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David Lynch, Mark Frost, Kyle MacLachlan Talk Fir Trees, The Return of ‘Twin Peaks’
1 hour ago
There’s a feeling of déjà vu in the air as “Twin Peaks” returns to television after a 27-year absence. At its Los Angeles premiere at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in downtown, most of the original cast and a slew of new additions gathered to celebrate the show’s revival. While they are sworn to secrecy about story and characters, everyone involved was thrilled to return to the carefully curated world of “Twin Peaks.”
“Twin Peaks” co-creator Mark Frost said he kept notes and ideas in his head over the years and, “once we cracked it theoretically, we knew we could do it. It took a year of talking before we started writing.”
Frost smiled as he recalled seeing everyone on set. “It wasn’t déjà vu so much as it was reincarnation,” he described. “It was like going through something twice but in a different life because 25 years later, you »
- Diane Gordon
NBC Renews John Lithgow’s Comedy ‘Trail & Error’ for Season 2
2 hours ago
NBC has renewed freshman comedy “Trial & Error” for a 10-episode second season, Variety has learned.
Though the show, which stars John Lithgow, has not been a ratings hit, insiders say it has been a favorite of NBC boss Bob Greenblatt.
The comedy aired twice per week during its spring run, bringing in 3.9 million viewers overall — not as strong as NBC’s other comedies “The Good Place” or “Superstore,” both of which were renewed early.
In Variety‘s review of the series, critic Sonia Soraiya praised the series, comparing its elements to those of “Parks and Recreation,” “30 Rock,” and “The Office.” She wrote, “The show is a lighthearted, zany spoof of shows like ‘The Jinx’ and ‘Making a Murderer,’ those true-crime documentary series that take a viewer into the real-time investigation of a convoluted case.”
“Trial & Error” is a fish-out-of-water comedy that follows a bright-eyed New York lawyer (Nicholas D’Agosto) who heads to a tiny Southern town »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
Vanessa Bayer Exits ‘Saturday Night Live’ After 7 Seasons
3 hours ago
Just hours ahead of the “Saturday Night Live” Season 42 finale, Vanessa Bayer has announced she is leaving the sketch comedy series after seven seasons, Variety has confirmed. This casting news comes just two days after Bobby Moynihan shared he was departing after nine seasons on the late-night staple.
Saturday night’s “SNL” hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson with Katy Perry as musical guest will mark the final appearances for both Moynihan and Bayer.
Bayer had been with the NBC variety show since 2010 where she spent two years as a featured player before being promoted to repertory during Season 38. She is currently the longest-serving female cast member.
Some of Bayer’s most iconic characters and celebrity impressions include Miley Cyrus, Rachel from “Friends,” Jacob the bar mitzvah boy on “Weekend Update,” and Rebecca Stern-Markowicz, co-host of “J-Pop America Fun Time Now.” During her tenure on “SNL,” Bayer was twice nominated for an Online Film & Television Association Award »
- JD Knapp
‘Twin Peaks’ Original Series in 1990: Oddball, but ‘Brilliant Television’
6 hours ago
On Sunday, Showtime debuts “Twin Peaks,” a continuation of the 1990 series that is unique in TV history — the show has maintained a fan base after a quarter century, even though there were only 20 episodes, most of them low-rated.
Like the new incarnation, the original “Twin Peaks” was kept in secrecy, but media (and audience) anticipation was high. ABC premiered the two-hour pilot on April 8, 1990, and it was an immediate hit. However, the show quickly faded from view.
Even before it started, Variety predicted it would be a challenge. In a story on Feb. 28, 1990, a few weeks before the debut, Elizabeth Guider wrote that it was much hyped, but “the series represents a ratings risk: It has no big names, no car chases, no glitz, no overt sex or violence. What it does have is an offbeat intelligence at work on a very American kind of story — murder in a small town.”
“Twin Peaks »
- Tim Gray
Anderson Cooper Sorry for ‘Crude’ Remark to Trump Supporter
7 hours ago
CNN’s Anderson Cooper is “genuinely sorry” for an off-color remark he made during a Friday interview with Jeffrey Lord.
Lord, a Trump supporter and frequent CNN contributor, was defending President Trump to Cooper amid reports that he called former F.B.I. chief James Comey a “nut job” when the CNN anchor interrupted him.
“If he took a dump on his desk, you would defend it,” Cooper said to Lord, who laughed in surprise. “I mean, I don’t know what he would do that you would not defend. I mean, you’re a loyal guy, I think that speaks well of you.”
Cooper later apologized on Twitter for the comment. “I regret the crude sentence i spoke earlier tonight and followed it up by apologizing on air. It was unprofessional. I am genuinely sorry.”
Last week, Cooper went viral when he let an “eye roll” at Kellyanne Conway let during an interview discussing Comey’s »
- Variety Staff
The Works Brings ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Stuntmen Film To Cannes
9 hours ago
The Works International is launching sales for ‘Elstree 1979’ in Cannes, a feature doc about the stuntmen of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.
The film is a follow-up to ‘Elstree 1976’, which delved in to the background performers in the original ‘Star Wars’ movie. The follow-up will look at the stunt team on ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and notably the work of legendary stuntmen Colin Skeaping and Vic Armstrong.
Skeaping did all of mark Hamill’s stunts in the movie and in the new doc will recreate the moment in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ that sees Luke Skywalker blown through a window during a fight with Darth Vader.
The Works Film Group is on production duty, and filming starts this summer for delivery next spring. Jon Spira returns to direct and Hank Starrs to produce. Both worked on the earlier ‘Elstree 1976’ film. The Works UK Distribution is kicking off the sales effort at the Cannes Film Festival.
Executive »
- Stewart Clarke
Spain Rebates Lure Productions From Abroad
19 hours ago
“Thanks to the foreign shoot tax credits, especially on the TV side, Spain is a big hot spot now,” says producer Adrian Guerra. That seems almost an understatement. Luring big shoots is a big growth industry in Spain. But every region is its own story. Beyond Madrid, here are some of Spain’s key filming locales:
Canary Islands
With one of the most attractive tax systems in Europe, the Canary Islands have become a top shooting destination. Per industry sources, foreign shoots have spent some €200 million ($218 million) in Spain since 2015. Of them, the largest part has gone to the Canaries.
Last year, 14 feature films rolled there, including Robert Zemeckis’ “Allied,” Rodrigo Cortés production “Down a Dark Hall,” and Sony Pictures-Atresmedia’s “Oro.” Among TV dramas: Netflix’s “Black Mirror” plus BBC’s “Doctor Who” and “Silent Witness.”
Since 2015, the Canaries’ singular tax legislation has been offering a 35% tax rebate on foreign shoots’ spend — 20 percentage points higher than »
- Emiliano De Pablos, Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
Upfront 2017: Studios Turn Down Volume as Broadcast Nets Play Safe
19 hours ago
Of the Big Six television studios, only two — CBS and Warner Bros. — sold more new broadcast series heading into upfronts this year than they did last year. For the rest, volume was either flat or down.
As studio chiefs deplane in L.A. and begin looking ahead, they are considering how vertical integration and ratings compression are affecting the marketplace — and how to respond to an increasingly conservative industry.
“I’m already thinking about next season and how to address this,” said ABC studios president Patrick Moran. “If the broadcast networks are becoming a little bit more patient and more of the bubble shows found their way back onto the schedule, what is that going to mean going forward?”
For returning series, the tolerance for marginal ratings performance appears to be on the upswing. That was evident when, one day after canceling “Timeless,” NBC un-canceled it, renewing the Sony Pictures Television-produced time-travel drama for a second »
- Daniel Holloway
Four Duggar Sisters Sue In Touch for Invasion of Privacy
20 hours ago
Four sisters of Josh Duggar have filed a federal invasion of privacy suit against In Touch Weekly, which revealed two years ago that their brother had been investigated for sexual molestation. The original story led to the cancellation of the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting.”
The sisters are not contesting the accuracy of the In Touch report — indeed, they themselves subsequently confirmed that they were the victims in the case. Instead, they seem to be following the playbook of Hulk Hogan, who brought down Gawker with an invasion-of-privacy claim.
The sisters — Jill Dillard, Joy Duggar, Jessa Seewald, and Jinger Vuolo — also sued the city of Springdale, Arkansas, and Washington County, Arkansas, which released investigative records to In Touch pursuant to a public records request. The suit alleges that the localities violated state and federal privacy laws in releasing the documents.
“Plaintiffs had no knowledge that the highly personal and painful details revealed in their confidential interviews »
- Gene Maddaus
Every Superhero Show Currently On or Coming to TV
21 hours ago
The network upfronts wrapped this week, and even more comic book-inspired shows are coming.
Fox is bringing “The Gifted” this fall, a show centered around teenage mutants. (Anyone remember the network’s 1996 “Generation X” special featuring a team of aspiring X-Men?)
A few of the characters in “The Gifted” have been introduced to audiences before. Actress Jamie Chung’s Blink was a member of the future X-Men depicted in the big screen “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
Meanwhile, Emma Dumont’s Polaris is familiar to those who follow the various X-Men animated shows; she’s the daughter of their archenemy Magneto and has similar powers.
ABC has their own ensemble superhero team with “Marvel’s Inhumans.” Considered Marvel’s royal family, the Inhumans are not mutants; instead they develop superhuman powers after being exposed to an alien mist. It’s unclear if their comic book origin will be replicated on the TV show, but »
- Lawrence Yee
TV News Roundup: New Andy Samberg HBO Mockumentary Sets Premiere Date
21 hours ago
In today’s roundup, Andy Samberg and Murray Miller’s HBO special gets a premiere date, and “Murder Chose Me” secures a second season.
Dates
An HBO special presentation starring and executive produced by Andy Samberg and executive produced by Murray Miller (“King of the Hill”; HBO’s “Girls”) premieres Saturday, July 8 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt exclusively on HBO. “Tour de Pharmacy,” a fictional sports mockumentary, takes on the professional world of cycling in 1982. The satire follows five riders during a dark and controversial fictitious time in cycling history, marked by doping of virtually all competitors. The series features numerous guest stars, including: John Cena, Daveed Diggs, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fielder, Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Joe Buck, Mike Tyson, J.J. Abrams, and Lance Armstrong among many others. This marks Samberg and Miller’s second HBO collaboration, following the 2015 tennis mockumentary “7 Days in Hell.” Jake Szymanski will direct and co-executive produce, Murray Miller »
- Rebecca Rubin
Craig Cegielski Departs FremantleMedia North America; Jennifer Mullin Named Sole CEO
22 hours ago
Craig Cegielski is departing his role as co-ceo of FremantleMedia North America. Jennifer Mullin, who had served as co-ceo, will take over as the division’s sole chief executive.
“FremantleMedia North America is in brilliant shape,” said group CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz. “Our unscripted output continues to enjoy outstanding success, strengthened further by the return next season of ‘American Idol,’ and, in ‘American Gods,’ we have one of the most critically-acclaimed and talked about new dramas of the year. I am thrilled Jennifer will remain at the helm of Fmna, leading the business to even greater heights. Craig has lovingly steered ‘American Gods’ from page to screen, delivering one of the most successful series launches in recent years. I’m delighted that he will help to lead the second series, which promises to raise the bar even further.”
Cegielski and Mullin have shared the CEO role at FremantleMedia’s North American division for the past two years. Among »
- Daniel Holloway
‘Daily Show With Trevor Noah’ Enjoys Most-Watched Week Ever as Trump Bombshells Mount
23 hours ago
Donald Trump’s loss is proving to be Trevor Noah’s gain.
During the week of May 15, which saw multiple bombshell reports rock the Trump White House, “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” recorded its most-watched week since Noah took over the Comedy Central late-night show from Jon Stewart. The show averaged 1.05 million total viewers per episode, surpassing Noah’s premiere week as host in September 2015 (1.02 million). The show also just recorded its most-watched and highest-rated quarter since Noah’s premiere, up 36% year-over-year in total viewers and up 18% with in the key adults 18-49 demographic.
Related Content MSNBC Viewership Surges Amid Trump Chaos
Noah’s ratings run this week is most likely due in no small part to the problems plaguing Trump. First came the report on Tuesday that now former FBI Director James Comey had written in a memo that Trump personally asked him to drop the investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign »
- Joe Otterson
The Roots’ Black Thought Talks Picnic, Upcoming Album and Kids’ Show
23 hours ago
No one could accuse The Roots or its principle co-founders and mouthpieces, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, of slacking.
Along with the full ensemble’s weeknightly performance as the live house band for Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” on NBC, Trotter and Thompson started Passyunk Productions and are working on two children’s shows for Amazon Studios: one a live-action program, the other an animated kids’ show.
While Thompson busies himself with DJ gigs and authoring books such as 2015’s “Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove,” Trotter recently got into the solo entrepreneurial act with the start of his “Black Thought Presents…. Delirious” stand-up comedy events — first at the Punch Line Comedy Club in his hometown of Philadelphia, with more to follow at other Punch Line locations nationally.
However, everything will stop — for a moment anyway — on June 3 as The Roots host and perform with guests such as Pharrell Williams, Solange »
- A.D. Amorosi
‘Black-ish’ Spinoff Starring Yara Shahidi Greenlit at Freeform
23 hours ago
Freeform has greenlit “Black-ish’s” college-set spinoff series, starring Yara Shahidi, Variety has learned.
The spinoff is titled “College-ish” and will center around Shahidi’s character Zoey Johnson, as she heads off to college and quickly discovers that not everything goes her way once she leaves the nest. The show is set to debut with a 13-episode season in early 2018.
“College-ish” is described as a contemporary take on the current issues facing both students and administrators in the world of higher education. Deon Cole will co-star with Shahidi, reprising his “Black-ish” role of Charlie, who moonlights as an adjunct marketing professor. The rest of the core cast will be new characters and actors, not seen in the flagship series, both in the administration and student body who all reflect the complex and hilarious points of views on college campuses.
The spinoff was developed at ABC, which airs “Black-ish,” and aired as a planted pilot this spring. After »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
Peabody Awards Keep Pace With Changing Times
19 May 2017 1:44 PM, PDT
At an age, 76, when many awards shows and institutions seem to struggle with diversity issues and to keep abreast of rapidly changing times, the Peabody Awards seem to be more relevant and resilient than ever. And while there may still be a lingering perception that the awards largely salute dry, public-affairs programming, this is far from the reality.
“Just look at the entertainment winners this year,” says Jeffrey P. Jones, director of the George Foster Peabody Awards at the University of Georgia. “You have Donald Glover’s ‘Atlanta’ series and Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade,’ and those are more than just representations of African-American stories, as they have resonance beyond that community into the broad public. And then we have ‘Horace and Pete,’ where Louis C.K. really stepped out on a limb to self-finance a show that really harkens back to the Playhouse 90 era. All these are cutting-edge projects, and there’s nothing dry or safe about any »
- Iain Blair
Netflix’s ‘Fauda’ Co-Creator, Star Teases Season 2: ‘It’s Going to Have a Lot of Action’
19 May 2017 1:09 PM, PDT
Isla Fisher, Ayelet Zurer (“Munich,” “Shtisel”) and Lior Raz, co-creator and star of Netflix breakout hit “Fauda,” were among those on hand Thursday night at a fundraising soiree held at a private residence in Los Angeles to benefit the Cord, an Israel-based organization founded in 1999 by Igal and Dana Goldstein that serves troubled and homeless youth. Guests, which also included Israeli actress Moran Atias (“24,” “Tyrant”) and Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles, Sam Grundwerg, partied to live music and dined on kosher Mediterranean cuisine.
“The work that the Cord does is so important not only because of the immediate help that it provides troubled youth, but because it also provides much needed life skills so that these kids can help themselves,” said Grundwerg. “The Cord provides hope.”
Event host Raz, who based “Fauda” on his own his experiences as an undercover operative in the Israel Defense Forces, offered up a free plane ticket to Israel and »
- Malina Saval
Studiocanal Revs Up Production, Including Idris Elba’s Directorial Debut (Exclusive)
19 May 2017 1:00 PM, PDT
Studiocanal, already Europe’s biggest film and TV producer and distributor, is doubling down on production.
With projects like Idris Elba’s directorial debut “Yardie,” a new adaptation of children’s classic “The Secret Garden” and a film about Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgis, the studio expects to have 10 or 11 international English-language movies in production this year, chairman and CEO Didier Lupfer told Variety.
The Vivendi-owned powerhouse also plans to produce 40 movies out of France, Germany and Britain by 2018, and 180 hours of TV in 2020, up from the 60 hours that it produced or distributed last year.
“Over the past 18 months, there was a focus on a wave of development. We are going to start seeing the fruits of that right now,” said Ron Halpern, Studiocanal’s executive vice president of international production and acquisitions. He cited the Liam Neeson thriller “Hard Powder” and the new “Radioactive” project, in which Rosamund Pike has just been cast as Marie »
- John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
Remote Controlled: Thomas Middleditch Reveals Why Richard Will Never Succeed on ‘Silicon Valley’
19 May 2017 12:54 PM, PDT
Welcome to “Remote Controlled,” a podcast from Variety featuring the best and brightest in television, both in front of and behind the camera.
In this week’s episode, Variety‘s executive editor of TV Debra Birnbaum talks with Thomas Middleditch, the actor, comedian, and screenwriter best known for his starring role as quirky tech savant Richard Hendricks in HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” for which he earned an Emmy nomination in 2016.
Very much in keeping with his character’s charming eccentricity, Middleditch let the wacky quips fly, right from the get-go. Following Birnbaum’s introduction, he chimed in: “It’s me, Corpus Mortlemorch,” he said, chasing the peculiar alias with an offhand explanation. “It changes every time.”
This season finds his character, Richard, striking on his own, which Middleditch says he enjoys. “Anything new, as long as it doesn’t break what the characters are, is always welcome,” he says. “It always give us new things to play »
- Emily Mae Czachor
New 2017-18 TV Shows Are Mostly White and Male
19 May 2017 12:33 PM, PDT
The new crop of scripted broadcast series for 2017-18 season features low representation for women and people of color in the topmost roles both in front of and behind the camera. According to an analysis by Variety, white men make up a the majority of showrunners and lead actors on the new series ordered for the upcoming season.
Working with industry sources, Variety identified 46 lead and co-lead actor roles, and 42 showrunners and co-showrunners on the 39 new series ordered by the Big Five broadcasters for next season. Of the lead actors, only 20% were Hispanic or non-white, and only 35% were female. Of the showrunners, 10% were non-white or Hispanic and 29% were female.
“It’s not a very encouraging analysis,” said Darnell Hunt, director of UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. “Given the fact that things currently have a long way to go, if what you’re looking forward to for the next season in many of »
- Daniel Holloway
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