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Plot: A series of heinous crimes have unsettled a small community. Detective Lois Tryon feels these crimes are eerily personal, as if someone—or something—is taunting her. At home, Lois grapples with a strained relationship with her daughter, a husband in long-term hospital care and her own inner demons. With no leads and unsure of where to turn, she accepts the help of Sister Megan, a nun and journalist with the Catholic Guardian. Sister Megan, with her own difficult past, has seen the worst of humanity, yet she still believes in its capacity for good. Lois, on the other hand, fears the world is succumbing to evil. As Lois and Sister Megan string together clues, they find themselves ensnared in a sinister web that only seems to raise more questions than answers.

Review: Think about the worst thing you could never unsee boiling in a pot. This line of...

The origin of The Bernie Mac Show grew out of a question that a friend posed to comic and writer Larry Wilmore: “Larry, how come there's no Black Seinfeld?”

Wilmore told Bill Maher on the Club Random podcast that he first pointed the finger at his pal. “I said, ‘Cause you have written it yet.’ And then I went, ‘Oh shit, I haven’t written it yet.’”

Wilmore’s friend wasn’t talking about a Black comic starring in a sitcom featuring wacky neighbors and neurotic friends specifically. “What she meant was, a Black show that’s considered smart and not just funny,” he said. “White shows were considered — the good white shows, there was a lot of dreck — but a show like Seinfeld was not just funny. It was considered smart. And Black shows never had that ‘considered smart’ element too.”

“Bernie Mac broke through with that,” Wilmore...

Brenda Song is opening up about being a child actor.

Before her big break as a young teen in Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, the now 36-year-old actress had minor roles in TV shows including ER, Popular, and The Bernie Mac Show and also appeared in movies like Santa With Muscles, Blade, and Like Mike.

While promoting her new movie The Last Showgirl at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival, Brenda joked that since she still loves acting there “something must be wrong with me,” before saying that she “learned not to take anything personally at a young age.”

Keep reading to find out more…“Because the thing is, at the end of the day, this is just a job,” Brenda told Variety. “As with anyone at any job, everyone feels disposable. I think it’s just harder to take on because sometimes it’s like, ‘No,...

Snoop Dogg spends much of his life in front of a camera. He is in countless ads, hosted a show with Martha Stewart, and, recently, was a near-constant presence at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Earlier in his career, though, he admitted he did not feel comfortable in front of a camera. He shared how he overcame this feeling.

Snoop Dogg said he initially felt uncomfortable in front of a camera

When Snoop began his career, he was a rapper. In the years since, while he continues to make music, he has acted, hosted shows, and started businesses. He said he realized his career could be more than just music when he acted in the 1994 short film Murder Was the Case. He wasn’t comfortable in front of the camera, but he realized the project opened up a new world of opportunities for him.

“In the beginning, I wasn’t comfortable on camera,...

Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Hulu legal drama All’s Fair has lost one of its big stars: Halle Berry is exiting the series, just a week after her casting was announced, a source confirms to TVLine. Our sister site Variety first reported the news, adding that Berry dropped out “due to a scheduling conflict.”

Glenn Close and Kim Kardashian remain in the cast, with both set to serve as executive producers. As previously reported, the Hulu series — touted as “a high-end, glossy and sexy adult procedural” — is eyeing a late 2024 production start date for an early 2025 launch. Kardashian will take on...

Humanitas has tapped actors/writers June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer as host of this year’s Humanitas Prizes event, which will take place on Thursday, September 12 (three days before the Emmy Awards) at Avalon Hollywood.

“As writers, actors, and comedians June and Paul work tirelessly to champion stories and the people creating them,” said Humanitas executive director Michelle Franke in a statement. “Year after year, the Humanitas Prizes crowd is warm, engaged, and ready to laugh, and we know they’re going to have a blast with these two leading our show.”

The Humanitas Prizes nominees will be announced later this summer, the org said. The annual prize recognizes “writers exploring the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way” across nine TV and feature categories.

As part of the awards, Humanitas has also launched the Starz #TakeTheLead award, “which will recognize a New Voices Fellowship alum who has demonstrated...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of May titles. The May 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals as well as numerous action, art house, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library, which includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi May 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the Tubi site.

Tubi Originals

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Exclusive: Veteran TV executive Jeremy Gold, who has been at Blumhouse Television for eight years, most recently as President of Production, is stepping down. He is transitioning to a production deal with the indie studio for his newly launched Gold Company.

Gold serves as an executive producer on three upcoming series for Amazon, which are tentpoles on Blumhouse TV’s 2024/2025 slate. That includes The Bondsman, starring Kevin Bacon, from creator Grainger David and showrunner Erik Oleson, which is currently in production in Atlanta; The Sticky, starring Margo Martindale, from creators Brian Donovan and Ed Herro and producers Jamie Lee Curtis and Megamix’s Jonathan Levine; as well as Scarpetta, based on Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling book series, which is eying a two-season order, with Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis starring and executive producing and Liz Sarnoff showrunning.

Additionally, Gold is shepherding several projects at Blumhouse TV, with the studio having first-look at his development.

As we exclusively announced in December, the first 19 seasons of ABC’s venerable medical drama Grey’s Anatomy would be offered on a Disney streaming platform for the first time, and now all 420 episodes are available on Hulu ahead of the Season 20 premiere on ABC.

“Grey’s Anatomy is one of our top performing next-day titles, and we are very excited to now be the only streaming destination to offer every Grey’s episode ever, both past and current,” said Hulu General Manager Lauren Tempest. “In addition to bringing lifelong fans back to Grey Sloan, we hope that new audiences will discover and fall in love with the characters and stories that have captivated us for so many years.”

To celebrate the launch, Hulu has released a new featurette with the most iconic moments from the past 19 seasons and teasing what’s ahead. You can watch it above.

As we reported, under the pact,...

Despite there being far too many firsts still left to achieve, Black creators have indelibly left their mark on the television landscape for decades.

Just think of names like Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Lee Daniels (“Empire”), and Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), whose series went on to become credited for reviving network television, or writers like Issa Rae (“Insecure”), Donald Glover (“Atlanta”), and Lena Waithe (“The Chi”), who have been able to build their own sort of TV empire with the shows they have written and/or produced.

Even networks like BET, Starz, and MTV still run off of the creative ingenuity of executive producers like Tyler Perry (“Sistas”), Courtney A. Kemp (“Power”), Mona Scott-Young (“Love and Hip Hop”), and even RuPaul (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”).

Often when retelling the story of Black representation on television, there is first acknowledgment of how the writers rooms initially were not reflective of what their casts looked like.

Sheryl Lee Ralph fronts Disney Entertainment Television’s new Black History Month campaign.

Variety has the exclusive first look at the launch of the Giving Flowers initiative, a video spot featuring Ralph, Chandra Wilson, Glynn Turman, Emayatzy Corinealdi and Prentice Penny.

“Flowers never truly die,” Ralph says in the video. “They are as strong as the stories we tell. You may clip them but they will grow again. We are forever in bloom.”

The tag at the end of the video reads, “Celebrate Black Stories.” An expanded 30-second spot will debut later this month.

The campaign is intended to highlight Disney’s Black History Month television programming, which includes “Abbott Elementary” Season 3, premiering Feb. 7 on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu. The two-episode premiere of the Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X series, “Genius: MLK/X,” takes place on National Geographic on Feb. 1 along with a special simulcast on ABC.

Okay, maybe the summer of "Suits" wasn't a fluke after all. Less than a year after the long-running USA Network legal drama took Netflix by storm, raking in some of the streamers' biggest viewership numbers in recent memory, NBC has ordered a pilot for a "Suits" spinoff set in Los Angeles (per Entertainment Weekly).

EW is reporting that the new "Suits" series -- which, in the style of many a procedural spinoff before it, is titled "Suits: LA" -- will feature a brand new character named Ted Black, and production on the pilot is set to begin in Vancouver next month. Original series creator Aaron Korsh is returning to write and executive produce the show, while EW also previously reported that cast members from the previous series could return at some point in the future.

In its original run, "Suits" starred Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht as a pair...

Oscar-nominated actor June Squibb has joined the voice cast of Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.”

The 94-year-old Squibb last worked with the Disney-owned studio for 2020’s “Soul” and 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” and has lent her voice to other animated projects including “Solar Opposites,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “The Fungies.”

Squibb’s character details are unknown, but she joins an A-list voice cast in the sequel, which hits theaters June 14. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black return as Joy, Sadness and Anger, respectively, while Tony Hale and Liza Lapira take over for Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling as Fear and Disgust after reported salary disputes.

The original “Inside Out” (2015) was set inside the mind of a little girl, Riley, whose life is uprooted when her family moves from the Midwest to San Francisco. The animated blockbuster personified emotions as they conflict on how to best navigate Riley through change.

Netflix’s library of licensed content is growing. Following the massive streaming success of Suits last summer, Netflix is once again expanding its library of shows that originally aired elsewhere. (Suits aired on USA from 2011 to 2019.)

In addition to new seasons of popular original series such as Bridgerton and Love Is Blind, which are on the horizon in 2024, the streamer is also adding more episodes of beloved older shows, including This Is Us, White Collar, Lost, and How I Met Your Mother.

‘This Is Us’ and ‘Black Sails’ will stream on Netflix in January 2024 Toby Stephens and Luke Arnold in ‘Black Sails’ | Starz

Netflix is ringing in the new year by adding new shows to its streaming library. The new arrivals in January 2024 include Black Sails, a historical drama about pirates that originally aired on Starz from 2014–17 and which should appeal to fans of gritty period shows like Vikings and The Last Kingdom.

Disney will get some much-needed cash from a licensing deal that will send more titles to Netflix, which conversely has no interest in licensing out its own shows.

It feels as if making the initial payment for Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu has jumpstarted things at Disney. Not only has the company launched the public beta test for a one-app experience bringing Hulu content onto Disney+, but it has agreed to a licensing deal that will allow it to share streaming rights for “Grey's Anatomy” with Netflix starting in March of 2024.

Disney has agreed to a new licensing deal that will send 14 shows to Netflix non-exclusively. Netflix has indicated that while it will continue to bring shows from other studios to its service, it has no plans to license its shows to outside platforms. The two disparate strategies show just how far apart Disney and Netflix are, despite being ranked...

Late last night, social media users discovered something disturbing on Max‘s servers, or more accurately: discovered the absence of something on Max’s servers that disturbed them.

HBO‘s hallmark 2019 miniseries Watchmen was missing. For roughly an hour, various accounts on Twitter posted screenshots of searches for “Watchmen” that yielded nothing but Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation and a motion comic version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s seminal graphic novel from the 1980s.

Tick tock. Time to change the Twitter bio @watchmen. Apparently HBO Max wiped the Watchmen show from the platform today. Absolutely embarrassing. Get fucked Max. pic.twitter.com/AvFNdmrArR

— Nando (@NandovMovies) December 12, 2023

For most onlookers, there was never a question of whether Watchmen had deliberately booted from Max or not. Of course it had. Despite the series being an enormous success for Warner Bros. Discovery’s pay cable network HBO and also being based on another Wbd-owned legendary comic,...

Can Netflix do for a show like “Reba” or “The Resident” what it did for “Suits?” That’s what we’ll find out next year when Disney begins licensing series to Netflix as part of a non-exclusive arrangement stretching through 2025.

Disney Entertainment and Netflix are in the works on finalizing a licensing agreement that will bring 14 different series from ABC, Fox, FX, and even ESPN to the streamer across 18 months, an individual with knowledge told IndieWire. At the time of this writing, the deal was not signed. Among the titles that will eventually make it are shows like “The Wonder Years,” “This Is Us,” “30 for 30,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Lost,” “Archer,” “Prison Break,” “Home Improvement,” and more.

“The Hughleys,” D.L. Hughley’s sitcom that began in 1998 and ran for four years, will hit streaming for the first time on any platform. And Netflix and Disney are also...

Since it first started distributing movies and shows over the internet in 2007, Netflix has enjoyed an enormous head start over its competitors. Rival entertainment companies got sucked into an all-out arms race in 2019 and 2020 as the pandemic closed theaters and people around the globe kicked back in front of their streaming devices. But as entertainment companies struggle mightily to make their streamers profitable, they’re turning to their old rival for help. And now, Disney is letting Netflix stream some of its shows. With this retreat, Netflix now looks invincible over the long haul.

In a 2022 interview, then-former Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke of how he felt when he realized how his company’s content was making Netflix rich. “I woke up one day (in 2015) and thought we’re basically selling nuclear weapons technology to a third-world country, and now they’re using it against us,” Iger said. “So we...

Exclusive: The combined Hulu and Disney+ app for bundle subscribers will launch in March with a big new attraction — the Grey’s Anatomy library, which will be offered on a Disney streaming platform for the first time.

Hulu and Netflix, the longtime SVOD home of the venerable series, will share the co-exclusive domestic streaming rights to all prior 19 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, which is headed into Season 20 on ABC, extending its record as the longest-running primetime medical drama. The series will be available on both the bundled Disney app and the standalone Hulu service.

Securing Grey’s Anatomy for the foreseeable future is part of a short-term domestic content agreement between Disney Entertainment and Netflix — now being finalized — in which Disney is licensing 14 popular library TV series to Netflix on a non-exclusive basis for 18 months. The list includes Lost, This Is Us, Prison Break, Archer, How I Met Your Mother, White Collar,...

Chris McCumber, the president of Blumhouse Television, has left the company. The well-respected leader was president of the division for three years.

Current president of production Jeremy Gold will step in as interim head of the company. Gold is not expected to take over the position long-term, and the search for a new president is ongoing. During this transition, Blumhouse TV will also rely on scripted head Chris Dickie.

McCumber’s exit has happened as layoffs have impacted the creative and business affairs departments of Blumhouse TV. Fewer than 10 employees were laid off, TheWrap can confirm. Altogether, there are roughly 100 people in the company.

The unscripted division of the company remained intact as did Blumhouse’s shared services groups. Those include production, casting, Hr, marketing and finance.

“I want to thank Jason Blum and the entire team at Blumhouse for their incredible partnership and support,” McCumber said in a statement.

Exclusive: Chris McCumber is departing Blumhouse Television after three years as President. The unit’s President of Production, Jeremy Gold, will step into the top role on an interim basis. A search is underway for a new head of the TV group, which is getting downsized, with several people — believed to be fewer than 10 — being laid off today. (Blumhouse’s total headcount in film and TV is almost 100.)

The staff reductions are coming mostly from the TV division’s Creative and Business Affairs departments, sources said. The unscripted group, led by Gretchen Palek, will remain intact, as will Blumhouse’s shared services groups including Production, Casting, Hr, Marketing and Finance.

Blumhouse TV scripted head Chris Dickie (EVP Scripted Programming and Development) is staying put and will be assisting Gold during the transition, with Gold stepping up his role on the slate of Blumhouse TV series that are expected to go...

Dick Butkus, a Hall of Famer who was among the greatest, most respected and most feared players in NFL history and also had a long acting career in TV, film and commercials, died overnight in his sleep at his Malibu home. He was 80.

His family confirmed the news on social media.

After back-to-back All-America seasons at the University of Illinois, Butkus was picked No. 3 overall by his hometown Chicago Bears in 1965. A fearsome force on the field and rather gentle giant off of it, he spent his entire injury-shortened nine-season career with the club, redefining the linebacker position in the process.

Dick Butkus circa 1965

Active from 1965-73, Butkus was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for both the 1960s and ’70s and was selected for the All-Time NFL Team in 2000. A six-time All-nfl selection and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, he played in eight consecutive Pro Bowls and...

Dick Butkus, one of the most celebrated linebackers in NFL history who played eight seasons for the Chicago Bears before turning to a career as an actor and sports commentator, died Thursday in Malibu. He was 80 years old.

The Butkus family released a statement through the Chicago Bears organization, confirming his death.

“The Butkus family confirms that football and entertainment legend Dick Butkus died peacefully in his sleep overnight at home in Malibu, California. The Butkus family is gathering with Dick’s wife Helen. They appreciate your prayers and support,” the statement reads.

A Chicago native, Butkus was drafted by his hometown team in 1965 after a breakthrough college football career that saw him lead the University of Illinois to a Rose Bowl victory in 1963. During his time with the Bears, Butkus twice won defensive player of the year, appeared in eight Pro Bowls and was named to first-team All-Pro five times.

“Poker Face” fan-favorite Natasha Lyonne received a Best Comedy Actress Emmy nomination this year alongside Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”) and Jenna Ortega (“Wednesday”). As of this writing, Lyonne is in last place to win at Gold Derby, with less than 3% of our prognosticators backing her. However, the fact that she recently gained the favor of the Television Critics Association proves she should be taken much more seriously. Are we underestimating her at the 2023 Emmys?

Given Lyonne’s status as the very first regular acting Emmy nominee from any Peacock program and her show’s absence from all other major categories, her doubters initially had a leg to stand on, but that isn’t the case anymore. Her TCA Award victory for Individual Achievement in Comedy is an undeniably big deal and gives her many statistical advantages that should cause her competitors and naysayers concern.

The Upshaws is a family comedy series but not exactly fit for watching with a family. The Netflix original series is created by Wanda Sykes and Regina Y. Hicks, and it follows the Upshaw family living in Indiana as they deal with wilder and funnier obstacles life puts in their way. The Upshaws stars Mike Epps, Kim Fields, and Wanda Sykes. The Netflix series is coming back with its fourth season soon and while you wait for the upcoming season here are some shows you should watch next.

The Carmichael Show (Hulu & Peacock) Credit – NBC

Synopsis: From the comedy of Jerrod Carmichael and Nick Stoller comes an irreverent sitcom inspired by Jerrod’s relationships with his say-anything, contrarian father, his therapist-in-training girlfriend, his ever-hustling brother and his mother who is always, always, always right with Jesus.

The Ranch (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: Set in a Colorado ranch, this multi-camera comedy series stars Ashton Kutcher,...

The $100,000 Pyramid fans, we’ve got a fresh off the press preview for the new Season 6 Episode 15 episode titled Mark Duplass vs. Yvette Nicole Brown and Larry Wilmore vs. Tisha Campbell!

Find out everything you need to know about the Mark Duplass vs. Yvette Nicole Brown and Larry Wilmore vs. Tisha Campbell episode of The $100,000 Pyramid, including a full preview, videos, release date, cast information and how to watch!

The $100,000 Pyramid Mark Duplass vs. Yvette Nicole Brown and Larry Wilmore vs. Tisha Campbell Season 6 Episode 15 Preview

Get ready for game night on ABC as “The $100,000 Pyramid” returns with an episode titled “Mark Duplass vs. Yvette Nicole Brown and Larry Wilmore vs. Tisha Campbell.” Tune in at 9:00 Pm on July 30, 2023, to witness showdown of wit and wordplay as these celebrity contestants compete for the $100,000 prize!

In this episode, four celebrities will pair up in an electrifying game of word association and quick thinking.

David Nevins is back in business.

Nevins, who left Paramount Global last year after a 12-year run in charge of Showtime, has been named CEO of Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company. He was most recently Chairman and CEO of Paramount Premium Group and Chief Creative Officer of Paramount+ Scripted Series.

It comes a year after Chernin launched the company, bringing together Chernin Entertainment, the U.S. assets of Red Arrow Studios, which includes Love Is Blind producer Kinetic Content, and Connor Schell’s non-scripted business Words + Pictures.

Nevins and Chernin have known each other for years; Nevins was EVP, Programming at Fox during Chernin’s time there, where he oversaw development and current programming for series including Malcom in the Middle, The Bernie Mac Show and the first season of 24. When he was President of Imagine TV, between 2002 and 2010, the company also had a first-look deal with Fox.

Actor Mike Batayeh passed away at the age of 56 at his home in Michigan on June 1. The cause of death has just been announced as “asphyxia hanging.”

His family originally announced that his cause of death was a “massive heart attack,” but this proved to be untrue. Steve Owens, Batayeh’s manager, also reaffirmed this statement.

His sisters spoke about their brother’s death, “He was a kind, sensitive, intelligent, and gifted soul. This is such a devastating loss of a huge life and Mike will be missed by us and so many people in all parts of the world.”

The police were called after he committed suicide, but it has not been released who called the police. They reported to his apartment on the third floor of his building based on a call for a “possible suicide.”

All that is known about the caller is that they are a male relative of Batayeh.

Actor and comedian Mike Batayeh, best known for his role in “Breaking Bad,” where he played laundromat manager Dennis Markowski, has died at the age of 52.

Batayeh’s sister shared the news via Facebook on June 4. “He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many,” the statement read. According to TMZ, the performer died of a heart attack while in his sleep on June 1. He passed in his Michigan home.

The comedian appeared in three episodes of the award-winning AMC drama as the manager of Gus Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) industrial laundromat. In the series, the laundromat was a cover for what was actually a super meth lab used by Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul).

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Batayeh started his acting career...

Actor and comedian Mike Batayeh, best known for his role as laundromat manager Dennis Markowski on Breaking Bad, has died. He was 52.

Batayeh died June 1 in his sleep of a heart attack at his Michigan home, his family said in a statement.

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that my sisters and I announce the passing of our dear brother,” his family said. “He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many.”

In three episodes of the Emmy-winning Breaking Bad, Batayeh played Dennis Markowski, manager of the Lavandería Brillante industrial laundromat that served as a cover for Gus Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) giant meth lab. Markowski wound up meeting a fiery end in prison.

A Detroit native, Batayeh also appeared in guest starring or recurring roles in series such as Everybody Loves Raymond, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,...

Breaking Bad actor Mike Batayeh, prominently known for his role as Gustavo Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) laundromat manager Dennis Markowski, died at the age of 52. According to his obituary, Batayeh died in his sleep in his Michigan home following a heart attack. His sister Diane confirmed his death with TMZ, who says his death was very sudden, especially considering the actor had no history of heart problems. “He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many,” Batayeh’s family said in a statement. “His family also remembered him as someone who was “always passionate about helping youth in the community where he lived and grew up facing similar challenges,” reads his obituary. Batayeh has several credits throughout film and television, alongside his three-episode stint on Breaking Bad in 2011. These include a voice-over role in X-Men: Days of Future Past...

Updated: Mike Batayeh, actor and comedian known for his role in “Breaking Bad” as the manager of Gus’s notorious laundromat, has died. He was 52.

Batayeh died on June 1 of a heart attack while asleep in his Michigan home, his family initially said in a statement.

However, the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to the New York Post on June 13 that he had died by suicide.

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that my sisters and I announce the passing of our dear brother,” his family said. “He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many.”

Batayeh starred in three episodes of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” as Dennis Markowski, manager of Lavanderia Brillante laundromat, which doubled as a meth lab for Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.

Throughout his acting career, Batayeh made appearances...

Actor and comedian Mike Batayeh, best known to TV fans for his role in “Breaking Bad”, died earlier this month at the age of 52.

The actor’s family told TMZ that he passed away in his sleep on the night of June 1, due to a heart attack.

Read More: The Iron Sheik, Pro Wrestling Legend, Dead At 81

Batayeh was at home when he died, and his sister said that the death was very sudden, and that he had no history of heart problems.

“He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many,” his family said in a statement.

Along with people a successful touring comedian, Batayeh appeared on a number of TV shows, including “The Bernie Mac Show”, “CSI: Miami” and more.

Read More: Barry Newman, Star Of ‘The Vanishing Point’ & TV’s ‘Petrocelli’, Dead At 92

On...

It was clear the days of the Big Four networks dominating the Emmys were slowly coming to an end 20 years ago; however, despite cable networks starting to gain momentum (with two receiving their first major wins), NBC and CBS still made a strong showing at the 55th Emmy Awards on September 21, 2003. HBO came into the night with a strong 53 major nominations, while NBC had 38 and CBS had 28; in the end, HBO and CBS tied with eight majors awards each and NBC trailed with six. Garry Shandling opened the event with a comedic monologue, while numerous presenters, including Ellen DeGeneres, George Lopez, Conan O’Brien, Martin Short and Wanda Sykes, carried the rest of the show without a host. Read on for our Emmys flashback 20 years ago to 2003.

HBO claimed two spots in the Best Drama category, for “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under,” but NBC was the victor, with “The West Wing...

Some actors become so prestigious, they can get almost any part they want without auditioning; the awards they've won and the box office receipts from their past blockbusters are all that's necessary to land them a highly-coveted role in an upcoming production. Of course, there are plenty of top performers who still have to audition for roles. But unless a bigger name gets into the running, there's often little standing between them and the chance to play an important character.

However, what rarely gets talked about are actors who not only get turned down for famous TV and film roles but aren't even granted the opportunity to audition for a part. It's especially surprising when the rejected thespian is already an A-lister; you'd think their star power would be enough to at least warrant a courtesy audition. Here, we take a look at a few actors who were never given a chance at notable roles.

February is Black History Month, and with such a wide array of streaming options, there’s no shortage of options for learning about Black heritage and celebrating Black excellence.

Amazon Prime Video

Among the programming being promoted in Prime Video’s “Celebrating Black History Month” lineup are the new second season of “Harlem,” which follows four female friends from Harlem as they navigate their love lives and careers. There’s also the new original unscripted series “Coach Prime,” which chronicles Deion Sanders in his third year coaching football at Jackson State. Other noteworthy selections include Regina King‘s Oscar-nominated “One Night in Miami,” the acclaimed documentaries “My Name is Pauli Murray” and “I Am Not Your Negro,” the Emmy-nominated romance “Sylvie’s Love,” Spike Lee‘s “Chi-Raq,” the Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” starring Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning stage adaptation “Fences” from Denzel Washington, who also stars in Prime offerings “Devil in a Blue Dress...

A “King of the Hill” revival has been ordered to series at Hulu, I tell you what.

The updated version of the beloved adult animated comedy hails from original series creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels as well as Saladin Patterson. All three are also executive producers on the show, with Patterson also set to serve as showrunner. Judge and Daniels executive producer under their Bandera Entertainment banner. 3 Arts’ Michael Rotenberg and Howard Klein also executive produce along with Bandera’s Dustin Davis. 20th Television Animation is the studio.

Judge will once again lead the voice cast, with original cast members Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick, and Lauren Tom all returning.

“Yeah, man I tell you whot man, that dang Ol’ Greg, talking about ‘O.G.’ and then that Mike Judge … Inspirations, man … the original show, dang ol’ classic … Got my kids, man, walking around talking about ‘That’s my purse!

Exclusive: Larry Wilmore is tapping into his experiences in late-night for a primetime comedy in development at ABC.

Wilmore is writing, executive producing and is set to star in Lately, described as a behind-the-scenes look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of the people who work at a late-night talk show, sources tell Deadline.

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Tamara Gregory, Head of Television at Wilmore’s Wilmore Films, also executive produces. The project comes from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, where Wilmore is under an overall deal.

Wilmore was host of his own late-night talk show, Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,...

When “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown received the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best TV Drama Actor, Best TV Comedy Actor became the only competitive SAG category that has yet to be conquered by a Black performer. Following the unsuccessful bids of Bernie Mac, Anthony Anderson and Tituss Burgess, Tyler James Williams could soon close the loop by being honored for his work on ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.” This potential victory would make him only the 10th Black artist and third Black man to ever win an individual TV SAG Award.

According to Gold Derby’s SAG Awards predictions, Williams is one of the likeliest candidates for a 2023 Best TV Comedy Actor nomination. His portrayal of straight-laced first grade teacher Gregory Eddie has earned him the fifth place spot on our list, behind Bill Hader (“Barry”), “Only Murders in the Building” pair Steve Martin and Martin Short, and...

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WME has signed hip hop mogul and Death Row Records owner Snoop Dogg for representation in all areas.

Dogg has business interests in entertainment, esports, fashion, food and beverage, cannabis, Web3 and tech industries. WME will work with the rap star and leverage the Endeavor network to accelerate opportunities across all his business and philanthropic interests.

“WME is the only place that can handle the career I’ve built and grow it even further. I look forward to gettin’ it with the WME team to continue innovating across music, film, TV, business, and digital and break barriers across entertainment,” he said in a statement.

Dogg has released 20 studio albums, sold over 40 million albums worldwide, led the Billboard charts and received 20 Grammy nominations. In March 2022, he acquired the Death Row Records brand from Mnrk Music Group, a firm that is controlled by private equity funds managed by Blackstone.

“Abbott Elementary” didn’t take home the trophy for comedy series at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards — but the breakout sitcom from Quinta Brunson won the night on Twitter.

On Monday evening, the top-tweeted TV show among U.S. users was “Abbott Elementary,” according to Twitter. And Emmy night’s top-tweeted nominee was Sheryl Lee Ralph — with more than 150,000 mentions on the social network — who won the supporting comedy actress award for her turn as Barbara Howard in “Abbott Elementary.”

“To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like,” Ralph said in accepting the award.

Brunson, the show’s creator and star, took home her first Emmy award, for writing for a comedy series. “I want to keep making it a great show, and I think...

Twitter is not happy that Quinta Brunson inadvertently became part of a Jimmy Kimmel bit as she accepted the Emmy award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary.

Kimmel presented the category alongside Will Arnett, who dragged Kimmel on stage and joked that the late-night host “got into the skinny margaritas” after losing in his category earlier. Instead of leaving the stage, Kimmel lay motionless on the floor as Brunson accepted her award, remaining there, seemingly lifeless, for more than two minutes. The actress and writer even...

Emmy winner Quinta Brunson wasn’t fazed by Jimmy Kimmel’s comedic bit during Monday night’s awards ceremony.

The late-night host took the stage alongside Will Arnett at the 74th annual Emmy Awards ceremony. The two presenters’ appearance involved the “Bojack Horseman” alum dragging Kimmel’s seemingly lifeless body across the stage. The focus of the act poked fun at Kimmel’s loss since he didn’t win the award for variety talk show earlier during the ceremony. Arnett joked to the crowd that Kimmel had taken advantage of the ceremony’s bar and had too much to drink.

The move sparked controversy online as viewers criticized Kimmel’s decision to remain on the floor onstage while Brunson accepted the gold statuette.

The choice to make Quinta Brunson step over Jimmy Kimmel to get to the mic and then play her off early was atrocious. #Emmys

— Hunter Ingram (@hunter...

Quinta Brunson's Emmy win came with a side of history.  The Abbott Elementary creator's victory for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series made her just the third Black writer and the second Black female writer to win the award. Previously, Larry Wilmore won the category in 2002 for The Bernie Mac Show and Lena Waithe took home the Emmy for Master of None in 2017, an award she shared with Aziz Ansari. During her acceptance speech, Quinta gave a shout-out to Larry, saying, "I do want to thank Larry Wilmore for teaching me to write television as well as he did." Quinta also used the opportunity to give major thanks to her family and co-workers. "I have to thank my...

“Abbott Elementary” just might do it. After winning for casting, the ABC hit freshman sitcom could make history in many significant ways. After Quinta Brunson made history by becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for comedy series, acting and writing categories in the same year, she would be only the second Black person ever to win as a producer in the comedy series. The first was Winifred Hervey for “The Golden Girls” back in 1987. Also, forecast to go along with the top category a win for writing (Brunson would be the third Black person after Larry Wilmore for “The Bernie Mac Show” in 2002 and Lena Waithe for “Master of None” in 2017) and Sheryl Lee Ralph in supporting actress (she would be the second Black woman to win the category after Jackee Harry for “227” in 1987).

Let’s be clear, I’m aware I may be “overthinking much of this,...

When does an opportunity taken turn into the worst decision of your life? Netflix has released a new trailer for the upcoming thriller "End of the Road" starring Queen Latifah ("The Equalizer") and Chris Bridges (The "Fast & Furious" franchise). What begins as a family traveling across the country to start new lives, quickly turns into a run for those lives. 

In the film, Brenda (Latifah) is moving with her two kids and her brother Reggie (Bridges) to Houston, Texas. On the way, in the middle of nowhere, they witness a murder at their motel, and end up in hot water after a very bad, impulsive decision.

Keep an eye out while you watch the trailer for a joke about the history of Houston rap that the kids don't know about. It's even funnier because the cast is led by famous rappers Bridges, aka Ludacris, and Queen Latifah. Be warned...

Comedian, writer and actor Larry Wilmore has been tapped to host the 46th Annual Humanitas Prizes, which return as an in-person event on September 9, 2022 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Wilmore is a previous Humanitas winner, having served as creator, writer and exec producer of “The Bernie Mac Show,” which won two of the prizes (along with an Emmy and a Peabody over five seasons). Next up he’s the exec producer, along with Kerry Washington, of the legal drama “Reasonable Doubt,” which comes from Onyx Collective and will air on Hulu this fall.

Also at this year’s Humanitas Prizes, Nkechi Okoro Carroll will lead the New Voices Fellowship and College Screenwriting Award presentations.

“We are truly honored to have Larry Wilmore host the 46th Humanitas Prizes and Nkechi Okoro Caroll present our awards for emerging writers,” said Humanitas executive director Michelle Franke. “Larry’s legacy as a writer alone...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Emmys Collective

Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Emmys Hub

To see old predictions and commentary,...

“I had to sit down for a second because it just blew my mind,” reveals editor Nena Erb about her immediate reaction to finding out she was nominated for the second consecutive time for editing on “Insecure.” For our recent webchat she confides, “I really didn’t see this coming, especially with all these great shows and these heavy-hitters in comedy. I’m humbled and grateful.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See over 150 interviews with 2022 Emmy nominees

Four-time Emmy nominee Issa Rae stars in “Insecure,” which she co-created with Emmy winner Larry Wilmore (“The Bernie Mac Show”), based on her popular YouTube series “Awkward Black Girl.” The acclaimed HBO comedy follows the highs and lows of a young Black woman navigating her personal and professional life in Los Angeles. After scoring eight nominations for its fourth season (including Best Comedy Series) in 2020, the show is back at the Emmys this year,...

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ABC’s Wonder Years reboot is the latest recipient of a 2022 Peabody Award, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal.

Presenter Sheryl Lee Ralph points out how the 1960s-set sitcom — now set in Montgomery, Alabama, where audiences follow the Black, middle-class Williams family — highlights some of the “awful truths” she experienced growing up as a child of the ’60s.

Accepting the honor, showrunner Saladin K. Patterson says he’s proud to continue the prestigious lineage of being part of a Peabody-winning show.

“The Peabody means something special to me because myself, some of our other writers, department heads, we all come from other shows that have been honored by the Peabody before, shows such as the original Wonder Years, Frasier, the Bernie Mac Show, Black-ish, The West Wing, Insecure,” he explained. “For us to be able to say we are part of that lineage now is such a great honor.