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Sam and Iceland ‘shippers: Did we totally manifest a new love for our girl Sammy? Well, it’s complicated.

In Sunday’s penultimate episode of Somebody Somewhere, Sam and Iceland (played by Olafur Darri Ólafsson) finally spent some time together walking around her family’s farm talking about goats, dogs, gardening and the like. (She even made a list of conversation starters!) The duo really seemed to hit it off, until Iceland leaned in for the sweetest of smooches, only Sam didn’t react well to the surprise at. all. She was stone-cold stunned, looking as if she was staving off a panic attack.

Emmy-winning Hacks co-creator Jen Statsky has signed an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group, her first with the Studio. Financial terms for the deal, which WB describes as “a highly competitive situation”, were not disclosed.

Under the pact, Statsky will develop original series through her First Thought Productions banner for all platforms, including Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO and Max, external streaming services and the U.S. broadcast networks. Statsky was previously based at Universal Television, where Hacks is produced.

Statsky co-created, with Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs, multiple Emmy-winning Max comedy series Hacks, which has been renewed for a fourth season. Season three is currently nominated for 17 Emmy Awards, with Statsky nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series and Writing for a Comedy Series with Aniello & Downs.

Statsky previously worked on NBC’s The Good Place throughout its four-season run. She was a co-executive producer and writer...

“Next time you see some haters in my comments saying, ‘All he does is crowd work, it’s so easy’ — is it?!” the comedian Matt Rife asks his audience. The 28-year-old social media star has clearly retained the defensiveness that marked so much of “Natural Selection,” his debut Netflix hour from last fall best remembered for an effectively rage-baiting, if groanworthy, bit about domestic violence. But in “Lucid,” his latest hours, Rife’s typical hobbyhorses — dick jokes, mostly, plus the aforementioned chip on his shoulder — are refracted through his audience, a few hundred fans gathered at the Comedy Zone in Charlotte, North Carolina for what Rife proudly and repeatedly stresses is Netflix’s first all-crowd work special.

Rife is not the first stand-up to source an entire act from spontaneous reactions to his own paying audience. It’s likely the phantom haters Rife is so irked by are responding less...

Francisco Ramos, the Venezuelan American stand-up comic known for his unique perspective on the immigrant experience, took to YouTube on Tuesday to unveil his debut comedy special, Venezuela’Merican, via 800 Pound Gorilla.

No logline was provided for the special, filmed in Las Vegas at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club inside the MGM Grand. But you can check out a first-look clip, spotlighting a bit on pumpkin patches, below.

Produced by Garrett, Ed Conover and 800 Pound Gorilla Records, Ramos’ special was directed by Michael Malone.

“I’m beyond thrilled for everyone to finally see the special(ito) we’ve been cooking up!” said Ramos in a statement to Deadline. “Huge shoutout to Brad Garrett for producing it and to the fantastic team at 800 Pound Gorilla for their incredible support. Now, fingers crossed for 1 million views—because that’s the magic number that might finally make my mom stop asking, “When are you getting a real job?...

Like Google, Netflix has evolved from a Silicon Valley venture to a legitimate verb in the cultural lexicon. Over a decade after expanding from DVD-by-mail to streaming service, and seven since debuting its first original series with House of Cards, Netflix still dominates the online TV landscape. While competitors like Warner Bros., Disney, and Apple certainly vie for our time with their own in-house programs, the sheer inundation of Netflix originals requires its very own examination.

The powerfully gripping Baby Reindeer, the stylishly alluring Ripley, and the gut-busting Beef are merely a few of the latest storytelling pleasures available to anyone with a WiFi connection and a (potentially borrowed) Netflix login. These 25 Netflix original shows, old and new, prove the marathon-watching juggernaut’s equal concern for both quantity and quality. Nathan Frontiero

Editor’s Note: This entry was originally published on February 20, 2019.

25. Squid Game

Netflix’s Squid Game has a...

While doing press for “Joker,” Todd Phillips talked about why he stopped making comedy movies like “The Hangover” trilogy. The director told Vanity Fair, “Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture,” said Phillips “There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore — I’ll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, ‘Fuck this shit, because I don’t want to offend you.’”

The quote, which got a great deal of play in the media and social media, ticked off a number of people, including comedy writer and director Bri LeRose, who tweeted, “I will only watch this coward’s joker movie if Vera Drew re-edits it.”

“Bri then Venmo’d me 12 dollars,” said Drew, when she was a guest on an upcoming episode of the Toolkit podcast discussing the origin of her new film “The People’s Joker.” “I’m not saying...

Chicago – Maria Bamford has been a top comic force since her breakthrough in the first decade of the millennium. She will be appearing on the Super Bowl Sunday edition of CBS-tv’s @Fter Midnight, the new show hosted by Taylor Tomlinson after “Late Night with Stephen Colbert.” Appearing alongside her will be A-listers Wayne Brady and Kevin Smith.

Maria Bamford at the 2023 Chicago Humanities Festival

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Maria Bamford grew up in Minnesota, and attended college there and at the Scottish University of Edinburgh. She began her stand up career while at the University of Minnesota at age 19. She broke into professional comedy as a cartoon VoiceOver artist in the early aughts, and used the next decade raising her profile with a number of comedy albums, a Nickelodeon cartoon, YouTube web series and a stint on the reboot of “Arrested Development.” Her...

The final season of "Stranger Things" is down one team member: actor Eduardo Franco recently confirmed to "The Steve Varley Show" (via ScreenRant) that his character on the Netflix juggernaut, stoner Argyle, won't be back for season 5. "I never got a phone call, so yeah, I think that's it," Franco told Varley after the host mentioned fan concerns that he was missing from the first cast photo for the new season. Production has reportedly already begun on season 5, so unless Matt and Ross Duffer have a last-minute plan to get Franco back in the show later down the line, it seems his character will be absent during the show's endgame.

It's not exactly surprising that "Stranger Things" would want to cut down on its cast, especially given that season 4 earned some criticism for its bloating, multiple plotlines and sprawling casts. Yet Franco's character, hippie pizza delivery guy Argyle, was one...

Exclusive: Rising comedian Paul Elia has set a Christmas Eve premiere date for his debut special, Detroit Player, the first ever shot at the Detroit House of Comedy, which came together over the course of three October tapings. Directed by Elia’s longtime friend Dan Ringey, with whom he previously collaborated on the indie crime thriller Dirty, the special will be available for a month on Mint Comedy.

Elia came to shoot his special after spending years performing stand-up in many unlikely (and awkward) scenarios, in order to pay his rent. He performed in a Dubai mall (and almost got arrested). Soon after, he performed at a private event for Saudi royalty. With Detroit Player, he explores authenticity, censorship and what it means to “hustle” (while avoiding arrests abroad).

Hailing from The LowKey Company & Avesta Entertainment, the special is produced by Bassem Youssef, Azhar Usman and Danny Mooney.

Mayim Bialik expressed her feeling of being singled out when her Jewish nose was parodied in an SNL parody of Blossom. Former SNL cast member Melanie Hutsell reflected on wearing a prosthetic nose as Blossom, acknowledging it as wrong but fearing she'd be fired if she refused. Hutsell now realizes that refusing to wear the prosthetic would have been the right thing to do, despite the risk of losing her job.

Former Saturday Night Live star Melanie Hutsell has reflected on wearing a prosthetic nose during a sketch parodying Blossom. The sitcom, which starred Mayim Bialik as the teenage title character, was the focus of a 1994 SNL season 19 sketch about Blossom telling her dad she's sexually active, starring Hutsell wearing an exaggeratedly large nose. In a recent Variety editorial, Bialik reflected on her "undeniably Jewish" nose being parodied in such a way, saying that "I felt ashamed" in addition to...

We may live in a post-truth world, but most viewers still settle in to watch documentaries with the assumption that what we’re going to be treated to is at least some version of “truth.” Surely, we think, “truth” is what most documentary filmmakers aspire to.

Perhaps owing to a background that’s in comedy — Lady Dynamite, Comedy Bang! Bang! — rather than nonfiction, Ben Berman doesn’t operate on that level. Berman, who made his documentary debut with 2019’s Sundance entry The Amazing Johnathan Documentary, is more interested in the lengths that people go to avoid the truth. He isn’t angry at liars — he’s not Alex Gibney — so much as he is fascinated with the prevarication itself, not always the motivation for it or the reality behind it.

Berman’s new film is ESPN’s two-part The American Gladiators Documentary, which airs under the 30 for 30 banner, even though,...

Exclusive: Netflix has unveiled the cast for its coming-of-age sports drama Rez Ball, set in the world of Native American basketball, which Sydney Freeland (Marvel Studios’ Echo) boarded as director in 2021. Among those set to star are Jessica Matten (Dark Winds), Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Amber Midthunder (Prey), Kiowa Gordon (Dark Winds), Dallas Goldtooth (Reservation Dogs), Cody Lightning (Echo), Ernest Tsosie (Better Call Saul) and Kauchani Bratt.

The ensemble will also feature a big set of newcomers in Devin Sampson-Craig, River Rayne Thomas, Jojo Jackson, Avery Hale, Hunter Redhorse Arthur, Henry Wilson Jr, Jaren K. Robledo, Damian Henry Castellane, Kusem Goodwind and Zoey Reyes. Production in New Mexico is now underway, with filming taking place on the Navajo Nation, with the permission and support of the local sovereign tribal nations.

(L-r) Jaren K. Robledo, Hunter Redhorse Arthur, Jojo Jackson, Devin Sampson-Craig, Henry Wilson Jr., Kauchani Bratt, Kusem Goodwind, Avery Hale,...

Bridget Everett still has restaurant stress dreams. Never mind that she is a writer, star, executive producer, and the driving force behind Somebody Somewhere, the critically acclaimed, cult-favorite HBO show about a directionless woman who moves back to her hometown in middle age (Season Two premieres April 23). When Everett sleeps, it’s the screaming customers and missing orders from her days as a server that haunt her.

“It’s really weird, because of all the things that you could have a stress dream about, producing a television show — it’s so fucking stressful,...

Judy Greer has joined ABC’s “Drop-Off” (working title) as a series regular, Variety has learned.

She’ll play Amanda, the hyper-confident, uber-organized, mom who seemingly has it all together and runs the inner circle at Julia’s kids’ school. She’s an expert at the art of a compliment that’s actually an insult. Amanda, who usually arranges babysitting swaps with the moms during school vacations, arranges a swap with Julia, who agrees to watch her kids while Amanda prepares for one of her famous dinner parties…which ends in disaster for Julia.

She joins previously announced star Ellie Kemper, who leads the cast as Julia, a working mom for whom nothing is working so she goes looking for her village.

The series serves as the American adaptation of the British comedy “Motherland.” Variety exclusively reported the adaptation news. The show was previously set up at Hulu by Lionsgate.

The easiest part of portraying Katherine Hastings on “American Auto” for Ana Gasteyer is trying to stay in control of a situation as it becomes more chaotic. “It feels very organic to be thrust in front of the press and have to appear poised in a panicky way. It’s fun to play and to be in control in a situation that’s a shit show,” she tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). By contrast, the aspect of playing Katherine that’s hardest for her is being responsible for driving the content of the script while also being part of a true ensemble. “That’s actually the hardest, I mean, just drilling and knowing my content incredibly well to have to keep everybody moving forward.”

“American Auto,” airing on NBC and streaming on Peacock and Hulu, centers on Payne Motors, a car company in Detroit.

The Exterminating Sound Stage: Apatow Skewers Hollywood’s Pandemic Age in Moderately Amusing Satire

Straddling a blurry line between satirizing Hollywood’s franchise cupidity and a queasy self-awareness of becoming the subject of its own indignation, Judd Apatow hurls himself (purposefully) into streaming with the Netflix original The Bubble. In short, it’s a modern take on an old scenario when a cast and crew find themselves in an isolated pandemic bubble at a swank hotel where they’re eventually held hostage as the shoot extends indefinitely. Apatow’s particular brand of comedy isn’t well suited for the sort of razor sharp satire necessary to subvert the strenuousness and ridiculousness of film production during the height of a pandemic, though he does have Pam Brady, “South Park” producer and “Lady Dynamite” writer on hand as co-scribe.…...

Amazon Studios has handed a two-season order to an adult animated comedy series from Emmy-nominated Ramy Youssef and A24. The series is part of a new first-look deal between Amazon Studios and Youssef’s production imprint Cairo Cowboy. The as-yet untitled comedy will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Co-created by Youssef and Pam Brady, the animated comedy series will explore the experiences of a Muslim-American family that must learn how to code-switch as they navigate the early 2000s: A time of fear, war, and the rapid expansion of the boy-band industrial complex.

Youssef and Brady executive produce along with journalist and illustrator Mona Chalabi, whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, among others.

Netflix has released the first trailer for ‘The Bubble,’ Judd Apatow’s upcoming comedy about a cast and crew of a blockbuster movie in production during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In “The Bubble,” Karen Gillan and Pedro Pascal play the lead actors in the action film “Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle for Everest: Memories of a Requiem,” who get stranded at a hotel after the pandemic halts production. Leslie Mann and David Duchovny also star, playing a divorced acting couple forced to quarantine together. Netflix previously released a meta teaser trailer for the fictional “Cliff Beasts 6.”

The comedy is reportedly inspired by the real-life production of “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which faced numerous pandemic-related delays that forced the cast to remain in the United Kingdom for months.

Like many of Apatow’s comedies, “The Bubble” stars a large ensemble cast. In addition to Gillan, Pascal, Duchovny and Mann, the film also stars...

Although Bridget Everett has a number of impressive screen credits on her résumé — from films “Trainwreck” and “Patti Cake$” to such television shows as “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Lady Dynamite” and “Unbelievable” — she is also known for work on stage. Touring with her band, The Tender Moments, and starring in several comedy cabaret shows has allowed her to show off her musical talents, and now she is getting the chance to do that on a larger scale with “Somebody Somewhere.” In the HBO series launching Jan. 16 at 10:30 p.m., her character, Sam, finds new purpose in a community of singers.

“Somebody Somewhere” is inspired by elements of your own life. How did you determine what parts of your story you were comfortable fictionalizing?

It’s inspired by if I’d never moved to New York, what my life might be like. And the other parts that are in concert with...

Jen Statsky, co-creator of HBO Max’s Hacks, is staying in business with Universal Television.

Statsky, who created the breakout comedy with Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs, has extended her deal with the NBCUniversal studio after first signing in 2019.

It comes after the Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder-led comedy was renewed by the WarnerMedia-owned streamer for a second season and secured 15 Emmy nominations.

Through the deal, Statsky will continue to develop shows for broadcast, cable and streaming.

Prior to Hacks, Statsky was a co-executive producer on NBC’s The Good Place, worked on four seasons of Comedy Central’s Broad City, where she served as a co-executive producer and writer, and wrote on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, Netflix’s Lady Dynamite and Amazon’s Forever.

Early in her career, Statsky interned at Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien before getting her first paid...

Jen Statsky has extended her overall deal with Universal Television.

Statsky is the co-creator, co-showrunner and executive producer of the HBO Max comedy series “Hacks.” The series, which she created alongside collaborators Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs, recently earned 15 Emmy nominations and was renewed for a second season. Statsky received two Emmy Award nominations for “Hacks” – as executive producer in the best comedy series category and as co-writer of the pilot episode in the best writing for a comedy series category.

“We are ecstatic to be continuing our relationship with Jen,” said Jim Donnelly, executive vice president of comedy development for Universal Television. “She is a brilliant and inventive writer who not only has been a big part of the success of many of our favorite Utv shows, but has proven herself on another level with the success of ‘Hacks.’ We look forward to working with her for many years to come.

Exclusive: Judy Greer is headlining the independent feature LA Bound, which we have learned is being written and directed by Chris McGowan.

In La Bound, a small-town high school soccer star ruins his college scholarship and moves to Los Angeles to pursue acting to pay homage to his late sister’s passion for the arts. Greer will star as Carol Berry opposite Brec Bassinger. David Brown is producing LA Bound.

Greer can next be seen in Universal/Blumhouse’s highly anticipated David Gordon Green directed sequel Halloween Kills being released on Oct. 15. She is currently filming the Disney+ feature Hollywood Stargirl with Uma Thurman and Grace VanderWaal for director Julia Hart.

Greer can recently be seen in John DeLorean biopic Driven with Jason Sudeikis and Lee Pace, Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go Bernadette opposite Cate Blanchett and Buffaloed opposite Zoey Deutch. Greer’s additional feature credits include Clint Eastwood...

Explorations of mental health have become increasingly common in comedy-dramas over the last few years, from “Lady Dynamite” to ”You’re The Worst” to ”Fleabag.” Something about the structure of a 22-minute, often short season show lends itself perfectly to the topic, allowing for an equal balance of seriousness and levity.

Read More: Summer TV Preview: Over 40 Series To Watch

Created by and starring Irish actress and comedian Aisling Bea, Hulu’s “This Way Up” returns for a second season after a nearly two-year hiatus.

Continue reading ‘This Way Up’ Season 2: Aisling Bea’s Mental Health Comedic Drama With Sharon Hogan Features Great Performances, But Needs More Therapeutic Time [Review] at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Dean Cain is directing and starring in Little Angels, a family sports comedy that he also wrote.

Helena Mattsson (American Horror Story), Carla Jimenez (The Mick), Torrance Coombs (The Originals), Juliet Donenfeld (The Big Show Show), Alex Jayne Go (Searching) and Ryan O’Quinn have signed on to star opposite Cain in his debut directorial effort, which is currently in production in Los Angeles.

Little Angels revolves around Jake Rogers (Cain), a Division I college football coach at the top of his game who uses a female placekicker as a publicity stunt. When the player misses a field goal, the coach makes an offhand comment in the media about female athletes and is immediately suspended by the university. In an effort to get his job back, Rogers must coach a 12-year-old girls soccer team for the remainder of the season.

The pic’s producers...

Exclusive: Coming off the critical success of Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Oscar-nominated writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo will reteam on their first adventure with Disney: a live-action untitled Cinderella Evil Stepsisters film. Sources add that at this time it is unknown whether Wiig and Mumolo would also be starring in the film since it’s so early in development. Insiders also add that even if they were to appear in the film down the road, it wouldn’t be as the stepsisters as the plan is for them to be played by younger actresses.

The film is a fairy tale musical comedy that re-imagines the Cinderella classic from the point of view of her infamous evil stepsisters. Spanning their early childhood through the marriage of their universally beloved stepsister and beyond, we follow Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine as they struggle to uphold their family’s legacy.

Richard Kind and Maria Bamford have been tapped for recurring roles on the upcoming second season of Freeform’s comedy series Everything’s Gonna Be Okay. In addition to the castings, Freeform also announced today at the TCA press tour that Season 2 will premiere Thursday, April 8 at 10 pm with two back-to-back episodes.

Created, exec produced by and starring Australian comedian Josh Thomas, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay follows Nicholas, a neurotic twenty-something-year-old who is forced to raise his two teenage half-sisters, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, after the death of their father. Kayla Cromer, Adam Faison and Maeve Press also star.

In Season 2, after their heartbreaking trip to New York, the Moss family and Nicholas’ boyfriend, Alex (Faison), are just trying their best to move forward. With everyone back home, Matilda (Cromer) is rethinking her life goals, Genevieve (Press) starts...

Image Source: Getty / Bryan Bedder

When you think of Kenny and Keith Lucas, aka the Lucas Brothers, you're far more likely to associate them with comedy than you are drama. The duo are the minds behind the animated series Lucas Bros Moving Co, the Netflix special Lucas Brothers: On Drugs, and can be seen in 22 Jump Street, Lady Dynamite, and Friends of the People. Now, they're branching out into more dramatic territory as the writers behind Judas and the Black Messiah, although director Shaka King would go on to write the screenplay with Will Berson. "I think it was always kind of have an obligation to tell Fred Hampton's story in such an international way. And I think we just got the opportunity to do it," Kenny told Popsugar about why they wanted to tell this particular story.

As for why now seemed the perfect time for Judas and the Black Messiah,...

Acclaimed Icelandic director Baldvin Z will bring to television the first ever fiction series about Iceland’s former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. “The Valhalla Murders” star Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir has cornered the coveted title role.

The mini-series, commissioned by Icelandic pubcaster RÚV, will be pitched for the first at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision confab which runs Feb. 3-4).

The project, currently in development, is being produced by Ágústa Olafsdóttir and Rakel Gardarsdóttir of Vesturport (who came up with the idea) with Glassriver’s CEO Hordur Rúnarsson as well as Arnbjorg Haflidadóttir. The screenplay is written by “The Minister” scribe Bjorg Magnusdóttir, together with Olafsdóttir and Jana Maria Gudmundsdóttir.

Four-part series “Vigdís” will follow the remarkable transformation of a young Icelandic woman – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir- from a teenager in 1946 to her triumphal presidential election in 1980. We will see her defy her country’s patriarchal society, overcome adversity and eventually make history by...

Chicago – When we last talked to Melinda Hill, it was for her stand-up comedy special “Inappropriate.” It also turns out that she acts in a new film, the ensemble comedy “Love, Weddings & Other Disasters,” directed by Dennis Dugan and featuring Diane Keaton, Jeremy Irons, and Maggie Grace, among others.

An impending wedding is the backdrop for the film, as it weaves multiple storylines regarding the search for love by a colorful group of characters. They include an inexperienced wedding planner nicknamed “The Wedding Trasher” (Maggie Grace), a fussy celebrity caterer (Jeremy Irons) going on a “blind date” (Diane Keaton) and a Russian exotic dancer (Melinda Hill) participating in a reality show that literally chains her to Jimmy (Andy Goldenberg). It all comes together, connecting the love encounters and the nuptials. The film also features Andrew Bachelor, Jesse McCartney and director Dennis Dugan talking on a role.

Melinda Hill During the Wedding Scenes of ‘Love,...

Leading off today’s news round-up, multi-hyphenate Mélanie Laurent is in pre-production on 2021’s WWII drama The Nightingale, starring both Fanning sisters, but Variety reports she will begin filming a project next week. The first French Amazon Prime original movie, The Mad Woman’s Ball, reunites Laurent with Breathe breakout Lou De Laâge and follows a woman in the 19th century who is institutionalized in the infamous Salpêtrière hospital in Paris when she tells her parents that she can hear the dead.

Coming off this year’s King of Staten Island, Judd Apatow will next (per the Netflix Twitter account) direct a feature about a group of actors and actresses stuck in a hotel during a pandemic while attempting to complete a film. It’s co-written by Pam Brady who’s had her hand in offbeat comedy ranging from Lady Dynamite to Hamlet 2.

Following the sleeper festival hit, Rams (whose...

Chicago – Combine the hilarity of prime observational comedy with the zen of inner peace, and you have Melinda Hill’s downloadable stand up special “Inappropriate.” This sharp master of laughs delivers an hour of riffs on her life and loves, including her viral tweet on fellow comedian Louis Ck (#MeTooSoon).

Melinda Hill was born in Kansas and raised in Colorado Springs, and fortified her performance career with a theatre scholarship at Wichita State University. She moved to Los Angeles and performed at the famous Groundlings troupe of improv comedy. Her foray into stand-up (described in the Podtalk below) led her to the legendary Comedy Store in L.A., and from there has appeared on stages everywhere. As an actor, she had roles on “Lady Dynamite,” “Reno 911!,” “The Sarah Silverman Program” and as a voice actor in the animated “Adventure Time.” She is appearing in the upcoming film “Love, Weddings & Other Disasters,...

Netflix is getting in the aftershow business, putting its own stamp on the genre to fit the streaming distribution model. The SVOD giant has given an 18-episode series order to The Netflix Afterparty, a weekly comedy aftershow, hosted by David Spade, who also executive produces, Fortune Feimster and London Hughes.

Produced by Free 90 Media (Lights Out with David Spade), The Netflix Afterparty is described as a first-of-its-kind weekly comedy panel show where comedians, casts, and creators come to chat about the streaming giant’s buzziest shows and films. Each episode will be dedicated to one of the latest Netflix movies or TV shows to hit the cultural zeitgeist, with the stars of that title participating in interviews, pop culture discussions, sketches and segments. Each week, the co-hosts will be joined by a different Netflix comedian to round out the panel.

The series is slated to premiere in 2021 with new episodes released on Sundays.

Netflix has produced many hit TV shows over the past seven years, ever since they started pumping out their own original programming. However, the streaming service has developed a reputation for not letting its series go on for too long. Fans know to be wary of getting attached to their favorite new Netflix shows as they could be unceremoniously cancelled after one or two seasons.

Earlier today, for instance, Hilary Swank vehicle Away was given the chop by the company after just a single outing. This makes it the 56th original series that Netflix has cancelled. That number only includes shows that were original to the platform and produced in-house, so it doesn’t count pick-ups like Lucifer, for example. Those series luckily enough to end on the creators’ own terms, such as House of Cards, are likewise not included. Shows that were axed by Netflix before being picked up elsewhere,...

The brevity of TikTok may be enticing to Gen Z, which finds new talent to follow for quick, colorful comedy or short dance segments — but Fugitive is betting big on celebrity-driven longer-form talkers.

Two key titles coming to Mipcom from the London-based distributor are “Rough Draft With Reza Aslan” and “What’s Your Ailment?! With Maria Bamford.” Both shows first launched on streamer Topic in late 2019 and are now going to market globally.

Aslan’s series is an eight-episode hourlong in which he sits down for deep dives into the creative process with novelists (Viet Tranh Nguyen), television showrunners and musicians. Bamford’s series is 10 approximately 40-minute episodes digging into mental health discussions with fellow comedians including Tig Notaro, Rachel Bloom and Tom Arnold.

“The key thing is having the right celebrity — one that is credible and relevant for the subject matter — so that their involvement can really elevate and authenticate the program,...

Not too long ago, “Netflix will greenlight anything” was a strong enough meme that it was featured as a joke on actual Netflix shows like Lady Dynamite and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Now that meme is in danger of becoming “Netflix will cancel anything.”

The streaming giant today announced that it has canceled its two remaining Jenji Kohan-produced shows: Glow and Teenage Bounty Hunters, according to Deadline. The latter’s cancellation comes after just one season and the former’s cancellation arrives despite the show previously being confirmed for a fourth and final season.

In the case of Glow, the cancellation comes due to the coronavirus-related shutdowns and the difficulty of producing a highly physical show based on professional wrestling.

“We’ve made the difficult decision not to do a fourth season of Glow due to Covid, which makes shooting this physically intimate show with its large ensemble cast especially challenging,...

The dojo is re-opening this summer: Cobra Kai Seasons 1 and 2, which previously streamed on YouTube, will be available via Netflix starting Friday, Aug. 28. As previously reported, the Karate Kid sequel series is moving to Netflix for its all-new third season, which will launch on a to-be-determined date.

Debuting May 2018, Cobra Kai was a breakout hit for YouTube, notching a Season 2 renewal just days after its premiere. YouTube initially intended to launch Season 3 — which has already been shot — last fall; its decision to ditch original scripted fare in favor of unscripted programming prompted the shift to Netflix.

More from TVLineStar Trek:...

HBO has given a series order to Somebody Somewhere, a comedy starring and executive produced by Patti Cake$ star Bridget Everett, from Hannah Bos (HBO’s High Maintenance), Paul Thureen (Driveways), Carolyn Strauss (HBO’s Chernobyl), Patricia Breen (HBO’s Betty) and The Mighty Mint/Duplass Brothers Productions.

Created by Bos and Thureen, Somebody Somewhere is inspired by the life of comedian and singer Everett and is set in her native Kansas. Sam (played by Everett) is a true Kansan on the surface but beneath it all struggles to fit the hometown mold. As she grapples with loss and acceptance, singing is Sam’s saving grace and leads her on a journey to discover herself and a community of outsiders that don’t fit in but don’t give up. Somebody Somewhere shows finding your people, and finding your voice, is possible. Anywhere. Somewhere.

Bos and Thureen will executive produce,...

HBO Max has given a 10-episode series order to a single-camera comedy starring Jean Smart, from Broad City alums Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky.

The Universal TV project, executive produced by The Good Place creator Mike Schur, originally received a pilot order in late January. The pilot was in the midst of casting and had just secured Smart for the lead when all Hollywood production shut down in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Scripts already were being written and, based on the strength of the scripts and Smart’s casting, HBO Max has decided to give the project a series order. It is a path other networks and platforms are taking too amid the shutdown as they try to get more content in the pipeline for when filming is able to resume.

Written by Downs, Aniello, who also directs, and Statsky, the Untitled Aniello, Downs, Statsky...

Ab Morrison and Hannah Ngo.

Screen Australia and Sbs have selected three short-form series from the 2019 Digital Originals initiative – A Beginner’s Guide to Grief, Freewheelers and Iggy & Ace 5eva – to further develop, with the intention of at least one going into production for Sbs On Demand.

The three projects will share in $65,000 worth of development funds. The Digital Originals initiative was aimed at supporting writers with backgrounds underrepresented in the screen sector. The three projects were selected from 10 that were developed as part of workshop held under the mentorship of director and producer Anna Dokoza and Ryan O’Connell, writer, producer and star of the Emmy-nominated Netflix short-form series, Special. In total the initiative received more than 220 applications.

Screen Australia online investment manager Lee Naimo said: “The Digital Originals initiative was incredibly effective at bringing new creators into our orbit, and all three of the teams going into further development...

If you've been missing Lady Dynamite, there's a good chance you're going to appreciate the forthcoming Netflix series Feel Good. Mae Martin stars as herself in this rom-com series, which follows her life in London as she fights to overcome her addiction to narcotics and pursues a relationship with a woman who has never dated another woman before. The series debuts on March 19, but before you watch it, you're going to want to familiarize yourself with the 32-year-old London-based Canadian comedian, whose career began when she was only 13 years old.

Related: 16 New and Returning Netflix Series That Have Us Feeling All Kinds of Excited This March

After her parents took her to visit her first stand-up club at age 11, Mae began visiting comedy clubs four or five times a weeks, until she eventually started getting free admission and her own special table. At 13, she started off her own comedy career at The Second City Toronto,...

Ana Gasteyer has signed on for lead role in the NBC single-camera comedy pilot “American Auto.”

The project hails from Justin Spitzer, the creator of NBC’s well-received comedy series “Superstore.” It is set at the headquarters of a major American automotive company in Detroit where a floundering group of executives try to rediscover the company identity amidst a rapidly changing industry.

Gasteyer will star as Katherine Hastings, the CEO of Payne Motors. She joins previously announced castmember Harriet Dyer, who will play Payne Motors’ head of communications, Sadie.

Gasteyer’s recent TV credits include “Prodigal Son,” “Schooled,” “The Goldbergs” and “Lady Dynamite.” She is known for her time as a castmember on “Saturday Night Live” and previously starred in the ABC comedy “Suburgatory.” She also recently appeared in the Netflix film “Wine Country,” which marked Amy Poehler’s feature directorial debut.

She is repped by Gersh and Circle of Confusion.

Saturday Night Live alumna Ana Gasteyer is set to lead the ensemble cast of NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot American Auto, from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer, Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and Universal Television.

Written by Spitzer, American Auto is set at the headquarters of a major American automotive company in Detroit, where a floundering group of executives try to rediscover the company identity amidst a rapidly changing industry.

Gasteyer will play Katherine Hastings, the CEO at Payne Motors. She joins Harriet Dyer, who recently was cast as Payne’s type-a head of communications.

Spitzer executive produces with Kapital’s Kaplan and Dana Honor.

Gasteyer recurred as Susan Cinoman on The Goldbergs and has reprised the role in spinoff Schooled. She recently was revealed as The Tree on Fox’s hit The Masked Singer and did a guest-starring stint on Fox drama series Prodigal Son. Gasteyer, whose credits also include...

Exclusive: Broad City alums Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky have teamed for a new single-camera comedy with two female leads. The project, executive produced by The Good Place creator Mike Schur, has landed a pilot order at HBO Max. It hails from Schur’s Fremulon and Universal TV, where Schur has an overall deal and Statsky recently signed an an overall deal.

Written by Downs, Aniello, who also directs, and Statsky, the untitled comedy revolves around a dark mentorship that forms between two women from different generations — a Las Vegas diva and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old.

Downs and Aniello executive produce via their Paulilu banner alongside Statsky as well as Schur via Fremulon, David Miner for 3 Arts Entertainment and The Good Pace executive producer Morgan Sackett. Universal TV, a division of NBCUniversal Content Studios, is the studio.

Downs was a writer/executive producer and co-star on Broad City,...

Exclusive: NBC has put in development two half-hour series produced by Seth Meyers and Mike Shoemaker’s Sethmaker Shoemayers Productions — both from auspices on NBC’s departing The Good Place. They are an AI comedy from actor-writer-comedian Brandon Scott Jones, who is recurring on The Good Place, and a sisters comedy from The Good Place co-producer Kassia Miller. Universal Television, where Sethmaker Shoemayers is based, is the studio for both.

Written by Jones, the Untitled Brandon Scott Jones Project is based on a true story. When a hilariously struggling playwright is hired to help an oddball group of tech geniuses create the personality of a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence, the process unexpectedly forces them to explore analytically, emotionally and creatively what it means to be human.

Jones, who is not attached to act in the project, executive produces with Meyers and Shoemaker for Sethmaker Shoemayers, along with Aseem Batra (Marlon). Jason Carden is co-executive producer.

The Digital Originals initiative workshop. (Photo: John McCrae)

Sbs and Screen Australia have selected ten short-form projects for development as part of the Digital Originals initiative, aimed at providing tangible opportunities for writers from backgrounds underrepresented in the Australian screen sector.

The teams are being developed as part of a workshop under the mentorship of Australian television director and producer, Anna Dokoza and Ryan O’Connell, writer, producer and star of the Emmy-nominated Netflix short-form series, Special. The initiative will continue with a second workshop in February, and up to three projects will be selected for further development, and potentially production, for Sbs On Demand with Screen Australia funding.

The selected projects include:

• A Beginner’s Guide to Grief – Anna Lindner (Writer)

• Breeders – Holly Zwalf (Writer), Erin McBean (Producer) and Dallas Webster (Writer)

• The Dissolution Loops – Grant Scicluna (Writer/Producer)

• 50 Shades of Black (Girl) – Gemma Bird Matheson (Writer) Lizzie Cater (Producer) and Ratidzo Mambo (Producer)

• fine.

Exclusive: Freeform has given a pilot green light to Last Summer, a one-hour drama thriller from writer Bert V. Royal, director Max Winkler, producer Jessica Biel and Entertainment One

Penned by Royal, with Winkler attached to direct, Last Summer is an unconventional thriller that takes place over three summers—‘93, ‘94, ‘95—in a small Texas town when a beautiful popular teen, Kate, is abducted and, seemingly unrelated, a girl, Jeanette, goes from being a sweet, awkward outlier to the most popular girl in town and, by ’95, the most despised person in America. Each episode is told from the Pov of one of the two main girls (Jeanette and Kate), which will have the viewers loyalties constantly shifting as more information is revealed.

Royal executive produces with Biel and Michelle Purple via Iron Ocean Productions and Winkler.

“At Freeform, we are constantly looking to tell bold stories that drive cultural conversation—Last Summer will do just that,...

‘Homecoming Queens’ and ‘Robbie Hood’.

Sbs has teamed up with Screen Australia to launch Digital Originals, a new initiative aimed at producing scripted short-form projects for Sbs On Demand.

Up to 10 writers and projects reflecting Australia’s diversity will be invited to attend a workshop with a focus on short-form narrative writing skills, mentored by Australian director and producer Anna Dokoza and Ryan O’Connell, writer, producer and star of the Emmy-nominated Netflix short-form series, Special. Up to three projects will go into further development and production with Sbs and Screen Australia.

Sbs regards the program as an evolution of its Short-Form Content Initiative, with the focus on providing opportunities and support for writers from diverse backgrounds currently under-represented in the sector including, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (Cald) backgrounds, people living with a disability, females, those who identify as Lgbtiq+ and gender diverse,...

Today, The Trevor Project announced that talk show host, actress and producer Kelly Ripa and actor and producer Mark Consuelos will jointly be honored at the organization's TrevorLIVE New York gala with the Champions Award for their continued allyship and commitment to supporting The Trevor Project’s mission to end suicide among Lgbtq young people. The organization will also honor Ey with the 20/20 Visionary Award for the company's work supporting Lgbtq inclusion around the world and creating a sense of belonging for all Ey professionals. In addition, actress, comedian and writer Nicole Byer and actor, director and digital producer Eugene Lee Yang will co-host TrevorLIVE New York, the organization’s annual star-studded signature fundraiser, on Monday, June 17 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. As previously announced, actress, musician, and style icon Cara Delevingne will be honored with the 2019 Hero Award.

"We're so excited to honor Kelly Ripa, Mark...

The musical score of “The Good Place” has been essential to the show’s success as a show that gives the audience feelings of warmth and great tension. David Schwartz has been the NBC sitcom’s composer from the start, writing its celestial main theme and the rest of the show’s score. Schwartz, a veteran composer who has racked up three nominations at the Emmys and another at the Grammys, is heavily involved week to week in crafting “The Good Place” score. “I come in every week with the music editor, Jason Newman, the two editors, whoever’s episode it is, [Michael] Schur and a couple of the producers and we talk about first where music should go and second what it should be,” Schwartz explains. “It’s a pretty detailed conversation.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

SEEWilliam Jackson Harper Interview: ‘The Good Place’

As Schwartz details, “The Good Place...

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Bridesmaids, are reuniting for Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, a comedy the pair teamed to co-write and star in for Lionsgate. Josh Greenbaum, the director whose credits include episodes of New Girl and Fresh Off the Boat and the documentaries Too Funny to Fail and Becoming Bond, is set to helm. A 2020 release date is in the works.

Gloria Sanchez Productions will produce along with Wiig and Mumolo, in their first such effort together since the Paul Feig-directed Bridesmaids grossed $288.4 million worldwide and scored a pair of Oscar noms. Melissa McCarthy scored the Supporting Actress Oscar nom for the R-rated comedy.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar tells the story of best friends Barb (Wiig) and Star (Mumolo) who leave their small midwestern town for the first time to go on vacation in Vista Del Mar,...