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Note: This story contains spoilers from “Severance” Season 2, Episode 8.

There are endless questions around nearly everyone and everything in “Severance.” But if there was an award for Most Mysterious, that would indisputably go to Harmony Cobel, Patricia Arquette’s cold, intense, gray-haired boss. From her icy glares to her unsettling fascination with Mark S. (Adam Scott), Cobel felt like she was framed to be the villain throughout most of Season 1. But her actual backstory and path to Lumon Industries is far more complicated than that.

Written by Adam Countee and K. C. Perry and directed by Ben Stiller, “Sweet Vitriol” exclusively focuses on Cobel for 38 minutes as she hunts for an invaluable artifact in her hometown. Here are some of the most fascinating nuggets from that deep dive.

Harmony Cobel is from a mining town that was ruined by Lumon

The beginning of “Sweet Vitriol” sees Cobel (Patricia Arquette) returning...

Exclusive: Hulu is not proceeding with Downforce, opting not to pick up the comedy pilot starring Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett to series, sources tell Deadline.

From the Silicon Valley duo of Alec Berg and Adam Countee, Downforce follows Victoria (Hewson), the estranged daughter of a storied racing team’s owner, Sir Trevor (Bartlett), who is thrust back into the family business, leaving the pair to find common ground or risk destroying the team’s legacy.

The cast also includes Harry Delano (Freud’s Last Session), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), Amar Chadha-Patel (The Decameron) and Arturo Del Puerto (For All Mankind).

The project, a dream pairing of two in-demand actors in The Perfect Couple and Bad Sisters’ Hewson and The White Lotus and The Last Of Us‘ Bartlett, originated at the now defunct ABC Signature where Barry co-creator Berg and Countee had been under overall deals. The banner was...

Exclusive: Makeready, the production company led by producer Brad Weston and Netflix alum Collin Creighton, has extended by three years its overall deal with Fifth Season. Joining the party is Topic Studios; the Makeready deal is the first in a new multiyear joint venture between Topic and Fifth Season in which they’ll back production companies with financing and development funds to create premium television content.

Makeready has hired former Temple Hill exec Sydney Title to run its television division.

Makeready made its original deal with Fifth Season, and it yielded such films as the Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley starrer Killer Heat, which was Prime Video’s top film worldwide for two weeks. There also was A Thousand and One, the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and debut feature from A.V. Rockwell. Upcoming films include Opus for A24, starring John Malkovich and The Bear’s Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri...

Exclusive: Harry Delano (Freud’s Last Session), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), Amar Chadha-Patel (The Decameron) and Arturo Del Puerto (For All Mankind) have joined the 20th Television pilot for Hulu Downforce (working title) starring Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett.

Downforce follows Victoria (Hewson), the estranged daughter of a storied racing team’s owner, Sir Trevor (Bartlett), who is thrust back into the family business, leaving the pair to find common ground or risk destroying the team’s legacy.

Delano will play Cayley, Alastair’s son, an engineering genius who’s put to work to help the team; Shearsmith will play Alastair, Regent Racing’s fastidious chief race engineer; Chadha-Patel will play Ihsan, the gentle giant of a chief mechanic for Team Regent; Del Puerto plays Emiliano, the ostentatious Spanish owner of a competing team who’s hellbent on destroying Regent Racing.

Alec Berg will direct the pilot and executive produce alongside Adam Countee,...

Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett are set for two of the lead roles in the Hulu comedy pilot “Downforce,” Variety has learned.

The pilot was originally picked up at the streamer back in May. Per the official logline, “When the owner of a storied racing team’s estranged daughter is thrust back into the family business, they have to find common ground or risk destroying the team’s legacy.”

Bartlett will star as Sir Trevor, described as “the team’s larger-than-life founder and owner.” Hewson will play his daughter, Victoria, said to be “a shrewd and ruthless investment banker who finds her way back into the front office. She knows business, he knows racing, and together they have to figure out the business of racing after years apart.”

Hewson will next be seen in the Netflix limited series “The Perfect Couple” opposite Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning, and Liev Schrieber. The show will debut on Sept.

Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett are set to lead the ABC Signature comedy pilot Downforce for Hulu.

Downforce follows Victoria (Hewson), the estranged daughter of a storied racing team’s owner, Sir Trevor (Bartlett), who is thrust back into the family business, leaving the pair to find common ground or risk destroying the team’s legacy.

Sir Trevor is described as the team’s “larger-than-life founder and owner.” Victoria is “a shrewd and ruthless investment banker who finds her way back into the front office. She knows business, he knows racing, and together they have to figure out the business of racing after years apart.”

Alec Berg will direct the pilot and executive produce alongside Adam Countee, both of who have overall deals at ABC Signature. EPs also include Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey for Temple Hill, Daniel Ricciardo,...

20th Television has hired former Netflix executive Jillian Longnecker as EVP and Head of Production and Showtime’s Brendan Countee as SVP and Head of Comedy Development for the studio, a part of Disney Television Studios.

Both positions had been vacant for awhile. 20th Television previous EVP Production Nissa Diederich exited in December, following a consolidation move that saw her counterpart, ABC Signature EVP Production and Post-Production Carol Turner, promoted to Head of Production for Disney Entertainment Television, overseeing production operations across Disney TV Studios, Hulu, Freeform and FX.

Reporting to Turner, Longnecker will oversee all physical production for 20th Television’s slate of drama, comedy and limited series that spans over two dozen current series and multiple pilots.

Countee succeeds Chet Dave who had been SVP and Head of Comedy Development since 2021. Dave went on a medical leave last year, and by March of this year, it became clear...

Can’t get enough of Bluey? Then you’re in luck, because Disney+ and Disney Jr. will roll out a series of “minisodes” beginning this July.

The 20 one- to three-minute shorts “highlight funny and sweet moments featuring Bluey and Bingo, leaning into playful interactions and games that further explore the characters and world of Bluey,” per the official description. Bluey creator Joe Brumm penned the new installments.

More from TVLineThe Bear Gets Season 3 Release Date at Hulu - Plus, Carmy Is Back in the Kitchen in New TeaserMom Reunion: Kristen Johnston Joins Chuck Lorre Netflix ComedyA Hulu/Disney+/Max Streaming...

Hulu has given a piot order to “Downforce” (working title), a comedy pilot written and executive produced by “Silicon Valley” writers Alec Berg and Adam Countee.

The official logline for “Downforce” reads, “When the heiress to a dynastic racing team is thrust back into the family business, she needs to make some hard choices about the future of the team and her family’s legacy.”

The pilot will be produced by ABC Signature, where Berg and Countee both have overall deals. Non-writing executive producers include Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill as well as Daniel Ricciardo, Amy Solomon and Lionsgate Television.

Berg is best known for serving as showrunner and executive producer on “Silicon Valley,” which ran on HBO for six seasons from 2014 to 2019, and for co-creating HBO’s “Barry,” which concluded after four seasons in 2023. Earlier in his career, he joined “Seinfeld” in its sixth season as...

Hulu has given a pilot order to Downforce (working title) from ABC Signature.

Alec Berg and Adam Countee, who have overall deals at ABC Signature, will executive produce the comedy.

It’s about an heiress to a dynastic racing team who is thrust back into the family business. She needs to make some hard choices about the future of the team and her family’s legacy.

Non-writing EPs are Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment; Daniel Ricciardo, Amy Solomon; and Lionsgate.

Berg co-created Barry with Bill Hader. He also served as showrunner of the HBO comedy. His previous credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm and Silicon Valley.

Countee worked with Berg on Silicon Valley. He also co-executive produced The Shrink Next Door.

Alec Berg and Adam Countee are moving from Silicon Valley to the world of F1.

Hulu is teaming with the duo for Downforce, a comedy that has been picked up to pilot at the Disney-run streamer.

Described as Entourage set in the world of Formula 1 racing, Downforce follows what happens when the heiress to a dynastic racing team is thrust back into the family business and the hard choices she must make about the future of the team and her family’s legacy.

Berg and Countee will write and serve as showrunners on the potential series, which is produced by ABC Signature. Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will exec produce alongside Berg, Countee, Aussie F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo and Amy Solomon. The latter serves as head of development for Berg’s ABC Signature-based production company after working with the writer-producer on Barry and Silicon Valley. Ricciardo...

Last week, more than 400 TV creators and showrunners — all of them women — sent letters to top executives at Hollywood studios demanding that specific safety protocols be put in place for pregnant employees in states where abortion has been outlawed, or soon will be. Now, letters of support signed by 594 men — including J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Greg Berlanti, Donald Glover, Aaron Sorkin, David E. Kelley, Taika Waititi and Ryan Murphy — have been sent to the same companies.

The text of the letter is short, simply saying the undersigned stand with their “female, trans & non-binary showrunner colleagues in demanding a response from our employers regarding the imminent crisis” at hand. It was delivered by replying-all to the first letter, and was sent to Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Apple, NBC Universal, Amazon, Lionsgate and AMC.

These activist correspondences have been instigated by the Supreme Court’s June 24 Dobbs decison, which overturned Roe v.

John Ridley to write, direct.

Participant has announced it will produce the feature film Shirley starring Regina King as Shirley Chisholm, America’s first black congresswoman and presidential candidate.

John Ridley, who won the adapted screenplay Oscar for 12 Years A Slave, will direct from his screenplay, while King and Reina King of Royal Ties Productions will produce.

Production is expected to begin later this year on Shirley, which will chronicle Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign and is based on her life story rights through an exclusive agreement with the Chisholm Estate.

Jeff Skoll and Anikah McLaren will serve as executive producers.

Even the smallest window into Tracey Wigfield’s life seems to validate her chosen career. Her Studio City home and now makeshift office, which she shares with her husband, fellow comedy scribe Adam Countee, their nearly-3-year-old daughter, their infant son and, since the start of the pandemic, her parents, could easily double as a set for one of the sitcoms she’s written — 30 Rock, The Mindy Project and Great News, to name a few. During an early November Zoom, the showrunner is twice interrupted by her polite but assertive toddler, for whom she wryly punts child-rearing duties to her own mom ...

Even the smallest window into Tracey Wigfield’s life seems to validate her chosen career. Her Studio City home and now makeshift office, which she shares with her husband, fellow comedy scribe Adam Countee, their nearly-3-year-old daughter, their infant son and, since the start of the pandemic, her parents, could easily double as a set for one of the sitcoms she’s written — 30 Rock, The Mindy Project and Great News, to name a few. During an early November Zoom, the showrunner is twice interrupted by her polite but assertive toddler, for whom she wryly punts child-rearing duties to her own mom ...

Shirley Chisholm's influential story is getting the big screen recognition it deserves. On Nov. 11, Variety confirmed that Danai Gurira will portray the political pioneer in the film The Fighting Shirley Chisholm. The movie will detail Chisholm's barrier-breaking 1972 presidential run, which took place four years after she became the first Black congresswoman. According to Variety, the project is not a biopic, but it will focus on Chisholm's campaign and how it "was populated by young people who sought social and political change during one of the most turbulent times in American history." The film will also capture Chisholm's endeavor to "make real change by challenging the status quo through her efforts to gain enough delegates to speak for the people at the Democratic Convention."

Cherien Dabis is set to direct the project and Adam Countee will pen the script. Additionally, Stephanie Allain will produce through her Homegrown Pictures banner with...

UTA Independent Film Group packaged the project.

Danai Gurira from Black Panther will play the first African American US Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in a package that UTA Independent Film Group has put together.

Cherien Dabis will direct The Fighting Shirley Chisholm from a screenplay by Adam Countee.

The feature is being positioned not as a biopic but according to sources a “rousing campaign movie” that speaks to current US politics and chronicles Chisholm’s historic 1972 run for the presidency.

She became the first African American candidate for a major party’s presidential nomination, and the first woman to run for...

Danai Gurira has been set to star in The Fighting Shirley Chisholm, a feature film that will tell the story behind Chisholm’s historical 1972 run for the U.S. presidency. Cherien Dabis has been set to direct the pic, based on a script by Adam Countee, and refreshes the project after Viola Davis had been attached to star and executive produce it for Amazon back in 2018, with Maggie Betts directing it at the time.

The script from Countee, the Emmy-nominated writer with credits including Silicon Valley, Community and The Mindy Project, is less a biopic than a snapshot of Chisholm’s groundbreaking campaign, as the first Black female in Congress became the first woman and the first person of color to seek a major American political party’s presidential nomination. Her run challenged the status quo through her efforts to gain enough delegates to speak for the people at the Democratic National Convention.

The story of the first Black congresswoman is heading to the big screen.

Danai Gurira will star in “The Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” portraying the titular political trailblazer in a story that follows Chisholm’s historic 1972 presidential run.

Cherien Dabis will direct the film, from a script written by Adam Countee. Stephanie Allain will produce through her Homegrown Pictures banner, with Gabrielle Ebron as an executive producer.

Though Gurira will play Chisholm, the movie is not a biopic, instead focused more centrally on the campaign and how “the Chisholm Trail was populated by young people who sought social and political change during one of the most turbulent times in American history.” At the time, Chisholm had already made history as the first Black congresswoman, and according to a description of the piece, “recognized that she could make real change by challenging the status quo through her efforts to gain enough delegates...

“Black Panther” star Danai Gurira is set to play the title role in “The Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” a film about pioneering presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm.

Cherien Dabis will direct the indie about the historic 1972 campaign for the highest office in the land. Adam Countee wrote the screenplay.

“The Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” won’t be a biopic, but rather a rousing campaign movie that mirrors today’s unprecedented politics. The Chisholm Trail was populated by young people who sought social and political change during one of the most turbulent times in American history. As the first Black female in Congress, Chisholm recognized that she could make real change by challenging the status quo through her efforts to gain enough delegates to speak for the people at the Democratic Convention.

Stephanie Allain will produce through her Homegrown Pictures banner. Gabrielle Ebron will executive produce the project.

UTA Independent Film Group packaged the project,...

Danai Gurira will play boundary-breaking politician Shirley Chisholm in a new movie about Chisholm’s 1972 presidential run titled The Fighting Shirley Chisholm.

The first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968, Chisholm became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination. Her boundary-breaking campaign was marked by its youth engagement and her efforts to gain enough delegates to speak at the Democratic Convention. (Chisholm was recently portrayed by Uzo Aduba in Hulu miniseries Mrs. America.)

Cherien Dabis is set to direct from a script by Adam Countee.

Stephanie Allain will produce through her Homegrown Pictures banner, with Gabrielle Ebron set to executive ...

Danai Gurira will play boundary-breaking politician Shirley Chisholm in a new movie about Chisholm’s 1972 presidential run titled The Fighting Shirley Chisholm.

The first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968, Chisholm became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination. Her boundary-breaking campaign was marked by its youth engagement and her efforts to gain enough delegates to speak at the Democratic Convention. (Chisholm was recently portrayed by Uzo Aduba in Hulu miniseries Mrs. America.)

Cherien Dabis is set to direct from a script by Adam Countee.

Stephanie Allain will produce through her Homegrown Pictures banner, with Gabrielle Ebron set to executive ...

Award-winning actress Viola Davis is set to play Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman in a new Amazon biopic.

The project is a first look deal Davis has in place with her JuVee production company which she runs with her husband. Maggie Betts will direct the feature from a screenplay by Adam Countee. Stephanie Allain of Homegrown Productions is producing.

Davis will also produce the Amazon feature with husband Julius Tennon as the first of a series of politically themed films the couple makes for the streamer.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter Davis said: “I hope to educate because a lot of people don’t know who she was.” Tennon went on to state about the deal with Amazon: “We want to do the same thing — make content that highlights people of colour across the globe.”

Also in the news – Dave Bautista signs up for Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ remake

The project,...

Viola Davis has found her next starring role as an iconic historical figure. Davis will star in and produce “The Fighting Shirley Chisholm” as the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress in the House of Representatives.

The project is set up at Amazon Studios, and the news comes one day after Davis and her JuVee Productions along with Julius Tennon announced a first look deal with Amazon to produce film content.

Stephanie Allain and Mel Jones under Homegrown Pictures will produce along with Davis and Tennon under the JuVee Productions banner. Maggie Betts (“Novitiate”) will direct the film from a screenplay written by Adam Countee about the true story of political figure Shirley Chisholm.

Also Read: Viola Davis on Interracial Kiss With Liam Neeson in 'Widows': 'Elusive to Me Because of the Way I Look'

U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm was both the first...

Exclusive: Days after Oscar winner Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions announced a first look feature production deal with Amazon Studios, the first project is moving forward: The Fighting Shirley Chisholm in which Davis will produce and star as the U.S. Representative who was both the first woman and the first person of color to seek a major American political party’s nomination for President.

Amazon studios acquired the title in what we understand was a fierce bidding war, with Homegrown Pictures’ Stephanie Allain and Mel Jones producing with JuVee. Maggie Betts (Novitiate) will direct the screenplay written by Emmy-nominated writer Adam Countee.

Countee had long been interested in telling Chisholm’s story and his research led him to write the feature script on spec about the trailblazing congresswoman who never backed down as her bid drew ridicule and bigoted backlash.

There is an art to making comedy about irritating, self-involved, or even just flat-out terrible people. Sharp writing can make such characters wickedly funny, spitting jokes like acid that sting as hard as they land (see: “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”); it can peel back their defensive spiky layers to find surprising depth and tenderness hiding just underneath (see: “You’re the Worst”). But no matter what the approach, there has to be some dynamism in order to keep the story afloat, some glancing indication that the comedy’s got a little more to it than just showing off the depraved depths to which its characters could sink.

“Camping,” apparently, missed this memo.

The new HBO series — from “Girls” creators Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, based on a series by British comedian Julia Davis — strands a group of deeply irritating people out in the woods together for eight episodes worth of misery.

To celebrate her husband Walt’s 44th birthday, the obsessively organized and aggressively controlling Kathryn gathers together her meek sister, her holier-than-thou ex-best friend, and a free-spirited tagalong.

And what was supposed to be a delightful, back-to-nature camping trip quickly becomes a weekend of tested marriages and woman-on-woman crime that won’t soon be forgotten.

Starring Jennifer Garner (Alias) and David Tennant, the comedy series Camping launches its eight-episode season this October exclusively on HBO.

Camping is written and executive produced by Lena Dunham (creator and star of HBO’s Girls), Jenni Konner (executive producer of HBO’s Girls) and John Riggi, and is based on the British series of the same name created by Julia Davis and produced by Baby Cow Productions.

The show will also be available on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms.

Camping follows a group of old friends as they...

The 2018 Writers Guild of America Awards take place on Feb. 11 with simultaneous ceremonies held in both New York and Los Angeles. Only scripts written under the guild’s guidelines or those of several international partners are allowed to vie for these awards. As such, these kudos are not the most reliable barometer of the Oscars.

In the past nine years only 59 of the WGA nominees have numbered among the 90 screenplays that reaped Academy Awards bids. Indeed, 2014’s Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay, “Birdman,” was deemed ineligible. Likewise for one of this year’s leading contenders for that award: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

On the television side, the leading nominees are “Better Call Saul,” which competes for best drama series writing as well as for two individual episodes and “The Americans,” which is up for both overall drama series writing and an individual episode. Over in comedy, reigning Emmy...

The Producers Guild of America hands out its awards on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. That is the night before the Screen Actors Guild does the same. Unlike, the latter, which will air on TNT and TBS, the PGA ceremony is not televised. However, it is an equally important stop on the road to the Oscars.

The PGA Awards has an enviable track record at presaging the eventual Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards. The guild and the academy have agreed on 19 of the most recent 28 Best Picture champs. Last year, all nine Oscar nominees for Best Picture numbered among the 10 PGA contenders; only “Deadpool” was snubbed by the academy. The PGA prize went to “La La Land” while the Oscar was (eventually) won by “Moonlight.”

Discuss All the Oscar contenders with Hollywood insiders in our notorious forums

Nominees for the 29th annual edition of the PGA awards in the three film...

Great news for Tracey Wigfield -- the Great News creator has welcomed a baby girl!

Wigfield took to Instagram on Thursday to debut her little one to the world, announcing that she gave birth last Friday, Dec. 29.

"Hello world! Meet Celine Wren Countee. She’s 6 days old and today is the first Thursday she’s ever had. ❤️," the Emmy-winning comedy writer captioned the photo of her daughter, lying fast asleep in an adorable onesie.

Hello world! Meet Celine Wren Countee. She’s 6 days old and today is the first Thursday she’s ever had. ❤️

A post shared by Tracey Wigfield (@traceywigfield) on Jan 4, 2018 at 8:51am Pst

Wigfield, who executive produces, writes and stars on Great News, married husband Adam Countee in May 2016. The couple met in early 2013 when they were both on the writing staff of The Mindy Project.

Also my favorite actor @apcountee is in tonight's episode. I made him sit in a hot hotel ballroom...

Praise be to the weird team of Danny McBride, John Carcieri, Adam Countee, and director David Gordon Green for always finding ways to move Vice Principals forward, even when it looks like it’s about to take a few steps back. Last week’s episode, “The King,” was certainly funny, but it felt weirdly isolated from the…

Read more...

Writers of Hell or High Water, La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards.

Writers of Hell or High Water (pictured), La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, set to be presented at ceremonies hosted by the West and East branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Feb 19.

Also nominated in the WGA’s original screenplay category are the writers of Loving, Manchester By The Sea and Moonlight. Fences, Hidden Figures and Nocturnal Animals produced the other nominations in the adapted screenplay category.

Documentary nominations went to Author: The Jt Leroy Story, Command And Control and Zero Days, while dramatic TV series getting nods were The Americans, Better Call Saul, Game Of Thrones, Stranger Things and Westworld.

Full list of feature nominees and selected TV nominees:

Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water Taylor Sheridan

La La Land [link...

Writers of Hell or High Water, La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards.

Writers of Hell or High Water (pictured), La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, set to be presented at ceremonies hosted by the West and East brances of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Feb 19.

Also nominated in the WGA’s original screenplay category are the writers of Loving, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight. Fences, Hidden Figures and Nocturnal Animalsproduced the other nominations in the adapted screenplay category.

Documentary nominations went to Author: The Jt Leroy Story, Command and Control and Zero Days, while dramatic TV series getting nods were The Americans, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and Westworld.

Full list of feature nominees and selected TV nominees:

Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water Taylor Sheridan

La La Land [link...

When you look at the first episode of Eastbound & Down and the final episode, it’s surprising to see just how much emotional ground that show covered. If the entire series had been set at that high school and just dealt with Kenny Powers coming to terms with his own life’s left turns, it would have been a beautiful ending, but much smaller scale than what the show eventually became when it ended three seasons later. One of the benefits of the way they shot their new HBO series Vice Principals, which they wrote and directed along with David Gordon Green, John Carcieri, and Adam Countee, is that they knew right away how they wanted to end the nine-hour movie they were making, and they shot the entire thing in one long stretch. Both seasons are done. You’ll get two nine-episode runs, and when that’s finished, the story is over.

One way or another, this was going to be a great week for comedy writer Tracey Wigfield. Today, May 21, she is getting married to fellow comedy writer Adam Countee, whom she met while they were working together on The Mindy Project. But that turned out to be the second life-changing event for Wigfield this week. On Monday, May 16, NBC presented its schedule for next season that included new midseason comedy series Great News, which Wigfield created. Executive produced by…...

With all three shows set to return for new seasons on Sunday, April 24, HBO has renewed Silicon Valley, Veep and Game of Thrones for 2017, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. The Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated Silicon Valley takes a comic look at the modern-day epicenter of the high-tech gold rush, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success. A collaboration between Mike Judge and Alec Berg, the show returns for its ten-episode third season Sunday, April 24 (10:00-10:30 p.m.). Series regulars include Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Zach Woods, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, Josh Brener, Amanda Crew, Matt Ross, Jimmy O. Yang and Suzanne Cryer.

Silicon Valley Season 3 credits include creators Mike Judge & John Altschuler & Dave Kinsky. Executive producers are Mike Judge, Alec Berg, Michael Rotenberg and Tom Lassally. Co-executive producers include Clay Tarver, Dan O'Keefe, Jim Kleverweis, Ron Weiner and John Levenstein.

With all three shows set to return for new seasons on Sunday, April 24, HBO has renewed Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep for 2017, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. The Emmy-winning Game of Thrones begins its ten-episode sixth season Sunday, April 24 (9:00-10:00 p.m. Et/Pt).

Based on the bestselling fantasy books by George R.R. Martin, the fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent kingdom. Series regulars this season include: Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen, Diana Rigg, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and Jonathan Pryce.

Season six credits for Game of Thrones include the showrunners and executive producers David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield. Co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin. Supervising producer include Bryan Cogman along with producers Chris Newman,...

What do Walter White and Phil Dunphy have in common? They’re both at the center of the TV shows most honored by the Writers Guild of America today. The group just announced the nominees for its annual awards, which will be handed out Feb. 17 at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Breaking Bad garnered five nods; Modern Family drew four. Here’s a list of all the primetime and late night series in contention for the event’s biggest prizes:

Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire, Written by Dave Flebotte, Diane Frolov, Chris Haddock, Rolin Jones, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki,...

Fired "Community" creator Dan Harmon sat down for a Reddit Ama on Wednesday, where he answered fans' questions about his ouster from the eccentric NBC comedy and revealed his favorite episode of "Community" ("Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" from Season 2). Here are the five most interesting "Community"-related tidbits we learned from the discussion.

1) Harmon had a feeling his firing was coming, and adjusted "Community" storylines accordingly:

You can actually see one [of] my "fourth season" ideas getting bumped up into the end of Season 3, because Jeff Winger has to decide, at the end of Season 3, that even though he's endured Greendale for the express purpose of getting his old life back, in the end, he has to choose Greendale over his old life, because Greendale has made him a better person. The fact that it happened at the end of Season 3 is because at the time of writing the script, I had...

Community, Season 3, Episode 19, “Curriculum Unavailable”

Written by Adam Countee

Directed by Adam Davidson

Airs Thursdays at 8pm Et on NBC

“Curriculum Unavailable” draws pretty heavily on last year’s “Paradigms of Human Memory” in that it functions as a clip-show of sorts, consisting of all-new material. With John Hodgman’s inspired guest turn as a faux-psychiatrist, it initially appears the show is going to seriously address Abed’s dysfunction (or at least more seriously than they did in “Virtual Systems Analysis.”) The final third of this season has been quite dark by Community standards but apparently Dan Harmon isn’t willing to go that dark as it quickly becomes clear that Abed is the one that knows what’s going on.

The show nicely utilizes the flashback structure. Instead of the rapid-fire barrage of jokes in “Paradigms” it’s used to tease out revelations in the characters until they catch...

Over on The Wrap today, John Sellers has posted a fun and surprisingly insightful interview with Community showrunner Dan Harmon (follow him on Twitter already, seriously) and staff writer Adam Countee, who is credited with the original idea for "Magnitude," the one-man party machine who shows up to Jeff's apartment for Chang's party in the season 2 Valentine's Day episode. Since he first showed up, Magnitude has morphed from a throwaway joke into another staple in the cast of hilarious background personalities at Greendale, joining the illustrious ranks of characters like Leonard, Starburns and Vicki.

But back then, he wasn't named Magnitude (short for "Magnetic Attitude," which Harmon says they picked for its telling nickname-within-a-nickname premise) -- he was named Poochie. And his signature catchphrase, the universally applicable and delightful "Pop! Pop!", was different at conception, too: It was "Yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo!"

Is your brain blown yet?...

The next two episodes of NBC’s "Community" -- which concern another paintball competition at Greendale -- have more going for them than just guest-star Josh Holloway. The two-part season finale, which begins Thursday at 8 p.m., also marks the return of Magnitude, the one-man party whose catchphrase “Pop! Pop!” is threatening to take over the Internet. To celebrate one of our favorite members of the Greendale universe, TheWrap spoke to “Community” creator Dan Harmon, staff writer Adam Countee, and Luke Youngblood, the actor behind the minor character who has given voice...

omedy is still the king genre of web video. And fittingly there are dozens of sites vying to be the web's go-to hubs for comedy—Funny or Die, Atom.com, My Damn Channel, Comedy.com—but that doesn't mean the broader web series hubs aren't up for some jocularity of their own. Sony's Crackle.com has had its share of original comedies over the past year, most recently bowing Jon Heder led Woke Up Dead, not to mention earlier jabs like David Faustino's Star-ving. But in an effort to bolster their comedy wares, Crackle rolled out its latest push today with the launch of a video slate dubbed "Last Call for Comedy." The package contains just two new original web series—Decisions, Decisions and So On and So Forth—alongside the online debut of the first two seasons of TBS comedy 10 Items or Less and some cult comedy films...