News

A doomed expedition through the Amazon is at the center of Expedition From Hell: The Lost Tapes. The docuseries follows an eccentric guide Mickey Grosman, a former special forces demolition expert, who brought on a group of novice survivalists to follow him on his 5,000-mile journey across the jungle and South America. Those who signed up to take this trip found out quickly they’d gotten far more than they bargained for. This may read like a premise for a big-budget summer blockbuster and hard to believe at times if there weren’t over 700 hours of archival footage from the trip that documented all the misfortunes including a kidnapping, prison escapes, and a missing person. Those who lived through this experience back in 2012 reflect on their time in the Amazon and all they’d endured with Mickey at the helm. Ahead of the two-hour premiere, Showrunner/EP Erin Gamble and...

HBO has released the official trailer and key art for the six-episode fourth season of the Emmy, Peabody, and GLAAD award-winning unscripted series We’re Here.

The series returns on Friday, April 26 (9:00-10:00 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes will debut weekly.

Season four of We’re Here follows renowned drag queens Sasha Velour, Priyanka, Jaida Essence Hall, and Latrice Royale as they continue the show’s mission of spreading love and connection through the art of drag across small-town America.

This season, the queens work with participants in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as in surrounding towns, and take an in-depth, immersive look at recent anti-lgbtq+ legislation and its effect on the community.

The critically acclaimed third season of We’re Here won two Emmy Awards, a third GLAAD Award for “Outstanding Reality Programming,” a Peabody Award, and received Television Academy Honors.

The fifth episode of “True Detective: Night Country” will be available to stream early on Max beginning Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. Et/ 6 p.m. Pt, in order to avoid the Sunday night streamroller that is the Super Bowl. The show will still get its HBO linear premiere on Feb. 11 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt, opposite the Big Game.

Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Finn Bennett and Fiona Shaw star in the series, with Christopher Eccleston, Isabella Star Lablanc and John Hawkes rounding out the cast. Anna Lambe, Aka Niviâna and Joel D. Montgrand are guest stars.

Issa López serves as showrunner, writer and director. Foster executive produces alongside Mari Jo Winkler, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak for Pastel. Chris Mundy, Alan Page Arriaga, Steve Golin, Richard Brown, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Nic Pizzolatto also executive produce.

First Looks

Hulu has unveiled the trailer for the...

Get a grip, girl! Latrice Royale is officially joining the Season 4 cast of HBO’s “We’re Here,” Variety can exclusively reveal.

Latrice Royale joins fellow drag artists Priyanka, Sasha Velour and Jaida Essence Hall in leading the new season. “We’re Here” Season 4 will notably see a shift from its original format, which previously saw the queens traveling to new cities in each episode to further share the artform of drag. Now, they will tackle two U.S. towns over the course of six episodes, taking an in-depth look at the local political systems and participants, anti-lgbtq+ legislation and opposition, and their effect on the queer community.

Season 4 marks the first season that Latrice Royale, Priyanka, Sasha Velour and Jaida Essence Hall will take over for Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela, who previously led the series in its first three seasons.

“We’re Here” was created by Stephen Warren...

HBO has renewed its docuseries We’re Here for a fourth season, with a new trio of drag queens starring.

Former RuPaul’s Drag Race champions Sasha Velour and Jaida Essence Hall and Canada’s Drag Race winner Priyanka will front season four, which is set to begin filming later this month. The coming season will follow the trio to two U.S. towns over the course of six episodes, taking an in-depth and more immersive look at the local political systems and participants, anti-lgbtq+ legislation and opposition, and their effect on the LGBTQ+ community as Sasha, Jaida and Priyanka work to spread love and connection through the art of drag.

The new hosts replace Bob the Drag Queen, D.J. “Shangela” Pierce and Eureka O’Hara on We’re Here. The change comes two months after a former production assistant on the series, Daniel McGarrigle, filed a civil suit against Pierce...

We’re Here is getting a revamp. HBO announced today it has renewed the reality series for a fourth season with new hosts Drag Race Season 9 winner Sasha Velour, Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 winner Priyanka and Drag Race Season 12 champ Jaida Essence Hall. They will replace Bob the Drag Queen, D.J. “Shangela” Pierce and Eureka O’Hara, who starred in the first three seasons. Production is slated to begin on Season 4 later this month.

Created and executive produced by Stephen Warren and Johnnie Ingram, Season 4 will follow Velour, Priyanka and Hall, as they continue the goal of the series to spread love and connection through the art of drag across small-town America.

This season will focus on two U.S. towns over the course of six episodes, taking an in-depth and more immersive look at the local political systems and participants, anti-lgbtq+ legislation and opposition, and their effect on the LGBTQ+ community.

HBO has renewed “We’re Here” for Season 4 and introduced a new cast after the first three seasons were led by Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela.

Season 4 of the unscripted series will follow Sasha Velour, Priyanka and Jaida Essence Hall, as they continue the goal of the series to spread love and connection through the art of drag across small-town America. This season will focus on two U.S. towns over the course of six episodes, taking an in-depth and more immersive look at the local political systems and participants, anti-lgbtq+ legislation and opposition, and their effect on the LGBTQ+ community.

“We’re Here” is created by Stephen Warren and Johnnie Ingram and directed by Peter LoGreco. Executive producers include Warren, Ingram, LoGreco, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman and Erin Gamble for Sony Pictures Television’s Intellectual Property Corporation (Ipc).

“With the ongoing aggression towards the LGBTQ+ community, and the...

HBO is doling out $100,000 to national, regional and local LGBTQ+ organizations featured as locations in the third season of its Emmy, Peabody and GLAAD award-winning unscripted series “We’re Here.”

The six recipients include Pflag Fort Worth, Ms Capital City Pride, Pride of Southern Utah, TriVersity Pride Center, Equality Florida and Lambda Legal.

The show follows Caldwell Tidicue (Bob the Drag Queen), “Eureka” D. Huggard (Eureka O’Hara), and D.J. Pierce (Shangela) as they head to Granbury, Texas, St. George, Utah, Brevard County, Florida, Jackson, Mississippi and Sussex, New Jersey to inspire their “drag daughters to express their genuine selves in front of their families, friends and communities while promoting acceptance in their community, while at times facing increased opposition and constraints from anti-lgbtq+ legislation laws.

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Pflag Fort Worth is one of Pflag National’s...

The Max Original rock climbing competition series The Climb debuts Thursday, January 12 with three episodes, followed by three new episodes the following week, concluding with the final two episodes on January 26. The series is created by Jason Momoa, through his production company On the Roam, legendary rock climber Chris Sharma, and The Intellectual Property Corporation (Ipc), a part of Sony Pictures Television.

Logline: The Climb is a visually-arresting and life-changing adventure that represents the foundations of rock climbing and exploration of the human spirit. In this all-encompassing competition, amateur climbers are put through a rigorous series of mental and physical challenges, utilizing some of the most intimidating ascents in the world to crown the world’s best amateur climber with a prAna sponsored climbing ambassadorship and a 100,000 cash prize.

Credits: The Climb is executive produced by Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Erin Gamble, and Matt Shanfield on behalf of The Intellectual...

Actor, producer and screenwriter Ryan Reynolds will receive “The People’s Icon” award at the 2022 People’s Choice Awards, NBC and E! announced. Reynolds will be honored for his contributions to film and television, including recent Netflix film “The Adam Project.” The program will air on NBC and E! on Tuesday, December 6 at 9 p.m. Et from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

“In any endeavor – whether it’s acting, producing, marketing or business – Ryan Reynolds has the unique ability to create joy and authentically connect with his audience. He’s received many accolades over the years, but it’s these innate qualities that makes him so beloved,” said Cassandra Tryon, SVP, entertainment live events, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We cannot wait to present Ryan with ‘The People’s Icon’ award at this year’s show.”

Reynolds can next be seen in the musical comedy “Spirited” opposite Will Ferrell and Octavia Spencer,...

A&e is expanding its documentary series “Secrets of Playboy” with two additional episodes that will delve further into Hugh Hefner and his legacy through conversations with women who have never spoken up before.

“Secrets of Playboy” examines Hefner’s Playboy empire, unearthing allegations of coercion, sexual assault, drugging and manipulation from various women over decades. Since its premiere this past January, it has become A&e’s most-watched series launch in more than five years.

“Secrets of Playboy” airs Monday nights. The two new hourlong episodes will begin airing on March 28 and won’t be documentary style, like the current 10-episode series has been formatted. Instead, they will present new conservations, hosted by investigative journalist and former Playboy model Lisa Guerrero.

The new episodes will explore “The Girls Next Door” chapter of Hefner’s reign, taking a look into the E! series that aired in the 2000’s and revolved around Hefner’s younger girlfriends,...

Netflix released a trailer for Dave Chappelle’s newest comedy special, “The Closer,” which premieres globally on the service Oct. 5.

The trailer features Morgan Freeman narrating over footage of Chappelle driving down a country road. “He’s deep in thought, back in the trance. Five specials in as many years. How do you close a body of work that profound?” asks Morgan. This stand-up special completes a body of work which includes previous specials “The Age of Spin,” “Deep In The Heart Of Texas” “Equanimity,” “The Bird Revelation” and “Stick & Stones.”

Stan Lathan returns to direct “The Closer,” having directed all of Chappelle’s previous specials. Watch the trailer below.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:

First Looks

HBO released a trailer for the second season of “We’re Here,” which premieres Oct. 11 at 9 p.m. With eight episodes total, each episode will debut weekly on HBO and will be...

Peacock has released a trailer for “Unidentified with Demi Lovato,” which premieres on Sept. 30.

The four-part UFO docuseries sees Lovato, their friend Matthew and their sister Dallas consult with leading experts, investigate eyewitness encounters, uncover government documents and conduct tests to search for the truth about UFOs. In the trailer, Lovato explains that they already believe in extraterrestrials, calling themself a “UFO experiencer” and recounting a trip to Joshua Tree where they saw a bright light moving erratically through the sky. In “Unidentified with Demi Lovato,” they aim to convince their family and friends of the same.

The show is produced by GoodStory Entertainment in association with Sb Projects. Executive producers include Lovato; Scooter Braun, Scott Manson and Allison Kaye on behalf of Sb Projects; Jd Roth, Adam Greener and Sara Hansemann on behalf of GoodStory; and Andrew Nock.

Watch the trailer below.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:...

Exclusive: Industrial Media, the parent company of American Idol producer 19 Entertainment and 90 Day Fiancé Sharp Entertainment, has hired former Blumhouse exec Roland Wieshofer as Chief Financial Officer as it looks to ramp up its M&a activity.

Wieshofer, who was previously CFO at the horror studio, will replace Scott Frosch who has served as the Company’s CFO and COO since its 2018 launch. Frosch will join Industrial Media’s Board of Directors.

Wieshofer, who will report to Industrial Media’s CEO Eli Holzman, will be responsible for financial leadership and strategy at the company and will manage acquisitions for the independent television production group.

Holzman said that its M&a capability will be “exponentially amplified” by the moves.

Industrial Media, which is backed by UTA, Crestview Partners and BlackRock Asset Management, includes The Intellectual Property Corporation, which produces HBO’s We’re Here and Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath, Sharp Entertainment,...

The Intellectual Property Corporation is bolstering its creative executive team following its recent acquisition by Industrial Media. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, CEO and President, respectively, of Industrial Media, have made a series of new executive appointments at the TV production company behind such series as the Emmy-winning Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath.

Leah Hariton and Erin Gamble will head up Ipc’s Current Programming department serving respectively as Evp and Svp, while Matt Shanfield joins the company as Svp of Development. In addition, Tobey List has been tapped as VP of Current Programming, Matt Zien has been promoted to VP of Development, Hoo In Kim has joined as Director of Current Programming, Alecia Ashby is set as Director of Production, Steve Erdman has been promoted to Director of Development, Matt Horowitz has joined the company as Manager of Development, Jamie Renberg has joined the company as Coordinator of Current Programming,...

In today’s TV News Roundup, Fox drops a clip from the first episode “The Simpsons” season 30 featuring Gal Gadot and Emily Deschanel.

First Looks

Bart takes a dare and ends up in the hospital in the 30th season premiere episode of “The Simpsons,” airing Sunday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt on Fox. Celebrities making guest-voice appearances include Gal Gadot, Emily Deschanel, Jonathan Groff, Dave Attell and Pete Holmes.

The first trailer for “Star Trek: Short Treks ‘Runaway'” dropped Thursday. Rolling out in four stand-alone 10-15 minute shorts, the stories will dive deeper into the characters from “Star Trek: Discovery,” in anticipation of its return in 2019. “Runaway” will focus on Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) as she encounters an unexpected visitor.

Dates

Bravo Media’s four-part docu-series “Welcome to Waverly” will premiere a new episode every night at 10 p.m. Et/Pt from Monday, Oct. 22 to Thursday, Oct. 25. Set in Waverly,...