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Exclusive: Queer advocacy group Out in Hollywood released its third annual list of the best unproduced queer-focused television pilot scripts of the past year.

The scripts that made it to the list underwent a blind evaluation process overseen by Out in Hollywood’s Board of Directors featuring an all-queer-identifying panel of judges conformed of proudly Out producers, studio and network executives.

“In 2023, our mission feels more urgent than ever. From the political attacks on queer identity and expression happening around the country to the WGA’s fight for–amongst other things–opportunity, equity and creative agency, creating space and a platform for queer writers remains a necessary act of both protest and joy,” Board member Maija Gustin said of this year’s list.

Scripts are evaluated based on criteria including the strength of the writer’s voice, viability of the project to be sold in today’s marketplace, conceptual freshness,...

Exclusive: Former ICM Partners TV literary and packaging agent Katie Cates is becoming a manager at Artists First. Cates spent the last eight years at ICM where she worked with writers, directors, actors, comedians and musicians. She is among the slew of ICM agents who departed on the eve of the agency’s acquisition by CAA last month.

At ICM, Cates worked with such established writer/showrunners as John Shiban (Ozark), Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin (The Flight Attendant), Matthew Carnahan (House of Lies) and Christy Stratton (Modern Family), Michelle Nader (Dollface), Karin Gist (Our Kind of People) Betsy Thomas (My Boys), Angeli Millan (Boomerang) and Matthew Newman (The Great Game), in addition to up-and-coming voices such as Marcos Luevanos (Love Victor), Emilia Serrano (Promised Land), Michelle Badillo (A League of Their Own), writer/director Becca Gleason (While You Were Breeding), creators Tim Schauer & Kuba Soltysiak (Boo Bitch) and playwrights...

The dark comedy TV series "Search Party" is now streaming its final season on HBO Max: 

"...in the new season, 'Dory' (Alia Shawkat) enters a very public business partnership with charismatic tech billionaire 'Tunnel Quinn' on the other side of her near-death experience. Dory folds her old friends 'Portia' (Meredith Hagner), 'Elliott' (John Early) and 'Drew' (John Reynolds) into the venture as they embark on an altruistic but terrifying journey..." 

Recurring guest stars include John Waters, Aparna Nancherla, Angela Trimbur, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Greta Titelman, Joe Castle Baker, Larry Owens, Michelle Badillo, Jeffery Self and Clare McNulty. 

Click the images to enlarge...

The dark comedy TV series "Search Party" streams its fifth and final season of 10 new episodes, January 7, 2022 on HBO Max: 

"...in the new season, 'Dory' (Alia Shawkat) enters a very public business partnership with charismatic tech billionaire 'Tunnel Quinn' on the other side of her near-death experience. Dory folds her old friends 'Portia' (Meredith Hagner), 'Elliott' (John Early) and 'Drew' (John Reynolds) into the venture as they embark on an altruistic but terrifying journey..." 

Recurring guest stars include John Waters, Aparna Nancherla, Angela Trimbur, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Greta Titelman, Joe Castle Baker, Larry Owens, Michelle Badillo, Jeffery Self and Clare McNulty. 

Click the images to enlarge...

Dory has an unlikely business partner in the trailer for Search Party‘s fifth and final season (premiering Friday, Jan. 7 on HBO Max).

The dark comedy’s first three seasons followed the amateur sleuths through “a messy private investigation, semi-accidental murder, absurd cover-up and sensational trial,” per the show’s official’s description. Season 4 saw Dory taken prisoner by deranged fan Chip, forcing her friends to again form a search party to find her.

More from TVLineSearch Party to End With Season 5: Get Premiere Date, See First PhotosSearch Party Adds Jeff Goldblum as Dory's [Spoiler] in Season 5Michael Keaton Suiting...

One of the funniest shows on TV is coming to an end.

The Max Original comedy series Search Party returns to HBO Max for its fifth and final season Friday, January 7, with all ten episodes available to binge.

After the way Search Party Season 4 wrapped, the end date was inevitable, but it doesn't make it any less tough.

The good news is that all of the episodes will be available to binge at once. Waiting week-to-week for a show in its final season can be tough.

"In the new season, Dory (Alia Shawkat) enters a very public business partnership with charismatic tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn (Jeff Goldblum) on the other side of her near-death experience," reads the official logline.

"Dory folds her old friends Portia (Meredith Hagner), Elliott (John Early) and Drew (John Reynolds) into the venture as they embark on an altruistic but terrifying journey."

Joining the cast are recurring guest stars Kathy Griffin,...

Time to call off the Search Party.

HBO Max’s cult-favorite comedy will end with its upcoming Season 5, TVLine has learned.

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The show’s final run will kick off on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, with all of the season’s 10 episodes available to watch via the streaming service.

The dark comedy’s first three seasons followed the amateur sleuths through “a messy private investigation,...

HBO Max announced that “Search Party” will end with its fifth season, which will premiere with all 10 episodes on Jan. 7, 2022.

The thriller comedy, which premiered on TBS in 2016 before moving to HBO Max for Season 3, follows a group of 20-somethings who end up on a dark path while searching for a missing college acquaintance. Season 5 will see Dory (Alia Shawkat) enter a business partnership with tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn (Jeff Goldblum) after a near death experience, bringing her friends Portia (Meredith Hagner), Elliott (John Early) and Drew (John Reynolds) along in the venture.

Cast members newly joining “Search Party” in Season 5 include Kathy Griffin, John Waters, Aparna Nancherla, Angela Trimbur, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Greta Titelman, Joe Castle Baker, Larry Owens and Michelle Badillo. Jeffery Self and Clare McNulty return as recurring guest stars.

Showrunners Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers executive produce with Michael Showalter and Jax Media’s Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez.

Angela Trimbur, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Greta Titelman, Joe Castle Baker (The Other Two), Larry Owens, Michelle Badillo and Aparna Nancherla have joined the Season 5 cast of HBO’s acclaimed comedy Search Party in recurring roles.

Trimbur, Kuhlenschmidt, Titelman, Castle Baker, Owens and Badilloare will portray Dory’s (Alia Shawkat) “disciples,” who join her in her grand existential pursuit, and Nancherla joins as Tunnel Quinn’s (Jeff Goldblum) head scientist.

Created by Charles Rogers and Sarah-Violet Bliss, Search Party stars Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early and Meredith Hagner. The first three seasons followed best friends Dory (Shawkat), Drew (Reynolds), Elliott (Early) and Portia (Hagner) through a messy private investigation, semi-accidental murder, absurd cover-up and sensational trial. In Season 4, Dory was held prisoner by her psychotic stalker (Cole Escola), forcing Drew,...

“Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris’ willingness to tackle tough topics on primetime network television – including police brutality, corporal punishment, and the 2016 election – “opens minds and hearts into a window into a world many folks don’t understand,” said one of the show’s stars, Marcus Scribner, in honoring Barris at the 44th Annual Humanitas Prize awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Friday night.

“In the space of 30 minutes, Kenya is able to weave these stories that have never been told on television before, and I think that’s why he’s such an amazing artist,” said Scribner, who plays teenage son Andre Johnson, Jr. on the ABC show. “He’s never out to make bank; he’s there to make change.”

Scribner accepted the Voice for Change award on behalf of Barris, who could not attend due to a family emergency. Humanitas says the award is designed to honor a...

Exclusive: Women’s advocacy organization WeForShe has selected 20 unproduced female-written television scripts, plus an additional five “scripts to watch” for its fifth annual WriteHer List.

The scripts were selected from a record 500-plus nominations and evaluated based on criteria including diversity of cast, the number and quality of female roles, and the Bechdel Test — a measure of female representation in fiction. A group of network and studio execs, showrunners, producers and directors curated the list.

The scripts include Almost Olympian by Emma Jay, La Coyote by Rebecca Feldman, Vesta by Jenny Deiker Restivo and Thorns by Caroline Levich & Michelle Badillo.

The WriteHer List, introduced in 2015, is one of the tools created by WeForShe for use by the entertainment industry’s content creators and decision-makers to help increase the number of women working in entertainment.

“We are thrilled to see how the engagement has grown with the community year over year,...

Box office blockbusters such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” and small screen series including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “One Day at a Time” and “This Is Us” are among the finalists for the 44th annual Humanitas Prize, Humanitas executive director Cathleen Young and president Ali LeRoi announced Tuesday.

“It’s always an honor and a privilege to lift up writers who are passionate about telling stories that entertain us, but also deeply explore what it means to be a human in a way that promotes peace and love,” Young said.

A total of 58 writers are nominated for their work in the 30-minute comedy, 60-minute drama, children’s teleplay, independent feature film, drama feature film, comedy feature film, family feature film and documentary categories. The prize was created to celebrate writers “whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.”

“Humanitas enjoyed an embarrassment of riches this year,...

Disney/Marvel’s blockbuster Black Panther and NBC’s This Is Us are among the nominees for the 44th annual Humanitas Prize. Winners will be revealed in a ceremony February 8 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The prize was created to honor film and TV writers whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.

The February ceremony will also also honor Marta Kauffman with The Kieser Award and Kenya Barris

with the Voice For Change Award.

Here are the nominees:

60-minute Drama

God Friended Me, “Pilot” Written by Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt

Orange Is The New Black, “Be Free” Written by Brian Chamberlayne

The Good Doctor, “More” Written by David Shore and Lloyd Gilyard Jr.

This Is Us, “This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life” Written by Kay Oyegun

30-minute Comedy

Dear White People, “Volume 2: Chapter VIII” Written by Jack Moore

One Day At A Time, “Hello, Penelope” Written...

“13 Reasons Why,” “One Day at a Time,” and “Glow” were among the television shows honored at the 2018 Sentinel Awards.

“We will keep telling these stories that make us all uncomfortable, and force conversations between kids and parents, and all of us. And our hope is to encourage more people to believe survivors,” said “13 Reasons Why” producer Joy Gorman Wettels at the 19th annual ceremony Wednesday.

The awards, which are presented by Hollywood, Health & Society (Hh&S), a program of The Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, celebrate shows that spotlight important topics like nuclear safety, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, autism, sexual assault, mental health and disabilities. This year the 12 honorees were “13 Reasons Why” (sexual assault), “Chicago Med” (HIV/AIDS), “Empire” (abortion), “Glow” (abortion), “General Hospital” (Alheizmer’s diseas), “Grey’s Anatomy” (maternal health), “Jane The Virgin” (breast cancer), Madam...