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Exclusive: Lionsgate has picked up Rager, an adult comedy from Imagine Entertainment, which Jon Kasdan (Solo: A Star Wars Story) will direct from his script written with Emmy nominee Dan Klein.

While plot details are under wraps, we hear the film is in the spirit of The Hangover. Imagine developed the script with Kasdan and Klein and sold it on spec. Producers will include Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum, with Justin Wilkes exec producing.

In addition to co-writing Solo: A Star Wars Story, which Imagine Entertainment principal Ron Howard directed for Disney/Lucasfilm, Kasdan is known for writing and showrunning Disney+’s Willow, co-produced by Imagine. He also wrote and directed the romantic comedy, The First Time, starring Britt Robertson and Dylan O’Brien, as well as Warner Bros’ In the Land of Women, starring Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart, and Meg Ryan.

Emmy-nominated for his writing on the Jon Stewart...

The “Big Bang Theory” spinoff series in the works at Max has found its first three cast members.

Variety has learned from sources that Brian Posehn, Lauren Lapkus, and Kevin Sussman will all star in the potential show, which was originally announced as being in development at Max back in April 2023. Exact plot details remain under wraps but all three actors would reprise their roles from the original series.

The show remains in development and has not been greenlit to series at this time, with Posehn, Sussman, and Lapkus currently under talent holding deals. “Big Bang Theory” co-creator Chuck Lorre is executive producing the new project via Chuck Lorre Productions, with Lorre currently under an overall deal with series studio Warner Bros. Television.

Reps for Wbtv and Max declined to comment.

Sussman famously played comic book store owner Stuart Bloom on “The Big Bang Theory” beginning in the show’s second season,...

John Slattery will join the upcoming USA Network drama “The Rainmaker” as Leo F. Drummond, the main antagonist of the story in the original John Grisham novel and its 1997 film adaptation, NBCUniversal announced Monday.

The character is described in a release as “one of Grisham’s most iconic characters … a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rudy Baylor is up against.”

It has yet to be announced who will play the lead of Baylor, portrayed in the film version by Matt Damon. The series is described in its logline as featuring the “fresh out of law school” Baylor taking on Drummond, “as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

Slattery received four Best Support Actor Emmy Award nominations for his...

USA Network has found its star for their reboot of John Grisham’s The Rainmaker.

Mad Men alum John Slattery will be leading the yet-to-be-announced cast of the drama from Lionsgate Television and Blumhouse Television that counts Grisham, along with writer Michael Seitzman (Code Black, Intelligence), Jason Richman (Stumptown, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon), David Gernert and Jason Blum as executive producers. Richman and Seitzman co-wrote the pilot.

Slattery will play Leo F. Drummond, one of Grisham’s most iconic characters, a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rainmaker protagonist Rudy Baylor is up against.

The logline reads: “Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond (Slettery) as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.

John Slattery has been cast in a lead role of “The Rainmaker” series at USA Network.

The show was originally picked up at the cabler back in June and is based on the iconic John Grisham novel of the same name. Slattery will portray Leo F. Drummond. The character is described as “a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rudy Baylor is up against.”

The official logline for the series states, “Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

The role of Rudy Baylor has yet to be cast.

Slattery is best known for his role in the AMC series “Mad Men,” for which he received...

Exclusive: John Slattery has joined the cast of USA Network’s drama series The Rainmaker, based on the bestselling John Grisham novel of the same name.

In a series regular role, Slattery will portray one of Grisham’s most iconic characters, Leo F. Drummond, a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rudy Baylor is up against. Jon Voight played Leo in the Francis Ford Coppola directed film adaptation of the novel released in 1997.

From writer and executive producer Michael Seitzman, the Lionsgate and Blumhouse series follows Rudy Baylor who, fresh out of law school, goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond and his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.

The Rainmaker received a series order by the NBCUniversal cable network in June,...

Long before it was announced that Hugh Jackman would be returning as Wolverine in Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool 3, fans were extremely curious about where the story was going to go. The first two films were iconic in every way, bringing about some of the most out-of-pocket and hilarious scenes from the entire franchise. While no one expected any less from the third film, they were still curious about the direction it would go in.

Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine I Marvel Studios

During a recent interview, Reynolds became quite candid about what he wanted to do before Jackman was on board. It would seem that several ideas were being thrown around, and it was interesting, to say the least.

Mephisto Almost Has His Big Moment

Mephisto has been rumored to appear in a Marvel project for years. With the speculations starting with WandaVision, fans have wanted him to finally make his MCU debut,...

It’s a Date Night reunion for Steve Carell and Tina Fey in a new adaptation of the 1981 rom-com The Four Seasons.

The former co-stars are set to lead the upcoming series, which will see Fey teaming up with longtime collaborators Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield to write the comedy. Will Forte (Bodkin) is also joining the show as a series regular, along with Colman Domingo (Rustin), Kerri Kenney-Silver (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp), and Erika Henningsen (Girls5Eva).

The film — which was written and directed by Alan Alda and stars Alda, Carol Burnett, and Rita Moreno — follows three couples who vacation together every season but whose worlds are upended when one of them divorces.

Netflix has ordered eight episodes of the series, which is produced by Universal Television and will begin filming later in 2024.

The comedy dream team of Fey, Fisher, and Wigfield first...

Three years have gone by since we heard that Olivia Scott Welch of Shudder’s The Sacrifice Game and Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy would be starring in writer/director George Baron’s feature debut The Blue Rose, which is described as a surreal, genre-bending noir film… and now we finally know when we’re going to have a chance to see The Blue Rose. Dark Sky Films has announced that they will be giving the film a digital/VOD and limited theatrical release on July 12th! Along with that announcement comes the unveiling of a trailer, which you can check out in the embed above.

Set in the 1950s, The Blue Rose follows the one-night journey of two rookie detectives as they set out to solve a seemingly clear-cut homicide, only to find themselves in an alternate reality of their worst nightmares.

Welch takes on the role of Detective Lilly,...

When walking into a film like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the problem with prequel stories cannot help but linger in the back of one’s mind: Can there be excitement in telling us a story we already know? Indiana Jones can’t die in Temple of Doom and Anakin Skywalker will grow up to become Darth Vader. It’s inevitable. Some prequels manage to navigate that hurdle by completely subverting our expectations (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me), largely functioning as standalone experiences (X-Men: First Class), or by simply parodying their very concepts (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp). No matter the solution, what we know remains a constant issue that needs to be accounted for.

In recent years, more prequel stories have strangely embraced that issue. Many modern movie prequels get made because we know almost everything about those stories, those characters, and that world. That...

Some celebrities have a big name that fans immediately recognize. Others have less of a reputation but just as much talent.

Josh Charles is a mildly successful actor with over forty credits in his portfolio. His career has spanned movies and TV series since the 1980s. While most of his work is lesser known, he's had a few breakthrough roles fans love.

Despite rarely being the main star, Charles has stayed relevant on screen, from his most known character in The Good Wife to his newest endeavor, FX's The Veil. Some of his earlier work should be on everyone's must-watch list.

Josh Charles started his acting career as a supporting character in the 1980s version of Hairspray. A year later, he scored his breakout role alongside Robin Williams -- one of the greatest actors of the time -- in Dead Poet's Society.

With time, Charles achieved success starring on...

A production assistant who worked on the Max original series “Search Party” has accused showrunner Charles Rogers of drugging and sexually assaulting him in 2020.

A past investigation by the network into the alleged assault cleared Rogers, but Evan Schwartz said he was “gaslit” into “exonerating” the writer-producer in social media posts shared on Saturday.

“The facts speak for themselves as evidenced by this individual’s decision to retract his own statement amid a thorough, third-party investigation which found no wrongdoing. Charles unequivocally denies this claim regarding a mutually consensual relationship,” an individual close to Rogers said in a statement to TheWrap.

This is a selfie Charles Rogers took on my phone the morning after sexually assaulting me in 2020. I was his driver on the shoot for Search Party. After he took this selfie he joked, “I have a lawyer in case someone me too’s me”. I don’t remember falling asleep that night.

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” is bringing back a familiar writer to the team. A.D. Miles, a longtime collaborator of Fallon’s who was previously head writer on the NBC late-night talk show, is returning to the show, Variety has confirmed.

Mason Steinberg, who was hired in the role last year, is exiting.

Miles stepped down from the head writer position back in 2017 to pursue acting and narrative television and film writing. By then, he had worked with Fallon for the past eight years, with the two meeting at NBC‘s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” which aired between 2009 to 2014, before Fallon took over “The Tonight Show.” They have collaborated on over 1,500 episodes of late-night television.

Miles appeared in multiple segments on “The Tonight Show,” most notably as stepdad Gary in Fallon’s series of “Ew!” sketches, which have featured such celebrities as Emma Stone, Taylor Swift and Drew Barrymore.

Paul Rudd became popular thanks to a succession of iconic films like Clueless and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. These days, he isn’t just a star of comedies. He’s a bonafide action hero as well, and a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Still, Rudd has never forgotten his roots, and the movies that helped to make him a star. In a recent interview, the actor discussed one of his earliest hits, the cult classic comedy Wet Hot American Summer, revealing why even making the movie was like being in summer camp.

Paul Rudd had a featured role in ‘Wet Hot American Summer’

Rudd was born in 1969. By the early ’90s begun acting in a variety of TV commercials and other smaller projects. His first major film role was in the 1995 comedy Clueless. Over the years that followed, he acted in several popular movies, including Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers...

Paul Rudd. Despite being in the entertainment industry for over three decades, he has managed to remain relevant and consistently deliver remarkable performances. In this article, we’ll explore the various roles that defined his acting journey, and the reasons behind his enduring appeal. So, buckle up as we take you through the fascinating world of Paul Rudd!

Paul Rudd. Depostiphotos Introduction to Paul Rudd

Born on April 6, 1969, in Passaic, New Jersey, Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. He grew up in a Jewish household and attended the University of Kansas, where he studied theatre. Later on, he furthered his acting education by attending the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts, followed by the British American Drama Academy in London.

Rudd’s professional acting career began in the early 1990s, with initial appearances in television shows such as “Sisters” and “The Moment of Truth.” However, it...

The HBO Original stand-up comedy special John Early: Now More Than Ever airs on HBO in June and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Logline: In his first HBO comedy special, John Early brings his unique blend of cutting commentary, pop star swagger, and all-around loveable hilarity to Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. In the style of a gritty 70s rockumentary, Early performs stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.

John Early quote: “I am so excited to finally come out to the world as the lead singer of my band John Early and The Lemon Squares. I had the time of my life singing some of my favorite songs and sweating my brains out at the taping, and I can’t wait for more people to finally see this sacred show I’ve been doing some...

John Early has set his first HBO special with “Now More Than Ever,” a stand-up comedy hour in the style of a “gritty ’70s rockumentary.”

Airing on HBO and available to stream on HBO Max on June 17, the special will feature “stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.”

Among his other credits including “Would It Kill You to Laugh?” and “Search Party,” Early is known for whipping out his famous Britney Spears impression on late night television. Perhaps he’ll reprise his rendition of “Lucky” or Spears’ lesser-known Christmas song “My Only Wish (This Year)” in the special.

“I am so excited to finally come out to the world as the lead singer of my band John Early and The Lemon Squares,” Early said in a statement. “I had the time of my life singing some of my favorite songs...

Exclusive: David Wain, the man behind the comedy classic Wet Hot American Summer, has signed with Entertainment 360.

Wain has had himself quite the career with hit comedies including Role Models and Wanderlust, but he’s best known for Wet Hot American Summer. The film has gained a loyal following since it first came out in 2001, with Netflix taking notice and moving forward with the Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp limited series in 2015, with Wain directing all eight episodes and writing several. The streamer was so happy with the first series that it greenlighted Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later in 2017.

On top of that, he’s also been busy with the TV series Childrens Hospital as well Medical Police. Wain is currently developing several projects including one with Elizabeth Banks and another with Zoë Kravitz.

He is also repped by WME.

David Wain's "Wet Hot American Summer" is the proper definition of a cult classic. When the film was released in 2001, it was both a critical and commercial flop, failing to make back a majority of its relatively cheap production budget. Despite the film's financial woes, the stars were aligned on this set for the film to become an eventual raunchy sleep-over classic.

One reason the film has endured through the years is that the casting director, Susie Farris, struck gold with this ensemble cast, which is mostly made up of some of comedy's then-up-and-comers who would become major stars down the line. Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Molly Shannon, and Elizabeth Banks, the list goes on. Then there was a young version of everyone's favorite goofball, Paul Rudd, fresh off of "Clueless," he turned in a delightfully sardonic performance as camp counselor Andy.

This week, in honor of the release...

Exclusive: Avantika (Senior Year), Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Bebe Wood have landed major roles in Paramount Pictures’ film adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway hit, Mean Girls, which is itself based on the classic Paramount comedy of the same name.

The actors join an ensemble for the Paramount+-bound feature that also includes Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey, as previously announced.

Mean Girls choreographer Kyle Hanagami

The original film adapted by Tina Fey from the Rosalind Wiseman book Queen Bees and Wannabes follows high school new girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) in her attempt to fit in with A-list girl clique, The Plastics. The effort is sabotaged when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George. Premiering on stage at Washington, D.C.’s National Theatre in 2017 and jumping to Broadway the following year,...

Every day I think about “Lost.”

This is not about my undying love for the serpentine ABC drama from 2004 (though don’t tempt me); Lost was this TV fan’s first exposure to flashback-based storytelling in a TV show, which it didn’t invent but certainly deployed with enviable efficacy. Each Lost episode focused on a specific character, following their narrative in the present and a related chapter of their past via flashback. It’s a format viewers will recognize from “Yellowjackets,” “Orange is the New Black,“ “This is Us,” and more — but the flashback structure takes on a twisted new form in Netflix’s “Firefly Lane,” which returned Friday for a second season.

“Firefly Lane,” based on the novel by Kristin Hannah, centers around the friendship of Tully (Katherine Heigl) and Kate (Sarah Chalke) throughout their lives. Any given episode tracks between three and four timelines; the girls’ teen years in the 1970s,...

When Krister Johnson brought on NFL running back Marshawn Lynch as a guest star for the improvised murder mystery-comedy, “Murderville,” no one had any idea what to expect. He was very quiet when he met him at the fitting but on set things changed very quickly. “He bounces into his first scene and is asking to change his name to Baggobich and he’s cussing and excited. After his taping, Will Arnett came back to video village and we felt like we captured lightening in a bottle,” he tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). He did cause a bit of concern when he unexpectedly tackled Rob Huebel during a take and Johnson thought Lynch may have crushed his windpipe. “As soon as the take ended, I ran out to Rob and I was like, ‘Are you okay,’ and he was like, ‘I’m fine.

Exclusive: Jason Schwartzman, the award-winning actor, writer, director, producer and musician who will next be seen as the lead in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City opposite Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie and many more, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

Schwartzman has featured in almost all of Anderson’s films, including Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and his recently-released anthology, The French Dispatch. He co-wrote 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited with Anderson and Roman Coppola and shared “Story By” credit on The French Dispatch with Anderson, Coppola and Hugo Guinness, sharing that credit on Isle of Dogs with Anderson, Coppola and Kunichi Nomura.

Schwartzman has also worked with such notable filmmakers as Judd Apatow, David O. Russell, Amy Poehler, Tim Burton, Sofia Coppola and Alex Ross Perry, among others. His film credits also include Sing 2,...

Exclusive: Olivia Scott Welch has signed on to star opposite George Baron (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp) in The Blue Rose, a surreal genre-bender he wrote and is directing, in his feature debut.

The noir pic is set in the 1950s, following the one-night journey of two rookie detectives as they set out to solve a homicide, only to find themselves in an alternate reality made up of their worst nightmares.

Welch will play Detective Lilly, with Baron portraying Detective Dalton.

Sarena Khan and Andra Gordon are producing under their Athena Pictures banner with Jay Van Hoy of Parts & Labor and Tracie Dalton exec producing. Production on the indie kicks off in Los Angeles later this month.

“We are so thrilled to support George in bringing his wonderfully inventive vision to life — one of those rare gems that defies expectations at every turn,” Athena...

Exclusive: Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Joe Lo Truglio is making his feature directorial debut with the horror movie Outpost which will begin production on Monday, July 11. The actor, writer and producer bills the pic as a “nightmare on a mountain, about a woman fighting demons – and the demons are winning.”

Joining Beth Dover (Orange Is The New Black) is an ensemble cast that includes Dylan Baker, Becky Ann Baker, Dallas Roberts, Ta’Rea Campbell, and Ato Essandoh.

Lifelong horror fan Lo Truglio says, “It seemed like the perfect time to pivot and do something I’ve wanted to do since I was thirteen: make a scary movie. And to do it with friends, new and old – that’s the dream. We’re lucky.”

Lo Truglio produces alongside Kara Baker (Zola) and Joe Mortimer.

“Made for Love” showrunner Christina Lee usually prefers to write at coffee shops in her Los Angeles neighborhood because at home “there’s always some laundry to fold or toys to put away or a bed to lie down on,” she says with a laugh. So, adjusting to working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic meant making big changes to her space to help her focus.

“I Marie Kondo-ed my office,” she says. “I’m someone who doesn’t like a lot of clutter to begin with, but when you have a husband, a kid, cats, that’s not always up to you. So, I made my office my sanctuary, and I got rid of anything that wasn’t 100% necessary and didn’t, as she would say, spark joy. Usually I only need my laptop or some Post-Its, so what’s in here is [here] to put me in a good headspace.

Michael Showalter and Jordana Mollick of Semi-Formal Productions have signed a two-year first-look deal at HBO Max.

Showalter is a co-creator and executive producer on the critically-acclaimed series “Search Party,” which moved over to HBO Max from TBS for its third season. The fourth season of the series debuted on Jan. 14 with fifth already ordered.

Showalter also has a number of TV projects set up across different streaming services currently. He is presently working on the Hulu series “The Dropout,” based on the true story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, with Amanda Seyfried in the lead role. He also recently wrapped production on “The Shrink Next Door” at Apple, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd and based on the Wondery Podcast of the same name. His past credits include features like “The Lovebirds,” “The Big Sick,” and “Wet Hot American Summer,” the latter of which inspired the Netflix shows “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp...

Exclusive: Thomas Barbusca and Adreinne Wells will dive into the chaos of Wall Street in the 80s as they join Showtime’s Black Monday in recurring roles.

Barbusca will play Werner, a Young Republican assigned as an aide on the congressional staff of Blair (Andrew Rannells). Werner is more ambitious and less sycophantic than he initially seems.

Newcomer Wells will play Nomi, a self-possessed young talent with the voice to prove it, who quickly becomes the crown jewel in the new business venture of Mo (Don Cheadle).

Black Monday, which also stars Regina Hall and Paul Scheer, follows a motley crew of underdogs causing the worst stock market crash in the history of Wall Street. The series, which was renewed for season 3 in October, is created by David Caspe and Jordan Cahan, who serve as executive producers and showrunners. Black Monday is also executive produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Anthony King has signed on as showrunner and executive producer for Season 2 of “Woke” at Hulu, Variety has learned exclusively.

He takes over from Season 1 showrunner Jay Dyer. In his new role, King will work alongside series co-creators Marshall Todd and Keith Knight, with Knight’s life and art serving as the inspiration for the series.

“I am really excited to add Anthony to the team,” Knight said. “He’s written for some great shows, and consistently brings the funny every time. Together with my co-pilots Marshall and Mo, we are cooking up some really neat stuff for Season 2, and we’re looking forward to Anthony’s contributions.”

King previously co-created and executive produced “Robbie” for Comedy Central and has developed shows for CBS, HBO, TBS and AMC. He’s also written and produced for “Silicon Valley,” “Dead To Me,” “Search Party,” “Broad City,” “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp...

As the undisputed market leaders in the streaming wars, by default Netflix are under the most pressure to deliver the strongest lineup of content to their subscribers. The other combatants are still in the process of building their in-house libraries, while Netflix already have some of the biggest and most popular TV shows on the planet at their disposal.

Stranger Things is unquestionably the marquee title, but The Witcher isn’t far behind after racking up a massive 76 million viewers in a matter of weeks, while the recent return of The Umbrella Academy cemented the comic book adaptation’s status as one of the platform’s heaviest hitters. Throw in prestige dramas like The Crown, hit comedies Glow and Sex Education along with buzzy new additions Warrior Nun and Cursed, and Netflix’s lineup is one that any streaming service or network would be envious of.

One problem people often find,...

(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.) The Series: Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp Where You Can Stream It: Netflix The Pitch: 14 years after Wet Hot American Summer became a cult classic, creators David Wain and […]

The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp’ Reframes and Enriches the Movie appeared first on /Film.

With the “Parks and Rec” cast reuniting for a scripted special benefitting Feeding America, both original fans and those who binge-watched the show via streaming are surely in for a treat. Almost all cast members will be in character for the half-hour reunion, including Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O’Heir and Retta, as well as a few of the series’ guest stars.

But, what have these actors been up to since the series finale in February 2015? From Poehler’s role as Susie in the revamped “Wet Hot American Summer” series to Pratt’s breakthrough in the world of Marvel, here’s an update on the talent behind your favorite Pawnee residents.

Amy Poehler (Leslie Knope)

Since her time as Leslie Knope, deputy director of the parks and recreation department turned deputy director of the department of interior, Poehler...

Law & Order: Svu faithful, prepare to get chung-chung!‘d: Christopher Meloni is going to play Elliot Stabler again… in a new series centered on the fan-favorite detective.

Meloni’s Stabler will be the boss in a Svu spinoff set in the organized crime division of the New York City Police Department, our sister site Deadline reports. NBC has given the new show, which hails from prolific executive producer Dick Wolf, a 13-episode Season 1 order.

More from TVLineNFL Postseason Expands to 14 Teams, Adds a Wild Card Telecast for KidsManifest Crisis: Is Michaela to Blame for Things Going 'Horribly Wrong'?...

Molly Shannon has signed on to the Showtime half-hour comedy pilot “Big Deal,” Variety has learned.

She joins previously announced lead Vanessa Bayer in the pilot, in which Bayer plays a character who overcame childhood leukemia to achieve her lifelong dream of landing a job as a successful home shopping channel host. Shannon will star as Jackie, the charismatic, popular host at the network. Bayer’s character is inspired by her own life.

Like Bayer, Shannon is a “Saturday Night Live” alum. One of her signature characters, Mary Katherine Gallagher, led to Shannon starring in a standalone film titled “Superstar” in 1999. She was also nominated for an Emmy for her work on “SNL” in 2000, one of three Emmy nominations Shannon has netted throughout her career. She was also nominated for her work on “Enlightened” in 2013 and for “Will & Grace” in 2018. Her recent TV credits include the critically-acclaimed Comedy Central...

Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell are reuniting to star in a series adaptation of the Wondery and Bloomberg Media podcast “The Shrink Next Door,” Variety has learned. The series is in development at Media Rights Capital (Mrc) Television with no network or streaming service currently attached.

Inspired by true events, “The Shrink Next Door” is described as a dark comedy following the bizarre relationship between psychiatrist to the stars Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Rudd) and his longtime patient Martin “Marty” Markowitz (Ferrell). Over the course of their relationship, Ike slowly takes over Marty’s life, even moving into Marty’s home and taking over his family business.

Should the project move forward, it would mark Ferrell and Rudd’s first onscreen collaboration since “Anchorman 2” in 2013, which was of course a sequel to the seminal 2004 comedy “Anchorman.” Both men will also executive produce “The Shrink Next Door” in addition to starring.

HBO Max, the upcoming WarmerMedia streaming service, has given pilot orders to single-camera comedy Gumshoe, from writers Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz, director Randall Einhorn (The Kids Are Alright) and Conan O’Brien’s Conaco; and 1990s drama Vegas High, from writer Sarah-Raquel Jimenez, director Gillian Robespierre (Mrs. Fletcher) and Michael Showalter’s Semi-Formal Prods. HBO Max is the studio on both.

Written by Brownstein and Ganz (Santa Clarita Diet) and directed by Einhorn (The Kids Are Alright), Gumshoe is about a sweet, optimistic young cop and a creepy, crime-obsessed teenager who secretly team up to solve a murder.

Longtime writing partners Brownstein and Ganz wrote Gumshoe on spec and sold it to HBO Max. They will serve as showrunners on the pilot, which they will executive produce with Einhorn as well Conaco’s O’Brien, David Kissinger, Jeff Ross, and Larry Sullivan.

Written by Jimenez and directed by Robespierre, Vegas High...

WarnerMedia has given a four-episode pilot order to a daily sitcom called “Today’s Special” from “Wet Hot American Summer” creator David Wain and “Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” writer A.D. Miles.

The scripted, single-camera comedy is described as blending the storytelling mechanics of a daily soap opera with the tone and style of a single-camera sitcom and the topical responsiveness of late-night TV. It would take place in a 24-hour diner that serves as a hub for a diverse group of staff and regulars, whose lives intertwine in ongoing storylines while also reacting to trending topics and the day’s headlines.

No word yet on which WarnerMedia property the project is being developed for.

Frequent collaborators David Wain and A.D. Miles are teaming up to develop a daily sitcom for WarnerMedia, Variety has learned.

The project, titled “Today’s Special,” has been given a pilot order plus a four episode commitment, given that the show will be shot and aired daily should it go to series. It takes place in a 24-hour diner which serves as a hub for a diverse group of characters. The lives of the staff and regulars intertwine in ongoing storylines while also reacting to trending topics and the day’s headlines.

The project does not have an official network home under the WarnerMedia umbrella at this time, and could potentially air on one of the linear networks like TBS or on the streaming service HBO Max.

Jax Media will produce the series, with Wain and Miles serving as producers in addition to creating the format.

Wain previously co-wrote and...

WarnerMedia Entertainment has given a pilot order to Today’s Special. It consists of a 4-episode pickup for the daily sitcom from David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), A.D. Miles (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) and Jax Media. The unusual order stems from the project’s format — it will be shot and aired daily. It hasn’t been decided yet which WarnerMedia network/platform the potential series would be for.

Today’s Special is described as an ambitious new television format that blends the story-telling mechanics of a daily soap opera, the tone and style of a single camera sitcom, and the topical responsiveness of late night television. It takes place in a 24-hour diner which serves as a hub for a diverse group of characters. The lives of the staff and regulars intertwine in ongoing storylines while also reacting to trending topics and the day’s headlines.

Networks...

Netflix has put in an eight-episode order of “Brews Brothers,” a comedy series from creative sibling team Greg Schaffer and Jeff Schaffer.

The show follows estranged brothers Wilhelm and Adam Rodman, who wind up running a brewery together. According to Netflix, each is a “beer genius … but they couldn’t be more different in their beer-making techniques and personalities. A lot of times in a show you see two people who complete each other. These two don’t even make a full person.”

Alan Aisenberg and Mike Castle will play Wilhelm and Adam, respectively. Carmen Flood has been tapped to play Sarah, while Marques Ray will play Chuy.

Greg Schaffer of “That 70’s Show,” “Notes From the Underbelly” and “Lab Rats” will serve as showrunner, executive producer and writer.

“The League” creator Jeff Schaffer — of “Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and the upcoming Lil Dicky comedy series on FX — will executive...

Elizabeth Banks has joined the cast of the upcoming FX limited series “Mrs. America,” Variety has learned.

The series tells the story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (Era), and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, played by Cate Blanchett. Banks will play Jill Ruckelshaus, a pro-choice, socially progressive Republican who was appointed by President Ford to advance women’s rights and fought to keep the Republican Party from being taken over by Phyllis Schlafly and the Religious Right.

Banks joins a cast that not only includes Blanchett, but also Uzo Aduba, Rose Byrne, Kayli Carter, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey, James Marsden, Margo Martindale, Sarah Paulson, John Slattery, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Tracey Ullman.

Banks’ recent television roles include “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later” and “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp,” “Modern Family,” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” On the film side,...

Netflix has given a 10-episode series order to Medical Police, starring Childrens Hospital alums Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel, from former Childrens Hospital executive producers Rob Corddry, Jonathan Stern and David Wain and co-executive producer Krister Johnson, as well as Warner Horizon Scripted TV. Several other Childrens Hospital alums, Lake Bell, Corddry, Ken Marino and Malin Akerman, are set for recurring roles.

Medical Police, which had been in the works for awhile, including at TBS at one point, is considered an offshoot of Corddry’s Emmy-winning Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. He had hinted in interviews that he was working on a spinoff series.

Written by Corddry, Johnson, Stern and Wain and directed by Wain and Bill Benz, Medical Police is described as an action-packed thriller, mystery and love story. It centers on two American physicians (Hayes and Huebel) stationed at a pediatric hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, who discover a civilization-threatening virus.

Rafe Spall (The Big Short), Mad Men alum John Slattery and Fargo standout Allison Tolman are set as the leads in Hulu’s political, dystopian half-hour comedy pilot Kansas City, from Amblin TV and Sony Pictures TV.

Set in Kansas City, the single-camera project, which has yet to get a formal pilot greenlight but already is in production, was written by Zev Borow (Lethal Weapon), with Rhys Thomas (Comrade Detective) set to direct.

Kansas City is set in a future where the city is separated by a wall between liberals and conservatives. Absurd misinformation and enmity rage as the two cities aim to undermine each other. In West Kansas City, political heavyweight Ellis Brookmeyer (Slattery) holds sway. His former son-in-law, Ben Graham (Spall), lives in East K.C. and yearns to be reunited with his daughter Clarissa (who lives in West K.C.). To accomplish this Ben gets involved with an East K.

Everything about Amy Schumer’s wedding to Chris Fischer was a surprise — including who the happy couple chose to officiate the nuptials.

Schumer and Fischer tied the knot in a private ceremony in Malibu, California, on Tuesday, exchanging vows in front of about 80 people, including Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lawrence, Jake Gyllenhaal, Larry David and David Spade.

Just hours after the news broke on Thursday, the Trainwreck star posted a few photos from their intimate occasion, including one of comedian John Early — who married the couple while dressed in drag as “Vicky,” a character he has previously played in Netflix’s original series The Characters.

Apple is taking a bite out of Kristen Wiig.

The former Saturday Night Live star is set to headline a half-hour, Reese Witherspoon-produced comedy series for the company, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A studio is not yet attached.

RELATEDNew J.J. Abrams Sci-Fi Drama Series Demimonde Sparks Heated Bidding War Between HBO and Apple

Inspired by You Think It, I’ll Say It — an upcoming collection of short stories by Curtis Sittenfeld, who will serve as a consulting producer — the yet-untitled comedy, which has been ordered for 10 episodes, marks Apple’s first scripted comedy order. It also marks...

Lake Bell‘s daughter may only be 2½-years-old, but the actress wants little Nova to know from a young age that her mom is comfortable in her own skin.

“I hope to send her the message that women are beautiful, truly, at every age, and there’s this tremendous privilege to age,” Bell shares in the September issue of Good Housekeeping.

She adds, “There’s this sort of responsibility as the mother of a girl in that I want to be comfortable with aging and I don’t want her to see me afraid of that, because I don’t...

I have never been the biggest fan of the original ‘Wet Hot American Summer‘. Although it has attained cult status over the years, I never found the film to be memorable as others do. In fact, when Netflix revived the franchise a little over two years ago with an eight episode prequel series titled “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp“, I pretty much had the same feeling. With the latest entry in the revival, “Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later“, we finally get a true sequel to the original. And the premise is simple: the campers and counsels of camp firewood reunite a decade later to fulfill their promise made in the first film. Hilarity ensues. But the question still remains; does it follow the aforementioned trend of it’s predecessors? Well, the simple answer is no–but the more complicated answer, is inevitably yes.

For me,...

There is a ridiculous number of original series available on Netflix right now — so many it’s almost impossible to keep up with them. Even Netflix seems to have a tough time making sure its viewers know about its shows. We dug into the annals of Netflix series and plucked out the very best ones for your enjoyment. Here they are in order of great to phenomenal. 25. “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” A prequel to the movie “Wet Hot American Summer,” the Netflix series brings together a huge number of hilarious people for a zany parody of.

If you watched Netflix's Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later, the sequel to Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, you may have noticed that Bradley Cooper looks like a little different.

That's because it's Adam Scott! You know, the lovable Parks and Recreation and Party Down star. Scott

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In 2001, David Wain teamed up with his fellow Stella and The State alum Michael Showalter to write a loving yet irreverent ode to their summer camp experiences, which Wain directed. Wet Hot American Summer failed to make much of an impact at first (and still stands only at 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). But the movie eventually became a beloved cult comedy (scoring the number-one spot on our list of best comedies since 2000), and many then-unknowns in the young cast—Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Michael Ian Black—quickly went on to stardom.

Based on that ever-increasing momentum, the Wet Hot crew hooked up with Netflix to offer the prequel series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp in 2015, followed by the sequel, Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, which debuted on Netflix last week. Series director and co-writer Wain—who also plays the ...