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Finland’s leading commercial broadcaster MTV, commissioner of TV hits “Conflict” (sold by Keshet Intl.) and “Helsinki Crimes” (distributed by Oble Ent.), is betting on fewer but bigger dramas and ramping up its international co-productions within the Nordics and beyond

Its revamped strategy should not be affected by its upcoming change of ownership – from Telia to Schibsted Media – according to CEO Johannes Leppänen: “MTV has a strong position in the Finnish market and Schibsted Media is looking forward to supporting MTV’s leading position also within drama into the future,” he told Variety.

The Finnish broadcaster’s revamped drama order and outward push was initiated a year and a half ago, but will be gearing up to a new level in 2025. “We have around 10 co-production projects in our pipeline and hope to greenlight some of them before the summer, then the next stop is New Year,” said Janne Vakio, MTV commissions and content development manager.

On Wednesday January 29 2025, Bravo broadcasts The Traitors!

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold Season 3 Episode 2 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “The Traitors,” titled “Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold,” promises to deliver plenty of twists and turns. As the game progresses, three new players will join the mix, shaking up the dynamics among the contestants. Their arrival is sure to bring new strategies and alliances, making the competition even more intense.

In this episode, the Traitors will take a bold step by committing their first murder. This pivotal moment will set the tone for the rest of the game, as players must navigate the consequences of this shocking act. The atmosphere is bound to become tense as everyone tries to figure out who can be trusted.

The first round table will also see a player getting banished, adding another layer of suspense. The decision-making process will be crucial,...

On Monday January 20 2025, NBC broadcasts The Traitors!

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold Season 3 Episode 2 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “The Traitors,” titled “Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold,” promises to bring plenty of surprises and twists for fans. This episode will air on NBC and is set to shake things up in the competition. With the arrival of three new players, the dynamics of the game are bound to change dramatically.

In this episode, the Traitors will take a bold step as they commit their first murder. This pivotal moment will set the tone for the rest of the game, adding an extra layer of tension and strategy. The players will have to navigate the fallout from this shocking act, as trust becomes even more difficult to maintain.

The first round table will also bring its own drama, as one player faces banishment. This elimination will...

John Capodice, an acting veteran whose credits included Ryan’s Hope, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, General Hospital and Seinfeld, died December 30. He was 83.

The announcement was made on the website of the New Jersey Pizzi Funeral Home and did not list a cause of death.

The funeral home called Capodice “a devoted husband, father and grandfather who will be missed by all who had the pleasure to meet him.”

Born on Christmas Day 1941, Capodice was a character actor who starred in some of the biggest American TV shows and movies during a lengthy career. He still was voice acting as recently as 2023.

He first landed a role on ABC-tv soap Ryan’s Hope as Lloyd Lord in the late 1970s. Other big roles included Ace Ventura, in which he appeared as a detective, and General Hospital, in which he played Carmine Cerullo in the 1990s.

Capodice played a laundromat owner in...

Martin Short only got one season as a Saturday Night Live cast member, but he almost didn’t make it that long. He was hired during the show’s “George Steinbrenner Year,” Steinbrenner being the legendary New York Yankees owner who spent big bucks filling out his roster with All-Star players. That was SNL’s strategy to save the floundering show during its 10th year, hiring established comics like Short, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer on one-year deals.

“I was terrified every show because I think I treated it like a special,” Short told Jimmy Fallon this week on The Tonight Show. “In fact, during the fourth show, on the Tuesday, I went in to try to quit.”

Being “Canadian and savvy,” Short visited producer Dick Ebersol to turn in his comedy wigs. (Lorne Michaels wouldn’t return until the following season.) “You know, I haven’t cashed any checks yet,...

No surprises there: Sex and crime still work when it comes to attracting viewers. But even when playing with familiar tropes, it’s crucial to add complexity to stories and characters, Fremantle’s Jamie Lynn argued on a roof table at the Berlinale Series Market.

“Easy is not always best. You still need to back great writers and great ideas,” he said during a panel discussion “Cold Cases & Hot Flashes – The Rise of Crime and Relationship Dramas in Challenging Times,” organized by the Audiovisual Producers Finland (Apfi).

“I have kids and before this, I said: ‘You have to put cheese on the vegetables in order to get them down.’ We have to make the shows that are approachable, but all this complexity and great, rich character work, that’s what people want. We just need to get them in quicker.”

Lynn was presenting new pickup “The Revenge,” described as “The Talented Mr. Ripley...

If TV ratings were measured by intensity of fan devotion instead of viewing figures, Our Flag Means Death would currently be sailing its way to six seasons and a movie. People who love David Jenkins’ queer 18th century pirate comedy seriously love it, but according to Max, there aren’t enough of them to justify its continuation.

The cancellation news arrived in early January 2024, two months after season two aired in the US in October 2023, and before the second run had even arrived in the UK. The outcry was immediate and prompted calls for another streamer to come to the show’s rescue.

Now, the BBC has confirmed that the entire second season will air weekly on BBC Two, starting on Monday 5th February at 10pm, with all eight episodes available to stream as a boxset on BBC iPlayer on that date.

It’s bittersweet news for UK fans, who...

Warning: this contains Major Spoilers for Season Two of Our Flag Means Death.

Most shows would kill for the level of fandom that Max’s pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death has amassed in just its first season last year. The show’s big heart, proudly queer love stories, and superb ensemble cast (particularly leads Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi as Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard) were an instant hit, and its enthusiastic fanbase has waited impatiently for season two.

The first three episodes finally arrived on Max on Oct. 5, and judging from the social media meltdown, Our Flag Means Death’s fandom remains as wholesomely unhinged as ever when it comes to their favorite show.

Season one ended on quite the cliffhanger: after Stede got cold feet about running away with his beloved Ed, Blackbeard turned his resulting heartbreak into rage, marooning most of The Revenge’s crew on an island,...

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Set sail for the high seas! Max’s swashbuckling romantic comedy “Our Flag Means Death” returns for season 2 on Oct. 5, a year-and-a-half after season 1 wrapped.

The streaming service has debuted the new season’s first three episodes and will continue to release episodes two at a time every Thursday throughout the month of October.

Watch 'our flag means death' on max (via Prime Video)

If you want to catch all of the pirate action and quirky romance between Rhys Darby’s Stede Bonnet and Taika Waititi’s Edward Teach, Aka Blackbeard, you can sign up for Max’ 7-day free trial via Prime Video. Afterwards, the ad-free version of the streaming service goes for $15.99/Month.

Created by David Jenkins and executive produced/directed by Taika Waititi, “Our Flag Means Death...

Warning: This article contains Major Spoilers for Our Flag Means Death seasons 1 and 2.

Ever since season two of Our Flag Means Death was confirmed back in June 2022, eagle-eyed fans have been scouring every news story and IMDb listing to see if the season two casting announcements would answer a particularly burning question.

And that question is: did Lucius survive?!

We met the quick-witted Lucius Springs in season one as one of the crew members aboard The Revenge, the pirate ship manned by Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), and he instantly became a fan favorite, especially as his relationship with fellow crew member Black Pete blossomed through the series, and as he became an unofficial relationship counsellor for Stede and Blackbeard.

But then, in the season one finale, a newly brutal, broken-hearted Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) throws Lucius overboard:

Fans spent months speculating whether Lucius could have survived this, and coming up with...

This article contains spoilers for Our Flag Means Death season 1.

The sitcom Our Flag Means Death has behaved in a very piratey way, quite frankly. When it burst onto the scene last year, it unexpectedly plundered fans’ hearts, leaving their new favorite ship – between Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet and Taika Waititi as Blackbeard – wrecked, and left us stranded on a cliffhanger of a finale desperate for a second series.

Thankfully, the treasure that is season two of Our Flag Means Death is released on Max on Oct. 5, and it’s as adorable as ever, with a whole crew of new characters to fall in love with:

Let’s meet the new characters, and discover which returning cast members are back:

New Cast Ruibo Qian as Susan

Susan runs a soup stand in the Republic of Pirates, which she acquired by savage means, but she seems to have more depth...

Max is hoping you’ll bust out the peg leg this Halloween. “Our Flag Means Death,” the streamer’s popular pirate comedy series, will return for Season 2 in October, the streamer announced Wednesday. The season will premiere on October 5, and Max also released a teaser to accompany the date announcement.

Created and showrun by David Jenkins, “Our Flag Means Death” is (extremely) loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnet, a real-life English landowner in Barbados who had a brief and largely disastrous run as a pirate captain in 1717. The show turns Stede’s (played by Rhys Darby) journey to piracy into a sitcom, as the idealistic and inexperienced captain struggles to gain the respect of the crew of his ship, The Revenge. His fortunes look up when he teams up with Ed Teach (Taika Waititi) — better known as the infamous Blackbeard — and the too soon develop an unexpected friendship that turns into love.