60 Minutes boss Bill Owens resigns, citing loss of journalistic independence / Will Sharpe and Ayo Edebiri team for Prodigies / Rose Bowl gives up 2 p.m. PT kickoff
PLUS: Fox is doing its own spin on The Traitors with The Snake, hosted by Jim Jeffries.
60 Minutes boss Bill Owens announces his resignation, saying he lost his journalistic independence
Owens — only the third 60 Minutes executive producer in its 57-year history, who has been in his job since 2019 — told his staff in a memo today, obtained by The New York Times, that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience. So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward. As The Times' Michael M. Grynbaum notes, "60 Minutes has faced mounting pressure in recent months from both President Trump, who sued CBS for $10 billion and has accused the program of 'unlawful and illegal behavior,' and its own corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News. Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is eager to secure the Trump administration’s approval for a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to Skydance, a company run by the son of the tech billionaire Larry Ellison. She has expressed a desire to settle Mr. Trump’s case, which stems from what the president has called a deceptively edited interview in October with Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on 60 Minutes." Since January, Owens has also been in charge of CBS Evening News, leading an overhaul in wake of Norah O'Donnell's departure. It's unclear if Owens will continue as executive producer at CBS Evening News.
CBS' Titus Welliver-led The Equalizer spinoff is dead — The Equalizer's fate is still up in the air
The proposed spinoff, also starring Juani Feliz, that aired last Sunday as a backdoor pilot, will no longer move forward. "That leaves bubble drama The Equalizer, starring and executive produced by Queen Latifah, as the only remaining CBS scripted title — pilot or series — yet to learn its fate for next season," according to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "As Deadline reported, there is still chance for the series to snag a pickup for what could be a 13-episode sixth and final season. Its odds are considered 50-50 but the fact that talks with producing studio Universal Television are continuing is a promising sign. CBS swiftly canceled the studio’s two FBI spinoffs, Most Wanted and International, a month and a half ago."
Will Sharpe and Ayo Edebiri to lead Apple TV+'s Prodigies, about ex-child prodigies
The White Lotus alum Sharpe created Prodigies. According to Deadline, "the pair play Didi (Edebiri) and Ren (Sharpe), two ex-child prodigies who have been together since they were children. Now in their early 30s, they are starting to question whether their very ordinary existence is living up to the extraordinary promise of their childhood. Inevitably, they find themselves asking the same questions of their relationship."
CBS not moving forward with The Neighborhood spinoff
The untitled spinoff revolving around The Neighborhood brothers, Sheaun McKinney's Malcolm Butler and Marcel Spears' Marty Butler, is dead. It was to revolve around "Calvin and Tina’s adult sons “embark on new adventures, finally leaving their parents’ nest to start the next chapter of their lives, finding themselves the newcomers in a neighborhood that’s both close but yet world apart: Venice Beach,” per the official logline. A backdoor pilot for the spinoff, also starring Justin Long and Hunter King, will still air on May 5.
CBS picks up Matthew Gray Gubler's Einstein drama series and Tim Meadows-Harriet Dyer comedy DMV
Gubler will play the brilliant but directionless great grandson of Albert Einstein, "who works as a comfortably tenured professor until he runs into the law and is forced to help a local police detective solve cases" in the CBS drama series. Meadows and Dyer will star as DMV examiners in their single-camera comedy.
CBS cancels Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr.'s Poppa's House after one season
The only freshman comedy that was on the bubble is now the only one to get canceled. As Deadline's Nellie Andreeva explains, "Poppa’s House had been vying for a single remaining comedy slot on CBS’ 2025-26 schedule with three half-hour pilots, the single-camera DMV, the multi-camera Zarna, and The Neighborhood planted spinoff. It come down to DMV, Zarna and Poppa’s House, with DMV ultimately getting the spot with a series order."
CBS orders FBI spinoff CIA, starring Tom Ellis
The former Lucifer star will be one of two leads on the crime drama previously known as FBI: CIA. Here's the official logline: “CIA is a one hour crime drama centered on two unlikely partners – a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (Ellis), and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent who believes in the rule of law. When this odd couple are assigned to work out of CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their differences may actually be their strength.”
Fox is doing its own spin on The Traitors with The Snake, hosted by Jim Jeffries
Jersey Shore creator SallyAnn Salsano is behind the social survival of the fittest competition premiering this summer, featuring 15 players who work in “various persuasive professions.” Here's Fox's description: “Each contestant must leverage their unique skills, training and powers of persuasion as they face a multitude of challenges designed to showcase the traits needed to be successful in the game. The winner of each challenge becomes The Snake, earning control of The Saving Ceremony, an explosive, chain reaction elimination where it’s not about who wants you gone, but who is willing to save you. The Snake doesn’t just hinge on winning challenges — it’s about winning people over. The social aspect of the game never stops — connections are everything whether you’re making friends, faking friends, or sparking romantic connections. Promises are put to the test during the Saving Ceremony as players do everything in their power to avoid being picked last by The Snake, hoping to escape elimination.” The winner will get a $100,000 prize.
Pope Francis' funeral is set for Saturday
Global media outlets will descend on the Vatican for the funeral and for the conclave to select a new pope, set for some time between May 5 and 10.
Kevin Hart to host the BET Awards' 25th anniversary event
“I love a celebration! It’s a chance to reflect, cherish, and honor life’s unforgettable moments," says Hart of the June 9 ceremony. Hart previously hosted the 2011 BET Awards.
Rose Bowl gives up its cherished tradition: The 2 p.m. PT kickoff
”The traditional epicenter of the sport has bowed to the god of television,” says Sports Illustrated’s Patrick Andrews. For years, the Rose Bowl has been adamant about kicking off at 2 p.m. PT. But next year, the 2026 Rose Bowl playoff game will kick off one hour earlier, at 1 p.m. PT. The 2 p.m. PT kickoff allowed the Rose Bowl game to show off a beautiful sunset in the third quarter. Now, the sunset will come later in the game. "Rose Bowl finally moves its kickoff times up an hour. The tyranny of the sunset ends,” tweets ESPN's Dan Wetzel. The problem with the 2 p.m. PT kickoff was that each Rose Bowl game would run about four hours, forcing the Sugar Bowl playoff game to kick off at or near 6 p.m. PT, or 9 p.m. ET, resulting in that game ending after midnight on the East Coast on a night when people have to get up early to return to work after the long holiday break. Now, the Sugar Bowl will kick off one hour earlier, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. "We’ve known over the past four or five years our game has run late,” said Tournament of Roses CEO David Eads. “We’ve had overtimes, which has thrown off the Sugar Bowl and their timing. … It’s the right role for us to play (in the CFP)"
Disney+'s Holes pilot adds 10, including Greg Kinnear, Aidy Bryant and Shay Rudolph
The gender-flipped series based on Louis Sachar’s 1998 book has also added Flor Delis Alicea, Anire Kim Amoda, Noah Cottrell, Iesha Daniels, Sophie Dieterlen, Alexandra Doke and Maeve Press. Holes follows Hayley (Rudolph), a teenage girl sent to a detention camp where the ruthless Warden (Kinnear) forces the campers to dig holes for a mysterious purpose. Bryant plays Sissy, who is overflowing with camp counselor energy.
CBS cancels The Summit after one season
The Manu Bennett-hosted adventure reality competition following 16 strangers who will embark on a journey through the New Zealand Alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a mountain won't return for a second season after premiering last September.
Mario Lopez to star as a middle-aged lawyer-turned-firefighter in Great American Family's A Christmas Spark
The Christmas movie is part of a multi-picture, multi-year deal with Great American Media that Lopez signed last year.
A slew of late-night shows win big at The Webby Awards
Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Seth Meyers were all represented in this morning's winners announcement — which included a Special Achievement award for SNL's Marcello Hernández.
Jennifer Aniston reacts to her unexpected cameo on The Last of Us
Sunday's episode showed Bella Ramsey's Ella combing through a 2003 People magazine with Aniston on the cover. "Of all things to survive the apocalypse," Aniston, who is friends with Pedro Pascal, wrote on her Instagram Stories.
ABC renews Who Wants to be a Millionaire
The Jimmy Kimmel-hosted game show will be back for its revival's fourth season.
SAG Awards sets March 2026 date
The 32nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be shown on Netflix live on March 1, 2026.
Paramount+ lands BBC Dawn French comedy Can You Keep A Secret?
The streamer has taken U.S. rights to the comedy starring French, Craig Roberts and Mandip Gill. According to Deadline, "In Can You Keep a Secret?, British comedy icon French plays domineering grandma Debbie Fendon, a woman who will stop at nothing to protect her family. When her hermit-like husband William (Mark Heap) unexpectedly dies, she makes an outlandish decision that will put the family under more pressure than ever before."
The CW renews Totally Funny Animals for 100 more episodes
The clip show featuring amusing pets and wildlife will return for a second season after a 30-episode Season 1.
Jimmy Fallon roasted online for his "I'm glad I made you laugh" tweet honoring Pope Francis
As Cracked's Keegan Kelly notes, "the long-time Tonight Show host Fallon was one of the many American comedians who attended the Papal Punchline Powwow last year, and, when Fallon posted his memorial message about the late pontiff on all his social media accounts, comedy fans tore apart Fallon’s subtle choice to honor Pope Francis and his own comedy talents simultaneously like the Pope ripped communion wafers."
Check out Matthew Goode as an angsty cop in Scotland in Netflix's Dept. Q
The Queen's Gambit co-creator Scott Frank's new series, an adaptation of the novels of the same name by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, stars Goode as a top-rated detective in Edinburgh, Scotland assigned to a new cold case whilst wracked with guilt for an attack that left his partner paralyzed and another cop dead. Dept. Q premieres May 29.
See the first look at Amazon's We Were Liars
E. Lockhart's bestselling novel about the very wealthy Sinclair family from Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie premieres on Prime Video on June 18.
Shaquille O'Neal abruptly flees the Inside the NBA set over a bathroom emergency
Host Kenny Smith joked of O'Neal's situation: “Listen, he couldn’t hold it. After 40, you can’t hold it no more."
Will Hutchins, star of ABC 1950s-1960s Western series Sugarfoot, dies at 94
Hutchins, who died Monday, starred as wholesome sharpshooter and frontier lawyer Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster on the ABC Western that aired from 1957 to 1961. He also starred as Woody Banner, who inherits a Manhattan brownstone from his uncle, on the 1966-1967 NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord, created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson. He also starred as Dagwood Bumstead in the 1968-1969 CBS comedy Blondie, based on the comic strip.
Neil deGrasse Tyson helps FX promote Alien: Earth as an Earth Day PSA
"Together, we can discover the wonder of our planet before it's too late," the famed astrophysicist says in the FX teaser.
Adult Swim unveils Rick and Morty's Season 8 trailer
Rick and Morty returns May 25 with an episode titled "Summer of All Fears."
Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef are billionaires on vacation in HBO's Mountainhead trailer
The TV movie from Succession creator Jesse Armstrong premieres May 31.
Watch Netflix's trailer for Untold: Liver King
Premiering May 13, Untold: Liver King chronicles the rise and fall of raw meat influencer and "ancestral lifestyle" promotor Brian Johnson.