Hacks renewed for Season 4 / FX's The Bear will air on FX for the first time / Minecraft animated series is in the works at Netflix

PLUS: Former The Apprentice producer alleges Donald Trump used the N-word on set in discussing why a Black contestant shouldn’t win Season 1.

Hacks renewed for Season 4
The Emmy-winning Max comedy starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder has been picked up for a fourth season today, hours after its Season 3 finale was released ahead of the May 31 Emmy eligibility deadline. “We congratulate Hacks’ brilliant cast and crew, and our partners at Universal Television. Hacks is a masterfully crafted comedy delivering laughs and sharp insights about the vulnerability and joy of sharing a dream,” said Sarah Aubrey, head of Max original programming, in a statement. “The creative team behind this singular show is not only brilliant but also a joy to work with. We couldn’t be happier to give viewers another season with Deborah, Ava, and the rest of the Hacks family.” Some have hailed Hacks Season 3, which arrived earlier this month after a two-year delay, as its best season yet. "Such a disjointed production schedule could have been disastrous for a show that relies so heavily on the chemistry of its cast—and especially between its intergenerational leads. Fortunately, the actors seem to have flourished amid adversity, just as Deborah and Ava often do," says Time's Judy Berman. "Creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky have crafted Hacks’ best season yet, one that allows the characters to grow without killing their spiky, push-pull bond. Smart and Einbinder further elevate that story arc with a rapport that feels more natural and intimate than ever."

FX's The Bear will air on FX for the first time
Although streaming on Hulu, The Bear is technically an FX show. And starting this Sunday, the acclaimed Emmy-winning comedy will make its debut on FX via a Season 1 marathon.

Former The Apprentice producer alleges Donald Trump used the N-word on set in discussing why a Black contestant shouldn’t win Season 1
In a lengthy essay for Slate, Emmy-nominated producer Bill Pruitt says he's free to talk now that his 20-year NDA has expired. Pruitt details how there was discussion over whether Kwame Jackson, a Black man, should win. During that discussion, Pruitt alleges Trump said, “but, I mean, would America buy a (N-word) winning?” Pruitt adds that he's sure Trump's comments were caught on tape. The former president has long denied ever using the N-word.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator Dan Goor has espionage comedy Dead Drop in the works at Max
In Dead Drop, “a typical American family goes on vacation to Europe and accidentally gets sucked into the high-stakes world of international espionage," per the official logline. Goor co-created Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Michael Schur and served as its showrunner. He also co-created the Peacock comedy Killing It with Luke Del Tredici.

Minecraft animated series is in the works at Netflix
Netflix and Mojang Studios are teaming on the CG-animated series based on the video game franchise. The Netflix animated series, details of which weren't released, marks the franchise’s latest expansion that includes a 2025 live-action movie, live events, consumer products and more.

Jay Ellis to recur on Mindy Kaling's Netflix basketball comedy series Running Point
The former Insecure star is joining the comedy set at a storied professional basketball franchise as a former celebrated player and "seasoned Head Coach of the Waves whose zen-like approach has led the team to multiple championships."

Netflix orders adult animated series The Undervale from Rick and Morty's Matt Roller and Dan Harmon
Created by Roller, who has worked with Harmon on Rick and Morty and Krapopolis, The Undervale has the following logline: “A single mother of two struggles to run a haunted hotel with the help of her estranged brother, who is now one of the ghosts and thinks the other ghosts have some pretty good ideas.” Harmon will serve as an executive producer. “I’m thrilled to be working with Netflix and an amazingly talented cast and crew to bring to life the stories of the dead, the evil, and the struggling hospitality workers at the Undervale Hotel,” says Roller.

An Inside Out sequel series is reportedly in the works at Disney+
The Pixar movie series is set to come to the small screen with a series Dream Productions, based on the Dream Productions studio set in Riley's mind, according to Bloomberg News.

Netflix renews The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On and The Ultimatum: Queer Love
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On will return for a third season in December, while The Ultimatum: Queer Love will be back for a second season that has yet to have a premiere date.

Netflix orders three new reality shows: Selling the City, Building the Band and Battle Camp
Selling the City is a New York City-set expansion of Netflix's Selling luxury real estate franchise, following the agents at Douglas Elliman as they navigate the cutthroat world of New York City real estate. Building the Band brings together 50 talented singers in the quest to build the perfect band and find the right chemistry. Battle Camp will feature some of the greatest stars from Netflix’s reality shows and docuseries as they face off against each other in a series of physical and mental competitions.

Indira Varma among three additions to The Night Manager Season 2
Varma, Paul Chahidi and Hayley Squires will join fellow newcomers Diego Calva and Camila Morrone and star Tom Hiddleston on the BBC-Amazon spy drama based on the John le Carré novel of the same name.

Jon Stewart has no idea why his Daily Show podcast is called The Weekly Show
“It’s going to be called The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart because I have no imagination and so I just thought, ‘Well geez, it’s on once a week and I do The Daily Show, although even that I’m only doing once a week,” Stewart says in a trailer for the podcast. “I really don’t know why I’m calling it The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart but that’s what we’re doing.” The Weekly Show premieres June 6. ALSO: Stewart rips UK controversy over a Labour Party candidate's suspension for liking his famous 2014 "We Need to Talk About Israel" sketch.

Andrew Koji boards Amazon's Haven
The Warrior vet will recur on the high-octane thriller about the heist of the century, starring Sophie Turner, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd and Archie Madekwe. Koji will play Daniel Yoshida, a financial investigator who was brought on to help with the investigation.

Co-worker of General Hospital's Johnny Wactor says he died "in my arms" after he was shot by armed catalytic converter thieves
Anita Joy says in an Instagram post that she and Wactor were coming off working at the Level 8 restaurant in downtown L.A. near Crypto.com arena early Saturday morning when he was shot by thieves trying to steal his catalytic converter. "I was with Johnny in his last moments and I'm here to be his voice after such unimaginable events," she wrote. "He was killed senselessly by a coward who reacted without care of the gorgeous life he was taking. So I'm angry, I'm sad and I'm all of the feelings at once... but above all, I am here for Johnny's justice."

When Calls the Heart's Mamie Laverock is "doing well" following "big surgeries" after her five-story balcony fall
In an update on her GoFundMe page, the actress’ parents Nicole and Rob Compton announced that their daughter is officially “out of her big surgeries” and doctors say she is currently “doing well." “It's impossible for us to be happier,” they wrote. “Thank you all for your support.” Laverock, 19, was hospitalized on May 11 after falling five stories from a balcony walkway.

Hallmark Channel sets Hallmark Christmas Cruise docuseries
The docuseries will feature superfans as they prepare for their vacation at home and throughout their five-day journey on board the ship that will feature stars from Hallmark's "Countdown to Christmas" franchise. The docuseries will capture the second sailing of the cruise this November.

Cynthia Nixon: And Just Like That writers felt Che Diaz "had run its course"
With Sara Ramirez's Che Diaz exiting after two seasons, Nixon's Miranda Hobbes will be single for the first time in decades on the third season of the Sex and the City sequel series. “They created such an amazing character — such a controversial character, but such an amazing character,” Nixon tells Variety of Che Diaz. “I think they felt, and Michael Patrick felt, that that character had run its course. They came in and shook everything up, and then the arc was completed.” Asked to compare and contrast her And Just Like That and The Gilded Age roles, Nixon says both are worlds dominated by the inner lives and occupational concerns of women, many of them well into middle age. “I think the main difference is the incredible constraint of The Gilded Age and the freedom of the 21st century women in And Just Like That,” she says. Though that doesn’t mean one story is any more or less resonant than the other: “The interesting thing is, when you’re coerced and constrained and there are so many rules to follow, sometimes very little things can seem enormous.”

Dogecoin meme dog Kabosu is getting the documentary treatment following his recent death
The dog whose side eye went viral as a meme connected to crypto will be the subject of underDOGE, a documentary about the Shiba Inu dog and her owner. Kabosu died last Friday at age 18.’

Matt Rife cancels shows after unexpected medical emergency
"I'm so f*cking sorry," the Netflix comedian wrote in an Instagram Story May 29, "but due to a last minute medical emergency I have to reschedule our shows tonight (again). I've been doing 40+ shows a month for a year and a half and never had to do something like this. I'm so so sorry. I hope you understand and I love you so much."

Netflix sets its cast for Japanese manga adaptation BET
Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, Eve Edwards, Clara Alexandrova, Hunter Cardinal, Anwen O’Driscoll, Aviva Mongillo and Ryan Sutherland will star in the TV adaptation of the hit Japanese manga thriller Kakegurui, "set around an elite boarding school where everything, including the pecking order, is determined by underground gambling."

Amazon's We Were Liars casts its liars
Emily Alyn Lind, Shubham Maheshwari, Esther MacGregor and Joseph Zada are joining Mamie Gummer, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Candice King and David Morse on We Were Liars, a tragic love story and an amnesia thriller set on a privately owned island off the coast of Massachusetts.