Queer Eye announces Jeremiah Brent as Bobby Berk's replacement / Eugene Levy joins OMITB / CBS renews Young and the Restless
PLUS: Jesse Williams to star in Amazon's Costiera, an English-language Italian action-drama series.
Queer Eye announces Jeremiah Brent as Bobby Berk's replacement
The esteemed interior designer joins Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Ness in the upcoming Las Vegas-set Season 9. Brent replaces Berk, who opted to exit the Netflix reality show after eight seasons. Brent is an alum of The Rachel Zoe Project who got his big break hosting the Oprah Winfrey Network's Home Made Simple. Brent and fellow esteemed interior designer/TV star Nate Berkus have been married for 10 years. They previously co-hosted HGTV's Nate & Jeremiah Save My House and The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project.
Eugene Levy joins Only Murders in the Building in an SCTV reunion with Martin Short
Levy's first TV acting role since Schitt's Creek, on the Hulu series' Los Angeles-based Season 4, will reunite him with his former SCTV colleague Short. It will also reteam him with Steve Martin and Short after the three appeared together in the Father of the Bride movies. Levy's recurring role is being kept under wraps. He joins fellow OMITB newcomers Molly Shannon and Eva Longoria.
Jesse Williams to star in Amazon's Costiera, an English-language Italian action-drama series
Williams will play Daniel De Luca, a half-Italian former U.S. marine who returns to Italy, the land of his childhood, as a fixer in one of the world’s most luxurious hotels on the spectacular Positano coastline, according to Deadline. “Shortly after Daniel, or DD as everybody knows him, starts working at the hotel, one of the owner’s daughters disappears," reads the official description. "He must do whatever it takes to find her and bring her home while still solving the ever-changing problems of the exclusive hotel guests.” Based on an idea by Luca Bernabei, Costiera is written by Elena Bucaccio, Matthew Parkhill and Francesco Arlanch. Costiera is currently in production with Emmy-winning Fargo and Breaking Bad vet Adam Bernstein directing.
CBS renews The Young and the Restless for four more seasons
The network's longest-running series, which premiered in 1973, will continue on through the 2027-2028 season. “The Young and the Restless has been a staple of daytime television for over 50 years, and it is with great pleasure that we will continue that legacy at CBS,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “The talented cast and writers deliver compelling performances and stories on a daily basis and have provided iconic moments that have kept the show on top of the ratings and thrilled generations of fans for over five decades. We look forward to seeing what new creative twists and turns they have planned for the folks of Genoa City.”
Report: Warner Bros. Discovery is no longer pursuing a merger with Paramount Global
The merger that would've combined two iconic entertainment giants is not happening after "several months of kicking the tires," reports CNBC.
Oscars bringing back having a group of past winners present acting awards
In the 2009 Oscars ceremony, past winners Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Shirley MacLaine and Sophia Loren presented Kate Winslet with the Oscar for Best Actor. "Over the 15 years since that night, Oscar lovers have been begging the Academy to bring back this Field of Dreams-like format," reports The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg. "The Hollywood Reporter has learned and the Academy has confirmed that come March 10, they will get their wish. The Academy never reveals who will be presenting which awards ahead of the big night, but one can safely assume, given Academy tradition, that last year’s four acting winners — Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis — will be among the five presenters for their respective categories. Indeed, they were all on the first list of confirmed presenters announced by the Academy on Monday." ALSO: Zendaya, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer are among the first group of presenters.
President Biden's visit to Late Night with Seth Meyers indicates a tough road ahead in his reelection campaign
Amid questions about his age and acuity, the 81-year-old Biden's rare TV interview last night within the friendly confines of Meyers' studio "was a booking that made sense, but that also called attention to Biden’s most crucial liability in 2024 — the fact that time has passed," says Daniel D'Addario. Unlike his predecessors Barack Obama and Donald Trump, "Biden has long lacked the ability to bend the medium of TV to his ends," says D'Addario. "In a first segment, in which he was flanked by Meyers and by Amy Poehler, Biden called to mind the 2010 episode of Saturday Night Live in which host Betty White was supported by an all-star team of guests who did the real comic heavy lifting; he made game attempts to riff on the so-called ‘Dark Brandon’ persona constructed for him online, but appeared ill-at-ease. Hypothetical comparisons don’t flatter President Biden: In a comparable setting, Obama might have caught the joke, lobbed it back, and then pivoted into whatever he was really there to discuss. And Trump, by this point in his term, would never have been invited on Late Night specifically, but certainly did not struggle in making whatever news program had given him a platform into a blistering and strange referendum on whatever topic he chose. Here, Meyers and Poehler were handing the President a gift of sorts — the opportunity to play into a long-running joke that his amiable and aloof personality conceals a mastermind. He seemed a beat behind in catching the joke each time, and missed the opportunity to use it to say anything more substantive. What is 'Dark Brandon’s' agenda, his master plan? That joke remained untold."
CNN denies report it reached a $24.5 million settlement with Don Lemon
On Monday, The Wrap reported CNN has "agreed a separation deal with CNN for approximately $24.5 million, which would be the full complete pay from his final contract which extended 3.5 years from his ousting." In response, CNN issued a statement today saying: “While we never comment on specifics of any employee contract, this story is incorrect."
Alfre Woodard joins Apple TV+'s The Last Frontier
The Emmy winner will join lead Jason Clarke, as well as Haley Bennett, Dominic Cooper, Simone Kessell, Tait Blum and Dallas Goldtooth in the drama series that "follows US Marshall Frank Remnick (Clarke), the lone Marshal in charge of the quiet, rugged barrens of Alaska, whose jurisdiction is turned upside-down when a prison transport plane crashes in the remote wilderness, setting free dozens of violent inmates." Woodard will star as Bradford, described as “a top leader in the CIA.” This will be Woodard's second Apple TV+ series after See.
The X-Files creator Chris Carter says he gave Ryan Coogler his blessing for a reboot of his landmark sci-fi series, but won’t be involved
Carter tells The Wrap he would only be interested in returning to The X-Files if original stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are involved. But he won't be part of the Black Panther director's rebooted series. "Only as a cheerleader," says Carter. "They don’t need my blessing. 20th Century Fox and Disney owns the show. They are free to do with it what they believe. I’m honored that they came to me and asked me, not for my permission, but my blessing." Carter also confirms he spoke to Coogler. "I’m not supposed to be talking about it, according to Disney," he says. "But I’ll tell you, yes. I’ve had a conversation with him. Yes, he likes to go with a diverse cast. And he’s got some good ideas." Carter also says he plans to watch Coogler's rebooted X-Files.
Benito Skinner comedy Overcompensating ordered to series at Amazon
The Queer as Folk alum created and stars in Overcompensating, described as a “college-set ensemble comedy about the wild, chaotic journey of Benny (Skinner), a closeted former football player and homecoming king, as he becomes fast friends with Carmen, a high school outsider on a mission to fit in at all costs. With guidance from Benny’s older sister and her campus-legend boyfriend, Benny and Carmen juggle horrible hookups, flavored vodka, and fake IDs.”
Paramount+ orders a British thriller series set in a world where men live under a strict nightly curfew
Titled Curfew and starring Mandip Gill, Mitchell Robertson and singer Alexandra Burke, the thriller series "is set in a society where all men live under ‘The Women’s Safety Act’, meaning they are bound by a strict curfew from 7PM to 7AM every night, with their movements tracked by an ankle tag 24 hours a day," per Deadline. "When a woman’s body is discovered, brutally murdered during curfew hours and left on the steps of the Women’s Safety Centre, veteran Police officer Pamela Green believes that a man is responsible. But in a world where men are bound by the curfew system, her theory is rejected."
Breaking Bad's Laura Fraser to star in a British detective drama Patience on PBS
Fraser and Ella Maisy Purvis will co-lead the six-part series that will air on PBS in the United States. "Fraser will play Detective Bea Metcalf, who forms an unlikely duo with Purvis’ young autistic police archivist, Patience Evans," per Deadline. "Their investigations unfold against the backdrop of the historic city of York."
Kelsea Ballerini to return as CMT Music Awards host for the fourth consecutive year
The country star will also perform live during the award ceremony on CBS on Sunday, April 7. The CMT Music Awards will also stream live on Paramount+.
Great American Family is launching movie franchise Great American Mysteries
The first movie in the Great American Mysteries series is The Ainsley McGregor Mysteries: A Case for the Winemaker starring Candace Cameron Bure and Aaron Ashmore.
BBC orders K-pop boy band reality show Made in Korea
Made in Korea "follows a British boyband as they head to a K-pop boot camp in Korea, where the bandmembers will learn from experts behind some of the country’s biggest music exports," according to Variety.
Marlon Wayans announces his fourth standup comedy special
After starring in God Love Me for Max last year, Wayans is moving to Amazon Prime Video for his new special Good Grief.
Elizabeth Taylor‘s son will be interviewed on TV for the first time in Kim Kardashian-produced documentary
Chris Wilding, the late screen icon’s son with her second husband Michael Wilding, will discuss his mother's legacy for the first time in Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar for the BBC. Executive producer Kari Lia said Wilding had been “shy” in the past to discuss his mother’s legacy but, as what would have been her 92nd birthday approaches, he felt that “the right opportunity” is now.
The Challenge: All Stars Season 4 reveals returning vets, premiere date and trailer
Season 4, premiering with two episodes on Paramount+ on April 10, features “old-school legends, modern power players, redemption-seekers and ex-lovers,” competing for a $300,000 grand prize in Cape Town, South Africa. Cast members include Cara Maria Sorbello, Rachel Robinson, Adam Larson, Averey Tressler and Brandon Nelson. Watch the trailer.
Watch the trailer for Donnell Rawlings' Netflix special
Chappelle’s Home Team Presents - Donnell Rawlings: A New Day premieres today.