Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy to lead The Good Daughter / Dune: Prophecy renewed / Squid Game creator: "I'm so sick of Squid Game”
PLUS: NBC announces an SNL 50 music performance documentary from Questlove
Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy to lead Peacock's The Good Daughter
Fahy will take over the Charlotte Quinn role from Jessica Biel, who dropped out of the psychological suspense thriller limited series adaptation of Karin Slaughter's bestselling novel in September. In The Good Daughter, written by Slaughter, "sisters Charlotte and Samantha Quinn (Byrne) have spent the last twenty-eight years trying to piece together the lives that were fractured by a single night of violence. When another attack splinters the small town of Pikeville, Charlotte is the first witness on the scene. Now a lawyer like her father, she’s forced to confront her demons as the case twists through one shocking revelation after another. In the end, she and Samantha wonder if the price of being the good daughter was worth it after all." In addition to The Good Daughter, former Physical star Byrne is also starring in Apple TV+'s Platonic. Fahy, best known for starring in The White Lotus Season 2, recently starred on Netflix's The Perfect Couple.
HBO renews Dune: Prophecy for Season 2
Showrunner Alison Schapker announced her Dune prequel series will return for a second season at a virtual press conference this afternoon. “How the sisterhood survives is very much a part of season 2,” said Schapker.
Squid Game creator: "I'm so sick of Squid Game”
“I’m so exhausted. I’m so tired. In a way, I have to say, I’m so sick of Squid Game," Hwang Dong-hyuk tells Variety in a moment of candor while promoting Season 2. “I’m so sick of my life making something, promoting something. So I’m not thinking about my next project right now. I’m just thinking about going to some remote island and having my own free time without any phone calls from Netflix.” Hwang is quick to clarify: “Not the Squid Game island.” ALSO: Google Squid Game for a surprise game.
Hulu renews Tell Me Lies for Season 3
The drama series starring Grace Van Patten and Jackson White has been picked up for a third season after concluding its second season in October.
NBC announces an SNL 50 music performance documentary from Questlove
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Oz Rodriguez will direct Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, premiering Jan. 27. “Everyone knows the most famous SNL appearances, whether it’s Elvis Costello, Prince or the Beastie Boys, but they’re the tip of a huge iceberg,” Questlove said in a statement. “The process of going back through the incredible archival footage was like being in a time machine, DeLorean or other. I’m so happy I went on the trip and now get to share it with everyone.”
Apple TV+ cancels Sunny after one season
Sunny has been canceled three months after ending its first season. The sci-fi series starred Rashida Jones as a robot-hating American woman living in Japan who, after her husband and son disappear in a plane crash, is helped out by a domestic robot named Sunny that was made by her husband’s electronics company.
Neil Cavuto leaving Fox News after 28 years
Cavuto, whose Fox News contract is up at the end of the month, will say goodbye with the conclusion of today's Your World show. Cavuto is one of the few remaining on-air talents who've been with Fox News since its October 1996 launch. "A beloved presence at Fox, his exit is not the consequence of any bad blood, but rather an increasingly common industry reality: Cavuto was offered a new contract, which he declined to accept his new deal," says Mediaite's Colby Hall. "Fox wanted him to stay on board, but a source explained that he ultimately decided to leave. The cable news industry undergone seen a season of belt-tightening that has resulted in similar departures of star journalists who have opted to quit their networks instead of taking a smaller salary. While Fox News is on much better footing than its competitors — thanks to continued ratings dominance and a successful multi-platform strategy — even Rupert Murdoch’s news behemoth is not immune to the new realities of the business. Over the past few years, Cavuto has become an iconoclast on Fox’s dayside programming, a rare voice willing to call out President-elect Donald Trump and face his wrath in return. Outside of politics, Cavuto has been open about his decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis and became a vocal critic of Covid vaccine denialism after a second bout of the virus nearly took his life."
Britain's Channel 4 announces it is making the definitive Nelson Mandela docuseries
Free Nelson Mandela will tell the story of the late South African anti-apartheid activist and president. As Deadline notes, "the South African politician and freedom fighter, who died in 2013, was imprisoned for 27 years during the apartheid era and the campaign for his release was one of the biggest in history. He was let out of prison in February 1990 and the image of him walking free immediately became iconic. Channel 4’s doc will explore how a fierce political struggle and cultural battle was waged to bring about his freedom, as it charts Mandela’s journey from activist to revolutionary to prisoner to negotiator. With access to those who fought for his freedom and the people at the heart of the anti-apartheid movement, including some of the world’s biggest music stars, along with hours of previously unseen material, the three-part series will cover some serious ground."
FX is developing a streetwear drama series
Titled Burnfield, the streetwear drama series will be based on co-creators Justin Chon and Bobby Hundreds' experience in the streetwear scene.
Eddie Redmayne confirms he'll be back for The Day of the Jackal Season 2
“If there’s one thing that the Jackal can’t stand, it’s a loose end. So we will see you soon for Season 2,” the Oscar winner said in an Instagram video.
Sweet Magnolias gets a premiere date for Season 4
Premiering Feb. 6, the Netflix drama's fourth season “takes us from Halloween to Christmas, with surprising laughter, unexpected heartbreak and renewed resolve along the way.”
Derek Hough and Mark Ballas hope their Dancing with the Stars same-sex Argentine tango leads to more male dancing duos
“We wanted to soft launch the idea of two men dancing together on Dancing with the Stars, you know what I mean?” Hough tells Deadline of their season finale dance. “It became sort of like an introduction, if you will, and left the door open a little bit for some future partnerships on the show.” Hough adds: “This hasn’t been done on the show before in 33 seasons, which is actually kind of crazy if you think about it. And we were like, you know what? It feels like one, it’s the right time.”
Whoopi Goldberg walks back The View joke that Donald Trump should "watch out" and avoid stairs
Goldberg's joke this morning seemed to imply that J.D. Vance and Elon Musk wanted to harm the president-elect. “I need to clean something up. My cat lays in wait for me on my stairs all the time. And that’s what I was referring (to),” Goldberg began after the show returned from its first commercial break of the day, according to Decider. “I was thinking of that. I wasn’t trying to indicate that they were actually standing there with their legs out, hoping he would trip.”
Jeff Probst says Survivor 47 winner Rachel LaMont is one of the "best overall players" in the show's history
"I think Rachel will go down as one of the best overall players to ever compete on Survivor," Probst tells EW. "She made the most of every opportunity, and when in trouble, always found a way out. Her dominant challenge performance speaks for itself, and her final argument to the jury about why she deserved their vote was very well-crafted with just the right amount of confidence and humility. And in addition to all of those player qualities, she was also a really fun human. I enjoyed talking to her at challenges and Tribal Council." ALSO: Rachel LaMont reveals the lie she told at Survivor 47 final Tribal Council.
Celebrity Jeopardy! recruits Camilla Luddington, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Rachael Brosnahan, Roy Wood Jr., Mina Kimes and more
Season 3 of the ABC game show will also feature Neil deGrasse Tyson, Blake Anderson, W. Kamau Bell, Corbin Bleu, Yvette Nicole Brown, D'Arcy Carden, Margaret Cho, Sherry Cola, Chris Distefano, Omar J. Dorsey, Susie Essman, Fortune Feimster, David Friedberg, Natalie Morales, Ana Navarro, Melissa Peterman, Phoebe Robinson, Robin Thede and Jackie Tohn. Celebrity Jeopardy! returns Jan. 8.
Darlene Love revives her “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” late-night tradition on The Tonight Show
Love's singing of her Christmas classic was a holiday staple of David Letterman's Late Night and Late Show, starting in 1986 and ending with Letterman's final Christmas in 2014. “David Letterman started this tradition,” Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon explained at the top of the show. “We’re happy to keep that tradition going tonight.”
Hallmark+ is shifting its strategy just three months after its debut
"The streaming platform was originally set to stream separate content from the Hallmark Channel/Hallmark Mystery debuts, but that will change heading into the new year," says Variety's Emily Longretta. "Effective in 2025, all new Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Mystery original movie premieres will be streaming the next day on Hallmark+. A dozen were added on Dec. 17, with 24 more being added on Dec. 20. Hallmark+ members will have access to over 40 Hallmark original holiday movies, including all 2024 holiday content from the linear networks." Hallmark+ launched on Sept. 10.
How Amanda Knox ended up in Peacock's Laid
Knox, whose true-crime case has been turned into a Netflix documentary and an upcoming Hulu limited series, makes her fictional debut on Laid. “We needed a figure in true crime but obviously an innocent person — somebody that AJ would respect and look up to,” co-showrunner Bradford McKenna tells Variety, referring to Zosia Mamet's character. "And then in approaching (Amanda), we were so lucky that she also has an interest in comedy. I think she does stand-up, she also hosts a podcast. She was into it even just as being part of a comedy show.” Laid features several cameos of familiar faces, including Finneas O’Connell (AKA Billie Eilish's brother).
Netflix unveils You’s Season 5 posters
The Penn Badgley-led series will have "a killer goodbye" in 2025.
Peaky Blinders movie wraps production
Check out Barry Keoghan and Cillian Murphy on the set of the Netflix movie.
Matthew Lewis will star in Acorn TV's Murder Before Evensong
The Harry Potter alum will lead the six-episode true-crime series based on the bestselling novel by Reverend Richard Coles. Murder Before Evensong features Lewis as Canon Daniel Clement, "who shares the rectory with his widowed mother and two dachshunds," according to Deadline. "Daniel’s plan to install a lavatory at the church leads to a bitter divide within the parish… and then a man is found stabbed to death in the back of the church."
Netflix orders a documentary on legendary NFL QB John Elway
The two-time Super Bowl champion Pro Football Hall of Fame Denver Broncos QB will get the documentary treatment from Skydance Sports, which this week released a Netflix docuseries on another quarterback: Enigma: Aaron Rodgers.
Joseph Lee joins Apple TV+'s Neuromancer
The Beef and Star Trek: Picard alum will play Hideo, a ninja bodyguard, in the adaptation of William Gibson's award-winning novel.
Parasite's Song Kang-Ho joins Beef Season 2
Song is expected to play the husband of Youn Yuh-jung’s character on the Netflix series. Season 2 also stars Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny.
Amazon renews Faceoff: Inside the NHL
The Prime Video docuseries following the NHL's best players will return for a six-episode second season in 2025.
Real Housewives of Potomac’s Karen Huger found guilty of DUI and negligent driving
A Maryland jury on Wednesday also found the Huger guilty of failure to control speed to avoid a collision and failure to notify authorities of an address change following a car crash in March, according to the Los Angeles Times. Huger was found not guilty of reckless driving.
Kieran Culkin reveals Succession co-star Sarah Snook is godmother to his son
In a Variety Actors on Actors interview with Colman Domingo, Culkin said of Snook: "She's my son's godmother...and one of my favorite people in the world."
Deborah Norville to host syndicated game show The Perfect Line
The game show from CBS Media Ventures promises “a new, visual take on trivia.” Contestants will play a series of games where they test their knowledge by arranging events, items, or people in the correct order to create “the perfect line.” Each round contestants are eliminated, leaving the last person standing to play the final round for a grand prize.
Bluey is coming to Disney's theme parks and cruises
The hit children's animated series is set to make its debut at Walt Disney World and Disneyland next year, as well as on the Disney Cruise Line.
Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Peter Thomas sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to pay his taxes
Thomas pleaded guilty last summer to one count of failure to pay trust fund taxes.
Danny Masterson seeks to overturn his rape convictions
The former That 70s Show star, who was found guilty of raping two women in the early 2000s, alleges in a new filing that he didn't receive a fair trial because "key witness testimonies changed over time, that the court excluded significant exculpatory evidence and that judicial rulings skewed the jury’s view of the evidence against Masterson," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' Netflix docuseries unveils its trailer
Emmy-winning directors Chapman and Maclain Way are behind the 10-part America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, premiering in 2025 and featuring interviews with Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer and more.
The Thundermans: Undercover gets a Nickelodeon premiere date and trailer
The spinoff series of The Thundermans, premiering Jan. 22, follows "Phoebe (Kira Kosarin) and Max (Jack Griffo) as they are sent undercover to handle a new threat in the beachside town of Secret Shores and bring Chloe (Maya Le Clark) along to develop her superhero talent," per Deadline.
Disney+ releases the trailer for Spanish-language dramedy Shared Custody
Thee eight-episode series, premiering Jan. 24, follows separated parents as they deal with sharing their 5-year-old daughter.
Netflix unveils the trailer for Gabriel Iglesias: Legend of Fluffy
Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias' fourth Netflix standup special premieres Jan. 7.
Reverse aging-obsessed tech mogul Brian Johnson is the subject of Netflix's Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever trailer
"How far would you go to live forever - or even just slow down the aging process?" asks the Netflix documentary, premiering Jan. 1.