News

Exclusive: Bill Camp, who is currently starring in Apple TV+’s hot new legal thriller Presumed Innocent, is the latest cast member to join Netflix’s female-driven, dark comedy limited series Sirens.

Created by Molly Smith Metzler based on her play Elemeno Pea and executive produced by LuckyChap, Sirens follows Devon (Meghann Fahy), who thinks her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore). Michaela’s cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone and Devon has decided it’s time for an intervention. When Devon tracks her sister down to say Wtf, she has no idea what a formidable opponent Michaela will be. The show is told throughout one explosive weekend at The Kells’ lavish beach estate.

Camp will play Simone (Alcock) and Devon’s (Fahy) father Bruce DeWitt. A former Navy man, he’s Buffalo-born and bred.

The upcoming Netflix limited dark comedy series “Sirens” is adding eight new cast members, Variety has learned.

The new recurring cast members are: Josh Segarra, Felix Solis, Trevor Salter (“She-Hulk”), Britne Oldford, Lauren Weedman, Jenn Lyon, Erin Neufer, and Emily Borromeo.

Full character descriptions can be found below.

Production on the series is now underway in New York. The new cast members join previously announced stars Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, and Milly Alcock as well as Glenn Howerton and Kevin Bacon.

Variety exclusively reported in February that the series was coming to Netflix. It hails from “Maid” creator Molly Smith Metzler and is based on her play “Elemeno Pea.”

The series is told over the course of a weekend at a lavish beach estate. Per the official logline, “Devon (Fahy) thinks her sister Simone (Alcock) has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell (Moore...

Josh Segarra (Scream), Felix Solis (Ozark), Trevor Salter (She-Hulk), Britne Oldford (Dead Ringers), Lauren Weedman (Hacks), Jenn Lyon (Claws) Erin Neufer (Fellow Travelers) and Emily Borromeo (Blue Bloods) have joined the cast of Netflix’s dark comedy series Sirens.

They join the previously announced cast of Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock, Glenn Howerton and Kevin Bacon. Production is currently underway in New York.

From creator and showrunner Molly Smith Metzler and based on her play Elemeno Pea, Sirens follows Devon (Fahy), who thinks her sister Simone (Alcock) has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell (Moore). Michaela’s cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone and Devon has decided it’s time for an intervention. When Devon tracks her sister down to say Wtf, she has no idea what a formidable opponent Michaela will be. The show is told throughout...

Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy and Milly Alcock have all joined Netflix’s upcoming limited series Sirens in leading roles, our sister site Variety reports.

The dark comedy (from Maid creator Molly Smith Metzler) is told over the course of one weekend at a lavish beach estate. Per the official logline, “Devon (The White Lotus’ Fahy) thinks her sister Simone (House of the Dragon’s Alcock) has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell (Moore). Michaela’s cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone, and Devon has decided it’s time for an intervention.

Bette Midler has an idea for Quinta Brunson and wants to guest star on the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary.

The actress took to social media to express her desire to appear on the award-winning comedy and she wants to be cast as the mother of Lisa Ann Walter’s Melissa.

“Since I’m now using this website to pitch myself on TV shows, I would also like to play Melissa Schemmenti’s mother on Abbott Elementary. If you see Quinta Brunson, please tell her,” Midler recently posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Since I'm now using this website to pitch myself on TV shows, I would also like to play Melissa Schemmenti's mother on "Abbott Elementary." If you see Quinta Brunson, please tell her.

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) April 21, 2024

Melissa’s mother has not appeared on the show created by Brunson as of now. The only Schemmenti...

Exclusive: Talent agency Kmr Talent is grappling with a “talent payment breakdown,” a set of logistical and staffing issues that have resulted in late payments to clients, owner and President Mark Measures tells Deadline.

The revelation come following outreach to Deadline on the part of multiple talent reps, who say money owed to clients is now several months late. The situation triggered a wave of rumors that the agency may be going under.

Highlighting banking issues, the crashing of a database involved with payment, and the loss of the agency’s Head of Talent Payment as factors behind issues with pay-out, Measures stressed that the agency is actively “working [its] way out” of the situation, in dialogue with talent payment companies, as well as talent reps and unions.

When further pressed about the situation at Kmr Talent, Measures stressed that the agency is “not under threat of closure,” as proved the...

We hope the teachers of Abbott Elementary don’t take offense when we say that we would happily enroll in another school.

Before you send us to the time-out corner to think about our choices, allow us to explain: Season 2 of the hit ABC comedy introduced viewers to Addington Elementary, where Melissa Schemmenti’s sister Kristin Marie (played by Lauren Weedman) — described by Jacob as Melissa’s “charter school doppelgänger” — works as a teacher. As a Legendary Charter, Addington serves as a rival to Abbott, with enough money and resources to make even the most stalwart Abbott teacher covetous of...

Finding actors for Abbott Elementary‘s coterie of impressive guest stars was no easy task for casting director Wendy O’Brien, who juggled A-list schedules, Covid-19 restrictions and child labor laws to help bring season two of the ABC sitcom to life.

After the massive critical and commercial success of season one, securing interested talent was not the problem: “Part of the joy of season two was that Abbott had already exploded,” O’Brien explains. “We were having agents and actors reaching out to us saying they were fans of the show, if there was ever anything that they could be right for.”

Creator Quinta Brunson had one actor in mind to play her character Janine’s mother, Vanetta: “Taraji [P. Henson] was a dream of Quinta’s,” O’Brien says. “But she’s extraordinarily busy. It’s not easy to nail down her schedule. When we were reaching out to her reps to gauge interest,...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

Updated: June 1, 2023

2023 Emmy Predictions:

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Shirley MacLaine in “Only Murders in the Building”

Weekly Commentary: Stephanie Hsu picked up a deserving Oscar nomination in supporting actress for her performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” That goodwill may carry over into an Emmy nomination,...

Lisa Ann Walter knew that she was the only person that could play Melissa Schemmenti on “Abbott Elementary.” The actress and comedian knew it from the first moment she read the pilot script. “I was like, ‘This is me! This is my part!'” she says. “I know all the actresses that they would see for this role, and this is me. This is my family.”

The ABC comedy about an underfunded Philadelphia school earned Walter and her cast a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Comedy Ensemble earlier this year. In an exclusive video chat with Gold Derby (watch above), Walter discusses the show’s acclaimed second season and why the award-winning ensemble works so well together.

SEEEmmys spotlight: It’s time to single out Lisa Ann Walter alongside her ‘Abbott Elementary’ co-stars

The sophomore season of “Abbott Elementary” gave Walter one showcase after another. We’ve seen Melissa...

The Gold Derby predictions center event for the 2023 Emmy Awards has now added the Comedy Guest Actress category. We have compiled lists of nearly 40 eligible performers in each of the four guest acting races that reflect our educated guesses on who will be submitted for consideration. More names will be added in the next few months and when the Television Academy releases this year’s ballots in June. Make your very first selections now!

From last year’s six nominees, both Jane Lynch (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Harriet Walter (“Ted Lasso”) are eligible to return. Lynch, of course, won this category back in 2019 for her performance as Midge’s (Rachel Brosnahan) nemesis, standup comedian Sophie Lennon. Laurie Metcalf won last year for a two-episode arc on “Hacks,” which nabbed four of the six guest actress slots last cycle. The HBO Max series will not air new episodes in time to compete this year,...

The Emmy race for Best Comedy Supporting Actress was one of the biggest nail-biters of the ceremony last year. The sheer talent in the category was staggering with previous winners Hannah Waddingham, Alex Borstein and Kate McKinnon, as well as previous nominees Hannah Einbinder and Juno Temple, in contention. Adding to the complexity, Sarah Niles (“Ted Lasso”) snagged her first bid for the reigning Best Comedy Series while Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph earned nominations for “Abbott Elementary’s” freshman season.

Ralph ended up winning, overcoming Gold Derby’s odds and a potential vote split with her scene-stealing co-star. That just goes to show how much of a juggernaut “Abbott Elementary” was, and as we cruise into Emmy season this year, that’s important to keep in mind. Worth remembering, too, is that Ralph was in eighth place in our odds to receive a nomination last year, which brings me to Lisa Ann Walter.

We're cruising through Season 2 of Quinta Brunson's "Abbott Elementary" -- one of the funniest and most moving workplace sitcoms. My goodness! The Emmy-award-winning series has continued to be on a hot streak throughout this latest season with excellently calculated comedic chaos. In season 2, the underpaid and overworked teachers are back, and their plight to educate the children of this Philadelphia school district makes for some of the best television in 2022.

As an avid fan of "Abbott Elementary," I can't help but find unbridled joy in every quirky character interaction. However, I do have my favorites. There have been many tribulations at Philidelphia's Abbott Elementary school -- ranging from the "desking" incident to the destruction of every toilet on the premises. Through it all, I have gotten to familiarize myself with the eclectic cast of characters, and I'm just itching to see how they stack up against each other. Take a seat,...

Retro plastic couch covers are finally getting their due in 21st century pop culture.

Beyond getting referenced on a Beyoncé album, the tacky-yet-lovable fabric shields appears “Abbott Elementary” Season 2 Episode 4, “The Principal’s Office,” when Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) invites Janine (Quinta Brunson) over for a cooking lesson. It’s the series’ first major look at a character’s domestic life, and in an Italian American household in South Philly, a large, welcoming sofa had to be the centerpiece.

“It’s the first thing I asked for,” Walter says about the plastic on the couch, seen here in first look images that Variety can exclusively reveal. “Well, first I asked for plastic on the lampshades, but people might not understand that. An older generation thing.”

“She’s got a fab ‘80s couch, big rolled arms, but we kept it in a neutral, ivory tone,” says set decorator Cherie Day Ledwith.

Click here to read the full article.

School is back in session at ABC with Wednesday return of the Disney-backed broadcaster’s Emmy-winning comedy Abbott Elementary.

The comedy starring and co-created by newly minted Emmy winner Quinta Brunson launches its second season Wednesday at 9 p.m. with a supersized season that will expand the show beyond the walls of its central school.

Here are five things to know about season two of the comedy that Brunson originally developed as an animated show.

1. Expanding the show’s world

The freshman season focused largely on the day to day at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School, but the sophomore run will expand the show’s world. “We’re going to start to explore more of the personal lives of these characters outside of the school,” co-showrunner Patrick Schumacker told The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast. “Season one, we were not really...

There are going to be some new faces at Abbott Elementary this school year. ABC announced during its Television Critics Association portion Sept. 14 that season two of the hit series will see the addition of guest stars Leslie Odom Jr., Lauren Weedman and Keyla Monterroso Mejia.  The Hamilton alum is set to play Draemond, described by the network as "the owner of a string of charter schools in the area who pays a visit to Abbott."  As for Weedman, the actress who recently starred in HBO Max's Hacks, she's going to portray Kristin Marie, a character that is sure to ruffle the feathers of at least one other teacher. According to ABC,...

ABC announced a slew of news regarding their fall programming at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on September 14, headlined by guest star announcements for the second season of recently-anointed Emmy-winner “Abbott Elementary.” Read below for a summary of ABC’s announcements from the TCA press conferences.

Guest Stars

Debuting on Wednesday, September 21, the second season of Quinta Brunson‘s hit show will feature recurring guest roles from actor Leslie Odom Jr., Lauren Weedman and Keyla Monterroso Mejia. Odom Jr. will play Draemond, the owner of a batch of charter schools in the area who visits Abbott. Weedman will play Kristin Marie, a hard-shelled teacher from a neighboring school that strikingly resembles one of Abbott’s own teachers. Monterroso Mejia plays a teacher’s aide whose lax personality contributes to classroom chaos at Abbott.

The show notched an Emmy award during Monday’s primetime ceremony, credited to Brunson for...

Roswell, New Mexico alumna Jeanine Mason is uploading her next TV role: The actress has joined Season 3 of the Prime Video sci-fi comedy Upload, our sister site Variety reports.

Mason will play Karina Silva, “a charming senior Horizen executive in charge of new product development and cybersecurity.”

More from TVLineAbbott Elementary's Sheryl Lee Ralph Dings Jimmy Kimmel for Controversial Emmys Stunt: 'Oh, the Disrespect...'TVLine Items: Rachel Bloom Joins Julia, Bling Ring Docuseries Trailer and MoreEmmys 2022: Sheryl Lee Ralph Wins Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary

Upload Season 2 premiered March 11 (after a 22-month hiatus...

It’s back to school time for the Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary.

In anticipation of its Sept. 21 return to ABC, the comedy from Quinta Brunson has dropped a new teaser. And look who’s matriculating into the school this year: Leslie Odom Jr. will play Draemond, the owner of a string of charter schools in the area who pays a visit to Abbott. Additional celebrity appearances include Lauren Weedman (Euphoria) as Kristin Marie, a tough-talking teacher from a neighboring school who bears a striking resemblance to one of Abbott’s own, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Ashley, a teacher’s aide at Abbott Elementary whose go-with-the-flow personality contributes to classroom chaos.

In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life.

School’s almost back in session for Abbott Elementary as the ABC comedy prepares for Season 2 and the Emmy-winning fan-favorite will welcome some famous faces. Hamilton‘s Leslie Odom Jr., Euphoria‘s Lauren Weedman, and Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s Keyla Monterroso Mejia are officially boarding the show in guest-starring roles. They’ll play a part in the continued story of Abbott’s teachers who are still dedicated to their students and school despite the odds stacked against them. (Credit: ABC) Among the characters that fans can anticipate is Odom Jr.’s Draemond, he is the owner of a string of charter schools in the area who pays a visit to Abbott. Meanwhile, comedian, actress, and playwright Weedman will feature as Kristin Marie, a tough-talking teacher from a neighboring school who bears a striking resemblance to one of Abbott’s own. And Mejia has been cast as Ashley, a teacher’s...

As ABC’s hit series “Abbott Elementary” heads back to school, Oscar-nominated actor Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) leads a roster of special guest stars for Season 2. The Quinta Brunson-created and starring show will also see appearances from Lauren Weedman (“Euphoria”) and Keyla Monterroso Mejia (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), ABC announced Wednesday during its portion of the Television Critics Association summer tour.

Odom Jr. will portray Draemond, the owner of a string of charter schools in the area who pays a visit to Abbott. Weedman is playing Kristin Marie, a tough-talking teacher from a neighboring school who bears a striking resemblance to one of Abbott’s own. Mejia is Ashley, a teacher’s aide at Abbott Elementary whose go-with-the-flow personality contributes to classroom chaos.

Fresh off of three Emmy wins — including Brunson’s historic win for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series — “Abbott Elementary” will return to ABC on Sept.

Plot: A woman wins an all-expenses trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence. She also gets the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined.

Review: Spin Me Round is Jeff Baena‘s latest outing in the world of off-beat comedy and he’s brought many of his usual collaborators along for the ride. So is it just as weird and off-kilter as the rest of his filmography? What starts as a standard romantic comedy slowly devolves into a weird mystery. Baena has always had a knack for off-kilter comedies and here he feels like he’s at the absolute height of his talents. So if you’ve enjoyed the rest of Baena’s work, it’s hard to imagine this would be any different.

The story is fun: Alison Brie’s Amber is...

There are a number of reasons to recommend Spin Me Round, a winning comedy about the manager of an Olive Garden-style restaurant who gets chosen to attend a training program in Italy. The film features a shockingly stacked supporting cast of comedy titans: Aubrey Plaza, Tim Heidecker, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Lil Rel Howery, The Office’s Zach Woods, Looking’s Lauren Weedman, and High Maintenance’s Ben Sinclair. The latest from director Jeff Baena, whose strange and wildly diverse filmography includes Life After Beth and The Little Hours, Spin Me Round stood out as one of the better comedies in a strong SXSW lineup earlier this year––even its Harlequin romance novel-aping poster is a gem.

However, the top reason to see Spin Me Round—it is not even close, really—is Alison Brie landing a starring role perfectly suited for her talents. The Glow star co-wrote the script with Baena,...

Spin Me Round Review — Spin Me Round (2022) Film Review from the 29th Annual South by Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by Jeff Baena, written by Jeff Baena and Alison Brie and starring Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Tricia Helfer, Lauren Weedman, Debby Ryan, Lil Rel Howery, Fred Armisen, Alessandro Nivola, Zach Woods, [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Spin Me Round: Good Actresses Get Caught Up in a Meandering Plot [SXSW 2022]...

With production for Season 2 of “Euphoria” delayed due to the pandemic, the show put out two “special bridge episodes” in December and January. The first hourlong episode focused on Zendaya’s Rue and her addiction recovery; the second on Hunter Schafer’s character Jules. While acting categories are limited to full season arcs, as a co-writer of the episode with show creator Sam Levinson, Schafer is eligible for an Emmy nomination for writing.

“Part 2: Jules” or “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob” is framed around a single counseling session, with Schafer acting opposite HBO favorite Lauren Weedman as her therapist. The session, and the episode, sees Jules exploring her complicated romantic feelings towards Rue, her abandonment by her mother, and her shifting ideas around her outward expression of gender. Jules opens the session with a blunt admission, telling her therapist she is thinking about stopping taking her hormone blockers.

Exclusive: Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Alessandro Nivola, Molly Shannon and Lil Rel Howery are set to star in Spin Me Round, an indie comedy directed by Jeff Baena from a script he wrote with Brie. Pic will be produced by the Duplass Brothers Productions and Limelight, the latter of which is fully financing the picture. Production begins next month in Italy.

Tim Heidecker, Ben Sinclair, Fred Armisen, Ayden Mayeri, Debby Ryan, Zach Woods, Ego Nwodim, Lauren Weedman, and Jake Picking round out the cast. Brie plays the manager of the Bakersfield, California franchise of the Italian chain eatery Tuscan Grove. She wins an all-expenses trip to the company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence, Italy, and the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner (Nivola). Along with a mismatched group of local American franchise managers, Amber finds a far different adventure than the romantic fantasy she had imagined.

Exclusive: Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Max Jenkins (Dead To Me), Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty), Utkarsh Ambudkar (The Mindy Project), Lauren Weedman (Looking), newcomer Buck Andrews, Anjali Bhimani (Modern Family), Ajay Mehta (This is Us) and Karan Soni (Miracle Workers) are set to recur in the second season of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated comedy series Special, created by and starring Ryan O’Connell. Additionally, Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace) will appear in a guest-starring role. Based on O’Connell’s part-memoir, part-manifesto I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, Special hails from Warner Bros. Television, Jim Parsons and Todd Spiewak’s That’s Wonderful Productions, Campfire and Stage 13.

The semi-autobiographical centers on a gay man with mild cerebral palsy, played by O’Connell, who decides to rewrite his identity as an accident victim and finally go after the life he wants. O’Connell also writes the series and executive produces.

The...

Looks like the holidays weren’t happy for anyone in Euphoria-land.

The HBO series’ second pre-Season 2 episode, a companion to a Christmas episode released in December, aired Sunday. The first special took us inside Rue’s Christmas Eve, which she spent in a diner with her 12-step-program sponsor, and revealed how near rock-bottom the drug-addicted teen truly was. (Read a recap here.) Sunday’s hour focused on Hunter Schafer’s Jules, who sat down with a therapist after returning home from running away in the Season 1 finale.

More from TVLineGame of Thrones: Dunk and Egg Prequel in the Works at...

This post contains spoilers for the second Euphoria special, which premieres Sunday night on HBO and is available on HBO Max.

“I feel like real life is always such a letdown,” Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer) announces midway through this second Euphoria special, titled “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob.” She’s referring to how much more satisfying she finds online relationships than in-person ones, particularly in the aftermath of being catfished by sociopath supervillain Nate (Jacob Elordi). But it’s striking to see how much this special and...

[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for the special episode of “Euphoria” featuring Jules, aka “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob.”]

Right before the electric blue title hits, “Euphoria” spends two minutes staring into Hunter Schafer’s eyes. Well, actually, it’s just the one eye. After her new therapist asks why she ran away, the short question elicits an eruptive reaction. In the reflection of Jules’ eye, memory after memory spills out in rapid fashion. Many are of Rue and their shared time together, but some are of her family or her own experiences. Paired with the emotional bombshell of Lorde’s “Liability,” the scene is simple yet mesmerizing. We’ve seen these moments before, but never quite like this, from this person, in the moment she’s living through now.

“Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob” works in similar fashion. Many of the experiences Jules discusses over the 48-minute special episode are familiar ones. Like the first special,...

In its first season, “Euphoria” was a lightning bolt.

The HBO series, crackling with oddity and possibility, generated noise and light in a manner that felt new, and overdue. The show told stories about the TikTok generation with all the emotional excess that comes with actually being a teen. And in Zendaya and Hunter Schafer, it put forward two massively charismatic and gifted performers — the first a familiar face allowed to graduate to a new level of acting achievement, the second a brand-new star. The TV landscape has been a little dimmer without them since “Euphoria’s” first season ended in August 2019.

Evidently, show creator Sam Levinson missed these actors and their characters too. This weekend sees the launch of the second of two off-season specials on HBO after a preview on HBO Max. The first of these dealt with Rue (Zendaya), an addict in tentative recovery, meeting with her...

Take a look at "Horse Girl", the new 'psychological thriller' directed by Jeff Baena, from a screenplay by Baena and Alison Brie, starring Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz and Paul Reiser, streaming on Netflix February 7, 2020:

"...a socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life..."

Cast also includes Jay Duplass, Robin Tunney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Meredith Hagner, Dylan Gelula, Toby Huss, Angela Trimbur, David Paymer, Aaron Stanford, Dendrie Taylor, Lauren Weedman, Jake Picking and Luis Fernandez.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Horse Girl"...

ABC’s Single Parents is adding some friends, a flock of feminists and a red-headed obsession, ahead of the freshman comedy’s premiere.

Created by New Girl‘s Liz Meriwether and Jj Philbin and debuting Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 9:30/8:30c, the TVLine Fall TV “Pick” stars Leighton Meester, Brad Garrett, Kimrie Lewis and Jake Choi as Angie, Douglas, Poppy and Miggy, savvy single parents who try to teach an eager-beaver newcomer, played by Taran Killam, how to be less dork and more chill.

In Episode 2, TVLine has learned exclusively, Andy Favreau (of NBC’s recently benched Champions) will guest-star as Owen,...

Network: Epix. Episodes: 20 (half-hour). Seasons: Two. TV show dates: October 16, 2016 — December 10, 2017. Series status: Cancelled. Performers include: Nick Nolte, Sela Ward, Heléne Yorke, Chris Lowell, Skylar Astin, Callie Hernandez, Tania Gunadi, Ernie Hudson, Roger Bart, Khotan Fernandez, Harry Hamlin, Nia Vardalos, Kathy Najimy, Adam Goldberg, Spencer Grammer, Wallace Shawn, Jaqueline Bisset, Sarah Baker, Matt Long, Lauren Weedman, Michael Cyril Creighton, Joanna Sanchez, and Juliette Lewis. TV show description: The Graves TV show is a political comedy from creator Joshua Michael Stern. The story centers on Richard Graves (Nolte), a former President of the United States, his wife Margaret (Ward), and their children Olivia (Yorke), and Jeremy (Lowell). Twenty-five years after the...

It's time for our silly celeb-fantasy game courtesy of instagram 

...growl at Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal?

...look as fab as Anya Taylor Joy despite a hangover?

...visit Mallorca with Rossy de Palma?

... hit the museum of ice cream with Selma Blair?

... go broom-shopping with Lauren Weedman?

... get sandwiched by Janelle Monae and Tessa Thompson?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide.

Chicago – It occurred to me in assessing “The Little Hours” that the basic premise is somewhat like “The Beguiled” – a man is taken in, rooster-like, into a henhouse where there are women with “needs.” Except this time, instead of a girl’s boarding school, it is a 14th Century nunnery. Get thee to it, if thou wants to laugheth.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

There is basically one premise… the nuns are horny and Dave Franco is willing, or two, if you count that all the participants in the film speak in modern day language, including the frequent throwing of f-bombs. The casting is the key, with the great Aubrey Plaza again stealing many scenes, and the aforementioned Dave Franco’s innocent interaction with his fate, as he gets some action. Throw in Allison Brie, John C. Reilly, Nick Offerman and Fred Armisen (as a Catholic bishop), and this broadside satire of medieval and religiosity does have its moments.

The Little Hours Review The Little Hours (2017) Film Review, a movie directed by Jeff Baena, and starring Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke, Nick Offerman, Lauren Weedman, Paul Reiser, Adam [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: The Little Hours (2017): Religious Satire Takes Backseat To Quaint Comedy...

We’ve waited nearly two full years (!) for it, Jammers, but it’s finally here: Playing House is back… and it’s like we never left the cozy confines of Pinebrook.

Friday’s two-part Season 3 premiere kicks off (hi-yah!) with Emma and Maggie taking a self-defense class, learning “eyeball scoops” and other lethal tactics from a seriously toned instructor named Cookie (Looking‘s Lauren Weedman). Maggie’s a real teacher’s pet, flipping poor Emma around with ease. (“I think you snapped my solar plexus,” Emma complains.) Cookie even invites Maggie to join her squad of elite students, “The Cookie...

The video game worlds of The Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Dishonored 2 will be coming to life on the printed page at Titan Comics! In today's Horror Highlights, we also have character posters for The Little Hours and release details and a poster for Inconceivable.

Titan Comics Teams Up with Bethesda Softworks: Press Release: "Announced at E3, visionary game developer, Bethesda Softworks are working on three exhilarating new video games for multiple platforms: The Evil Within® 2, Wolfenstein II®: The New Colossus™, and a Dlc for the smash-hit Dishonored® 2!

Titan Comics are thrilled to announce that they are teaming up with the legendary developer to create in-canon stories based on these hotly anticipated properties, due to hit comic stores and digital devices this Fall.

Following Titan Comics’ smash-hit prequel comic series to The Evil Within in 2015, Titan Comics will publish a direct lead-in to the upcoming survival horror videogame sequel, inviting readers back into the blood-curdling world as imagined by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami!

Coming to comic stores and digital devices on September 6, Titan Comics’ new The Evil Within comic book series finds Detective Sebastian Castellanos still shell-shocked by the horrific events that took place at the Beacon Mental Hospital, and reluctantly pulled back into Mobius’ macabre world when a gruesome serial killer unleashes a new kind of hell onto Krimson City.

The Evil Within Issue #1 is written by Ryan O’Sullivan (Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Turncoat) with art by Damien Worm (The October Faction) and Szymon Kudranski (Spider-Man).

On September 13, 2017, get ready to sock it to the Nazis with an all-new comics prequel to the hotly anticipated first-person action blockbuster, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which continues the adventures of B.J. Blaskowicz as he leads the resistance against the Nazis in occupied America.

In Titan’s new comic series, written by Dan Watters (Limbo, Assassin’s Creed: Uprising) with art by Piotr Kowalski (Sex, Dark Souls) and Ronilson Freire (The Mummy), dive headfirst into the alternate universe of Wolfenstein as B.J. Blaskowicz returns to take on the Nazis. Can he stop the march of goose-stepping boots? Or will the sinister Hans Hartmann be victorious?

Titan Comics will also publish brand-new Dishonored comics, to tie-in with the upcoming Dlc (downloadable content) of the smash-hit first person stealth-‘em-up Dishonored 2 videogame!

Written by by Michael Moreci (Roche Limit) and illustrated by Andrea Olimpieri (Dishonored) and Mattia Iacono (Demone Dentro), Dishonored: The Peeress and the Price, Titan Comics’ new series, sees Emily Kaldwin return to Dunwall for an adventure with Corvo Attano. Emily comes into conflict with a politician named Archibald Dufrane, and there is a mysterious killer on the loose – but when Emily’s powers start to falter in the middle of their investigation, things start to get deadly…

The Evil Within #1 (on-sale September 6, 2017), Wolfenstein #1 (on-sale September 13, 2017) and Dishonored: The Peeress And The Price #1 (on-sale September 27, 2017) are available to order from the upcoming July edition of Previews.

For more announcements and news on this exciting new line of comics, join Titan Comics on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr."

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The Little Hours Character Posters: "Medieval nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) lead a simple life in their convent. Their days are spent chafing at monastic routine, spying on one another, and berating the estate’s day laborer. After a particularly vicious insult session drives the peasant away, Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) brings on new hired hand Massetto (Dave Franco), a virile young servant forced into hiding by his angry lord. Introduced to the sisters as a deaf-mute to discourage temptation, Massetto struggles to maintain his cover as the repressed nunnery erupts in a whirlwind of pansexual horniness, substance abuse, and wicked revelry."

Written and directed by Jeff Baena, The Little Hours stars Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Mucucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke, Nick Offerman, Adam Pally, Jon Gabrus, and Lauren Weedman.

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Inconceivable Release Details: Press Release: "Los Angeles, June 22, 2017 -- As its June 30 theatrical and digital release approaches, actor/director/producer Jonathan Baker reflects on the theme of his film, which, safe to say, is an entertaining thriller with a cautionary message: if you’re thinking about IVF, surrogate motherhood or even just hiring a child minder, be careful. Rather like Jaws’ tagline, “You’ll never go in the water again,” after seeing Inconceivable, you just might want to think twice before leaving your child alone with a stranger, even as attractive and seductive one as Inconceivable star Nicky Whelan.

Baker cites nanny, surrogacy and IVF programs gone wrong when he talks about why he chose to do the film. “The movie is about a couple and their journey though In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), surrogate motherhood and a vindictive nanny. IVF is a topic that can be taboo, even in the USA. In addition to entertaining the audience, I wanted to shed light on this subject—which affects so many couples—in an open forum to help dispel the secrecy and even shame surrounding this topic. The film provides the space for a real problem to play out (in an admittedly extreme way) in a fictional world. There are many people who want children that need the help, and this film strings viewers along for their struggle, but in a very different, arguably darker, way.”

“While the film at first focuses on IVF, the focus naturally dips into surrogate motherhood as it becomes the route used to solve the couple [played by Nicolas Cage and Gina Gershon]’s infertility,” Baker continues. “But is the surrogate mother potentially signing her unborn child’s life away? For the average couple, surrogacy does not connect with losing a child; however this thriller is all about exploring that fear. Allowing a stranger into your world can be frightening in itself, but such vulnerability is amplified with surrogacy. The film proves that IVF and surrogacy can create a dangerous cocktail of tension, paranoia, and fear that can destroy a family.”

Deception doesn’t always come from where you expect it to; sometimes it comes from your most trusted nanny as seen with Inconceivable. When a stranger is in the home, it is natural to fear something might go wrong. Such incidents have been widely broadcast in cases such as with Gwen Stefani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Balthazar Getty, among others. Isn’t it weird that we trust strangers with our most prized possessions: children? I wanted to combine these topics to bring these fears to the screen, because fear is what gets people talking. Through discussion, society can better address such topics.

Overall, my goal for this film was to make something that matters and really hits home with people. Infertility is a harsh reality for many prospective parents, and I wanted to help contribute to such an important dialogue as this. I want my movie to bring the topics out of hiding and into open discussion. That’s why ‘deception hits home’ is such a fraught tag line for the movie.”

Starring Nic Cage, Gina Gershon, Faye Dunaway and Nicky Whelan and co-starring Eva Marie and Jonathan Baker, Lionsgate Premiere is releasing Inconceivable June 30."

The post Horror Highlights: Titan Comics Teams Up with Bethesda, The Little Hours, Inconceivable, appeared first on Daily Dead.

Matt Long (Mad Men, Private Practice) and Lauren Weedman (Hung, Looking) have booked recurring roles opposite Nick Nolte of season 2 of Epix comedy series Graves, from Lionsgate TV. After a year of public protests against his Presidential legacy, Season 2 finds former President Richard Graves (Nolte) turning inward in search of the man he used to be before he was President. This journey is compounded by the arrival of his first grandchild, thanks to daughter Olivia…...

“The Little Hours” had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Otter Media’s Gunpowder & Sky. Now, Jeff Baena’s irreverent and hilarious adaptation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s medieval book “The Decameron” is ready for its theatrical debut this summer, and a red band trailer has just dropped.

Read More: Aubrey Plaza Leads a Hilarious Cast of Sexually Deviant Nuns In Jeff Baena’s ‘The Little Hours’ — Sundance 2017 Review

Written and directed by Baena, “The Little Hours” follows a group of nuns (played by Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza and Kate Micucci), who lead a non-eventful life in a monastery lead by Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly). When a virile young man named Massetto (Dave Franco) is brought in by Father Tommasso as the new hired hand, the nuns engage in sexual deviance, substance abuse and wicked revelry.

Read More: 50 Movies to See This Summer

Molly Shannon,...

Daniel Clowes’ Wilson is now playing in theaters across the country and hopefully, those who’ve had a chance to see it still have some questions about how the filmmakers and cast captured the tone of Clowes’ graphic novel so well. (It didn’t hurt that Clowes adapted it into a movie himself.)

It is director Craig Johnson’s third film, following 2009’s True Adolescents and 2014’s The Skeleton Twins, starring Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, which won a screenplay at Sundance that year.

In the movie, Woody Harrelson plays the title character, a cantankerous and unfiltered loner who tries hard to be social but ends up putting those he interacts with off. When he tries to reconnect with his ex-wife Pippy (Laura Dern), he finds out that he had a baby daughter she gave up for adoption. The two of them go look for their now teen daughter Claire...

This week sees another comic book adaptation arrive at movie theatres, while the Lego Batman and Logan are still pulling audiences in at the multiplex. Ah, but this film is not another superhero slugfest (we’ll have three more of those from Marvel Studios, and two from Warner/DC by the year’s end). No this comes from the “upper classes” of illustrated narratives, those “serious and somber” graphic novels (kind of a “highfalutin'” moniker). Several prestige flicks have been based on such books, like The History Of Violence and The Road To Perdition (both earned Oscar noms). The “graphic artist” (hey, I’ll bet he’d prefer cartoonist) behind this new film is no stranger to cinema. Matter of fact, this is his third feature-length movie adaptation. The first was my personal favorite flick of 2001, the quirky Ghost World (no ectoplasmic apparitions, but a teenage Scarlett Johansson). Five years...

The company that recently acquired FilmBuff has picked up North America and select territories on Jeff Baena’s latest drama.

Baena’s follow-up to Sundance 2016 selection Joshy and Sundance 2014 entry Life After Beth stars Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza and Kate Micucci as Italian nuns having a hard time keeping their vow of celibacy.

The cast includes Dave Franco, John C Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke, Lauren Weedman, Paul Reiser, Adam Pally, Paul Weitz, Jon Gabrus and Nick Offerman.

Liz Destro of Destro Films produced The Little Hours with Plaza. Starstream Media, Bow and Arrow Entertainment, Foton Pictures, Concourse Media and Exhibit served as executive producers.

Jake Hanly and Janet Brown negotiated on behalf of Gunpowder & Sky with Wme Global and CAA for the filmmakers.

You know you’re in for a good time when a trio of nuns turn to the genial farmer who greets them one morning with the retort, “Don’t fucking talk to us!” That’s the underlying charm of “The Little Hours,” in which every joke stems from people talking the last way you’d expect of them. Matching a crackling wit with the absurd dissonance of time and place found in the best of Monty Python and Mel Brooks, “Little Hours” is so eager to please that its one-note humor lands with ease.

Writer-director Jeff Baena’s improv-laden twist on “The Decameron,” in which wily 13th-century nuns speak in raunchy contemporary dialogue and engage in sexual deviance, milks its premise for as many jokes as possible and then keeps going, with uneven but mostly hilarious results. Overall, it’s a perfectly satisfying snapshot of subversive comedy that delivers where it counts.

It’s November – a time for Thanksgiving, feasts, and the presence of relatives. If you have some time off (or are trying to grab some much-needed alone time), here is a list of films opening throughout the coming weeks, separated into categories of wide and limited runs. (Synopses are provided by festivals and distributors.)

Each week we will have more updates and information, so be sure to keep coming back. You can also check our calendar page, which has releases for the rest of the year. Eat well and keep watching!

Week of November 4 Wide

Trolls

Director: Mike Mitchell, Walt Dohrn

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Christine Baranski, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Gwen Stefani, Icona Pop, James Corden, Jeffrey Tambor, John Cleese, Justin Timberlake, Kunal Nayyar, Quvenzhané Wallis, Ron Funches, Russell Brand, Zooey Deschanel

Synopsis: After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and the overly-cautious curmudgeonly Branch set off...

You’ll get no judgment from me if — after watching Looking: The Movie — you’re overcome by the urge to gather your closest friends and/or significant other at the nearest greasy spoon to scarf down runny eggs and weak coffee and whatever else you might need to fend off a Sunday-morning hangover.

Comic-con 2016 Exclusive Videos, Casting News, Scoop and More

Oh, sure, the wrapup of HBO’s sometimes charming, sometimes maddening dramedy — essentially a third season packed into a tidy 90 minutes — features one too many Unsubtle One-Liners to Underscore the Big Themes (“Sometimes you’ve got to leave...

Midway through the second (and last) season of HBO’s criminally short-lived series Looking, our favorite gay hypochondriac Patrick (Jonathan Groff) justified his tryst with then-taken Kevin (Russell Tovey) by arguing that Kevin and his boyfriend, John, were in the ruts of their relationship and about to end it anyway. “I know how that sounds, like the worst TV show you’ve ever seen,” Patrick admits to reformed narcissist Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) and, in a weirdly positive way, he’s not very far off the mark.

For all of its 18 episodes, Looking‘s plots lined up with a large swath of typical boilerplate, romantic-drama television that hid a lot of its cliché behind the one thing most people take it for: a gay show. Patrick’s series-long, two suitor dilemma is typical hollywood wish fulfillment – Richie (Raúl Castillo) represents his fear of something new, Kevin his anxiety to connect with someone so similar,...

Ever since the gay television swell of the early to mid-aughts, viewers have been looking to the fill void left by “The L Word,” “Will & Grace” and “Queer as Folk.” Sadly, “Looking” leaves them still looking. Andrew Haigh’s HBO series (which only lasted two seasons) deliberately eschewed the fabulousness of those beloved shows, instead aiming for the unstructured writing and hipster ennui of “Girls.” In his eagerness to distinguish the series from its natural predecessors, Haigh strayed too far from his own voice, so clearly defined in his acclaimed feature films “Weekend” and “45 Years.”

HBO may have been betting that Haigh could conjure some of the magic of those films for his feature-length take on “Looking.” Unfortunately, the film only plays like an epilogue to the series, resurrecting its hunky characters just so viewers can ogle them a bit longer. It’s the lesbian couple trying to make it work one last time,...

Usual contributors Aubrey Plaza and Paul Weitz, Life After Beth‘s John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon, Joshy‘s Alison Brie and Adam Pally and a slew of names in Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Fred Armisen, Jon Gabrus, Jemima Kirke, Nick Offerman, Paul Reiser and Lauren Weedman are part of ensemble that has, according to Deadline, already been assembled for Jeff Baena‘s third feature film.

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