Television
ABC Gives Liz Friedman and Liz Friedlander’s Legal Drama ‘Conviction’ Put Pilot Commitment
Following the successful launch of “Quantico,” ABC is giving its production company, the Mark Gordon Co., a second deal. Liz Friedman and Liz Friedlander’s “Conviction” has received a put...
Adult Nancy Drew May Solve Mysteries on CBS
Beloved sleuth Nancy Drew may be returning to the small screen after a considerable hiatus. According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS is developing a “contemporary take” on the bestselling book...
TCM’s ‘Trailblazing Women:’ A Q&A with Host Illeana Douglas
As the host of TCM’s new series “Trailblazing Women,” a month-long series highlighting women’s achievements in the film industry, Illeana Douglas brings a widely varied experience to the...
Trailer Watch: Amazon’s Dystopian ‘The Man in the High Castle’ Imagines a Different Outcome of WWII
What would the U.S. be like had the Allied Powers lost World War II and the Nazis and the Japanese taken over? A new series from Amazon, “The Man in the High Castle,” imagines exactly that...
Liz Feldman Scores Put Pilot Commitment for New CBS Comedy with “a Gaggle of Lesbians”
“One Big Happy” creator Liz Feldman has landed a put pilot commitment from CBS for her new comedy series “Hello Again.” Deadline reports that the show will focus on a “mostly happy”...
Trailer Watch: ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’ Makes Sure Everyone Remembers Her in Teaser
Comedy About Nicki Minaj’s Trinidadian-American Childhood in Queens to Air on ABC Family
Hip hop’s reigning queen is getting her own TV show — kind of. Nicki Minaj’s childhood in ’90s Queens as the daughter of Trinidadian-immigrant parents will be the inspiration for a new...
‘Agent Carter’ Showrunners Sell Latina-Led Supernatural Revenge Drama to ABC
“Marvel’s Agent Carter” showrunners and executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters have sold a new series, “The Death of Sofia Valdez,” to ABC. This is the first project to come...
How Viola Davis is Using Her Emmy Win to Inspire
Viola Davis’ historic Emmy win as the first African-American woman to clinch the Best Actress in a Drama trophy (in 2015!) became the news out of the awards show. That was in part because of the...
The Many Faces of Feminism in ‘The Women’s List’
Jeannie Gaffigan on Injecting Her Voice into ‘The Jim Gaffigan Show’
Fifteen years ago, my work withJim Gaffigan began as a “side thing” to my own career. I was a writing partner,acting coach and album producer for a rising star in comedy clubs. I understoodhis...
Dr. Moreau Drama With Female Lead Set Up at CBS
The mad scientist, at least in pop culture, is distinctly a male phenomenon. An upcoming CBS drama, however, hopes to change that stereotype. “Moreau” will gender-flip H.G. Wells’ iconic...
The 10 Best Emmy Moments for Women Last Night
The Emmys shed its reputation for staid predictability last night — at least for this year — with Viola Davis’ historic win and recognition for fresh, even cutting-edge series and...
Toni Braxton to Get the Lifetime Treatment With TV Movie Based on Her Life
After mining drama from the turbulent lives of Aaliyah and Whitney Houston, Lifetime has announced another musical biopic: one based on Toni Braxton’s best-selling memoir, “Un-Break My Heart.”...
Study: More Women TV Creators and EPs Mean More Women Leads, Writers, Directors, Editors
If you want more women in TV, you gotta start at the top. That’s the main conclusion reached by a new study looking at the employment figures of who writes, produces and appears on television....
‘The Mindy Project’ Returns!
Lately I’ve had this lingering sense of something missing in my life. Anticipating the end of summer, perhaps? Nope: It was the lack of Mindy Kaling, soon to be doubly remedied with the premiere...
Baseball Drama About Professional Baseball’s (Fictional) First Female Pitcher Finds Home Base at Fox
A new baseball drama centered on a young female pitcher has landed at Fox. The series, created by Dan Fogelman (“The Neighbors”) and Rick Singer (“American Dad!”), received a put pilot...
Series Based on Feminist Attorney Gloria Allred in Development at CBS
A legal drama based on famed feminist attorney Gloria Allred is in the works at CBS. Written by Deborah Schoeneman (“Girls,” “The Newsroom”), the untitled show will be fictional but based...
Helena Bonham Carter to Play Literary Editor in ‘Love, Nina’ Miniseries for BBC
Helena Bonham Carter and Faye Marsay will signed on to star in the BBC television adaptation of “Love Nina,” about a young nanny who takes care of the children of the London Review of Books...
Lynn Shelton and Megan Griffiths Producing Family Drama for HBO
Lynn Shelton is joining her former mumblecore collaborators, the Duplass brothers, at HBO. The premium cable network has put into development “Family Drama,” an anthology series to be executive...
Trailer Watch: Claire Danes Quits the CIA But Can’t Leave it Behind in ‘Homeland’ Season 5
When we last saw Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), she had quit the CIA and seemed committed to taking a more active role in raising her daughter Frannie. A trailer for season five of Showtime’s...
Guest Post: From Day Job to Dream Job: How This Cupcake Girl Got a Feature Film in 6 Easy Steps
A lot ofpeople in Hollywood have a day job and work as writers, actors, directors, etc., by night. Well, I was justthe same, working at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, when it occurredto me...
16% is Not a Win: Parsing the DGA’s Latest Stats on Women and Minority Directors in TV
“Female TV directors make gains,” proclaimed mainstream headlines following the DGA’s release yesterday of a report on female and minority directors in TV. If this is progress for women, color...
Marti Noxon Developing High-Stakes Soap Opera Set in NYC’s Restaurant Scene for Fox
Marti Noxon continues to expand her TV empire. While heading Lifetime’s “UnReal” and “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” Noxon has been EPing Marcia Gay Harden’s upcoming medical drama...
Kari Lizer’s Girls’ Soccer Comedy ‘Dream Team’ Sold to ABC
TV comedy vets Kari Lizer and Bill Wrubel have received a pilot production commitment from ABC for their new single-cam series set in the world of girls’ soccer. Written and EP’d by Lizer and...
Adrianne Palicki to Star as Mockingbird in ABC’s ‘Marvel’s Most Wanted’
Former “Friday Night Lights” actress Adrianne Palicki is set to star in a new Marvel series on ABC. The alphabet network has given a pilot order for “Marvel’s Most Wanted,” which will give...
Christine Evangelista to Star in ‘The Arrangement,’ E!’s Scripted, Cynical Take on Celebrity Culture
Rising star Christine Evangelista (“Chicago Fire”) will assume the lead in E!’s second scripted series as a (hopefully) different type of rising star: one who’s offered a Faustian bargain of...
Less Than Zen: ‘Om City’ on Life as a Female Yoga Teacher
‘Scandal’ Inspiration Judy Smith Sells NOLA Political Family Drama ‘House of the Rising Sin’ to NBC
Judy Smith, the political fixer who was Shonda Rhimes’ inspiration for Olivia Pope, is making her own mark on the small screen. NBC has bought the Smith-produced “House of the Rising Sin,” an...
Anne Hathaway Returns to TV Roots with Kidnapping Miniseries ‘The Ambassador’s Wife’
Anne Hathaway is heading to the small screen, joining the ranks of other Oscar-winning A-Listers like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. The “Les Misérables” actress will star in “The...
Comedy Central Renews ‘Another Period’ for Season 2
One of this summer’s best new shows, Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” has been renewed for a second season. Created by and starring Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome, the mockumentary...
NBC Orders Tina Fey Sitcom, Two Other Female-Driven Comedies
Tina Fey is returning to the peacock fold after taking “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” to Netflix. NBC has all but picked up an untitled series by Fey and Robert Carlock, as well as two other...
Trailer Watch: ‘Doll & Em’ Launch an Off-Broadway Play About Their Friendship in Season 2
Patti Smith’s Memoir ‘Just Kids’ to Become Showtime Miniseries
Patti Smith will adapt her 2010 memoir “Just Kids” as a Showtime miniseries. The singer/artist/punk poet laureate will produce and pen the limited series with “Penny Dreadful” showrunner...
Producer Justine Nagan to Head American Documentaries at PBS’s ‘POV’
After a decade at Chicago’s Kartemquin Films, director/producer Justine Nagan will serve as the next executive director of American Documentary, Inc., as well as the executive producer of PBS’s...
Amy Schumer Gets HBO Special Teaser, Speaks Out for Gun Control at Locarno Film Fest
Another week, another round of Amy Schumer headlines. This time around, the net is abuzz with chatter of Schumer’s upcoming HBO stand-up special, which has a new “announcement teaser.”...
Lena Waithe’s Black Coming-Of-Age Drama Gets Showtime Pilot Order
An untitled coming-of-age drama from “Dear White People” producer Lena Waithe has received a pilot order from Showtime. The Chicago-set series is being described as a relevant, timely and...
‘The Mindy Project’ Season 4 Gets Premiere Date, Will Feature Alt-Reality Episode, Female Friendship
The fourth season of “The Mindy Project” on Hulu will find Mindy Kaling’s self-absorbed but dedicated Dr. Mindy Lahiri pregnant and wondering what would have happened if she’d never met...
‘Louie’ Actress Pamela Adlon to Headline FX’s First Female-Led Comedy Series
After co-starring in nearly every season of FX’s “Louie,” Pamela Adlon has landed her own series. “Better Things” will star Adlon as “a working actor with no filter trying to earn a...
‘Empire’ Creator Lee Daniels Developing Drama About Girl Band
Following the mega-success of “Empire,” Fox has bought another series from writer-director Lee Daniels: a drama about the tensions within a cobbled-together girl band. The Atlanta-set...
Issa Rae’s Long Road: When Are We Finally Going to Stop Wondering if Women of Color Are “Relatable”?
Five years ago, HBO greenlit Lena Dunham’s “Girls,” betting that the romantic misadventures of an educated, upper-middle-class twentysomething white girl and her friends were resonant enough...
Julie Klausner’s a Master of the Poison Pen With ‘Difficult People’
Salim and Mara Brock Akil Sign Deal With Warner Bros. TV
Husband-and-wife team Salim and Mara Brock Akil have signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. TV. The Akils’ partnership with the studio will take effect in May 2016, upon which Brock Akil will...
HBO’s Upcoming Docs: Autism Portrait ‘How to Dance in Ohio,’ Urban Portrait ‘San Francisco 2.0,’ More
“How to Dance in Ohio,” Alexandra Shiva’s chronicle of three autistic girls’ preparations for Prom, and “San Francisco 2.0,” Alexandra Pelosi’s examination of that city’s...
Christina Applegate to Star as Unconventional Psychologist in Family Dramedy by Kathleen Robertson
Christina Applegate is apparently eyeing another return to TV. The “Vacation” actress is currently attached to star in the Lionsgate TV dramedy “Your Time Is Up,” a family saga centered on...
CW to Make ‘Little Women’ Adaptation That Sounds Absolutely Nothing Like ‘Little Women’
Here’s your head-scratcher of the day: The CW will adapt “Little Women” as a “gritty” and “hyper-stylized” dystopian survivalist tale that sounds nothing at all like Louisa May...
With ‘Another Period,’ Comedy Central Is Officially All About the Ladies
Tig Notaro to Team Up With Diablo Cody on Semi-Autobiographical Amazon Pilot
After being the subject of a Netflix documentary and releasing her own HBO stand-up special (out August 22), Tig Notaro will star in an Amazon series based in part on her (recently turbulent) life....
Diane Keaton Books Her First-Ever Series Regular TV Gig in HBO-Produced ‘The Young Pope’
Diane Keaton’s films have grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. Now it’s time to see what kind of ratings the “Annie Hall” actress can draw on the small screen. Keaton will star...
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone Get Pilot Deal for TV Land Sitcom About Their Groundlings Friends
“Every time a friend succeeds,” wrote Gore Vidal, “I die a little.” Hopefully this isn’t how Melissa McCarthy’s former Groundlings pals feel in the face of her recent globe-conquering...
Netflix to Launch Live-Action Tween Series about Science-Skilled Spy Girls
Children’s programming is a major if under-discussed part of Netflix’s plan for streaming domination. At least 70 kids’ shows were viewed by 2 million subscribers last year, revealed the...