Television

Variety reports: Diana Rigg, the Tony and Emmy winner who splashed into the world of television with her commanding turn as intelligence agent Emma Peel on “The Avengers” in the 1960s and played Lady Olenna Tyrell on “Game of Thrones” decades later, died Thursday at her home in England. She was 82. Rigg was a venerable figure in Britain’s entertainment …

TMZ reports: Joe Exotic has submitted a 257-page case to Donald Trump — arguing various reasons why he should be pardoned from his 22-year murder-for-hire sentence — claiming he was sexually assaulted behind bars. Joe included a letter he sent to Donald Trump Jr. in his documents, in which he claims, “I have been sexually assaulted by jail staff, beat …

Variety reports: The Emmy smackdown between Netflix and HBO has taken another dramatic turn. As the Television Academy announced the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards nominations on Tuesday morning, Netflix came out on top swinging with a whopping 160 nominations, followed by rival HBO in second at 107 nods. HBO still had reason to celebrate, however, as limited series “Watchmen” scored …

People Magazine reports: Regis Philbin has died. The beloved star was 88. The longtime television host died on July 24, PEOPLE confirms. “We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,” his family shares with PEOPLE. In 1988, Philbin began his iconic career as …

CNN reports: The body found at a Southern California lake has been identified as former “Glee” actress Naya Rivera, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said during a press conference Monday. The body was discovered Monday morning at Lake Piru, where it was found floating in the northeast area of the lake, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said. “We are confident …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Hugh Downs, the congenial broadcaster whose thousands of hours on network television included two decades on the ABC primetime newsmagazine 20/20 and nine years as the head man on NBC’s Today Show, has died. He was 99. Downs, who also served as Jack Paar’s announcer/sidekick for five years on The Tonight Show and hosted the game …

This will surely enrage Trump: An extraordinary stretch of news with the coronavirus pandemic and racial reckoning triggered by George Floyd’s death has led CNN to its biggest audience for any three-month period in the network’s 40-year history. CNN’s weekday prime-time audience of 1.95 million was up 120% over the same period last year, Nielsen said. Fox News, which has …

Variety reports: Carl Reiner, the writer, producer, director and actor who was part of Sid Caesar’s legendary team and went on to create “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and direct several hit films, has died. He was 98. He died of natural causes on Monday night at his home in Beverly Hills, his assistant Judy Nagy confirmed to Variety. Reiner, …

Variety reports: A&E has canceled its flagship series and one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable. A week after Live P.D. was pulled in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the reality series’ hiatus has been made permanent. The decision was made jointly by A&E and MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment, which produces the series. “This is a critical time …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Paramount Network has pulled the plug on Cops for good. The ViacomCBS-owned cabler had removed the long-running show from its schedule in the wake of nationwide protests following the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25. Now, the network says it’s dropping the show altogether. “Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t …

Variety reports: Ken Osmond, best known for his role as the troublemaker Eddie Haskell on the television comedy “Leave It to Beaver,” died on Monday morning. He was 76. Sources tell Variety Osmond died at his Los Angeles home surrounded by family members. The cause of death is unknown. Osmond portrayed Haskell as sycophantic to grownups while making fun of …

Variety reports: We can bear-ly believe it: Former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin was unmasked as the Bear on Wednesday night’s edition of “The Masked Singer,” and her song choice was… well, unexpected. Palin, who performed “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix A Lot in the episode, told host Nick Cannon that “to not be able to see much of anything …

TMZ reports: Ja’net Dubois — one of the main characters on “Good Times” — was found dead Tuesday, TMZ has learned. Ja’net played the Evans family’s sassy neighbor Willona Woods on the classic ’70s TV series. Her family tells us Ja’net died unexpectedly in her sleep overnight at her home in Glendale, CA. Ja’net might be most famous for “Good …

The Wrap reports: Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was all anybody could talk about on Tuesday, but “Ellen’s Game of Games” showed up for NBC too. This third SOTU from the 45th president of the United States of America is currently down 26% in Big-4 broadcast viewers from his second. For NBC, “Ellen’s Game of Games” at 8 …

PBS NewsHour reports: It is with great sadness that we share the news that co-founder and longtime anchor of the PBS NewsHour Jim Lehrer died today, Thursday, January 23, 2020, peacefully in his sleep at home. Lehrer, born May 19, 1934, served as anchor of the NewsHour for 36 years before retiring in 2011. Lehrer and Robert MacNeil founded the …

CBS News reports: The parent company of the Hallmark Channel said Thursday that CEO Bill Abbott is stepping down. The move comes about a month after the network became embroiled in controversy after pulling commercials featuring a same-sex couple, then reversing the decision after a consumer backlash. The statement on Wednesday from Crown Media didn’t give a reason for Abbott’s …

Variety reports: The opening day of President Trump’s senate impeachment trial drew a substantial amount if viewers across the three cable news and major networks that broadcast the proceedings. In total, around 11 million people tuned in to see prosecutors and attorneys for the White House argue. Fox News led the way with 2.65 million viewers (from 12:30 p.m. to …

Yahoo News reports: A scene in The New Pope, an HBO mini-series starring Jude Law and John Malkovich, in which sexy young nuns dance in their nighties beneath a giant fluorescent crucifix, has incurred the wrath of the Catholic Church. The provocative scene, which was filmed in a former monastery in Venice, was denounced as “offensive” by the archbishop of …

Page Six reports: For baby boomers and classic TV fans, the name Burt Ward is instantly recognizable as the loyal and extremely excitable Robin on the campy “Batman” series which ran on ABC from 1966-1968. Just this week he happily unveiled a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which he called an “amazing experience.” The Caped Crusaders costumes were …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Marriage Story leads the film nominees for the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards, landing six nominations, followed by The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with five apiece. Joker and The Two Popes landed four noms each. On the television side, Chernobyl, The Crown and Unbelievable are tops with four noms apiece. Following with …