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Jimmy Fallon has offered a mea culpa to his staff after a report highlighted a “pretty glum atmosphere” at The Tonight Show over the years.

Deadline understands that Fallon spoke to staff this afternoon after Rolling Stone published an article that called the NBC show a “toxic workplace”.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. I never set out to create that type of atmosphere at the show. I think sometimes I’m working with the best of the best, you guys are the top of the game,” he told staff according to someone on the call.

He admitted to have done “embarrassing” things in the past. “I want this show to be fun, it should be inclusive for everybody, it should be funny, it should be the best show, the best people. I just wanted to… say I miss you guys.”

The article called Fallon “erratic” at work and...

Exclusive: Comedy Central is making changes to its late-night lineup.

The Paramount Global network has canceled animated series Tooning Out The News and Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God.

Both shows are exec produced by Stephen Colbert.

Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God ran for two seasons on the network. It launched in September 2021, initially as Tha God’s Honest Truth before it was rebranded for its second season. The weekly series turned into more of a panel format for the second season, which premiered last July after The Daily Show.

The half-hour show featured influential guests, unlikely pairings of comedians, outspoken celebrities and thought-leaders across the political spectrum, debating the current events permeating politics and culture with guests unpacking the stories blazing the headlines as well as Charlamagne’s unfiltered take on the most talked about topics.

It made its biggest headlines with an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris,...

Exclusive: Josh Lieb, former showrunner of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, is joining Charlamagne Tha God’s late-night series.

Lieb, who was also previously an exec producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, will join the Comedy Central series as an exec producer and he will lead the creative team for its second season.

It comes as the show is rebranded from Tha God’s Honest Truth to Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God for its sophomore run with more of a focus on a panel format.

The show returns to the cable network this week on Thursday, July 28 at 11:30pm with guests including Tyler Perry, Issa Rae, Stephen A. Smith, Sam Jay and Ari Melber.

Lieb will exec produce alongside Lenard “Charlamagne” McKelvey, Stephen Colbert, showrunner Rachael Edwards, Aaron McGruder, Karen Kinney, James Dixon and Norm Aladjem. It is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios

Lieb hails from South Carolina,...

Exclusive: Charlamagne Tha God’s late night series is getting a rebrand and a format shake-up at Comedy Central.

The Paramount Global-owned cable network is rebranding Tha God’s Honest Truth and turning the weekly series into more of a panel format for its second season.

The show will now be known as Hell of A Week with Charlamagne tha God and will return on Thursday July 28 at 11:30pm after The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

The half-hour show will now feature influential guests, unlikely pairings of comedians, outspoken celebrities and thought-leaders across the political spectrum, debating the current events permeating politics and culture with guests unpacking the stories blazing the headlines as well as Charlamagne’s unfiltered take on the most talked about topics.

The panel approach replaces the deep dives, sketches and social experiments of the first season.

The show, which Charlamagne exec produces alongside Stephen Colbert,...

Chris Miller will take the reins of NBC’s venerable “Tonight Show,” stepping in as showrunner as the current one, Jamie Granet-Bederman, takes a step back.

Miller joins the program from “The Drew Barrymore Show,” where he served as one of the executive producers. He has ties to Fallon, having worked for Flower Films, the production company launched by Barrymore and her partner, Nancy Juvonen. Juvonen is Fallon’s wife, and she made some popular appearances on “Tonight” during the pandemic, when the show went into an “at home” production that featured its host and his family hunkering down away from the “Tonight” set at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters.

Granet-Bederman is expected to focus on developing new projects for Fallon, who also has his own production company, Electric Hot Dog, which is one of the backers of the singing series “That’s My Jam.”

The choice of Miller continues the...

HBO has decided to drop two Mike Judge comedy shows that the premium cable network ordered from the “Silicon Valley” co-creator and showrunner in 2019, Variety has confirmed.

The shows were ordered as part of a two-year overall deal that encompassed all forms of television except for animation. The decision comes as Judge has been overseeing the reimagining of “Beavis and Butt-Head” for Comedy Central as part of an animation deal with the ViacomCBS network. The cancelation also arrives as HBO programming president Casey Bloys is refocusing on reviewing programming for both HBO and HBOMax.

The first project, formerly a co-production between HBO and Lionsgate, is titled “Qualityland.” It is based on the novel of the same name by Marc Uwe-King and is about “the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But funny,” the official description for the series states. Judge and Josh Lieb were slated to...

HBO is not moving forward with two Mike Judge comedies previously in the works, TheWrap has confirmed.

Both the adaptation of Marc-Uwe Kling’s novel “QualityLand” and the limited series “A5” were ordered back in 2019 but have been scrapped as Judge goes to work on a “Beavis and Butt-Head” revival at Comedy Central.

Set in the near future, “QualityLand” is described as “the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But it’s funny.” Judge was set to co-write the script with Josh Lieb, and the series was a co-production between HBO and Lionsgate.

“A5” was planned to center on a bioengineer who discovers the gene that makes a person an a–hole and attempts to discover if the condition can be cured.

Both series were picked up by the HBO as part of a two-year extension to Judge’s overall deal ahead of the final season of “Silicon Valley,...

Exclusive: HBO has opted not to proceed with comedy series Qualityland and limited comedy series A5, both from Mike Judge.

The premium cable network ordered the two shows as part of a new two-year overall deal the Silicon Valley co-creator signed with the premium cable network in early 2019.

Neither of the shows casting had gotten to a casting stage, and A5 was in early development, so it could potentially be redeveloped elsewhere.

Co-written and executive produced by Judge and Josh Lieb, Qualityland is based on the novel of the same name by Marc-Uwe Kling. Set in the very near future, it’s everything we have now, and more so. It’s the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But funny. HBO was to co-produce the series with Lionsgate. It is unclear whether the latter would shop the project elsewhere.

A5 was co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen.

Jamie Granet-Bederman, a longtime producer of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” who has worked with the host for more than a decade, will take over showrunner duties for the venerable NBC late-night program, the latest change to the series’ top echelon of executives.

Gavin Purcell, who has been leading the program on an interim basis since late last year, will return to working on a development deal that he has at Universal Television.

In picking Granet-Bederman, Fallon and “Tonight” are choosing to stay with a show insider, after meeting with challenges when outside producers have come in to lead efforts. NBC in November parted ways with Jim Bell, an NBC News and NBC Sports veteran, who was named to lead the program as it met with ratings challenges against CBS’ “Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Another “Tonight” executive producer, Josh Lieb, a former Comedy Central producer, left “Tonight” in...

The Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won-penned South Korean class thriller “Parasite” won Best Original Screenplay and Taika Waititi’s Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit” won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Writers Guild Awards Saturday night.

The annual awards, which honor the best in film, TV, and radio writing, were handed out at dual ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.

Both “Parasite” and “Jojo Rabbit” are in the running for Oscars in their respective categories.

“Parasite” bested three Best Original Screenplay nominees up for the Writers Guild Award: “1917,” “Knives Out,” “Marriage Story,” and “Parasite.” The WGA swapped the fifth Oscar-nominated script, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” in favor of a nomination for “Booksmart.”

“Jojo Rabbit” also beat three Best Adapted Screenplay nominees up for the Writers Guild Award: “The Irishman,” “Joker,” and “Little Women.” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was a WGA nominee and is not up for the Oscar,...

Dead To Me, Russian Doll in running for new series honours.

Writers of The Crown, Succession and Watchmen are among the television nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, unveiled on Thursday (5) by the East and West branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Joining the three projects in the list of drama series nominees are writers of The Handmaid’s Tale and Mindhunter. Nominees in the WGA’s new series category include PEN15, Russian Doll and Watchmen.

In the original long form category, nominees include the writers of Chernobyl and True Detective and the adapted long form category includes Fosse/Verdon and Unbelievable.

Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America, East have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, with Netflix’s The Crown, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Netflix’s Mindhunter and HBO’s Succession and Watchmen competing for the top drama trophy.

The outstanding comedy nominees are HBO’s Barry, Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hulu’s PEN15, Netflix’s Russian Doll and HBO’s Veep.

Best new series nominees are PEN15, Russian Doll, Watchmen, Netflix’s Dead To Me and FX’s What We Do In The Shadows.

Also announced were nominees in the new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing categories.

Winners will be honored at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2020, at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

Television, New Media, And News Nominees

Drama Series

The Crown, Written by James Graham,...

“The Simpsons” is leading the way with three Writers Guild of America nominations, followed by two each for “Bob’s Burgers,” “The Crown,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Pen15,” “Russian Doll,” “Succession,” “Veep” and “Watchmen.”

Fox’s “The Simpsons,” which began airing in 1989, scored noms in the animated category for the “Go Big or Go Homer,” “Livin’ La Pura Vida” and “Thanksgiving of Horror” segments. Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers,” which won the category for 2018, received nominations for the “Bed, Bob & Beyond” and “The Gene Mile” segments.

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which won the WGA comedy series award earlier this year, received nods for comedy series and for the episode “It’s Comedy or Cabbage,” written by showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino.

The seventh and final season of HBO’s “Veep,” which has won the WGA comedy series award three times, was nominated again in the series category and for the final episode of the season,...

The Writers Guild of America released the nominees for its 2020 awards on Thursday, which saw newcomers “Watchmen,” “Russian Doll” and “Pen15” each bag a pair of nominations.

Other series to get multiple nods include “Veep,” “Succession,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “The Crown.”

Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries on the Central Park 5, “When They See Us” did not recieve any nominations, with the WGA instead picking “El Camino,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “The Loudest Voice” and “Unbelieveable” in the adapted longform category. In the original longform category, the nominees were “Chernobyl,” “The Terror: Infamy,” “True Detective” and the upcoming Disney+ movie “Togo.”

Also Read: Aubrey Plaza to Return as Host of 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards

Winners will be honored at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2020, at concurrent ceremonies in New York City and Los Angeles.

See all the nominees below:

Drama Series

The Crown, Written by James Graham, David Hancock, Peter Morgan; Netflix

The Handmaid’s Tale,...

Exclusive: Talent management, sales, and media company Cinetic Media has promoted Shane Riley and Alec Ring to new roles in sales and management respectively.

Riley’s new role will consist of working across domestic and international film sales, specializing in all global markets. He joined Cinetic Media’s Marketing and Publicity division before having a hand in relaunching Cinetic’s International Sales department. In addition, he was part of the Cinetic team that shepherded the groundbreaking sale of Latin American rights to Asif Kapadia’s documentary Diego Maradona to DirecTV Latin America earlier this year. Prior to Cinetic, Riley was First Run Features and at Scott Rudin Productions. He will be based in the Los Angeles office and report to Eric Sloss.

Ring steps into a Manager role at Cinetic Management and will primarily focus on writers and directors. His client roster currently includes include Sundance Award Winner Raed Alsemari...

Jim Bell, the veteran producer who has supervised NBC mainstays ranging from “Today” to its Olympics broadcasts, will leave the company, parting ways after spending a year as the executive in charge of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

“The past year with Jimmy and the terrific team at the show has been a blast, and I will always be grateful for this opportunity,” Bell said in a prepared statement. “But after serious contemplation, I realized I did not want to extend my time at the show. Those thoughts are part of larger ones I have been having about my career, and what has emerged for me is a strong desire to delve into something new — to build on my experience in news, sports, and entertainment so I can broaden and deepen my leadership role in the content universe.”

He will be replaced on an interim basis by Gavin Purcell,...

HBO has finally set a return date for the sixth and final season of Mike Judge’s “Silicon Valley.”

The tech comedy will premiere its final run on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. Et/7 p.m. Pt. It will consist of seven episodes.

HBO is also slated to debut its heavily-anticipated adaptation of “Watchmen” from Damon Lindelof in October, though the network has yet to set a premiere date.

“Silicon Valley” stars Thomas Middleditch as Richard, Zach Woods as Jared, Kumail Nanjiani as Dinesh, Martin Starr as Gilfoyle, Amanda Crew as Monica, Jimmy O. Yang as Jian-Yang, Suzanne Cryer as Laurie Bream, Matt Ross as Gavin Belson and Josh Brener as Big Head.

Judge serves as co-showrunner on the comedy, along with Alec Berg, who has the same duties on “Barry” (Berg co-created...

Ending months of speculation, HBO has confirmed that the upcoming sixth season of comedy series Silicon Valley will be its last. Currently in pre-production, Season 6 will consist of seven episodes and premiere later this year.

“Silicon Valley has been a career and life highlight for us,” series executive producers/showrunners Mike Judge and Alec Berg said. “We’ll miss it desperately, but we’ve always let Pied Piper’s journey guide the way, and Season 6 seems to be the fitting conclusion. We are forever indebted to our incredible cast, crew and partners at HBO. At a certain point, there’s only so much we can do to make the world a better place.”

Rumors about Silicon Valley possibly coming to an end started when Season 6 was delayed, largely to accommodate Berg, who co-created and runs fellow HBO comedy series Barry. All previous seasons of Silicon Valley, ranging from eight to 10 episodes,...

Pied Piper is going out of business — well, at least the show about the fictional start-up company is. HBO announced on Friday that the upcoming sixth season of “Silicon Valley” will be the show’s last.

“‘Silicon Valley’ has been a career and life highlight for us. We’ll miss it desperately, but we’ve always let Pied Piper’s journey guide the way, and Season 6 seems to be the fitting conclusion,” showrunners Mike Judge and Alec Berg said. “We are forever indebted to our incredible cast, crew, and partners at HBO. At a certain point, there’s only so much we can do to make the world a better place.”

HBO has hinted that “Silicon Valley,” which has been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys in each of its five seasons, would be coming to end soon.

Also Read: 'Watchmen': Everything We Know About Damon Lindelof...

“What We Do in the Shadows,” the spinoff series based on the 2014 vampire comedy film of the same name by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, wraps up its first season this month. In celebration of that and the show’s Season 2 renewal, FX held an Emmys Fyc event Wednesday and screened the cameo-laden episode “The Trial,” along with the finale.

Afterward, comedian and guest star Kristen Schaal moderated a panel that included Waititi, co-executive producers and writers Paul Simms and Stefani Robinson, and cast members Matt Berry, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, and guest star Doug Jones.

In the series, three vampires — Nadja (Natasia Demetrio), Laszlo (Berry), Nandor (Kayvan Novak) — the familiar Guillermo (Guillén), and energy vampire Colin Robinson (Proksch) live in a house in Staten Island. Waititi, as series co-creator and director, hadn’t planned on appearing on the show, but he, Clement, and a slew of guest stars who’ve played vampires elsewhere,...

King of the Hill and Silicon Valley creator Mike Judge has signed a new two-year deal with HBO and he is developing two new comedy projects for the cable network.

The first project is called QualityLand, which is based on the novel of the same name by Marc Uwe-King. The official description reads, “QualityLand is the very near future. It’s everything we have now, and more so. It’s the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But funny.”

Judge is co-writing and producing the series with Josh Lieb, and Michael Rotenberg of 3 Arts Entertainment also executive producing.

The other project he’s developing is a limited series called A5. The series centers around a “bioengineer who discovers the gene that makes a person an a–hole and attempts to answer the questions nagging at all of us: Why do a–holes exist? Why have...

Somewhere, Beavis and Butt-Head are heh-heh-heh-ing.

HBO has signed Mike Judge to a new two-year deal, as part of which the Silicon Valley co-creator will take a look at what makes a person an asshole.

Most specifically, HBO has made a production commitment to A5, a live-action comedy centered on a bioengineer who discovers the gene that makes a person an asshole and attempts to answer the questions nagging at all of us: Why do assholes exist? Why have they come to dominate our culture? And can they be cured?

Judge will exec-produce and co-write A5 with fellow Ep Etan Cohen (King of the Hill,...

HBO has signed “Silicon Valley” co-creator Mike Judge to a new two-year exclusive deal and has already put two projects in development.

The first is an adaptation of Marc-Uwe Kling’s novel “QualityLand.”

Per HBO, “QualityLand” is in the very near future and is the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But it’s funny. Judge is co-writing the script with Josh Lieb, who will executive produce with Michael Rotenberg for 3 Arts Productions. The project is a co-production between HBO and Lionsgate.

Also Read: 'Silicon Valley': Season 6 Production Delayed to Accommodate Alec Berg's Work on 'Barry'

The second project from Judge is a limited series tiled “A5,” which is centered on a bioengineer who discovers the gene that makes a person an a–hole and attempts to answer the questions nagging at all of us: Why do a–holes exist? Why...

Silicon Valley co-creator Mike Judge has signed a two-year overall deal with HBO, which includes series production commitments for two new comedy series. Judge’s deal includes all forms of television, excluding animation.

Under the pact, the two new comedies are Qualityland, based on the novel of the same name by Marc-Uwe Kling, a co-production with HBO and Lionsgate, and limited series A5.

Co-written and executive produced by Judge and Josh Lieb (Silicon Valley), Qualityland, based on Kling’s novel, is set in the very near future. It’s everything we have now, and more so. It’s the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But funny.

3 Arts’ Michael Rotenberg also executive produces. HBO co-produces with Lionsgate.

A5 is co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen. It is centered on a bioengineer who discovers the gene that makes a person...

Mike Judge has signed a new two-year overall deal at HBO, Variety has learned.

The deal encompasses all forms of television except for animation. Under the new deal, Judge has set up two new comedy series projects at HBO, both of which have received production commitments.

The first project is titled “QualityLand,” based on the novel of the same name by Marc Uwe-King. The official description reads: “QualityLand is the very near future. It’s everything we have now, and more so. It’s the story of humanity’s struggle against the tyranny of convenience. But funny.”

Mike Judge and Josh Lieb serve as writers and executive producers, with Michael Rotenberg of 3 Arts Entertainment also executive producing. The series is a co-production between HBO and Lionsgate.

The other project is a limited series titled “A5.” It is centered on a bioengineer who discovers the gene that makes a person...

HBO’s comedy series Silicon Valley is taking a long break between Season 5 and and Season 6. Renewed for a sixth season last summer, Silicon Valley is likely not going to go into production until this summer. That is in part because its executive producer/showrunner Alec Berg also runs fellow HBO comedy series Barry, which he co-created.

The long delay and the series’ age have prompted much speculation that Silicon Valley‘s sixth season would be its last.

“In terms of last season, it’s a natural question; we have had conversations with them,” HBO president of programming Casey Bloys told Deadline. “Obviously when you get to the sixth season of a show, you have to talk about how much more is there in this, do you want to do more, so we have had those conversations. To be honest, what (the producers) want to do is get in the (writers) room,...

HBO is pushing back the start of production on the sixth season of “Silicon Valley” in order to accommodate showrunner Alec Berg’s same responsibilities on “Barry.”

There is no word from HBO on when production on the new season of “Silicon Valley” will start, but TV Line reported it will likely be next summer, which could mean that the series may not return until 2020.

“As Alec Berg is a showrunner on both ‘Barry’ and ‘Silicon Valley,’ the schedule was structured to allow Alec to wrap on ‘Barry’ before starting work on ‘Silicon Valley,'” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement.

Also Read: HBO Lands David Simon's Fascism Drama 'The Plot Against America'

The move will likely take “Silicon Valley” out of contention for the Emmys, where it has been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series each year. “Barry” won a pair of acting Emmys for its first season,...

Production on the sixth season of HBO’s “Silicon Valley” has been delayed until mid-next year, Variety has confirmed.

The comedy series will now begin production on the new season in summer 2019, meaning the season may not air until 2020.

“As Alec Berg is a showrunner on both ‘Barry’ and ‘Silicon Valley,’ the schedule was structured to allow Alec to wrap on ‘Barry’ before starting work on ‘Silicon Valley,'” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement to Variety.

“Barry,” HBO’s new comedy starring Bill Hader as a hitman with dreams of being an actor, debuted back in March and was renewed for a second season at the same time “Silicon Valley” was renewed for its sixth.

“Silicon Valley”–which stars Thomas Middleditch, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods and Amanda Crew–has been nominated for multiple Emmys throughout its run, including best comedy series. It has won two of the awards to date,...

Jim Bell has joined “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” as executive in charge and showrunner, NBC announced Wednesday.

Bell, who also previously ran “Today” as an executive producer from 2005-2012, has been president of NBC Olympics production and programming since 2017.

On Monday, Mike Dicenzo, one of the trio of producers overseeing the show, announced his departure after a decade in late night television. Dicenzo’s departure had been long in the works. Following the departure of former showrunner Josh Lieb in 2016, Dicenzo ran the show’s creative team with Gerard Bradford, while Katie Hockmeyer had oversight of production. Hockmeyer and Bradford will continue on in their producing roles.

Also Read: Jim Bell in Talks to Lead NBC's 'Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon'

Bell isn’t the only executive to make the jump from morning to late-night.

Over on CBS, “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” executive producer Chris Licht used...

Former Today executive producer and current NBC Olympics executive Jim Bell has been named executive in charge and showrunner of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Bell will start his new job immediately. His name surfaced earlier in the week in connection with The Tonight Show when producer Mike Dicenzo exited the show.

Dicenzo was one of three producers, along with Gerard Bradford and Katie Hockmeyer, who oversaw the show in the wake of showrunner Josh Lieb's departure in 2016. Bradford and Hockmeyer will remain in their roles as the lead creative voice and the head of day-to-day production, respectively.

Bell will also ...

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” may soon have a new leader.

Jim Bell, who currently helms the network’s Olympics coverage, is in talks to lead the “Tonight Show,” multiple insiders told TheWrap.

Bell, who also previously ran “Today” as an executive producer, would take over as showrunner for the NBC late night franchise, which had been run by a trio of executives for the past two years. Bell has been president of NBC Olympics production & programming since 2017. Bell would still remain involved with the network’s Olympics coverage, which has the 2020 Summer Games from Tokyo up next.

NBC declined to comment.

Also Read: 'Tonight Show': Producer Mike Dicenzo to Exit Late-Night Series

On Monday, Mike Dicenzo, one of the trio of producers overseeing the show, announced his departure after a decade in late night television. Dicenzo’s departure had been long in the works. Following the departure of...

Mike Dicenzo, one of the trio of producers overseeing “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” announced his departure from the NBC late-night series on Monday.

“Today is my last day at the ‘Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.’ It is also the exact 10-year anniversary of my first day at Late Night. What a dream decade at my dream job,” said Dicenzo on Twitter, at the beginning of the lengthy thread on Monday.

Today is my last day at the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It is also the exact 10-year anniversary of my first day at Late Night. What a dream decade at my dream job..

— Mike Dicenzo (@mikedicenzo) October 22, 2018

Also Read: Ratings: 'The Alec Baldwin Show' Ticks Up From Rough Premiere

Dicenzo was part of a team of three producers who led “Tonight Show,” following the departure of former showrunner Josh Lieb in 2016. Dicenzo ran the show creative with Gerard Bradford,...

Exclusive: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is undergoing a major behind-the-scenes change. Producer Mike Dicenzo is leaving NBC’s late-night program. He just confirmed his departure on Twitter. I hear former Today executive producer Jim Bell is in talks to come in as new Tonight Show showrunner.

Dicenzo was part of a producing team of three The Tonight Show/Late Night Jimmy Fallon veterans who were elevated to lead the show in 2016 following the departure of producer-showrunner Josh Lieb.

Dicenzo and Gerard Bradford, who penned Slow Jam The News Featuring President Obama among other signature Tonight Show bits, assumed oversight of the show creative, while Hockmeyer assumed oversight of production. All three had been with Fallon since before the 2009 launch of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, transitioning with him to The Tonight Show. I hear that Bradford and Hockmeyer, both valued members of Fallon’s team, are expected to stay on.

Amy Ozols’ late-night work is being seen an hour earlier, thanks to a recent move that took her from a co-executive producer spot at CBS’ “Late Late Show with James Corden” to the head writer position at NBC’s “Tonight Show.”

Ozols became head writer at the NBC late-night mainstay in January, though the network did not announce the hire. Her move to “Tonight” reunites her with host Jimmy Fallon, with whom she worked for many years on a variety of projects, including a substantial stint between 2009 and 2012 as a producer and staff writer during his tenure at NBC’s “Late Night.”

She fills a role at “Tonight” that had essentially been open since A.D. Miles, the show’s previous head writer, left in March of 2017.

Ozols had a hand in several of “Late Night’s” most notable parodies, including “Game of Desks,” a parody of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “6-Bee,...

Following the recent season premieres of both shows, HBO has renewed the freshman comedy series Barry and returning fan favorite Silicon Valley. The announcement was made by Amy Gravitt, executive vice president, HBO Programming.

“While Barry has delighted audiences with its deft interplay of comedy and drama, Silicon Valley remains as brilliantly and frighteningly prescient as ever,” noted Gravitt. “We’re thrilled that these two smart, funny shows are returning for another season.”

Created by Alec Berg and Bill Hader, Barry launched its eight-episode first season March 25. Hader stars in the title role as a depressed, low-rent hitman from the Midwest who finds himself drawn into a community of acting students while on a hit job in La. He wants to start a new life, but his criminal past won’t let him walk away. Can he find a way to balance the two worlds?

The current season of Barry,...

Joseph Baxter Jun 7, 2019

HBO’s Silicon Valley Season 6 will be the final exploits of the embattled tech entrepreneurs of Pied Piper.

Silicon Valley Season 6 is definitely happening on HBO! Unfortunately it will be the show's final season.

Variety reports that HBO has announced that Silicon Valley Season 6 will be the final go-around for Pied Piper. This makes sense as the story has largely run its course and showrunner Alec Berg is moonlighting on Barry. Still, we'll be sad to see Richard and Co. go.

Silicon Valley is the creation of Mike Judge, John Atlschuler, and Dave Krinsky. It's executive produced by creators Judge and Berg, joined in that capacity by Clay Tarver, Michael Rotenberg, Tom Lassally, Jim Kleverweis, with co-executive producers Jamie Babbit, Anthony King, Graham Wagner, and Ron Weiner. They are joined by consulting producers Carrie Kemper, Carson Mell, Jonathan Dotan, Todd Silverstein and Josh Lieb.

Silicon Valley Season...

HBO has renewed comedy series Barry for a second season and Silicon Valley for its sixth go-round.

“While Barry has delighted audiences with its deft interplay of comedy and drama, Silicon Valley remains as brilliantly and frighteningly prescient as ever,” noted Amy Amy Gravitt, executive vice president, HBO Programming. “We’re thrilled that these two smart, funny shows are returning for another season.”

The renewal for both series comes shortly after the season premieres for each.

Created by Alec Berg and Bill Hader, Barry launched its eight-episode first season March 25. Hader stars in the title role as a depressed, low-rent hitman from the Midwest who finds himself drawn into a community of acting students while on a hit job in La. He wants to start a new life, but his criminal past won’t let him walk away. Can he find a way to balance the two worlds?

Berg and...

HBO has renewed the comedies “Barry” and “Silicon Valley.”

“While ‘Barry’ has delighted audiences with its deft interplay of comedy and drama, ‘Silicon Valley’ remains as brilliantly and frighteningly prescient as ever,” said Amy Gravitt, executive vice president of HBO Programming. “We’re thrilled that these two smart, funny shows are returning for another season.”

Created by Alec Berg and Bill Hader, “Barry” lauched its first season on March 25. Hader stars in the title role as a depressed, low-rent hitman from the Midwest who finds himself drawn into a community of acting students while on a hit job in La. He wants to start a new life, but his criminal past won’t let him walk away.

Season 1 of “Barry” also starred Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Glenn Fleshler, Anthony Carrigan, and Paula Newsome. Berg and Hader also serve as executive producers, with Aida Rodgers and Emily Heller producing.

On the air, it's business as usual for Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. But behind the scenes, the NBC late-night leader is adapting to the exits of two longtime power players in as many weeks. First, producer-writer Gavin Purcell, a force on Fallon's digital team, jumped to Vox Media. Then, on Oct. 24, showrunner Josh Lieb, who had been with Fallon since his move to 11:35 p.m. in February 2014, left for a Universal Television deal. Filling Lieb's shoes are three Tonight producers: Gerard Bradford and Mike Dicenzo, who will handle creative efforts, and supervising producer

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“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” producer and show runner Josh Lieb has signed an overall deal with NBC Universal Television that will include expanded roles for other “Tonight Show” staffers. “This is obviously bittersweet — there’s no show in the world more fun than ‘The Tonight Show.’ I’ve been able to run the circus every night. But I’d like to write more, and try different things, and — frankly– spend a little more time with my kids. Jimmy’s a joy to work with, and the troika taking over for me is more than qualified. You won’t even notice I’m gone,...

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon producer-showrunner Josh Lieb is departing the NBC late-night program, segueing to writing with an overall deal at Universal Television. There will not be a direct replacement for Lieb. Instead, the roles of three key staffers who had been with Fallon since the 2009 launch of his first NBC late-night show, are being expanded. Katie Hockmeyer will assume oversight of production, while writers Gerard Bradford and Mike Dicenzo, who have…...

Copenhagen event to host more than 1000 industry and a number of high-profile speakers.

The Copenhagen TV Festival, which runs Aug 18-19 and welcomes more than 1300 industry attendees, has confirmed a number of high-profile speakers for this year’s edition.

Speakers will include:

Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi, directors, Making A Murderer (Us)Warren Littlefield, executive producer, Fargo (Us)Josh Lieb, producer and showrunner of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Us)Kahane Cooperman, producer and showrunner of The New Yorker Presents (Us)Jay Carson, political consultant and supervising producer of House Of Cards (Us)Ben Frow, program director, Channel 5 (UK)Clare Thompson, K7 Media (UK)Kathleen Grace, chief creative officer, New Form Digital (Us)Robert Thirkell, consultant (UK)

Vr experiences are also on offer, as are previews of the second season of Dr’s hit drama series Follow The Money and TV2’s The Day Will Come.

Ahead of the festival, the invitation-only...

The Writers Guild of America has just announced the nominations for their annual awards for Best Screenplays (by writers who are guild signatories). That’s right, before you get nervous thinking that your favorite may have been left off the list, you must remember that the WGA is the group that is not all-inclusive and leaves out several of the top contenders each year due to them not being part of the guild or not following their very specific rules. For this reason, you won’t see Inside Out, The Hateful Eight, and Ex Machina in the Original Screenplay category or Room, Brooklyn, or Anomalisa in the Adapted screenplay category.

Taking a look at what’s left over for the nominations, we find many that were expected to make a showing, including Spotlight and Bridge of Spies for Original Screenplay, though they apparently had to sink to really low depths...

The Big Short

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture, long-form television, digital series, sports programs and additional television nominations for the 27th Annual Producers Guild Awards.

The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures; The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures; The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television; Outstanding Sports Program; and Outstanding Digital Series. The feature documentary film category and other television category nominations were previously announced by the PGA in late 2015.

All 2016 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on Saturday, January 23, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. This year, the Producers Guild will present special honors to Jim Gianopulos (Milestone Award), Shonda Rhimes (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), David Heyman (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), The Hunting Ground (Stanley Kramer...

The Producers Guild of America has announced the nominations for its 27th annual Producers Guild Awards! 10 films are vying for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. And sorry "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Carol," you did not make the cut :sad

The PGA Awards winners will be announced on January 23. Here's the complete list of nominees of the 27th annual Producers Guild Awards:

Theatrical Motion Picture nominees

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Big Short

Producers: Brad Pitt & Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Bridge of Spies

Producers: Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, Kristie Macosko Krieger

Brooklyn

Producers: Finola Dwyer & Amanda Posey

Ex Machina

This film is in the process of being vetted for producer eligibility

Mad Max: Fury Road

Producers: Doug Mitchell & George Miller

The Martian

Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer, Mark Huffam

The Revenant

Producers: Arnon Milchan,...

Two films forgotten by the Academy, the animated adventure "The Lego Movie" and the Roger Ebert Documentary "Life Itself," triumphed at the recently concluded 2015 Producers Guild Awards.

"The Lego Movie" took home the Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures for producer Dan Lin while "Life Itself" won the Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures for producers Garrett Basch, Steve James, and Zak Piper.

Meanwhile, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole took the Oscar glitter away from Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" when "Birdman" was awarded the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures.

The Oscars just got interesting! Will "Boyhood" triumph over "Birdman" at the Academy Awards?

In TV land, NBC was the big winner of the evening with two of their shows taking home trophies for Competition Television ("The Voice") and Live Entertainment & Talk Television ("The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon...

On Saturday evening the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced this year’s winning motion picture, television, and new media productions at the 26th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

In what’s become a most interesting awards season, Birdman took home the big award of the night. The Oscars look to be a two horse race between Boyhood and Birdman from all appearances.

The other PGA nominees were American Sniper, Boyhood, Foxcatcher, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, The Theory Of Everything and Whiplash.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony is Sunday, while the Directors Guild will announce it’s winners on Saturday, February 7.

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Birdman (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical...

Oscar-snubbed “Life Itself” and “The Lego Movie” win documentary and animation awards

“Birdman” was named the best-produced feature of 2014 at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night, giving the daring Alejandro Iñárritu film new life in the Oscar race for Best Picture.

“Boyhood” was considered the most likely PGA winner and the Oscar leader, but the critical favorite now finds itself in the same spot “The Social Network” was in four years ago. That film swept the critics’ awards and the Golden Globes, but then lost the PGA to “The King’s Speech,” which rode a string of guild wins to victory at the Oscars.

Ever since "The Hurt Locker" triumphed over "Avatar" at the 2010 Producers Guild Awards, it has been rather obvious to me that this precursor announcement is the skeleton key to understanding how the Oscar vote will likely play out. Why? Because — as we've noted a number of times — the PGA is the only group that shares the preferential ballot system the Academy employs. So what won this year? "Birdman" won, that's what. And for those who were chalking this up as a boring, telegraphed Oscar season… So, what does this mean for the rest of the season? It means, clearly, "Birdman" could well be poised to take the Best Picture Oscar next month. I, for one, thought "The Imitation Game" would be the one to unseat "Boyhood" this evening and assert itself as the industry favorite. I even thought "American Sniper" had an outside shot. I wasn't looking at "Birdman," though,...

Movies made by women directors were snubbed by the Producers Guild of America when they announced the nominees today! Both "Selma" by Ava DuVernay and "Unbroken" by Angelina Jolie were left in the dust. I agree with not nominating the latter movie (sorry Ms. Jolie but "Unbroken" is too earnest for my taste) but "Selma" deserved a nod! It's a profound movie aided by DuVernay's skilled directing and David Oyelowo's fine performance as Martin Luther King Jr.

You know who I'm blaming for this? Paramount! The studio did not send screeners to Academy voters. Heck, they did not sent one to us, the Broadcast Film Critics Association. But after begging, they did send a link so I could watch "Selma" in time for our Critics' Choice Movie Award nominations.

"Selma" is a "late to the party" entry that is gaining momentum dashed by the PGA! If you remember, Clint Eastwood...