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Usually, it’s the films that are loud at the SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin. This year, however, the parade of personalities in the City of the Violet Crown will be creating plenty of thunder including Blake Lively, Jenna Ortega, Michelle Obama, Disney co-chairman Alan Bergman, Amazon and MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Conan O’Brien fresh off the Oscar Dolby Theatre stage.

There are an intriguing amount of sit-downs here at SXSW this year after the fest kicks off Friday, rivaling the number of sidebar chats at a San Diego Comic-Con and certainly towering over the few at this past year’s Sundance, where the best chats were off-menu and not contained in any program: Elvis Mitchell’s conversations with Bill Murray and Quentin Tarantino.

In a déjà vu to Comic-Con, O’Brien will be on stage twice: once in a Sunday comedy event with...

The hour-long procedural has long been one of network television's go-to genres. When done effectively, they can last for decades and launch multiple spin-offs that make a gazillion dollars for creatives and suits alike. What's the secret to the crafting of a long-running procedural? In the case of the broadcast war horse known as "Law & Order," it's to hit on a unique narrative format (i.e. the criminal justice system viewed from the street and court levels), and hit big on every casting choice. For shows as unabashedly formulaic as CBS' "NCIS," it's good enough to hit big-ish on every casting choice, and get slotted into a favorable spot on the broadcast schedule.

Initially, Mark Harmon's Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was the anchor of the series. The sun-kissed California hunk with sandy hair and blue eyes got his start on television as Dr. Robert Caldwell on "St. Elsewhere...

Scott Frank, a two-time Adapted Screenplay Oscar nominee for Logan and Out of Sight, will receive the WGA East’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement Writers Guild Awards in February.

Frank, who marks his 40th year as a WGA member in 2025, will be honored during the New York portion of the 77th annual Writers Guild Awards on February 15 at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.

Hel also has two Emmys for The Queen’s Gambit on six nominations, including three for Godless, and two WGA Awards on nominations, alomg with a USC Scripter Award for Queen’s Gambit. Frank’s long list of film and TV credits also includes Out of Sight, Get Shorty, Minority Report, MArley & Me, The Wonder Years, Dead Again, and Little Man Tate.

Frank most recently teamed with three-time Emmy Winner Tom Fontana on Monsieur Spade, a Sam Spade limited series for AMC.

Related: 2024-...

We largely have HBO to thank for all the incredible, genuinely profound work we enjoy in the television medium today. Founded in 1972 as a premium destination for movies and major events, it is now synonymous with its indelible contributions to the art of serialized storytelling -- and we've gathered and ranked several of the network's best shows ever.

Take note that this list doesn't represent the entirety of the network's greatest achievements. We made the difficult decision to omit talk shows and news programs ("Last Week Tonight with John Oliver"), documentaries ("The Jinx"), Max Originals ("Peacemaker"), and those series that lean a little too far toward reality ("How To with John Wilson). What remained were 20 of the greatest stories ever told, together defining in large part the standard we expect from television in the 21st century.

Read more: These Are The 35 Most Disturbing Movies Of The Century So Far

Euphoria...

Kathy McGee will be the recipient of the WGA East’s Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild at the 77th annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony in March.

McGee, a member of the WGA East since 1997, is an award-winning news writer and producer for Wcbs-tv. She has served as the shop leader at Wcbs-tv since 2006 and is a member of the bargaining committee for CBS contracts.

She is currently as a member of the guild’s Committee for Inclusion and Equity. Additionally, Wgae Activities Committee, the Wgae Black Writers Salon and is a longtime member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Previously, McGee was the WGA East’s vice president from 2019 to 2021 and the vice president of the broadcast/cable/streaming news sector between 2022 and 2024. She also served as a Council member from 2014 to 2019.

“I am filled with gratitude and joy and thank the committee for this honor.

Exclusive: After eight months of bargaining with nonfiction production company Story Syndicate, the Writers Guild of America East and Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700) are putting pressure on the Harry & Meghan producers to finalize a fair deal.

Deadline has learned that unions delivered a joint petition to founders Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan on Thursday signed by more than 250 members, calling on the company to “be the industry leaders they are and set a precedent others can follow to create a truly inclusive and transparent work environment.”

“Long delays, proposals that are out of line with industry standards, and refusals to respond to important proposals would not reflect well on the company’s stated principles,” the petition reads. Read the full petition below.

Signatories of the petition include Lilly Wachowski, John Walsh, Tom Fontana, and Josh Gondelman.

In a statement, Wgae President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen says that Story...

Exclusive: After Homicide: Life on the Street landed on Peacock several weeks back, Fremantle has struck its first major deals for the remastered version of NBC’s iconic police series, while senior international exec Bob McCourt has teased a potential remake.

Israel’s Yes and Canada’s Bell Media have picked up Homicide, with more deals close, we understand. Starring Andre Braugher, Yaphet Kotto and Melissa Leo, the show based on David Simon’s book ran for more than 100 episodes and seven seasons in the 1990s and is considered by many to be a precursor to Simon’s The Wire. The HD remastered version launched on Peacock over the summer, and Fremantle, which holds non-u.S. rights, is prioritizing at MIPCOM Cannes, according to Fremantle Commercial and International COO McCourt, who said Homicide “revolutionized the crime genre.”

“We’ve known for a year that this is coming and have been...

The acclaimed series Homicide: Life on the Street is finally streaming on Peacock. The groundbreaking police procedural produced by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson is based on the non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by journalist David Simon, who went on to create The Wire. The ensemble cast includes Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, and Melissa Leo. Many of the cases on the show were lifted from the real cases in Simons book. The most scandalous case in the book was the story of Geraldine Parrish. This real case was turned into a subplot about a woman named Calpurnia Church (Mary Jefferson) in the Season 1 episodes Gone for Goode and Son of a Gun.

Homicide: Life on the Street, produced by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, is finally streaming on Peacock. The show is known for strong serialized storytelling, but one of its best episodes, "Bop Gun," can be appreciated even by viewers who dont watch the rest of the series. On Peacock, its the fourth episode of Season 2, which reflects the production order. But, it originally aired as the Season 2 premiere. However, it likely aired out of order because NBC executives wanted to take advantage of a huge guest star: Robin Williams. Bop Gun is the first Homicide: Life on the Street episode to focus on one standalone story. Although Homicides previous approach to storytelling is part of what makes it so groundbreaking, theres no denying that, in this case, making a standalone episode paid off; the simple story makes for a memorable episode that allows Robin Williams to shine.

With AMC's Monsieur Spade being a sequel to the classic film noir The Maltese Falcon, audiences and soon-to-be viewers alike are wondering how Clive Owen's older version of Sam Spade compares to Humphrey Bogart's iconic character. Created by Scott Frank (Out of Sight) and Tom Fontana (The Jury), Monsieur Spade stars Clive Owen (Children of Men) as the private detective who rose to pop-cultural prominence with 1941's The Maltese Falcon. Although Monsieur Spade is a sequel to The Maltese Falcon, both projects are also based on Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel, which first became a film in 1931.

Full of twists and turns, John Huston's black-and-white noir sees Spade navigating the streets of San Francisco, as well as the many parties who are out to claim the titular jewel-encrusted bird statue. Monsieur Spade picks up with Sam further down the timeline in 1963, which is roughly 20 years after The Maltese Falcon.

Monsieur Spade is a sequel to The Maltese Falcon, with Clive Owen playing an older version of Humphrey Bogart's iconic character. The series follows Detective Spade in 1963 France, investigating murders and facing old adversaries in a relaxing retirement turned chaotic. Viewers can enjoy Monsieur Spade on Netflix, while the classic Maltese Falcon film is available to rent or purchase on VOD platforms.

AMC's Monsieur Spade has left some viewers wondering if the series is actually a sequel to Humphrey Bogart's 1941 Maltese Falcon movie or something unrelated. Created by Scott Frank (Logan) and Tom Fontana (Oz), Monsieur Spade stars Clive Owen (A Murder at the End of the World) as the fictional private detective Sam Spade. Set in 1963, the series follows the legendary Detective Spade to the South of France, where he's enjoying his retirement from investigating murder cases. While his time in San Francisco was marked by brutal violence,...

Sometimes it’s hard to revisit a favorite TV series you haven’t seen in decades. Will the show hold up or be hopelessly dated? Happily, NBC’s groundbreaking 1993-98 police series “Homicide: Life on the Street” is just as brilliant as it was three decades Peacock recently dropped all seven seasons as well as 2000’s “Homicide: The Movie.”.

As NPR noted: “It was a cop show without gun battles or car chases, with a bracing shot of street-level realism; film mostly in Baltimore. ‘Homicide’ presented stuff you just didn’t see on network television back then: shaky, kinetic camera work, working stiff police detectives cracking jokes at gruesome murder scenes…serialized stories that arced over several episodes, heart-rending killings that never get solved.”

The series, which was set in the fictional Baltimore Police Department Unit, was based on David Simon’s (“The Wire”) 1991 book “Homicide: A Year in the Life of the Killing Streets.

Daniela Melchior is set to join the ensemble of mystery thriller American Sweatshop, starring Lili Reinhart. Producers include Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana. Uta Briesewitz will direct.

In a device driven world, American Sweatshop will take a look at the toll of social media through the eyes of Daisy Moriarty (Reinhart), who while dealing with a chaotic personal life, finds herself sucked into the underbelly of the internet. Moriarty, and a motley group of co-workers, toil in a cottage industry of agencies that evaluate harmful and offensive pictures and videos uploaded to social media. With detached caution and a deranged sense of humor, they examine the millions of posts that get “flagged for review.” But one particularly violent video grabs hold of Daisy, luring her out of this office, away from the safety of her keyboard and into a dangerous world as she obsessively seeks to hold someone accountable.

Melchior...

After years stuck in streaming jail, one of TV’s best cop dramas ever is free at last — and back on the beat.

All seven seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street are finally available to stream on Peacock, as of today, so fans who didn’t catch its original 1993-99 run on NBC can now discover why it’s acknowledged as a stone-cold classic. A gritty look at the life of Baltimore homicide detectives, Homicide boasts an impressive pedigree — it’s based on a book by The Wire’s David Simon, with Oz’s Tom Fontana and Oscar winner...

Before The Shield and The Wire, there was Homicide: Life on the Street. The NBC crime drama is widely considered among genre fans to be the cream of the crop, but it never reached the level of success it deserved. Now a whopping 31 years after the first episode aired in 1993, audiences old and new are finally able to stream the series on Peacock and understand why it still matters. Even with how television and the world have evolved since the 1990s, Homicide is still an elite piece of TV drama.

Homicide: Life on the Street Season 1 lasted just nine episodes, as the network didn't quite know what to do with it. Based on David Simon's acclaimed book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the first season hewed understandably closer to the real-life personalities and crimes outlined across those pages. Yet iconic director Barry Levinson, a crack team of...

Today, Homicide: Life on the Street officially gave up its title as the Best TV Show You Can’t Stream. All 122 episodes of the Nineties cop drama are now on Peacock, along with Homicide: The Movie, a 2000 telefilm featuring the entire cast — even the ones whose characters died at some point in the previous seven seasons.

Here are 10 episodes to sample if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

“Gone for Goode” (Season 1, Episode 1)

The Homicide pilot introduces the show’s large, impressive ensemble in a shaggy...

Despite not ever garnering huge ratings on NBC, the critically acclaimed Baltimore-set police show Homicide: Life on the Streets won a number of awards, including several Emmys in its unexpected seven-season run (1993-1999). Created by Paul Attanasio and based on David Simon’s nonfiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Street, the show was innovative, beautifully cast appointment television that has had a profound influence on many fine shows that followed. And yet, though it was occasionally syndicated back in the day, Homicide was never available on streaming for fervent fans to rewatch and a new audience looking for fine fare to watch for the first time. That is until now when Peacock finally made it available for a new audience. TV Insider talked to executive producer Tom Fontana, who doesn’t watch his shows after the final edit), about his memories of the show, why it is considered a gem,...

Playing the role of Vern Schillinger in HBO's Oz helped launch J.K. Simmons further up in his career, but the actor was not without his trepidation in taking on the part. Because Schillinger was especially dastardly, Simmons almost turned down the role, but he's now very grateful that he was involved with the show.

Created by Tom Fontana, Oz was a prison drama that aired on HBO for six seasons between 1997 and 2003. It featured an ensemble cast with a wide variety of actors playing dangerous criminals of every type, and Simmons' Schillinger served as the head of the prison's Aryan Brotherhood. In a career retrospective with GQ, Simmons addressed his Oz role, sharing how he was nervous about being typecast as Nazi characters if he agreed to play Schillinger. After a chat with Fontana, Simmons was intrigued by how the character was a bit more nuanced, and he ultimately signed on for the role.

Exclusive: Non-profit Humanitas on Friday announced the five fellows selected for its 2024 New Voices Fellowship, and the awardees of its Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Award and the David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award.

Recipients of the New Voices Fellowship, a six-month mentorship program for emerging television and screenwriters, include Aj Currie, Lucas Miller, George Pérez, Mads Summerfield, and Kim Lee Winslow. As fellows, they will each be paired with acclaimed screenwriters for one-on-one mentorship focused on polishing a script submitted for fellowship consideration. Past mentors have included Jenny Bicks, Scott Z. Burns, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Steven Canals, Marissa Jo Cerar, Robb Chavis, Tom Fontana, Hart Hanson, Winnie Holzman, Jason Katims, Bill Lawrence, David Shore, Charise Castro Smith, Robin Swicord, and many more.

Fellows will also each receive a $7,500 stipend, a three-month membership to MasterClass, headshots and a free course from UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and take part in a...

Before David Simon debuted his groundbreaking socio-political tapestry “The Wire” to audiences and helped garner the prestige HBO now only reserves for “Game of Thrones” and superhero spinoffs, he wrote the book on the world of crime and law enforcement in Baltimore. Published in 1991, his non-fiction book “Homicide: A Year of Killing Streets” pools two years of research from Simon’s time spent observing the Baltimore Police Department, which itself followed four years spent on the police beat for The Baltimore Sun newspaper.

Wishing to adapt the book into a feature film, Simon got a copy to filmmaker and Baltimore native Barry Levinson, who felt the material was better suited to a TV series. Levinson shared with Paul Attansio, a former Washington Post film critic whose would go on to write the Oscar-nominated “Quiz Show,” as well as “Donnie Brasco,” and together the team brought the project to NBC, where...

Homicide: Life on the Street has been absent from streaming, but the critically acclaimed crime drama has finally found a new home and will launch next month. It has been announced that all seven seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street will be available on Peacock in the US starting on August 19th. All 122 episodes have been remastered for HD and 4K viewing, and Homicide: The Movie is also included.

The series was based on David Simon’s book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and was created by Paul Attanasio. It followed the Baltimore Police Department’s Homicide Unit. Bleak and unglamorous, the show was praised for its more realistic treatment of detectives and their work; threads weren’t always tied up at the end, and criminals sometimes got away. It also boasted one hell of a cast, including Andre Braugher, Ned Beatty, Yaphett Kotto, Melissa Leo, Giancarlo Esposito,...

The peak television renaissance didn't happen overnight. A decade prior to the epochal debut of "The Sopranos" on HBO, series as disparate in their aims as "The Simpsons," "Twin Peaks" and "The Larry Sanders Show" were challenging the industry's notions of what the broadcast medium could accomplish. Dramatic story arcs began to stretch out over a season or longer, while sitcoms got edgier and less hidebound to the multi-camera format. These successes emboldened major filmmakers to try their hand at episodic TV, which didn't always pan out. But it was always thrilling to see great artists romp about in a medium Hollywood once considered beneath them.

Of these efforts, it's possible none had a greater influence on the peak era than NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street." When Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon began shopping his book "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," an account of his time...

It's been a long time coming, but Homicide: Life on the Street is finally making its way to streaming. After it was recently teased that the show would soon start streaming, it's been confirmed that its new home will be at Peacock.

On Monday, it was announced that all seven seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street are coming to Peacock on Aug. 19, 2024. The show has never been made available on any of the major streaming platforms up to this point due to all of the issues with the rights that needed to be sorted out. Undoubtedly, this will be great news for fans who remember watching the series but have not since had a way to revisit it with other beloved classics from the era.

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Related All 4 Jaws Films Resurface on New Streaming Home

The Jaws franchise has found a new streaming home for July, bringing with it...

“Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Homicide: The Movie,” which has been remastered to HD and 4K for the very first time, will make its streaming debut in the U.S. on Peacock beginning August 19. The police drama examines the calculating and exacting detective work of the often confrontational, passionate, and opinionated homicide department in Baltimore. With a determined cast of characters that never let up in their quest for truth and justice, this gripping hourlong series remains the standard bearer of how police handle the job both professionally and personally.

From Universal Television, “Homicide: Life on the Street” originally launched on NBC in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, for a total of 122 episodes. It was succeeded by “Homicide: The Movie” in 2000, which served as the series finale. The drama was created by Paul Attanasio and based on David Simon‘s book “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.” Tom Fontana...

One of the most revered police dramas of all time, Homicide: Life on the Street, examines the calculating and exacting detective work of Baltimore’s often confrontational, passionate, and opinionated homicide department.

With a determined cast of characters that never let up in their quest for truth and justice, this gripping hourlong series remains the standard bearer of how police handle the job both professionally and personally.

From Universal Television, Homicide: Life on the Street originally launched on NBC in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, for a total of 122 episodes. It was succeeded by Homicide: The Movie in 2000, which served as the series finale.

The series was created by Paul Attanasio and based on David Simon’s book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Tom Fontana was the series head writer and showrunner.

Throughout its run, Homicide: Life on the Street was critically acclaimed, receiving nominations and accolades from the Television Critics Association,...

One of the more critically acclaimed dramas of the past 30 years has at last found a streaming home.

Starting Aug. 19, Peacock will feature Homicide: Life on the Street. All seven seasons and 122 episodes of the former NBC show, as well as the series-wrapping Homicide: The Movie from 2000, will be available, remastered for HD and 4K viewing.

Homicide was based on David Simon’s book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and created by Paul Attanasio; Tom Fontana was the showrunner and executive produced with Barry Levinson, Henry Bromell and Jim Finnerty. The series followed detectives in Baltimore’s homicide unit and was praised for its acting and a more realistic depiction of detective work — including some cases that don’t get solved — than on many other network crime dramas.

Over the show’s seven seasons, the cast featured Andre Braugher — who won his first Emmy 1998 for playing Detective Frank Pembleton — Ned Beatty,...

It’s official: Homicide: Life on the Street is coming to Peacock.

David Simon — who wrote the book on which the series is based — teased in June that the police drama was going to end up on a streamer. “Word is that NBC has managed to finally secure the music rights necessary to sell Homicide: Life On The Streets to a streaming platform,” he wrote on X.

All seven seasons of the series and Homicide: The Movie, which has been remastered to HD and 4K, will drop August 19 on Peacock.

From Universal TV, Homicide: Life on the Street followed the detective work of the homicide department in Baltimore. It originally launched on NBC in 1993 and ran for a total of 122 episodes.

The series was created by Paul Attanasio; Tom Fontana was the series head writer and showrunner. It starred Andre Braugher, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Giancarlo Esposito,...

Max is one of the best places to find peak drama shows because they have all the HBO shows, which are loved by millions and millions of people. From classic shows like The Sopranos to the wild dramas like Succession, you can find it all on the Warner Bros. streaming service Max. So, we list the ten best drama shows you can find on Max right now.

Oz Credit – HBO

Oz is a prison drama series created by Tom Fontana. The HBO series is set in a fictional men’s prison named Oswald State Correctional Facility in New York and it follows the story of inmates as they strategize and do everything they can to survive and gain power behind bars. Oz stars Christopher Meloni, Dean Winters, Harold Perrineau, Lee Tergesen, Terry Kinney, Kirk Acevedo, Eamonn Walker, J.K. Simmons, Rita Moreno, Luna Lauren Velez, and Ernie Hudson.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty...

Born in Brooklyn, New York, into an artistic family of actors, playwrights, and musicians, Edie Falco didn't fight the familial urge to express herself. She made her film debut in 1987 in the movie Sweet Lorraine, followed by brief TV roles in Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street. Tom Fontana, executive producer of Homicide, was so impressed with Falco that he cast her in his gritty 1997 HBO prison drama, Oz. In 1999, the actress caught the eye of David Chase, who cast her in The Sopranos, which, thanks in part to Falco, is considered one of the greatest TV series of all time.

Barry Levinson, director of Best Picture winner Rain Man (for which Levinson also won the Best Director Oscar), is producing a mystery thriller called American Sweatshop with Oz showrunner Tom Fontana, and Deadline reports that Riverdale, Look Both Ways, and Hustlers star Lili Reinhart has been cast in the lead role.

Emmy nominee Uta Briesewitz, whose previous credits include Stranger Things, The Wheel of Time, Westworld and This Is Us, is set to direct the film from a screenplay by Matthew Nemeth (City on a Hill).

In a device driven world, American Sweatshop will take a look at the toll of social media through the eyes of Daisy Moriarty (Reinhart), who while dealing with a chaotic personal life, finds herself sucked into the underbelly of the internet. Moriarty, and a motley group of coworkers, toil in a cottage industry of agencies that evaluate harmful and offensive pictures and videos uploaded to social media.

Lili Reinhart (“Riverdale”) is leading the cast of an upcoming thriller titled American Sweatshop, with Deadline reporting that the film will explore the dark side of the internet.

“In a device driven world,” Deadline details, “American Sweatshop will take a look at the toll of social media through the eyes of Daisy Moriarty (Reinhart), who while dealing with a chaotic personal life, finds herself sucked into the underbelly of the internet.

“Moriarty, and a motley group of coworkers, toil in a cottage industry of agencies that evaluate harmful and offensive pictures and videos uploaded to social media. With detached caution and a deranged sense of humor, they examine the millions of posts that get ‘flagged for review.’

“But one particularly violent video grabs hold of Daisy, luring her out of this office, away from the safety of her keyboard and into a dangerous world as she obsessively seeks to hold someone accountable.

AMC Networks remain hopeful the Emmy chances for its zombie apocalypse property are not dead.

The network announced its Emmy submission strategy for the three spinoffs from “The Walking Dead” universe: “Daryl Dixon,” “Dead City,” and “The Ones Who Live.”

“The Ones Who Live” picks up after the conclusion of the original series, reuniting beloved characters Rick Grimes and Michonne, portrayed by Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira. This series will be submitted for outstanding limited or anthology series, along with its stars in the lead acting categories. Gurira, who wrote the fourth episode “What We,” will also be considered in the writing category, alongside director Michael Slovis. Additional noms will be pursued for Matthew Jeffers and Pollyanna McIntosh in their supporting roles, along with other artisan categories.

Read: All Primetime Emmy predictions in every category on Variety’s Awards Circuit.

“Daryl Dixon,” starring Norman Reedus, will compete in the drama series categories.

Fans of HBO's Oz may be spending more time behind bars if a revival series happens, as has been teased by one of the show's stars. The tease comes ahead of the YouTube release of a sequel short film made for the show.

Starting from the show's very first episode that aired in 1997, Kirk Acevedo played inmate Miguel Alvarez. While he was able to spend some time on the outside during the series, he was back in Emerald City in the series finale. It wasn't the happiest ending for the character, though he was still one of the very few original characters to make it to the end of the series alive. In a recent X post, Acevedo teased that fans may be able to check back in with Alvarez if the sequel short generates enough buzz online.

I’m sure you guys all remember a show I did on...

The imaginative and groundbreaking prison drama "Oz" is getting a short sequel from its original creator, according to series star Kirk Acevedo. The actor who played inmate Miguel Alvarez for six seasons of the HBO series took to X/Twitter this week to spread the word about "Zo," a YouTube short film from series writer-creator Tom Fontana. According to Acevedo, the short is set to star Dean Winters, who played ultra-violent prisoner Ryan O'Reily in the show's original run, and Lee Tergesen, who played Tobias Beecher, an attorney-turned-inmate who was forced to adapt to harsh prison conditions. Christoph Shrewe, whose credits include "Mr. Robot," "Criminal Minds," and "Fear the Walking Dead," will direct the upcoming short.

Acevedo notes that "Zo" will be about "Oz after prison," and an accompanying promo image includes the phrase "What happens once you're free?" What's more, the actor noted that if the film gets "good buzz,...

Before The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under, The Wire, or any of the other popular HBO shows, there was Oz. The one-hour drama chronicled the lives of the staff and inmates at the Oswald State Correctional Facility, a maximum security penitentiary home to the most violent offenders in the state. It’s been over twenty years since the series concluded, but creator Tom Fontana is back with an Oz short film starring Lee Tergesen as Tobias Beecher and Dean Winters as Ryan O’Reily.

Titled Zo, the short film actually premiered at the Atx Festival in 2021, but few people were able to see it. Thankfully, Zo will premiere on YouTube on May 1st, giving fans around the world the chance to finally see it. According to Kirk Acevado, who starred in Oz as Miguel Alvarez, it could even lead to a sequel series if the short film gets enough buzz.

Clive Owen hopes to divide and conquer with his dual Emmy submissions this year.

With two competing limited series in the Emmys race, the star will be submitting his two acclaimed performances in AMC’s “Monsieur Spade” and Hulu’s “A Murder at the End of the World” in separate acting categories, Variety has learned exclusively.

For his work as detective Sam Spade in AMC’s neo-noir miniseries “Monsieur Spade,” he’ll remain as expected in the highly competitive lead actor in a limited series or TV movie race, where he’ll face potential contenders such as Jon Hamm (“Fargo”) and Tom Hollander (“Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”). However, regarding his turn in Hulu’s psychological thriller “A Murder at the End of the World,” he’ll seek Emmy consideration as a supporting actor, eyeing competition in actors like Jonathan Bailey (“Fellow Travelers”) and Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”), and...

Apple TV+'s Manhunt, which is finally set to premiere this week, has had a long journey to becoming a reality. Long before creator and showrunner Monica Beletsky brought her pitch to Apple, the concept of a show around the hunt for Lincoln's assassin had been gestating in Hollywood in some form for years. The anticipation surrounding author James L. Swanson's eventual-bestselling novel had reached a level where the adaptation rights were being bid on before the book had even been published. Early on, in 2002, it was set to be a film with Harrison Ford in the lead. By 2008, more reports surfaced that David Simon and Tom Fontana were interested in turning Manhunt into a TV series for HBO.

Thirty years after “Homicide: Life on the Street” hit the airwaves, a UK filmmaker and podcaster and a Baltimore camera assistant decided it was time to revisit the groundbreaking drama that garnered numerous awards during its seven seasons on NBC. Their new monthly behind-the-scenes podcast, Homicide: Life on the Set, premieres in March, focusing on creators and crew, including engaging conversations with camera, lighting and sound techs, creators, writers, actors, directors and more, including Jean de Segonzac, Tom Fontana and Kyle Secor.

“In early 2023, I started researching and developing a concept for a UK-based police film,” filmmaker Chris Carr said. “Always a huge fan of ‘Homicide,’ especially its gritty, cinéma-vérité shooting style, I started looking for a camera crew member to interview about how the show was shot. Susan Ingram, a camera assistant, agreed to talk with me and that’s how we got cracking.”

“I was excited when Chris...

Exclusive: The WGA East is honoring Tony Gilroy at the upcoming Writers Guild Awards with the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement.

With the award, which was established in 1992, the Andor creator will be following in the footsteps of his father Frank D. Gilroy, who was honored with the Hunter Award in 2011.

“Tony embodies the best of what it means to be a Writers Guild member. He is an extraordinary talent who has written some of the most thought-provoking and exciting screenplays of the last 30 years,” Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, President of the Writers Guild of America East, said in a statement. “He is also a staunch union ally, one of our most trusted voices when it comes to advocating for writers’ rights, and he gave one of the best damn speeches on the picket lines last summer. We all wish we were Tony, but short of that we are...

Clive Owen is hopeful for a Monsieur Spade season 2, suggesting a return to San Francisco to investigate the detective's past. Season 1 left the door open for more story, exploring Sam Spade's relationship with Teresa. The future of Monsieur Spade is uncertain, pending AMC's decision, despite positive critical reception and potential for more mysteries.

Clive Owen hopes Monsieur Spade season 2 happens, and has a pitch for what it should be about. Dashiell Hammett’s iconic detective made an unexpected return in AMC’s six-episode drama, which picks up Spade’s story 20 years after the events of The Maltese Falcon, with the former San Francisco gumshoe now retired and living in southern France. Owen may not get to wear Humphrey Bogart’s trenchcoat and hat, but Spade still needs his sharp detective skills and sharper wit as a mystery begins unfolding in his sun-splashed new home.

With Monsieur Spade season...

Black Bear has hired Courtney L. Cunniff as senior vice president of film. Cunniff comes to Black Bear from eOne and Hasbro, where she served as vice president of production and development & acquisitions for film titles under both of the company’s banners. Black Bear’s credits include “The Imitation Game,” “I Care A Lot” and “Nyad,” which recently earned Oscar nominations for Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.

In her new role, Cunniff will focus on the development, packaging and production of the company’s slate, which includes such upcoming projects as David Mackenzie’s “Relay” starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James and Sam Worthington; Andrew Patterson’s “The Rivals of Amziah King” starring Matthew McConaughey; and Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams” starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones.

In Cunniff’s previous job at eOne and Hasbro, she sourced and assessed development material and oversaw the path to production for a...

Co-created by Scott Frank and Tom Fontana, the AMC six-episode crime drama Monsieur Spade follows legendary Detective Sam Spade (Clive Owen) while he’s enjoying a peaceful and quiet retirement in the South of France in 1963, twenty years after the events of The Maltese Falcon. After six nuns are brutally murdered at a convent and Spade learns of the return of an adversary, he’s drawn in to investigate while also attempting to protect a 15-year-old (Cara Bossom) who’s not at all impressed with him and find a young boy with mysterious abilities.

Film and TV studio Fifth Season has secured international distribution rights to “Monsieur Spade,” the crime drama series starring and executive produced by Clive Owen.

Fifth Season will represent the title at the upcoming Berlin European Film Market.

The six-episode series is based on Dashiell Hammett’s hard-boiled private detective Sam Spade, the protagonist of 1930 novel “The Maltese Falcon,” adapted several times for the screen, most notably in 1941 by John Huston with Humphrey Bogart as the sleuth.

In the series, the year is 1963, and legendary detective Spade (Owen) is enjoying retirement in the South of France. Spade’s life in Bozouls is peaceful and quiet, but the rumoured return of his old adversary will change everything. Six beloved nuns have been brutally murdered, and as the town grieves, secrets emerge and new leads are established. Spade learns the murders are connected to a mysterious child, who is believed to possess great powers.

"Monsieur Spade” is a new live-action crime drama TV miniseries, created by Scott Frank and Tom Fontana, based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel "The Maltese Falcon", starring Clive Owen as detective 'Sam Spade', forced to come out of retirement after learning about the return of a long-time enemy, now airing on AMC and AMC+:

"...the year is 1963, and 'Detective Sam Spade' (Owen) is enjoying his retirement in the South of France. By contrast to his days as a private eye in San Francisco, Spade’s life in Bozouls is peaceful and quiet.

"But the rumored return of his old adversary will change everything. Six beloved nuns have been killed at the local convent. As the town grieves, secrets emerge, and new leads are established.

"Spade learns that the murders are somehow connected to a mysterious child who is believed to possess great powers..."

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Clive Owen jokes that he was tricked into playing an unusual version of Sam Spade in AMC's Monsieur Spade. The show's departure from past portrayals is actually a good thing, as it avoids being a pale imitation or parody. Owen's interpretation of Sam Spade adds to the character's lore, and allows him to reinterpret the role in his own way.

Clive Owen reveals how an 83-year-old crime movie tricked him into accepting his new role on the TV show Monsieur Spade. Literary detective Sam Spade has been depicted on-screen before, but AMC’s just-premiered series puts an entirely new spin on the iconic sleuth. Starring Owen as Spade, the show imagines the character not as a tough-talking San Francisco gumshoe, but as a retiree who has moved to the south of France, who is called back to action thanks to six brutal murders and the rumored arrival of an old adversary.

"Monsieur Spade” is a new live-action crime drama TV miniseries, created by Emmy winners Scott Frank and Tom Fontana, based on author Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel "The Maltese Falcon", starring Clive Owen as world-famous detective 'Sam Spade', forced to come out of his retirement, after learning about the rumored return of a long-time enemy, now airing on AMC and AMC+:

"...the year is 1963, and 'Detective Sam Spade' (Owen) is enjoying his retirement in the South of France. By contrast to his days as a private eye in San Francisco, Spade’s life in Bozouls is peaceful and quiet.

"But the rumored return of his old adversary will change everything. Six beloved nuns have been killed at the local convent. As the town grieves, secrets emerge, and new leads are established.

"Spade learns that the murders are somehow connected to a mysterious child who is believed to possess great powers.

It’s four for four for Jesse Armstrong.

The “Succession” creator and showrunner took home the Emmy for Best Drama Writing on Monday for penning “Connor’s Wedding,” the third episode of the HBO series’ fourth and final season, which featured the shocking death of family patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox). “Succession,” which was the odds-on favorite to win heading into the telecast, beat out episodes from fellow HBO dramas “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us,” as well as AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” Disney+’s “Andor” and Apple TV+’s “Bad Sisters.”

“Succession” executive producer Mark Mylod was also nominated for directing the episode, which, as the title implies, is set during the nuptials of eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck). Logan’s death, which happens off-screen and in the wake of a confrontation with his children in the previous episode, interrupts the big day, and the four...

What happens when you take a San Francisco detective and retire him to the South of France? When the rights to the Dashiell Hammett character made famous by Humphrey Bogart in “The Maltese Falcon” (1941) became available, writer-director Scott Frank, perhaps emboldened by his Emmy-winning successes with his western series “Godless” and chess sensation “The Queen’s Gambit,” convinced his friend Tom Fontana (“Oz”) to co-create a limited series, “Monsieur Spade” about an older Sam Spade in France.

These two writers had a blast making Spade (Clive Owen) middle-aged and grumpy — his doctor wants him to give up smoking. He’s grieving his lost wife, a Frenchwoman (Chiara Mastroianni) who left him a lovely estate. He reluctantly acts as a father figure for a teenage girl (Cara Bossom) whose mother Brigid O’Shaughnessy sent him eight years ago to Bozouls to deliver her child to her father (Jonathan Zaccaï). The plot is complicated,...

All works of IP exploitation are, on some level, legitimized fanfiction. Once divorced from the original author, the line that separates a franchise’s sequel, prequel or reboot from the average post on Wattpad is a great deal of money and the blessing of an estate and/or corporation. But even with this baseline, the AMC limited series “Monsieur Spade” is an especially unabashed act of wish fulfillment through and for a beloved protagonist. The namesake of “Monsieur Spade” is none other than Sam Spade (Clive Owen), the private investigator who headlined the Dashiell Hammett novel turned John Huston film noir “The Maltese Falcon,” plus a handful of Hammett short stories published in the 1930s. For their spin on Spade, series creators Tom Fontana (“Oz”) and Scott Frank (“The Queen’s Gambit”) send the sleuth to the south of France, where he spends a few weeks of his not-so-peaceful retirement looking...

Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett's iconic private detective, is forced out of retirement to solve shocking murders in 1963 Bozouls, France. Monsieur Spade is a superbly acted and gripping neo-noir mystery that will thrill fans of the classic character. Writer/director Scott Frank, the acclaimed screenwriter of Out of Sight and Logan, takes elements from The Maltese Falcon and weaves a sinister new narrative with fascinating characters.

Clive Owen mesmerizes as an older Sam Spade who hasn't lost his investigative touch. But the character looks markedly different from the chain-smoking, trench coat and fedora-clad private dick popularized by Humphrey Bogart. Owen humorously comments, "My word to Scott throughout the series was I've been duped (laughs). I get no hat. I get no cigarette. There's no gun. What is this?" Owen loved the original interpretation, but "the joy and the fun of this was to reinvent him." He based "the essence of...