‘Animal Control’ Locks Down Season 2 Renewal at Fox

Netflix has released a series of first-look images for Season 2 of its romantic drama “Heartstopper,” which stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke and is set to premiere on Aug. 3. The second season will spotlight Nick (Connor) and Charlie (Locke) as they navigate the waters of their new relationship. Ahead of their prom, the students take a trip to Paris, and this group of friends realizes they have “a lot to juggle as they journey through the next stages of life, love and friendship.” Season 2 will star Connor and Locke alongside Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Sebastian Croft, Tobie Donovan, Rhea Norwood, Jenny Walser, Cormac Hyde-Corrin and Olivia Colman.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox is serving up a new season of Joel McHale’s mystery baking competition “Crime Scene Kitchen” next week and bringing several celebrity new guest judges along for the ride. Variety can exclusively reveal that the lineup of Season 2’s famous faces includes “Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum NeNe Leakes, country music star Martina McBride, “Next Level Chef” (a Gordon Ramsay-led Fox food competition) and “Top Chef” star Richard Blais and NBA champ and “Special Forces” (yet another Fox competition) contestant Dwight Howard. Those guest judges will pop in during different episodes this season to join host McHale and full-time judges Curtis Stone and Yolanda Gampp in their evaluations.

EXCLUSIVE: Filming on Season 2 of the FX drama series The Old Man, starring Jeff Bridges, is being suspended. We hear the crew of the series, produced by 20th Television, were alerted this morning of the decision to stop after today’s shoot, completing Episode 204.

Michael J. Fox made an appearance on The View where he came face-to-face with Whoopi Goldberg and told her he regretted not working with her on Ghost.

Michael J. Fox is opening up about a career regret. "There was a chance to work with you that I missed," the "Back to the Future" actor told Whoopi Goldberg.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview reveals major plot points from the “9-1-1” Season 6 finale, which aired Monday on Fox. Buck (Oliver Stark) helped bring a very special baby boy into the world on the sixth season finale of “9-1-1.” The little guy, whom Buck donated sperm to help his friends conceive, was born on Buck’s new couch (if you know, you know) — with Buck delivering the infant during one of the most large-scale disasters “9-1-1” fans have ever seen. “9-1-1” is moving to ABC for its seventh season, meaning, unfortunately, that any future crossovers in the franchise are “extremely unlikely,” according to Fox boss Michael Thorn. For the final episode of “9-1-1” that will ever air on Fox, Stark spoke with Variety about his experience filming it, and what he hopes for Buck’s future.

It was standing-room only crowd at the Fox upfront — mostly because there was no place to sit. But there were cocktails and lots of f-bombs from Gordon Ramsay, who helped to keep the 55-minute presentation moving at NYC’s Manhattan Center Monday.

Production on the Fox game show You Bet Your Life has halted amid the ongoing writers strike as the AMPTP continues to stall negotiations with the WGA. Series host Jay Leno, who has been seen at multiple picket lines delivering donuts, supports the move.

Things aren’t looking great for Fox comedy Welcome To Flatch.

Jamie and Corinne Foxx, and teased the premieres of long-gestating animated series “Krapopolis” — which features Waddingham among its voice cast and has already been renewed through Season 3 — and “Grimsburg,” headlined by Jon Hamm and already renewed for Season 2.While the orders for previously announced new dramas “Doc,” an adaptation of an Italian TV series, and “Rescue: HI-Surf” from “Shameless” producer Wells are still in place, the network did not reveal the cast for either project.The decision to not unveil Fox’s fall schedule — or the cast of its two new drama series — during the upfronts presentation is unusual. The event traditionally serves as the broadcast networks’ opportunity to boast on their programming slate, as well as showcasing their scheduling strategy to potential ad buyers.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Fox Entertainment’s CEO addressed the decision to cancel “9-1-1” and the show’s subsequent move to ABC during a conference call with the press ahead of the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York. “We look at shows in two different ways,” said Rob Wade, CEO of Fox Entertainment. “First and foremost from a creative lens and how much we like the creative. And the second thing is really the economics of that. I think we felt moving forward into what is really a new era of television, the economics weren’t going to pan out on this show for us. The decision was made there that the business model wasn’t right for us and that 20th TV would take the show back.”

False alarm!?

Fox is closing out the 2022-23 television season with a ratings win in delayed viewing.

A man has been arrested after police cordoned off a quiet Edinburgh street yesterday for almost 12 hours.

BreAnna Bell Fox has ordered two more seasons of Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef,” Allison Wallach, Fox Entertainment’s president of unscripted programming announced. “Serving up two more orders of ‘Next Level Chef’ was an easy decision on the heels of an incredible sophomore season, propelled by its historic post-Super Bowl debut,” said Wallach. “Gordon has orchestrated a series that brilliantly demands skill and creativity in a tri-level pressure cooker, delivering high stakes, high drama and some of the most innovative cooking I’ve ever seen.” “I’m so thrilled that we’ll be bringing two more seasons of Next Level Chef to Fox,” said Ramsay. “It’s the culinary gauntlet of cooking competition shows and we’re excited to continue to raise the bar!”

Gordon Ramsay is going to continue cooking with Fox. The network has renewed the celebrity chef’s latest competition series, “Next Level Chef,” for Seasons 3 and 4. The renewal was announced Thursday ahead of this season’s two-hour finale.

Gordon Ramsay’s cooking up a double helping of Next Level Chef for Fox.

After Jeremy Renner suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries from a near-fatal snowplow accident, his "Avengers" co-star Scarlett Johansson wasn’t sure if she would ever see her friend again. Johansson, 38, recalled the moment she learned that Renner had been crushed by a nearly 15,000-pound snow machine while he attempted to save his nephew’s car. "I was very upset," the Marvel star recounted during an interview with Variety.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Animal Control” has been renewed for Season 2 at Fox, Variety has learned. The renewal comes as little surprise, given the fact that the show is Fox’s first wholly owned live-action comedy. Per Fox, the show’s premiere was the network’s most streamed scripted debut ever, drawing an estimated 4.5 million viewers across all platforms in its first three days of availability. As the name suggests, the series centers on a group of animal control workers. The cast is led by Joel McHale, who stars alongside Michael Rowland, Vella Lovell, Ravi Patel, Grace Palmer, Alvina August, Kelli Ogmundson, and Gerry Dee.