Comedy Writers Talk Balancing Humor and Emotion at Variety’s A Night in the Writers Room: ‘It’s a Catharsis, Both the Comedy and the Tears’

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the two-hour Season 10 Finale of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Dec. 20 on Fox. Because of you, Ne-Yo just had the time of his life on Fox’s “The Masked Singer.” The artist won the Season 10 finale of the hit series on Wednesday night, becoming the last celebrity to be unmasked this season. Ne-Yo won by performing “Rhythm Nation,” by Janet Jackson; “Take a Bow,” by Rihanna, before being revealed as Cow.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large And then there were four. Season 10 of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” airs this Wednesday with finalists Donut (Group C champion), Sea Queen (Group B winner), Cow (Group A victor) and Group A “Ding Dong Keep It On” recipient Gazelle.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large While Netflix awaits Season 2 of its breakout hit “Wednesday,” the latest adaptation of the “Addams Family” franchise, it is already eyeing a way to expand that universe. Variety has confirmed that Netflix and producer MGM Television are indeed aiming to spin off “Wednesday” to focus on Uncle Fester.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Max’s “Warrior,” a breakthrough series boasting one of the few Asian ensembles on television, has been canceled after three seasons. The series’ repeats will live on, however, via a off-net deal with Netflix, which has acquired the series’ run in a non-exclusive deal and could now potentially expose it to a new audience.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The 2nd annual Children’s & Family Emmys got underway on Saturday night, starting with the Children’s & Family Creative Arts Emmys at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. According to early results — pending final tallies — Disney+ and Netflix tied the lead with nine wins overall. The most honored program of the evening was actually Netflix’s “Lost Ollie,” which scored five trophies.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Better late than never, the 50th Annual Daytime Emmys got underway on Friday night from downtown Los Angeles’ Westin Bonaventure Hotel, after six months of postponement due to the Hollywood strikes. Airing live on CBS, “Entertainment Tonight” hosts Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner were back to emcee this year’s event. “General Hospital” jumped out to a dominant early lead in the competition, winning six awards — including daytime drama, as well as both supporting actor and supporting actress, younger actor, guest actor and directing.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Pete Davidson has more than bupkis to say. The “Saturday Night Live” alum and star of Peacock’s “Bupkis” will star in his second Netflix hour-long special, “Turbo Fonzarelli,” which premieres Jan. 9, 2024, on the streamer.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Veteran TV director David Nutter has been selected to receive the Directors Guild of America’s lifetime achievement award for distinguished achievement in directing. He will receive the honors at the 76th Annual DGA Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 10, 2024.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large And so goes the most unusual TV awards season ever, where a delayed Primetime Emmys — with its June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, eligibility window — falls smack into a Globes, Critics’ Choice and guild awards season with a January to December, 2023 time frame. The Hollywood strikes also may have had an impact on the even more limited-than-usual showing for broadcast networks at the Globes.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Golden Globes exec producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner (of White Cherry Entertainment) don’t appear to be sweating the fact that with less than a month to go, there’s still no announced host for this year’s ceremony. “Or is there?” Weiss quipped, a bit mysteriously. “We have to leave some room for some interesting announcements along the way.” Added Kirshner: “You said, ‘announced host,’ and we still have four weeks to go.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large In a sad bit of coincidence, the Hollywood, Health & Society at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center honored its 2023 Sentinel Awards winners on Wednesday night, just hours after the passing of its namesake and inspiration, the legendary Norman Lear. Emmy-winning comedian and writer Larry Wilmore hosted the event and introduced this year’s 11 winners, including writers behind the series “Mrs. Davis,” “Fleishman is in Trouble” and “Tiny Beautiful Things.” But before the awards were handed out, Wilmore took a moment to pay tribute to Lear.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 10, Episode 10 of “The Masked Singer,” “I Wanna Rock,” which aired Dec. 6 on Fox. Ginuwine wasn’t sure he wanted to be on “The Masked Singer” when it first came calling. But the “Pony” artist ultimately couldn’t resist.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large HBO and Max’s “We’re Here” and ABC’s “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” are among the first winners to pick up trophies at this year’s Emmy Awards. The Television Academy has announced early winners to this year’s 75th annual Emmy Awards via juried categories in animation, costume, hairstyling, makeup and motion design. Juried awards will be presented at the 75th Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Jan.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Get ready to say yes to more “Dress.” And set aside plenty of time for at least four different versions of “90 Day Fiancé,” two different “My 600-lb Life” series, two shows in the “Little People” universe and another dive into the “Sister Wife” universe. TLC is unwrapping its winter and spring slate, and Variety can confirm the return and premiere date of ten series set to return. On tap, with what TLC has counted up to be “over 135 hours of entertainment,” are returning shows “90 Day: The Single Life,” “90 Day: The Single Life Pillow Talk,” “My 600-lb Life,” “90 Day Diaries,” “Say Yes To The Dress,” “Little People, Big World,” “7 Little Johnstons,” “My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now?,” “90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?” and “Seeking Sister Wife.” Per TLC, the cabler is ending the fourth quarter of 2023 as the top-rated cable network in primetime (when sports is not included) among adults 18-49, adults 25-54, women 18-49 and women 25-54.

Ellise Shafer Amazon Prime Video’s automotive series “The Grand Tour” is not moving forward at the streamer — at least with its current hosts, former “Top Gear” trio Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. Sources tell Variety that Clarkson, May and Hammond have just returned from filming the show’s final special in Zimbabwe, which will launch at a later date next year and conclude the fifth season. A special set in Mauritania will launch before that, in February.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As “Only Murders in the Building” fans await a fourth season of the hit Hulu comedy, they can relive the antics of the show’s first season via a broadcast run on ABC this January. As it prepares to start returning new episodes of its strike-delayed series starting in February, the Alphabet net will fill the January gap with episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” on Tuesdays. All ten episodes of the show’s Season 1 will air back-to-back, starting with the first three episodes on Tuesday, Jan.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Charlie Sheen isn’t the only “Two and a Half Men” star to reunite with exec producer Chuck Lorre on his new Max comedy “Bookie.” Also making a cameo in the “Bookie” series’ opener: Angus T. Jones, the “half man” from “Two and a Half Men,” now all grown up. Sheen’s appearance on “Bookie” (which premiered Nov.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 10, Episode 9 of “The Masked Singer,” “Disco Night,” which aired Nov. 29 on Fox. Former O-Town member Ashley Parker Angel had set aside performing in recent years to focus on his health and wellness company, High Level. But when “The Masked Singer” came calling, he couldn’t resist: “It was a hell yes, right from the start,” he told Variety.

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have = decided to end Prime Video's The Grand Tour, according to reports. The much-loved trio launched the show in 2016 after they departed from BBC's Top Gear.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Writers Guild of America is protesting the Television Academy‘s decision to move the outstanding writing for a variety series or special categories out of the Emmy telecast, sending a letter to members registering its concerns and urging them to lobby the org to reverse its plans. Because this year’s Primetime Emmys has has moved the variety special (live) category into the telecast (it was on the Creative Arts show last year), the TV Academy was likely looking to keep the telecast capped at 25 awards, so something had to fall out.