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Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large And yet, let’s give credit where credit is due. It is extremely impressive. And it has only happened twice before: In 1992, when NBC scored four of five slots, with “I’ll Fly Away,” “L.A.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Mark Mylod is still kicking himself over something in Season 4 of “Succession.” The series’ final installment has been universally lauded, and the general consensus is that the HBO drama stuck the landing. But for Mylod, the executive producer/director who is once again Emmy nominated, he can’t stop thinking about something — and he won’t reveal what it is just yet. “I will do the kicking myself thing.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large One of my favorite categories this year, however, is lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie. And here’s the top reason: This is the only acting category this year that features not a single previous Emmy winner among its nominees. As a matter of fact, half of them have never been nominated at all.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Primetime Emmys were delayed, but the show must go on for the Television Academy 75th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards. This year’s recipients, revealed on Tuesday morning, will be honored at an awards ceremony on Wednesday, Oct.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Jo Koy is extending his relationship with Netflix, signing a deal to bring his next two stand-up comedy specials to the streamer. The specials will mark Koy’s fifth and sixth with Netflix; first up, the next one will tape at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on November 10 and 11, with an expected 2024 premiere. Art & Industry is producing that special.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large CBS Media Ventures president Steve LoCascio is retiring after more than three decades at the company — having first joined predecessor King World back in 1989. LoCascio’s replacement will be named at another date.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Making “Daisy Jones & the Six” was more than just another show for Scott Neustadter and Lauren Neustadter: It was a family affair. Scott and his writing partner, Michael Weber (both Oscar nominated via their screenplay for the film “The Disaster Artist”), received an early copy of the “Daisy Jones” manuscript, written by author Taylor Jenkins Reid, before it even found a publisher. Neustadter, a music junkie, immediately fell in love with the script, and knew the perfect home for it: Reese Witherspoon’s company Hello Sunshine — where his wife, Lauren, had just joined as president of film and television.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Perhaps it’s coincidence, or serendipity, but two of the best-reviewed shows on television happened to both return at the same time with new seasons last week — and both put Native storytelling and Indigenous characters front and center. FX’s “Reservation Dogs” and AMC’s “Dark Winds” have a few things in common — starting, of course, with Zahn McClarnon, who stars as Navajo tribal police officer Joe Leaphorn in “Dark Winds” and recurs as Officer Big in “Reservation Dogs.” And both also share acclaim from viewers and critics: “Reservation Dogs” sports a 99% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ reviews aggregator, while “Dark Winds” boasts a remarkable 100% ranking.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large In a previous column I made a strong case for moving the ceremony to November, when at least the Emmys wouldn’t feel too stale or crash into Oscars season. But since Fox is moving forward with January, the silver lining is that there’s a lot more time — five months, as a matter of fact — for producer Jesse Collins Entertainment, along with Fox and the TV Academy, to figure out how to make this major Emmy anniversary a show to remember. Much of that will come down to who hosts the telecast.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Keeping that in mind, there I was once again backstage last year in the press room when I realized that no one else was going to ask a similar question to the “Ted Lasso” cast and producers. Having won back-to-back Emmys for outstanding comedy, “Ted Lasso” was on a roll. And yet, there were already signals that “Ted Lasso” might wrap after a third and final season.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Emmys officially have a new date: Fox and the Television Academy were set to announce this morning that the 75th Emmy Awards will shift to Monday, January 15, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large In what may be one of the most powerful and stirring episodes of the entire run of FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” the series this week took on the horror of assimilation “Indian boarding schools” — and attempt by the government in the 19th and 20th centuries to erase Native culture from the country. It’s another dark chapter that is well known by most people with Indigenous heritage, but something that most non-Natives have either never heard about, or only have a passing knowledge of it. For “Reservation Dogs” co-creator Sterlin Harjo, there was a responsibility to tell the story right.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “The Conners” is making its way to off-net syndication, as Tom Werner’s Werner Entertainment has stuck a deal with both Lionsgate Worldwide Television Distribution Group and Debmar-Mercury to distribute the sitcom’s first five seasons (and future seasons as well). “The Conners” will be sold for a fall 2024 launch in domestic syndication.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large HBO’s “Succession” was a critical darling, so it’s probably befitting that the show would end its run with two final lauds from the Television Critics Assn. The 39th Annual TCA Awards — which canceled its in-person event this year due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — released its list of winners on Monday, with “Succession” grabbing the prizes for program of the year, as well as outstanding achievement in drama (an award it also won in 2022 and 2020). Other major winners included FX’s “The Bear,” which airs on Hulu.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Everyone seems to have a personal story about Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman. And those stories seem always to revolve around birthdays.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Granted, it doesn’t hurt that she’s part of TV’s two biggest shows — and now, the Emmy front-runners (again!) for drama and comedy. Normally I would reach out to talk with Walter about her unique place at last year and this year’s ceremonies (Which table does she sit at? Does being a double nominee make it doubly stressful?). But due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Walter is unavailable to speak.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large (Above, Karyn Kusama with Courtney Eaton and Samantha Hanratty of “Yellowjackets” at Variety’s TV Fest in June.) Somehow, Season 2 of Showtime’s hit drama “Yellowjackets” managed to keep its sense of humor, even as the series’ story got darker and, yes, it finally went full cannibal. It’s all about balancing the tone, which is something executive producer Karyn Kusama helped set last season as director of the show’s pilot.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Miss Universe” is extending its relationship with The Roku Channel and Telemundo. The Miss Universe Organization, which has been undergoing an overhaul under new owners JKN Global Group PCL, has sealed a multi-year deal with Roku and Telemundo to continue as the U.S. streaming and broadcast homes for the pageant, in both English and Spanish, respectively.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Apparently “The Rumble” is coming to “The Masked Singer” this season. Fox is taking the wraps off of the latest edition of the hit reality competition series, teasing the landmark 10th season with a first promo tonight — as well as a look at the first round of costumes. Variety has an exclusive look, above, of the Donut and the Hawk.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Sterlin Harjo is surprised that you’re surprised “Reservation Dogs” is ending. The critically acclaimed FX series, which returns to Hulu on Wednesday with its third and final season, is a dramatic comedy about a group of Indigenous teens finding their place among family and friends as they grow up in Oklahoma. But the thing about coming-of-age tales, Harjo notes, is that eventually the characters come of age.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large In the final scene of “Better Call Saul,” Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) is leaving ADX Montrose prison, where she has just visited Jimmy McGil/Saul Goodman/Gene Takovic (Bob Odenkirk) for the first time since he was sentenced to 82 years behind bars. As he watches her leave from the prison grounds, he makes his signature finger guns, and she looks back with a bit of a melancholy glance.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large CNN leads this year’s News & Documentary Emmy nominations, with 45 overall — including seven for “Anderson Cooper 360.” Meanwhile, “Vice News Tonight,” which was canceled this spring, landed 28 nominations — helping Vice News score a total of 30, good enough for second place among outlets. Among broadcasters, ABC and PBS were tops at 26 nominations each.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Entertainment Tonight” is undergoing layoffs with the entertainment news show cutting less than 10% of its staff, Variety has learned. A staff-wide Zoom was held on Wednesday afternoon where employees learned of a “small restructuring of staff,” sources close to the show tell Variety.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As this year’s broadcast partner, Fox ultimately must decide when the 75th Primetime Emmys will actually air. And the feeling inside the network is that it should be January. As we’ve previously reported, the TV Academy would prefer an earlier date, like November, and I have to agree there.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Telepictures exec VP of programming and development David McGuire, one of the architects behind the success of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” is exiting the Warner Bros. TV Group division after more than 30 years with the company. McGuire’s exit comes following the departure of Warner Bros. Unscripted TV president Mike Darnell, and a restructuring inside the company. As part of the changes, Telepictures current programming senior VP Lauren Blincoe will now solely oversee the division and report directly to Warner Bros. TV Group chairman and CEO Channing Dungey. McGuire most recently was in charge of the launch of “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” His oversight included all aspects of creative affairs for first-run syndicated series, unscripted series and digital content developed and produced at Telepictures, as well as working with advertisers on partnerships through its integration business. Annually, Telepictures handles more than 1,000 hours of TV across multiple genres.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Here’s some news that might even cheer up Oscar the Grouch: The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has created two new Emmy categories for puppetry performance and puppet design/styling. Both awards will be handed out at this year’s second-ever Children’s & Family Emmys. “Historically, puppetry performers would enter in the live action performer categories,” said NATAS CEO Adam Sharp, in announcing the new competition. “So, if you were the handler of a puppet, then you would go up against a lead actor or lead actress, and that created for some odd pairings. But managing a puppet is a very different kind of performance than a regular live action performance.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large KVEA is clearly doing something right. The Telemundo-owned Los Angeles station, part of a duopoly with sister NBC outlet KNBC, swept this year’s key newscast categories at the 75th Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards. The Spanish language station dominated the evening, winning the Emmys for evening (7 p.m. to 12 a.m.), daytime (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and morning (4 a.m. to 11 a.m.) newscasts. KVEA had won the daytime newscast Emmy last year as well (while KTLA won evening, and KNBC won morning, in 2022). Overall, KVEA earned eight L.A. Area Emmy awards this year, tied with local public broadcaster KCET. (That was also up from KCET’s haul of six last year.) Given the tie with KVEA, that still preserves KCET’s streak of this being the seventh year in a row that KCET won the most.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Don’t cancel those Emmy campaign plans: As expected, the Television Academy has decided to keep its Phase 2 calendar intact, news confirmed on Thursday night during the org’s board meeting. That means final-round voting for the 75th Primetime Emmys will still take place between August 17 and August 28 (ending at 10 p.m. PT) as previously planned. But that also means that Phase 2 campaigning will have to continue without the presence of any of the nominated actors or writers, as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are ongoing. The strikes had led some awards pundits to wonder whether the TV Academy might push the Phase 2 window, given the inability of stars to campaign per SAG-AFTRA’s strike rules.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Melissa Grego, a former Variety reporter who brought new energy to the Hollywood Radio and Television Society as CEO and helped expand its membership base to the largest in its 76 year history, has extended her contract with the organization to 2025. The news comes as the HRTS, which provides programming, fellowship and other support for executives, aspiring industry leaders and others across the business, has announced a newly elected group of board members and advisory council members. The news was announced on Wednesday by HRTS president Odetta Watkins — whose day job is serving as head of drama series at Amazon Studios — and Grego. Grego, whose previous work as a journalist also included overseeing the TV trade Broadcasting & Cable as its editor, joined HRTS in 2017 and immediately began collaborating with its board (which also includes HRTS chairperson Dan Erlij, the senior partner and co-head of TV literary at UTA) to grow the org’s various programs and create some new ones.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast hosts Michael Schneider, Clayton Davis, Emily Longeretta and Jazz Tangcay gathered on Wednesday, just hours after the Television Academy announced this year’s Emmy nominations, to dissect the news — from the big winners like “Succession,” to the shocking omissions (no Harrison Ford or Elizabeth Olsen), and then the nice surprises (wow, “Jury Duty”!). The nominations were telling on a number of fronts — including the current assessment that we may very well see a beat “Succession”/”Ted Lasso” dominance. Did the voting procedural changes help bring in a wider group of nominees? No. And will voters pick straight tickets of “Succession” and “Ted Lasso” nominees? Quite possible. Who will win the “SNL”/”Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” smackdown? What are our favorite faceoffs this year? (How can one pick between birthday celebrations for Norman Lear and Carol Burnett, for example?)