Longtime ‘Sesame Street’ characters stay on show
HBO renews Johnson’s ‘Ballers’
NEW YORK, July 29, (Agencies): “Sesame Street” characters Bob, Gordon and Luis aren’t going away.
The children’s show said that actor Bob McGrath, part of the original cast in 1969, and Emilio Delgado, who plays Luis the handyman, last performed in episodes taped in 2013.
Roscoe Orman, who has played original character Gordon since 1974, filmed new appearances for the current season of the show, which, beginning this year, is airing on HBO as well as on PBS.
McGrath, 84, said on a podcast earlier this month that since the move to HBO “they let all of the original cast members go.”
A spokeswoman for the show said Thursday that all three would continue to appear on the show. She also made clear that HBO has nothing to do with the production of the show.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s comedy “Ballers” has been renewed for a third season at HBO, Variety has confirmed.
Johnson broke the news via his Instagram.
While not necessarily a critical darling, “Ballers” finished out its first season as the network’s most-watched comedy in six years, once viewership from all airings and streaming were tallied. According to HBO, 8.8 million people watched each episode within seven days. The Season 1 finale garnered 1.43 million viewers in Nielsen’s live-plus-sameday count.
In its first two episodes of Season 2, ratings have settled into the 1.3-million range in L + SD, with a .6 rating in the 1849 demographic, with 5.7 million having checked out the second season premiere since July 17.
European media giants Mediaset and Vivendi appear to be set for a possible clash in court after their recently trumpeted pay-TV deal, which included a share swap, has gone sour.
On Thursday evening, Mediaset rejected changes to the deal proposed by Vivendi and said it would adopt “all necessary measures” to enforce the original agreement.
In a statement after a board meeting, Mediaset, which is owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said it would “refuse the alternative proposal by Vivendi” because it was “incompatible with the already-signed binding contract.”
Mediaset has “therefore given a mandate to its managers to adopt all opportune actions in order to obtain the fulfillment of the contract on Vivendi’s part”, the statement added.
The companies announced in April they had reached an agreement that would see Vivendi acquire an 89% stake in the Mediaset Premium pay-TV unit as part of a wider alliance between the two media giants. The deal also included a 3.5% share swap between the companies.
Tristin Mays has joined the cast of CBS’s “MacGyver” reboot as a series regular, Variety has learned. With her addition, the show’s principal cast is complete.
Mays — who recently had an arc on “Supergirl” at CBS — will play Riley Davis, a highly unpredictable computer hacker with a chip on her shoulder. Her brain teems with knowledge about computer coding and although she’s “kinda-sorta” pleased to be recruited for MacGyver’s team rather than be locked up in prison, she can’t be bothered to show much gratitude. Her character will first appear in the series premiere on Friday, Sept 23.
Mays recently had an arc on the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.” Her other credits include “Switched at Birth”, “The Wedding Ringer” and “Thunderstruck.”
VH1 has tapped Lily Neumeyer, an A&E veteran and executive producer on “Duck Dynasty” and “The Wahlburgers”, as its new top development executive. As senior vice president, development, Neumeyer will oversee VH1’s development slate and report to executive VP, head of reality Nina L. Diaz. She will be based in New York.
Neumeyer most recently served as VP of nonfiction and alternative programming at A&E, where she developed and executive produced “Duck Dynasty”, the most watched reality show in cable television history. She also developed and exec produced Emmy nominee “The Wahlburgers” and the Weinstein Company’s “Rodeo Girls.”
“Lily is a brilliant development executive with a stellar track record of hit making”, Diaz said. “I am thrilled to be partnering again with such a creative force.”
The addition of Neumeyer rounds out VH1 and Logo president Chris McCarthy’s senior executive team, following a restructuring last week that saw several executives promoted and new executives hired. McCarthy was named president of the two Viacom-owned networks in June.