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Scooby-Doo: Where Are You? premiered on CBS in September 1969, creating a legacy that would span generations of fans. According to a Cartoon Research article, the "beloved format and characters almost didn't make it to television" until Fred Silverman changed it into what soon became a hit for "young and older audiences."

Thanks to Silverman getting the Scooby-Doo Franchise off the ground, fans have enjoyed solving mysteries for 55 years. The franchise isn't stopping anytime soon, as Variety reported the exciting Netflix live-action series news in March. After being announced in April 2024, the streamer confirmed that they ordered an eight-episode live-action television series for Scooby-Doo. Although this isn't the first live-action, fans will surely enjoy it.

A Scooby-Doo live-action series is coming to Netflix!

In this modern reimagining, old friends Shaggy and Daphne team up at summer camp with scientific townie Velma and the strange but handsome Fred to solve the mystery...

There’s a universe in which ‘70s sitcom Three’s Company didn’t invite horny viewers to “come and knock on our door.” And even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have recognized John Ritter’s roommates if either of them answered.

Entertainment publicist Danny Deraney recently shared the opening credits from the original pilot of Three’s Company, and it’s like a bizarro-world version of the popular sitcom. Only a few elements remain the same — mainly Norman Fell and Audra Lindley as the Ropers, the meddlesome and undersexed landlords, respectively.

The rest looks familiar yet strange. The theme song has the same bouncy melody, but a cheerful “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” replaces lyrics that promised “where the kisses are hers and hers and his, three's company too.”

There’s breakout star John Ritter, but he’s “David” instead of the familiar Jack Tripper. As for Chrissy and Janet? Both the characters and...

Since getting his big break crafting jokes for Bette Midler in the early 1970s, Emmy-winning comedy writer and personality Bruce Vilanch has found success writing for the small screen and stage. But by his own admission, the scribe behind 25 Academy Award ceremonies and more than his fair share of Miss Universe and USA pageants has also penned some real flops.

In his new book, “It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote,” Vilanch walks readers through some of the most ill-conceived projects he’s been attached to over the years — from 1978’s “The Star Wars Holiday Special” to the now infamous 1989 Oscars ceremony that opened with Rob Lowe and Snow White pirouetting to “Proud Mary.”

“‘It was a terrible idea, and I shouldn’t have gotten involved’ didn’t even occur to us at the time,” Vilanch told IndieWire on a Zoom call,...

Irv Wilson, a former programming executive at NBC and producer of several high profile TV movies that starred Jerry Lewis, Martin Sheen, Telly Savalas, Bruce Dern and Morgan Freeman, died December 26 after a short illness. He was 93.

His death was confirmed by his longtime friend, Tom Nunan, who paid tribute to Wilson on Facebook by writing, “Wilson loved life, and anyone who became close to him knew that a good glass of red wine, a little weed, [his wife’s] cooking, and a Giants game came pretty close to heaven for the well-loved, culturally complex maven.”

Born in New York City, Wilson served in the Korean war before returning to the Big Apple to attend NYU via the G.I. Bill. He would go on to spend his career in the entertainment industry, first as a talent agent and producer, then as a TV programming executive for NBC where he oversaw the TV movie department and later,...

Irv Wilson, a former television producer and NBC executive, died on Thursday. He was 93 years old.

Beginning his career in New York City, Wilson was a talent agent before he moved into TV programming. Working largely on TV movies from 1970-1980 — including executive producing “The Missiles of October” — as the VP of the TV movie department, he eventually became NBC’s Senior VP of Day Time and Late Night Programming.

Prior to that, he held the post of VP of the TV Movie department at NBC (’79-’80.) He worked alongside network legends such as Fred Silverman and Brandon Tartikoff. Wilson helped discover future filmmakers such as Ron Howard while supporting gifted playwrights like Stanley Greenberg, ushering in high quality, issue-oriented content to the burgeoning art form.

Wilson eventually returned to producing, with deals at Fries Entertainment and Viacom, where he made films starring Jerry Lewis, Martin Sheen, Telly Savalas, Bruce Dern,...

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Though there are only three seasons of "Gilligan's Island," the CBS sitcom became hugely popular thanks in part to its frequent showings in syndication. The show debuted in 1964 and ran until '67, but it was shown widely throughout the '70s and '80s, helping establish it as one of TV's most familiar sitcoms.

But it wasn't just the show itself that gave "Gilligan's Island" its cultural recognition. Once the series wrapped up, it lived on in the form of two animated spin-offs: "Gilligan's Planet" and "The New Adventures of Gilligan." Most of the castaways from the S.S. Minnow — named as such for a hilarious reason — also returned in three live-action TV movies: "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" (1978), "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" (1979), and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" (1981).

In the latter, the original castaway characters returned to the...

Censors are played for comic relief in Saturday Night, the new movie detailing SNL’s early days. Hey, how was she supposed to know what “golden shower” meant?

But while the show’s writers snuck a lot of questionable content past the gatekeepers, they weren’t always successful. Here are five sketches that were rehearsed but never aired — mostly because good taste prevailed…

[subtitle]1Jesus of Nashville [/subtitle]

When NBC produced a 1970s mini-series called Jesus of Nazareth, SNL writers came up with their version: Jesus of Nashville. In the SNL script compilation book Saturday Night Live, a scribble indicates it was written by J.D. and J.B. — James Downey and… John Belushi?

The book version of the script features a Censored stamp with a large red cross “crossing out” the offending words. If the fake promo had run, Dan Aykroyd would have played the eponymous savior, singing this ditty:

I got...

In honor of the late Bob Newhart, NBC’s Saturday Night Live has shared a look back at his 1995 SNL opening monologue and two memorable sketches.

Newhart hosted Season 5, Episode 18 and Season 20, Episode 12. He died July 18 at 94.

The 1980 show included the famous/infamous “Weekend Update” segment “A Limo for a Lame-o,” which saw Al Franken taking on NBC president Fred Silverman and his executive lifestyle while the network suffered from basement ratings and a dismal financial outlook – a segment that Silverman was not too happy about.

Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024: Photo Gallery & Obituaries

The ending to the 1995 show saw Newhart and guest star Suzanne Pleshette recreating their series finale ending to Newhart, which saw the actor-comedian waking up next to Pleshette and realizing it was all a dream – in this case, the “dream” was hosting SNL.

To honor Newhart, the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series...

Lynn Loring, who appeared as a young actress on Search for Tomorrow, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and The F.B.I. before becoming one of the highest-ranking female executives in Hollywood at the time, has died. She was 80.

Loring died Dec. 23 at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center after a series of chronic illnesses, her son, Chris Thinnes, told The Hollywood Reporter. Her family chose not to make public her death until now.

Loring also acted in a few movies, including Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass (1961), Pressure Point (1962) and, alongside then-husband Roy Thinnes, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969).

When she was 7, Loring joined the new CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow in September 1951 for the first of its 35 seasons. She would portray Patti Barron, daughter of Mary Stuart’s Joanne Gardner, for a decade until she graduated from the Calhoun School for Girls and entered Barnard College...

Particularly in the age of streaming, it's hard to imagine another show living a life like the one that "Three's Company" did throughout the late '70s and early '80s. Spanning eight seasons and more than 170 episodes, it's the kind of run that relatively few scripted TV shows can ever claim, but especially now. It also made absolute stars of its cast, perhaps most notably Suzanne Somers, who recently passed away at the age of 76. She played the lovable Chrissy Snow alongside John Ritter's Jack Tripper and Joyce DeWitt's Janet Wood. But it turns out that Somers' life-changing casting happened essentially by accident.

Former President of ABC Entertainment Fred Silverman, speaking in an archival interview shared by the FoundationINTERVIEWS YouTube channel, discussed his lengthy career in television. When the subject of "Three's Company" came up, the executive explained that he "was very involved in the casting of Suzanne Somers.

Transformers has remained a massively successful franchise since it debuted in the 1980s, with its popularity continuing for decades since its debut. It's easily the most extensive "giant robot" property in the West, though it wasn't the only example of this genre back in the day. In fact, two particular rivals ended up taking each other out, allowing the robots in disguise to achieve dominance.

The biggest competitor to the throne of Transformers was Tonka's Gobots franchise, which has now become something of a punchline. Strangely enough, it would be instrumental in taking down another property that had a chance at becoming a major hit. For as forgotten as that show may now be, it was instrumental in helping to popularize anime and Japanese storytelling in animation.

Related: Transformers: The Aligned Continuity Was the Franchise's Most Ambitious Failure

What Was Mighty Orbots?

Running for the last four months of 1984, Mighty...

At age 93, producer George Schlatter has a lifetime of memories to look back at. Producing the groundbreaking and iconic TV comedy show Laugh-in is just one facet. There’s also presidential inaugurations, countless TV specials with big-name talent, running the Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethons, and hanging with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra among them.

All of that and more is captured in a memoir just-released via Unnamed Press/Rare Bird Books, Still Laughing: A Life in Comedy.

Already a well-regarded producer of television specials and variety shows by 1967, Schlatter pitched NBC on an idea that was a radical departure: a comedy special inspired by the hippie counter-culture, one which would take the idea of sit-ins, love-ins, and be-ins and manifest that politicized, sexualized, consciousness-raising energy into comedic sketches. The special that emerged, Laugh-in, was so successful it became a regular television series, running from January 1968 to March 1973 and eventually becoming the #1 show on TV.

Cindy Williams, the energetic actress who appeared in a pair of Oscar best picture nominees before starring as the idealistic Shirley Feeney on the beloved ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, has died. She was 75.

Williams died in Los Angeles on Wednesday after a brief illness, her children, Zak and Emily Hudson, said in a statement released Monday.

“The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed,” the statement said. “Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved.”

After popping up as a pot-smoking hippie in the Maggie Smith-starring Travels With My Aunt (1972), one of the last films directed by George Cukor, Williams took her first big turn in the spotlight when she portrayed Laurie,...

“Abbott Elementary’s” Quinta Brunson will be honored by the 60th International Cinematographers Guild Publicists Awards with the 2023 Showperson Award at The Beverly Hilton on March 10.

As showrunner, creator, headwriter, executive producer and star, Brunson has received a series of accolades for her mockumentary series, “Abbott Elementary,” including one of Time Magazine’s “Time 100: The Most Influential People of 2022” honorees.

As the sophomore season continues to air, Brunson’s groundbreaking series has been regarded and rewarded as one of the best comedy series, receiving three Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Award for “Best Comedy Series,” as well as Screen Actors Guild Awards, Writers Guild of America Awards, GLAAD Media Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards and Producers Guild of America Awards.

“As publicists we applaud Quinta Brunson’s passion as creator, executive producer, showrunner, headwriter and star of Abbott Elementary. We’re excited to...

Click here to read the full article.

Barbara Walters, the glass-ceiling-shattering newswoman whose intimate television interviews with celebrities and world figures blended show business and journalism and induced many a tear, has died. She was 93.

Walters, the first female co-host of the Today show, the first evening news anchorwoman in broadcast history and a co-creator and co-host of The View, died Friday evening at her home in New York, ABC News announced.

Walters revealed in May 2013 that she would retire from journalism upon the conclusion of The View season in 2014. “I thought it was better to go when people are saying, ‘Why is she leaving?’ than, ‘Thank goodness she’s leaving!’” she said.

Yet Walters soldiered on with exclusive interviews, like one with Peter Rodger, the father of Elliot Rodger, the Uc Santa Barbara student who killed seven people in May 2014.

Walters also was known for co-hosting the ABC news...

John Oliver has a few words for his soon-to-be new bosses at Discovery. And even those may be more than enough.

The HBO host, who launches a new season of the comedy-meets-investigative-journalism series “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday, has for the past several years teased the owner of HBO and its parent WarnerMedia with great relish. “You’re a terrible company. You do bad things and you make the world worse,” he said about AT&T in October. Ever since the telecom giant began working to acquire the former Time Warner in 2018 for $85.4 billion, Oliver has treated the company mercilessly. “AT&T: It’s the top telecom company around –- alphabetically, and nothing else,” he said before the company made its big buy.

No one from AT&T has ever talked to him about the content of his program, says Oliver, and he hopes that continues once Discovery takes control of...

Herbert Schlosser, a longtime NBC executive who oversaw the development of Saturday Night Live and was credited with bringing Johnny Carson to The Tonight Show has died at his home in New York City. He was 95.

NBC released the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Herb Schlosser. His ingenuity, creativity and integrity as president and CEO of NBC during the ’70s made an indelible mark on the network and its legacy, including bringing Johnny Carson to ‘The Tonight Show’ and helping to shape what ultimately became ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

The Johnny Carson saga and “Saturday Night Live” were tied together. In 1974, Schlosser was president of NBC and learned that Carson no longer wanted reruns of his show on the weekends. His financial clout made pleasing him imperative.

So Schlosser went to work, and wrote a memo early in 1975 proposing an original program that would be carried...

For decades, a TV rite of passage took place every September at the Hollywood Radio & TV Society’s entertainment presidents’ luncheon. On the eve of the fall season, the three, then four, then six heads of programming at the broadcast networks would gather on the Hrts dais and set the tone for the year: They’d share insights on the freshman shows they were keen on, which potential hits they wished they could steal from a rival and the latest trends to look out for.

Those were the days when entertainment presidents were practically household names — figures like Fred Silverman, Brandon Tartikoff, Bob Iger, Leslie Moonves and Warren Littlefield. It was the perch that almost everyone in TV aspired to, the job of being one of the most powerful buyers in the biz.

But as the industry began to change, TV’s org charts got more complicated. The networks were...

Every year Hollywood looks to the Producers Guild Awards winner to forecast the Best Picture Oscar. That’s because in the 12 years since both groups expanded their top award list and adopted the preferential ballot, only three times have the winners not aligned — PGA winners “1917,” “La La Land” and “The Big Short” did not land Best Picture.

Those differences made sense, as in each case a smaller, lower-budget movie took home the Oscar over a movie of scale and scope. And as expected, this year’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of a Motion Picture went to Chloé Zhao’s magic-hour road trip “Nomadland,” as voted on by the guild’s 8,000 members. Searchlight’s frontrunner looms large in a field of small movies, as it keeps racking up wins on its way to multiple Oscars come April 25.

“We’re proud to have produced a film about community and what connects us,...

Every year Hollywood looks to the Producers Guild Awards winner to forecast the Best Picture Oscar. That’s because in the 12 years since both groups expanded their top award list and adopted the preferential ballot, only three times have the winners not aligned — PGA winners “1917,” “La La Land” and “The Big Short” did not land Best Picture.

Those differences made sense, as in each case a smaller, lower-budget movie took home the Oscar over a movie of scale and scope. And as expected, this year’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of a Motion Picture went to Chloé Zhao’s magic-hour road trip “Nomadland,” as voted on by the guild’s 8,000 members. Searchlight’s frontrunner looms large in a field of small movies, as it keeps racking up wins on its way to multiple Oscars come April 25.

“We’re proud to have produced a film about community and what connects us,...

The Producers Guild of America Awards awarded Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” with their top prize, one of the key indicators for the Academy Awards, particularly the best picture category. Edging out its closest competitors including Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” and Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” this might just end any questions about whether or not the moving drama is running away with the Oscars’ big prize.

All the acceptance speeches were pre-recorded with “Nomadland” giving a more produced, glitzier presentation than what we’ve seen at other award shows.

It should be noted that last year’s “1917” from Sam Mendes lost the Oscar after wins from PGA and DGA to “Parasite,” which only had the coveted SAG cast ensemble prize under its belt. Coincidentally, “Nomadland” is not nominated at SAG in their top category, leaving an opening for...

As we finally turn the calendar on the Cruelest Year, let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the memorable people we lost from the world of entertainment. Click through the photo gallery above.

Among those who passed during 2020 were big-screen Hollywood legends from Kirk Douglas and Olivia de Havilland to Sean Connery and Chadwick Boseman, sitcom favorites Jerry Stiller and Dawn Wells and two of the all-time showbiz multihyphenates in Carl Reiner and Buck Henry. Other actors who left us include Diana Rigg, Max Von Sydow, Brian Dennehy, Kelly Preston, Fred Willard, Naya Rivera, Nick Cordero, Monty Python’s Terry Jones and Indian stars Irrfan Khan and Soumitra Chatterjee.

The movie world also mourns filmmakers Alan Parker, Joel Schumacher and Kim Ki-duk, along with a man who would be on a Mount Rushmore for film composers: Ennio Morrocone.

Also gone this past year were such admired TV personalities as Regis Philbin,...

Scooby-Doo co-creator Ken Spears died on Friday, November 6. He co-founded Ruby-Spears Productions with Joe Ruby, who died in August. Spears was 82.

Spears’ son Kevin confirmed his death to Variety, saying that he died from complications related to Lewy body dementia.

A Los Angles native, Spears co-created the iconic animated series Scooby Doo with Ruby. He was born Charles Kenneth Spears in L.A. on March 12, 1938. He befriended the son of animation producer William Hanna of Hanna-Barbera fame. This was his way into the animation space.

In 1959, he was hired to work at Hanna-Barbera Productions as a sound editor. It was here he met Ruby and they forged a bond and became writing partners. They wrote teleplays for projects at Hanna-Barbera as well as Sid and Marty Krofft Television Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

In addition to Scooby-Doo, the duo created Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw and other programs. While at Depatie-Freleng, they...

Ken Spears, co-creator of the beloved animated series “Scooby-Doo” and co-founder of Ruby-Spears Productions along with the late Joe Ruby, died Friday. He was 82.

Spears’ son, Kevin Spears, tells Variety that he died from complications related to Lewy body dementia.

“Ken will forever be remembered for his wit, his story-telling, his loyalty to family, and his strong work ethic,” Kevin Spears says. “Ken has not only made a lasting impression on his family, but he has touched the lives of many as co-creator of ‘Scooby-Doo.’ Ken has been a role model for us throughout his life and he will continue to live on in our hearts.”

Born Charles Kenneth Spears on March 12, 1938, Spears grew up in Los Angeles, Calif., where he befriended the son of animation producer William Hanna. Spears was later hired at Hanna’s company, Hanna-Barbera Productions, in 1959 as a sound editor. While working in the editing department,...

Many TV legends and contributors were included for the “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony for ABC. But producers are always forced to omit some of the 100+ insiders who died since the last ceremony. Who was left out of the group that was honored?

With dozens of television veterans having died since last year’s mid-September ceremony, people certainly included were these six TV Academy Hall of Fame members:

Diahann Carroll

Leonard Goldberg (executive at 20th Century Fox and ABC; producer of “Charlie’s Angels” and more)

Jim Lehrer (anchor/reporter of “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour)

Regis Philbin

Carl Reiner

Fred Silverman

SEECelebrity Deaths 2020: In Memoriam Gallery

Even though he wasn’t known for his TV work, blockbuster film actor Chadwick Boseman was featured in the final slot. NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant was not mentioned, even though the event was being held in the Staples Center.

For Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on ABC, producers will have the always difficult task of assembling a memoriam segment. Even though the event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel will be virtual, it’s a certainty they will include the popular “In Memoriam” on the show.

With over 100 television veterans having died since last year’s mid-September ceremony, those expected to be honored would include such TV legends and TV Academy Hall of Fame members:

Diahann Carroll

Leonard Goldberg (executive at 20th Century Fox and ABC; producer of “Charlie’s Angels” and more)

Jim Lehrer (anchor/reporter of “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour)

Regis Philbin

Carl Reiner

Fred Silverman

SEECelebrity Deaths 2020: In Memoriam Gallery

Even though they weren’t known for their TV work, it’s very likely NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and blockbuster film actor Chadwick Boseman will be honored. Also among the dozens most likely included since they...

Joe Ruby, best known for co-creating the cartoon Scooby-Doo, died of natural causes at his home on Wednesday Aug. 26, according to Variety. He was 87.

Ruby along with his partner Ken Spears, also made Dynomutt and Jabberjaw, and the 1988 animated Superman series, as well as making cartoons out of Pac-Man, Rubik The Amazing Cube, Donkey Kong. They masterminded Space Ace, Dink the Little Dinosaur, It’s Punky Brewster, and TV movies Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit and The Cabbage Patch Kids First Christmas.

Joseph Clemens Ruby was born on March 30, 1933. He grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Fairfax High School. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Ruby trained as a music editor at the Walt Disney Studios animation program in the 1950s. He became a sound editor at Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he first partnered with Spears. They wrote a spec script and were hired as staff writers in the 1960s.

Animation writer and executive Joe Ruby, who created cartoon series including “Scooby-Doo” along with his partner Ken Spears, died of natural causes Wednesday in Westlake Village, Calif. He was 87.

At Hanna-Barbera, Ruby and Spears created series including “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?,” “Dynomutt” and “Jabberjaw.”

“He never stopped writing and creating, even as he aged,” said his grandson Benjamin Ruby.

“Scooby-Doo” launched on CBS in 1969 after going through a number of versions. It was launched as a gentler series partly in response to complaints about violence in cartoons such as “Space Ghost.” Together with character designer Iwao Takamoto, Ruby and Spears tried a number of titles and approaches, such as making the characters part of a rock band, before settling on the now-classic combo of Freddie, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and a Great Dane named Scooby-Doo.

Ruby and Spears wrote the first five episodes, supervising and story editing the rest of the first season.

Lorne Michaels knows when to take cover: The April 11 “quarantine edition” of Saturday Night Live was a brave and bizarre disaster and there was no follow-up last weekend. Through the 45 years of SNL, Michaels’ shows have careened from brilliance to idiocy, success to debacle, and his beleaguered troupe will be back for more this weekend.

“Lorne seems to feast on debacles,” one of his early mentors told me (more about him later). “SNL even owes its start to a Johnny Carson debacle.”

More from Deadline'Saturday Night Live' To Air Second 'At Home' BroadcastSNL's Michael Che Honors His Late Grandmother By Paying One Month Rent For Her Housing Complex'Saturday Night Live' Scores Strong Ratings In Return With At Home Edition

Michaels’ formidable resilience has earned him heroic standing in Hollywood’s creative pantheon, whose denizens live with a pathological fear of failure. A star like Ben Affleck earns empathy for plunging from Argo,...

In a different era, the episode of “Saturday Night Live” that was broadcast last night would never be shown again.

“SNL” took itself out of a weeks-long production hiatus spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and tried to give the world a substitute for its more traditional efforts. The show was filled with attempts to emulate the look and feel of a regular “SNL” gig, with a quick introduction by Tom Hanks, a Bob Dylan cover by Chris Martin, a low-fi “Weekend Update” with a Zoom-infused laugh track, and a series of quick sketches that had no in-studio audience to help them bounce along between commercial breaks. Of all the offerings, only Chloe Fineman’s “MasterClass” impressions of Timothee Chalmaet, JoJo Siwa and “Tiger King” figure Carole Baskin even approached the production quality of a “real” episode.

“That’s our show. We hope it gave you something to do for a while,...

Since the coronavirus is an equal opportunity disease, Hollywood stars, media and politicians are all on lockdown with the common folk this weekend. That leaves plenty of time for social media outreach and advice.

With pressure mounting on governments to mandate confinement instead of merely suggesting it, it’s likely more celebrities will jump in with updates on what they’re doing to stave off the stir crazy.

More from DeadlineHollywood Reacts To Pete Buttigieg Dropping Out Of Presidential RaceHollywood Remembers Fred Silverman: "Bless His Every Memory", Norman Lear Says; Jimmy KimmelHollywood Remembers Leonard Goldberg: Jaclyn Smith, Scott Rudin, Barry Diller Pay Tribute

We’ll monitor the outpourings as they roll in. But here’s an early sample of what’s on the minds of some of the famous people:

I know I did not see the same people who have been panic buying and leaving empty shelves in grocery stores,...

Fred Silverman never stopped pitching.

He never stopped thinking about television and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the networks he once ran, as well as the dozens of outlets that came to prominence after his storied run as a top executive ended in the early 1980s.

Silverman, a seminal figure in TV who died Jan. 30 at 82, knew that the first line of his obituary would identify him as the only person — so far — to have served as head of programming for ABC, CBS and NBC.

But after scaling the heights, he made a successful shift into producing at a time when that path was not as nearly common as it is today for former senior executives. His success in the 1980s and ’90s as a producer of such series as “Matlock” and “In the Heat of the Night,” and later “Diagnosis Murder,” was a testament to his instincts and experience,...

When I was growing up, there weren’t too many household names in this business. Fred Silverman was one of them. The thing that made him so famous was that he ran all three networks — and there were only three networks then, so he ran the entire business. And he turned two of those networks around. It was incredible. He was the guy you aspired to be if you were heading into the business.

It was The Hollywood Reporter that came up with the idea of interviewing him and me together [in 2010]. He was one of the legends, and I ...

George Cheeks has been appointed president and CEO of CBS Entertainment Group, ViacomCBS said on Friday. Effective March 23, 2020, he’ll succeed Joe Ianniello, who was chairman and CEO of CBS.

Ianniello is leaving the company today.

Cheeks joins ViacomCBS from NBCUniversal, where he most recently served as vice chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios. In his new role, Cheeks will lead CBS-branded assets, including CBS Television Network, which encompasses CBS Entertainment, CBS News and CBS Sports, CBS Television Studios and CBS Television Stations and CBS’ first-run syndication business.

He will also partner with the ViacomCBS digital organization on the CBS-branded digital assets, including CBS All Access. Cheeks will report to Bob Bakish, president and CEO of ViacomCBS.

Also Read: 'The Young and the Restless' Renewed by CBS for 4 More Years

“I am thrilled to welcome George back to the family at this exciting moment for ViacomCBS,” Bakish said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Joyce Sevilla, an entertainment and nightlife publicist who previously worked in the music industry, died Thursday from undisclosed causes. She was 47.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Sevilla was found dead in her West Hollywood apartment by officers conducting a wellness check. Foul play is not suspected.

The Los Angeles coroner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.

Sevilla was the founder of Sevilla Strategic Communications, formerly Joyce Sevilla Public Relations, a company described on its Facebook page as a “full-service agency providing a 360-holistic approach to communications for clients in the consumer lifestyle, entertainment, and media space.” The company’s offered services includes Event PR & Execution, Talent Procurement, Lifecycle Brand Strategy and Seo among others.

Also Read: Fred Silverman, Former CBS Executive and President of NBC and ABC, Dies at 82

Sevilla established the company in 2018; prior to that, she spent 10 years at Entertainment Fusion Group,...

Refresh for updates Hollywood today remembered Fred Silverman, the visionary TV executive, programmer and producer who headed all of the Big Three broadcast networks to achieve a fame that rivaled the stars of his many shows.

“Fred gave me my first ‘shot’ in TV,” tweeted Jimmy Kimmel, who was hired by Silverman to write and host an ultimately unaired game show called Pop Quiz. “He saw something that even I didn’t. He was a great character, very kind to me and I am grateful to him always.”

See all tweets below.

CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl, in a statement, called Silverman a “titan of the media industry.”

“Fred Silverman was a titan of the media industry and an influence on so many,” said Kahl. “His impact on television was incalculable. All of us at CBS salute his tremendous talent and cultural influence at our network, and throughout broadcast television.

Fred Silverman, the executive who became the only person in TV history to have headed programming for each of the Big Three broadcast networks, died on Thursday at his home in the Pacific Palisades, Calif. He was 82.

Silverman died with his family by his side.

During his prolific career, Silverman was credited with helping to launch some of the most successful shows and miniseries of all time, including “All in the Family,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Happy Days,” “The Waltons” and “Roots.”

After turning both CBS and ABC around in the ratings, Silverman failed to work his magic at NBC in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Once he left the Peacock net to branch out on his own with the Fred Silverman Co., Silverman forged another career as a producer, turning out a number of successful series, including “Matlock,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Jake and the Fatman” and “Diagnosis Murder.

Fred Silverman, the legendary television producer and executive behind such hit shows as “All in the Family,” “Soap” and “Hill Street Blues,” died on Thursday. He was 82.

Silverman was a creative executive at CBS, and would later run both ABC and NBC as those networks’ president. At 25 years old, he was named head of daytime programming CBS. He got his start at Wgn-tv in Chicago and Wpix in New York.

During his long career, Silverman was responsible for CBS shows including “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “M*A*S*H,” “The Waltons,” “Good Times,” “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” “Kojak,” “Cannon,” “The Jeffersons” and the animated series “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!”

Also Read: Marj Dusay, Soap Opera Actress Known for 'All My Children,' Dies at 83

With ABC, Silverman greenlit “The Love Boat,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “Family,” “Donny & Marie,” “Three’s Company,” “Eight is Enough,” “The Bionic Woman” and “Good Morning America.” His...

Fred Silverman, the legendary television producer and executive behind such groundbreaking shows as All in the Family, Soap and Hill Street Blues, and the only executive to creatively run CBS, ABC and NBC, died Thursday at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 82.

Silverman’s knack for identifying hit shows in the making and programming them into memorable primetime nights led Time magazine to crown him “The Man with the Golden Gut” in 1977.

“There are a lot of things that I can point to that I think are proud achievements,” Silverman said in a 2001 interview with the TV Academy Foundation. “Most importantly, I had the opportunity to kind of stretch the medium a little bit, to do some things that had never been done before.”

Watch a clip from his sit-down with Dan Pasternak for the foundation’s “The Interviews” series below.

Born on September 13, 1937, in New York City, Silverman...

Fred Silverman, whose talent for picking shows like All in the Family, The Waltons, Charlie’s Angels, Roots and Hill Street Blues earned him the nickname "The Man With the Golden Gut" as the only executive to program for CBS, ABC and NBC, has died. He was 82.

One of the most influential executives in television history, Silverman died Thursday at his home in Pacific Palisades, a publicist announced.

Silverman gave David Letterman his first TV show; orchestrated such popular spinoffs as The Jeffersons, Rhoda, Laverne & Shirley, The Bionic Woman and The Facts of Life; brought "Jiggle TV" series like Charlie’s Angels and Three’s Company to the ...

Ava DuVerNay will receive the Television Showman of the Year award at the 57th annual Icg Publicists Awards.

“Ava DuVernay is the talented force behind some of the most acclaimed works in television and film,” said Publicists Awards Co-chair Sheryl Main in making the announcement Thursday. “Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Ava was an entertainment publicist for 12 years with her own firm. She appreciates the importance of creative strategic marketing campaigns and supports the roles of publicists in making a movie. We are proud to honor Ava, her expanding career and growing body of work.”

Winner of Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Awards, Oscar nominee DuVernay’s directorial work includes the historical feature film Selma, the criminal justice documentary 13th, and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest grossing black woman director in American box office history. Her limited series When They See Us, based on the...

Ava DuVernay is set to receive the Television Showman of the Year award from the International Cinematographers Guild in February.

The prolific writer, director and producer will be presented the award as part of the 57th Annual Icg Publicists Awards luncheon set for Feb. 7 at the Beverly Hilton. Before she made her mark as a writer and director, DuVernay worked in entertainment PR as the head of her own firm.

“Ava DuVernay is the talented force behind some of the most acclaimed works in television and film. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Ava was an entertainment publicist for 12 years with her own firm,” said Publicists Awards co-chair Sheryl Main in a statement. “She appreciates the importance of creative strategic marketing campaigns and supports the roles of publicists in making a movie. We are proud to honor Ava, her expanding career and growing body of work.”

DuVernay’s acclaimed Netflix limited...

The Television Academy Hall of Fame has a new crop of inductees, all of whom have made outstanding contributions in the arts, sciences or management of television throughout their career or via singular achievements.

Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger, TV executive and entrepreneur Geraldine Laybourne, five-time Emmy-winning performer Seth MacFarlane, five-time Emmy-winning director Jay Sandrich, and three-time Emmy winner Cicely Tyson are all included in the 25th Hall of Fame class.

“These contemporary performers, content creators and executives have been pioneers and innovators in so many aspects of television; and they have had a profound impact on their art and on our culture,” said Frank Scherma, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy in a statement. “It’s an honor to welcome this distinguished group of individuals into the Hall of Fame and to acknowledge their remarkable contributions, which continue to shape our industry.”

Iger,...

Disney boss Bob Iger, Nickelodeon and Oxygen co-founder Geraldine Laybourne, director Jay Sendrich and performers Seth MacFarlane and Cicely Tyson have been chosen as the latest members of the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame.

The 25th Hall class unveiled Tuesday will be inducted in a ceremony January 28 at the TV Academy’s Saban Media Center in North Hollywood. The honors go to those who have made outstanding contributions in the arts, sciences or management of television over a lifetime career or via singular achievements, according to the academy.

The 2020 group of five will join almost 150 current members in the hall, which was founded in 1984.

“These contemporary performers, content creators and executives have been pioneers and innovators in so many aspects of television; and they have had a profound impact on their art and on our culture,” said Frank Scherma, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, in a statement today.

Bob Iger, Geraldine Laybourne, Seth MacFarlane, Jay Sandrich and Cicely Tyson have been selected as the next five inductees to the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame.

The 25th Hall of Fame class will be honored at a ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at the TV Academy’s Saban Media Center. The Hall of Fame selection committee chooses industry players “who have made outstanding contributions in the arts, sciences or management of television over a lifetime career or via singular achievements.”

Iger, the chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, is being recognized for the growth he’s given the company since taking over as CEO in 2005, acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. Laybourne is the groundbreaking female executive and entrepreneur who oversaw the creation of Nickelodeon and co-founded Oxygen Media. MacFarlane is a five-time Emmy winner who created “Family Guy” and “American Dad.” Sandrich is a five-time...

Hollywood Radio and Television Society has revealed the lineup for The Network Chiefs, part of its upcoming Newsmaker Luncheon Series.

Karey Burke, President ABC Entertainment; Kelly Kahl, President, CBS Entertainment; Michael Thorn, President of Entertainment, Fox Entertainment; and Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, Co-Presidents of Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment will be featured at the event, which will be held June 3 at 11:30 am at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The event, which will be held shortly after the networks’ Upfronts in New York City, brings together the network heads for a wide-ranging conversation on the state industry and broadcast TV’s enduring importance amid the proliferation of entertainment options for consumers.

The Network Chiefs panel was first hosted by Hrts in 1980 and has played an important role in gathering contemporary leadership to discuss important issues facing television and media. Over the years, luminaries who have participated in this series included Brandon Tartikoff,...

Hollywood is paying close attention to what HBO’s new owners will do with the network now that Richard Plepler’s long run of hits, awards and acclaim is coming to a close.

“HBO is the gold standard. I hope they stick with quality not quantity,” said Judd Apatow, whose shows “Girls” and “Crashing” are among HBO’s critical darlings. “Their choices over the next few days and weeks will tell us a lot about the direction they are choosing to go in.”

Plelper announced Thursday that he will exit the network where he greenlit successes like “Veep” and “Game of Thrones.” HBO is now the property of At&T, overseen by WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, who has called on HBO to substantially increase subscriptions and the amount of time that viewers spend watching.

Also Read: David Levy Steps Down From Turner: Read His Internal Memo Here

That sounds like a reversal of Plepler’s strategy,...

Greg Berlanti has been selected by Hollywood publicists as Television Showman of the Year.

He will received the honor at the 56th Annual International Cinematographers Guild Publicists Awards on Feb. 22 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Icg National President Steven Poster said, “Greg Berlanti has produced a prodigious amount of quality television in the 21st century – almost 30 series, over 1,000 episodes, with many more in the pipeline. This year, he set a new record with 15 current live-action scripted series. This is clearly the right time for us to honor Greg and his growing body of work.”

Berlanti said: “I’m truly honored to be receiving this recognition from the Icg Publicists. Throughout my career, the folks in the publicity departments at the various studios I’ve worked with have been some of my favorite people to collaborate with and I can say first hand that without a smart,...

Penny Marshall, who went from starring on the smash Happy Days spinoff Laverne & Shirley to helming such features including Big and A League of Their Own, died Monday night of diabetes complications at her home in the Hollywood Hills. She was 75.

Marshall also directed films including Riding in Cars with Boys, The Preacher’s Wife, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Renaissance Man, which she also produced along with League of Their Own. She was in postproduction on a feature about basketball Hall of Famer and Kim Jong-un pal Dennis Rodman.

Laverne & Shirley was an out-of-the-box smash after premiere in January 1976 on ABC. The characters appeared on briefly on Happy Days — which was created by her brother Garry Marshall — but made enough of an impression to lead their own series. Also starring Cindy Williams, the midcentury-set sitcom about a pair of lower-class workers at Shotz Brewery in Milwaukee would finish as the No.

The fall of Les Moonves is stunning for the sheer velocity with which one of the most powerful moguls in the media business got dethroned.

Once regarded as creative executive with few equals, Moonves now leaves a complicated legacy clouded by the allegations of sexual misconduct made this summer by a dozen women. The 68-year-old boss finalized his exit today after weeks of speculation about his fate as chairman and CEO. For CBS — and, really, the entire television industry, which is at the crescendo of Emmy time and on the verge of a new fall season — the question will be how it emerges from one of the longest shadows ever cast by an entertainment executive.

CBS appears eager to publicly distance itself from Moonves, already pulling his bio from the corporate website. It wasn’t that way when Leslie Roy Moonves first came to CBS in 1995 as president of entertainment,...