‘Squid Game: The Challenge’: Controversial Netflix Competition Series Gets Release Date and First Look

Jim Caviezel used to be a proper movie star. He co-starred in movies with Jennifer Lopez and Henry Cavill. He seemed like Hollywood’s next big thing for a minute — solid actor, classic good looks, GREAT eyes. Heck, he starred in one of the highest grossing films of all time, The Passion of the Christ, for Mel Gibson. Now he’s using all that talent to induct more innocent people into the cult of QAnon.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Dolores Catania recently opened up about her relationships with her cast members and the future of the New Jersey franchise.  During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, at the launch party for her BELLA Around Town Magazine cover at Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey, Catania admitted "it's not easy behind the scenes," when it comes to balancing the shifting relationship dynamics among cast members, specifically between Teresa Giudice and her brother Joe Gorga. "I was there when she loved her brother, and they loved each other as a brother and a sister, and they were inseparable.

The Garcia Twins, formerly known as the Bella Twins, are opening up about why they ditched ‘Bella’ in favor of their original surname.

Paul Wesley might have said no to future projects involving vampires, but Nina Dobrev feels a bit differently.

Ty Pennington, the host of HGTV’s Rock the Block and Battle on the Beach, shared on Instagram that he is recovering from a throat abscess that landed him in the intenive care unit of a Colorado hospital.

Radio and music industry trade All Access has announced it is shuttering as of Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Kevin Costner is drawing a line in the sand between himself and his estranged wife, Christine, even deeper.

Kyle Richards noticed Mauricio Umansky shared a thirst trap amid their separation – and had thoughts about how he achieved his toned physique.  

The Walking Dead spinoff Daryl Dixon has confirmed its release date after the release of a number of teasers.The spin-off comes after the end of the franchise’s original show and The Walking Dead: World Beyond have come to an end, and as we approach the final season of Fear The Walking Dead.The show has been teased as existing in “a wholly different world” to others in the franchise and has now been confirmed for a release later this year.As confirmed by AMC, Daryl Dixon will premiere on September 10, and new images have also been shared.A synopsis for the show says it will see Daryl “wash ashore in France and struggle to piece together how he got there and why. [Journeying] across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan.”A post shared by The Walking Dead (@amcthewalkingdead)In recent weeks, first-look teasers have been shared during episodes of the Maggie and Negan-focused show Dead City.

Prince William and Princess Catherine of Wales made it a family day!

Selena Gomez doesn't love TikTok's answer to her question. The 30-year-old singer played the «Why am I single?» game on TikTok and was less than pleased with her results.In the funny clip, the filter cycles through a number of potential reasons before landing on «you have bad taste,» making Gomez gasp in shock.«Well that's rude TikTok,» she captioned the video.Well thats rude tik tok It's not the first time TikTok has let Gomez down.

Vanderpump Rules starsTom Sandoval and Ariana Madix announced the end of their relationship after being together since 2013 when she first joined the show. It wasn't long before news broke that Sandoval cheating on Madix with their co-star, Raquel Leviss, is what truly derailed the relationship.

Neil Young’s legendary music catalogue is about to be catapulted to a whole new level.

It may not be Prime Day anymore, but the deals are still sizzling hot on Amazon Canada this July.

Raquel Leviss would like to reintroduce herself to the world…

There have been quite a few commenters blasting Sarah Brady for calling out Jonah Hill. Far too many, we’d say.

The studios are putting on a united front when it comes to the striking scribes and actors, but Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global dust-up over who really has the streaming rights to Eric Cartman and the South Park gang shows no signs of settling down.

Jonathan Bennett is heading back to Food Network.

Joe Jonas revealed Friday that he once had to make a quick change during a concert because he "s---" his pants on stage.  The Jonas Brothers band member made the revelation on the Will & Woody podcast after he was asked about something he hadn't previously told the media.  After thinking for a minute, the "Cake by the Ocean" singer said that he was discussing with some friends the other day that "there is a point in your life where, as an adult, you can remember the last time you s--- your pants." The incident in question happened around four years ago during an unspecified concert.  "Let’s just say it was a bad day to choose to wear white clothing," the 33-year-old father of two joked, kidding that he’d been able to "work through it" with "a lot of therapy." While performing, he said he felt what "might have been a little toot, it might have been a little something else, a little something extra," which is when he said he had to make a "mid-wardrobe s--- change during the set." The "Waffle House" singer suggested a determined person could go into the archives of his shows and find the "wardrobe change halfway through the show and it was maybe a little bit like, ‘Oh, that was an interesting choice to change clothes that quickly.'"  He emphasized it was a story he has "never told and that’s just real life!"  Jonas added, "The whole time I thought somebody is definitely going to be able to see this and know what’s happening.They’re going to realize – but it was definitely all in my head. You know what I mean? It wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought.

"Jeopardy!" fans are fed up that some of the show's contestants are getting some pretty "easy" questions wrong on the game show. After Wednesday night's episode, fans flooded Twitter with their frustration after contestants Dennis Leung, Kathy Barkey and Ittai Sopher, two-day champion, missed several questions throughout every round of the show.

The Barbie movie is fast approaching — but titular star Margot Robbie didn’t know if it would ever come to fruition.  

Shakira is enjoying her summer in Englad! The Colombian superstar has been making headlines all week with fun activities, male friendships, and new music. Last night she was in the stands with her friends at Wimbledon, in London, one of the most prestigious and historic tennis tournaments.Shakira and her friends were all smiles, and giggles as they watched the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev on Centre Court.We will have to wait and see if Shakira stays in London until Sunday for the finals, where Alcaraz will face Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic 3.6-3.6-3.The “Waka Waka” singer, who said her dream is to make more schools, looked preppy and chic with maxi glasses with blue frames. Per HOLA!, on Thursday night, Shakira was one of the stars who attended a fashion magazine’s party at the Chiltern Firehouse, an exclusive hotel in London.Shakira reveals people advised her not to release her record-breaking ‘Vol.

EXCLUSIVE: The Teamsters Union has been supporting the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for the last 75 days across Hollywood and the scribes have returned the favor.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Up until now, game shows that aired before 8 p.m. competed in a dedicated category at the Daytime Emmys (where “Jeopardy” has won six times over the past decade). Meanwhile, the Primetime Emmys lumped game shows that ran after 8 p.m. in with competition reality series like “Survivor” and “Top Chef.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The decision to realign “variety talk” and “variety sketch” this year into “talk” and “scripted variety” didn’t do much to change that. If anything, it further narrowed the field, as perennial variety talk winner “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” has now been kicked over to scripted variety. As a result, my colleague Clayton Davis counts only 14 series eligible for the outstanding talk nomination. And it’s not much better in scripted variety, where just 10 shows appear to be eligible.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Law & Order” fans, you have Rob Lowe to thank for the entire franchise. As does Dick Wolf’s bank account. At least, Lowe says with his tongue a bit in cheek (but also with some accuracy). As the star of Fox’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” and Netflix’s “Unstable” recently told Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Lowe starred in Wolf’s 1988 feature flop “Masquerade.” It was just the kind of movie disappointment that would have sent Wolf back to TV — and two years later, “Law & Order” premiered. “I remember him saying to me how frustrated he was in the movie business, that he was going to write a pilot,” Lowe said. “And he wrote ‘Law and Order.’ And the rest is history. You’re welcome. Yeah, I’m happy to provide the bomb that powers your rise to dominance.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large We’ve all made the “Cop Rock” jokes. The Steven Bochco musical drama, which premiered in fall 1990, was a big swing: marrying original music with procedural storytelling. It was a colossal flop that we still talk about three decades later, and a reminder that musicals are hard. Music has been a part of the TV landscape going back to the 1950s and shows like “Your Hit Parade.” But few series have successfully integrated regular music performances into their storytelling: “The Monkees” and “The Partridge Family” worked in the 1960s and ’70s. “Fame” did it in the early ’80s. And then “Cop Rock” scared people off the concept.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Marc Maron’s recent HBO standup special “From Bleak to Dark,” yes, touches on subjects that might be considered bleak and dark. But of course, it’s much more than that. Sure, Maron opens the special by pointing out that society seems to be on a collision course with disaster, and there’s little that can be done about it. But, as the comedian, actor and podcaster tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, he’s just being a realist. “There’s a truth to it,” he says. “And I think that the first 15 or 20 minutes of that special addresses a lot of things in in a fairly broad way, because I wanted it to have some longevity. The negative things I talk about aren’t going anywhere. But also framing the special like that, like ‘I don’t want to be negative, I don’t think anything’s ever gonna get better ever again,’ is an acceptance. If you have acceptance around that, it gives you a bit of freedom of mind. There’s a sort of ‘zero fuckness’ to it.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Dave” and Lil Dicky fans, the artist’s first new music in eight years is finally coming to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music later this year. Dave Burd, the “Dave” star/exec producer and rapper also known as Lil Dicky, is compiling tracks, and expanding other music cues, from the first three seasons of “Dave” that he plans to release shortly. The album would serve somewhat as a “Dave” soundtrack but also as Lil Dicky’s first official release since 2015’s “Professional Rapper,” which was certified Gold and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart. “I’ve been making music ever since then,” Burd said. “I realized this year, as I took a step back and looked at all the different music that’s made it into the first three seasons of the show, there’s enough here, a great body of work and a project that I can put out as a soundtrack. I think this is such a better representation of Lil Dicky the musical artist than, honestly, my first album even was. People are always like, ‘when can I get that song?’ I think this will be a cool thing for fans who have watched the show. And for people who have never even seen the show, I think they’ll enjoy listening to this as like a body of music.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Most of this year’s limited or anthology series Emmy frontrunners had several choices on where to compete. “Dahmer: Monster — The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is part of a new “Monster” anthology series, but it could have gone drama. “Beef” might have found a home in drama or comedy, but landed in limited (same goes for “Mrs. Davis”). All of these series have a trailblazer to thank for the flexibility that comes with the limited/anthology category: HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon.” It’s been 25 years since that landmark miniseries was an Emmy contender — and it’s remarkable to look back at what a controversial decision it was at the time to even call it a “miniseries.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Tyler James Williams has experienced several different kinds of fandom since childhood, starting with films like “Unaccompanied Minors,” and then his starring role in “Everybody Hates Chris,” and even a stint on “The Walking Dead.” But there’s nothing that compares to the passionate audience of teachers who have gravitated his latest series, ABC’s hit comedy “Abbott Elementary.” On this episode, Williams talks about the show’s resonance, his experience as a child actor, where his character’s relationship with Quinta Brunson’s character might be heading and so much more. Listen below! “It’s such a blessing that they feel so represented by it,” Williams tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit podcast. “Now I feel like, if there’s a teacher within ten blocks of me, I’m going to know about it. They’re going to say something. I didn’t realize how much this show resonated with them until going back out into the world. And seeing how willing they are to give all of the love towards us. It’s really been one of the more beautiful experiences of my career.”

Netflix has finally debuted a first look teaser for the upcoming series Squid Game: The Challenge, which will put 456 real-life people into a competition that resembles the one in the smash hit show.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Rod Aissa, the executive VP, unscripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, is departing the company after 11 years. Aissa oversaw all unscripted lifestyle and documentary programming across NBCU’s broadcast, cable and streaming platforms: NBC, Bravo, E!, Oxygen True Crime, Syfy, Universal Kids, USA Network and Peacock. Rachel Smith will take on the interim role of leading the unscripted lifestyle and docuseries group, which reports to Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. NBCU said it would “be doing a broad search to fill the role.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Imagine you’ve been given a role in a pilot: The exciting news appears in the trades, you film the episode and take the cast publicity photos. Then your show is picked up! But there’s a caveat: Your role is being re-shot with a new actor. Devastating! Cue sad trombone sound effect. That’s why I like these kinds of stories better: The background actors, guest stars and recurring actors who eventually graduate to series regular status thanks to sheer persistence and talent. That’s the case this season for “Ted Lasso” standout James Lance, who plays Trent Crimm — formerly of The Independent, now just independent — on the show.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large We still don’t know when the Daytime Emmys will take place — the kudocast was delayed this month in the wake of the WGA writers strike — but when it does, we do know that daytime icons Susan Lucci and Maury Povich will be honored. Lucci, who famously spent years waiting to finally win a Daytime Emmy (for her long-time starring role on “All My Children”) and talk show host Povich, who recently hung up the microphone after years of paternity test reveals, will receive the lifetime achievement award at the 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. The New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which administers the Daytime Emmys, announced the honors on Friday.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Emmys have been here before. In 1980, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (back then, they were two separate unions negotiating a joint contract with the studios but are now the combined SAG-AFTRA) went on strike for three months. That year’s Emmy telecast happened to fall right in the middle of it. Actors boycotted the ceremony, but for some reason, the TV Academy went ahead with the Emmy telecast anyway. Famously, only one out of 52 nominees attended: Powers Boothe, who said when accepting his trophy for playing cult leader Jim Jones: “This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the stupidest.”