Watch Homer Go Down a Conspiracy Hole as ‘The Simpsons’ Season 34 Opener Pays Homage to ‘Don’t F**k With Cats’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott enjoy a second Number 1 album as a duo with their fifth studio record N.K-Pop. 

K.J. Yossman U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss has sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer – the government’s top financial post – after just five weeks into office. The move comes as the U.K. continues to deal with the fall-out of Kwarteng’s mini-budget, which Truss endorsed and triggered financial turmoil, including a steep rise in interest rates. The country as already been dealing with sky-rocketing energy costs as well as a cost of living crisis, which is affecting both individuals and businesses. Kwarteng was in the U.S. for business when he was called back urgently on Friday (Oct. 14) to hear he’d been sacked. At time of writing, Truss had not yet announced his replacement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Blackstone Publishing, Aethon Books and Sterling and Stone are among the first publishing partners to join Yonder, a new serialized fiction app combining mobile reading, a serialized experience and thousands of curated stories. Then venture is being launched by South Korea’s Naver, the tech giant that owns Webtoon and Wattpad, the story app that has germinated scores of book-to-film adaptations. The platform offers an ad-free reading experience with several chapters of each story available for free before readers are offered the chance to unlock additional material using virtual coins. At launch, Yonder is the home of exclusive new titles including “Bound to the Shadow Prince,” from Ruby Dixon, the international best-selling fantasy author of the TikTok viral sensation series “Ice Planet Barbarians”; “Bitten by Desire,” the first paranormal romance from best-selling author Ivy Smoak, (“The Hunted” book series”; and “Gravesong,” a spinoff of the popular web serial “The Wandering Inn,” from pirateaba.

Marta Balaga Italian production company Lux Vide, also behind “Medici” and “Leonardo,” will make its first move into unscripted TV with “Italian Food Tour.” TikTok’s “Condiment Claire” Dinhut and chef Max Mariola will co-host the 12-episode show, exploring culinary – and cultural – characteristics of various Italian regions. Introduced to international buyers during MIA Market, “Italian Food Tour” will start shooting in the spring. Antonio Azzalini has been tapped as showrunner. “At Lux Vide, we like to promote our country. Also because Italians are so bad at marketing,” CEO Luca Bernabei tells Variety at the show’s unveiling in Rome. The company was acquired by Fremantle in March.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Cryptoqueen – The OneCoin Scam,” which makes its market debut at Mipcom in Cannes, chronicles the story of the fake cryptocurrency and its charismatic founder who stole up to $15 billion from trusting investors. Produced by Emmy-award-winning production company A&O Buero and sold internationally by Java Films, the documentary follows Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin’s founder, who hyped the cryptocurrency at rallies that resembled religious gatherings. Ignatova claimed that OneCoin was on course to become the world’s biggest digital currency and change life on Earth, describing it as the cryptocurrency for the poor, a currency that would turn paupers into princes. It was a giant fraud, however, and only turned Ignatova into the Cryptoqueen.

Fans are raving about Viola Davis‘ Hot Ones appearance.

Raleigh, North Carolina, officials held a press conference early Friday after an alleged juvenile gunman shot and killed five people, including an off-duty police officer, and wounded two more. The young gunman opened fire near the Neuse River Greenway area in Raleigh just after 5 p.m., officials previously said.

A sex predator who raped a teenager after she went on a night out as pandemic lockdown restrictions eased has been jailed.

The long-running saga of a new £52m Ayr Leisure Centre was brought to a conclusion yesterday after the tightest of votes.

Activists from Just Stop Oil have been arrested after throwing tins of soup over Vincent Van Gogh's famous Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery - and then gluing themselves to a nearby wall.

Viewers of the National Television Awards couldn't help but 'cringe' as Love Island star Gemma Owen and her former footballer dad Michael took to the stage. The father-and-daughter duo presented the gong for Serial Drama Performance at the glam ceremony on Thursday evening (October 13).

Dapo Afolayan could be in line for a rare start for Bolton against Barnsley.

As Prime Minister Liz Truss prepares to hold crisis talks over her controversial mini-budget, the future of the current government has become more uncertain.

Naked Gun, according to reports.The actor, who has previously expressed an interest in a revival of the action-comedy film franchise, is said to be in talks with producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) and The Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer, who is set to direct the reboot.According to Deadline, Schaffer will direct and executive-produce the project from a script by writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, who he collaborated with on animated comedy Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. The Disney+ film won an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie earlier this year.While plot details are being kept under wraps, it’s claimed Neeson might be playing the son of detective Frank Drebin, instead of stepping into the role made famous by Leslie Nielsen.MacFarlane and Erica Huggins are said to be producing the reboot through their company, Fuzzy Door.In February this year, Neeson said he’d been approached by MacFarlane to lead a Naked Gun reboot, although the project wasn’t officially announced.Speaking on People (the TV Show!), Neeson said: “I’ve been approached by Seth MacFarlane and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the Naked Gun films.“It’ll either finish my career or bring it in another direction,” he joked.

A savvy mum has revealed how she manages to save £300 a month on her food bill. Nicole McShane follows some simple steps to cut back on her spending, while keeping up sustainable habits to help the planet.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large CBS is screening the Season 2 premiere of “Ghosts” in theaters across the country — and you’re not invited. Well, unless you’re dead. In a marketing stunt tied to this Thursday’s return of the hit Eye comedy, the season opener of “Ghosts” is being showcased in the middle of the night at venues in Los Angeles, Savannah, Ga., and Portland, Ore., but to empty seats. Instead, CBS is inviting actual ghosts to view the show — mortals be damned. “We are using social media and we’ve got some mediums and some other folks that we’re using to put the word out to people who are not amongst the living, to stop by any of these theaters and attend the screenings,” says CBS chief marketing officer Mike Benson.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 8 season premiere, part one, of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Sept. 21 on Fox. Two legends exited “The Masked Singer” in week 1 of the show’s Season 8 — and both have a lot to say about it. “Monty Python” star Eric Idle, eliminated as the Hedgehog, shared that he recently survived pancreatic cancer, and he has partnered with Stand Up to Cancer to help spread the word on cancer research. And then there’s 91-year-old William Shatner, who didn’t last long as the Knight, but after a rough experience trying to sing in that costume, he’s more than happy to talk instead about the multitude of other projects he’s got going right now.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Megan Thee Stallion will pull double duty as both host and musical guest next month as “Saturday Night Live” returns for its first three shows of the new season. But first, as “SNL” Season 48 launches on Oct. 1, Miles Teller will make his debut as host for the first time. Brandon Gleeson has also been lined up for his first ever “SNL” hosting stint. NBC announced on Tuesday that “SNL” will return with three consecutive shows on Oct. 1, Oct. 8 and Oct. 15, featuring three first-time hosts. First up as host is Teller, who currently stars in the summer blockbuster “Saturday Night Live,” will open the “SNL” season with musical guest Kendrick Lamar. It’s Lamar’s third time as “SNL” music performer; the Grammy winner currently on tour promoting his new album “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeAs he prepares to celebrate two decades in late night, Jimmy Kimmel has agreed to stick around for at least three more years. Kimmel announced on Tuesday that he would continue his run as host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” through the show’s 23rd season, extending his contract — which was set to expire in the next year. Kimmel has fronted “Jimmy Kimmel Live” as host and executive producer since 2003. “After two decades at ABC, I am now looking forward to three years of what they call ‘quiet quitting,’” he quipped in a statement.News comes as Kimmel prepares to return to Brooklyn next week for the show’s sixth visit to the borough. This marks the first time “Jimmy Kimmel Live” has been back in New York since 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic put such trips to a halt, of course). The late night talk show will once again tape in front of a live studio audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House.