News bits: Oliver, Capote, “Dance.” more

Here’s some definite job security: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (shown here) has been renewed for three more seasons.
That takes the show (11 p.m. Sundays on HBO, then on Max) through its 13th season. It’s currently on a roll, with seven straight Emmy awards for best variety talk series … approaching the string of 10 straight by “The Daily Show” … where Oliver was a correspondent.
Other TV news involves a new “Feud” mini-series. the return of “So You Think You Can Dance” and a new season of “Independent Lens” documentaries:
— Back in 2017, the first “Feud” drew praise, plus Emmy nominations for Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Then came a six-year pause.
There was talk of a Charles-and-Diana series, but that never developed. Now – starting Jan. 31 on FX — comes a series about author Truman Capote and the society matrons he praised as “the swans” … later revealing their secrets in thinly veiled fiction.
British actor Tom Hollander will star alongside an impressive collection of actresses. The “swans” are played by Calista Flockhart, Naomi Watts, Diane Lane and Chloe Sevigny. Other roles go to Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Joe Mantello and the late Treat Williams.
— “So You Think You Can Dance” is getting yet another overhaul … and is bringing Nigel Lythgoe (who created the show) back to its judging panel.
The former summer show will arrive March 4 on Fox. Lythgoe will be joined by dancer-choreographers Allison Hoker and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
— “Independent Lens” (10 p.m. on PBS), will start its season Jan. 9 with the film that won the documentary audience award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “Beyond Utopia” tracks a North Korean family on its long trek to freedom.
That’s followed by two films on racial themes. One (Jan. 22) involves an effort to remove trees that are seen as a separation between Black and white neighborhoods in Palm Springs, Cal. The other (Jan. 29) sees a Black neighborhood in Miami fight gentrification, as climate change makes its higher elevation more desired than the low-lying white areas.
On Feb. 5 is a film on the late Sister Una, a social-justice activist. And on Feb. 19 is a profile of The 19th, a news startup created by women and other LGBTQ+ journalists.