What's news: Entertainment companies look to "poison pills" to stave off hostile takeovers amid the pandemic, Endeavor's president says the firm is a buyer, not a seller, Saudi Arabia buys stakes in Disney and Facebook, there's another Star Trek spinoff in the works at CBS All Access, American Idol and Good Girls score renewals. Plus: Timothy Olyphant joins The Mandalorian, and Mythic Quest shoots a quarantine episode on iPhones. --Alex Weprin

 Hollywood Firms Embrace The 'Poison Pill'

►"Poison pills" make comeback at Hollywood firms bracing for hostile takeovers. Stockholder rights plans, also known as "poison pills," have made a comeback amid the novel coronavirus pandemic as companies devise defenses against hostile takeover attempts from investors looking to take advantage of weakened stock prices, Georg Szalai reports. Radio and streaming audio giant iHeartMedia unveiled one on May 6, joining other companies in the broader entertainment space such as theme park operator Six Flags Entertainment and in-flight entertainment provider Global Eagle Entertainment.

--On the other side of that equation: John Malone and his Liberty companies, known for being ready to jump in with deal offers for struggling companies in need of a line life, have been mentioned by some analysts as possible buyers in a volatile market affected by the pandemic. The company, for example, first got a stake in audio entertainment giant SiriusXM in 2009 when it made an investment that saved the latter from bankruptcy. Noted one media investor: "I'd keep an eye on Malone" as a potential white knight or investor in any businesses hit by the virus crisis. The story.

+Endeavor president says Hollywood firm "not done collecting" assets. Moody's and S&P Global Ratings have downgraded the conglomerate's credit while it sells a portion of a Fortnite stake, but leadership isn't publicly considering any further sales now, Georg Szalai and Erik Hayden report.

Quote: "We are not shopping any assets whatsoever and never were because we don't need to," Endeavor president Mark Shapiro told THR, later adding of the sports and entertainment firm's portfolio, "by the way, we're not done collecting." The story.

+Saudi Arabia's investment fund Adds Disney and Facebook to holdings. The PIF bought more than 5 million shares in Disney, which it valued at just under $500 million, and more than 3 million shares in Facebook for $520 million, part of an $8 billion spending spree over the past few months. The story.

+Also: Dan Loeb's Third Point acquired a $140 million stake in Disney last quarter and liquidated its holdings in ViacomCBS and Fox Corp., while Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its holdings in SiriusXM.

+Facebook to acquire GIF platform Giphy for $400 million. Facebook has used Giphy's API for several years on Instagram, the Facebook app and WhatsApp. The social media giant now plans to further integrate its library of animated pictures into the Instagram experience. More.

+But will it get approved by regulators? U.S. antitrust regulators, along with state attorneys general, are planning to file suit against Google as early as this summer, according to The New York Times. The news raises questions about how the government could move to limit the expansion of big technology companies, including potentially Facebook.

►Shanghai Disneyland's early reception may be good sign for California's Disneyland. The sprawling China resort put strict health measures in place for guests (and employees), and it appears by the ticket demand, those changes did not deter would-be visitors. The story.

 A New 'Star Trek' Spinoff

 Star Trek Pike and Spock series set at CBS All Access. The streamer has handed out a straight-to-series order for Star Trek: Discovery spinoff Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The drama will see Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn reprise their respective Discovery roles as Capt. Christopher Pike, Spock and Number One as the series explores the years the former manned the helm of the Enterprise. The show follows the trio in the decade before Capt. Kirk boarded the Enterprise as they explore new worlds around the galaxy. The story.

+Phil Lord and Chris Miller are heading to space. The duo will direct and produce Project Hail Mary for MGM. The project has Ryan Gosling attached to star, and is an adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir's forthcoming novel, which is due out spring 2021 from Random House. More.

+Timothy Olyphant is the latest actor to be captured by The Mandalorian. Olyphant, who most recently starred on Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet, will appear in season two of the Disney+ Star Wars series. More.

+Jessica Alba is getting into the Netflix action game. The actress will star in Trigger Warning for the streaming service, with the film coming from director Mouly Surya, who helmed the well-received Cannes entry Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts that became Indonesia's foreign film Oscar submission. The story.

+Michael B. Jordan's Methuselah has a new director. Danny Boyle, who won an Oscar for helming Slumdog Millionaire, is stepping in to the fantasy tale. More.

+The Forever Purge officially pulled from the July release calendar. The fifth installment in the blockbuster Universal and Blumhouse franchise had been widely expected to shift its release plan due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will be redated later. More.

 ABC Orders More 'American Idol'

►American Idol renewed for season 4 at ABC. For the second year in a row, the pickup comes without new deals for judges Katy Perry, Luke Byran and Lionel Richie and host Ryan Seacrest. The renewal comes two days before Idol closes out its third season on ABC, and 18th overall. The show has pivoted to remote production for its final rounds, with the contestants, judges and Seacrest all recording at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The story.

+Also getting a season 4 renewal: NBC's Good Girls. The network has renewed the drama for a fourth season. The renewal comes after season three of the series was forced to end early due to the coronavirus pandemic. Eleven of a planned 16 episodes were finished before production stopped, with the season finale airing May 3. More.

Some other TV news...

+Apple's Mythic Quest to air quarantine special shot entirely on iPhones. The one-off, which drops May 22, was entirely written, filmed and edited remotely on Apple iPhones as the cast and crew wait out the novel coronavirus pandemic from their respective homes around the country. More.

+TV Long View: 4 takeaways from the 2019-20 freshman class. None of the 36 broadcast shows that have made their series premieres since September has entered the zeitgeist in the way that, say, The Masked Singer or This Is Us have in recent years. Several have, however, built strong audiences and seem poised to become solid parts of their networks' schedules in the future. Rick Porter breaks it down.

►Fox News' Brian Kilmeade lauds Lachlan Murdoch: "He really understands what's going on." "Lachlan is a fantastic guy," Kilmeade said on a podcast Friday. "I've had more interaction with him than I had with Roger Ailes in 20 years. And, I've never seen a guy who cares more about just how you're doing at the highest level than Lachlan." More.

 Former Fox International Channels CEO Hernan Lopez is challenging his indictment on charges related to an international soccer scandal, alleging the details surrounding it are murky and there's a chance it is procedurally invalid. More.

►THR TV critics: 10 great shows that let you travel from your couch. From under-represented corners of L.A. and Atlanta to the French Alps, a tiny Italian island to a dusty Texas artist colony, Northern Ireland to South Africa and beyond, these series boast a sense of place vivid enough to relieve your frustrated wanderlust. The list.

Revolving door: Miramax has named former NBCUniversal International Studios executive Marc Helwig to lead its TV division... Buchwald has signed Christine Quinn, who features in the Netflix docu-soap Selling Sunset...

►TV ratings: The series finale of How to Get Away With Murder delivered its biggest same-day audience in more than a year and its best 18-49 rating of the season, helping ABC score a demographic win Thursday night. The season finale of Station 19 also improved. The numbers.

In other news...

--Citing business challenges and a low return on investment from resources spent on producing content for digital platforms, Vice Media C.E.O. Nancy Dubuc announced plans on Friday morning for 155 employees to be laid off.

--Approximately 20 percent of Live Nation Entertainment employees have been furloughed as part of the company's cost-cutting measures amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.

--In another union effort to bring financial relief to the entertainment community amid COVID-19, the Directors Guild announced on Friday that it had expedited the payout of $9 million in foreign levies to directors.

--Wise Entertainment is on the move. The company behind Hulu's East Los High has signed a first-look TV deal with Amazon Studios.

--Paramount Network's 68 Whiskey will stream on CBS All Access.

--Ellie Kemper opens up about portraying darker moments in Kimmy Schmidt interactive special.

What else we're reading...

--"Mad Max: Fury Road: The oral history of a modern action classic" [NY Times]

--"The new CBS reporter driving Democrats—and some of her own colleagues—crazy" [The Daily Beast]

--"Now more than ever, Facebook is a ‘Mark Zuckerberg Production’" [NY Times]

--"Former Survivor contestants talk eating, smelling, and, um, hygiene" [The Ringer]

--"With new rules and a new normal, NASCAR set to return this weekend" [ESPN]

Today's birthdays: Tori Spelling, 47, Janet Jackson, 54, Tucker Carlson, 51, Megan Fox, 34, Olga Korbut, 65.