Just as we’re mourning the imminent departure of TV’s best comedy (“The Big Bang Theory”), we get some good news:
TV’s best new comedy (“What We Do in the Shadows”) has been renewed for next season. Read more…
The CBS News shake-up is now official. This morning, the network announced that:
— Norah O’Donnell (shown here in the old days, with Charlie Rose and Gayle King) will lead the evening newscast, replacing Jeff Glor. She starts this summer as anchor and managing editor, moving the operation from New York to Washington, D.C.
— King is now clearly the senior figure in the morning, with both of her co-hosts leaving. One was John Dickson, who becomes a “60 Minutes” correspondent; the other was O’Donnell. The new look – with Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil taking their spots – starts May 20. Read more…
It was sort of your typical “Saturday Night Live” — sometimes clever, sometimes not
.An opening sketch (“Endgame” vs. “Game of Thrones”) was so-so. A song by host Adam Sandler – recalling when he was fired from “SNL” – was sharp and funny. There were more ups and downs … leading into a “Weekend Update” that crackled with sharp lines.
And then the show vaulted to another level: For the first time in 24 years, “Opera Man” was there. Read more…
Rainbow Johnson will soon get the Sheldon treatment:
Next season, the character will be in two separate series – one as an adult, the other as a child. That news arrived today (May 2), when ABC:
— Renewed “Black-ish” for next season, its sixth.
— Gave an early order for “Mixed-ish,” also for next season. It looks at the 1980s childhood of Rainbow … an approach that works for CBS with “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon.” Read more…
Cable-TV has become a permanent solution for TV’s summertime blues.
Now FX has set the summer starts for “Baskets,” “Legion” and then “Snowfall,” the deep drama produced by the late John Singleton. Three other shows had already been set, starting with “Archer” — which was an action-adventure last year (shown here), but now goes sci-fi. Read more…
Fox has just renewed “Empire” for next season … while viewers are being hammered by this season’s Vanishing Son Syndrome.
Last week, Jussie Smollett had his final episode as Jamal. Viewers knew he’d been fired …. but weren’t ready for the next blow: Andre, Jamal’s brother, has learned that his heart is failing; with no chance for a donated organ (due to his recent cancer struggle), he wants his dad Lucious to assist his suicide Read more…
John Singleton burst onto the movie world with a revolutionary fervor. His first Oscar nominations — for writing and directing “Boyz n the Hood” — came when he was just 24; he was reportedly the youngest person and the first African American nominated as director.
Oddly, those were also his last nominations. In the years that followed, he said, Hollywood was sometimes frustrating. But lately, Singleton — who died today (April 29) at 51 — had found a place known for supporting creative talent: cable’s FX network. Read more…
Pat Sajak is about to become a college board president. Really. The news came this Read more…
It was a moment when someone offered an irrrefutable truth.
And it had the bonus of showing I’m not so bad, after all. There was more such proof this week.
In the 1998 cable movie “Floating Away,” Paul Hogan (shown here in his crocodile days) said this to Rosanna Arquette: “Sometimes, a bad parent is better than a good parent who leaves the baby on top of the car.” Read more…
We can quit worrying now: Shannen Doherty has been added to Fox’s summer series, “BH90210.”
That’s the show that has the original “Beverly Hills, 90210” cast getting together, to plan a reboot. It’s scripted, with the actors playing exaggerated versions of themselves … something these producers (Mike Chessler and Chris Alberghini) did quite well with Tori Spelling’s “So NoTORIous.” Read more…
