Fox’s live musical production of A Christmas Story Live! has signed on Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock) and Emmy nominee Chris Diamantopoulos (Good Girls Revolt, Silicon Valley, Episodes) in featured roles. Jane Krakowski is confirmed to play Miss Shields, Raphie Parker’s teacher. Chris Diamantopoulos has committed to the role of Ralphie’s father.
Krakowski and Diamantopoulos join a cast that includes Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) as Ralphie’s mother, Matthew Broderick (The Producers) as the narrator, and Andy Walken as Ralphie.
A Christmas Story Live! will be directed by Scott Ellis (overseeing the stage direction) and Alex Rudzinski (serving as the live television director). Ellis and Rudzinski will also executive produce with Marc Platt (La La Land) and Adam Siegel (Grease: Live). Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary are writing the script and La La Land‘s Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are writing new songs for the live musical production. Pasek and Paul composed the original A Christmas Story: The Musical score.
Fox has set a Sunday, December 17, 2017 air date for the holiday musical which will be filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. The production will air live at 7pm on the East Coast and will air tape-delayed on the West Coast.
Will Smith and Joel Edgerton star in Netflix’s ‘Bright.’
Netflix just released a new behind-the-scenes video for Bright, an action-thriller written by Max Landis (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) and directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad, End of Watch). The new featurette focuses on the film’s main characters, with actors Will Smith and Joel Edgerton discussing playing Officer Ward and Officer Jakoby, respectively. Smith and Edgerton talk about the partnership between the two officers and getting into their roles.
In addition to Smith and Edgerton, the cast includes Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, Edgar Ramirez, Ike Barinholtz, Enrique Murciano, Jay Hernandez, Andrea Navedo, Veronica Ngo, Alex Meraz, Margaret Cho, Brad William Henke, Dawn Oliveri, and Kenneth Choi. Bright will be released in select theaters and on Netflix beginning December 22, 2017.
The Plot: Set in an alternate present-day, this action-thriller directed by David Ayer follows two cops from very different backgrounds (Ward, a human played by Will Smith, and Jakoby, an orc played by Joel Edgerton) who embark on a routine patrol night that will ultimately alter the future as their world knows it. Battling both their own personal differences as well as an onslaught of enemies, they must work together to protect a thought-to-be-forgotten relic, which in the wrong hands could destroy everything.
The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow season three episode two opened with Nate lost in his memories of his time with Amaya and with Ray super excited about his new technology for rapidly decreasing and increasing the size of objects. More pressing matters intruded on the Legends when Ray revealed he had data on the hundreds of anachronisms they created when they broke time. They need to figure out which one to fix first and when Ray mentioned the food on the Titanic, Victor Garber (who had a supporting role in the blockbuster film) declared he’s never setting foot on that ship again! Instead, the group decided to do something they believed would be easy: visit P.T. Barnum’s Circus in Wisconsin 1870.
At the circus, the anachronism they were tasked with hunting down turned out to be a saber-toothed tiger which was bad news for Ray who’s allergic to cats and who also made the situation worse by increasing the tiger’s size instead of shrinking him. The Legends had no idea how to handle a large cat and had to turn to Amaya for assistance fixing the problem.
In season three episode three, the Legends travel into the future and meet up with Zari (Tala Ashe). Directed by Mairzee Almas from a script by James Eagan and Ray Utarnachitt, “Zari” is set to air on October 24, 2017.
The season three cast includes Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/Atom, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heat Wave, Franz Drameh as Jefferson “Jax” Jackson/Half of Firestorm, Victor Garber as Professor Stein/Half of Firestorm, Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary, Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood/Steel, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen, and Tala Ashe as Zari Adrianna Tomaz.
The “Zari” Plot: OUTLAWS — When Sara (Lotz) receives a distress call from their “befriended” agent at the Time Bureau, she learns that they have been tasked with going to the future to capture a rogue time traveler. Unfortunately, the Legends make things worse by trying to protect an outlaw named Zari (Ashe), to hopefully lure in the time traveling assassin. Meanwhile, Stein (Garber) tries to diagnose Amaya’s (Richardson-Sellers) condition, but Nate (Zano) discovers an unusual treatment that Amaya begrudgingly agrees to.
The cast of ‘UnREAL’ season 3 (Photo Courtesy of Lifetime)
Lifetime’s critically acclaimed UnREAL returns for its third season on February 26, 2018 starring Caitlin FitzGerald, Shiri Appleby, Constance Zimmer, Bart Edwards, Alex Hernandez, Adam Demos, and Alex Sparrow. The network confirmed the third season premiere date and released a new trailer for the upcoming season of the award-winning series created by Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and Marti Noxon.
In addition, it was announced Constance Zimmer will be making her directorial debut during season three.
The third season will also feature fan favorites Craig Bierko, Josh Kelly, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, and Genevieve Buchner. New to the cast for season three are Brandon Jay McLaren (Ransom) as on-set psychologist, Dr. Simon; Kassandra Clementi (Hatfields and McCoys) as Chet’s new girlfriend, Crystal; Chelsea Hobbs (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce) as talented new camera assistant, Charlie; and Jaime Callica (Wayward Pines) as Xavier, a dancer and Jay’s love interest.
The popular dramatic series is executive produced by Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, showrunner Stacy Rukeyser, Robert M. Sertner, Sally DeSipio, Peter O’Fallon and David Solomon. Lifetime’s already greenlit a fourth season which begins shooting this month in Vancouver.
The Plot: Caitlin FitzGerald (Masters of Sex, Rectify) takes the reins as Everlasting’s female “suitress,” Serena. Determined to have her pick of eager male suitors, Serena will face off with Everlasting’s queen bees, producers Rachel Goldberg (Appleby) and Quinn King (Zimmer) who are shaking things up, all for the sake of ratings. The ladies will be tempted more than ever when they’re surrounded by hot new suitors including Bart Edwards (Peep Show), Alex Hernandez (Chicago Med), Adam Demos (Aboriginal Heart), and Alex Sparrow (Dancing with the Stars).
The cast and crew of ABC’s ‘Roseanne’ revival (ABC/Adam Rose)
ABC’s released the first official photo from the revival of the award-winning sitcom, Roseanne. The photo shows the cast – Laurie Metcalf (‘Jackie’), Roseanne Barr (‘Roseanne’), Michael Fishman (‘D.J.’), Sarah Chalke, Lecy Goranson (‘Becky’), John Goodman (‘Dan’), Sara Gilbert (‘Darlene’), and Ames Mcnamara – along with Tony Hernandez (Executive Producer),John Pasquin (Director), Jayden Rey Bruce Helford (Executive Producer), Whitney Cummings (Executive Producer), and Sid Youngers (Co-Executive Producer) gathered for the first table read of the show’s premiere episode. ABC also revealed the new season of the series will kick off with an episode titled “Twenty Years to Life.”
The first photo was released just a day prior to the 29th anniversary of Roseanne‘s first episode back in 1988. The revival’s eight new episodes will air in 2018.
Roseanne is executive produced by Roseanne Barr, Sara Gilbert, Tom Werner, Bruce Helford, Whitney Cummings, and Tony Hernandez.
Series Details, Courtesy of ABC: “When it premiered on ABC, the series broke new ground for its realistic portrayal of a working-class family, the Conners, barely scraping by in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. It also dominated the ratings as one of the highest-rated television series on the air for its near-decade run. A comedy about ordinary people who faced day-to-day survival with a sense of the absurdity of it all, the inimitable Roseanne was its epicenter. Lauded for its humor, relevance, warmth and honesty, the Conner family will continue to deal with the economic challenges of living pay check to pay check in 2018.”
The new redband (not safe for work or kids) trailer for the action film 24 Hours to Live has a very John Wick-ish vibe. Directed by Brian Smrz from a script by Zach Dean, 24 Hours to Live stars Ethan Hawke, Xu Qing, Liam Cunningham, Rutger Hauer, and Paul Anderson. The film’s set to have its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival before opening on Ultra VOD on November 3, 2017. 24 Hours to Live will also have a limited run in theaters beginning December 1st.
The Plot:24 Hours to Live is a fast-paced action-packed movie about a career assassin (Hawke) who is given a chance at redemption after his employer brings him back to life temporarily after being killed on the job.
Solange topped the list of BET Presents: 2017 Soul Train Awards nominees, snagging seven nominations in categories including Best R&B/Soul Female Artist, Song of the Year, and Video of the Year categories. Bruno Mars followed close behind with six nominations including Song of the Year and Best R&B/Soul Male Artist. DJ Khaled, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller each received multiple nominations, with winners set to be announced on November 5, 2017 in Las Vegas. BET and BET HER will air the awards show on November 26th at 8pm ET/PT.
This year’s Soul Train Awards will honor Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Toni Braxton with the Don Cornelius Legend Award. SWV will also be recognized with the Third Annual Lady of Soul Award.
BET Presents: 2017 Soul Train Awards Nominees:
Best New Artist
6LACK
H.E.R.
KEVIN ROSS
KHALID
SZA
Best R&B/Soul Male Artist
BRUNO MARS
BRYSON TILLER
CHRIS BROWN
KHALID
THE WEEKND
Best R&B/Soul Female Artist
KEHLANI
LALAH HATHAWAY
LEDISI
MARY J. BLIGE
SOLANGE
SZA
Soul Train Certified Award
BELL BIV DEVOE
JOHNNY GILL
LALAH HATHAWAY
LEDISI
MACK WILDS
Video of the Year
BEYONCÉ – ALL NIGHT
BRUNO MARS – 24K MAGIC
CHRIS BROWN FT. USHER & GUCCI MANE – PARTY
DJ KHALED FT. RIHANNA & BRYSON TILLER – WILD THOUGHTS
SOLANGE – CRANES IN THE SKY
Best Gospel/ Inspirational Award
CHANCE THE RAPPER
CHARLIE WILSON
KIRK FRANKLIN
LECRAE
TAMELA MANN
Album/ Mixtape of the Year
BRUNO MARS – 24K MAGIC
MARY J. BLIGE – STRENGTH OF A WOMAN
SOLANGE – A SEAT AT THE TABLE
SZA – CTRL
THE WEEKND – STARBOY
Rhythm & Bars Award (Formerly Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year)
CARDI B – BODAK YELLOW
DJ KHALED FT. RIHANNA & BRYSON TILLER – WILD THOUGHTS
FRENCH MONTANA FT. SWAE LEE – UNFORGETTABLE
KENDRICK LAMAR – HUMBLE.
YO GOTTI FT. NICKI MINAJ – RAKE IT UP
Song of the Year
BRUNO MARS – THAT’S WHAT I LIKE
CHILDISH GAMBINO – REDBONE
DJ KHALED FT. RIHANNA & BRYSON TILLER – WILD THOUGHTS
KHALID – LOCATION
SOLANGE – CRANES IN THE SKY
The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award
CRANES IN THE SKY – WRITTEN BY: TROY L. JOHN, SOLANGE KNOWLES, RAPHAEL SAADIQ (SOLANGE)
LOCATION – WRITTEN BY: ALFREDO EMMANUEL GONZALEZ, OLATUNJI OLUTOMIWA, SAMUEL DAVID JIMENEZ, KHALID ROBINSON, JOSHUA SCRUGGS (KHALID)
LOVE ME NOW – WRITTEN BY: BLAKE MATTHEW SIMON MILLS, JOHN HENRY RYAN, JOHN ROGER STEPHENS (JOHN LEGEND)
REDBONE – WRITTEN BY: GEORGE CLINTON, WILLIAM EARL COLLINS, GARY LEE COOER, DONALD MCKINLEY GLOVER II, LUDWIG EMIL TOMAS GORANSSON (CHILDISH GAMBINO)
VERSACE ON THE FLOOR – WRITTEN BY: CHRISTOPHER STEVEN BROWN, JAMES EDWARD FAUNTLEROY, BRUNO MARS, PHILIP MARTIN LAWRENCE (BRUNO MARS)
Best Dance Performance
BRUNO MARS – 24K MAGIC
CHRIS BROWN FT. USHER & GUCCI MANE – PARTY
DJ KHALED FT. RIHANNA & BRYSON TILLER – WILD THOUGHTS
SOLANGE FT. SAMPHA – DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR
WIZKID FT. DRAKE – COME CLOSER
Best Collaboration
DJ KHALED FT. RIHANNA & BRYSON TILLER – WILD THOUGHTS
JAZMINE SULLIVAN & BRYSON TILLER – INSECURE
MARY J. BLIGE FT. KANYE WEST – LOVE YOURSELF
SOLANGE FT. SAMPHA – DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR
SZA FT. TRAVIS SCOTT – LOVE GALORE
Director Ron Howard took to Twitter to reveal the official title of the upcoming Han Solo film. The confirmed title is Solo: A Star Wars Story, with Howard posting a short video that ended with Chewbacca passing him the title card which Howard then turned around and revealed to anxious Star Wars fans. Howard took over the directing reins following the exit of co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and since taking on the Star Wars project, he’s been very active on social media showing off images from the set. It was only fitting then that the film’s announcement came via a post on his Twitter account.
Filming is now complete on Solo: A Star Wars Story, and during the short video Ron Howard thanked his cast and crew.
Solo: A Star Wars Story takes place before the original Star Wars trilogy and explains what Han Solo was like as a young man. The cast includes Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. The Han Solo adventure is expected to open in theaters on May 25, 2018.
Comedy Central has given the green light to the comedy series The Other Two from former Saturday Night Live co-head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. Kelly and Schneider will write and executive produce the series, with Kelly also directing. Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer, and Tony Hernandez are also on board as executive producers.
The Other Two stars Drew Tarver (Bajillion Dollar Properie$), Heléne Yorke (Masters of Sex, High Maintenance), and Case Walker. The series will also feature Molly Shannon (SNL) and Ken Marino (Party Down).
Comedy Central President Kent Alterman made the series announcement and said, “We are excited for our first scripted show about family, mostly because we did research and discovered that nearly 100% of our audience comes from them. Plus, hearing Chris and Sarah’s names called out so much at the Emmys didn’t hurt.”
“We are so excited to make this show with Comedy Central, our incredible cast, and our joint biological father Lorne Michaels, who will be making a cameo in at least one episode, and is finding that out right now,” said Kelly and Schneider.
The Plot:The Other Two stars Drew Tarver as a 29-year-old aspiring actor wondering why he can’t get better auditions than “Man At Party Who Smells Fart,” and Heléne Yorke as his 30-year-old sister, and former professional child dancer, Brooke, who aspires to be anything other than what she is right now. As the two siblings work towards finding themselves, they must also confront the dueling emotions of envy and pride brought on by the overnight internet fame of their younger brother, 12-year-old Chase, played by real-life muscal.ly sensation Case Walker.
Andrew J. West, Lana Parrilla and Colin O’Donoghue in ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 7 episode 3 (ABC/Jack Rowand)
ABC’s Once Upon a Time season seven episode two was filled with big reveals, including exactly what happened to Hook and Emma’s happily ever after. It seems grownup Henry (Andrew J West) used a magical message in a bottle, a present Hook gave to him when he was a teenager, to try and summon Regina (Lana Parrilla), Emma (Jennifer Morrison), and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) to save him from Lady Tremaine. The evil Lady Tremaine falsely pinned the prince’s death on Henry and with his life in jeopardy, he used the magical message to call on the three people most capable of taking her on. Hook and Regina showed up in the nick of time, but Hook tried to keep Emma’s whereabouts a secret.
Hook and Regina attempted to help Henry locate the owner of the glass slipper, Cinderella, but Regina’s locator spell didn’t work. Hook took off for the docks, believing pirates would know the lady’s whereabouts. There, he ran into the sloppy, overweight, very drunk version of himself from the Wish Realm! The two Killians discussed their paths, with Drunk Killian revealing he never found his own true love. Drunk Killian knocked out hunky Killian, and then made a deal with Lady Tremaine in exchange for her transforming him into his much more handsome self.
Transformation complete, Drunk Killian gave Henry a letter he said was written by Cinderella, telling him she wasn’t interested and not to contact her. Emma finally arrived and delivered the news that Henry’s about to become a big brother! Drunk Killian was upset by this turn of events and knew he had to rescue his other self since he’s soon to be a dad.
One thing led to another and the next big reveal is that the newly handsome, no longer stinking drunk version of Killian is actually the one who’s a cop in Hyperion Heights. Our Hook was able to return to his happily ever after in Storybrooke with his pregnant wife while the other Killian will eventually team up with Henry and Regina to find his own daughter who’s apparently trapped in a prison.
Season seven episode three continues with “The Garden of Forking Paths” airing Friday, October 20, 2017 at 8pm ET/PT. Episode three is written by David H. Goodman and Brigitte Hales, with Ron Underwood directing. The episode’s guest stars include Mekia Cox as Sabine/Tiana, Adelaide Kane as Drizella/Ivy and Emma Booth as The Witch. The season seven cast also includes Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiltskin/Weaver, Gabrielle Anwar as Lady Tremaine/Victoria Belfrey, Dania Ramirez as Cinderella/Jacinda, and Alison Fernandez as Lucy.
“The Garden of Forking Paths” Plot: When Cinderella finds herself staring danger in the eye, she receives help from an unlikely source. Her rescue leads to an alliance that could aid in the defeat of Lady Tremaine’s rule and reveals a dark secret from Cinderella’s past. In Hyperion Heights, Jacinda goes to extreme measures to stop Victoria Belfrey from destroying Lucy’s beloved community garden, while Lucy tries to convince Henry that Victoria is after more than just a plot of land. Meanwhile, Victoria makes a discovery that could alter everyone’s fate.
Dania Ramirez, Andrew J West, Lana Parrilla, Mekia Cox, and Colin O’Donoghue (Photo by Jack Rowand / ABC)Andrew J West, Lana Parrilla and Colin O’Donoghue (ABC/Jack Rowand)Dania Ramirez and Andrew J West in ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 7 episode 3 (ABC/Jack Rowand)Dania Ramirez, Andrew J West and Lana Parrilla (ABC/Jack Rowand)Mekia Cox and Dania Ramirez (ABC/Jack Rowand)
