It’s way too early to start thinking about Christmas decorations, isn’t it? ABC apparently wants us to get in the winter holiday mood already as they’ve just announced The Great Christmas Light Fight will be back for season three on December 7, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT. The holiday show will be hosted this year by Million Dollar Rooms‘ Carter Oosterhouse and Restaurant Impossible‘s Taniya Nayak.
FremantleMedia North America produces the show with Brady Connell, Max Swedlow, and Jennifer Mullin executive producing. The limited series will air back-to-back episodes on December 7, December 14, and December 21st.
The Details:
The Great Christmas Light Fight is a competition series in which 20 families and three neighborhoods from across America decorate their homes to the extreme. In each episode, four families compete for a cash prize as they transform their homes into a festive wonderland for the holidays.
$50,000 will be given to the winners of each episode.
The CW’s Arrow‘s fourth season continued with episode three which found Double Down taking on the team of Green Arrow and Diggle, Felicity showing who’s boss, and Laurel convinced Sara needed to go into the Lazarus Pit as soon as possible. Titled “Restoration,” episode three was a real game-changer and paved the way for multiple new storylines. Here’s a recap of what went down during episode three:
Diggle (David Ramsey) tracks Ghosts with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) watching over him, but one manages to get the drop on him and get away. In comes Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) on a motorcycle to save the day but, no, a bomb explodes and knocks him off the bike. That leads to Diggle and Green Arrow joining up to take on the Ghosts with Felicity super excited to be helping from behind the keyboard, calling them the original gangstas. Diggle gets to one before he can swallow the cyanide pill, but he knocks out Diggle and gets away. Still, Diggle has the guy’s tooth which should prove to be helpful in figuring out who he is. Diggle wishes Thea (Willa Holland) was there to help them out instead of at a spa treatment, but Oliver says she wouldn’t have been much help right now anyway.
At Nanda Parbat – the “spa” Diggle referred to – Malcolm/Ra’s al Ghul (John Barrowman) and Nyssa (Katrina Law) spar and neither is taking it easy. Nyssa would take him out if she had the chance and even threatens him she’ll take his head of next time. Thea and Laurel (Katie Cassidy) show up,and Laurel demands Malcolm bring her sister back to life. Malcolm says no because Thea wasn’t dead but Sara is. Bringing Sara back this late isn’t possible. What comes out wouldn’t be Sara and his answer is an adamant and unequivocal no.
Felicity is still excited about having the original Team Arrow back together. Diggle gives her the tooth with the cyanide in it and Felicity suggests margaritas while they wait, but Diggle’s still not ready to be friends. After he leaves Oliver says he’s done waiting for him.
Flashback to the island, Oliver’s still pretending to be a guard.
Diggle heads home and finds his door open and an ARGUS member there. John’s wife had asked him for ID on whoever had hired Floyd to do a hit in 2009. ARGUS was able to identify Mina Fayad and she’s now in the States.
Mina Fayad (Carmen Moore) visits with Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) and has Jeremy Tell (JR Bourne) with her, and Jeremy demonstrates his killing skills be slicing up a victim of Darhk’s choice with playing cards. Darhk likes it, but Jeremy tells him it will cost to take out Green Arrow and his cohorts.
Back at Ra’s, Laurel doesn’t want to give up. She thought Nyssa would support her but Nyssa doesn’t want Sara brought back this way. She could come back a monster, but Laurel thinks her spirit will come back intact.
Felicity gets the results of the tooth and has no idea why the DNA has half the genetic markers it should have. As they’re talking a notice pops up there’s a robbery underway. The police could handle it, but Oliver doesn’t think they’re very effective right now.
Diggle spies on Mina and ignores Felicity’s call. Oliver heads out alone.
On the island, Oliver’s getting instructions on how not to show restraint when dealing with prisoners. He’s also picking up info on the drugs they’re working on.
Green Arrow shows up at the robbery and it’s a setup. Jeremy is there and tosses a card at him which Green Arrow knocks away with an arrow.
Meanwhile, Diggle’s been made and is in a fight to the death of his own.
Green Arrow and Jeremy exchange cards/arrows neither seeming to get the upper hand until they engage in hand to hand combat. But just when it appears Jeremy is down, he furiously throws cards at Green Arrow who barely has time to deflect them and is forced to flee the scene with a card stuck in his bicep.
Malcolm and Thea talk and Malcolm reveals he knows Thea didn’t actually want him to help Sara because of the side effects. He knows she’s feeling the bloodlust. Malcolm says she needs to feed the impulse because the Lazarus Pit needs life for life. Thea’s not having it and wants him to try and be a normal father. Malcolm says that high in the mountains there’s a sage who can heal and might be of help. Malcolm agrees to take her there in the morning.
Felicity is patching up Oliver and tells him Jeremy is a metahuman from Central City, according to Cisco (from The Flash). Jeremy Tell, aka Double Down, is now in Star City. Diggle apologizes for not being there and Felicity yells at both of them for taking on criminals on their own without backup, and she wants them to remove their heads from their asses. (Way to take the bull by the horns, Felicity!) She demands they sit down and resolve their issues. Felicity is ready to leave so she can figure out how the meta turns tattoos into lethal playing cards. If Oliver and Diggle don’t settle their grievances, Felicity says she’ll find someone to knock some sense into both of them.
She leaves and Oliver kicks off the conversation by saying he keeps apologizing. Diggle says it’s not about apologies; he just doesn’t trust Oliver since he crossed that line and now he’s not willing to take a bullet for him. Diggle thinks Oliver could do it again, and Oliver knows he lost his trust but can’t figure out why he doesn’t get a chance to earn it back. Diggle changes the subject by asking if Jeremy is connected to Darhk. Oliver’s not sure but says Jeremy mentioned Fayad. That gets an immediate reaction from Diggle. Diggle says they’re going somewhere and he’ll try to trust Oliver again.
Back on the island, trust is the main issue. The bad guys want to know who stole the product and shoot people until one confesses. Oliver thinks he has another way of getting the info.
At Palmer Tech, Curtis is working on contact lenses with built in HD displays. Felicity gets jumbled junk on her phone and then gives him the playing card to analyze. She needs all the info he can get off the card.
At Diggle’s, he’s finally coming clean with his investigation of HIVE. Oliver recalls how Diggle reacted when Darhk used the word HIVE, and Diggle shows him his research which includes Mina Fayad. Three years of investigations and he’s just now showing it to Oliver. Diggle says he must find Fayad. It’s imperative.
Jeremy failed his mission, Mina Fayad is compromised, and Darhk is not happy. He wants Jeremy to try and kill him, but Damien stops the card in mid-flight. Showing off his powers, he flings the card at Fayad, slicing her throat.
Thea’s having a bad dream when she’s attacked in bed. She kills her attackers while Malcolm watches. He asks her how she feels and she says, “There is no sage. There is no cure. There never was.” Malcolm apologizes and tells her she’s going to have to kill until she takes out the one who hurt her. But, Ra’s is already dead. Now that she just killed, she won’t need to kill again for weeks. Malcolm tells her he would do anything to help her, including sacrificing his men.
Felicity hopes they both learned their lessons. She attempts to find Mina but can only locate her cell phone.
On the island, Oliver is torturing people to get the answer. A woman confesses to taking the drugs because she wanted to give the prisoners something to ease their pain. Oliver stops the guard from killing her there, volunteering to take her somewhere where they’ll never find the body.
Laurel’s in bed and Thea wakes her up, telling her they have to leave. Malcolm’s not going to help her or Sara. She doesn’t want to kill people, but Malcolm says they’re bound together forever. He says he’s responsible for Sara’s death and he’ll try to make it right. He offers to try and bring Sara back in order to help Thea’s conscious.
Felicity’s pinging the cell phone while Diggle and Green Arrow find Mina Fayad tied to a chair, dead, with a card in her mouth. Green Arrow apologizes but Diggle says it’s his fault because he should have told Oliver earlier. Oliver promises they will get answers now that they’re working together.
Back at Palmer Tech, Curtis explains the playing card’s makeup and Felicity wants to know if they can track the owner. Theoretically, yes they can. And that’s when Jeremy shows up, slinging cards. The first one to say where the Green Arrow is lives. Curtis doesn’t know Green Arrow and Felicity says to run. They escape in a secret elevator. Curtis calls her a bad ass and Felicity confesses she works with Green Arrow and she’s taking them to Team Arrow’s headquarters below the lobby. Jeremy follows them and now knows where Green Arrow hangs out. Felicity grabs a gun and shoots without knowing how to. Her aim is horrible – actually she doesn’t aim but she does get lucky and wounds Jeremy. However, during the fighting Curtis gets knocked out by a falling light.
Diggle and Oliver show up immediately after the fight, and Oliver’s surprised she could fend him off. Felicity says Curtis is off to the hospital and the tracking shows Jeremy is heading back to Central City.
Thea and Laurel lower Sara into the pit while Nyssa begs them not to. Boil and bubble, toil and trouble…and nothing seems to be happening. Then, suddenly, Sara emerges. She’s back but wild and uncontrollable. Malcolm knocks her out with a shot.
Diggle and Green Arrow stand in the middle of the street and stop Jeremy’s car. He calls them a “special kind of stupid” because he was leaving town. Green Arrow wants to know about his employer – and here come the cards. Diggle gets him wrapped up in ropes, but Jeremy says they don’t scare him as much as his employer does. Jeremy manages to toss one final card which Green Arrow jumps in front of to save Diggle. It sticks in his Kevlar. “You took a bullet for me,” says Diggle. “They were metahuman tattoo playing cards,” replies Green Arrow. “Still counts, Oliver,’ says Diggle. “Still counts.” And they’re friends once again.
Diggle, Felicity, and Oliver toast to the OTA: Original Team Arrow. They discuss moving the hideout to Lair 3.0 and Oliver says he’s been working on something…a surprise, not a secret.
Back on the island, Oliver escorts the woman prisoner. A land mine blows up the guard who was assigned to come with them, and Oliver assures the woman he’s not going to kill her and she needs to trust him.
Felicity goes back to Palmer Tech and Curtis is picking up the shattered pieces of his work space. Felicity thanks him for not telling anyone about the lair in the basement. He’s happy to be working for a woman who’s making the city safer.
The final scene of the episode finds Sara locked in a cage. She’s like an animal. Malcolm tells Laurel and Thea they’re in uncharted waters and to prepare for the worst. A guard comes in and tells them something happened…and that’s an incredible understatement as Nyssa has destroyed the Lazarus Pit! She says she destroyed it because it fell into the wrong hands. She tells Malcolm she’ll kill him and when she does he won’t come back. And then Nyssa warns that what’s happening now to Sara is on Laurel’s hands this time.
NBC’s snagged actress/director/producer Elizabeth Banks to host the November 14, 2015 episode of Saturday Night Live. Banks will be making her SNL debut just days after the final Hunger Games movie, Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, arrives in theaters, which means we can probably expect to see one or two of her Hunger Games co-stars making an appearance to support her first time as host.
NBC also announced Disclosure will be making their SNL debut as well on November 14th as the musical guest. And, according to the official announcement, fans can expect to see Sam Smith and Lorde performing with them on SNL. The British group’s second album, Caracal, was released in September and they’re set to perform songs from that album on SNL.
Adele’s much-anticipated new album 25 will be released on November 25, 2015. 25 marks the Grammy-winning singer’s first new songs since she contributed the theme song to 2012’s Bond movie, Skyfall. Announcing the release date and track list, XL Recordings and Columbia Records confirmed the first single and music video from 25, “Hello,” will be released on October 23, 2015.
“My last record was a breakup record, and if I had to label this one, I would call it a make-up record. I’m making up with myself. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did. But I haven’t got time to hold on to the crumbs of my past like I used to. What’s done is done. Turning 25 was a turning point for me, slap bang in the middle of my twenties. Teetering on the edge of being an old adolescent and a fully-fledged adult, I made the decision to go into becoming who I’m going to be forever without a removal van full of my old junk,” stated Adele. “25 is about getting to know who I’ve become without realising. And I’m sorry it took so long, but you know, life happened.”
The “Hello” music video was filmed in Montreal and directed by Mommy‘s Xavier Dolan.
25 Track List:
1. Hello
2. Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
3. I Miss You
4. When We Were Young
5. Remedy
6. Water Under The Bridge
7. River Lea
8. Love In The Dark
9. Million Years Ago
10. All I Ask
11. Sweetest Devotion
Orange is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox is set to play Dr. Frank-N-Furter in Fox’s reimagining of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The two-hour musical event will air next fall with Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) directing, choreographing, and executive producing. Original Rocky Horror Picture Show executive producer Lou Adler and Gail Berman will also executive produce the new production.
The cult classic film was released on September 26, 1975 and holds the record as the longest running film in movie history. Tim Curry starred as Dr. Frank-N-Furter with Susan Sarandon playing Janet Weiss and Barry Bostwick playing Brad Majors. Jonathan Adams played Dr. Everett V. Scott, Peter Hinwood is Rocky, Patricia Quinn played Magenta, Nell Campbell is Columbia, and Meatloaf tried out his acting skills as Eddie. Rocky Horror Picture Show writer Richard O’Brien tackled the role of Riff Raff.
The Plot: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show follows sweethearts Janet Weiss and Brad Majors, who stumble upon Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s bizarre abode. Frank-N-Furter, a sexually ambiguous flirtatious alien mad-scientist, is holding an annual, Transylvanian science convention to showcase the birth of Rocky Horror – a fit, attractive man created solely to fulfill Frank’s desires.”
Cox was nominated for an Emmy for her role as Sophia Burset in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. The groundbreaking actress is the first trans woman of color to play a lead on a mainstream scripted TV show.
‘America’s Got Talent’ stars Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell (Photo by Trae Patton/NBC)
Simon Cowell will be back on TV as a judge on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Cowell, who actually created the Got Talent format, will be taking over the judging chair vacated by Howard Stern for the show’s 11th season.
“I am really thrilled to be joining America’s Got Talent next season,” stated Cowell. “What I love about this show is that it’s open to absolutely anyone. America has some fantastic talent just waiting to be discovered, and I would like that talent to come to our show, including any dogs who can sing!”
“Simon knows this format better than anyone and he’s been producing the show with us since the beginning, so we’re thrilled to have him to step in front of the camera and take his rightful place at the head of the judges’ panel,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “We welcome him to the on-screen NBC family.”
“As the creator of the Got Talent format, he genuinely loves the show more than anyone and is uniquely qualified as we take AGT into its next decade,” said Paul Telegdy, President, Alternative and Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment. “We can’t wait to see the incredible acts the show will uncover as we head into season 11.”
Cowell will also continue to executive produce the series along with Sam Donnelly, Jason Raff, Trish Kinane and Richard Wallace.
Season 11 auditions are underway. Audition cities include Detroit (Nov. 7), New York (Nov. 14), Phoenix (Dec. 3), Salt Lake City (Dec.5), Las Vegas (Dec. 6) and San Jose (Dec. 8).
The new trailer for the comedy movie Daddy’s Home pits dad (Mark Wahlberg) versus stepdad (Will Ferrell) in a battle for fatherly supremacy. Directed by Sean Anders, the cast of Daddy’s Home also includes Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church, and Hannibal Buress.
Daddy’s Home reunites the stars of The Other Guys and will be heading to theaters on Christmas.
The Plot:
Daddy’s Home follows a mild-mannered radio executive (Ferrell) who strives to become the best stepdad to his wife’s two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling and freeloading real father (Wahlberg) arrives, forcing him to compete for the affection of the kids.
Lucas Grabeel, D.W. Moffett, and Vanessa Marano in ‘Switched at Birth’ (Photo by Tony Rivetti / ABC Family)
Just days before the season four finale airs, ABC Family has given Switched at Birth a fifth season renewal order. Season four of the Peabody Award-winning family series finishes up on Monday, October 26, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT. Season five is expected to air next year and will include the show’s 100th episode.
Season four’s cast features Katie Leclerc, Vanessa Marano, Constance Marie, D.W. Moffett, Lea Thompson, Lucas Grabeel, Sean Berdy, and guest star Marlee Matlin. Lizzy Weiss, Paul Stupin, and Linda Gase are the show’s executive producers.
“Every season Switched at Birth continues to deliver fresh, relatable storylines that tackle important social issues, reflecting what our audience experiences daily,” stated Karey Burke, Executive Vice President, Programming and Development, announcing the renewal. “We’re excited to see where Lizzy will take these characters next.”
The Plot:
Switched at Birth tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a working class neighborhood. Despite overwhelming socio-economic and ethnic differences, both families must learn to co-exist as parents and blend their lives into one for the sake of their daughters.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding‘s Nia Vardalos has signed on to a recurring role on EPIX’s political satire, Graves. The half-hour series starring Nick Nolte and Sela Ward was created by Joshua Michael Stern (Jobs). Stern executive produces along with Greg Shapiro, with Bill Hill (Veep) producing.
Filming is currently underway in New Mexico. EPIX is targeting a fall 2016 premiere.
The Plot: “Nia Vardalos will play Annie Novak, a top political consultant with a killer instinct, who is hired to manage Margaret’s (Sela Ward) potential Senate campaign. She and Margaret go way back; in fact, Margaret gave Annie her first job, and their old bond is still strong. However, Annie has to understand that Margaret’s first loyalty is to her husband (Nick Nolte).”
The cast also features Pitch Perfect‘s Skylar Astin, Heléne Yorke, Chris Lowell,
Callie Hernandez, Ernie Hudson, Roger Bart, and Angélica Maria.
Vardalos credits include Connie and Carla, My Life in Ruins, and For a Good Time, Call.
David Harewood stars as Hank Henshaw in CBS’ Supergirl debuting on October 26, 2015 and starring Melissa Benoist in the title role. Harewood says there’s so much mythology involving the character, also known as Cyborg Superman, that he can’t wait to see Hank’s arc throughout the primetime comic book-inspired series. And during our interview at the San Diego Comic Con, Harewood provided a little insight into what viewers can expect of the new hour-long series.
What was your first reaction to the Supergirl project and then what was your reaction to reading the script?
“Honestly, it was like, ‘Supergirl, what?!’ I didn’t think that was going to work. I have to say when I read the script I was like, ‘This is really good.’ It was really good; it was like a movie. Getting to work and seeing the other actors, it was probably one of the favorite things I’ve done so far. I’m so excited about the series. I’m up for it!”
Can you talk about why you were initially skeptic?
“I don’t know. I suppose it wasn’t what I was looking for. I was looking for something not with ‘super’ in the middle of it. You kind of want to do something which is maybe more up to date or more natural. But that was what was so exciting about reading the script is it had humor, it had a love interest, it had danger and action. It had all these different things I really wasn’t expecting it to have, and I think it really works in a very old-fashioned way. Despite my initial anxiety, it has turned out to be just about everything that I could have hoped for.”
What can you say about Hank Henshaw?
“Well, you know, the mythology of Hank Henshaw – and I’ve been reading about it – is deep. He’s got his own huge kind of story arc. That was sort of difficult to play in the pilot because, obviously, you weren’t concentrating on him. It was mainly Kara’s story. But there’s a long ways to go.
In terms of my own trajectory, I’m kind of leaving it up to Ali [Adler], Greg [Berlanti], Sarah [Schecter] and Andrew [Kreisberg] to really unpack that. At the moment all I can say is it’s real exciting. We may not be sticking exactly to the mythology that’s in the comic books.”
Can you say anything about whether he’ll have cybernetic parts?
“I’m interested to see how they interpret it. This is a guy who’s augmented in some way. It’s going to be interesting to see how we make that possible. Whether or not it’s natural, unnatural, it’s going to be interesting to see what they do to him.”
What do you think of your character’s costume?
“I’m about the only character who didn’t change in the pilot. I have the same costume all four days. It’s going to be interesting to see how we can make that a little bit more original, fresher, and just to kind of paint that character. It’s such a great character. There’s a long way to go, lots of stories to tell.”