The 2024 CMT Music Awards will be held on Sunday, April 7, 2024, and will air live from Austin, Texas on CBS at 8pm ET/PT (tape delayed on the West Coast). The awards show will also stream on Paramount+ with Showtime.
“We couldn’t be more excited to bring the CMT Music Awards on CBS back to Austin in 2024! From the electrifying, sold-out Moody Center crowd to fans packing the streets for our outdoor Congress stage, and Bevo himself walking the Red Carpet, our Texas-sized welcome proved to be one of our biggest and most unforgettable shows yet. We’re thankful to our incredible partners at Moody Center and with the City of Austin and are thrilled to bring CMT’s signature blend of world premieres, genre-blending surprises and once-in-a-lifetime collaborations back this April!” said executive producers Margaret Comeaux, John Hamlin, and Leslie Fram.
The 2023 broadcast drew in 6.18 million viewers, the awards show’s largest audience to date.
“The CMT Music Awards are coming back to Austin in 2024, and we couldn’t be more excited. As the ‘Live Music Capital of the World,’ Austin is no stranger to celebrating its vibrant music community and showcasing an eclectic array of musical talents. We’re proud that the CMT Music Awards are returning to Austin, and we can’t wait to welcome artists and visitors to our city,” said Austin’s mayor Kirk Watson.
Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air limited series will premiere on January 26, 2024 with the release of the first two episodes. The release date announcement was accompanied by eight photos from the upcoming action drama from Band of Brothers‘ Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman.
The nine-episode limited series stars Academy Award-nominee Austin Butler (Elvis), Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Academy Award-nominee Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), and Rafferty Law. The cast also includes Josiah Cross, Branden Cook, and Ncuti Gatwa.
“Masters of the Air is a salute to the brave men of the 8th Air Force, who, through their courage and brotherhood, helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II,” said executive producer Gary Goetzman. “Tom and Steven have always wanted to visualize cinematically what our author Don Miller has called, this ‘singular event in the history of warfare.’ We’re thrilled that Apple TV+ has given us the opportunity to combine the efforts of so many talented people, on-screen and behind the camera, to tell this important story.”
John Orloff adapted Donald L. Miller’s book and serves as a co-executive producer. Amblin Television’s Steven Spielberg and Playtone’s Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman executive produce.
The cast of Apple TV+’s ‘Masters of the Air’
Apple TV+ released this description of the limited series:
“Masters of the Air follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the ‘Bloody Hundredth’) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen, and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of Masters of the Air. Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.
Ranging in location from the bucolic fields and villages of southeast England, to the harsh deprivations of a German Prisoner of War Camp, and depicting a unique and crucial time in world history, Masters of the Air is enormous in both scale and scope, and a genuine cinematic achievement.”
Austin Butler and Callum Turner (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Anthony Boyle (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Rafferty Law (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Nate Mann (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Callum Turner (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Barry Keoghan (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
NBC’s new crime drama Found episode one introduced Gabi’s crisis management team and ended with the reveal of Gabi’s big secret. The promo video for episode two teases that viewers will get to spend more time with Gabi’s prisoner.
Episode two, “Missing While Sinning,” will air on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at 10pm ET/PT.
Found stars Shanola Hampton as Gabi, Kelli Williams as Margaret, Brett Dalton as Detective Mark Trent, Gabrielle Walsh as Lacey, Arlen Escarpeta as Zeke, Karan Oberoi as Dhan, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Sir.
“Missing While Sinning” Plot: The team mobilizes to search for Jinny Coe, a personal escort who disappeared near her apartment. News anchor Joy-Ann Reid launches a nationwide search for “Sir,” who abducted Gabi and Bella when they were young. Dhan makes a breakthrough with Zeke.
Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely and Brett Dalton as Detective Mark Trent in ‘Found’ season 1 episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)
The Plot, Courtesy of NBC:
In any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about.
Public relations specialist Gabi Mosely (Hampton) — who was once herself one of those forgotten ones — and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people. But unbeknownst to anyone, this everyday hero is hiding a chilling secret of her own.
Arlen Escarpeta as Zeke Wallace in episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)Gabrielle Elise Walsh as Lacey Quinn, Kelli Williams as Margaret Reed, Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely, and Karan Oberoi as Dahn Rana in episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)Gabrielle Elise Walsh as Lacey Quinn, Karan Oberoi as Dahn Rana, and Kelli Williams as Margaret Reed episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Sir in episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)Tom Olson as Franklin Isaacs, Karan Oberoi as Dahn Rana, and Kelli Williams as Margaret Reed in episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely and Brett Dalton as Detective Mark Trent in episode 2 (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)
Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill in ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ (Photo Credit: Universal Pictures)
Everything that sprouts from the soil of The Exorcist pales in comparison, with only Jeremy Slater’s The Exorcist series (canceled far too soon after just two seasons) living up to the standards of William Peter Blatty’s book and William Friedkin’s film adaptation. With the bar set incredibly high, the odds were against The Exorcist: Believer from the start. And, unfortunately, not even the much-ballyhooed return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil can cast out the dreaded sequel demons.
The film kicks off with a flashback that only fills in minor story elements (since this is only part one of a planned trilogy). 13 years ago, married photographers Victor (Leslie Odom Jr, One Night in Miami) and Sorenne (Tracey Graves, On Ten) were visiting Haiti when a devastating earthquake struck the city. Victor escaped unharmed, but Sorenne was gravely injured. She survived just long enough to give birth to their daughter, Angela.
Flash-forward to Victor raising a 13-year-old teenager on his own, with said teenager testing her dad’s limits by pleading to be allowed to study with a friend after school. Victor gives in; Angela’s a good kid, and he trusts her to behave.
However, 13-year-olds don’t let their parents – even protective, loving dads – in on all their secrets. Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) used the study session story as a cover for something much more sinister. You could say the devil made her do it, or maybe just normal teenage hormones. Whatever the cause, Angela decides to try and connect with the spirit world and speak to her dead mom. (Obviously, this girl’s never watched a horror movie in her young life.)
Angela and her BFF Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) disappear into the woods after school and go missing. Angela’s desperate dad and Katherine’s very religious and equally upset parents, Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) and Tony (Norbert Leo Butz), along with dozens of cops, worried friends, and neighbors, search high and low for the girls but only recover a few of their possessions from the woods.
When the girls are ultimately discovered, their parents are shocked to discover that while the kids were gone for three days, Angela and Katherine believe they were only out in the woods for a few hours.
Creepy images flick across the screen during much of this opening act, which, as it turns out, is the most intriguing segment of the film. A few effective jump scares in the first act seem to promise there are many more to come…a promise the film breaks as act two unexpectedly takes a turn to horror’s campy side.
Once it’s obvious that what’s gotten into the girls isn’t going to be fixed with modern medicine or even a talented psychiatrist, Victor’s helpful neighbor/occasional Karen/failed nun who’s now a nurse, Paula (Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale), suggests it’s time to reach out to a woman with up-close-and-personal experience dealing with the Devil. Dun dun duuun! Enter Chris MacNeil, played by Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn, who returns to the role 50 years after starring in the original The Exorcist.
I’d love to say that this project is worthy of Ellen Burstyn’s return, but I’d be lying. It’s fantastic to have Burstyn and the character Chris MacNeil back in the fold, but the story doesn’t do her re-entry into the franchise justice. The girls’ possession has a direct connection to Regan MacNeil’s possession, yet adding Chris to the mix only serves to spotlight the script’s major weakness: there are too many players.
In addition to the parents, the two girls, and the incredibly helpful, Johnny-on-the-spot neighbor, act two introduces Catholic priest Father Maddox (E.J. Bonilla), who talks a good game but isn’t the most dependable demon-fighter. Baptist Pastor Don Revans (Raphael Sbarge) guides Katherine’s family’s church, and while he’s out of his league, he soldiers through in the face of foul-mouthed – and foul-smelling – demonic teens. Victor’s good friend Stuart (Danny McCarthy) just happens to be a Pentecostal preacher, and he brings in Doctor Beehibe (Okwui Okpokwasili), a spiritualist and root doctor.
Narrowing the focus to Victor and Angela would have made for a much more intense, compelling story. Instead, screenwriter Peter Sattler and writer/director David Gordon Green go the more the better route. The Exorcist depended on two Catholic priests to banish Pazuzu. With twice as many possessions, The Exorcist: Believer more than doubles the number of experts (if you can call them that) and branches out from the Catholic exorcism ritual to include other spiritual equivalents. This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach only succeeds in watering down the overall impact of the face-off between good and evil.
Few of the characters feel fully fleshed out, but that’s due to the script and not the performances. The acting’s terrific all around, with the two young actors who play possessed BFFs – Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill – delivering incredibly impressive performances, even when covered in heavy makeup. They lived up to Linda Blair’s performance, and it’s obvious they gave their all in trying to scare the bejesus out of the audience.
Many of the creepiest and most effective scenes are teased in the trailers, lessening the scare factor once they show up in the film. Sadly, unlike the original, The Exorcist: Believer won’t keep you up at night or force you to sleep with a light on. Pazuzu was a nightmare-inducing presence in The Exorcist, but it’s doubtful he’ll plague your dreams after taking in a screening of The Exorcist: Believer.
GRADE: C
MPAA Rating: R for language, disturbing images, sexual references, and some violent content
Step behind the scenes and into the happiest place on Earth with season two of Behind the Attraction. The Disney+ series takes fans inside Disney theme parks and pulls back the curtain on popular rides and attractions.
Season one explored the Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, and Space Mountain. The upcoming second season will feature Imagineers who designed Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Indiana Jones Adventure. Plus, the new season will explore EPCOT, Disney Parks’ foods, and the Nighttime Spectaculars.
Criminal Minds‘ Paget Brewster narrates and executive producer Brian Volk-Weiss directs. Additional executive producers include The Nacelle Company’s Ian Roumain, Benjamin J. Frost, and Cisco Henson, as well as Seven Bucks Productions’ Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz, and Frankie Chiapperin.
Froy Gutierrez as “Ryan” and Madelaine Petsch as “Maya” in ‘The Strangers Trilogy,’ a Lionsgate release (Photo Credit: John Armour for Lionsgate)
Director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) is revisiting The Strangers and its creepy masked home invader/killers with a new trilogy. Lionsgate unveiled the first three photos from The Strangers Trilogy a week ahead of Harlin and producer Courtney Solomon (Cake) hosting a Q&A panel at the New York Comic Con.
The panel will take place on October 12th from 3-4pm ET in Room 405 at the Javits Center. Harlin and Solomon will talk about all things The Stranger and their experiences making the new trilogy.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 stars Riverdale‘s Madelaine Petsch and Cruel Summer‘s Froy Gutierrez. Harlin directs from a screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. The trilogy’s produced by Alastair Burlingham, Mark Canton, Charlie Dombek, and Christopher Milburn.
Lionsgate offers this description of Chapter 1: “Madelaine Petsch stars as a young woman starting a new life with her fiancé. Suddenly, during a road trip stop in a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason. What begins as a fight to stay alive becomes one woman’s journey of courage and cunning in this horror series bridging three compelling films.”
In a recent interview with EW, director Harlin confirmed he’s a fan of the 2008 horror film starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. Harlin also revealed his new films aren’t remakes or reboots, but rather they’re a trilogy based on the original film. Fans can expect Chapter 1 to be “close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons.”
One aspect of the story Harlin refused to change was the masks donned by the Strangers. “The masks in The Strangers are not like the Batsuit or something that evolves over years,” said Harlin to EW. “To us, the Strangers are the Strangers, and I, as an audience member, wanted to see them just the way they were in the original film.”
The Strangers Trilogy is targeting a 2024 release.
Madelaine Petsch as Maya in ‘The Strangers: Chapter 1’ (Photo Credit: John ArmourA scene from ‘Chapter 1’ (Photo Credit: John Armour)
Colin Jost, Michael Che, and Pete Davidson on the January 14th, 2017 ‘SNL’ episode (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson has the honor of hosting SNL‘s season 49 premiere. Davidson will take the Studio 8H stage on October 14, 2023, marking his first time as host of the late-night variety show.
Ice Spice has been tapped to make her SNL debut as a musical guest on the series premiere. Ice Spice recently earned MTV Video Music Awards’ Best New Artist title, and has made it onto the Top 5 Billboard 100 chart with “Karma” featuring Taylor Swift, “Princess Diana” featuring Nicki Minaj, and “Boy’s A Liar” with PinkPantheress.
Bad Bunny will pull double-duty as host and musical guest on October 21st. The second episode of season 49 will mark Bad Bunny’s first time as host and second time appearing as a musical guest. Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti was released in May 2022, and he hasn’t announced when fans can expect his sixth studio album to drop.
In addition to announcing the first two hosts and musical guests of season 49, NBC revealed Chloe Troast has been added to the cast as a featured player. The network also confirmed the entire season 48 cast is on board to return.
Director George Clooney opens MGM’s behind-the-scenes The Boys in the Boat featurette with a reminder that rowing in the 1920s was one of the most attended sports in the United States. Clooney’s new film tells the true story of an underdog team made up of, as Clooney describes them, “strong, tough kids” who were poor and competed in rowing in order to stay in college.
Based on Daniel James Brown’s book, The Boys in the Boat stars Joel Edgerton as Al Ulbrickson, Callum Turner as Joe Rantz, Chris Diamantopoulos as Royal Brougham, and James Wolk as Coach Bolles. Bruce Herbelin-Earle plays Shorty Hunt, Wil Coban is Jim McMillan, Hadley Robinson is Joyce Sidmar, Sam Strike is Roger Morris, and Thomas Elms is Chuck Day.
The ensemble also includes Joel Phillimore as Gordy Adam, Tom Varey as Johnny White, Jack Mulhern as Don Hume, and Luke Slattery as Bobby Moch.
George Clooney directs from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith. Clooney and Grant Heslov produce, with Kevin Ulrich, Barbara A. Hall, Gary Barber, and Peter Oillataguerre executive producing.
MGM is targeting a December 25, 2023 theatrical release for the PG-13 drama.
The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction novel written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world.
Apple TV+’s official trailer for The Buccaneers features Olivia Rodrigo’s “all-american bitch” and Miya Folick’s “What We Wanna.” Based on Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel, The Buccaneers‘ eight-episode season will also include songs by Taylor Swift, Maggie Rogers, boygenius, Brandi Carlile, Warpaint, Alison Mosshart, Lucius, Gracie Abrams, and Sharon Van Etten.
The genre-blending series stars Kristine Frøseth as Nan St. George, Alisha Boe as Conchita Closson, Critics Choice Award nominee Josie Totah as Mabel Elmsworth, Aubri Ibrag as Lizzy Elmsworth, and Imogen Waterhouse as Jinny St. George. SAG Award winner Christina Hendricks plays Mrs. St. George, Mia Threapleton is Honoria Marable, Josh Dylan is Lord Richard Marable, Guy Remmers is Theo, Matthew Broome is Guy Thwarte, and Barney Fishwick plays Lord James Seadown.
Writer and executive producer Katherine Jakeways created the series and leads an all-female creative team that includes executive producer and director Susanna White and executive producer Beth Willis. The Forge Entertainment produced the series for Apple TV+.
The Buccaneers premieres on November 8, 2023 with the release of the first three episodes. New episodes arrive on Wednesdays through the season finale on December 13.
Kristine Frøseth, Alisha Boe,Josie Totah, Aubri Ibrag and Imogen Waterhouse in ‘The Buccaneers’ (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
Apple TV+ released this description of the series:
“Girls with money, men with power. New money, old secrets. A group of fun-loving young American girls explode into the tightly corseted London season of the 1870s, kicking off an Anglo-American culture clash as the land of the stiff upper lip is infiltrated by a refreshing disregard for centuries of tradition. Sent to secure husbands and titles, the buccaneers’ hearts are set on much more than that, and saying ‘I do’ is just the beginning.”
Season five of The Kelly Clarkson Show will be broadcasting from its new home at 30 Rock in New York. The popular daytime show will kick off its fifth season on Monday, October 16, 2023 from NBC Studios’ refurbished Studio 6A.
“I’m so excited to start our fifth season at the iconic 30 Rock,” stated Emmy and Grammy Award winner Clarkson. “There is such a unique energy and creative spirit that comes with filming in New York City. Y’all ready?”
NBC describes Clarkson’s new base as having “a relaxed intimate vibe, a prominent platform for Clarkson’s house band, Y’All (led by music director Jason Halbert) and 200 seats to welcome fans to participate in a live in-studio experience.”
Studio 6A was previously used by Late Night hosted by David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Fallon.
“We can’t wait to welcome a vibrant audience to join us in studio. There will be lots of surprises and plenty of giveaways. Kellyoke fans can expect to see Kelly and her band perform impromptu duets with our 30 Rock neighbors and talent from Broadway, plus more ‘Songs & Stories’ episodes with artists such as P!NK, Garth Brooks and Chris Martin. We’ll also do our signature ‘Good Neighbor’ segment, highlighting everyday people doing extraordinary things in their communities,” said showrunner and executive producer Alex Duda.
Poster for season 5 of ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ (Photo by: NBCUniversal)
The Kelly Clarkson Show joins Today, The Tonight Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Saturday Night Live at 30 Rock.
“We launched the past two season premieres in New York with great success. When the opportunity to bring the show under the same roof as Today, Seth, Jimmy and SNL presented itself, we felt it was the perfect way to re-energize the show going into the fifth season,” said Tracie Wilson, Executive Vice President, Syndication Studios and E! News, NBCUniversal Entertainment.
Clarkson’s daytime series averages 1.3 million daily viewers and has won 13 Daytime Emmy Awards. NBC’s already renewed the show through 2025.
