Tag Archives: television

Vulture reports: According to creator Ryan Murphy, season seven of American Horror Story (a.k.a. Cult) is inspired by the 2016 election. If we’re reading the season’s first trailer, which involves a creepy horde of clowns, correctly, the clowns are a metaphor for Trump voters? And the lone blue one is a Hillary voter? And the voices are the media? And …

The Associated Press reports: Here are some of the world’s top-earning TV entertainers in 2017, according to Forbes magazine. The annual earnings of these stars may include income from additional activities such as producing, non-TV performances, endorsements and merchandising. 1. Dr. Phil McGraw, $79 million (talk-show host, personality, producer). 2. Ellen DeGeneres, $77 million (talk-show host, personality, producer). 3. Jerry …

From the Hollywood Reporter: HBO’s website was no match for the White Walkers on Sunday night. The cable network’s main website, HBO.com, was down during the seventh-season premiere of Game of Thrones. People who attempted to go to the website were met with an error message saying there was a problem loading the page. But the website returned to working …

The Guardian reports: Martin Landau, the actor whose gaunt, hangdog features graced films by film-makers as varied as Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen and Tim Burton has died. He was 89, and his death was confirmed by his publicist “following a short hospitalization”. Arguably Landau’s career high point arrived in 1995, when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his …

From the Hollywood Reporter: The BBC on Sunday revealed Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor for hit series Doctor Who. She will be the first female lead for the sci-fi series on the U.K. public broadcaster. Current lead Peter Capaldi will leave his role after this year’s Christmas special. Whittaker, 34, is from Yorkshire, England and has appeared on such …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Nelsan Ellis, the actor who starred in HBO’s True Blood as Lafayette Reynolds, has died, his manager Emily Gerson Saines, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 39. “Nelsan has passed away after complications with heart failure,” Saines said. “He was a great talent, and his words and presence will be forever missed.” On True Blood, Lafayette …

Yesterday the Sesame Street team tweeted out the above image to their nearly two million followers, many of whom responded with utter joy. As you may know, last month Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney cited Big Bird in defense of his proposal to cut the entire budget for the Corporation For Public Broadcasting. And of course, he had it all …

From the Hollywood Reporter: MSNBC, which has been soaring lately in both ratings and in advertising prices, is giving radio host Hugh Hewitt his own show, adding another conservative voice to a lineup that already includes Fox News poach Greta Van Susteren and former George W. Bush communications hand Nicole Wallace. Hewitt’s self-titled show will air on Saturday mornings at …

This is their second attack on the show. Via email from Monica Cole: TNT’s new summer program, “Claws,” has an extremely graphic plot like none we have ever seen. “Claws” airs on Sunday evenings at 9:00 p.m. You can be assured with a MA – LSV rating, it is not appropriate for television. Originally, this so called “comedy” was to …

NBC News reports: The jury in the Bill Cosby trial said Thursday it’s deadlocked, but the judge ordered them to continue trying to reach a verdict. “We can not come to a unanimous consensus on any of these counts,” the panel said in a note to the judge sent out at 11:06 a.m. after more than 30 hours of deliberations. …

Variety reports: Adam West — an actor defined and also constrained by his role in the 1960s series “Batman” — died Friday night in Los Angeles. He was 88. A rep said that he died after a short battle with leukemia. “Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight, and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ …

Via press release: Former Arkansas Governor, presidential candidate, and longtime popular political commentator Mike Huckabee has teamed up with global faith-and-family television leader Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) for a new weekly news and talk show premiering this fall exclusively on TBN. “Huckabee” will combine Gov. Huckabee’s commentary on news-of-the-day and current issues, along with guests from the worlds of politics, …

The Verge recaps: We’re only a few short months away from the return of Game of Thrones, and after months of speculation and teasers, HBO has finally released a full trailer showing off some of what we can expect from the new season. In short: Queen Cersei is rallying troops for battle, Jon Snow is preparing for war in the …

The BBC reports: Actor Sir Roger Moore, best known for playing James Bond, has died aged 89, his family has announced. He played the famous spy in seven Bond films including Live and Let Die and the Spy Who Loved Me. Sir Roger’s family confirmed the news on Twitter, saying he had died after “a short but brave battle with …

The AV Club reports: The CW has released a trailer for its new “Dynasty” to premiere in fall. Fans of the original campy, soapy, sexy ’80s ABC nighttime drama will not be disappointed. But rather than focus on the angel-vs-bitch, first wife vs the new wife set-up pitting Krystal against Alexis (AKA Linda Evans and Joan Collins), this reboot will …

Variety reports: In anticipation of NBC’s “Will & Grace” revival this fall, Will, Grace, Jack and Karen have reunited in the first official trailer for the special event series. The five-minute-long trailer begins as the titular characters exit the office of Bob Greenblatt, the president of NBC Entertainment. The limited 12-episode run brings back cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, …

Last year Catholic League blowhard Bill Donohue blew more than $100,000 with a full-page New York Times ad in which he denounced ABC/Disney’s The Real O’Neals and compared one of the show’s producers, Dan Savage, to David Duke. Today Donohue finally got his wish when the show was not picked up for a third season. ABC has cancelled family sitcom …

Entertainment Weekly reports: Family Guy is campaigning for the Emmys in its traditional manner: by going on the offensive. In a new for-your-consideration mailer that was sent to Emmy voters this week, Peter Griffin is doing his best impression of White House counselor and Anderson Cooper eyeroll recipient Kellyanne Conway, dressed in the $3600 red, white, and blue Gucci coat …

Mashable reports: It’s time to make America gay again. And Debra Messing’s acceptance speech for Excellence in Media at the 28th annual GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday may be the perfect place to start. Equal part hilarious and scathing, the actress, who recently signed on for the impending Will & Grace revival, didn’t mince words in her call to action. …

The Daily Beast reports: When the Today show’s Matt Lauer asked Ellen DeGeneres in a new interview if she would like to have President Donald Trump appear on her daytime talk show, she barely hesitated before saying, “Um, no.” That line got laughs and applause from her own studio audience, which stuck around to see Lauer interview DeGeneres after he …