Entertainment

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and ABC on Monday announced the 96th Oscars will take place Sunday, March 10, 2024. The show will air live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The nominations voting period will run from January 11-16, 2024, with the official nominations announcement on January 23…

He may hate to travel, but Eugene Levy is ready to hit the road again for a second season of his Apple TV+ reality series The Reluctant Traveler. “After experiencing season one, I’ve come to realize it’s true what they say about travel broadening the mind — and, I guess my mind could still take some broadening. So I’m packing my suitcase once again and looking forward — with a healthy dose of trepidation — to whatever adventures lie in store,” the Schitt’s Creek alum said in a statement on Monday, adding, “Here’s to trying new things — well, within reason”…

Ginnie Newhart, the wife of comedian Bob Newhart, died Sunday at their home in Century City after a long illness, publicist Jerry Digney told The Hollywood Reporter. She was 82. Ginnie is credited with coming up with the idea to conclude Bob’s Vermont-based sitcom by combining with it with his earlier Chicago-based show. The now classic Newhart finale ended with Dick waking up in the middle of the night as Bob Hartley — his character from his 1970s series The Bob Newhart Show — in bed with his then TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette, in their Chicago apartment, suggesting that his entire second series had been a dream…

Truth Be Told, the Apple TV+ drama of the same name won’t return for a fourth season. Series star Octavia Spencer shared the news on her Instagram, along with a video of the cast and crew waving goodbye while The Bellamy Brothers‘ “Let Your Love Shine” played underneath. “Hey y’all. I wanted to share the news that after three seasons of seeking truth and justice, Poppy Scoville is going on a much-needed vacation,” she wrote. After thanking the studio and producers, she closed with “Poppy Scoville signing off.” Gabrielle Union co-starred in season 3, following Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan and Kate Hudson, who shared top billing with Spencer in the show’s first and second seasons, respectively…

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Following talk of a possible spinoff of The Big Bang Theory, Mayim Bialik, who played Amy Farrah Fowler on the original CBS sitcom, says she’d be open to making an appearance, if she’s asked.

“We’re all still pretty close, so there was a lot of texting going on,” the Jeopardy! host told E! News at the Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala on April 22, “And I asked my agent. He was like, ‘I don’t know.’ I guess no one knows at this point, but I can’t wait to find out.”

“I’ll do anything related to anything like that,” adds, Bialik, 47, “But yeah, we really have no idea. So I’m in the same boat as everyone else.”

Meanwhile, Bialik is eyeing a potential reboot of her 1990s sitcom, Blossom, in which she starred as the titular character, Blossom Russo.

“We’re thinking about coming back,” said Mayim. “There’s a lot of things that have to happen … But Don Reo, our creator, and I have finally been able to find a breath and an opening in my life and schedule where we’re ready to talk about it actively.”

“A lot of shows from the ‘90s have been rebooted,” noted Mayim, who’s hopeful Blossom can get the revival treatment as well.

“We were on from ‘90 to ‘94, so we were right in that pocket,” she continued, “and I’m just excited to think about putting our own spin on what it would be like to see where these characters are.”

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Bringing back a New Year’s Eve segment he shared with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Watch What Happens Live! host Andy Cohen on Sunday night quizzed outspoken Broadway legend Patti LuPone about what she thinks about Kim Kardashian‘s upcoming acting turn.

The segment “Do They Give A Damn?” had LuPone answering emphatically, “Yes, I do!” regarding Kim’s forthcoming starring role on American Horror Story.

Cohen said, “You don’t like it, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” she seethed. Cohen asked if it’s because it’s taking away a role from someone else.

“From actors,” she says. “Excuse me, excuse me, Kim. You know, what are you doing with your life? Don’t get on the stage, Mrs. Worthington,” LuPone said sarcastically, a reference to Noël Coward’s 1935 song of the same name.

For his part, her partner in the game, fellow Tony winner John Leguizamo, said, “Whatever she said, I double the emotion!”

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Former Jackass star Bam Margera is in trouble with the law again.

Pennsylvania State Police announced they’ve issued a warrant for the arrest of Brandon “Bam” Margera in connection to a physical confrontation with an unnamed individual “who suffered minor injuries.”

According to police, Bam ran into a wooded area before they arrived on the scene in Pocopson Township. His whereabouts are unknown.

TMZ reported Margera’s alleged victim is his younger brother Jesse and that Bam left a threatening note for his family in their house before he went on the lam.

This is the latest negative headline for Margera, who of late has been posting rambling videos to his social media. Late last month, he was arrested for public intoxication after a verbal altercation in Los Angeles.

In February, his former Jackass co-star Steve-O took Instagram to explain that he took Margera with him on his live tour to try to get him to straighten up. But Steve-O, who has been clean and sober for 15 years, blasted Bam for allegedly “getting loaded” later that night.

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Matthew McConaughey, who in 2020 published his New York Times bestseller Greenlights, top-lined a marathon self-help session called The Art of Livin‘ on Monday, in which he introduced an “immersive learning experience” he calls Roadtrip: The Highway to More.

The Oscar-winning actor turned into something of a televangelist, as he began by chronicling his journey after finding fame with A Time to Kill. Seemingly famous overnight, he confessed he sought out some kind of clarity by taking a 13-mile hike to a monastery, where he unloaded all of his sins, fears and anxieties to one of the monks. McConaughey was relieved when the monk’s only response was, “Me too.”

The story was meant to show that everybody has something holding them back, and his lesson on Monday was to “work out what the hell we’re doing there, and how we get where we really wanna go.”

It was also to announce his program, which was advertised as a $3,961 package of courses, available for the low price of $397 for those who attended the virtual seminar. The price included 50 meals donated to Feeding America.

Guests including Tony Robbins, Dean Graziosi and Marie Forleo each spoke at length, with McConaughey checking in with attendees commenting on the chat, with a laugh track sweetening the proceedings.

Oh, and he played bongos — clothed, this time. In fact, during a technical glitch, he vamped by singing a song about his headline-making 1999 naked bongo-playing arrest in Austin, Texas.

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Gabrielle Union will star in and executive produce a series adaptation of Darby Kane’s bestseller, Pretty Little Wife, ABC Audio has confirmed.

Produced by A+E and Amazon Studios, the project is being described as a “cat-and-mouse thriller with a pulpy edge and some sexy soap.”

It centers on “two brilliant — and very different — Black women: Lily, the pretty little wife suspected of murdering her husband, and Ginny, the detective on the case. Upon entering each other’s lives, they begin to crack open each other’s façade to reveal what really lies beneath.”

Union will play Lily, the wife suspected of the crime, and will produce through her I’ll Have Another Production shingle.

Meredith Lavender, a veteran of HBO’s The Flight Attendant, and Nashville‘s Marcie Ulin are co-writing and co-producing, along with The Good Lord Bird‘s Kristen SaBerre.

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Production just got underway on the second season of the hit Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, but HBO announced Monday that four new faces will be seen in Westeros.

Variety reports Simon Russell Beale will play Ser Simon Strong, the great-uncle to Matthew Needham‘s Lord Larys Strong as seen in season 1.

Freddie Fox will play Ser Gwayne Hightower, the son of Rhys Ifans‘ Otto Hightower; Gayle Rankin will play the healer and visionary Alys Rivers; and Abubakar Salim will play Alyn of Hull, one of Velaryon’s sailors.

The returning cast from the first season includes Ifans, Needham, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel and Ewan Mitchell.

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With his Emmy-winning role in Succession at an end, Brian Cox isn’t slowing down. Amazon’s Prime Video announced on Monday that he will be starring in the big-budget, James Bond-inspired reality adventure series 007’s Road to a Million.

Cox will play The Controller, “the enigmatic character who controls the fate of the contestants … who are competing in teams of two on a global adventure to win the ultimate prize of up to £1million ($1.25 million).”

Amazon Studios teases, “The Controller is villainous and cultured, and revels in the increasingly difficult journeys and questions the contestants must overcome. He has millions of pounds to give away—up to £1m per couple—but he doesn’t make it easy. Whilst he lurks in the shadows, he is watching and controlling everything.”

For his part, Cox says in the announcement, “I got to see how ordinary people would cope with being on a James Bond adventure. As they travel the world to some of the most iconic Bond locations, it gets more intense and nail-biting. I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with license to put the hopeful participants through the mangle.”

The show is a collaboration between Amazon Studios, James Bond series producer EON Productions, 72 Films and MGM Alternative.

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His first foray into television, Netflix’s FUBAR, is set to debut on May 25, but Arnold Schwarzenegger will also be back on the big screen.

Deadline reports the action icon will star in Breakout, a movie from the director of the upcoming Expendables 4, Scott Waugh. Arnold appeared in the first three Expendables movies.

According to the trade, Arnold will play Terry Reynolds, a dad who concocts a plan to bust out his wrongly convicted stepson from a foreign prison and flee the country.

It will be Arnold’s first movie since 2019’s franchise-killing flop Terminator: Dark Fate.

Incidentally, this isn’t Arnold’s first movie about a jailbreak: He and Sylvester Stallone teamed up to spring themselves from a supermax pokey in the 2013 movie Escape Plan.

Breakout will start shooting later this year in Eastern Europe.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Comedian and actor Richard Lewis took to Twitter to give fans an update about what he’s been up to and dropped a bombshell: He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years ago.

Lewis explained that he’s had a “rocky” past few years. Three and a half years ago, he decided to hang up the stand-up mic for good. He recalled thinking, “I’m at the top of my game, after 50 years almost, I’m gonna call it quits. And I felt great about that.”

He continued, “And then, out of the blue, the s*** hit the fan. I had four surgeries back to back to back,” he explained, noting he underwent operations on his back, shoulder and hip.

“On top of all that,” Lewis said, two years ago he noticed he was shuffling and walking stiffly, and a neurologist diagnosed him with Parkinson’s.

“Luckily, I got it late in life, and they say it progresses very slowly, if at all, and I’m on the right meds, so I’m cool,” Lewis said, detailing that while he’s “finished with stand-up,” he’ll be focusing more on writing and acting, as he did for the 12th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which he just wrapped.

“It was just an amazing season, and I’m so grateful to be a part of that show,” said Lewis. As reported, he didn’t appear in season 11 due to his surgeries.

He ended optimistically, “I love my life, and I love my little puppy dog, and I love all my friends and my fans, and now you know where it’s been at the past three and a half years. God bless you.”

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