Well, it looks like Kathy Bates isn’t retiring after Matlock after all.
Bates stopped by ABC’s On the Red Carpet show before Sunday night’s 76th Emmy Awards, where she threw cold water on a New York Times story that Madeline Matlock in the forthcoming CBS reboot would be her final role.
As much as she said she was “flattered” that the retirement report “went around the globe,” Bates told ABC’s George Pennacchio that she was “misunderstood.”
“I think it was misunderstood because I … had one foot out the door until I read Jennie [Snyder] Urman‘s script and I was like, ‘OK, now we’re talking. And I want the show [Matlock] to run for years and years,” she said.
The original series of Matlock ran from 1986 to 1995, starring Andy Griffith as a defense lawyer named Benjamin Matlock.
The reboot show will chronicle Bates’ character, who rejoins the law workforce as a senior, scoring legal victories in courtrooms. In the interview with the New York Times to discuss the show, she said she felt like she was called to do the role, especially after experiencing some injustices in the early days of her career.
“Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” she said at the time. “And it’s exhausting.”
Despite her success, when reflecting on her acting career, she only recalled some of the blunders, telling the New York Times, “I never felt dressed right or well.”
“I felt like a misfit,” she said. “It’s that line in Misery when Annie says, ‘I’m not a movie star.’ I’m not.”
Her comments notwithstanding, a source told ABC News on Monday that “it is understood that Bates changed her mind [about retiring] after doing Matlock.”
Matlock will premiere on CBS Sept. 22 and will be available to stream on Paramount+.
Good Morning Americacaught up with Emmy presenter Niecy Nash-Betts and her wife, Jessica Betts, at the event’s after-party Sunday, and they spoke about queer representation on TV.
“Everyone wants to be fully seen,” Niecy said, “and, you know, we are happy to be representations of that.” Niecy and Jessica tied the knot in 2020.
She continued, “We applaud when others are [a] representation of that, and I just think that TV has to look like the real world at some point.”
During Sunday night’s ceremony, Niecy took the stage in the program’s salute to TV cops, joining NYPD Blue‘s Jimmy Smits and Miami Vice veteran Don Johnson. Niecy played Deputy Raineesha Williams on the beloved comedy series Reno: 911.
“Raineesha brought two important things to being a cop,” Nash-Betts said from the stage. “A marginal knowledge of the law and the belief that you can’t fight crime if you ain’t cute.”
In an upset, Hacks beat The Bear for Outstanding Comedy Series at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards, but the FX series still walked away with an mantel full of awards for its second season. In fact, it beat its previous record, snagging 11.
Jeremy Allen White won for a second year in a row in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy category; Ebon Moss- Bachrach also repeated in the Best Supporting Actor category. Liza Colón-Zayas became the first Latina to win in the Supporting Actress category.
At the Creative Arts Emmys prior to Sunday’s show, White’s onscreen brother and mom, Jon Bernthal and Jamie Lee Curtis, snagged respective Emmys in the Outstanding Guest Actor and Actress categories for the series.
Backstage, White was in the mood to celebrate. “The fact that … Jamie and Bernthal won last weekend and that was so beautiful getting to see Lisa — I was … backstage and I got to go in the wings and watch her accept. And that was just the greatest.”
Jeremy also called co-star Lionel Boyce‘s nomination “so massive,” saying, “Everybody does such beautiful work on the show. And yeah, to see them recognized, it just it makes me so happy.”
Meanwhile, also backstage, Colón-Zayas says her win was for all the Tinas out there: women of a certain age who are still working hard to realize their dreams. “I really want us to … remember our worth. And we, all our voices, our stories, are compelling, they are many and they are profitable. So let’s all start paying attention.”
On the red carpet before Sunday night’s Emmy Awards, Reese Witherspoon, the producer of the Emmy-winning HBO hit The Morning Show, teased a new project with a Real Housewives star.
Witherspoon wasn’t naming names, but she told Page Six that a fateful flight — and a seat next to the unnamed cast member — got the Hello Sunshine production company founder buzzing.
“We might have a Hello Sunshine project cooking now, but I can’t say anything,” Reese teased, adding of the project, “But it’s cool, it’s very cool.”
Emily in Paris fans, you don’t have to say arrivederci once you finish part two of season 4, because the hit Netflix drama will be returning for a fifth season.
Lily Collins, who stars as Emily Cooper, confirmed the exciting development on Good Morning America Monday.
“There is breaking news!” Collins said. “For the first time, I get to talk about the fact that there will be a season five. Yay!”
Collins added that she and the cast and crew themselves “just found out” about the renewal.
“This is brand-new for everyone,” said Collins.
The release of the fourth season of Emily in Paris was split into two parts, with part one premiering Aug. 15. Part two premiered last Thursday, Sept. 12.
Collins said for the new season, the cast had the opportunity to explore a new city outside of Paris – and this time, it’s the capital of Italy.
“We got to explore Rome and I’m really hoping for season five now, that we get to explore more of Italy,” Collins said. “We had just the best time. The whole cast felt a little bit like Emily did [in] season one, running around the city wide-eyed and just everything was so exciting.”
In season four of Emily in Paris, Collins’ Emily also meets a new love interest – the mysterious but warm Marcello, played by Italian actor Eugenio Franceschini — who invites Emily to his home country and takes her on a Vespa tour through Rome.
“Marcello is a whole other adventure that we want for Emily because we ultimately want Emily to be able to have a better work/life balance,” she says. “We want to have Emily be able to smile without condition. We want to see her beyond her vacay mode. And he comes at that perfect time.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice dominated the North American box office for the second straight week, delivering an estimated $51.6 million, for a two week total of $188 million.
Overseas, the sequel to Tim Burton‘s 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice — starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe — tacked on an estimated $28.7 million, for a global tally of $246.3 million.
Speak No Evil opened in second place, earning an estimated $11.5 million at the domestic box office. The black comedy, starring James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis, collected an estimated $9.3 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $20.8 million.
Third place went to Deadpool and Wolverine, grabbing an estimated $5.2 million at the North American box office, bringing its eight-week tally to $621.5 million. Globally, the film has grossed $1.3 billion to date.
Am I Racist?, starring Veep alum Matt Walsh, logged the top debut for a documentary film released in the past decade, according to Entertainment Weekly, opening in fourth place with an estimated $4.8 million at the North American box office.
Rounding out the top five was Reagan, the biopic starring Dennis Quaid, earning an estimated $3 million at the domestic box office in its third week of release.
The 76th Emmy Awards, which aired Sunday night on ABC, had quite a few memorable moments — but perhaps none as memorable as the acceptance speech centered around a dead dog.
While accepting the Emmy for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series for Last Week Tonight, John Oliver thanked the usual people and then shifted gears, paying tribute to his family’s “fantastic” dog, who’d recently passed away. She was at our wedding and she got us through the pandemic. She was with us for two pregnancies,” he said. At that point, the “playoff” music started, indicating that Oliver should wrap it up, but he wasn’t having it.
“Perfect choice of music,” he noted. He then continued, “I feel like Sarah McLachlan right now. She was an amazing dog.” The music continued, to which Oliver shouted, “F*** you! This isn’t just for her. This is for all the dogs! All dogs, you are all very good girls. You are very good boys. You all deserve a treat. Play me off now!”
Some other memorable moments:
—Murphy Brown star Candice Bergen, a presenter, took a shot at J.D. Vance by recalling that during the show’s heyday, then-Vice President Dan Quayle attacked her character for having a baby and raising it as a single mother. “Oh, how far we’ve come,” she said sarcastically. “Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done.” She then added, “Meow.”
–One of the many TV reunion segments during the evening brought together Ron Howard and Henry Winkler to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Happy Days. Speaking from a replica of the show’s hangout, Arnold’s, Howard complained that they didn’t have any theme music introducing them. After some encouragement, Winkler adopted his “Fonz” persona from the show, went over to the jukebox and wrapped it with his fist, causing the Happy Days theme to start up.
–Will Smith accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Slow Horses. No, not THAT Will Smith, as the British showrunner acknowledged. Taking the podium, he said, “First of all, relax. Despite my name, I come in peace.”
—The Bear’sLiza Colón-Zayas became the first Latina to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and she recognized that moment by saying, “To all the Latinas who are looking at me? Keep believing. And vote. Vote for your rights.”
—John Leguizamo did a lengthy monologue about diversity in Hollywood, noting that he didn’t see a lot of Latinx representation on TV and movies growing up. “Everybody played us but us,” he noted. Then, he praised the diversity of this year’s nominees, saying it made him “almost happy and certainly less angry.”
–Along those same lines, presenter Diego Luna announced the nominees for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series in Spanish, directly addressing the “more than 50 million Spanish speakers in this country.”
— A number of actors from The West Wing, including Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hilland Richard Schiff, reunited to present the Emmy for Best Drama Series and joked about modern politics. Schiff noted that today, interesting storylines could be “plucked right off the news — storylines that writers would have deemed a bit far-fetched, if not utterly ridiculous, 25 years ago.”
–Baby Reindeer‘s Richard Gadd had a message for the entertainment industry. At the podium to accept the Emmy for Best Limited or Anthology Series, he said, “If Baby Reindeer has proved anything, it’s that there’s no set formula to this — that you don’t need big stars, proven IP, long-running series, catch-all storytelling to have a hit. The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling that speaks to our times. So take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable. Dare to fail in order to achieve.”
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Shōgun won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series during Sunday night’s 76th annual Emmy Awards.
The FX series won the top award of the night for its debut season. In total, the show won 18 Emmys, setting a record for the most Emmys won by a show during a single season of TV.
The show also became the first non-English language original show to win Best Drama Series. Its cast and crew took to the stage to accept the award, as co-creator Justin Marks thanked everyone involved with the series.
“Shōgun is a show about translation. Not what is lost, but what is found,” Marks said.
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series winner Hiroyuki Sanada finished the acceptance speech in Japanese, which Marks then translated into English.
“We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the crew, directors and masters who have inherited and and supported our samurai period dramas up until now,” he said. “The passion and dreams that we have inherited from you have crossed oceans and borders.”
Also nominated in the Outstanding Drama Series category were The Crown, Fallout, The Gilded Age, TheMorning Show, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Slow Horses and 3 Body Problem.
Hacks earned top honors at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, nabbing the trophy for Outstanding Comedy Series.
This was the first time the comedy starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder took home the top comedy award. It was previously nominated in 2021 and 2022.
The show beat out previous Outstanding Comedy winner The Bear, coming as a bit of a surprise, although the FX show has been the subject of much debate as to whether it is indeed a comedy.
In total, Hacks took home three awards Sunday night. In addition to Outstanding Comedy Series, Smart won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and the show won Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Other nominees in the Outstanding Comedy Series category included Abbott Elementary, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Only Murders in the Building, Palm Royale, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows.
