Entertainment

With a video set to Kelsey Grammer singing a special version of Frasier‘s quirky theme song “Tossed Salads & Scrambled Eggs,” Paramount+ revealed on Tuesday, August 22, that the show’s anticipated return will start with a two-episode premiere on October 12.

The new show will run ten episodes, with installments dropping weekly on Thursdays.

The first two episodes will also air back to back on the CBS network on Oct. 17, beginning at 9:15 pm ET.

The video is a callback to the original’s title sequence, showing an animated line drawing of the Seattle skyline before it flows into a caricature of Grammer and the words, “No more calls, all new hang-ups.”

It also flows into a sketch of that tossed salad and scrambled eggs before becoming a mug of beer —a la Cheers — as the words, “Oh what fresh start is this?” appear.

As the song finishes, Grammer closes with, “Frasier has reentered the building,” and the new show’s logo appears, with Boston’s skyline in place of Seattle’s.

According to the streamer, the new show will see Dr. Frasier Crane returning to his old Cheers stomping grounds of Boston, “with new challenges to face, new relationships to forge and an old dream or two to finally fulfill.”

The series also stars Jack Cutmore-Scott as Frasier and Lilith’s son Freddy and Jess Salgueiro as his roommate Eve; Nicholas Lyndhurst as Frasier’s college buddy-turned university professor Alan; Toks Olagundoye as Olivia, Alan’s colleague, and Anders Keith, playing Frasier’s nephew David.

Also confirmed to appear will be original cast members Bebe Neuwirth, reprising as Frasier’s icy ex Dr. Lilith Sternin; Jane Leeves as Daphne and Peri Gilpin as Roz Doyle.

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Netflix’s love for Love Is Blind knows no bounds, as the streamer has just announced three upcoming projects for the reality dating show franchise starring Nick and Vanessa Lachey.

September 1 kicks things off with the debut of season 4 of Love Is Blind: After the Altar. Netflix teases, “As the married couples raise a toast to their one-year anniversaries and the singles reflect on the past year…unexpected surprises and twists” leave some relationships “hanging in the balance. Will remaining tension be squashed? Have marriages and friendships grown together or grown apart?”

September 19 will see the debut of Netflix Stories: Love is Blind on the App Store and Google Play. It’s a “brand new interactive story game” in which “[p]layers will be able to put themselves in the pods as the newest singles on the series, and experience all of the romance in pursuit of true love and self-discovery.”

Netflix calls the game “the perfect way for Love is Blind fans to experience even more of what they love about the series.”

The interactive adventure is the perfect warm up for the September 22 launch of Love Is Blind season 5.

The fifth go-round features couples from Houston, Texas, whose search for love will span 10 episodes. Netflix notes that new episodes of Love Is Blind will roll out each Friday: Week 1 will debut episodes 1-4; Friday, September 29, will be episodes 5-7; Friday, October 6, will debut the eighth and ninth installments, and Friday, October 13, will see the finale — the wedding days for the contestants.

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The latest small-screen Star Wars show, Ahsoka, debuts Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+. 

Centering on the title character, Rosario Dawson‘s Ahsoka Tano — the live-action version of the character that appeared in animated form in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels — the new show focuses on the onetime Jedi’s attempts to stop the rise of the Empire. 

To that end, she’s looking for Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Imperial military genius who was lost in hyperspace along with young Jedi Ezra Bridger in Rebels‘ finale. Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced the blue-skinned Thrawn in Rebels, also plays him in Ahsoka; Eman Esfandi plays Ezra.

Joining Ahsoka are Rebels allies, including Mary Elizabeth Winstead as ace pilot and green-skinned Twi’lek Hera Syndulla and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Mandalorian Sabine Wren.

But also looking for Thrawn, on an assignment from The Mandalorian villain Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), are a fallen Jedi, the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll, and his apprentice, Ivanna Sakhno‘s Shin Hati.

To Emmy Magazine, Dawson said she felt “massive … excitement” getting the role, as she “grew up playing with fake lightsabers.” 

Emmy-nominated Mandalorian costume designer Shawna Trpcic dressed the characters for Ahsoka. She recently told ABC Audio how, like the original Star Wars, they were inspired by Akira Kurosawa‘s films. “You’re going to be blown away by just the art, the action, the writing, the directing, the performances,” she teased.

She added, “We were so touched [at how much] childlike giddiness [there was] whenever a new character would come on to stage.”  

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Oscar-nominated actress Annette Bening takes on the role of world-class swimmer Diana Nyad in the upcoming film Nyad. First look images reveal Bening’s transformation into the iconic athlete, capturing Nyad’s determination as she made history by swimming from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64. Directed by Meg LeFauve, the film delves into Nyad’s incredible journey and the challenges she overcame. Jodie Foster joins the cast as the swimmer’s coach and best friend Bonnie Stoll. Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Luke Cosgrove, Jeena Yi, and Eric T. Miller round out the cast. Nyad will hit Netflix and select theaters this fall…

Paramount+ debuted a teaser trailer for Good Burger 2, with longtime pals Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reuniting onscreen. The sneak peek kicks off with Mitchell’s Ed crashing into Thompson’s Dexter with his car, where he lands up in the passengers seat. “The new adventures of Ed and Dex starts now!” Ed exclaims. Good Burger 2, a sequel to the 1997 original, is expected to stream on Paramount+ this fall…

As anticipation mounts for the upcoming Season 12 of American Horror Story: Delicate, a new teaser trailer was released on August 21. The teaser offers glimpses of stars like Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, and Kim Kardashian situated in clinical medical environments, accompanied by the recurring spider, egg, and pregnancy motifs that characterize the season. Part one of American Horror Story: Delicate is scheduled for debut on September 20, on both FX and Hulu platforms…

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Charity Lawson’s journey as The Bachelorette concluded on Monday night with an engagement to Dotun Olubeko, a 30-year-old integrative medicine specialist from Brooklyn, New York.

However, the road to an engagement was fraught with heartbreak, as she had to say goodbye to 27-year-old Joseph “Joey” Graziadei, the 27-year-old tennis pro from Lawai, Hawaii, in what was the most gut-wrenching eliminations Bachelor Nation has ever seen.

Charity’s family instantly “connected” with Joey for his “genuine” responses to their questions and the importance of family in his life. His final date with Charity left him even more confident that he would be placing a ring on her finger.

Dotun’s meeting with Charity’s parents, on the other hand, was a little rocky, with her mother noting in a confessional that his “manner” and “swag” had a similarity to type of men Charity tended to gravitate towards in the past, and ultimately broke her heart. Her mother’s comments weighed on her throughout her final date with Dotun, which he seemed to picked up on.

Needless to say, Joey was blindsided by Charity’s declaration that while their love was “special,” she’d found love that’s “deeper” with Dotun.

However, the news wasn’t all bad for Joey, who was revealed as the new Bachelor, and told host Jesse Palmer he’s looking for “someone that’s themself that can I can be truthfully be a partner with … someone that challenges me … someone that I can challenge, I want someone to do life with.”

“I just want someone to be my person and know that at the end of the day, regardless of what we face, we’re gonna be more than happy enough together,” he added.

Aaron Bryant, made a brief return after being eliminated ahead of fantasy suites, only to be sent back home by Charity, will also have another shot at love on season 9 of Bachelor in Paradise, along with Katt Izzo and Brooklyn Willie from Zach Shallcross‘ season of The Bachelor and, as previously announced Brayden Bowers from this season of The Bachelorette.

Also during Monday’s live Bachelorette season 20 finale: Charity is headed to Dancing with the Stars for the Show’s 32nd season.

Before then, The Golden Bachelor, featuring Gerry Turner, premieres Monday, September 28 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, followed by Bachelor in Paradise season 9 to follow immediately after.

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As Leonard Bernstein‘s children did last week, the Anti-Defamation League says there’s nothing offensive about Bradley Cooper‘s prosthetic nose as seen in the upcoming Bernstein movie Maestro.

Cooper, who directed and stars in the film as the famed composer, chose a realistic-looking prosthetic nose to more closely approximate the profile of the famed composer — something critics said smacked of “Jewface.”

However, in a statement to Variety, the organization dedicated to fighting bigotry against the Jewish people contended, “Throughout history, Jews were often portrayed in antisemitic films and propaganda as evil caricatures with large, hooked noses. This film … is not that.”

As reported, Bernstein’s three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein, issued a statement of support of both Cooper and his look in the film, saying, “It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose.”

They continued, “Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.”

They further expressed the “love” and “respect” Cooper showed for their father and mother, Felicia, played by Carey Mulligan in the film, about their decadeslong relationship. “We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we can’t wait for the world to see his creation,” they concluded.

Maestro, which premieres September 2 at the Venice Film Festival, opens in select theaters in November before debuting December 20 on Netflix.

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Ángel Manuel Soto, who called the shots on Warner Bros.’ last superhero film to be finished prior to its DC Films restructuring, Blue Beetle, has signed on to direct two superhero movie veterans for his next project.

The Hollywood Reporter says Soto will be behind the camera for The Wrecking Crew, the MGM buddy comedy starring Aquaman veteran Jason Momoa and Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Dave Bautista.

Incidentally, while the plot is still under wraps, the project is a bit of manifesting from Bautista, who tweeted in August 2021, “Just going to throw this out into the atmosphere and see what happens. Here we go… Me and Momoa in a Lethal Weapon‘ type buddy cop movie directed by David Leitch. Ok! There it is. Now we wait.”

Leitch is the stuntman-turned-director behind Bullet Train and the first John Wick film, among others.

Soto’s Blue Beetle enjoyed a decent Critics Score of 77% and an impressive Audience Score of 92% on the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, though it didn’t have a stellar opening weekend at the box office. Its $24.5 million take was enough to knock Barbie from the number one position after a month at the top — but not by much.

While DC Films co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran have said its star, Xolo Maridueña, will live on in their newly organized cinematic universe, Blue Beetle was the third superhero misfire in a row for Warner Bros. this year, following Shazam: Fury of the Gods and The Flash.

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ABC’s latest entry in the Bachelor franchise, The Golden Bachelor, is coming sooner than previously thought.

The network announced Monday that Gerry [GAIR-ee] Turner‘s search for love will begin on Thursday, September 28, at 8 p.m. ET. The show will be followed by Bachelor in Paradise, premiering at 9 p.m. ET.

A new video announcement features Turner and his daughters, Angie Warner and Jenny Young, and granddaughter Charlee Young sitting around and talking about his foray into romantic reality TV, with him saying this is going to be “a whole new experience.”

He added, “What I hope is that I can look at one of these women, and know that I found the right person.”

Turner also asked the ladies in his life how dating has changed since he’s been on the market. For her part, Charlee suggested he needs to “upgrade” when it comes to his texting skills and not start each message “Dear, and then her name.”

Turner said to the women, “I want to find that person who is the right one. I know you guys have always wanted me to be happy … and that one person is out there somewhere that will do that.”

Angie says, “I hope you get that, I really do.”

Turner married his high school sweetheart, Toni, in 1974, and lived a full and happy life with their two daughters, and later two granddaughters, until Toni’s sudden death in 2017.

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On Monday, August 21, Atlantic Records dropped a video of Ryan Gosling performing his show-stopping ode to “blonde fragility” from the soundtrack to the blockbuster Barbie movie, “I’m Just Ken.”

The video shows the song being recorded, along with snippets from director Greta Gerwig and her cast and crew on set, as well as the finished product as it appeared in theaters. 

There’s also an interlude with rehearsal footage of Gosling preparing for his and Simu Liu‘s infamous Beach Off, and as you might imagine, Ryan and the gang cracking up laughing before, during and after he performs “I’m Just Ken” on set.

It was a pretty smart move on Atlantic’s part to post it: The song produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt has been streamed more than 41 million times, managing to land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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The Cinema Foundation’s National Cinema Day will return Sunday, August 27, which means moviegoers will be able to snag a ticket for likely way less than their popcorn: $4.

And every studio is taking part, so you’ll be able to see any release in more than 3,000 participating theaters — and in the case of smashes like Barbie and Oppenheimer, likely watch it for the second or third time.

Last year’s annual initiative saw $3 movie tickets up for grabs, and the promotion was a smash: According to the National Association of Theater Owners, it set attendance records on September 3, with some 8.1 million people going to a movie on that day alone.

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