Entertainment

The final season of the beloved comedy series Grown-ish begins Wednesday, but the show is determined to go out with a bang. At least that’s how actor Marcus Scribner, who plays Andre “Junior” Johnson, describes the series’ end.  

Scribner’s particularly excited about the celebrity guest lineup and the actors’ contributions to the final episodes. From Omarion to Latto and even the “legend” that is Kelly Rowland, Scribner says fans are in for a special treat.

“I was starstruck,” he said of working with Rowland. “I’ve met her before but even just getting to see her on set — unfortunately, Junior doesn’t really have too many scenes with her [but] getting to see her work on set and interacting with her between takes was insane. Dream come true.”

Scribner did work alongside Memphis rapper NLE Choppa, someone he says came ready to work. 

“Just a joy to work with,” he said of the music star. “I always love when somebody is ready to work and ready to learn because I think that’s what the acting’s always about.” 

Scribner says he enjoyed working alongside Lil Yatchy and that he’s happy the rapper is included in multiple episodes. And, like NLE, Yatchy is “also somebody who was really excited to be there and just throw himself fully into the characters.”  

Fans may say the same about Scribner, who’s played the role of Junior for a decade, starting at the young age of 13. Now 23, he’ll say goodbye to the beloved character.

“A beautiful experience” is how Scriber describes the end of the series; the first half of the final season kicks off June 28 on Freeform.

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Extraction 2 was the most viewed title on Netflix from June 19 to June 25, the streamer reported on Tuesday. The sequel, once again starring Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake, the mercenary who survived being “clinically dead” at the original’s climax, only to take on another risky mission, had over 85 million views in the first 10 days since it premiered. Meanwhile, its predecessor, the 2020 film Extraction took second place with 13.8 million views…

Deadline reports that on the heels of being pulled from Paramount+ this week, comes word on Tuesday, June 27 that Comedy Central, will not air Inside Amy Schumer‘s fifth season, as previously announced. The sketch comedy series, created and hosted by the titular comedian, was first unveiled as part of Paramount+’s lineup in February 2021. Season 5 featured guest appearances from Olivia Wilde, Ellie Kemper, Bridget Everett, Jesse Williams and Yamaneika Saunders, among others…

Nicolas Coster, the soap opera star best known for playing wealthy patriarch Lionel Lockridge on NBC’s Santa Barbara, passed away on Monday from complications of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) following a long battle with cancer, his daughter Dinneen Coster announced on Facebook, according to Entertainment Weekly. He was 89. Coster also starred in the soaps Another World, As the World Turns, One Life to Live and All My Children, along with appearances in the primetime series Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels and Star Trek: The Next Generation, among others. On film, he appeared in 1976’s All the President’s Men and 1981’s Reds…

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Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are among more than three hundred high profile actors who signed a letter on Tuesday, June 27, urging SAG-AFTRA leadership to take a hard line in the negotiations for a new film and TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The letter, obtained by Deadline, states that while no one wants to bear the “incredible hardships” that a strike would bring to so many, they “are prepared to strike if it comes to that,” and “concerned by the idea that SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.”

Some of the letter’s other high profile signatories include Kevin Bacon, Quinta Brunson, Glenn Close, David Duchovny, Chelsea Handler, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lawrence, Bob Odenkirk, Mark Ruffalo, Meryl Streep, Rami Malek, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Polley, Parker Posey, Amy Schumer, Kyra Sedgwick, Chlöe Sevigny and Ben Stiller.

The guild is ostensibly in the final week of bargaining before the June 30 expiration of its current contract, and the letter comes days after SAG-AFTRA’s leaders told their members that negotiations have been “extremely productive” and that they “remain optimistic” that a fair deal can be reached with the AMPTP.

The signatories specifically called for a “seismic realignment” of minimum pay rates, streaming residuals and exclusivity provisions. The letter called for a transformation to self-taped audition practices and major regulation of artificial intelligence, making sure that the deal “protects not just our likenesses, but makes sure we are well compensated when any of our work is used to train A.I.”

The Writers Guild of America is on Day 57 of its strike against the AMPTP over its own film and TV contract.

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Folks were very hungry for a return of The Bear.

The FX series, starring Jeremy Allen White in his Golden Globe-winning turn as chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, has become the network’s most-watched Hulu debut.

The first four days of the show’s streaming on Hulu saw a 70% audience increase over season 1, according to the network.

This season, which centers on Carmy and company’s struggles to craft a fine dining restaurant from the moldy bones of his late brother’s old eatery, has earned a Certified Fresh 100% average score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an Audience Score of 91%.

All 10 episodes of the second season — as well as the entire acclaimed first season — are now streaming on Hulu.

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Showtime has released the trailer to the seventh and final season of its heralded drama Billions.

The snippet was introduced by stars Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, the latter of whom left the show after its fifth season.

In his place, co-star Corey Stoll‘s oily Mike Prince ascended to take the place of Lewis’ cutthroat hedge fund billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod as the head of his company, Axe Capital.

But the trailer, released June 27, teases his return: While Prince is shown starting a run for the White House, the Axe is coming back into his own. “I’m back now, and I’m wide awake,” he sneers in the coming attraction.

Showtime teases, “In season seven, alliances are turned on their heads. Old wounds are weaponized. Loyalties are tested. Betrayal takes on epic proportions. Enemies become wary friends.”

Subscribers to the Paramount+ with Showtime package can watch the season debut on Friday, August 11. The season’s 12 episodes will stream weekly there, or you can watch the first episode on August 13 and subsequent episodes on Showtime’s linear network.

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Universal and Blumhouse, the studios behind horror blockbusters like M3GAN, have released a full trailer to Five Nights At Freddy’s, an adaptation of the PC and mobile game that has scared the pants off of kids since its launch in 2014.

Since then, the game has spawned various versions, to date selling just short of 4.75 million units.

In this version, Hunger Games veteran Josh Hutcherson plays a new nighttime security guard tasked with watching over an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese-like pizza place called Freddy Fazbear’s. Just like in the game, however, the five-night gig goes sideways fast, as the restaurant’s animatronic animals come alive and start stalking him.

If the concept sounds a lot like a 2021 Nicolas Cage movie called Willy’s Wonderland, you’re not alone: When the film came out, its writer, G.O. Parsons, and director, Kevin Lewis, weathered criticism for it, ultimately claiming the plot similarities to the hit survival game were a coincidence.

As for Five Nights, the trailer is stuffed with references to the game, like its black-and-white monitors, off-putting carnival music, jump scares and of course the creepy characters who inspired nightmares in many players who were likely way too young to be playing: Bonnie the bunny, Chica the chicken, Foxy the fox and the “host” of the restaurant, Freddy Fazbear.

The movie opens in theaters and streams on Peacock October 27.

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If you didn’t get a chance to see Aqua playing Irving Plaza in New York City on Monday, June 26, there’s another way to feel like a Barbie girl in a Barbie world.

That is to say, Ken is willing to put you up in a real-life version of his remodel of Barbie’s  Malibu DreamHouse, thanks to the folks at Airbnb. The lifesize, pink pad is naturally located in Malibu, California.

Two lucky guests can “take a spin through Ken’s awesome wardrobe to find their best beach fit,” channel “their inner cowboy and [learn] a line dance or two on Ken’s outdoor disco dance floor” or shred a few licks on Ken’s guitar. 

Of course, like Ryan Gosling and the other Kens will do in the Barbie movie, you can also challenge your fellow guest to a beach-off by “sunbathing and chillaxing by the infinity pool.” 

What’s more, those who stay will also get a custom pair of yellow-and-pink Impala rollerblades and surfboards to remember their trip. 

Bookings open Monday, July 17, at 10 a.m. PT.

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Ryan Seacrest is replacing Pat Sajak as the host of Wheel of Fortune.

Seacrest, who also currently hosts American Idol, will take over hosting duties from Sajak beginning in 2024. Sajak recently announced he was stepping down from the position after the show’s upcoming 41st season.

“I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak,” Seacrest, 48, wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, June 27. “I can say, along with the rest of America, that it’s been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna [White] on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them.”

“Pat, I love the way you’ve always celebrated the contestants and made viewers at home feel at ease,” he continued. “I look forward to learning everything I can from you during this transition.”

Seacrest, who said he is “grateful” for the opportunity,” went on to talk about how the move feels “full circle” for him as he reflected on one of his “first jobs”: hosting Merv Griffin‘s short-lived game show “Click” from 1997 to 1999. Griffin is a TV legend, having created of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

“I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White,” Seacrest concluded.

This news comes a few months after Seacrest left Live following six years as Kelly Ripa‘s co-host to focus on hosting American Idol.

Sajak announced his upcoming departure from Wheel of Fortune earlier this month, saying in a statement that his decades in the position have “been a wonderful ride.”

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Hulu released the trailer to the new season of Futurama on Tuesday, June 27. The snippet shows the gang getting used to a new pandemic, Explovid-23, and all that comes with it, including the novel idea of nasal swabs.

“That looks kinda fun! I look forward to doing it hundreds of times!” the gang’s lobster-like Dr. Zoidberg said. Aside from COVID culture, cancel culture also gets sent up this season, as does the Bitcoin craze and omnipresent digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa.

According to the streaming service, “After a brief ten-year hiatus, Futurama has crawled triumphantly from the cryogenic tube, its full original cast and satirical spirit intact.”

It adds, “The 10 all-new episodes of season 11 have something for everyone. New viewers will be able to pick up the series from here, while long-time fans will recognize payoffs to decades-long mysteries — including developments in the epic love story of Fry and Leela, the mysterious contents of Nibbler’s litter box, the secret history of evil Robot Santa, and the whereabouts of Kif and Amy’s tadpoles.”

The fun starts July 24 on Hulu.

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Former Law and Order star Chris Noth took to Instagram to address a story claiming he’s been “iced out” by his former Sex and the City colleagues.

The New York Post ran with a Radar Online story that claimed Noth “has been persona non grata” with Sarah Jessica Parker and the rest of the cast after he was accused in 2021 of sexual assault by two women.

“He’s not invited to their parties. He doesn’t get greeting cards or happy birthday texts,” Radar said, quoting a source. “He wonders why SJP and her troupe continue to leave him out in the cold.”

Noth replied on Insta to the Post‘s boosting of the story, noting, “I usually don’t respond to this kind of thing, And I do know that people like drama and gossip…but this article by [Post reporter] Samantha Ibrahim is absolute nonsense. Just thought you’d like to know.”

Noth was never charged for the accusations, which reportedly took place in 2004 and 2015. In a statement, he called them “categorically false” and maintained “the encounters were consensual.”

Noth was, however, dismissed from The Equalizer, and his agency let him go in the wake of the headlines. Although his character had been killed off And Just Like That… prior to the accusations, a plan to have him reappear in the second season was also reportedly scrapped.

At the time, SJP and her co-stars Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon co-signed a statement on Instagram Stories noting in part, “We are deeply saddened to hear the allegations against Chris Noth. We support the women who have come forward and shared their painful experiences…”

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