Entertainment

ABC’s hit sitcom The Conners returns for its sixth season Wednesday night, February 7, at 8 p.m. ET.

The show has had its ups and downs, first starting as a hit reboot of Roseanne in 2018, then with a retooling of The Conners after lead Roseanne Barr was fired for an online post that was criticized as being racist.

Through it all, the audience stayed. “It’s very gratifying,” says John Goodman, who plays family patriarch Dan, to ABC Audio.

“Because … when we first started doing this, we only thought we were going to be like a little stunt for ABC and do a few shows. And then they called us back and, we kept getting more episodes,” he continues, adding, “I’ve been grateful as hell and really rather surprised by it.”

Goodman expresses with a laugh, “It’s fun because it’s always fresh. You know, what the hell are they going to do to us this week?”

Laurie Metcalf explains, “Coming off of a pandemic slash strike, it’s … fantastic to be back!”

This season, Laurie teases her character has a “very healthy relationship,” so it’s “really fun to be a little bit more grounded occasionally, not just, you know, flying here and there as crazy Aunt Jackie.”

Sara Gilbert, who stars as Darlene and is an executive producer, says this season won’t have any live performances. “I think we’re probably keeping it simple,” she says, explaining the family is the focus. “We have just awesome arcs set out and great stories this season.”

Gilbert adds that it’s “amazing that we’ve lasted this long, and I just am grateful that the audiences have stuck with us and … hopefully we don’t let them down too much.”

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Paramount Pictures has just released the trailer to A Quiet Place: Day One, starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o.

The third installment of John Krasinski‘s blockbuster franchise acts as a prequel, setting the clock back on the alien invasion that already had occurred according to the first two hit films.

The teaser shows the aliens — who hunt by noise — crash landing in the loudest place on earth: New York City.

Nyong’o’s character is shown walking down a crowded sidewalk with her cat when all hell breaks loose from above.

She tries hiding under a car with another victim, only to see him snatched away, and the car nearly crush her.

“This summer, discover why our world went quiet,” title cards spell out.

Later, Lupita is shown covered in ash when she makes the mistake of coughing, only to have another survivor, played by Djimon Hounsou, clasp his hand over her mouth, silencing her as the aliens stalk them.

Although it was based on an idea from the star and director of the first two installments, Krasinski passed the writing and directing baton to Michael Sarnoski, who called the shots on the acclaimed Nicolas Cage drama Pig.

The movie, which also stars Joseph Quinn of Stranger Things fame, debuts in theaters June 28.

Paramount Pictures is also inviting fans to get a special taste of the film by texting BE QUIET to 929-202-SHHH (7444).

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Ahead of its season 2 premiere, Animal Control has been renewed for a third season by Fox. The Joel McHale-led series, about a group of animal control workers, also stars Michael Rowland, Vella Lovell, Ravi Patel, Grace Palmer, Alvina August, Kelli Ogmundson and Gerry Dee. The series premiere of Animal Control marked Fox’s most-streamed debut in network history and most-streamed comedy episode ever in the network’s history, according to the network, averaging 5.2 million multiplatform viewers, including 2.6 million on Hulu …

Tyne Daly was forced to back out of her starring role in the Broadway revival of Doubt after she was unexpectedly hospitalized. “Tyne Daly was unexpectedly hospitalized on Friday and unfortunately needs to withdraw from the production while she receives medical care; she is thankfully expected to make a full recovery,” the Roundabout Theatre Company posted Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter. She’ll be replaced by Amy Ryan, who takes over the role of Sister Aloysius in the revival of the John Patrick Shanley play, which also stars Liev Schreiber and Zoe Kazan. Opening night has been postponed to March 7 — a week later than its planned February 29 debut …

AMC Networks on Tuesday announced that the critically acclaimed series Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire returns for its second season May 12 on AMC and AMC+. Further, Billions star David Costabile has joined the production as a guest star, according to the network. Meanwhile, season 2 of another Rice adaptation, Mayfair Witches, is currently filming with Fatal Attraction‘s Alyssa Jirrels cast as a season regular. A third series is also in development, based on the intriguing secret society The Talamasca, which has been featured in several of Rice’s classic novels …

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Broadway theaters will honor the memory of Tony winner Chita Rivera on February 17 by dimming their lights for one minute at 7:45 p.m. ET., The Broadway League announced on Tuesday. Rivera passed away January 30 at the age of 91.

A star of the stage and screen, Rivera racked up a total of 10 Tony nominations during her seven decades on Broadway. She won her first Tony for her role as Anna in The Rink in 1984; she earned her second Best Actress Tony in 1993 for Kiss of the Spider Woman. She was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2018.

Her other credits included originating the role of Anita in West Side Story and Velma Kelly in Chicago, as well playing Rose opposite Dick Van Dyke in Bye Bye Birdie. Her last role on Broadway was Claire in 2018’s The Visit.

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Marvel Studios has released a statement about the death of a crew member who passed away from injuries sustained on the set of its small-screen project Wonder Man.

Deadline reports shooting on the Disney+ series hasn’t yet started. The victim was a rigger who fell from the rafters at Radford Studio Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family and friends, and our support is behind the investigation into the circumstances of this accident,” Marvel Studios said in a statement.

Wonder Man will star Aquaman‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the title character aka Simon Williams.

Oscar winner Ben Kingsley reprises as Trevor Slattery, the washed-up actor who pretended to be The Mandarin in Iron Man 3 and its follow-up short All Hail The King, before he reprised in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

The latter movie’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton, is developing Wonder Man.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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In a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, a judge did not sentence former Marvel actor Jonathan Majors as scheduled.

Attorneys for the embattled Creed III star filed a motion with Judge Michael Gaffey to set aside the actor’s December conviction on one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment.

He was acquitted of two other charges related to a March 2023 altercation with his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.

Majors appeared virtually for Tuesday’s proceedings, appearing on screen wearing a tan crewneck sweater.

“The case will not go forward with sentencing today because the defense has filed a motion to set aside the verdict,” Gaffey said.

Instead, sentencing was reset for April 8.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was given until March 5 to respond to the defense motion to set aside the verdict, which Majors told ABC News’ Linsey Davis he plans to appeal.

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It seems Eddie Murphy has picked up another comedian for his forthcoming heist project for Prime Video, The Pickup.

Deadline reports Murphy has tapped Andrew Dice Clay to join the cast of the hush-hush project, which already stars their fellow stand-up comic/actor Pete Davidson as well as Nope‘s Keke Palmer.

Apart from making fans laugh on social media with a running gag of interacting with strangers he insists want to take a selfie with him, Dice continues to tour as a stand-up.

Incidentally, Dice is one of only a handful of comedians to ever sell out Madison Square Garden; Murphy did it in 1987.

Dice also appeared in front of the camera as an actor in films like Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born, projects including Pam & Tommy, and his own former Showtime series, Dice.

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A Super Bowl spot for Uber Eats reunites Friends former love interests David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston — but the latter seems to have forgotten about Ross and Rachel. 

The gist of the ad has people remembering that Uber Eats can also deliver everyday items — at the expense of other important information. 

In Aniston’s segment, she’s on a movie set when an assistant brings her the goods she’s Ubered and admits she’s forgotten you can do that. “You know what they say,” Aniston says. “You gotta forget something else, make a little room.” 

Just then, Schwimmer happily approaches Aniston and goes in for a hug, which she rebuffs. “Have we met?” she asks. “Gimme a hint.” 

Schwimmer replies, “Worked together for ten years.”

“Ten years!” she replies. “You were great.”

Exasperated, Schwimmer says, “You still don’t know, do you?” 

They separate, and Aniston says to herself with a laugh, “Yeah, like I’d forget 10 years of my life.”

Schwimmer, peeved, then says to himself, “I hate this town.” 

The spot has other stars being equally forgetful: Jelly Roll is confused as to how his face tats got there, and Victoria Beckham forgets the name of the girl group that made her famous, The Spice Girls. “Pepper ladies?” her husband, David Beckham offers, confused. “Paprika girls?” she struggles.

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Spider-Man is going back to the boards.

Tom Holland, who got his start as a young actor in the stage version of Billy Elliot the Musical, is headed back to the theater for the first time as an adult.

Holland will play William Shakespeare‘s tragic romantic hero in a West End revival of Romeo & Juliet for director Jamie Lloyd, who has incidentally worked other Marvel stars like Loki‘s Tom Hiddleston, Daredevil‘s Charlie Cox and Black Panther‘s Martin Freeman.

The production will be staged at The Duke of York’s Theatre in the U.K., and according to the theater’s website, it promises to be “a pulsating new vision of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of wordsmiths, rhymers, lovers and fighters.”

In a statement to the BBC, Lloyd expressed, “Tom Holland is one of the greatest, most exciting young actors in the world. It is an honour to welcome him back to the West End.”

Holland will start his run on May 11, and the play is slated to run through August 3.

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Celebrity baker and Food Network star Duff Goldman was left injured after a drunk driver crashed into his vehicle.

On his Instagram, alongside a photo of a hand mummified in bandages, Goldman wrote, “On my way home from the airport I was thinking about what kind of cake I was going to make for my daughters [sic] birthday. Next thing I knew I bleeding and surrounded by airbags.”

He added, “A drunk driver had swerved into my lane on a windy country road.”

Goldman was apparently the passenger in the vehicle, and all parties survived the crash — but he faces a “long road to recovery,” he noted in the post Sunday.

The 49-year-old baker added, “for someone like me who makes a living with my hands you can imagine that this is no joke.”

While the Ace of Cakes veteran says he’s thankful to be alive, he vented, “My daughter almost didn’t have a dad because this guy was stupid.”

He added, “There’s no excuse for driving drunk. None. Uber, taxi, call a friend. No excuse. Stay safe friends, count your blessings. If you’re drinking don’t drive, and if you’re driving, don’t drink.”

Duff got plenty of support from followers, including fellow celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, who offered his services. “Thank god all is ok. Happy to stand in for birthdays and bar-mitzvahs,” he joked.

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