Entertainment

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Harrison Ford is winning praise for showing off his comedy chops in the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, but he goes even further in a new clip posted by E!. In the snippet from the forthcoming episode, Ford also shows off his singing ability.

For better or worse.

The scene has Ford’s Dr. Paul Rhoades exchanging “uncomfortable” jabs with Gaby, a fellow therapist who offers him a ride to work. That’s when he asks Jessica Williams‘ character if she “can play that song that I like,” which turns out to be Sugar Ray‘s “Every Morning.”

Although Gaby rolls her eyes at the request, moments later they’re duetting, even trading a high-five at the lyric mentioning a one-night stand.

The show itself may seem an out of character choice for the Indiana Jones actor, but Ford insists it all came down to the script from two-time Ted Lasso Emmy winner Brett Goldstein.

The 80-year-old actor explained to The Hollywood Reporter, “After two years of sitting on my a** during COVID, and waiting … for Indiana Jones to start … I wanted to do different things. So [Shrinking] came along, and then, very quickly after that, 1923 came along. I took the job without a script on both of them, on faith that the people who created the projects were going to deliver me a good script.”

He added, “I’m excited to do another season of both.”

Show co-creator Bill Lawrence, another Ted Lasso vet, insists to the trade Ford has the chops — for comedy, if not singing alterna-pop. “Initially, your thought is, ‘OK, you’re gonna write Harrison Ford gruff and everyone will do comedy around him.’ A couple of episodes in, you’re like … ‘Harrison Ford’s here to make comedy, not to react to comedy.'”

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Super Bowl commercials are usually star-packed affairs, and this year’s big game will be no different. Considering a 30-second ad this year costs companies $6.5 million, they’re pulling out all the stops to get consumers’ attention. And to save a bit of money, some brands are already previewing their spots online. 

Bud Light nabbed Top Gun: Maverick star Miles Teller and his wife, Keleigh, for a commercial that shows the actor trying to make the most of cheesy “hold” music, with the actor showing off some dance moves to the canned beat while he pops open a can.

Alicia Silverstone reprises her Clueless character, Cher, complete with her unmistakable yellow plaid skirt and jacket combo, for a spot promoting online shopping destination Rakuten. Her co-star Elisa Donovan‘s Amber also returns as the pair step back behind the classroom debate podium to discuss responsible shopping.

Jon Hamm and Brie Larson can literally be found in a fridge, poking fun at their food-synonymous surnames for Hellman’s, with Pete Davidson later chowing down on a ham and brie sandwich. “He really is everywhere,” Hamm says of the SNL vet, who vows, “I’m gonna eat you guys.” 

Succession Emmy winner Brian Cox, tennis legend Serena Williams and NFL quarterback Tony Romo spoof Caddyshack in a golf-themed Michelob Ultra commercial that’s already airing in preview form on TV. 

And speaking of Emmy winners, Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul reprise their respective Breaking Bad characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in a spoof of the show promoting the chip PopCorners. “You’re an artist!” Jesse proclaims after tasting them. “Actually, Jesse, it’s just basic ingredients,” Cranston replies, sending up his character’s description of making crystal meth as “basic chemistry.” 

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Amazon Studios has just dropped the trailer to Air, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s fact-based film about the creation of one of the most iconic pieces of footwear ever created: Nike’s Air Jordan.

It’s 1984 and “nobody knows what a Nike is.” Enter Damon as sneaker company executive Sonny Vaccaro, who lobbies director Affleck, playing Nike co-founder Phil Knight, with an idea to put the company on the map: creating “the greatest basketball shoe that’s ever been made,” built around an unknown college basketball player named Michael Jordan.

The trailer shows Damon personally courting the future court star’s mom, Deloris, played by another Oscar winner, Viola Davis, all the while trying to convince the company he’s not out of his mind. “I’m willing to bet my career on one guy,” Damon says.

“I believe in your son,” he tells MJ’s mom. “I believe he’s the future. And his story is going to make us want to fly. But a shoe is just a shoe.”

“Until my son steps into it,” she responds.

The trailer closes with Affleck’s Knight asking of the shoe, “Got a name for it?”

“Air Jordan,” Damon’s character replies breathlessly.

“I dunno. Maybe it’ll grow on me,” Affleck replies.

The movie, which also stars Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Marlon Wayans, hits theaters April 5.

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Reboot, the comedy series from Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan, is officially dead following its cancellation at Hulu after one season. “Well, that seems to be a wrap on Reboot,” Levitan tweeted on Monday. “Very proud of our amazing cast and crew and what we did together. Thanks to all who watched and said such nice things. Haven’t seen it? Check us out on Hulu if you can find it,” he added, along with the hashtag, #UnintentionalLimitedSeries. Levitan had been shopping the series to other potential outlets following the January 30 news of its cancellation. Reboot followed the cast of a fictional sitcom who reunite in an effort to reboot the series for Hulu. Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville and Judy Greer starred alongside Paul Reiser and Rachel Bloom…

The Apple TV+ spy thriller Tehran has been renewed for a third season. The series stars Niv Sultan as a Mossad hacker-agent whose failed mission to help destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor forces her to plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy. In season three, she “must find a way to reinvent herself and win back the Mossad’s support if she is to survive,” per the streamer. House alum Hugh Laurie joins the season three cast as a South African nuclear inspector…

Following Trevor Noah’s exit from The Daily Show back in December, Comedy Central has set dates for the next five guest hosts. Former Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj, best known for his Netflix talk show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, will take the anchor chair the week of February 27, followed by the Scary Movie franchise’s Marlon Wayans the week of March 6, Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn the week of March 13, Saturday Night Live alum and former U.S. Senator Al Franken the week of March 20, and comic and actor John Leguizamo the week of March 27. The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11 p.m. ET on Comedy Central…

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Evangeline Lilly has been in touch with fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Jeremy Renner since his New Year’s Day snow plow accident, and calls his recovery “a miracle.”

“I walked in his house and got chicken skin because I was like, ‘Why are you mobile? Why are you mobile? What’s happening?’” Lilly, who first starred alongside Renner in 2008’s The Hurt Locker told Access Hollywood recently. “I expected to sit at his bedside and hold his hand while he moaned and groaned in pain and wasn’t able to move. He was wheeling himself around, laughing with his friends.”

“It’s a miracle,” she continued. “It’s a straight up miracle. He’s made of something really tough, that guy. You’ve always been able to see that in him and he is recovering incredibly.”

Describing the New Year’s Day snow plow accident that left Renner hospitalized in critical condition and requiring emergency surgery, Lilly says, “It was really intense. I mean, he had a near-death experience that was highly traumatic, and he was awake for the whole thing…I’m still having moments where some of the stuff he told me that he experienced and retelling me the story of what went on and the things he could hear and the things that he could see.”

“That’s like what nightmares are made out of, and he lived through it and he’s on the other side now,” she added.

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Fans seem to be loving the new film 80 for Brady — it’s currently at 90 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and this weekend it runs into some stiff competition with the Super Bowl itself.

Super Bowl Sunday is usually not a great time for movie attendance, but director Kyle Marvin tells ABC Audio that maybe it’s a good way to get in the mood for the big game.

“Like what a cool thing to watch a movie about the Super Bowl and then watch the Super Bowl,” he says. “So I’m hoping it does good things just in the fact that it’s in the conversation, it’s in the zeitgeist.”

The film also has competition with the rerelease of James Cameron’s Titanic in theaters. Last weekend 80 for Brady beat another of Cameron’s movies, Avatar: The Way of Water, and he hopes his film can prevail again if people watch the game on Sunday and see his film another day like “why not Friday, Saturday or even Thursday.”

“I think people can show up, have fun, enjoy that and then and still enjoy the Super Bowl. I think there’s room for it,” Marvin shares. 

One thing there wasn’t room for when it comes to the film, however, was a gay kiss scene with actor and olympic skier Gus Kenworthy. Kenworthy told Variety this week that his scene was cut from the film, theorizing that maybe Middle America didn’t want to see it but Marvin says it was cut for time, and no other reason.

“I love Gus and he did great work,” Marvin expressed. “Unfortunately, I think it’s just a product of a movie getting cut down for pace and time. And I’m sorry that it didn’t make it as well… but there’s nothing more to it than that.”

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Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and newly minted Oscar nominee Jamie Lee Curtis are reportedly joining forces for a TV adaptation of Patricia Cornwall‘s beloved Kay Scarpetta book series.

Deadline reports the Amazon project will have Kidman playing the Scarpetta character, a forensic pathologist who has appeared in 24 books, with Curtis playing her sister Dorothy.

Curtis has been circling an adaptation of Cornwall’s bestselling books since 2021 via her Comet Pictures shingle; the new show, which Deadline said will span two eight-episode seasons, will be co-produced by Kidman’s Blossom Films, Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios.

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In an earnings call on Wednesday, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger outlined a reorganization that will result in 7,000 employees being laid off. That said, for Disney fans there was some good news: Iger noted that sequels to some of its biggest hits, Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia, are in the works.

It wasn’t stated if the original voice cast would return for the projects, which would be the fifth Toy Story adventure, the third Frozen film and the second movie spun from the Zootopia universe.

Further, with Avatar: The Way of Water still making a splash at the box office, Iger teased an “exciting Avatar experience” bound for the Disneyland resort; Pandora — World of Avatar opened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2017.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Sebastian Stan has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since his James “Bucky” Barnes appeared in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. He has since appeared in six other Marvel movies, as well as the spinoff Disney+ show The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

Bucky will also appear in the 2024 MCU team-up film Thunderbolts, about a group of super-people led by Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, previously played by the late William Hurt. However, Hurt’s character has been recast with Harrison Ford for the upcoming fourth Captain America film, and Ford recently confirmed Thunderbolts, as well.

Stan has been sworn to Marvel Studios’ secrecy for more than a decade, so he wasn’t about to spill any tea to ABC Audio last week. But he said with a laugh about Ford, “Well, if he’s in the movie, that would be amazing!”

He demurred, “But I don’t know if he actually is or not, so you might have to ask somebody else about that. But he is incredible. I was actually seeing that Indiana Jones trailer and … I’m really excited to see that.”

Speaking of Bucky, we asked him what he’ll do now, seeing as Rocket Raccoon was gifted the Winter Soldier’s cybernetic arm in the closing moments of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. “I dunno. Maybe I’ll just get another arm,” he deadpanned.

Stan has been working outside the MCU, as well, logging solid performances in movies like I, Tonya. He recently earned a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for Pam & Tommy, and he’ll appear in Apple TV+’s upcoming thriller Sharper. “I feel very lucky, for sure,” he says.  

Sharper will be in select theaters Friday, February 10, before dropping on Apple TV+ Friday, February 17.

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

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ABC’s acclaimed drama A Million Little Things begins its fifth and final season Wednesday, and its cast tells ABC Audio they felt the weight of winding down the show on their own terms.

The series deals with a group of friends who are left reeling in the wake of the unexpected death by suicide of their longtime friend Jonathan, played by Ron Livingston, in the show’s opening episode.

The series won accolades for its portrayal of not only friendship, but also mental illness and the fight against cancer, which personally touched two of its main characters.

Romany Malco, who plays Rome, calls it rare and a privilege to be able to wrap up its many storylines. “I also see it as very responsible. You know, because of the theme, the nature of, you know, the characters, the things that people are struggling with, it’s a very difficult thing to just drop off.”

He continues, “For a lot of people the stories are, like, paralleling their lives. It’s their reality … I do commend ABC and our team for fighting to make sure that we could close this out with some sort of respect and pay homage to the people and the stories that we tell.”

James Roday Rodriguez plays Gary, whose character is dealing both with cancer and impending fatherhood this season. He agrees with Malco, saying of the fans, “They’ve been with us from the beginning. We know, because of their willingness to share their own stories with us, how and why this show is connecting with them.”  

He says that comes with a responsibility to do right by the characters and the people invested in them.

A Million Little Things airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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