In Brief: Bob Saget tribute debuts June 10; ‘The Lost City’ streams, and more

In Brief: Bob Saget tribute debuts June 10; ‘The Lost City’ streams, and more
In Brief: Bob Saget tribute debuts June 10; ‘The Lost City’ streams, and more

The premiere date for Netflix’s A Tribute to Bob Saget, a celebration of the comedian and actor’s life in comedy with his friends and family, is June 10, the streaming service announced as part of its Netflix Is a Joke festival. The event, filmed at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood following Saget’s January 9 death, featured many big names, including his Full House co-star John StamosJim CarreyChris RockJeffrey Ross, and John Mayer

The Lost City, the rom-com adventure starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, is coming to Paramount+ on Tuesday. The film has Bullock playing a reclusive romance novelist who gets kidnapped by a weirdo billionaire played by Daniel Radcliffe, while Channing Tatum plays her Fabio-like cover model who attempts to rescue her. Brad Pitt also stars as a mercenary far better suited for such an operation…

Norway’s equivalent of the Emmy Awards, the Gullruten Awards, were held on Saturday night, and while many of the country’s biggest stars aren’t well-known here, the opening number would have been pretty familiar to U.S. audiences: The stars all assembled to imitate the “Peacemaker dance.” The hit HBO Max show opens with the show’s cast doing a straight-faced, coordinated dance to Wigwam‘s “Do You Wanna Taste It.” To his social media followers, Peacemaker creator James Gunn pointed out the awards show tribute, noting of their imitation, “…A little too much smiling, but I know it’s hard to hold back when you wanna taste Wigwam”…

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring and executive-produced by John Krasinski, will end with its fourth season, currently in production, sources tell Deadline. However, that won’t be the end of the franchise, according to the outlet, which reports Amazon Prime Video is developing a potential spinoff series starring Michael Peña as Ding Chavez — another character from Clancy’s Jack Ryan literary universe. Peña will be introduced in the final episode of the upcoming third season before joining the cast full-time in season four. Amazon announced Peña’s addition to the cast in the season-four pickup announcement in October without revealing his character. Returning for Jack Ryan‘s third season, besides Krasinski, are Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Michael Kelly as Mike November…

CBS has renewed all three shows from Dick Wolf‘s FBI franchise — flagship show FBI and spinoffs FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International — for two more seasons, the network announced on Monday. The multi-year pickups will take FBI through its sixth season in 2023-24, Most Wanted through its fifth and International to its third. With the FBI pickups, seven of the nine scripted series Wolf has on broadcast TV are set to return in 2022-23. NBC’s Chicago trio and Law & Order: SVU are all in the second year of three-season pickups, announced in 2020…

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Kelly Ripa tests positive for COVID-19

Kelly Ripa tests positive for COVID-19
Kelly Ripa tests positive for COVID-19
Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Live with Kelly and Ryan may look a little different for a few episodes because co-host Kelly Ripa has tested positive for COVID-19. 

The 51-year-old, who co-hosts the show with Ryan Seacrest, took to Instgram on Tuesday to share the news, writing, “Unfortunately i tested positive for covid-19 this weekend, but thankfully i am fully vaccinated and boosted, and today’s show was already pre taped last week.”

“I am taking all necessary precautions and looking forward to returning to normal life as soon as the standard quarantine time is over,” she continued. “On a lighter note, i did receive the peace and quiet i requested for Mother’s Day. Thanks for understanding, Xo, Kelly.”

Ripa did not confirm the exact date she is expected to return to the show.

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‘The Late Show’ pausing taping episodes while Stephen Colbert has a “recurrence of COVID”

‘The Late Show’ pausing taping episodes while Stephen Colbert has a “recurrence of COVID”
‘The Late Show’ pausing taping episodes while Stephen Colbert has a “recurrence of COVID”
CBS/Mary Ellen Matthews

While he resumed taping of The Late Show last week after testing positive for COVID, Stephen Colbert is back to isolation.  

“Stephen is experiencing symptoms consistent with a recurrence of COVID,” The Late Show‘s Twitter feed announced Monday. “Out of an abundance of caution for his staff, guests, and audience, he will be isolating for a few additional days. The Late Show will not be taping new episodes until further notice.”

Colbert himself, who is vaccinated and boosted, replied to the post, noting, “WORST. SEQUEL. EVER.”

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Production on ‘Ahsoka’ series is now underway

Production on ‘Ahsoka’ series is now underway
Production on ‘Ahsoka’ series is now underway
Lucasfilm

With a tweet from Star Wars‘ official social media channels, it was announced that production on Disney+’s small-screen spin-off Ahsoka got underway Monday.

The series stars Rosario Dawson as the titular former Jedi character she played on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett; the show will also star Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, as well as Aladdin‘s Mena Massoud, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ivanna Sakhno, Ray Stevenson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Lars Mikkelsen.

Recently, ABC Audio spoke with Dawson — a life-long Star Wars fan and self-described geek — who enthused, “It’s really exciting to start getting into it, you know, like I literally am like, ‘I can’t hang out because I’m saber training.’ Like, that’s an actual thing I got to say, which is really, really fun and cool!”

First voiced by Ashley Eckstein, Ahsoka Tano made her debut in the Star Wars universe in the Emmy-winning animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Initially a Padawan learner under the tutelage of reluctant teacher Anakin Skywalker, Tano developed through that series, and also appeared in the subsequent animated show Star Wars: Rebels.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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‘Candy’ stars Jessica Biel, Melanie Lynskey on the surprising way they relate to their characters

‘Candy’ stars Jessica Biel, Melanie Lynskey on the surprising way they relate to their characters
‘Candy’ stars Jessica Biel, Melanie Lynskey on the surprising way they relate to their characters
Hulu

The true story of a 1980’s murder is at the center of the new series Candy, which debuts its first episode today on Hulu.

So, what’s it all about? For starters, it’s about a woman named Candy, who is played by Jessica Biel.

“Candy is a very normal suburban housewife and mom who is a churchgoing leader in her community,” Biel tells ABC Audio. “A fun, nice, kind woman who has a lot of emotional things that she’s incapable of sharing, and is incapable of knowing how to express herself in a way that that can keep her life on a regular track.”

She continues, “And she comes up against an experience where she commits a terrible act of violence. And it changes her life and her friend’s life.”

Biel also shares that Candy is a character with which she surprisingly could “very much relate to as a wife and a mother.”

“You know, just a normal-ish type of person,” she says. “And, you know, being pushed to the edge and then making a decision that, you know, you can’t take back.”

Likewise, Melanie Lynskey, who plays the woman Candy murders in the series, says that her role was also one that she could relate to.

“I’m a pretty shy person and I feel like I can be extremely awkward in groups of people. And that was something that I found very endearing about Betty,” she explains. “I also understood very deeply, and I cared about her. There was just something internally that felt right to me when I read the script.”

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Alec and Hilaria Baldwin say baby #7 will be a girl

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin say baby #7 will be a girl
Alec and Hilaria Baldwin say baby #7 will be a girl
Walt Disney Television/Yolanda Perez

On their Instagram pages, Hilaria and Alec Baldwin announced that their seventh child will be a girl. The news was broken with a video in which mom and dad, along with some of their kids — Carmen Gabriela, 8; Rafael Thomas, 6; and Leonardo Ángel Charles, 5 — gave the coming bundle of joy some life advice.

“One characteristic doesn’t define you,” Alec said, smiling. “You are a complicated and multifaced human,” Carmen added. “No one can define your cultures,” Leonardo followed.

“You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone,” Hilaria commented, adding later, “Feel free to immerse in and express all parts of your identity.”

Of course, their two youngest children — almost-20-month-old Eduardo Pau Lucas Baldwin, and 15-month-old Lucia — were too young to add their two cents, but they’re shown playing with their siblings.

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‘See Top Gun: Maverick’ star Jon Hamm take to the skies with just an iPad — almost

‘See Top Gun: Maverick’ star Jon Hamm take to the skies with just an iPad — almost
‘See Top Gun: Maverick’ star Jon Hamm take to the skies with just an iPad — almost
Courtesy Skyryse

Jon Hamm will be seen in theaters opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick when it premieres on May 24, but he can be seen flying for real now in a cool promo for the flight tech company Skyryse.

The California-based company develops systems that lets people pilot aircraft with just a few lessons, and the ability to use an iPad.

Normally, flying a helicopter is a pretty difficult skill to pick up — some have equated it to balancing on a slippery beach ball — and it takes many, many flight hours to get the hang of it.

However, in the promo, Hamm is first shown being put through his paces on a flight simulator of a Bell-style helicopter, where he’s shown the basics: The flight interface “is so intuitive,” he marvels, and with a swipe or two, along with tapping in numbers for altitude and airspeed, he takes to the air in his simulated chopper.

Thirty minutes later, he’s strapped into the real thing and, using the same iPad-based procedures, with no traditional flight training, he’s able to take off, fly around and land.

“Skyryse develops technology that automates the mechanics of flight, reducing the learning curve so that learning to fly is as easy as learning to drive,” the company’s website notes.

 

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Taika Waititi teases Natalie Portman’s return in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

Taika Waititi teases Natalie Portman’s return in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’
Taika Waititi teases Natalie Portman’s return in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’
Marvel Studios

(NOTE LANGUAGE) In a new chat with Empire magazine, Jojo Rabbit Oscar winner Taika Waititi chats about Natalie Portman‘s return to the Thor franchise — and her claiming the God of Thunder’s mighty mantle herself.

“It’s been about eight years” since Chris Hemsworth‘s character has seen his former flame, physicist Jane Foster, the writer-director explains about the plot of the upcoming film, titled Thor: Love and Thunder. “She’s had a whole other life, and then the love of your life comes back on the scene, and is now dressed like you. It’s a real mindf*** for Thor.”

This time around, Portman’s character traces the arc of the Mighty Thor comics, which sees a cancer-stricken Jane being cured with a little lightning therapy.

Waititi adds, “You don’t want Natalie coming back and playing that same character who’s walking around with science equipment. You know, while Thor’s flying around, she’s left on Earth, tapping her foot going, ‘When’s he going to be back?’ That’s boring. You want her to be part of the adventure.”

Aside from her Portman’s Thor-like arms after she takes up the mantle, the Oscar-winning actress shows other strengths in the film, according to Taika.

“Natalie’s really funny in real life,” he explains. “She’s kind of goofy and has got a great sense of humor, and I don’t think that was exploited enough in the first films.”

The movie, which also stars Tessa Thompson, Chris Pratt, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, opens July 8.

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

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“It’s never too late”: Anthony Anderson graduates from Howard University

“It’s never too late”: Anthony Anderson graduates from Howard University
“It’s never too late”: Anthony Anderson graduates from Howard University
(ABC/Christopher Willard)

What’s been 30 years in the making, Anthony Anderson can finally say he’s a college graduate. 

The Black-ish alum, 51, shared an inspiring message Sunday on Instagram celebrating his graduation from Howard University this past weekend.

“This spring I was finally able to complete the work to graduate from Howard University with a BFA degree from the Chadwick A Boseman College of Fine Arts!” Anderson wrote. “Yesterday was a full circle moment. It’s never too late! Things happen when they’re supposed to happen!”

He also expressed, “To quote Biggie, ‘IT WAS ALL A DREAM!’ Words can’t begin to describe the emotional roller coaster I’m on right now. It’s literally been 30 years in the making.”

In a 2018 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Anderson revealed that he dropped out of college due to financial reasons.

The Law & Order star went on to thank the people who helped him accomplish this milestone, including Phylicia Rashad, who this time last year was named dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, and his Hustle & Flow co-star Taraji P. Henson, who served as the university’s commencement speaker.

The actor also thanked his son, Nathan, who he said inspired him to “return to school to finish my degree after he was accepted into Howard University.”

Anderson concluded the post with one final uplifting message, writing, “This is just the beginning!”

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‘A Strange Loop’ leads 75th Tony Award nominations

‘A Strange Loop’ leads 75th Tony Award nominations
‘A Strange Loop’ leads 75th Tony Award nominations
Adrienne Warren and Joshua Henry — Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

The nominations for the 75th annual Tony Awards were announced on Monday, with two musicals about Michael Jackson getting the love from voters.

A Strange Loop led the pack with 11 nominations, followed by MJ: The Musical and Paradise Square following with 10 noms apiece.

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster both scored acting nominations for the revival of The Music Man; Billy Crystal was nominated for his adaptation Mr. Saturday Night; Sam Rockwell scored a nod for the David Mamet drama American Buffalo; and Phylicia Rashad earned a nomination for Skeleton Crew, while her performance in How I Learned to Drive earned a nomination for Mary-Louise Parker.

The 75th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by newly-minted West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, will be held on June 12 at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall. The ceremony will air live on CBS and on Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Here is a list of the nominees:

Best Book of a Musical
Girl From The North Country – Conor McPherson
MJ – Lynn Nottage
Mr. Saturday Night – Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
Paradise Square – Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan
A Strange Loop – Michael R. Jackson

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Flying Over Sunset – Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Michael Korie
Mr. Saturday Night – Music: Jason Robert Brown, Lyrics: Amanda Green
Paradise Square – Music: Jason Howland, Lyrics: Nathan Tysen & Masi Asare
SIX: The Musical – Music and Lyrics: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss
A Strange Loop – Music & Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Simon Russell Beale – The Lehman Trilogy
Adam Godley – The Lehman Trilogy
Adrian Lester – The Lehman Trilogy
David Morse – How I Learned to Drive
Sam Rockwell – American Buffalo
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Lackawanna Blues
David Threlfall – Hangmen

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Gabby Beans – The Skin of Our Teeth
LaChanze – Trouble in Mind
Ruth Negga – Macbeth
Deirdre O’Connell – Dana H.
Mary-Louise Parker – How I Learned to Drive

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Billy Crystal – Mr. Saturday Night
Myles Frost – MJ
Hugh Jackman – The Music Man
Rob McClure – Mrs. Doubtfire
Jaquel Spivey – A Strange Loop

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sharon D Clarke – Caroline, or Change
Carmen Cusack – Flying Over Sunset
Sutton Foster – The Music Man
Joaquina Kalukango – Paradise Square
Mare Winningham – Girl From The North Country

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Alfie Allen – Hangmen
Chuck Cooper – Trouble in Mind
Jesse Tyler Ferguson – Take Me Out
Ron Cephas Jones – Clyde’s
Michael Oberholtzer – Take Me Out
Jesse Williams – Take Me Out

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Uzo Aduba – Clyde’s
Rachel Dratch – POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Kenita R. Miller – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Phylicia Rashad – Skeleton Crew
Julie White – POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Kara Young – Clyde’s

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Matt Doyle – Company
Sidney DuPont – Paradise Square
Jared Grimes – Funny Girl
John-Andrew Morrison – A Strange Loop
A.J. Shively – Paradise Square

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Jeannette Bayardelle – Girl From The North Country
Shoshana Bean – Mr. Saturday Night
Jayne Houdyshell – The Music Man
L Morgan Lee – A Strange Loop
Patti LuPone – Company
Jennifer Simard – Company

Best Direction of a Play
Lileana Blain-Cruz – The Skin of Our Teeth
Camille A. Brown – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Sam Mendes – The Lehman Trilogy
Neil Pepe – American Buffalo
Les Waters – Dana H.

Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Brackett – A Strange Loop
Marianne Elliott – Company
Conor McPherson – Girl From The North Country
Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage – SIX: The Musical
Christopher Wheeldon – MJ

Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Warren Carlyle – The Music Man
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille – SIX: The Musical
Bill T. Jones – Paradise Square
Christopher Wheeldon – MJ

Best Orchestrations
David Cullen – Company
Tom Curran – SIX: The Musical
Simon Hale – Girl From The North Country
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg – MJ
Charlie Rosen – A Strange Loop

Best Play
Clyde’s
Hangmen
The Lehman Trilogy
The Minutes
Skeleton Crew

Best Musical
Girl From The North Country
MJ
Mr. Saturday Night
Paradise Square
SIX: The Musical
A Strange Loop

Best Revival of a Play
American Buffalo
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
How I Learned to Drive
Take Me Out
Trouble in Mind

Best Revival of a Musical
Caroline, or Change
Company
The Music Man

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt – POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong – Skeleton Crew
Es Devlin – The Lehman Trilogy
Anna Fleischle – Hangmen
Scott Pask – American Buffalo
Adam Rigg – The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions – Flying Over Sunset
Bunny Christie – Company
Arnulfo Maldonado – A Strange Loop
Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini – MJ
Allen Moyer – Paradise Square

Best Costume Design of a Play
Montana Levi Blanco – The Skin of Our Teeth
Sarafina Bush – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Emilio Sosa – Trouble in Mind
Jane Greenwood – Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite
Jennifer Moeller – Clyde’s

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Fly Davis – Caroline, or Change
Toni-Leslie James – Paradise Square
William Ivey Long – Diana, The Musical
Santo Loquasto – The Music Man
Gabriella Slade – SIX: The Musical
Paul Tazewell – MJ

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Joshua Carr – Hangmen
Jiyoun Chang – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Jon Clark – The Lehman Trilogy
Jane Cox – Macbeth
Yi Zhao – The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Neil Austin – Company
Tim Deiling – SIX: The Musical
Donald Holder – Paradise Square
Natasha Katz – MJ
Bradley King – Flying Over Sunset
Jen Schriever – A Strange Loop

Best Sound Design of a Play
Justin Ellington – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H. Palmer Hefferan – The Skin of Our Teeth
Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey – The Lehman Trilogy
Mikaal Sulaiman – Macbeth

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Simon Baker – Girl from the North Country
Paul Gatehouse – SIX: The Musical
Ian Dickinson for Autograph – Company
Drew Levy – A Strange Loop
Gareth Owen MJ

 

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