Entertainment

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman knew he had something special when he was cast as Dr. Charles Zeller, a close colleague of the teenaged doctor Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha, on the Disney+ series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.

Bowyer-Chapman tells ABC Audio that while “much of the original essence” of ABC’s medical drama Doogie Howser, M.D. “still exists” within the new series, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. “is very much a breath of fresh air.”

“In the sense that the stories that were so often…told — [where] the protagonists and the heroes that are often… clothed in white skin — that isn’t necessarily the case in the show,” he explains. “We get to show the strength and power and genius and brilliance and perseverance of everyone else. Everyone who’s existed in the margins for so long.”

That representation, Bowyer-Chapman says, is not only necessary, it’s long overdue.

“As revolutionary as the original series may have been in the late 80s and early 90s, where we are in 2021, it really is about showcasing the stories and lived experiences of marginalized folk,” he says. “And people who don’t necessarily have the spotlight put on us for, for the most part, in mainstream television and films.”

Thankfully, Disney+ gets it right with Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., Bowyer-Chapman says, adding that the series is truly setting the bar for diversity and representation.

“The cast is built of majority people of color, majority Hawaiian natives, tons of AAPI representation,” he says. “I mean, myself, as a Black biracial queer person, as a series regular on the show, it’s something that is not often seen, especially in Disney entities.”

Doogie Kameāloha, M.D, also starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, is now available to stream on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

By now, you’ve probably at least heard of or seen Netflix’s latest hit Squid Game. Well, the popular drama is now making a change to its series all because of an editing fail that exposed someone’s real phone number — and it’s driving the owner nuts. 

Numerous times throughout the show, a business card with a phone number is shown, which players are supposed to call to be entered into the games. That phone number was supposed to be edited to remove the middle or last four digits. However, that didn’t happen, unfortunately, and curious viewers took it upon themselves to test it out. 

The owner of the actual phone number that was displayed told Korea Times that they’ve been “bombarded with calls and text messages” since Squid Game‘s September 17 release. 

“It’s impossible to live a normal life. Many people who have watched the series call me day and night to say they want to join the game, and my phone battery runs out in less than half a day,” the owner explained.

That wasn’t the only person affected by the snafu either. Another person, whose phone number is one digit off, has also experienced an influx of calls, telling the newspaper, “The stress from incessant prank calls is driving me crazy.”

Hopefully, the madness won’t last for much longer for the two. In a statement on Wednesday, the streaming service said, “Together with the production company (Siren Pictures), we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes showing the phone number where necessary.”

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With Star Trek icon William Shatner boldly going to space this Tuesday, some professional astronauts spoke with ABC News about Hollywood’s most famous space traveler’s upcoming journey aboard Jeff Bezos‘ New Shepard vehicle.

NASA Astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn and ESA Astronaut Matthias Maurer are also headed to the final frontier, but are scheduled to blast off in one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon rockets on October 30,bound for a six-month mission to the International Space Station.

Barron told ABC News, “I think it captures the imagination of so many of us to see Captain Kirk…getting to fly in space…Who doesn’t want to see that happen? I know I do!”

Chari offered, “…[M]y words of advice he should try to get as many catchphrases as he can while he’s weightless like ‘Beam Me Up Scotty.’…'”

Marshburn said he wasn’t a Trekkie, but noted of Shatner, “I think he’s quite brave…and so all the kudos go to him for doing this, he’s a pioneer and I hope he enjoys it.”

Maurer tells ABC News, “I watched Trek as a kid, and now to know that, Captain Kirk is now at the age of 90 is flying to space, I think that’s a marvelous idea and I think you can never be too old to live a dream.”

Shatner, who played USS Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk on Gene Roddenberry‘s beloved sci-fi series and in seven feature films, will be joined by a senior Blue Origin employee and two co-founders of space-related technology companies for the sub-orbital mission, designated NS-18.

Shatner, who turned 90 in March, will become the oldest person to fly to space, surpassing the record set in July by 82-year-old astronaut and New Shepard traveler Wally Funk.

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The season two finale of Ted Lasso drops today on Apple TV+, coming not long after the show’s first season dominated the Emmys a few weeks ago.

Brett Goldstein won an Emmy for playing the team’s gruff but lovable team captain, Roy Kent. He’s also a writer on the show, and he tells ABC Audio that if season two felt a little different, or there were some surprising choices, that was all part of the plan

“What people really like is to be surprised. And that’s what people liked about the first [season] is they weren’t expecting it,” says Goldstein, who also appeared alongside Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis in the films We’re the Millers and Horrible Bosses 2.

“They weren’t expecting the way any of the characters[or] any of the stories. And so really, what you have to do is keep surprising people. You shouldn’t do what people are expecting because inevitably they’ll feel slightly disappointed because they’re like, oh, yeah, I guess that’s what I wanted to happen,” he continues. “Whereas what you were impressed with the first time was the surprise. And I think that’s the trick is to keep people on their toes.

Juno Temple plays Keeley Jones, who works as the team’s public relations person. She says she’s excited that people are loving the series.

“[I]t meant a lot to us when we were making it, you know? And so the fact that people not just are enjoying it, they say like, ‘it really meant a lot to me and it made me feel good,” says the 32-year-old actress, who wholeheartedly agrees, noting, “I fully concur that it made me feel good making it.”  

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Kim Kardashian will make her anticipated Saturday Night Live hosting debut this weekend, with Halsey starring as musical guest. 

To amp up the audience ahead of Saturday’s show, the two ladies, along with Cecily Strong, provided a taste of what’s to come in a series of promos while also preparing the reality star for her big debut.

“So, Kim are you nervous about doing sketch comedy?,” Strong asks in one promo. Kardashian replies by asking if she should be: “Why? I don’t have to write sketches do I?”  She also wonders if she has to “memorize lines.”

Both answers are, of course, no.  Halsey and Strong explain that the comedy has been handled by the pros and that all there is to do is keep an eye on the cue cards.

“Everyone else won’t look as good as me, will they?” Kim finally asks, resulting in her companions emphatically dispelling any doubts that she will be outdone.

That leads to the reality star flicking a wrist and grinning, “This is so easy!”

Strong’s smile wavers as she hesitantly agrees: “Yeah… I guess it is.”

We will see how Kim handles the pressure of a live studio audience when SNL returns Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.



It was the first major Hollywood movie delayed because of the pandemic, and now the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die, is finally in theaters this weekend. Daniel Craig returns for a final time as the British super spy, and he tells ABC News he’s thrilled fans get to see it in the theater, as intended.

“Bond movies are meant to be seen in cinemas with a crowd of people you don’t know that well with popcorn and drinks and some shouting and screaming,” he says.

Even though Craig knew No Time to Die would be the last time around for him, he admits that he didn’t take time to savor those moments while filming.

“There’s so many fires to put out. So many things to be thinking about, the following day, the following week, the following month, you’re just sort of in the process and that’s all that’s going on,” he explains. “It didn’t really, it didn’t hit home until the last shooting day.”

Craig, 53, adds that looking back on his experience, “the fun outweighs everything” despite a lot of “ups and downs.”

“I just look back with fondness about the people that I’ve had the chance to work with. That’s been really just the joy of it all,” he says. 

With Craig’s exit, there enters a new 007, played by Lashana Lynch, who didn’t realize what she’d gotten herself into when it came to physical training for the part. 

“I also did ask to be a ninja at the beginning, and I kind of regret that now because they did not go easy on me,” Lynch tittered.

No Time to Die opens in U.S. theaters today.

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With Halloween around the corner — and New York Comic Con in town — fans are scouring the Internet to find the costumes and props that reflect the outfits and accessories seen on the Netflix hit Squid Game.   

The Korean import show depicts a deadly game in which hundreds of poverty-stricken people are pitted against each other in a series of children’s games, with the winner getting a $38 million jackpot. The losers are executed.

According to the footwear site Sole Supplier, sales for simple slip-on white Vans — the standard footwear of the players/prisoners in the show — have shot up 7,800% since the show’s premiere last month. 

What’s more, Etsy shops have been selling replicas of the players’ tracksuits, if you don’t feel like cobbling the simple outfit together by yourself. 

Sellers on Amazon are also outfitting wannabe baddies from the show. Fencing helmets complete a simple, PlayStation-like shape on each face plate are for sale, too, as are the villains’ red jumpsuits. Those are already popping up en masse in New York City, worn by Comic Con attendees.

For those costumers with access to a 3D printer, designs for the face masks can be had, too — if other sellers are sold out.

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Coming to theaters this weekend opposite the bullets and espionage hijinks of a certain British super spy is quite possibly the polar opposite of No Time to Die: the Scandinavian thriller Lamb. 

The movie is a thriller in only the Icelandic sense of the word: there are no jump scares, no hockey mask-wearing villains. Instead, it’s a haunting film about a couple on their Icelandic farm who are mourning the loss of a child when something very unusual happens to one of their pregnant sheep. 

Noomi Rapace, who starred in Alien: Covenant and the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films, among others, explains she came to this very unconventional movie thanks to a “mood book” of photos and poems given to her by the movie’s director, Valdimar Jóhannsson.

“He just gave me that. And he was a bit blushy and red and he went outside and had a cigarette,” Rapace recalled to ABC Audio, cracking up Jóhannsson. “I’m like, ‘Wait, what? You’re not going to like pitch it?’ Are you not going to try to sell it to me? And he didn’t. He just let the material speak for itself.”

“I started like looking at those images that [were] so addictive,” said Rapace, “and then I knew straight away that I needed to do it.”

Noomi laughed, “Imagine when I call my team, it’s like, ‘So I’m going to do this like very small, no-budget Icelandic movie with a first-time director. And it’s about like a couple farmers that has like a baby that’s half human, half lamb. That’s what I’m doing, like, five months of my life.”

“And they’re like, Wait, what?” Rapace laughs, giggling.  

Lamb was honored with the Un Certain Regard award for new filmmakers at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

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You might not recognize the name of Hook & Ladder Company 8 in New York City, but it’s a pretty safe bet you would if you saw it: The real-life firehouse in Lower Manhattan was the Ghostbusters’ headquarters.

And it will look even more authentic if you happen to pass by this week, as the firehouse is proudly emblazoned with the iconic “No Ghosts” symbol that adorned the building in the 1984 classic.

The New York City firefighters stationed at the location have always embraced its spooky past: They have ghost patches and other assorted swag to celebrate their HQ’s famous film history, but with New York Comic Con coming to town this weekend, FDNY Ladder 8 got into the — well, sprit, by hanging the replica of the original sign from the film on the building’s exterior.

The sign was actually purchased via a GoFundMe started by The Buffalo Ghostbusters, one of hundreds of costuming fan groups dedicated to the comedy. They decided to pass the hat, albeit virtually, when they learned the firehouse’s sign, as seen in Ghostbusters 2, had been damaged in the years since the 1989 sequel.

The group managed to raise $8,000 — eight times their original goal — which was enough to have a brand-new, three-dimensional sign made.

While the firehouse only displays the logo on special occasions, they might as well leave it out for a while: Ghostbusters: Afterlife debuts in theaters November 19.

 

 

 

 

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It’s looking like it truly was Agatha all along…

While Marvel Studios is remaining characteristically mum, Deadline is reporting the studio is brewing up a spin-off series for Disney+ centering on WandaVision Emmy nominee Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha Harkness. 

Hahn played a double role in the acclaimed original series: a trope “nosy neighbor” character called Agnes who was actually pulling the spooky strings behind the scenes as Agatha, who is revealed to be a powerful witch. 

While she was bested by Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the series, the pages of Marvel Comics portrayed much more of Agatha’s history since her debut in Fantastic Four #94 in 1970.

Agatha Harkness is an incredibly powerful character, whose comics history spans from ancient times through Salem witch hysteria  — the latter seen in the series — and even to the sorceress’ time as a government asset in World War II.  

The character is also expected to jump to the big screen, and, while it’s not certain, it’s easy to see Hahn popping up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, given that Scarlet Witch will appear in that 2022 film.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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