Entertainment

CBS has renewed all of three of its NCIS dramas for the 2022-2023 broadcast season, the network announced on Thursday. With the pickups, NCIS will return for its 20th season, while spinoffs NCIS: Hawaii and NCIS: Los Angeles will return for their second and 14th seasons, respectively. “NCIS, one of the most popular and enduring series in the world, and fan favorite NCIS: Los Angeles have been hugely successful on the CBS schedule for years,” Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. “With the strong new addition of NCIS: Hawaii, we are able to expand the strength of this formidable franchise across our schedule. We couldn’t be more excited to have all three talented casts and creative teams back to bring more compelling NCIS stories to viewers in the U.S. and around the globe”…

Eddie Murphy is in early talks to star in and produce an upcoming biopic about Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton, according to Deadline. Clinton is widely known as a funk music pioneer, along with James Brown and Sly Stone. The film will chronicle Clinton’s rise from humble beginnings in North Carolina in the 1940s to the formation of his groundbreaking bands Parliament and Funkadelic and major influence on artists of the hip-hop generation, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast and Wu-Tang Clan, among many others. Clinton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and those members were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards…

Sunday’s CODA‘s history-making Oscar best picture win has given Apple TV+ a big boost, according to Variety. The streaming service’s viewership increased by 25% and raised the film’s viewership from the week before. CODA won in all three categories in which it was nominated, including best supporting actor for Troy Kotsur, and best adapted screenplay for director Siân Heder — making it the first film on a streaming service win the top Oscar prize…

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The new home makeover series Chaos to Calm is all about teaching celebrities — and viewers — how to create organized and functional spaces. 

Each episode of the show, which airs on Aspire TV, stars Lauren Hill, Tneisha Brown and Varatip “V” Johnson of the Dallas-based home organization company The Order Project, who tackle a client’s problem area and dramatically transformation the space.

In a recent episode, Grammy-winning Gospel artist Kirk Franklin makes an appearance, and Hill tells ABC Audio they helped him with fridge organization. 

“So this one we tackle fridge organization, which is not typically seen as a space that people just navigate towards,” she explains. “But we’ve done a lot of spaces for them, and so they’ve been really happy with everything that we’ve done. And when it came down to, you know, another space, we were like, ‘Oh, you guys are on the go all the time. You have a very busy lifestyle, you lead a very healthy lifestyle and you’re constantly on the go. So, what else can we do around your home that makes your life easier?’ And we said, ‘OK fridge organization. Let’s go.'”

Hill, who notes they’ve done multiple projects for the Franklin family, adds, “This [episode] is probably my favorite because you get to we got to see everything that we done we had done before and they kept it just I mean, it really works because we gave them a functional system.“

In addition to Franklin, NBA star Thaddeus Young has made an appearance on the series to get help organizing his massive sneaker collection. As for what celebrities make the trio’s dream client list? Oprah, Beyoncé, and the Obamas topped the list. 

Catch Chaos to Calm Thursdays on AspireTV.

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The new Disney+ film Better Nate Than Ever is about a musical theater loving teen who is trying to live out his dream of someday being on Broadway.

Nate, the main character of the film — played by Rueby Wood — is also gay, and writer/director Tim Federle tells ABC Audio his hope is that it “causes discussion” and “bring some eyeballs to a movie that might not have light sabers or Marvel characters or Homer Simpson.”

What Better Nate Than Ever does have, says Federle, is Friends alum Lisa Kudrow “and a whole bunch of heart.”

What doesn’t show up in the film is any mention of the word “gay,” and it wasn’t overt for a reason.

Notes Federle, “I’m not sure how many things are overt when you’re 13. So when I was 13, I knew I was different, and I knew that I was probably trending toward identifying as gay. I certainly wasn’t ready to say the word out loud.”

“If it’s a word that some people are still afraid to say, then certainly when you were at your most vulnerable, which for many of us is when you’re in seventh grade, you’re going to be really careful with how far you put yourself out there,” he continues. “So I see Nate’s journey in the movie as taking a step toward who he will become.”

As for the film’s message, it’s pretty simple: “No matter what your dream is, chess player…an animator…president of United States — what you need more than anything is people around you who get you and encourage you to kind of step into your own light,” he explains. “And that, to me, is what this is really about.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

Better Nate Than Ever starts streaming today on Disney+.

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Will Packer, the producer of this year’s historic-for-the-wrong-reasons Oscars telecast, will appear on Friday’s edition of Good Morning America. 

GMA‘s T.J. Holmes will interview the producer in the wake of Will Smith‘s on-air assault of Chris Rock, and his controversial subsequent accepting of his Best Actor trophy for King Richard. 

World News Tonight with David Muir will air a preview clip tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

This development comes as reports swirl that Smith may not have been told to leave the Dolby Theatre after he smacked Chris Rock, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences alleged.

The gossip site TMZ reported Thursday that Academy members couldn’t reach a timely decision as to whether or not Smith should be allowed to accept his trophy in person.

In fact, according to the site, it was Packer who allowed Smith to stay, TMZ claims.

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It looks like the people behind the Golden Raspberry Awards don’t want to add insult to injury.

The Oscars-spoofing organization recently “honored” Bruce Willis with his own historic category — “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie,” for a series of eight straight-to-streaming films.

However, the Razzies have announced they’ve had an official change of heart in light of the revelation the Die Hard star is retiring because he is suffering from the degenerative cognitive disorder aphasia.

“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” said co-founders John Wilson and Mo Murphy in a statement. “If someone’s medical condition is a factor in their decision making and/or their performance, we acknowledge that it is not appropriate to give them a Razzie.”

Incidentally, this year’s Razzies bestowed Will Smith with it’s “Redeemer” award, following his Oscar-winning performance in King Richard.

ABC Audio tried to reach the pair for a comment about whether Will’s award — ironically named, considering Smith’s behavior at the Academy Awards ceremony — could also be rescinded. However, The Razzies didn’t reply as of press time.

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Chris Evans and his Avengers series co-star Scarlett Johansson will finally re-team, for an Apple TV+ film called Project Artemis.

The big budget, hush-hush feature will be directed by Ozark‘s Emmy nominated star and Emmy-winning director, Jason Bateman, ABC Audio has confirmed.

In response to the headline, Evans tweeted, “Very excited!!!”

Plot details are being kept quiet, though the real-life Project Artemis is NASA’s mission to send humans back to the moon, including landing the first female astronaut there.

Incidentally, Evans and Johansson, who first met on the set of the 2004 teen comedy The Perfect Score, were supposed to reunite in a different film for the streaming service called Ghosted. However, as previously reported, No Time to Die star Ana de Armas took Johansson’s place in the “a high-concept romantic action adventure film.”

Johansson is also starring in and producing Bride, a genre-bending film for the streamer, which will be directed by Oscar winner Sebastián Lelio.

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If you felt a disturbance in the Force, this might be why.

In an unexpected move, Disney+ has announced that Obi-Wan Kenobi won’t be debuting to commemorate the May 25th release date of Star Wars: A New Hope after all. In a short “important news” video to fans introduced by Ewan McGregor, the onscreen Jedi master noted the debut will now be on Friday, May 27.

“But here’s the exciting part,” the Emmy winner added. “The first two episodes will premiere together.” 

As previously reported, McGregor reprises as the titular character around ten years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

Incidentally, the streaming service moved its premieres from Fridays to Wednesdays last year, with the debut of Loki, in a campaign that saw star Tom Hiddleston declaring, “Wednesdays are the new Fridays.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Caitlyn Jenner has a new gig: She’s been named a contributor for Fox News. 

In a statement, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said of her new hire, “Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all. She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.”

For her part, Jenner added, “I am humbled by this unique opportunity to speak directly to…millions of viewers about a range of issues that are important to the American people.”

The former athlete turned trans activist, and California Republican gubernatorial hopeful has appeared on the network many times since transitioning in 2015, frequently commenting about the controversial issue of trans athletes dominating women’s sports.

Jenner, a former Olympic gold medalist, makes her official debut Thursday evening on Hannity. 

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If you have Netflix, there’s a good chance that you let somebody else — your kids, your parents, maybe even your ex — watch the streaming service on your dime.

According to a new survey, 33% of the streaming giant’s users share their account with one or more people. The poll of 4,400 users conducted by the Leichtman Research Group found that 83% of Americans households have at least one streaming service, but of those who have Netflix, just 64% keep their account to themselves. 

Of the 33% of those who do share their Netflix passwords, just 3% see others sharing the cost.

The poll is interesting in light of Netflix’s recent announcement that it would start charging for those who’ve been mooching movies off their generous friends: The pilot program started in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru would see a surcharge added to accounts that share their access. 

In a blog post from Chengyi Long, director of product innovation at Netflix, she noted, “We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans.”

But, she maintained, sharing between different households has begun “impacting [Netflix’s] ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

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Before Troy Kotsur broke ground in Hollywood by being the first deaf performer to win the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award with his performance in Coda, he changed a galaxy far, far away.

One of the significant recent changes to the Star Wars universe came in Disney+’s The Mandalorian, in which the desert natives known as the Tusken Raiders were shown to be more than the baddies who mugged Luke in Star Wars: A New Hope, or who kidnapped Anakin’s mom, leading to her death, in Attack of the Clones.

Instead, when Pedro Pascal‘s Mando encounters some of them, he communicates using a form of sign language, showing their culture is deeper than previously shown. This thread was carried through into The Book of Boba Fett.

Kotsur developed the Tusken sign language, and played one of the characters later in the series as one of the masked natives. In an ASL video interview with the deaf blog the Daily Moth, he explained he was a fan of Star Wars since he was eight.

“Remember…in…1977…accessibility for Deaf people were limited, but that Star Wars movie blew my mind. It changed my life,” Kotsur signed. “Why? It was…so visual for me. For the first 5 minutes…The spaceships shooting, the robots…all of that overwhelmed my eyes. I watched it 28 times.”

He explained his contribution to The Mandalorian: “[M]y goal was to avoid ASL. I made sure it became Tusken Sign Language based on their culture and environment.”

He called the gig, “a blessing,” and a dream come true. “It is fate,” he signed.

Incidentally, if you want to know the sign for “Mandalorian,” Kotsur invented that, too: It’s based on the ASL for “M” and the shape of their trademark helmets.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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