Black-ish is back! The ABC sitcom premieres its eighth and final season Tuesday night.
The show’s return will tackle real world topics including the COVID-19 pandemic, and Marsai Martin, who plays Diane Johnson on the show, was admittedly curious about how the writers would handle it.
“OK, are we going to be wearing masks? How’s our characters going to react to the pandemic? I had all the questions,” she tells ABC Audio, before adding, “So I am, I guess, speaking for lots of people, shout out to the writers. I am honestly so grateful for our writers because they know how to take these deep situations and these topics that a lot of sitcoms don’t really talk about and make it into something beautiful.”
Another beautiful thing that viewers will get to see is growth from both Martin’s character, Diane, and her twin brother on the show, Jack, played by Miles Brown.
“The viewers kind of like see us growing up,” Brown shares. “I feel like some people who are watching aren’t prepared for that. And I don’t think I was… I don’t think any of us were, to be honest.”
He adds, “I’m excited to see how they watch us mature.”
Season eight of Black-ish consists of just 13 episodes, about half of previous seasons, however that didn’t make the final days on set any easier. Brown calls the moment “bittersweet,” and Martin recalls there being “lots of tears.”
One thing they both agree on though is being super grateful for being able to experience something beautiful that a lot of people don’t often experience.
Catch the final season of Black-ish when it premieres at 9:30 ET on ABC.
Sony Pictures has delayed the release of its Spider-Man spinoff, Morbius, once again, this time from January 28 to April 1, 2022, according to Variety. The film was supposed to debut July 10, 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the studio to move it to March 19, 2021, then Oct. 8, 2021, then January 21, before shifting yet again to the January 28 date. Morbius stars Jared Leto as the titular character, a brilliant doctor and biochemist who becomes a vampire while seeking an unconventional cure for the rare blood disease that afflicts him. Michael Keaton, Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson also star…
Deadline reports Keanu Reeves is in talks to join Hulu’s series adaptation of The Devil in the White City, based on Erik Larson’s 2003 book that tells the true story of two men — an architect and a serial killer — whose fates were forever linked by The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. The project would mark Reeves’ first major U.S. TV role. The Devil in the White City has been in various stages of development since Leonardo DiCaprio bought the film rights in 2010, in hopes of turning it into a feature at Paramount with Martin Scorsese to direct, according to Deadline. Hulu announced in 2019 that it was developing the project as a limited series with DiCaprio and Scorsese exec-producing and Todd Field set to direct the first two episodes…
Space Force, the Netflix comedy starring Steve Carell, will return for season two on February 18, the streaming service announced on Monday. The series follows Carell as Mark R. Naird, a decorated pilot tapped to run the newly formed sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, known as Space Force. Season two, will pick up with General Naird and his underdog team having to prove their worth to a new administration while dealing with interpersonal challenges. John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Tawny Newsome, Diana Silvers, Jimmy O. Yang and Don Lake also star…
Jimmy Fallon tested positive for COVID-19 over the holidays.
Taking to Instagram on Monday, the late-night talk show host shared the health update alongside with a picture of him isolated in a glass room.
“Hey guys, on the first day of our holiday break I tested positive for Covid,” Fallon shared, adding that he was “vaccinated and boostered” and only had “mild symptoms.”
“Thank you to the doctors and nurses who work so hard around the clock to get everyone vaxxed,” he continued. “Thank you to NBC for taking the testing protocols so seriously and doing a great job – and also thanks for putting me in the “What ‘chu talkin’ about Willis?” isolation room when they told me the news.”
When Fallon returned to The Tonight Show on Monday, he shared more details about the incident, revealing that his wife and their two daughters — Winnie, eight, and Frances, seven — traveled upstate for the Christmas holiday while he stayed put and isolated himself. However, when they too returned positive tests, Fallon called it a “Christmas Miracle” as he was able to be with them for the holidays.
“My girls tested positive as well. They’re fine, everyone is fine,” he assured. “They had the sniffles. Frannie had sniffles for like two days. Winnie had no symptoms at all. But that meant I could go home and spend the holidays with the kids, so I did.”
The Bachelor kicked off its 26th season on Monday with Clayton Echard, a 28-year-old medical sales rep from Columbia, Missouri meeting the 31 women who are vying to be his future wife.
However, in a shocking franchise first, Salley, a 26-year-old Charlottesville, Virginia native, would head home before the first limo arrived.
Salley, we learned, was previously engaged and set to marry on the same weekend as The Bachelor began taping. She revealed that going into the show, she was excited about meeting Clayton and entering a new chapter of her life with him, but upon arriving at the mansion, she realized she wasn’t ready to move on just yet.
Salley then showed up at Clayton’s hotel room to personally deliver the news that she was backing out of the competition, but was surprised when he asked to leave for a moment and returned with a rose in his hand, explaining, “There’s definitely chemistry and really makes me feel like there could be something special,” he insisted.
“I really want you here, so much so that I want to prove that,” he continued, before offering her the rose.
Unfortunately, After thinking it over, Salley turned down his offer, explaining, “I want to accept that rose, but my heart is just not in the place where I can.”
“That was tough,” Clayton said later in a confessional. “The first rose that I have given out as The Bachelor was rejected.”
Another shocking moment came after 28-year-old spray tanner Claire‘s time alone with Clayton didn’t go well. She expressed her disappointment with the other women, declaring, “He was a hundred percent too nice for me.”
Upon learning that Claire had no intention of saying that to Clayton’s face, Serene, an Ohio school teacher, decided to tell him instead. After a confronting Claire about her remarks, he sent her packing.
Also sent home on Monday were Daria, Hailey, Ivana, Jane, Lindsay D., Rianna and Samantha.
The first impression rose went to Teddi.
Here are the other women remaining after the rose ceremony:
Cassidy, 26, an executive recruiter from Los Angeles, Calif.
Eliza, 25, a marketing manager from Berlin, Germany
Elizabeth, 32, a real estate advisor from Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Ency, 28, a sales manager from Burbank, Calif.
Gabby, 30, an ICU nurse from Denver, Colo.
Genevive, 26, a bartender from Los Angeles, Calif.
Hunter, 28, a human resources specialist from Charlotte, N.C.
Jill, 26, an architectural historian from Scituate, R.I.
Kate, 32, a real estate agent from Lake Hollywood, Calif.
Kira, 32, a physician from Philadelphia, Pa.
Lyndsey W., 28 an industrial sale representative from Houston, Texas
Mara, 32, an entrepreneur from Collingswood, N.J.
Marlena, 30, a former Olympian from Gainesville, Fla.
Melina, 27, a personal trainer from West Hollywood, Calif.
Rachel, 25, a flight instructor from Clermont, Fla.
Sarah, 23, a wealth management advisor from New York City, N.Y.
Serene, 26, an elementary school teacher from Oklahoma City, Ohio
Shanae, 29, a recruiter from Sycamore, Ohio
Sierra, 26, a yoga instructor from Dallas, Texas
Susie, 28, a wedding videographer from Virginia Beach, Va.
Teddi, 24, a surgical unit nurse from Highland, Calif.
Tessa, 26, a human resources specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y.
As the entertainment world and her legions of fans mourns the death of Betty White, a rep for the beloved Golden Girls and Mary Tyler Moore Emmy winner has revealed her cause of death on December 31.
Via phone, her close friend and agent Jeff Witjas told ABC News, “My understanding is it was natural causes. She died in her sleep, in her own bed. It’s as simple as that.”
Witjas also maintained, “Betty didn’t have illnesses. She didn’t have anything. People are putting it out there that she had the booster on Dec. 28 and that she had [side] effects. She never had a booster.”
The rep added, “They’re politicizing her death and they shouldn’t do that because she wasn’t that type of person in life.”
Witjas told ABC News that he visited White in her home about a month before she died and found her to be “all there,” albeit physically frail. “We were laughing, her sense of humor was there,” he said.
Meanwhile, tributes continue to mount for the late performer, who would have turned 100 on January 17. Actress Yvette Nicole Brown recently posted to Instagram footage of herself and her Community cast mates belting out Toto‘s “Africa” with White in 2010.
Brown commented that the clip was a video from her old cellphone that she kept private until now.
“I needed a bit of Betty this early morning so I searched an old computer to find it,” she explained. “After seeing it, I figured you guys might need it too.”
Halle Berry and Van Hunt in October, 2021; Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Halle Berry has been married three times, and on New Year’s Day, she had people all around the world convinced she had tied the knot for a fourth time.
The Oscar and Emmy winner shared a pair of pictures of with her boyfriend, Van Hunt, captioning the images, “well…IT’S OFFICIAL!” The first snapshot featured the couple sharing a kiss at an altar overlooking the water below.
They received thousands of congratulations, including messages from Naomi Campbell, Megan Good, Tamar Braxton, Octavia Spencer, Kim Fields, Tia Mowry, Tamera Mowry, Ava DuVernay, LeToya Luckett, and Niecy Nash. Dwayne Johnson commented, “Congrats you two!!! Beautiful!”
On Sunday, the Bruised star admitted it was a joke.
“We were just having some New Year’s Day fun!,” Berry wrote. “Thank you for the well wishes, tho’, it really touched our hearts.” Halle was previously married to baseball star David Justice, singer Eric Benet and actor Olivier Martinez. Berry announced on Instagram in September 2020 that she was in a relationship with Hunt.
In other news, People are speculating that Lori Harvey may be pregnant, based on her New Year’s Eve Instagram post about her boyfriend, Michael B. Jordan. The model shared a boomerang of herself and Michael in a now expired Instagram story, with the comment “Babydaddy.” She also posted a series of photos of them hugging and kissing. The couple celebrated their one-year anniversary in November.
Finally, congratulations to Ice-T and his wife Coco, who celebrated their 21st anniversary together on New Year’s Eve.
“Cheers to a lifetime with you! I love you my boo boo,” Coco captioned a photo of herself sitting in her husband’s lap. The couple married in January 2002 and have a five-year-old daughter, Chanel.
On Monday’s installment of ABC’s The View, co-host Joy Beharannounced that Whoopi Goldberg wouldn’t be appearing on the show for a spell, after testing positive for COVID-19 over the holiday break.
“Since she’s vaxxed and boosted, her symptoms have been very, very mild,” Behar assured the audience, adding that the EGOT-winner would return, “probably next week.”
Incidentally, with coronavirus cases surging in New York City, the entire show was filmed remotely from the homes of Behar and her colleagues Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines and Ana Navarro.
“They say, ‘There’s no place like home for the holidays,’ and that’s where we are,” Behar snarked. “This omicron thing is all over the place.”
Navarro explained that her mother passed away on December 14 after a long illness, and the co-host shared that shortly thereafter, her father tested positive for COVID-19. However, she explained that he’s recovered, and was able to spend New Year’s Day with his family.
Additionally, Behar, who is also vaccinated, admitted that she canceled her holiday party plans over fears of the omicron surge. Hostin — who lost both of her in-laws to COVID-19 last year — explained that she was forced to remotely celebrate the holidays with her family via FaceTime, as she was isolated after having tested positive herself before Christmas.
Hostin insisted “these vaccines work,” explaining that she only suffered “cold-like symptoms” from her bout with the virus.
At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor steps aside as King of Asgard, leaving things in the capable hands of Tessa Thompson‘s Valkyrie.
But with a new mirror selfie snap from Thompson’s dressing room on the set of the upcoming four-quel Thor: Love and Thunder, fans can see it’s more than her hands that are capable.
Tessa’s pic shows her in a costume similar to Thor’s Avengers-era armor: It’s sleeveless, all the better to show off the actress’ jacked arms. Thompson looks lean and mean: Her hair is long and braided, featuring a faux-hawk-style top-knot, and blue-colored tips. Aside from her upper body armor, she’s rocking leather pants and what appears to be an Asgardian-armored loincloth.
In short, the look is pretty darned fierce.
Incidentally, an earlier set snap spied Thompson’s photo in a makeup room for the upcoming sequel The Marvels, giving away the character’s likely appearance in that film, too, along with returning Captain Marvel co-star Lashana Lynch, recently seen in the James Bond movie No Time to Die.
Written and directed by Thor: Ragnarok‘s Taika Waititi — with whom Thompson has been romantically linked — Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters July 8.
The movie will also star Hemsworth and his Thor series flame Natalie Portman, as well as Christian Bale, returning Ragnarok player Jeff Goldblum and Ragnarok cameo stars Matt Damon, Sam Neill and Luke Hemsworth. Chris Pratt and his Guardians of the Galaxy pals Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff and Sean Gunn will also appear, as will Russell Crowe.
The Marvels, also starring Brie Larson, is slated for a February 2023 opening.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
With the 26th season of The Bachelor kicking off on ABC tonight with Clayton Echard looking for love, any fan can tell you their favorite TV guilty pleasure has its share of clichés, from contestants to catchphrases.
With that in mind — and of course, “for the right reasons” — Express VPN dove deep into the series to pluck out some key data points.
The analysis shows “my person” was the most-used phrase over the past 12 seasons, repeated by various contestants and would-be Bachelors 68 times. Close behind is that classic Bachelor utterance “for the right reasons,” which clocked in at 65 times.
“Head over heels” was repeated 43 times, followed by “falling for you” at 40. And although it sure seems like far more, “can I steal you?” was uttered 27 times.
While The Bachelor has seen hopefuls who have ranged from a mortician, to a Radio City Rockette, to a self-described “free spirit” — is that even a job? — ‘teacher’ ranked as the most common occupation of the show’s contestants. ‘Realtor’ came in second, followed by ‘nurse,’ ‘model’ and ‘student’.
According to Google search data relative to population size, Minnesota has the greatest number of Bachelor fans in the country, followed by Utah and Iowa.
Also according to the analysis, there’s an average 4.8-year age difference between each season’s Bachelors and their hopefuls. Of the married heterosexual couples in the U.S. who didn’t find their spouse on a reality show, the age gap is on average 2.3 years between men and women.
The average length of a relationship from The Bachelor‘s finale was 3 months, 6 days, Express VPN’s analysis shows. The exception is Sean and Catherine from season 17; they tied the knot and remain married to this day.
Both Arie and Becca from Season 22, and Peter and Hannah from season 24 broke up after just one day.
Here’s a list of each The Bachelor couple for the past 12 seasons, and how long their relationships lasted:
Season 14 — Jake & Vienna — Broken up after 3 months, 21 days
Season 15 — Brad & Emily — Broken up after 3 months, 15 days
Season 16 — Ben & Courtney — Broken up after 6 months 23 days
Season 17 — Sean & Catherine — Married since March 11, 2013
Season 18 — Juan & Nikki — Broken up after 7 months 18 days
Season 19 — Chris & Whitney — Broken up after 2 months, 19 days
Season 20 — Ben & Lauren — Broken up after 2 months, 1 day
Season 21 — Nick & Vanessa — Broken up after 5 months, 12 days
Season 22 — Arie & Becca — Broken up after 1 day
Season 23 — Colton & Cassie — Broken up after 2 months, 17 days
Season 24 — Peter & Hannah — Broken up after 1 day
Season 25 — Matt & Rachael — Dating since March 15, 2021
Methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.
With 2021 in the record books, Heritage Auctions reveals it raked in a record of its own: $1.4 billion in sales from everything from sports memorabilia, to comic books, to one of Elton John‘s pianos.
The 45-year-old institution revealed some of the year’s biggest sellers, including the sole best-known copy of Batman No. 1, which sold for more than $2.2 million at the start of 2021.
Not to be outdone, one of four known near-mint copies of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 — which introduced Spider-Man — sold in September for $3.6 million.
A rare first edition of J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone set a record last month for the highest price paid for any single modern novel, when the hammer fell for $471,000.
In more you’re-sure-to-be-mad-at-Mom-for-throwing-it-out news, vintage video games generated more than $26 million bucks through Heritage Auction sales in 2021, including “a magnificent sealed copy of Super Mario 64” that sold for $1,560,000 in July.
On that note, trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering generated more than $11.6 million at auctions throughout last year — including a single, sealed “First Edition Pokémon Base Set Booster Box” that sold for $408,000.
Heritage Auctions also revealed that more than $19.8 million in prized possessions also went under the hammer in 2021, including $4.2 million that a collection of Journey guitarist Neal Schon’s instruments fetched in the summer, and a touring piano played by Elton John for decades went for more than $915,000 in July.
