| | | | What's news: ABC has suspended Whoopi Goldberg. Bumper quarterly profits at Sony Pictures and YouTube. Italian icon Monica Vitti has died. Graham Nash and India Arie join the Spotify exodus. Taraji P. Henson joins Warners' Color Purple film. Paramount+ renews three key shows. Plus: Friday Night Lights creator Jason Katims and star Connie Britton are reuniting for Apple drama Dear Edward — Abid Rahman |
Whoopi Goldberg Suspended For Holocaust Comments ►"Wrong and hurtful." Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended by ABC’s The View for two weeks. ABC News president Kim Godwin announced the decision in a note to staff Tuesday night.
The move comes after Goldberg's controversial comments Monday about the Jewish people and the Holocaust in response to a local school board banning the graphic novel Maus. Goldberg apologized on the program earlier on Tuesday, in a segment that also included an interview with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. The story.
—Spidey bonus. Sony Pictures saw its fiscal Q3 profit jump to $1.3 billion as the international success of Venom 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home turbo-charged the studio’s theatrical business. Sony said it also benefited from higher television sales due to the licensing of Seinfeld to Netflix, a deal reportedly worth north of $500 million. The story.
—Bigger than Netflix. YouTube delivered a mind-boggling $8.6 billion in ad revenue in Q4. For fiscal 2021, the Google-owned streamer scored a monocle-popping $28.8 billion in revenue. In the same quarter a year earlier, YouTube had $6.9 billion in revenue, underscoring the continued explosive growth of the platform. For comparison, Netflix's Q4 2021 revenue hit $7.7 billion, compared to $6.6 billion a year earlier. The results.
—Icon and muse. Monica Vitti, the Italian actress long associated with Michelangelo Antonioni, starring in his classic films L’Avventura and La Notte, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 90. The obituary.
—FNL reunion. Jason Katims is reuniting with Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton for a new Apple series based on author Ann Napolitano’s best-seller, Dear Edward. The drama, which has been picked up with a 10-episode series order, also stars Orange Is the New Black grad Taylor Schilling and Wonka star Colin O’Brien. The story. |
Spotify's Rogan Mess Exposes Larger Rift Over Rules, Streaming Revenues►Pain in the Ek. With a slew of artists pulling music over Joe Rogan's podcast, THR's J. Clara Chan looks at the biggest challenge to face Spotify CEO Daniel Ek so far and one that has the potential to expose larger rifts with artists and content producers over the streamer's opaque rules and its much maligned revenue sharing model. The analysis. — More big names leaving. Despite efforts to assure audiences that it was taking disinformation seriously, Spotify is still losing artists. On Tuesday, rock legend Graham Nash and four-time Grammy-winner India Arie became the latest big-name artists to pull their music from the streamer. The story. — Paris 2024 can't come quick enough. If the much-delayed Tokyo Olympics were a huge headache and missed opportunity for NBC, Beijing 2022 is lining up to be a potential minefield. THR's Alex Weprin and Patrick Brzeski consider how NBC must balance human rights abuses, geopolitics on top of super strict COVID-19 protocols during its coverage of the event — all while Olympics television ratings continue to decline. The story. — Shug found. Taraji P. Henson has joined Corey Hawkins and H.E.R. in The Color Purple, Warner Bros.’ film adaptation of the musical. Henson will play Shug Avery and H.E.R. will play Squeak. Blitz Bazawule, the filmmaker behind the Beyoncé's Black Is King, is directing. The story. — Well deserved. Billy Crystal has been tapped to receive the lifetime achievement award at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards next month. The actor will be honored for his body of work at the March 13 event, hosted by Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer. The story. |
Oscar Contenders on the Challenges and Rewards of Making Indies ►In the awards mix. As part of AFI Fest’s eighth annual, and second virtual, Indie Contenders Panel, THR's Scott Feinberg spoke with Caitriona Balfe, Nicolas Cage, Colman Domingo, Ann Dowd, Dakota Johnson and Simon Rex, six performers garnering awards buzz for their work in 2021 independent films. The panel.
—Playing the hits. Paramount+'s virtual TCA presentation on Tuesday saw the streamer hand out renewals for three key programs. Returning for additional seasons are Mayor of Kingstown, the critically acclaimed crime drama starring Jeremy Renner from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan; The Game, a revival of the iconic BET show from powerhouse Mara Brock Akil; and action drama and CBS transfer SEAL Team. The story.
—Planning ahead. With AMC Networks set to say goodbye to a host of big shows in 2022, the cable network has announced series orders to two dramas. Demascus is a character-driven exploration of life as an ordinary Black man in America created and written by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm. Invitation to a Bonfire, based on the novel by Adrienne Celt, is a psychological thriller set in the 1930s at an all-girls boarding school. The story.
—Branching out. CNN's Don Lemon will host a talk show for the news network's streaming service CNN+. Slated to launch this spring, The Don Lemon Show will air weekly, and feature a live studio audience, with the host discussing “the most talkable news stories each week.” The story.
—What's in a name? Country group Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum and blues singer Lady A, the stage name of Anita White, have settled their legal battle over their shared name. Alas, details of the settlement are not public, meaning it’s not clear yet if both the group and the singer can use the name. The story. |
Theater review: 'MJ'►"MJ provides a clear portrait of Jackson as an abused person, but side-steps thornier questions about him as an abuser." THR critic Lovia Gyarkye reviews Lynn Nottage’s MJ. The Broadway bio-musical chronicles Michael Jackson’s life and career leading up to his 1992 Dangerous world tour. The review. — "More faithful than the film adaptation, but Reacher may be too big for any screen." THR chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Amazon's Reacher. Alan Ritchson steps into Tom Cruise's uncomfortably small shoes as Lee Child's brilliant and brutal traveling ronin Jack Reacher in this new eight-episode adaptation. The story. — Casting news. Jamie Dornan will star alongside Gal Gadot in the Netflix and Skydance spy thriller Heart of Stone. The potential franchise-starter is directed by The Aeronauts filmmaker Tom Harper and is written by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder. No plot details yet, soz. The story. — Third time's a charm. Should Halo get a second season at Paramount+, it will be under a new showrunner — the third for the series. Halo is set to premiere March 24, but no deals are in place yet for a season two showrunner but executive producer Justin Falvey says David Wiener could take the reins if they get the thumbs up. The story. — This Week in TV. THR's Rick Porter runs down the TV premieres, returns and specials over the next seven days. Among the things to look out for over the coming week include Hulu's Pam & Tommy about that notorious sex tape, the long-awaited return of South Park to weekly episodes, Netflix's improvised crime show Murderville starring Will Arnett and the start of the Winter Olympics. The full guide. In other news... — Artios Awards: Tick, Tick … Boom!, Don’t Look Up, The Power of the Dog among nominees —Sundance review: Christian Tafdrup's Speak No Evil ( Gæsterne) — The Godfather TV series The Offer releases first trailer —TV ratings: NFL Conference Championships hit multi-year highs —David Milch to address gambling addiction, Alzheimer’s diagnosis in new memoir — Anna Faris inks deal with Acast for Unqualified podcast — In Living Color producer donates show archive to National Comedy Center —Ellen DeGeneres opens campus in Rwanda with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund —The definitive book on L.A.’s Bob Baker Marionette Theater —Angela Rye joins ESPN as special correspondent — Disney+ sets Spanish original series The Last One with music star Aitana Ocana, Miguel Bernardeau —Mickey Guyton to sing national anthem at Super Bowl What else we're reading... —How Hugh Jackman's Broadway show The Music Man has survived nearly 60 cases of COVID to reopen [ NYT] —Delia Cai considers the overly tidy conservatism of This Is Us [ Vanity Fair] —Steven Morris meets the bemused family of Wordle creator Josh Wardle who hails from the tiny Welsh village of Llanddewi Rhydderch 🏴 [ Guardian] —Profile of Quinta Brunson, the creator of ABC's much talked about mockumentary Abbott Elementary [ Vulture] —Where Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola stands with China [ WSJ] Today... Today's birthdays: Gemma Arterton (36), Zosia Mamet (34), Paul Mescal (26), Brent Spiner (73), Rich Sommer (44), Ellie Bamber (25), Salvatore Esposito (36), David Jason (82), Christie Brinkley (68), Barbara Sukowa (72), Jennifer Westfeldt (52), Oz Perkins (48), Jenny Lumet (55), Kim Zimmer (67), Shakira (45) |
| Bob Wall, the charismatic martial arts expert, actor and stuntman who battled Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, has died. He was 82. The obituary. |
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