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Tag: television

  • ‘Tony’ Yasumura reveals all about his not-naked shtick and its origins in Japanese comedy

    ‘Tony’ Yasumura reveals all about his not-naked shtick and its origins in Japanese comedy

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    TOKYO — The shtick that’s gone viral features a soccer player, a Spice Girl, James Bond, you name it, appearing to be naked, except they’re not really naked at all.

    The disarming sight gag by Japanese comic Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura is simple and rather silly. But its bare-all message about the deceptiveness of what meets the eye has a lot of people laughing.

    The recent appearance of Tony, as Yasumura is known these days, on “Britain’s Got Talent” has drawn more than 10 million views on the audition show’s YouTube account.

    “Do it with a majestically dignified and utterly unfounded confidence,” he told The Associated Press recently in Tokyo, of the secret to his comedy. “That gets over because what you’re doing is such nonsense.”

    Yasumura has been doing his trademark act for nearly a decade on TV shows and comedy houses around Japan.

    He stands before the audience wearing only a pink flower-patterned bathing suit and declares he will portray a certain person posing naked.

    Then he raises a leg, sits with his hands folded, or crouches low, strategically and carefully positioning himself so his only attire is out of view.

    “Don’t worry,” he says in a friendly, reassuring tone.

    “I’m wearing,” he adds, without saying more because in the Japanese language, the object of the sentence is often unspoken.

    On the British show, the judges finished the sentence for him, shouting out, “Pants!”

    Yasumura says he can depict anyone this way, including politicians, musical stars or nondescript people doing everyday things like drinking tea.

    “It’s just funny. There is absolutely no meaning,” said Yasumura, 41, who has a jolly laugh but is obviously intensely serious about his craft.

    You must always wear a smile. And never, ever flinch.

    He acknowledged he barely understood what the show’s judges were saying, and inside felt unsure what to do. But he didn’t skip a beat.

    “Honestly, you are the funniest contestant we’ve had all year, seriously. Really, really funny, and original,” gushed Simon Cowell, the show’s producer and usually one of the harshest judges.

    “He brought confidence, comedy and luckily his pants! Tonikaku had us crackin’ up from start to finish with his brilliant audition,” the show said in a statement.

    The humor in Yasumura’s performance is rooted in the Japanese version of vaudeville, which includes traditional storytelling, in which the narrator plays all the roles, as well as standup comedy.

    “Hadaka gei,” which literally translates as “naked acts,” make up a genre of Japanese comedy.

    It’s different from putting on a performance, like a juggling act, playing an instrument or dancing, no matter how funny it might end up being, because what he does constitutes the Japanese art of comedy, or “neta,” Yasumura says.

    “Neta” is also used to describe the ingredients of gourmet cooking or the scoop of a news story, in other words, the key kernel of what’s unfolding.

    He chanced upon his idea when he saw a female pop idol on a book cover, yes, posing naked, except she was sitting in a position that made you imagine she could be nude, when all you saw were her legs, face and arms.

    “It was exactly the same as my neta. I saw that and knew: This is it,” he said.

    And he hasn’t stopped since.

    His success on “Britain’s Got Talent” has resonated at home. Many people left uplifting comments online, noting he had made them feel so proud, witnessing comedy crossing borders.

    Soccer star Keisuke Honda posted a photo of himself kicking a ball on Twitter, next to a photo of Yasumura striking the naked soccer player pose. “I’m wearing,” Honda tweeted.

    Matsuko Deluxe, a reputed writer, noted on a recent TV show that Yasumura wasn’t afraid to poke fun at himself, when much of modern-day humor tended to do just the opposite, and poke fun at others.

    Although Yasumura exudes an innocence about him, in all his naked-baby cuteness, he also possesses a strength. It’s obvious he’s done his pants gimmick over and over, for years, even when no one laughed.

    Even today, some online observers are already slamming Yasumura as inane, if not offensive.

    Yasumura says he is lucky because he doesn’t have to do anything special to maintain his chubby figure.

    Still, sticking with a mode of self-expression requires dedication and courage. After all, it’s clear he isn’t afraid literally to stand practically naked before an audience.

    He swears he’ll be doing his routine till he dies.

    If he makes the show’s semi-finals, Yasumura isn’t sure what exactly he will do, maybe Elton John or Freddie Mercury posing naked.

    But don’t worry: He will be wearing pants.

    ___

    Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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  • ‘Succession’ Creator Reveals Why Wild Finale Was The ‘Right Way’ To End Show [SPOILERS]

    ‘Succession’ Creator Reveals Why Wild Finale Was The ‘Right Way’ To End Show [SPOILERS]

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    “Succession” spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned!

    It’s a wrap on “Succession” and the wild final episode of the Emmy-winning series gave fans a look at who is set to run Waystar Royco in the time ahead.

    Series creator Jesse Armstrong, in a Max (formerly HBO Max) “Controlling the Narrative” featurette, opened up about why he believes the “right ending” was to name Tom Wambsgans (played by Matthew Macfadyen) as Waystar Royco’s American CEO.

    “The idea of Tom being the eventual successor, that had been something that I thought was the right ending for quite a while now,” Armstrong said of the series finale, “With Open Eyes.”

    “Even though he’s not exactly the most powerful monarch you’ll ever meet – his power comes from Matsson. Those figures that drift upwards and make themselves amenable to powerful people are around.”

    Photograph by David Russell/HBO

    Armstrong, whose show debuted nearly five years ago, called it “very perverse” to end his series before explaining that the show’s final sequence would be the death of Logan Roy (played by Brian Cox) in season four, episode three; the debate over “whether to sell or not”; and Logan Roy’s funeral.

    “And once that became clear, I didn’t really have any doubts. I had lots of emotional sadness but it felt like ‘This is how the show goes,’” Armstrong explained.

    He added: “I don’t feel like I’ll be able to write anything as good as this again.”

    GoJo goes on to acquire Waystar Royco in the finale, too, after Shiv Roy (played by Sarah Snook) changes her mind and breaks a tie vote on the company’s sale in the boardroom, going against her brothers’ wishes.

    At the end of the episode, Kendall Roy (played by Jeremy Strong) is left shocked by the decision as he stares out at the water while the sun sets in front of him in New York City while Shiv Roy is seen holding hands with Tom in the back of a car and Roman Roy sits alone at a bar.

    Photograph by Courtesy of HBO

    Armstrong, in the featurette, explained that there isn’t an end to the Roy siblings’ stories.

    “They don’t end, they will carry on,” Armstrong said.

    “But it’s sort of where this show loses interest in them because they’ve lost what they wanted, which was to succeed — which, you know, was this prize that their father held out.”

    He added that Roman Roy “ends up exactly where he started,” Shiv Roy is “still in play “in a rather terrifying, frozen emotionally barren place” before spilling on what the finale means for Kendall Roy.

    “This will never stop being the central event of his life, the central days of his life, central couple of years of his life,” he said.

    “Maybe he could go on and start a company or do a thing. But the chances of him achieving the sort of corporate status that his dad achieved are very low and I think that will mark his whole life.”

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  • George Maharis, star of TV’s ‘Route 66’ in the 1960s, dies at 94

    George Maharis, star of TV’s ‘Route 66’ in the 1960s, dies at 94

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    LOS ANGELES — George Maharis, a stage-trained actor with rough-hewn good looks who became an icon to American youth in the 1960s as he cruised the country in a Corvette convertible in the hit television series “Route 66,” has died.

    Maharis’ friend and caretaker Marc Bahan said in a Facebook post that he died Wednesday. Bahan told the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported Maharis’ death, that he died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, after contracting hepatitis. He was 94.

    On “Route 66,” Maharis played Buz Murdock, a hardened survivor of New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. His co-star Martin Milner, who died in 2015, was Tod Stiles, a young man raised in wealth who upon his father’s death was left with nothing but a shiny new Corvette.

    The pair decided to travel the highway author John Steinbeck had dubbed “The Mother Road.” Each week brought a new adventure in a new city, and audiences tuned in in droves.

    “Route 66” was the rare series at the time that was filmed on location, moving to new towns and cities for each new episode. It featured as guest stars future stars including Robert Redford, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Alan Alda in some of their earliest roles.

    The storied highway itself was as much a star of the show as Maharis and Milner. Since bypassed in favor of bigger, faster interstates, it stretched unbroken from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean and was venerated as a driving force behind the country’s 20th century westward migration.

    “Route 66” was said to have been inspired by Jack Kerouac’s novel “On the Road,” and it spawned its own hit song, an instrumental composed by Nelson Riddle. The more familiar tune, “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” was not connected to the series.

    Maharis left the show after the third season — it would continue for one more without him — and never again achieved the same fame.

    He got a name check that introduced him to subsequent generations in director Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” when fictional actor Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, says he was considered for the Steve McQueen role in “The Great Escape” along with three Georges: “Peppard, Maharis and Chakiris.”

    A native New Yorker, one of seven children born to Greek immigrants, Maharis really was raised in Hell’s Kitchen. His parents ran a successful restaurant, and they wanted George to join the family business.

    “Growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, at least for me, was all about ‘I’m not gonna stay here,’ ” he said in a 2007 interview. “Life is all about the journey, the going. I had to get out.”

    He hoped to be a singer but damaged his vocal cords, so he switched to acting. After training under Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner at the Actors Studio, he began appearing in off-Broadway plays.

    Excellent notices for his work in Edward Albee’s play “Zoo Story,” and in appearances on the television drama “Naked City,” attracted attention. After a small role in the 1960 film “Exodus” and a few other parts, he landed “Route 66.”

    After leaving the series, Maharis was cast as a star in such films as “Quick Before It Melts,” “The Satan Bug,” “Sylvia.” “A Covenant with Death.” “The Happening.” “The Desperadoes” and “Land Raiders.”

    In 1970, he returned to weekly television, playing a criminologist in “The Most Deadly Game,” but the show lasted only one season.

    Maharis kept acting in the ensuing decades, appearing in such TV movies as “Escape to Mindanao” and “Murder on Flight 502,” “Disaster in the Sky,” “Crash of Flight 401,” “Death in Space” and on TV series including “Fantasy Island,” “The Bionic Woman” and “Murder, She Wrote.”

    ___

    The late AP Entertainment writer Bob Thomas provided biographical material for this story.

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  • 12 of the best TV shows to watch this June

    12 of the best TV shows to watch this June

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    12. Black Mirror

    After a four-year break, the ominous, playful Black Mirror returns for its sixth season, arriving at a time when fears about technology and artificial intelligence are likely to make the anthology series’ dystopian stories more topical than ever. Netflix has announced the titles and stars of this season’s five episodes, which include Joan is Awful, a meta-tale about an ordinary woman astonished to see that her life has been adapted into a streaming series, and that she is portrayed by Salma Hayek Pinault. Aaron Paul’s character lands in an alternate 1969 in Beyond the Sea. And Zazie Beetz stars in Mazey Day as a troubled celebrity hounded by the paparazzi. The gap between seasons was partly due to rights issues, and perhaps because, as series creator Charlie Brooker said in 2020, during the worst of the pandemic, “I don’t know what stomach there would for stories about societies falling apart”. It would be true to the dark spirit of Black Mirror if he has finally assumed the worst and given up waiting for things to get better.

    Black Mirror premieres in June on Netflix internationally

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  • ‘Succession’ fans brace for series finale of Emmy-winning hit drama

    ‘Succession’ fans brace for series finale of Emmy-winning hit drama

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    WASHINGTON — Jennifer Gould, an Oregon-based trusts and estates lawyer, thinks the premise of “Succession” – HBO’s hit series chronicling a billionaire media mogul and his children’s struggles to take over the family company — is a little flawed.

    “The idea that they wouldn’t have a firm succession plan in place is ridiculous,” Gould said.

    Still, she has set aside Monday for “crying and grieving” after watching the hotly anticipated series finale airing Sunday evening.

    With the critically acclaimed drama’s fourth and final season ending, dedicated fans of “Succession” are locking in plans to watch the whopping 88-minute finale while turning online for emotional support, memes and endless theories about how the show could end and who will prevail.

    “No one I know in real life watches the show,” Gould said, adding that the emotional toll of season four made her look for support online, which is how she landed on the social news website Reddit, where a chat dedicated to all things “Succession” has more than 456,000 members.

    In preparation for Sunday, Gould also is rereading “King Lear,” among Shakespeare’s bleakest tragedies, about a declining monarch and his children’s battle for the crown. Gould thinks the play could offer clues to how the series will end.

    “It’s fairly obvious that it’s a loose retelling of King Lear,” Gould said of “Succession.” “I watch it obsessively. I don’t think there’s another way to watch it.”

    “Succession” always has been about the membership of its audience, not its size, and its popularity among the coastal media and agenda-setting groups that the show depicts and attracts means the finale should leave a cultural mark.

    More recent prestige TV finales are a better analogue for “Succession” than those of the network behemoths of decades past. For example, “The Sopranos” suddenly cutting to black to the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” in 2007 set the standard for both talkability and inscrutability.

    Pamela Soin, a management consultant in New York City, said the end of the monumental New Jersey mob saga was the only finale generating more excitement than “Succession” for her “because that was after seven years of investment.”

    Soin and a group of friends have watched every “Succession” episode this season with a serious ritual.

    “We turn off all the lights, cinema style, put on the surround sound and watch in complete silence,” Soin said. “Then we have a debrief.”

    But Soin said she’ll be alone for the final episode because of the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the U.S.

    On social media platforms including Twitter, Reddit and the chatting app Discord, popular among gamers, “Succession” fans share countless memes and swirling theories about which of the Murdoch-esque Roy family members, corporate executives and hangers-on will prevail in the finale. Fans have searched for clues in past episodes, characters’ names, the show’s opening sequence and elsewhere.

    Show creator Jesse Armstrong told The New Yorker earlier this year “there’s a promise in the title of ‘Succession,’” which some have taken as a sign that the show’s central question will be answered.

    Soin thinks the finale will leave many unresolved plot lines and questions open to interpretation.

    “I love how they handle a lot of things off-camera,” Soin said of the show’s writers, who throughout the series have peppered pivotal backstories of the main characters in later scenes and passing conversations.

    “Just like in real life, you find out about things that happened when you weren’t there,” Soin said.

    Conclusions to hit TV series can be hit-or-miss. The bloody 2013 ending of Walter White’s story on “Breaking Bad,” and Don Draper’s more zen ending on “Mad Men” in 2015, generally satisfied their finicky fans. The 2019 conclusion of “Game of Thrones” — the last big finish for an HBO show — generally did not. Endings are hard to pull off and disappointment tends to be the norm, to which the makers of “Seinfeld” and “Lost” can attest.

    HBO has been able to ratchet up suspense ahead of Sunday’s “Succession” finale in part by airing only one episode per week, a decision that fans who grew up in the streaming age may be too young to remember was once the norm for TV series.

    Suraj Nandy, a 20-year-old college student from Bengaluru, India, said he was counting down the hours until Sunday’s finale, which airs at 6:30 a.m. local time.

    “I’m going to huddle, get a blanket and snacks and sit there in awe,” Nandy said.

    An economics student at Canada’s University of Western Ontario, Nandy said he was disappointed by the “Game of Thrones” conclusion and had watched all of “Breaking Bad,” too, but considers “Succession” “easily, by far, my favorite show of the bunch.”

    As for his finale plans, Nandy said he’ll join some friends online for a virtual watch party. But it won’t end there.

    “I’ll probably cry for a couple of days and then watch it again,” Nandy said. “I’d like to reexperience the whole thing in one sitting.”

    ___

    AP entertainment writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

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  • ‘Succession’ fans brace for series finale of Emmy-winning hit drama

    ‘Succession’ fans brace for series finale of Emmy-winning hit drama

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    WASHINGTON — Jennifer Gould, an Oregon-based trusts and estates lawyer, thinks the premise of “Succession” – HBO’s hit series chronicling a billionaire media mogul and his children’s struggles to take over the family company — is a little flawed.

    “The idea that they wouldn’t have a firm succession plan in place is ridiculous,” Gould said.

    Still, she has set aside Monday for “crying and grieving” after watching the hotly anticipated series finale airing Sunday evening.

    With the critically acclaimed drama’s fourth and final season ending, dedicated fans of “Succession” are locking in plans to watch the whopping 88-minute finale while turning online for emotional support, memes and endless theories about how the show could end and who will prevail.

    “No one I know in real life watches the show,” Gould said, adding that the emotional toll of season four made her look for support online, which is how she landed on the social news website Reddit, where a chat dedicated to all things “Succession” has more than 456,000 members.

    In preparation for Sunday, Gould also is rereading “King Lear,” among Shakespeare’s bleakest tragedies, about a declining monarch and his children’s battle for the crown. Gould thinks the play could offer clues to how the series will end.

    “It’s fairly obvious that it’s a loose retelling of King Lear,” Gould said of “Succession.” “I watch it obsessively. I don’t think there’s another way to watch it.”

    “Succession” always has been about the membership of its audience, not its size, and its popularity among the coastal media and agenda-setting groups that the show depicts and attracts means the finale should leave a cultural mark.

    More recent prestige TV finales are a better analogue for “Succession” than those of the network behemoths of decades past. For example, “The Sopranos” suddenly cutting to black to the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” in 2007 set the standard for both talkability and inscrutability.

    Pamela Soin, a management consultant in New York City, said the end of the monumental New Jersey mob saga was the only finale generating more excitement than “Succession” for her “because that was after seven years of investment.”

    Soin and a group of friends have watched every “Succession” episode this season with a serious ritual.

    “We turn off all the lights, cinema style, put on the surround sound and watch in complete silence,” Soin said. “Then we have a debrief.”

    But Soin said she’ll be alone for the final episode because of the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the U.S.

    On social media platforms including Twitter, Reddit and the chatting app Discord, popular among gamers, “Succession” fans share countless memes and swirling theories about which of the Murdoch-esque Roy family members, corporate executives and hangers-on will prevail in the finale. Fans have searched for clues in past episodes, characters’ names, the show’s opening sequence and elsewhere.

    Show creator Jesse Armstrong told The New Yorker earlier this year “there’s a promise in the title of ‘Succession,’” which some have taken as a sign that the show’s central question will be answered.

    Soin thinks the finale will leave many unresolved plot lines and questions open to interpretation.

    “I love how they handle a lot of things off-camera,” Soin said of the show’s writers, who throughout the series have peppered pivotal backstories of the main characters in later scenes and passing conversations.

    “Just like in real life, you find out about things that happened when you weren’t there,” Soin said.

    Conclusions to hit TV series can be hit-or-miss. The bloody 2013 ending of Walter White’s story on “Breaking Bad,” and Don Draper’s more zen ending on “Mad Men” in 2015, generally satisfied their finicky fans. The 2019 conclusion of “Game of Thrones” — the last big finish for an HBO show — generally did not. Endings are hard to pull off and disappointment tends to be the norm, to which the makers of “Seinfeld” and “Lost” can attest.

    HBO has been able to ratchet up suspense ahead of Sunday’s “Succession” finale in part by airing only one episode per week, a decision that fans who grew up in the streaming age may be too young to remember was once the norm for TV series.

    Suraj Nandy, a 20-year-old college student from Bengaluru, India, said he was counting down the hours until Sunday’s finale, which airs at 6:30 a.m. local time.

    “I’m going to huddle, get a blanket and snacks and sit there in awe,” Nandy said.

    An economics student at Canada’s University of Western Ontario, Nandy said he was disappointed by the “Game of Thrones” conclusion and had watched all of “Breaking Bad,” too, but considers “Succession” “easily, by far, my favorite show of the bunch.”

    As for his finale plans, Nandy said he’ll join some friends online for a virtual watch party. But it won’t end there.

    “I’ll probably cry for a couple of days and then watch it again,” Nandy said. “I’d like to reexperience the whole thing in one sitting.”

    ___

    AP entertainment writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

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  • Ed Ames, ’50s pop singer with Ames Brothers and ’60s TV star in ‘Daniel Boone,’ dies at 95

    Ed Ames, ’50s pop singer with Ames Brothers and ’60s TV star in ‘Daniel Boone,’ dies at 95

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    Ed Ames, the youngest member of the popular 1950s singing group the Ames Brothers, who later became a successful actor in television and musical theater, has died. He was 95.

    The last survivor of the four singing brothers, Ames died May 21 from Alzheimer’s disease, his wife, Jeanne Ames, said Saturday.

    “He had a wonderful life,” she said.

    On television, Ames was likely best known for his role as Mingo, the Oxford-educated Native American in the 1960s adventure series “Daniel Boone” that starred Fess Parker as the famous frontiersman. He also was the center of a bit on “The Tonight Show” that — thanks to his painfully uncanny aim with a hatchet — became one of the show’s most memorable surprise moments.

    Ames had guest roles in TV series such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “In the Heat of the Night,” and toured frequently in musicals, performing such popular songs as “Try to Remember” and the song that became his biggest hit single, “My Cup Runneth Over.”

    As part of the 1950s music scene, he and his brothers were one of numerous pop quartets that included the Four Aces, Four Lads, Gaylords, Hilltoppers, Lancers, Four Knights, Ink Spots and, still around from a previous era, the Mills Brothers. But the Ames Brothers — Ed, Joe, Gene and Vic — had a unique tone: they were basses and baritones, not tenors.

    Their recordings of “Rag Mop,” “Sentimental Me” and “Undecided” became big hits, and they launched a busy career appearing on TV variety shows, recording 40 albums and playing in night clubs and auditoriums across the country.

    By the end of the 1950s, rock ‘n’ roll had overtaken the pop charts and singing quartets were on the decline. The Ameses, meanwhile, had tired of the constant travel and absence from their growing families. The finale for Ed came when he arrived home unexpectedly and his wife called to their 3-year-old daughter: “Who is it?” The girl replied, “One of the Ames Brothers.”

    “That did it,” he told a reporter. “My brothers and I agreed that we had all had it and should go our separate ways.” The group, which was earning $20,000 a week, played its last engagement at the Sahara in Las Vegas on New Year’s 1961.

    Ed’s efforts to establish himself as a solo singer were not immediately successful and he turned to acting. He almost lost his house before he found a role in a production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”

    In the long-running musical “The Fantasticks,” he sang “Try to Remember,” which became one of his theme songs. He joined the traveling company of Gower Champion’s “Carnival” and transferred to the New York company until the show’s final performance.

    In a role that presaged his future role on “Daniel Boone,” he then won attention as the stoic Native American in the 1963 Broadway play “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Kirk Douglas and Gene Wilder in the adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel.

    Ames earned top money at Las Vegas casinos and in hotel supper clubs and toured extensively in the musicals “Man of La Mancha,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “South Pacific” and “I Do, I Do.”

    “I Do, I Do” provided his biggest hit single, “My Cup Runneth Over,” a gold record winner in 1967. He had another hit in 1968 with “Who Will Answer?”

    It was during his run on “Daniel Boone” that he contributed to what was called the longest sustained burst of laughter in the history of “The Tonight Show.”

    For a 1965 episode he was persuaded to demonstrate the hatchet-throwing skills he learned as Mingo. The silhouette of a cowboy was painted on a piece of wood, and Ames threw a hatchet at the target. It landed on squarely on the cowboy’s crotch.

    Ames was born Edmund Dantes Urick in Malden, Massachusetts, the youngest of 11 children, four who died in childhood. Their parents were Ukrainian immigrants and their mother taught the children to read Shakespeare and to appreciate music they heard every Saturday on the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.

    The four youngest boys began singing at local events as the Urick Brothers. Ed was still in high school when they moved to night clubs, but as a husky six-footer with a deep voice, he was able to pass for 21.

    In New York, comedy writer Abe Burrows advised a name change because Urick was hard to remember. Ames was the brothers’ choice.

    After the four brothers split up, the other brothers also continued performing and recording, but gained less notice than Ed. Vic died in 1978, Gene in 1997 and Joe in December 2007.

    Ames and his first wife, Sara Cacheiro, had three children: Sonja, Ronald and Linda. The couple divorced in 1978, and in 1998 he married Jeanne Arnold.

    ___

    The late Associated Press writer Bob Thomas was a contributor to this report from Los Angeles.

    ___

    This version corrects the name of Ames’ first wife to Sara Cacheiro.

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  • CANNES PHOTOS: See standout moments of glamour, humor and reunion as the festival draws to a close

    CANNES PHOTOS: See standout moments of glamour, humor and reunion as the festival draws to a close

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    Carys Zeta Douglas, from left, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones pose for photographers upon arrival at the opening ceremony and the premiere of the film ‘Jeanne du Barry’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

    The Associated Press

    CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival always commands a certain amount of awe.

    The appearances by cinema royalty, the nightly parade of high fashion and the festival’s ability to launch filmmakers and films large and small onto the global stage all combine to produce an array of eye-catching moments during the 12 days of Cannes.

    As the festival draws to a close Saturday, see some of its standout moments through the lenses of photographers for The Associated Press.

    From its first day, the 76th edition demonstrated its ability to draw attention, hosting Johnny Depp’s return to cinema with the opening night film, “Jeanne du Barry.”

    While some were irked by the emphasis on Depp — who told the AP “I didn’t know what planet I was on” during his appearance for the premiere — the festival quickly turned the spotlight onto other stars.

    Michael Douglas accepted an honorary Palme d’Or and kisses from his wife and daughter at the top of the festival’s famed Palais stairs. Harrison Ford, debuting his last film as Indiana Jones, also accepted an honorary award, choking back tears after a career highlight reel was played.

    Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio reunited on the red carpet at the premiere for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” one of the festival’s most prestigious entries and a return for Scorsese to the French Riviera cinema celebration. Wes Anderson also returned, this time joined by Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and the many stars of his film “Asteroid City.”

    Six days after her father’s premiere, Lily-Rose Depp debuted her own controversial project, the HBO series “The Idol.” The younger Depp and costar The Weeknd shined on the red carpet and smiled and laughed together as photographers snapped away.

    The festival runs on its own precise rhythm, with press conferences and daytime photocalls. The French Riviera often serves as a whimsical backdrop, as when actor Tom Mercer did a handstand for photographers or “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” actor Ethann Isidore took a leap from a podium.

    Yet the biggest attention grabbers remain the flashy premieres, where fans crane for even fleeting glimpses of their heroes. Cannes is the place where stars playfully interact with the cameras and, when the films stop, awards prognostications begin as the applause helps carry movies to screens around the world.

    ___

    For more coverage of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

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  • Ahead of ‘Succession’ finale, uncertainty about outcomes for its sparring siblings

    Ahead of ‘Succession’ finale, uncertainty about outcomes for its sparring siblings

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    There’s no Iron Throne, but the stakes feel just as high.

    “Succession,” the critically acclaimed drama chronicling a Murdoch-esque feuding billionaire family, wraps its four-season run on Sunday with a highly anticipated 88-minute finale.

    And just like another tentpole HBO show, “Game of Thrones,” there’s no shortage of theories over how the series will end and who will prevail. But instead of a throne, the Roy siblings are battling over the sprawling Waystar Royco media empire.

    The Shakespearean-level intrigue has prompted speculation among fans looking for clues in past episodes, characters’ names and elsewhere. Even the final episode’s title, “With Open Eyes,” has critics poring through the John Berryman poem that has been used for each season finale’s title.

    Here are some of the questions that remain as the finale nears.

    WHERE DO THINGS STAND WITH THE ROY FAMILY?

    “Succession” has been about who will ultimately run the media conglomerate founded by Logan Roy, the belligerent and profane Roy family patriarch played by Brian Cox.

    For most of the series, three siblings have been vying for the crown: Kendall, played by Jeremy Strong; Roman, played by Kieran Culkin; and Shiv, played by Sarah Snook. A fourth sibling — Connor, played by Alan Ruck — instead mounted an ill-fated run for president.

    By the end of season three, the siblings had buried their differences enough to attempt a corporate coup of their father — only to be betrayed by Shiv’s husband Tom Wambsgans, played by Matthew Macfadyen.

    The series’ most shocking twist came early this season, when Logan died on his way to close a deal with GoJo, a tech company.

    Logan’s death and the power vacuum it created have led to renewed struggle among the siblings, with Kendall and Roman hoping to block the GoJo deal.

    WHO WILL PREVAIL?

    Show creator Jesse Armstrong told The New Yorker earlier this year “there’s a promise in the title of ‘Succession,’” a sign that there’ll be some certainty at least on this question.

    The finale could live up to Logan’s statement in season 3 that life is “a fight for a knife in the mud.”

    Kendall appeared in the penultimate episode to be on track to follow in his father’s footsteps, delivering an impromptu eulogy at Logan’s funeral after Roman was too grief-stricken to do so.

    After aligning himself with the far-right presidential candidate Jeryd Mencken — who the Roy’s network questionably declared the winner — Roman’s fortunes appeared to be falling and was seen fighting with protesters in the streets in the final scenes.

    Shiv, meanwhile is still trying to shepherd the GoJo deal with a plan she’s concocted that would install her as the company’s chief executive in the United States.

    Connor, after losing every state and endorsing Mencken, is instead planning for his hoped-for ambassadorship.

    There are a few wild cards that remain, in and outside the Roy family. The biggest one of all is Greg, the cousin and fan favorite played by Nicholas Braun, known for his awkward quotes and verbal abuse he endures from Tom.

    WHO WON THE ELECTION?

    All of this is happening with the backdrop of an unsettled U.S. election that may have been swung to Mencken (Justin Kirk) with the help of the Roy’s cable network and a seemingly not-coincidental fire at a vote center in a swing state.

    The scenario and the series’ Election Night episode has echoed the conversations revealed among Fox News executives and talent during the defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems that led to a nearly $800 million settlement with the network.

    “Succession’s” fictional election results have both professional and personal implications for the Roy family, with protests over Mencken erupting throughout the city. But even Shiv seems willing to put her moral qualms aside at the prospect of making a deal with Mencken.

    WHAT ABOUT TOM AND SHIV?

    Tom and Shiv’s marriage had been on shaky ground before he betrayed her to Logan at the end of last season.

    This season it’s even more so, with the two holding a no-holds-barred argument at a pre-election party where the two traded grievances and insults.

    Shiv’s revelation to Tom on Election Night that she’s pregnant prompted one of the most gut-wrenching responses, with Tom asking her whether she was telling the truth or just using a new tactic against him.

    The show continues to offer some signs of affection between the two, with Shiv telling an exhausted Tom to sleep at her apartment after the funeral, but it remains to be seen whether their marriage is salvageable.

    IS THIS REALLY THE END?

    There are plenty of examples of shows that lived on after their finales. “Game of Thrones” spawned a popular prequel series, “House of the Dragon,” while “Seinfeld” got a second try on its much-maligned finale on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

    Even “The Sopranos,” known for one of the buzziest finales of all time, came back with a movie looking at Tony Soprano’s beginning.

    Armstrong has left open revisiting his character in another fashion, and the possibilities for doing so are endless. A Tom and Greg buddy comedy? Or maybe a Logan Roy origin story, just to reveal the first time he said his signature vulgar phrase.

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  • The ‘V’ Files: The Shocking Legacy of an ’80s Sci-Fi Cult Classic

    The ‘V’ Files: The Shocking Legacy of an ’80s Sci-Fi Cult Classic

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    Dunne’s family declined to comment for this story, preferring not to relive the tragedy. Packer did not respond to requests for an interview. As the deplorable Daniel, the actor, who went on to appear in movies such as RoboCop and Strange Days, along with a long list of TV appearances, remains one of the most chilling aspects of the miniseries.

    A 22-year-old actor named Blair Tefkin entered a production in mourning. She had just made her screen debut with a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and was asked to fill the part left vacant by Dunne’s death. “Someone had to do it. But definitely, it was hard,” Tefkin says. “Normally, you’d be really excited and happy you got a part, but it was a different kind of experience.”

    An extra week of filming was added to the production to re-create work that Dunne had already completed. “We had the physical problem of having to go back and reshoot scenes with a brand-new actress, who had to step into the role that a beloved person had been playing,” Johnson says. Tefkin sums up those reshoots with two words. “Awkward,” she says. “Sad.”

    Ironically, her Robin is one of the bright spots of V, an effervescent kid who just yearns for things to return to normal when her life is upended. She was the innocent caught up in the crisis. “I didn’t really think about what she symbolized,” Tefkin says. “I was thinking more about it from the vantage point of sort of a self-involved teenager. Her life and the world is crumbling. She’s interested in boys and her crushes and is pretty tunnel-visioned.”

    After shooting was finished, the V cast and crew gathered one more time for a wrap party to screen the miniseries. The mood was celebratory until the end, when the credits concluded with: “In loving memory of Dominique Dunne—Her friends miss her.”

    “That’s when everybody in the room really started crying,” Johnson says. “That moment.”

    V’s debut was a smash with audiences and critics, but V’s victory turned out to be a pyrrhic one for Johnson. NBC wanted more but Warner Bros. was reluctant to make it. The initial $8 million budget had ballooned to $13 million, and the financials seemed risky. “I think it was unclear to them just how valuable this was,” says Sagansky, the former NBC exec. Johnson blames V’s budget problems on the overtime incurred in the race to finish by May sweeps. The sci-fi element also came with sticker shock. “The use of special effects was really unique in television at that time, and because they were so new, it was unclear how much they cost,” Sagansky says. Blame fell on Johnson himself, although Sagansky feels that was misguided: “I never thought that Kenny got all his due for what he accomplished.”

    NBC finally offered terms that convinced Warner Bros. to greenlight a second miniseries. The sequel would be called V: The Final Battle. Just before production was set to begin, Johnson says he got a call from a Warner Bros. TV executive, who said: “‘Kenny, we don’t want you to direct any of the sequel.’ Honest to God, this is a quote. ‘We are afraid you won’t direct the sequel as quick and cheap and dirty as we want it done.’”

    Johnson was forced out for trying too hard.

    His pleas to NBC for intervention went nowhere. “I called Brandon, of course, and he said, ‘I want to, but the network won’t let me meddle with Warner’s internal affairs,’” Johnson says.

    The actors say they were unhappy to lose him but contractually obligated to continue. “I think it fundamentally changed the nature of the show,” Singer says. “The overarching politics were underemphasized in comparison to the more adventurous and action elements of the story. We felt that immediately.”

    V: The Final Battle was still a hit when it aired during the May sweeps of 1984. It included Juliet leading an attack on the Visitors during a live television ceremony, during which she held their supreme commander before the cameras, tore at his face, and exposed the reptilian predator beneath. Packer’s Daniel met an appropriately karmic end, consumed (literally) by the alien regime he so dutifully served. Tefkin’s Robin gave birth to her Visitor-fathered twins—one a human baby with a thin snakelike tongue, the other a scaly green abomination. “I never saw any of this,” Johnson says. “All of my friends who worked on it said, ‘Kenny, you don’t want to see what they did to your original series. You just don’t.’”

    The Final Battle used parts of his scripts, but Johnson changed his story credit to Lillian Weezer, a combination of the name and nickname of his golden retriever. NBC ordered a weekly series, but Johnson was completely locked out. The result? “Ugh,” says Sagansky, “the worst.”

    V, the series, devolved into campy schlock. Badler noted the changing influences for her militaristic Diana. “Stalin and these sorts of very powerful, corrupt leaders were more where I was thinking when I did the role,” she says. “‘Joan Collins’ came in later with the series, when it became a little bit ridiculous and started to become a soap opera in outer space.”

    Most actors would do anything to secure a lead role on a national network drama, but Grant was desperate to quit: “In fact, since I wanted out of it so badly, they kept throwing more and more money at me.” She kept proposing ways for Juliet to sacrifice herself for the cause. “I mean, I had literally 50 ways to kill me off, and they weren’t having it,” Grant says. “And the direction that the series took, I mean…they tried to write a mud fight between Diana and Juliet, and I wouldn’t have it.”

    The audience didn’t care for it either. The V series was canceled after only a partial season.

    Johnson also wasn’t involved in the 2009 ABC reboot of V, which had a slightly longer run than its ’80s predecessor, with 22 episodes over two seasons. Badler and Singer returned playing different characters, but they were the only connection to the original. The effects were better, for sure, but the impact wasn’t nearly the same.

    Humanoid troops stand guard after imposing martial law on Earth in the original 1983 miniseries.Everette Collection

    Johnson went on to develop the Alien Nation TV series in the late ’80s and remained active as a producer and director for decades. Today, he is working to revive his own version of V. He’s published novels revealing how he actually wanted the story to play out, and his original deal with Warner Bros. stipulated that he controls the movie rights. Although he has no say over V on television, he still hopes to mount a big-screen revival. He’s now looking for investors willing to buy in.

    The fandom, he believes, is still out there. He keeps a drawer-size binder full of letters and emails, many of them penned by people who were just kids when they watched the original miniseries. Many thanked him not just for the scares and thrills, but for teaching a valuable moral. “If I printed all of them, I mean, it would be a stack that would go to the ceiling,” he says. “Honest to God, it’s crazy. But bless their hearts. I love those fans, and the fact that so many of them get it.”

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    Anthony Breznican

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  • What to stream this week: ‘American Born Chinese,’ John Wick,’SmartLess On the Road’ and dinosaurs

    What to stream this week: ‘American Born Chinese,’ John Wick,’SmartLess On the Road’ and dinosaurs

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    Sure, lots of folks are eagerly anticipating this Sunday’s “Succession” finale. But what if you haven’t followed the Roy family drama? There’s plenty of don’t miss new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Among the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are streaming arrival of the latest “John Wick” film, the end of a long drought of new Matchbox Twenty music, a video game that lets you play one of Middle Earth’s most recognizable characters and a television adaptation of the graphic novel “American Born Chinese.”

    NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

    — It can be hard to believe when corporate folks make genuinely altruistic gestures, especially involving their fortunes, but neither Kris McDivitt Tompkins, the first CEO of Patagonia, nor her late husband, Doug Tompkins, the founder the North Face and Esprit, were ones to play by the rules. “Wild Life,” a new documentary from the Oscar-winning “Free Solo” filmmakers, tells the story of this couple, their love of the outdoors, their adventurous spirits and how they funneled their fortunes to “rewilding” conservation efforts by buying up roughly 2.2 million acres in Argentina and Chile. “Wild Life” starts streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on Friday, May 26.

    — It’s a robust week for Sundance documentaries on streaming as “Victim/Suspect” debuts on Netflix on Tuesday. This film from director Nancy Schwartzman follows reporter Rae de Leon’s investigation into a disturbing pattern: That in the United States, women reporting sexual assaults often become suspects. The film delves into possible flaws and loopholes in the system that may be enabling the chilling trend.

    — For more escapism, Keanu Reeves’ tireless assassin John Wick returns for a fourth film, which makes its way to video on demand on Tuesday. This time, Wick goes to Paris. He’s still being hunted but has also gone on the offensive. AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote in his review that this installment elevates and expands the franchise. “The fourth installment is more stylish, more elegant and more bonkers — kind of like Paris itself,” Kennedy said. It also serves as a bittersweet farewell to the Continental Hotel concierge Charon, played by Lance Reddick, who died shortly before the film came out.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

    — Pop-rockers Matchbox Twenty end over a decade away with their fifth studio album, “Where The Light Goes,” out Friday, May 26. It’s an upbeat collection, opening with a horn-drenched, sing-along “Friends” — the chorus goes “All my friends are here” and the song features the vocals from bandmember Paul Doucette’s son — and other highlights include singer-songwriter Amanda Shires’ duet with frontman Rob Thomas on the cheerful “No Other Love” and the single “Wild Dogs (Running In a Slow Dream),” which captures that time in your youth when you finally find your people.

    — Go to your local movie theater to catch Roger Waters live on his “This Is Not a Drill” tour from the Czech Republic on Thursday. The concert will include 20 Pink Floyd and Waters classics, including: “Us & Them,” “Comfortably Numb,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Is This The Life We Really Want?” Waters will also debut his new song, “The Bar.” The show will be broadcast to 1,500 cinemas across more than 50 countries.

    — Celebrate the end of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” by singing along with an album of the fifth and final season’s music. The album features songs like “ Relax Max” by Dinah Washington, “I Love The Way You Say Goodnight” by Doris Day with The Page Cavanaugh Trio, Barbra Streisand’s “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” and Tony Bennett’s ”I Wanna Be Around.” Fans will appreciate actor Hank Azaria doing “Nancy (With The Laughing Face)” and the cast belting out “Everything Grows!”

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    NEW SERIES TO STREAM

    — Dinosaurs once again come to life in the second season of “Prehistoric Planet” on Apple TV+. Executive produced by Jon Favreau and the team behind “Planet Earth,” the docuseries uses the latest technology to not only create dinosaurs that look real, but also to immerse viewers into their habitat. Sir David Attenborough returns to narrate. “Prehistoric Planet” season two is presented as an event series, debuting Monday followed by a new episode each day that week.

    — Each episode of the “SmartLess” podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett features an entertaining conversation with a guest, but one of the best parts about the trio is their banter with each other. These longtime friends bicker and rib one another like family. The guys took their show on the road in 2022 to six cities, hosting conversations in front of a live, sold-out audience with surprise guests. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to see them live, it turns out cameras were rolling. “Smartless: On the Road” debuts Tuesday on Max.

    — The new action-comedy series “American Born Chinese” is based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. It stars Ben Wang as a high schooler trying to survive the daily life as a first generation American in a Chinese family. He meets an exchange student from Taiwan and finds himself caught up in a war of ancient Chinese Gods. The series strikes a balance between a coming-of-age story and mythology with the spirit of the graphic novel. It also boasts a cast that includes Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan and Michele Yeoh, plus Chin Han and Daniel Wu. Recurring cast members include Stephanie Hsu, Ronnie Chieng and Jimmy O. Yang. “American Born Chinese” premieres Wednesday on Disney+.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

    — You’re off to visit Middle-Earth. Which character do you want to be? Frodo? Gandalf? Legolas? Daedalic Entertainment is betting on a more conflicted protagonist with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Instead of wielding cool weapons and flashy spells, Gollum has to rely on stealth and spiderlike climbing skills to survive. He also has to put up with kibitzing from his alter ego, Smeagol, the kindhearted hobbit Gollum was before being corrupted by his “preciousss” One Ring. The German studio Daedalic is best known for story-heavy adventures like its Deponia series, so it could be interesting to see how it tackles a tale set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s sprawling world. Gollum’s journey begins Friday, May 26, on Xbox X/S/One, PlayStation 5/4 and PC.

    — In a typical post-apocalyptic video game like Fallout or The Last of Us, there are still plenty of people wandering the planet. Private Division’s After Us isn’t messing around — in its future, human beings have been wiped off the face of the Earth. You play as Gaia, the “spirit of life,” and your mission is to gather the lost souls of all the species that have been driven to extinction. Oil-drenched monsters called Devourers are out to stop any hope of revival. Despite the grim setting, After Us looks gorgeous, evoking the haunted wasteland of the 2012 classic Journey. And Barcelona-based Piccolo Studio says it’s a story of “sacrifice and hope,” so Earth may not be done just yet. It arrives Tuesday on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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  • What to stream this week: ‘American Born Chinese,’ John Wick,’SmartLess On the Road’ and dinosaurs

    What to stream this week: ‘American Born Chinese,’ John Wick,’SmartLess On the Road’ and dinosaurs

    [ad_1]

    Sure, lots of folks are eagerly anticipating this Sunday’s “Succession” finale. But what if you haven’t followed the Roy family drama? There’s plenty of don’t miss new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Among the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are streaming arrival of the latest “John Wick” film, the end of a long drought of new Matchbox Twenty music, a video game that lets you play one of Middle Earth’s most recognizable characters and a television adaptation of the graphic novel “American Born Chinese.”

    NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

    — It can be hard to believe when corporate folks make genuinely altruistic gestures, especially involving their fortunes, but neither Kris McDivitt Tompkins, the first CEO of Patagonia, nor her late husband, Doug Tompkins, the founder the North Face and Esprit, were ones to play by the rules. “Wild Life,” a new documentary from the Oscar-winning “Free Solo” filmmakers, tells the story of this couple, their love of the outdoors, their adventurous spirits and how they funneled their fortunes to “rewilding” conservation efforts by buying up roughly 2.2 million acres in Argentina and Chile. “Wild Life” starts streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on Friday, May 26.

    — It’s a robust week for Sundance documentaries on streaming as “Victim/Suspect” debuts on Netflix on Tuesday. This film from director Nancy Schwartzman follows reporter Rae de Leon’s investigation into a disturbing pattern: That in the United States, women reporting sexual assaults often become suspects. The film delves into possible flaws and loopholes in the system that may be enabling the chilling trend.

    — For more escapism, Keanu Reeves’ tireless assassin John Wick returns for a fourth film, which makes its way to video on demand on Tuesday. This time, Wick goes to Paris. He’s still being hunted but has also gone on the offensive. AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote in his review that this installment elevates and expands the franchise. “The fourth installment is more stylish, more elegant and more bonkers — kind of like Paris itself,” Kennedy said. It also serves as a bittersweet farewell to the Continental Hotel concierge Charon, played by Lance Reddick, who died shortly before the film came out.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

    — Pop-rockers Matchbox Twenty end over a decade away with their fifth studio album, “Where The Light Goes,” out Friday, May 26. It’s an upbeat collection, opening with a horn-drenched, sing-along “Friends” — the chorus goes “All my friends are here” and the song features the vocals from bandmember Paul Doucette’s son — and other highlights include singer-songwriter Amanda Shires’ duet with frontman Rob Thomas on the cheerful “No Other Love” and the single “Wild Dogs (Running In a Slow Dream),” which captures that time in your youth when you finally find your people.

    — Go to your local movie theater to catch Roger Waters live on his “This Is Not a Drill” tour from the Czech Republic on Thursday. The concert will include 20 Pink Floyd and Waters classics, including: “Us & Them,” “Comfortably Numb,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Is This The Life We Really Want?” Waters will also debut his new song, “The Bar.” The show will be broadcast to 1,500 cinemas across more than 50 countries.

    — Celebrate the end of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” by singing along with an album of the fifth and final season’s music. The album features songs like “ Relax Max” by Dinah Washington, “I Love The Way You Say Goodnight” by Doris Day with The Page Cavanaugh Trio, Barbra Streisand’s “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” and Tony Bennett’s ”I Wanna Be Around.” Fans will appreciate actor Hank Azaria doing “Nancy (With The Laughing Face)” and the cast belting out “Everything Grows!”

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    NEW SERIES TO STREAM

    — Dinosaurs once again come to life in the second season of “Prehistoric Planet” on Apple TV+. Executive produced by Jon Favreau and the team behind “Planet Earth,” the docuseries uses the latest technology to not only create dinosaurs that look real, but also to immerse viewers into their habitat. Sir David Attenborough returns to narrate. “Prehistoric Planet” season two is presented as an event series, debuting Monday followed by a new episode each day that week.

    — Each episode of the “SmartLess” podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett features an entertaining conversation with a guest, but one of the best parts about the trio is their banter with each other. These longtime friends bicker and rib one another like family. The guys took their show on the road in 2022 to six cities, hosting conversations in front of a live, sold-out audience with surprise guests. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to see them live, it turns out cameras were rolling. “Smartless: On the Road” debuts Tuesday on Max.

    — The new action-comedy series “American Born Chinese” is based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. It stars Ben Wang as a high schooler trying to survive the daily life as a first generation American in a Chinese family. He meets an exchange student from Taiwan and finds himself caught up in a war of ancient Chinese Gods. The series strikes a balance between a coming-of-age story and mythology with the spirit of the graphic novel. It also boasts a cast that includes Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan and Michele Yeoh, plus Chin Han and Daniel Wu. Recurring cast members include Stephanie Hsu, Ronnie Chieng and Jimmy O. Yang. “American Born Chinese” premieres Wednesday on Disney+.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

    — You’re off to visit Middle-Earth. Which character do you want to be? Frodo? Gandalf? Legolas? Daedalic Entertainment is betting on a more conflicted protagonist with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Instead of wielding cool weapons and flashy spells, Gollum has to rely on stealth and spiderlike climbing skills to survive. He also has to put up with kibitzing from his alter ego, Smeagol, the kindhearted hobbit Gollum was before being corrupted by his “preciousss” One Ring. The German studio Daedalic is best known for story-heavy adventures like its Deponia series, so it could be interesting to see how it tackles a tale set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s sprawling world. Gollum’s journey begins Friday, May 26, on Xbox X/S/One, PlayStation 5/4 and PC.

    — In a typical post-apocalyptic video game like Fallout or The Last of Us, there are still plenty of people wandering the planet. Private Division’s After Us isn’t messing around — in its future, human beings have been wiped off the face of the Earth. You play as Gaia, the “spirit of life,” and your mission is to gather the lost souls of all the species that have been driven to extinction. Oil-drenched monsters called Devourers are out to stop any hope of revival. Despite the grim setting, After Us looks gorgeous, evoking the haunted wasteland of the 2012 classic Journey. And Barcelona-based Piccolo Studio says it’s a story of “sacrifice and hope,” so Earth may not be done just yet. It arrives Tuesday on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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  • Television’s biggest mystery: how long will pipeline for new programming be closed?

    Television’s biggest mystery: how long will pipeline for new programming be closed?

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    NEW YORK — For decades, the week in May when television executives revealed what new shows were coming and which old ones were going spoke to the power and influence that ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox had over popular culture.

    This past week offered more evidence of how that is diminishing, draped in confusion about the future wrought by the Hollywood writers strike.

    The week of schedule presentations, known as “upfronts” because networks are looking for millions of dollars in advertising commitments, have long been star-studded, news-making events.

    Johnny Carson announced the end of his late-night run at an NBC upfront. So convinced they had a hit, ABC showed advertisers the entire pilot episode of “Modern Family” one year (the same strategy didn’t work as well when NBC tried it with “Joey”). CBS rewarded advertisers with the Who in a private Carnegie Hall concert.

    This year the stars stayed home, unwilling to cross picket lines of striking writers outside Manhattan venues. That meant no Jimmy Kimmel, whose annual routine skewering his own industry is always anticipated. He’s been doing it since 2002, with a few years off due to the pandemic and his son’s illness.

    Instead, networks tried to excite advertisers with sports and news stars. Michael Strahan tossed autographed balls into the audience with Rob Gronkowski, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez at Fox’s event, and kibitzed with fellow “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos at ABC’s.

    “With the writers strike and everything, there wasn’t a whole lot of excitement about the upfronts this year,” said Alan Wolk, co-founder of TV(R)EV, a media consulting business.

    Television’s biggest mystery is when viewers will be able to see new mysteries on television.

    Networks tried different strategies to deal with uncertainties caused by the strike. Generally, television programs begin preparing new episodes for the fall starting in about a month, but there have been no contract talks since members of the Writers Guild for America went on strike May 2.

    CBS and NBC released fall schedules as usual, knowing that shifting gears is a possibility.

    “It creates some buzz, it creates some hope,” Wolk said.

    Fox, however, didn’t bother announcing a schedule. ABC, where an executive privately said it would be “miraculous” if the strike was settled in time to allow business as usual, released a fall schedule that relies almost exclusively on unscripted programming. Reruns of the popular comedy “Abbott Elementary” was the only exception.

    NBC has an entire season of episodes of “Found,” a new missing persons drama starring Shanola Hampton, already filmed in advance and ready to debut Thursdays in the fall, and recorded some new episodes of “Quantum Leap.”

    But very few new or returning broadcast shows have done the same. If the strike lasts into the summer, look for CBS, for example, to offer expanded versions of shows like “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and “Big Brother,” prime-time versions of game shows like “The Price is Right” or “Let’s Make a Deal,” and reruns of scripted shows from previous years.

    “It’s not lost on me that with the strike underway, all eyes are on unscripted,” said Allison Wallach, president of unscripted programming on Fox. Fox has two new game shows, hosted by Jamie Foxx and David Spade, on the docket.

    Across the networks, executives put off deciding whether to reject pilots of several proposed new shows or order a full season of episodes, calls that are usually made by May. The future of some current programs — “American Auto,” “Grand Crew” and “Young Rock” on NBC, for example — are up in the air, too.

    If the strike lasts through summer, the idea of new shows for television’s traditional midseason would be in jeopardy, one executive said.

    There are some in the television industry who see ABC’s fall schedule as a sign of things to come for broadcast networks.

    With television viewers, and media conglomerates, increasingly turning their attention to streaming services, the future for broadcast TV may lie in schedules consisting primarily of live sports, reality games like “The Bachelor,” game shows or news programming.

    An ABC executive pushed against that notion, saying scripted series will always be in the mix, and noting that one of the network’s big moves this spring was to pick up the drama “9-1-1” after it had been canceled by Fox.

    Still, it was hard not to miss the increasing amount of time spent in upfront presentations touting new programming being created for streaming services Peacock and Disney+.

    And perhaps the biggest development in upfronts week had nothing to do with the broadcast networks at all. It was the virtual presentation by Netflix, a first. Netflix had never needed to tout their wares to advertisers before but now they do, since it now offers a lower-cost subscription that contains advertising.

    Since that option was introduced last fall, more than one-quarter of new subscribers have chosen it, said Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix.

    “People love Netflix,” Peters said, “which is why we believe advertisers will love Netflix, too.”

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  • Wealthy Parents Surprise Graduating Child With Judge Who Will Let Him Off Hook For Future Rape Accusations

    Wealthy Parents Surprise Graduating Child With Judge Who Will Let Him Off Hook For Future Rape Accusations

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    SARASOTA, FL—Gasping with joy as his father revealed the graduation gift, local wealthy child Scott Hoffman thanked his parents Tuesday after they surprised him with a judge who would let him off the hook for future rape accusations. “Oh man, this is the best present ever—thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad!” said an elated Hoffman, who jumped up and down, sprinted out the door of his house, and immediately began inspecting the 76-year-old state court judge who would ensure that multiple sexual assault accusations against him were dropped . “Please, please, please, can I take him for a spin? I promise I’ll be careful when I use him to get around the legal system. This is so perfect for my first year of college. Everyone’s going to be so jealous that I got one on the 12th Judicial Circuit. How did you know I wanted one that was white?” At press time, Hoffman had been grounded by his parents after he refused to share the judge with his younger brother, who had been charged with raping several classmates.

    Onion Explains: The International State Of Women’s Rights Pt. 2

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  • Striking Hollywood writers vow not to picket Tony Awards, opening the door to some kind of show

    Striking Hollywood writers vow not to picket Tony Awards, opening the door to some kind of show

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    NEW YORK — Striking members of the Writers Guild of America have said they will not picket next month’s Tony Award telecast, clearing a thorny issue facing show organizers and opening the door for some sort of Broadway razzle-dazzle on TV.

    The union last week denied a request by Tony organizers to have a waiver for their June 11 glitzy live telecast. It reiterated that in a statement late Monday, saying the guild “will not negotiate an interim agreement or a waiver for the Tony Awards.”

    But the guild gave some hope that some sort of Tony show might go on, saying organizers “are altering this year’s show to conform with specific requests from the WGA, and therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show.” What is being altered was not clear, but it may be to allow a non-scripted version of the Tonys to go on.

    The strike, which has already darkened late-night TV shows like “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert “and “Saturday Night Live” and delayed the making of scripted TV shows, was jeopardizing theater’s biggest night, one that many Broadway shows rely on to attract interest with millions of people watching.

    The union — representing 11,500 writers of film, television and other entertainment forms — has been on strike since May 2, primarily over royalties from streaming media. While the guild doesn’t represent Broadway writers, it does represent writers who work on the Tonys telecast.

    Tony organizers faced a stark choice after the request for a waiver was rejected: either postpone the ceremony until the strike ends or announce winners in a non-televised reception that would ask nominees to cross picket lines. The decision Monday means the possibility of a third way: A non-scripted show that leans heavily on performances.

    That is largely what happened during the 1988 awards, which were broadcast during a Writers Guild of America walkout. Host Angela Lansbury and presenters speaking impromptu and with performances from such shows as “A Chorus Line” and “Anything Goes.”

    Before the Writers Guild of America decision, a two-part Tony ceremony had been planned, with a pre-show of performances streaming live on Pluto, and the main awards ceremony broadcasting live on CBS and streaming live to premium-level Peacock members.

    The big first awards show during the current strike was the MTV Movie & TV Awards, which had no host and relied on recycled clips and a smattering of pre-recorded acceptance speeches. The strike has also disrupted the PEN America Gala and the Peabody Awards, which celebrate broadcasting and streaming media, on Monday canceled its June 11 awards show.

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    Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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  • Writers strike felt in missing NBC stars, absence of Fox schedule for TV sales pitches

    Writers strike felt in missing NBC stars, absence of Fox schedule for TV sales pitches

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    NEW YORK — The impact of the Hollywood writers strike was felt as major television networks began their annual week of sales presentations to advertisers on Monday, with news personalities like Willie Geist and Stephanie Ruhle left to hawk comedies and dramas for NBC Universal.

    Fox declined to announce a fall television schedule on Monday, citing uncertainties created by the strike.

    Some 11,500 members of the Writers Guild for America, saying the rise of streaming has hurt their earning power, walked off the job two weeks after talks on a new contract broke down, and haven’t returned to the negotiating table since.

    Network late-night shows immediately shut down. Picketing writers targeting some of the few shows shooting episodes forced the shutdown, at least temporarily, of programs including Showtime’s “Billions,” “Severance” on Apple TV+ and the new Marvel show, “Daredevil: Born Again” on Disney+.

    The network sales presentations, known as upfronts because TV executives use them to convince advertisers to lock in commercial spending months in advance, are major events on the television schedule. They opened with turmoil; writers picketed in front of Radio City Music Hall where NBC previewed programming it hoped viewers would be able to see.

    Mark Lazarus, NBC Universal president of television and streaming, quickly acknowledged the uncertainties in speaking to the ad representatives.

    “It may take some time, but I know we will eventually get through this,” Lazarus said, “and the result will be a stronger foundation from which we can all move forward together.”

    Lazarus came to the stage following a song-and-dance routine by an animated bear, Ted, voiced by creator Seth MacFarlane. Following two movies, the “Ted” character is set to begin a series on the Peacock streaming network.

    The upfront presentations are generally known for star power attempting to woo advertisers, but entertainers were notably missing from NBC Universal’s presentation. For example, the network and Peacock announced new series that will star Jon Cryer, Jesse L. Martin, Kaley Cuoco and Anthony Hopkins and none of them were there on Monday.

    Instead, the new personalities were put in the odd position of pitching entertainment fare, like Geist highlighting programming around the upcoming 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live,” while Ruhle and business journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin touted new dramas.

    Entertainers and creators Amy Poehler, Dick Wolf and Simon Cowell each spoke in taped messages, which NBC said were recorded before the strike began.

    Three musicians performed for the crowd, each of them with NBC ties. Reba McEntire was announced as a coach for an upcoming season of “The Voice,” Grace Potter was a winner of a past edition and Nick Jonas is a former coach. Jonas noted the audience’s cool reaction on a Monday morning.

    “I know it’s early,” he said, “but y’all feel free to let loose a little bit.”

    In advance of Fox’s presentation later Monday, executives talked about upcoming shows, but not when they would appear.

    “No one has a crystal ball about the duration and impact of the strike,” said Dan Harrison, executive vice president of program planning and content strategy. “Once we have a clearer view, we will announce our plans.”

    Fox executives said that the pandemic offered practice in the need to be flexible when the content pipeline is suddenly shut down.

    The strike will likely mean a greater reliance on unscripted fare, said Allison Wallach, president of Fox’s unscripted programming. To that end, Fox announced a new game show, “Snake Oil,” hosted by David Spade and a music guessing game, “We Are Family,” produced and hosted by Jamie Foxx.

    ___

    Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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  • Time for Eurovision: Here’s how the exuberant song contest works

    Time for Eurovision: Here’s how the exuberant song contest works

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    Sprinkle the sequins and pump up the volume: The annual Eurovision Song Contest reaches its climax on Saturday with a grand final broadcast live from the United Kingdom’s city of Liverpool.

    There will be catchy choruses, a kaleidoscope of costumes and tributes to the spirit of Ukraine in a competition that since 1956 has captured the changing zeitgeist of a continent.

    Last year, 161 million people watched the competition, according to the organiser, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), making it one of the world’s most-watched events.

    Here’s what to expect as acts from across Europe – and beyond – vie for the continent’s pop crown.

    Who’s competing?

    This year, 37 countries sent an act to Eurovision, selected through national competitions or internal selections by broadcasters. The winner of the previous year’s event usually hosts the contest but, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues, the UK is doing the honours this year on behalf of 2022’s winner, Ukraine.

    Alyosha is competing for Ukraine this year. The country has won three times since it began taking part in 2003 [Martin Meissner/AP Photo]

    Six countries automatically qualify for the final: last year’s winner and the five countries that contribute the most funding to the contest – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

    The others must perform in the semi-finals with 20 acts chosen by public vote on Tuesday and Thursday.

    The qualifiers are: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

    The final takes place on Saturday at the Liverpool Arena.

    Australia?

    Eurovision is not just geography. Eurovision is hugely popular in Australia and the country was allowed to join the competition in 2015. Other entrants from outside Europe’s borders include Israel and Azerbaijan.

    Who are the favourites?

    It is hard to predict the winners in a contest whose past winners have ranged from ABBA to Finnish metal band Lordi, but bookmakers say Swedish diva Loreen, who won in 2012, is the favourite with her power ballad Tattoo.

    Finland’s Käärijä was a crowd-pleaser in the semifinals with his pop-metal party tune Cha Cha Cha and Canadian singer La Zarra, competing for France, is also highly ranked for her Edith Piaf-style song Évidemment.

    UK singer Mae Muller performs in Liverpool.
    Mae Muller of the United Kingdom is hoping to turn in a strong performance on Saturday night [Martin Meissner/AP Photo]

    And never underestimate left-field entries like Croatia’s Let 3, whose song Mama ŠČ! is pure Eurovision camp: an anti-war rock opera that plays like Monty Python meets Dr Strangelove.

    What happens in the final?

    About 6,000 people will attend the final, hosted by longtime BBC Eurovision presenter Graham Norton, Ted Lasso and West End star Hannah Waddingham, British singer Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian rock star Julia Sanina.

    Each competing act must sing live and stick to a three-minute limit but is otherwise free to create its own staging – the flashier the pyrotechnics and more elaborate the choreography, the better.

    Russia’s war in Ukraine will lend a solemn note to a contest famed for celebrating cheesy pop.

    The show will open with a performance by last year’s winner, folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra, and singer Jamala, who won the contest in 2016, will perform a tribute to her Crimean Tatar culture. Ukraine has won the competition three times since the country started taking part in 2003.

    One person who will not be appearing is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He asked to address the final by video but the EBU said that such a talk would breach “the nonpolitical nature of the event”.

    How is the winner decided?

    After all the acts have performed, viewers in participating nations can vote by phone, text message or app but are not allowed to vote for their own country.

    This year for the first time, viewers watching from non-participating countries can also vote online, with the combined “rest of the world” votes being given the weight of one individual country.

    Let 3 of Croatia on stage, They are wearing shorts and singlets. The drummer is in the middle.
    Croatia’s Let 3 are singing an anti-war rock opera [Martin Meissner/AP Photo]

    National juries of music industry professionals also allocate between one and 12 points to their favourite songs, with an announcer from each country popping up to declare which has been granted the coveted “douze points” (12 points).

    Public and jury votes are combined to give each country a single score. Ending up with “nul points” (zero points) is considered a national embarrassment. The UK has suffered that fate several times – most recently in 2021. It bounced back last year, however, when Sam Ryder came second and is hoping this year’s contestant, Mae Muller, will also turn in a strong performance.

    Where can I watch?

    Eurovision is being shown by national broadcasters that belong to the EBU, including the BBC in the UK, and on the Eurovision YouTube channel. In the United States, it is being shown on NBC’s Peacock streaming service.

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  • Review: In ‘Still,’ Michael J. Fox movingly tells his story

    Review: In ‘Still,’ Michael J. Fox movingly tells his story

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    I’ve always liked Michael J. Fox and always will. I suspect most people feel the same way.

    That’s surely partly because, as Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” and Alex P. Keaton in “Family Ties,” Fox was a fixture of so many childhoods. But there’s also a way that Fox remains forever boyish — a charming pipsqueak, a plucky kid with a touch less confidence than he lets on. His sheer geniality and universal appeal has remained indomitable, even in the face of a degenerative brain disorder.

    “I’m a cockroach,” Fox says in Davis Guggenheim’s glossy, entertaining and often affecting documentary, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.”

    In Guggenheim’s film, Fox recounts his life, career and arduous battle with Parkinson’s disease, with which he was diagnosed at age 29. The documentary, debuting Friday on Apple TV+, does this through candid on-camera interviews with Fox along with narration read by the actor.

    And while there’s footage here of home movies, much of Fox’s life story unspools on screen. Along with bits of reenactment, Guggenheim uses clips of Fox’s film and TV series to illustrate his off-screen life.

    And this is surprisingly effective, in part because Fox’s screen presence has always been so genuine. Actors aren’t the parts they play but I think they always exude something innate about themselves. And more than that, a surprising amount of Fox’s life has really happened in front of cameras. He met his wife, Tracy Pollan, on “Family Ties”; she played a love interest. His first symptoms came during the filming of “Doc Hollywood.” And for years after Fox’s diagnosis, he masked his increasing tics on “Spin City” by fidgeting with props.

    But dramatizing Fox’s life like this can also feel like a shallow gimmick. Instead, the most memorable images in “Still” are those of a present-day Fox in frame, speaking straight into the camera. The effects of Parkinson’s are visible but so is the jaunty, self-deprecating actor we’ve always known. After the continual mussing with his still-handsome head of curls, Fox begs the primpers to stop. “At at certain point, it is what it is,” he says.

    Again, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the Fox we see on screen is the real him.

    “Still” frames Fox’s story, maybe a little too neatly, as an arc from headlong movement to stillness. Fox’s rags-to-riches rise in Hollywood was meteoric and head-spinning. The Alberta-born actor landed “Family Ties” while penniless and negotiated from the payphone of a Pioneer Chicken. From there on, it was movie deals, women and Ferraris.

    The diagnosis knocked Fox sideways. The doctor, he recounts, laid out the odds: “You lose this game.” But after a period of heavy drinking, Fox says the disorder, despite sending tremors through his body, made him more present, stiller. Pollan and their children are surely a big reason for that. Fox is never so endearing as when he’s extolling the level-headedness of his wife: “I could be the King of England and she would be her. I could be Elvis and she would be her.”

    “Still” finally makes you realize that even Fox’s likability can be a burden. Being widely beloved while suffering through debilitating pain is another layer to his Parkinson’s journey, one rarely so intimately observed. When Guggenheim follows him out of his Upper East Side apartment in Manhattan, the difficulty Fox has just walking is as apparent as his abiding will to remain a man of good cheer. After a stumble near a fan on the sidewalk, Fox brightly jokes: “Nice to meet you. You knocked me off my feet!”

    “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” an Apple TV+ release is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language. Running time: 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.

    ___

    Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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  • Don’t miss next week: Jack Harlow on screen, Kesha, Anna Nicole Smith doc and Scott brothers on HGTV

    Don’t miss next week: Jack Harlow on screen, Kesha, Anna Nicole Smith doc and Scott brothers on HGTV

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    Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.

    NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

    — Three decades after Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson mixed it up on the black top, a new “White Men Can’t Jump” has next. A remake of that 1992 film teams Sinqua Walls and rapper Jack Harlow as a pair of basketball players who hustle hoops for money and compete in a lucrative three-on-three tournament. The film, which debuts Friday, May 19, on Hulu, is directed by Calmatic and co-written by Kenya Barris (“black-ish”). In it, Harlow makes his acting debut.

    — Anna Nicole Smith gets the Netflix documentary treatment in “Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me.” The film, debuting Tuesday, chronicles Smith’s life as a model, Playboy playmate and reality star. Smith died in 2007 at the age of 39 from an accidental overdose. “You Don’t Know Me” includes home video of Smith, whose birth name was Vickie Lynn Hogan.

    — Cristian Mungiu’s “R.M.N.” is one of the cinematic highlights of the first half of 2023. The latest from the acclaimed Romanian filmmaker (“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) is a powerful microcosm of a migrant drama that has played out all around the world. A mountainous Transylvania village is increasingly torn apart by violent nationalist impulses that course through the town’s civic life in response to a handful of foreign workers. Mungiu, the pioneering filmmaker of the Romanian New Wave, crafts an unflinching societal portrait both gripping and grim. Currently playing in theaters, “R.M.N.” is available on-demand beginning Friday, May 16.

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

    — Check out Kesha’s new album for what “post-pop” sounds like. That’s what the ever-changing pop star is calling her Rick Rubin-produced record “Gag Order.” Single “Fine Line” is an introspective, beatless ballad with the lyric “Am I bigger than Jesus/Or better off dead?/There’s a fine line between genius and crazy.” There’s also “Eat the Acid,” an experimental, mournful number. Her team says the album excavates “the deepest recesses of her soul to date.”

    — Def Leppard are following in the footsteps of Metallica, the Scorpions and Bring Me the Horizon with an orchestral reworking of their catalogue. “Drastic Symphonies,” features their greatest tracks reimagined by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Fifteen of the hard rockers’ hits like “Animal,” “Love Bites,” “Hysteria” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me” have a new sound. Some songs — “Rock of Ages,” “Photograph” and “Let’s Get Rocked” — didn’t work and were left off.

    — May turns out to be a great month for 11-time Grammy-nominated singer- songwriter Brandy Clark. Her Broadway musical “Shucked” was nominated for best original score and she’s got a new self-titled album out Friday, May 19. Produced by Brandi Carlile, the album showcases Clark’s tenderness, with the 11 songs including the heartbreaking “Buried,” a celebration of her home in “Northwest” and a loving tribute to her grandma with “She Smoked in the House.”

    — Ahead of their first post-pandemic album, Dave Matthews Band has released two strong singles, including the nostalgia-drenched “Monsters,” with the lyrics “Chutes and ladders/Pick up sticks/Counting cards and counting bricks/Driving past that old five and dime/Can’t get nothing for a nickel since a long long time.” The first single, “Madman’s Eyes,” leans into Middle Eastern rhythms for a darker song about the madness of violence. Both songs will be on the album “Walk Around the Moon,” out Friday, May 19, and the band says it “is as much a reflection on the current times as it is an urge to find common ground.”

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    NEW SERIES TO STREAM

    — Stock up on tissues because home renovation twins Drew and Jonathan Scott’s series “Celebrity IOU” is back with new episodes on HGTV. Each episode features a Hollywood star who dreams up a home renovation project for someone they want to give back to. Enter the Scott brothers who use their knowledge of construction to make it happen. The episodes follow each project from start to finish with a heart-warming, emotional presentation at the end. This batch of eight episodes features Heidi Klum, Kristin Chenoweth, Glenn Close, Taraji P. Henson, Emma Roberts, Jay Leno, Derek Hough, Kristin Davis and Emma Roberts. “Celebrity IOU” returns Monday.

    — If you watched the “To All the Boys” movies, you probably remember scene-stealer Anna Cathcart as the confident, chatty kid sister, Kitty, to Lana Condor’s Lara Jean. Cathcart has landed her own spinoff series called “XO, Kitty.” Created by “To All the Boys” author Jenny Han, Kitty travels to Korea to attend an elite boarding school that her long-distance boyfriend is a student at. It’s also the same school where her late mother went as a teen. Kitty imagines a seamless transition to a new school in a new country and a romantic reunion with her boyfriend but quickly realizes life doesn’t always go as planned. All 10 episodes drop Thursday on Netflix.

    — Wilderness expert and adventure-seeker Bear Grylls has never encountered a mountain he won’t climb or a random creature he won’t eat for fuel. We’ve seen him on TV venture into the great outdoors with celebrities but now he’s taking everyday people out of their comfort zone in a new show, “I Survived Bear Grylls.” With the help of comedian co-host Jordan Conley, Grylls uses simulated challenges to test contestants on their survival skills, physicality, and gross-out tolerance. Get ready for the hardest, the dirtiest, the most disgusting day of your life,” Grylls says in the trailer. “I Survived Bear Grylls” debuts Thursday on TBS.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

    — The Lego brand encompasses all sorts of pop culture icons, from “Star Wars” to “Seinfeld.” But sometimes you just want to build a Lego car and take it for a spin. In 2K Games’ Lego 2K Drive, you can assemble a high-speed racer brick-by-brick, then compete against your friends to find out who’s got the zippiest monster on the track. If you want to go off-road, you can turn your car into an all-terrain vehicle, a boat or even an aircraft. Visual Concepts, the studio behind the NBA 2K franchise, is promising a huge open world in which you can you take your driver from rookie to world champion — or just tool around smashing into things. Your Lego garage opens for business Friday, May 19, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

    — “I awoke one morning to find I was a dog” is a heck of a way to open a video game. Humanity gets weirder from there. The dog is a glowing Shiba Inu, and his mission is to guide the human masses toward salvation at the end of the world. Sounds heavy, but the result is the sort of hypnotic puzzle game you’d expect from Enhance, the developers responsible for Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite. It’s reminiscent of the 1990s classic Lemmings in that you’re trying to steer crowds of mindless creatures away from a gruesome demise, but once the hordes start fighting each other, this pup’s got a whole new set of problems. With 90-plus levels and the tools for users to build their own, Humanity could last for an eternity. The herding begins Tuesday on PlayStation 5/4 and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

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    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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  • NBC will air most of marquee Olympic events from Paris live during daytime

    NBC will air most of marquee Olympic events from Paris live during daytime

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    Swimming, gymnastics and track & field fans can rejoice. For the first time in a European Olympics, those event finals will be televised live on network television in the United States.

    NBC will have at least nine hours of weekday daytime coverage, expanding to at least 11 hours on weekends. With Paris six hours ahead of New York, the marquee finals will air live in the morning or late afternoon.

    NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service will have every sport and event live, including all 329 medal events, from July 26-Aug. 11, 2024.

    “The Paris Olympics are going to be the most binge-worthy event of 2024,” said Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports. “For those wanting to watch the competition as it happens, Peacock will have everything live, creating the greatest single destination in sports media history.”

    Most fans have wanted to watch Olympic events live. NBCUniversal has done that in the past with most sports, using its sister channels for around-the-clock coverage, but has kept the marquee events and finals for primetime.

    During the Tokyo Games two years ago, the only way to watch gymnastics finals live was on Peacock or other NBC Sports digital platforms.

    This will be the first time since 2012 that a Summer Games are being in held in Europe. The London Games marked the first time NBC had a site devoted to streaming every event live by using the Olympics world feed. That meant track fans could stream the 100 meter finals live while most waited until watching the taped coverage on NBC in primetime.

    While some may look at this as an evolution in NBC’s coverage, Molly Solomon, the Executive Producer & President of NBC Olympics Production, termed it as a better way of taking advantage of the time zone.

    “I believe you take each Olympics separately. I love after you finish an Olympics, you get to start with a clean slate for the next one,” she said. “To bring the Olympics to the greatest number of people, how can we take advantage of the time zone? And so what we did when you look at six hours ahead, we’re like we can take over NBC in the daytime, and have live competition all day long, including the most popular sports, their finals in the afternoon on NBC.”

    The prime time show will show replays of the important events from the day while adding storytelling and other features.

    “So really prime time in Paris will be the best of the best. And the time zone gives us the opportunity to create an amazing storytelling event,” Solomon said. “This gives us the opportunity to reimagine and contemporize coverage.”

    Prime time host Mike Tirico also will be used during the morning and weekday coverage when there are marquee finals.

    Besides streaming every sport and event, Peacock will have on-demand replays and original programming, including preview and recap shows spotlighting marquee sports.

    This will be third Olympics for Peacock, which launched in 2020, although the first Summer Games in which it has all events.

    “I think this is going to be a chance for fans to engage in ways that they haven’t really been able to before, because you’re going to have all of these content options,” said Peacock president Kelly Campbell. “We’re giving people this flexibility to watch and enhance the viewing experience.”

    U.S. viewers streamed 5.5 billion minutes from Tokyo, a 22% increase over Rio in 2016, according to NBC and Nielsen.

    NBC is hoping the expanded hours will help ratings rebound after the Tokyo and 2022 Beijing winter games, which were held in pandemic conditions without fans.

    Tokyo averaged 15.6 million prime-time viewers, including cable and streaming. That was down 42% from Rio. Beijing fared worse, with a combined average of 11.4 million.

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    AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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