Extra! Extra! Top TV News — ‘Barbie’ Streaming News 💕 ‘Asteroid City’ ☄️ Coming To Peacock, Stars Donate Millions To Striking Actors’ Find 💰, Loki: Season 2 Trailer

Streaming Through Pink-Colored Glasses

Can you believe it? All the hype of Barbie premiering on the big screen will soon get the streaming treatment! When and where will it stream? This news and more including stars coming together to donate millions to the SAG-AFTRA strike fund, a season renewal for one of Prime Video’s most-watched young adult series, and remembering the incredible talent we lost this week. Keep scrolling for more news and a Happy Birthday to everyone’s favorite redhead! (no, it’s not Miranda from SATC).

Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week

1. Barbie Movie To Stream On MAX This Fall 💕

Barbie is on its way to become a billion-dollar box office hit, so why would MAX want to rush it to streaming? Warner Bros. executives want Barbie to chill at theaters for as long as it has got momentum, but they also want to honor the window (usually 45 days) from when a film premieres in theaters to when it gets sent to streaming. Plus, Warner Bros Discovery after losing over a million subscribers in spring is looking to lure in new sign-ups with the magic of Barbie. So far, there is no exact date when Barbie will hit MAX, but it could be as early as late September. Barbie is already available for pre-order on demand for $24.99. Stay tuned for dates! 

2. Lionsgate To Acquire eOne from Hasbro For $500 Million

Guess who’s getting a new portfolio of films and television programming? Lionsgate (the peeps behind such favorites as Mad Men and the Twilight movies) will acquire eOne, the media company from the giant toy company Hasbro for a cool $500 million. The deal is sweet with Lionsgate acquiring film development rights to Hasbro’s Monopoly game which was once a set for film in talks to star Kevin Hart back in 2019. Other rights include Peppa Pig, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and over 30+ Hasbro-based projects in development like the Transformers, Dungeons and Dragons, and GI Joe Franchises. eOne is also the home to Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, but if granted Lionsgate will acquire a large content library that includes 6,500 titles — Oscar winning film Green Book and Sam Mendes’ 1917 and television series Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and even the reality series Naked and Afraid. 

3. Hasan Minhaj Could Take Over Trevor Noah’s Chair at The Daily Show

Guess who is head of the class when it comes to the top candidate to take over Trevor Noah’s spot full-time on The Daily Show? Hasan Minhaj, comedian and former Daily Show correspondent has not been finalized as host, but auditions and talks are pointing upwards in his direction. Minhaj was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2014 to 2018 and recently filled in as host during the month of February. The show is on hiatus since May due to the WGA strike. 

4. Stars Donate Millions 💰 of Dollars To SAG-AFTRA Foundation for Strike Fund

The Screen Actors Guild has been on strike since July 14 and now some of the A-list wealthy celebs are digging into their couch cushions to donate millions of dollars to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Emergency Assistance Program. The program aids by distributing money to performers who are temporarily without income due to halted productions, money that allows them to pay for food and rent. There is a nice list of celebrities who have entered the million-dollar donation level — George Clooney, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Meryl Streep, and Oprah Winfrey. 

5. Variety Honors Young Hollywood — Sydney Sweeney, Noah Schnapp and More

Variety will host a party on August 10 to honor Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood. This special issue will feature cover stars and this year’s honorees Noah Schapp (Stranger Things) and Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria). Also being honored is singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer Steve Lacy. The issue honors those young stars who have made huge strides in their careers. Sweeney has eight projects currently in development including the remake of the Jane Fonda film Barbarella and will star in the Spider-Man spinoff Madame Web alongside Dakota Johnson and Emma Roberts. 

Happy 20th Anniversary ‘The O.C.’ ☀️ 🌊

If you didn’t feel old yet, maybe the 20-year anniversary of The O.C. will have you dabbing on that anti-wrinkle cream a little thick. The 2003 series that lasted four seasons is celebrating the big 20. A teen drama set in the privileged and ocean breezy backdrop of Orange County, California, it starred Mischa Barton, Adam Brody, and Rachel Bilson. The show catapulted the career of creator Josh Schwartz who went on to write and produce such hit CW series as Gossip Girl, Dynasty, Hart of Dixie, and The Carrie Diaries.

Save the Date 📆

• August 11: Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City will premiere on Peacock 

• December 2023: The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy will premiere on Peacock

Renewed 😊 / Canceled 😱

• The Summer I Turned Pretty renewed for Season 3 at Prime Video 

• Suspicion starring Uma Thurman canceled at Apple TV+ after one season

• City on Fire canceled after one season at Apple TV+ 

Streaming News 📺

• AMC Networks loses hundreds of thousands of subscribers in second quarter, it lost 300,000 in Quarter 1

• MAX to stream sports. Finalizing strategic plan for its portfolio of NBA, MLB, and NHL rights

• Warner Bros. Discovery (MAX) lost 1.8 million streaming subscriptions from April 1-June 30

• Roku signs deal with Miss Universe Pageant To Continue Streaming the Event Staring in November 

Trailer of the Week: Loki: Season 2 (Disney+) 

More Trailers 🍿

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets (Aug 18, MAX) 

Neighbours (Freevee)  Sept. 18 

Disenchantment: The Final Season (Netflix) 

Choose Love (Netflix) 

Sneak Peeks! 👀

The Wheel of Time: Season 2 (Prime Video) 

Reunion of the Week: Charlie’s Angels’ Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith 

Charlie’s Angels” star Kate Jackson was a guest at former co-star Jaclyn Smith’s son’s wedding.

In Memoriam 🙏: A reflection on brilliant performances

Mark Margolis (November 26, 1939-August 3, 2023)

If you haven’t seen Breaking Bad, then you missed one of the great (and chilling) scenes of modern television. Mark Margolis played Tio Salamanca and in his scene where he didn’t even speak, just rang a bell was one of the most nail-biting scenes in the show’s five-season run. Margolis was a character actor who also starred in episodes of The Affair, Your Honor, and American Horror Story. 

Angus Cloud (July 10, 1998-July 31, 1998) 

Angus Cloud is remembered by his Euphoria castmates as “an infinite beauty” with “the kindest heart”. His role as Fezco on Euphoria is both raw and captivating to audiences. 

Paul Reubens (August 27, 1952-July 30, 2023) 

One of the most iconic characters in children’s television, Pee-Wee Herman was a creation by Paul Reubens who painted a world of whimsy and absurdity with colorful dream-like characters. He also had guest appearances in series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and What We Do In The Shadows. 

Happy Birthday 🎉

August 4 🥳

• Greta Gerwig, 40: stream Lady Bird on Paramount+ with Showtime

• Meghan Markle, 42: Suits (Netflix) 

• Abigail Spencer, 42: Mad Men (AMC+) 

• Dylan Sprouse, 31: After We Collide (Netflix) 

• Billy Bob Thornton, 68: Bad Santa (Pluto tv) 

• Cole Sprouse, 31: Riverdale (Netflix) 

• Daniel Dae Kim: Lost (Freevee, Hulu, Prime Video, Peacock) 

August 5 🥳

• Director James Gunn, 56: stream Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (Disney+)

• Mark Strong, 59: Murder Mystery (Netflix) 

• Olivia Holt, 25: Cruel Summer: Season 1 (Hulu) 

• Jesse Williams, 41: The Cabin in the Woods (MAX) 

• Maureen McCormick, 66: The Brady Bunch (Paramount+ with Showtime) 

• Loni Anderson, 77: The Love Boat (Paramount+ with Showtime) 

• Jonathan Silverman, 56: Death Becomes Her (Freevee)  

Born on this Day: Director John Huston (1906-1987) 

A legendary director (see also screenwriter and character actor) who earned ten Oscar nominations in a career that spanned over 50 years. He was born in Nevada, Missouri of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. His family’s folklore is that his father won the small town he grew up in in a poker game. John was an only child to couple Walter Huston (a character actor) and Rhea, a journalist who traveled all over the country in search of a good story. At the young age of just three, John began performing on a vaudeville stage with his father until his parents divorce at age seven when he split his time between the stage and traveling with his mother on reporting trips. He quit school at age 14 to become a boxer and won the Amateur Boxing Championship of California (he won 22 of 25 rounds). He had quite a career in entertainment that kicked off on Broadway in 1925, around the same time he was married. He felt chained down to both marriage and acting and took a retreat to Mexico, leaving both behind. He became an officer in the cavalry there and also an expert on horse. He returned to America, submitting short stories to New York magazines and newspapers, even getting hired by Mr. Samuel Goldwyn himself to write screenplays. However, he still was not happy, moving again to London and then Paris where he studied painting. 

He returned to America in 1933 and focused on his love of screenwriting where he wrote a few scripts for Warner Bros. Warner Bros. was so impressed by John’s talent that they offered him the job of writing and directing The Maltese Falcon (1941). This classic film starring Humphrey Bogart made a star out of Huston, most critics calling it the greatest detective film ever made. He then went on to write and direct another Bogart classic — The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a film that would earn Huston two Oscars for both screenplay and directing. John’s father won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He went onto direct some of the most classic films in cinematic history — The African Queen, The Asphalt Jungle, Moulin Rouge, Moby Dick, The Unforgiven, and The Misfits. He also directed his daughter Angelica in Prizzi’s Honor (1985). He passed at the age of 81 on set of the film Mr. North of pneumonia. 

August 6 🥳

• Michelle Yeoh, 60: Everything, Everywhere All At Once (Paramount+ with Showtime) 

• Vera Farmiga, 49: Five Days at Memorial (Apple TV+) 

• M. Night Shyamalan, 52: The Servant (Apple TV+) 

• Leslie Odom, Jr. 41: Hamilton (Disney+) 

• Soleil Moon Frye, 46: Punky Brewster (Peacock) 

Born on this Day: Robert Mitchum 1917-1997

Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Ann Harriet (a Norwegian immigrant) and James Thomas Mitchum, a shipyard/railroad worker. His father died tragically in a train accident when Robert was only two years old. He, along with his two siblings were raised by his mother and stepfather who was a British army major. Robert was troubled as a teen and spent much of his formative adolescent years on the open road, adventuring when one day he was picked up and charged with vagrancy and sentenced to a chain gang in Georgia when he was just 14. He escaped and took on some rather odd jobs including a ghostwriter for Carroll Righter, the astrologist. Mitchum caught the acting bug in Long Beach, California at an amateur theater company. While moonlighting in theater, he got a day job at Lockheed Aircraft, a job which caused him temporary blindness. He started to get small film roles here and there until his breakthrough role Story of G.I. Joe (1945) where he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His status grew and he soon became an icon of 1940s film noir. He was multi-talented, a master at accents, and even composed an oratorio produced at the Hollywood Bowl by Orson Welles. His sons James and Christopher Mitchum are both actors. 

Stream Robert Mitchum 🎬

• The Night of the Hunter (MGM+)

• The Last Tycoon (Paramount+ with Showtime) 

• The Big Sleep (Freevee)

• Man with the Gun (Pluto TV, Roku Channel, Tubi) 

Born on this Day: Lucille Ball 1911-1989

The most iconic redhead on television who captivated audiences with her zany physical comedy, broke glass ceiling throughout her lustrous career. She was born in Jamestown, New York to DeDe Hunt and Henry Durell. Her father passed when she was just three years old. Ball was mostly raised by her grandparents as her mother worked many jobs to support her and her younger brother. She was always the standout in her family, looking to make waves wherever she went. She enrolled in a dramatic school for acting in New York City, but was outshined by fellow student Bette Davis. Ball was labeled as “too shy” and thus was sent home. She took a dip into modeling and after awhile was chosen as a Goldwyn Girl and appeared in the film Roman Sandals (1933). Shortly after she was put under contract at RKO Studios. She landed several small roles in A-films like Top Hat, and then more leading roles in B-movies. While acting, she fell in love with young Cuban actor-musician named Desi Arnaz and they embarked on a passionate romance that would take them on a life-changing adventure — married in 1940 and starring together in one of the most beloved series on TV of all time, I Love Lucy (1951). Her and Desi were pioneers in television, introducing the three-camera technique, putting their series into syndication, and Lucille Ball becoming the first women to own her own studio as the head of Desilu Productions. Lucille Ball past as the age of 77 from an acute aortic aneurysm at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. 

Stream Lucille Ball: 📺

• I Love Lucy (Paramount+ with Showtime) 

• Stone Pillow (Amazon Freevee, Prime Video) 

• Yours, Mine and Ours (Pluto TV, Prime Video, Roku Channel, Tubi) 

• The Lucy Show (Amazon Freevee) 

• The Fuller Brush Girl (Crackle) 

• Lured (Roku Channel)

• Lucy & Desi: Documentary (Prime Video)