Extra! Extra! Top TV News — Drew’s ‘Cringe’ Apology, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ Full Trailer, Hulu Increases Fee (Again!), Who Should Play Lead in Murder, She Wrote Movie?
Also: Costner’s Ego Trip on Yellowstone
This news is coming at you a tad late because Drew Barrymore just released her apology video this afternoon. It’s cringe to say the least. More about that down below. So many new trailers for upcoming series and films (keep scrolling because I’m gushing over the new Lessons in Chemistry trailer — my expectations are freakishly high for this series!) and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon looks AMAZING! And how on brand for Kenneth Branagh and 20th Century Studios to release A Haunting in Venice today, on Agatha Christie’s birthday! Keep scrolling for all the birthdays and tributes.
Let’s get into the news! 🗞️
Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week
1. Drew Barrymore Releases Apology Video, But Will Still Go On With Show
Grosie Josie actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore has released an at-home apology video on Instagram telling her followers that she is sorry and that she takes full responsibility for continuing on with her talk show that will premiere its new season Monday, September 18 amidst the ongoing Writer’s Strike. She kept reiterating that, “There is nothing I can do.” Will & Grace actress Debra Messing commented on her post, “You can choose now to halt production. You can choose to pay your employees like other talk show hosts who have stood in solidarity with writers. There are thousands of union members jobs and livelihoods that are at stake and the future of our beloved industry. I hope you will reconsider.” Ever Carradine who plays Naomi Putnam on The Handmaid’s Tale commented, “I was so hopeful this was a video of you announcing that you were stepping away fro your show and joining your writers on the picket line.” Lenny Jacobson of Apple TV+’s For All Mankind added, “What level of narcissism is requited for one to think their daytime talk show is more important than an entire industry fighting for fair wages?”
2. All-Star Lineup Announced for Celebrity Jeopardy!
Okay TV fans (that’s all of us reading this!), ABC’s Jeopardy! has announced the stars the will headline its special Celebrity Jeopardy! edition. Hosted by Ken Jennings, Celebrity Jeopardy! will feature stars across many networks and streaming platforms, not just ABC. The TV famous contestants include…Christopher Meloni (Law & Order), Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary), Mark Duplass (The Morning Show), Sherri Shepherd (Sherri), Dulé Hill (The Wonder Years), Mira Sorvino (Shining Vale), Timothy Simons (Veep), Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), and Steven Weber (Chicago Med). These are just the celebs that will kick off the first run (more stars to be announced in the coming weeks). Celebrity Jeopardy! will premiere Wednesday, September 27 on ABC.
3. Rena Sofer Returns To General Hospital After 26 Years
Talk about a “Welcome Back” celebration. Rena Sofer who played Lois Cerullo on the daytime soap opera General Hospital from 1993-1997 will return in the same role that won her the Daytime Emmy years ago. Her character’s return is brought on when her ex-husband Ned (actually played by her real-life ex-husband Wally Kurth) suffers from amnesia and is convinced he’s Eddie Maine, his rock star alter-ego from the ‘90s. Sofer played the Italian-American band manager who briefly marries Ned (twice!) ad becomes the mother of his child. Her reappearance episode will air this October. If you don’t watch General Hospital, you might recognize Sofer from her role as Eve Cleary on Melrose Place.
4. Kevin Costner Wanted Final Say On All Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone’ Scripts, Report Revealed
Looks like there was a lot of big ego under those cowboy hats as a report revealed that Kevin Costner was putting some pretty hefty demands on Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone’s creator and writer. Apparently Costner was seeking higher pay, minimal shooting time, and last say on every episode that Taylor Sheridan (the only writer on the show) writes. While the two sat down to talk back in July (according to a report in Puck) to see about Costner returning for Season 5, Part 2. Sheridan would not meet the demands of the star who also wanted the authority to approve and/or veto any scripts for upcoming episodes. The second part of the season is delayed due to the ongoing writer and actor strikes. Could John Dutton be written off the show in a deathly manner? Turns out there is a clause in Costner’s contract that if his character should die, he must die in a “moral” way, leaving many ways he could die off limits. While Yellowstone’s future hangs in uncertainty, the prequel series 1923: Season 2 is on the way, as well as a sequel series starring Matthew McConaughey.
5. Donald Glover’s ‘Lando’ Series Will Now Be A Movie
Looks like the Disney+ series that Donald Glover and his brother Stephen Glover were working on about Star Wars’ Land Calrissian will be turned into a movie instead. Glover played the title role in the not-so-loved Star Wars film Solo: A Star Wars Story, however his character (originally played by Billy Dee Williams) was highly praised. Unfortunately, any further advancements on the screenplay have been halted due to the imminent WGA strike. In other Donald Glover news, his reboot of the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith at Amazon has been delayed until 2024.
‘Murder, She Wrote’ To Be A Feature Film
September 21 - Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy premieres on BET+
October 5 - First Lady of BMF premieres on BET+
October 13 - John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams to premiere on Peacock (watch trailer below)
One Piece renewed for Season 2 at Netflix
Lego Masters renewed for Season 5 at FOX
Streaming News
Hulu begins listing its Top 15 Shows on its platform
Disney+ and Hulu to raise prices Mid-October. On October 12, 2023 the price of Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN+ will increase to $81.99/month. Without LIVR, Hulu will increase from $12.99 to $14.99 for the
Byron Allen, media-mogul makes $10 billion bid for ABC and Disney’s National Geographic and FX Networks.
Sneak Peek: Upload - Season 3 premiering October 20 on Prime Video
Happy 34th Anniversary Madonna + Pepsi
Pepsi is re-airing the commercial from 1989 that was immediately canceled when Madonna refused to change any scenes in her Like a Prayer video that showed her kissing a black saint and burning crosses. She took to Instagram to thank Pepsi for finally realizing their genius collaboration together as she is one never to compromise her artistic integrity.
Reunion of the Week: N’SYNC at the VMA’s
Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+)
Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
More Trailers
Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)
Goosebumps (Hulu)
Sex Education: Season 4 (Netflix)
Frasier (Paramount+)
House of Kardashian (Sky)
Shining Vale: Season 2 (STARZ)
Billy the Kid: Season 2 (MGM+)
Found (NBC)
Appendage (Hulu)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Netflix)
For All Mankind: Season 4 (Apple TV+)
Virgin River: Season 5, Part 2 (Netflix)
September 15 🥳
Tom Hardy, 46 - stream Peaky Blinders on Netflix
Dave Annable, 44 - stream Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+
Tommy Lee Jones, 77 - stream The Fugitive on Pluto TV
Prince Harry, 39 - stream Heart of Invictus on Netflix
Ben Schwartz, 42 - stream Renfield on Peacock
Oliver Stone, 77 - stream Platoon on MAX
Born on this Day: Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Agatha Christie, legendary mystery author, was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller to an American father and affluent stockbroker Frederick Miller and British mother Clara Boehmer. Her father passed when she was twelve years old and she was sent away to school in both Devon and Paris, France.
Christie was inspired to be a novelist at a young age and she often wrote unpublished novels and short stories, submitting them to various publishers and magazines. She married in late 1914 to a pilot-in-training who was later sent off to fight in World War I. Christie volunteered in the British unit, providing nursing services during the war while working on her debut novel, one that she was unable to find a publisher for until four years after she finished it. This novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” introduced her famous character Hercule Poirot. In 1926, her husband revealed to her that he had a mistress and that he wanted a divorce.
Agatha disappeared for 10 days in which a country-wide manhunt took place making headlines across the news pages. She turned up after 10 days, living in Yorkshire under the last name of her husband’s mistress claiming she didn’t know how she got there. Doctors came to the conclusion that she suffered amnesia, but these 10 days still remain a mystery after all these years. Christie ended up remarrying in 1930, two years after her divorce from Archie. She kept her last name and sole custody of their daughter Rosalind. In 1956 she earn high honors as Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Dame Commander in 1971. She died of natural causes in early 1976, possibly stemming from Alzheimer or dementia as researchers claim.
Agatha Christie Movies and TV Series To Stream:
A Haunting In Venice - In Theaters Now
Death on the Nile - Stream on Hulu
The ABC Murders - Stream on Prime Video
Ordeal By Innocence - Stream On Prime Video
Murder on the Orient Express - Stream on Paramount+
September 16 🥳
Alexis Bledel, 41 - stream Gilmore Girls on Netflix
Mickey Rourke, 70 - stream Sin City on MAX
Jennifer Tilly, 64 - stream Bound on MGM+
Nick Jonas, 30 - stream Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle on Hulu
Max Minghella, 37 - stream The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu
Amy Poehler, 51 - stream Parks and Recreation on Peacock
Ed Begley Jr, 73 - stream A Mighty Wind on Pluto TV
Molly Shannon, 58 - stream Promising Young Woman on Freevee
Born on this Day Peter Falk (1927-2011) - stream Columbo on Freevee and Peacock
Born on this Day: Lauren Bacall (1924-2014)
Lauren Bacall was born in New York City as Betty Joan Perske to a mother who was an immigrant of Romanian-Jewish descent and a father who was born in New Jersey to parents of Polish-Jewish descent. She was raised in a middle class family — her parents held jobs as a salesman and a secretary. They divorced when she was just five years old and became estranged from her father after that. Bacall originally wanted to be a dancer, but took up acting later attending the famous Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Her wealthy uncles put her through private school and after graduation she landed some roles in off-Broadway productions.
She then entered into modeling and quickly got the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. Wife of famed director of the Golden-era Howard Hawks spotted Bacall on the cover of the magazine and encouraged her husband to screen-test the 19-year-old immediately. Her screen-test was a success and she was cast as Marie Browning in the thriller To Have and Have Not (1944) co-starring her future husband Humphrey Bogart.
She continued to star in more films at the rate of one per year, mostly co-starring Bogart. Her husband and love of her life, died on January 14, 1957 at the age of 57 from throat cancer. She left Hollywood and returned to New York to star in many critically acclaimed Broadway productions.
She returned to Hollywood and starred in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974) among an all-star cast which turned out to be a big hit. She disappeared from acting in her later years appearing sporadically in films such as Misery (1990) and Barbra Streisand’s A Mirror Has Two Faces in which she won the Golden Globe for her role and was nominated for an Oscar. She passed just five weeks before her 90th birthday on August 12, 2014.
Stream Lauren Bacall’s Best Films:
Murder on the Orient Express (Paramount+)
The Shootist (MGM+)
The Big Sleep : buy or rent On Demand
To Have and Have Not : buy or rent On Demand
How To Marry A Millionaire : buy or rent On Demand
September 17 🥳
Kyle Chandler, 51 - stream Friday Night Lights on Netflix
Baz Luhrmann, 60 - stream Moulin Rouge on Tubi
Producer Paul Feig, 60 - stream A Simple Favor on MGM+
Born on this Day Roddy McDowell (1928-1998) - stream Overboard on Paramount+ with Showtime
Born on this Day John Ritter (1948-2003) - stream Three’s Company on Pluto TV
Born on this Day Anne Bancroft (1931-2005) - stream The Graduate on Prime Video