Extra! Extra! Top TV News: SAG On Strike 🪧 ! Emmy Noms, Fall Premiere Dates, Lincoln Lawyer Part 2 Trailer, And More…
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It’s been such a weird week for TV news — an exciting midweek gift in the form of Emmy nominations being announced and then ending with the upsetting news that failed negotiations have forced SAG-AFTRA to go on strike. Now with both SAG and WGA on strike, expect projects currently in production and development to stall and a new onset of reality programming and documentaries to hit the streaming platforms (ugh! Just pay 💰 everyone their fair share!).
What will become of streaming? As long as Bob Iger (CEO of Disney) gets his $31 million payout, then all is good in the world (insert sarcasm here).
Top 5 TV News of the Week
SAG-AFTRA is Now on Strike! 🪧
SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors has officially joined the picket lines alongside the Writers Guild, after negotiations failed to address new pay structures when it comes to AI and streaming royalties. As of now, massive crowds are picketing in front of Warner Bros. Discovery Studios with their pro-union signs singing chants like “Logan Roy Would Pay Us More!” SAG-AFTRA president (and former Nanny star) Fran Drescher arrived outside the Netflix offices where she delivered a passionate speech about how “disgusted” she was with studio heads and their greed. The New York and Los Angeles offices of NBC/Universal, Disney, and Amazon are also being swarmed by protesters from both striking unions. Bob Iger’s (CEO of Disney) response to the strike, “It’s very disturbing to me,” and “quite frankly, it’s very disruptive.” Watch Drescher’s 🔥 speech here:
Some films in production that will be affected by the strike include: Beetlejuice 2, Gladiator 2, Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, Lilo & Stitch live-action, Minecraft, Mission:Impossible - Dead Reckoning: Part Two, Mortal Combat 2, Venom 3, and Deadpool 3.
Top Chef Winner Kristen Kish To Replace Padma Lakshmi As New Host
The upcoming Top Chef: Season 21 which will take place in Wisconsin will star a new host as Padma Laskshmi retires from the Emmy-winning reality competition series. Kristen Kish, winner of Season 10 Top Chef is stepping up to the task. Kish was born in South Korea and adopted into a family in Kentwood, Michigan where she was raised. She attended the Le Cordon Bleu school in Chicago. She is no stranger to being host — Kish has hosted Travel Channel’s 36 Hours and is a co-host of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend and Restaurants at the End of the World.
Reneé Rapp Leaving MAX’s ‘Sex Lives of College Girls’ In Season 3
A series regular is leaving the MAX comedy, Sex Lives of College Girlsduring its upcoming third season. While actress and recording artist Reneé Rap will appear in a few episodes during Season 3, she will be named a recurring guest star rather than a series regular. Season 2 of the series ended with her character Leighton coming out to her dad and quitting her sorority at Essex College which will ultimately lead her to leaving the school. Rapp also starred as Regina George in Broadway’s Mean Girls and will reprise her role in the upcoming musical film version.
FX’s ‘Alien’ Series To Film Without Union Actors During Strike
Alien, a new series from FX currently in pre-production in Thailand will continue filming despite the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Due to the location of the series, non-union members that are involved in the project can still work during the strike. While the main cast of the series has not officially been announced, Variety confirmed that at least two of the lead actors are in fact SAG union and production will have to work around them. There are also British actors part of the cast and although the Brits are showing solidarity with their American friends, their unions have not officially gone on strike and are permitted to still work on set. Writer-director Noah Hawley (Fargo) and writer-producer Ridley Scott (Gladiator) will continue to work during pre-production with anything not SAG or WGA-related.
‘Leave The World Behind’ To Be Julia Roberts’ First Film For Netflix
Coming soon to Netflix! Julia Roberts is set to star in her first feature film for Netflix based on the bestselling psychological thriller novel “Leave The World Behind”. Roberts and Ethan Hawke will play couple Amanda and Clay, two middle-class New Yorkers who rent a luxury vacation home in Long Island only to be visited by the home’s real owners G.H. and Ruth (played by Mahershala Ali and Myha’la Herrold) who ask to stay alongside the couple as the East Coast has been hit with a mysterious blackout. Are they who they say they are? Suspense and thrills follows. The film is set to premiere on Netflix on December 8.
Emmy Nominations!
Did Your Streaming Favorites Get A Nod? Add these titles to your watchlist!
Outstanding Drama Series 🎭
Andor
Better Call Saul
The Crown
House of the Dragon
The Last of Us
Succession
The White Lotus
Yellowjackets
Outstanding Comedy Series 😂
Abbott Elementary
Barry
The Bear
Jury Duty
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso
Wednesday
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Beef
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Daisy Jones & The Six
Fleishman Is In Trouble
Obi-Wan-Kenobi
See all the nominations here! https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/2023-emmy-nominations-list-1235666521/amp/
Save The Date 📆 (Includes Fall Premiere Dates!)
September 20 - The Super Models will premiere its four-part docuseries on Apple TV+
August 1 - Summer Under The Stars collection of classic films including ones starring Lucille Ball on TCM
August 18 - Harlen Coben’s Shelter premieres on Prime Video
September 19 - Name That Tune: Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
September 19 - I Can See Your Voice premieres on FOX (Hulu)
September 24 - Krapopolis (2-episode premiere event) on FOX (Hulu)
September 25 - Kitchen Nightmares: Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
September 25 - Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premies on FOX (Hulu)
September 27 - The Masked Singer Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
September 27 - Snake Oil: Series Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
September 28 - Hell’s Kitchen Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
September 28 - Lego Masters Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
October 1 - The Simpsons: Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
October 1 - Bob’s Burgers: Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
October 1 - Family Guy: Season Premiere on FOX (Hulu)
Spoiler Alert of the Week: Nathan Lane Will Not Return To Only Murders…For Season 3
First Look: The Leopard (Netflix)
A limited TV series based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
First Look: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Donald Glover’s remake of the Brad Pitt/Angelia Jolie Mr. and Mrs. Smith film, but as a series.
Trailer of the Week: Lincoln Lawyer, Part 2
More Trailers:
Ahsoka (Disney+)
The Winter King (MGM+)
Men In Kilts: Season 2 (STARZ)
Painkiller (Netflix)
How To Become a Cult Leader (Netflix)
The Golden Bachelor (ABC/Hulu)
The Super Models (Apple TV+)
Physical: Final Season (Apple TV+)
Harlan Coben’s Shelter (Prime Video)
Happy Birthday 🥳
July 14 🎉
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 38 - stream Fleabag on Prime Video
Jane Lynch, 63 - stream The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime Video
Vincent Pastore - stream The Sopranos on MAX
Matthew Fox, 57 - stream Lost on Freevee
Ingmar Bergman 1918-2007 - stream Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal on MAX
July 15 🎉
Iain Armitage, 14 - stream Young Sheldon on MAX
Liza Colon-Zayas, 59 - stream The Bear on Hulu
Diane Kruger, 46 - stream Inglourious Basterds on Freevee
Director Ari Aster, 36 - stream Midsommar on Showtime
Forest Whitaker, 61 - stream The Godfather of Harlem on MGM+
Scott Foley, 50 - stream Scandal on Hulu
Brian Austin Green, 49 - stream Beverly Hills, 90210 on Paramount+
July 16 🎉
Phoebe Cates, 59 - stream Fast Times at Ridgemont High on Freevee
Will Ferrell, 55 - stream Spirited on Apple TV+
Corey Feldman, 51 - stream The Goonies on Hulu
Born on this Day: Barbara Stanwyck - Stream Witness to Murder on Tubi
Born on this Day: Ginger Rogers (1911-1995)
Actress and dancer Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McNath in Independence, Missouri. Ginger had a tumultuous youth — her mother fled to Independence, away from her husband, to give birth to Ginger because her first baby had died when her husband allowed the doctor to use forceps. She was kidnapped by her father several times until Ginger’s mother took him to court. Ginger was left with her grandparents while her mother went to Hollywood and New York City in search for a job as a screenwriter. Ginger, age 9, was reunited with her mother in Dallas when her mother met and married John Rogers. Ginger was a dancer from a very young age. At 14, she won a Charleston dance contest and was given a 4-week contract to tour in vaudeville acts. She finally got an agent, appeared in some Broadway productions, and finally landed a bit role in A Night in a Dormitory (1929). Her breakout film was The Gold Diggers of 1933 which led to her stardom when she was paired with Fred Astaire in 1933’s Flying Down To Rio. She won an Oscar for her role in Kitty Foyle (1940) where she played a young women from the wrong side of the tracks. She passed of natural causes in Rancho Mirage, California in 1995 at the age of 83.
Stream Ginger Rogers on Demand on Amazon Prime or Apple TV+:
Gold Diggers of 1933
Top Hat
Shall We Dance
Stage Door
Swing Time
Kitty Foyle
Monkey Business
Black Widow