LOS ANGELES — Remember award-show hosts – the ones who soar or sputter while working live?
They’re increasingly hard to find. Chris Collier, head of the Fox network, said there will be no host this year for the Emmys; that comes after the no-host Oscars.
Collier said the Emmy decision was spurred partly by wanting time for tributes to several departing shows. He considered some hosts, but “that’s 15-20 minutes we can’t” use for farewells. Read more…
1) “Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert,” 9 p.m., PBS. This isn’t what you’d expect: The setting and the orchestra are Austrian, the conductor is Venezuelan, the soloist is Chinese … and most of the music is from American composers. Really. Gustavo Dudamel (shown here) opens spectacularly with Bernstein’s “Candide” overture and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” with pianist Yuja Wang. She pauses for a Chopin waltz, but then we’re back to Sousa, Steiner and more, beautifully played and filmed. Read more…
Monica Lewinsky has a new role in life: She’s been hired as a producer of “Impeachment,” the Bill Clinton mini-series that will debut in September of 2020.
And yes, she’ll also be a character in it. Beanie Feldstein – who plays the chubby virgin-turned-vampire on FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows” — will play Lewinsky (who is shown here with Clinton). Read more…
The gaps have been gaping, but now “Alanta” fans can quit worrying:
Yes, there will be a third season. And, for that matter, a fourth. Each will be eight episodes, with the back-to-back filming beginning next spring. Read more…
LOS ANGELES — Like most of George Takei’s shows, “The Terror: Infamy” is a fictional tale.
He’s done a lot of them, before and after becoming a “Star Trek” star, a half-century ago. But this one is different: Its supernatural scares are alongside the sort of real-life horror he knew as a boy.
“I’m a Southern California kid, sent over to the swamps of Arkansas,” said Takei, 82.
That was in 1942, when Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps. Takei was 5, going with his father (a real-estate man), mother, older brother and baby sister. Read more…
1) “The Big Bang Theory,” 8 p.m., CBS. Life is almost back to normal at CBS. “Love Island” has ended –it will be back next summer — and only “Big Brother” (9 p.m. today) gets in the way of comedy reruns. “Big Bang” is back in its Thursday spot and has a couple extra episodes Monday. Tonight brings a tough decision for Leonard and Penny (shown here in the finale); her ex-boyfriend wants him to be a sperm donor. Read more…
LOS ANGELES – ABC is brushing off a long-dormant notion – big-deal mini-series.
The network once soared with “Roots” and more, but in recent years all of the broadcast networks have mostly avoided movies and minis. Now ABC president Karey Burke has announced:-
– “Little Mermaid,” becoming the network’s first live musical. Auli’i Cravalho (shown here) of “Moana” has the title role, with Queen Latifah as Ursula and Shaggy as Sebastian.
— An ongoing anthology, “Women of the Movement.” That starts next season with Mamie Till, who became active after the murder of her son, a civil-rights activist. By the end of that mini, she’ll meet Rosa Parks (which she did in real life, Burke said), who will be the subject of a mini the following season. Read more…
LOS ANGELES — Two notions from TV’s glory days, “All in the Family” and live television, will return – twice.
Jimmy Kimmel announced Monday that he’ll produce two more specials next season for ABC, one at Christmastime, the other next spring.
This season, Kimmel linked with Norman Lear and Will Ferrell to produce a live special using old scripts from “All in the Family” (shown here with Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei) and “The Jeffersons.” Those could be the shows included again – both are produced by Lear, 97 – but “everything isn’t tied down yet.” Read more…
1) “BH90210” debut, 9 p.m. Fox; rerunning at 8 p.m. Friday. Summer is the time to try something odd, toying with TV’s reality. Fox does that Sundays (with “What Just Happened?”) and now has a new twist. Former “Beverly Hills, 90210” stars –Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling (shown here), plus Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Carteris and Ian Ziering – play versions of themselves. After a fan fest, they talk about rebooting the series. Soon, old feuds and romances are re-ignited. Read more…
LOS ANGELES — We never expected the Pop network to be a treasure-trove of comedy.
We didn’t expect much of anything, actually. The network’s image and purpose were kind of sketchy.
But here it is now, with producers ranging from Norman Lear (97 and a TV legend) to Laura Chinn, 33, who spent years adrift in Florida. “I would go to California, but I couldn’t stay for long,” she said. Read more…
