Day: May 2, 2018

Categories
Television

Amazing news!!

Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon’s Cord & Tish to return for Royal Wedding

And you thought Cord and Tish went gaga over flowers…

“Saturday Night Live” alumni Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon will reprise their roles of Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan, respectively, for a live HBO special tied to the upcoming British royal wedding.

“The Royal Wedding Live With Cord and Tish!,” which the premium cabler announced Tuesday, will air Saturday, May 19 at 7:30/6:30c, with a primetime replay that day at 9:45 pm.

Shannon and Ferrell introduced the characters in “The 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish,” an Amazon parody special that streamed live in January.

Rose Parade correspondent (and fellow former “SNL”-er) Tim Meadows, as well as other guests, will be on hand to help with the coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding procession. A release for the special promises that Tish and Cord will relay the big event “with their trademark dignity and grace.”

Ferrell wrote and will executive-produce the special with Andrew Steele (“SNL”), Mike Farah (“Billy on the Street”) and showrunner Bellamie Blackstone (“@midnight”); Shannon will produce. Funny or Die will produce.

Categories
Television

Bring it on, baby!! Bring it on!!!

‘Arrested Development’ Season 4 Getting A “Remix” Before Season 5 Hits

There’s good news and bad news about “Arrested Development.” The good news is that season 5 is coming. And apparently its right around the corner. The bad news is…well not really that bad, honestly. The second bit of news is about season 4.

To say that Season 4 of “Arrested Development” wasn’t as well-received as previous seasons would be a gross understatement. The story of the Bluth family was widely regarded as one of the best comedies on TV, which led Netflix to revive the show for the ill-fated season 4. Unfortunately, a variety of behind-the-scenes circumstances led to the series being presented in an odd way, or as the series creator Mitch Hurwitz says, “a ‘Rashomon’-style of storytelling. Needless to say, fans weren’t very pleased.

But never fear! Hurwitz is back and wants to make things right. Or at least give it a valiant effort before season 5 of the series makes its triumphant return later this Summer.

In an open letter tweeted out by Hurwitz, he describes an effort to recut and “remix” season 4 to be told in a more simple, chronological way. While he readily admits that his main driving force was money (“I mean, who am I kidding, I want this thing to syndicate eventually.”), he says that he found other purposes to remix and re-edit the season.

“But I also pursued it as a comedic experiment to see if new jokes and a new perspective would emerge from a remix that features all the Bluths in every episode, and where the simultaneity of the story plays out chronologically,” explained the creator. “And I’m really excited about the final result.”

Let’s be real, Hurwitz did this to win back favor from the fans before season 5 is released. Speaking from my own personal experience, I didn’t even finish the fourth season because it was so lackluster. However, with the “remix” scheduled to hit Netflix this Friday, May 4, I might go back to see if I initially misjudged the series.

“Arrested Development Season 4 Remix: Fateful Consequences” will hit Netflix on May 4, followed “real soon” by season 5.

Categories
Awards

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!

Mean Girls, SpongeBob lead Tony Award nominations with 12 nods each

NEW YORK—Tina Fey’s musical Mean Girls, which she adapted from her much-beloved and oft-quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea adaptation from the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical lead the Tony Award nominations with dozen nods each.

A British revival of Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s monumental, two-part drama about AIDS, life and love during the 1980s, grabbed 11 nominations — the most for any play — 25 years after it first appeared on Broadway. The shimmering, grown-up musical The Band’s Visit also earned 11 nods.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise extended its magical touch to Broadway, with a two-part stage play featuring the bespectacled wizard earning 10 nominations, as did a revival of My Fair Lady.

Best new musical category is filled by The Band’s Visit, Frozen, Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical. Those musicals that failed to make the cut were the Hal Prince revue Prince of Broadway, the Jimmy Buffet musical Escape to Margaritaville and Summer, about disco diva Donna Summer.

The two-part Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which picks up 19 years from where Rowling’s last novel left off and portrays Potter and his friends as grown-ups, won nine Olivier Awards in London before coming to America and bewitching critics and audiences alike. It now will face The Children, Farinelli and The King, Junk and Latin History for Morons for best new play.

Best male acting nominations for a play include Denzel Washington, starring in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s epic The Iceman Cometh. The 2010 Tony winner for Fences will have to face-off against Andrew Garfield in Angels in America, Tom Hollander of Travesties, Jamie Parker of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Mark Rylance in Farinelli and The King.

Michael Cera of Brampton, Ont., received a nomination for best featured actor in a play for his role in Lobby Hero.

Amy Schumer, who made her Broadway debut in Steve Martin’s comedy Meteor Shower, won a nomination for best actress in a play. Others in the category include Glenda Jackson from Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, Condola Rashad in Saint Joan and Lauren Ridloff in Children of a Lesser God.

Carousel, My Fair Lady and Once on This Island make up the best musical revival category, mostly because they’re only eligible nominees.

The best play revival category is filled by Angels in America, Three Tall Women, Lobby Hero, Travesties and The Iceman Cometh.

Bruce Springsteen, whose solo show mixes songs and stories from his bestselling memoir Born to Run and has been banking over $2 million (U.S.) each week he’s onstage, will be granted a special, non-competitive Tony, along with John Leguizamo for Latin History for Morons.

Plenty of nominations don’t necessarily lead to actual wins on Tony night. While Hamilton was nominated for 16 awards in 2016 and went on to win 11, just last year Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 earned a leading 12 nominations but got just two technical awards on the big night.