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‘Outcast’
Rege-Jean Page stars in “Roots,” premiering Monday on History, A&E Network, LMN and Lifetime.
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CELEBRITY
‘THE DRESSER’
4 JES MACALLAN
Two acting legends send a valentine to the theater
She’s back as one of the ‘Mistresses’
5 KRISTIN KREUK
‘Beauty and the Beast’ starts its last round
6 A case of nerves on
‘First Impressions’
8 Tony Kanaan gets
psyched for 100th Indy 500
9 Getting to know
‘NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT’ The Beach Boys bring good vibrations to a somber occasion
‘Chopped’ food guru Ted Allen
FOOD
7 ‘Celebrity Food ‘Outcast’ a tale of demonic possession
17
Fight’ not necessarily about food
SPORTS
18-19 Carl Edwards
looks to repeat in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600
REALITY
the story!
16 ‘SPOTLIGHT: FROM
‘ROOTS’ Cable remake digs for authenticity
MOVIES
IN EVERY ISSUE
STAGE TO SCREEN’ Annette O’Toole and Michael McKean help TCM showcase filmed stage works
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Editor's choice
COVER STORY
History Channel digs deep to find more authentic ‘Roots’
By John Crook For anyone old enough to remember that week in January 1977 when most of America tuned in collectively to watch the ABC limited series “Roots,” the idea of trying to recapture that storytelling lightning in a new bottle may seem foolhardy and irrelevant.
four two-hour TV movies, each devoted to a generation of Haley’s ancestors. “That allows four great filmmakers to explore their version of this history and tell the story from their central character’s point of view in the style they wanted to,” Wolper explains.
After all, that epic account of novelist Alex Haley’s family saga blew the roof off the Nielsen ratings and later took home nine Emmy Awards (out of 37 nominations), as well as a Golden Globe and the prestigious Peabody Award. Who in his right mind would try to remake a fondly remembered television classic? Certainly not Mark Wolper, whose father, David L. Wolper, was executive producer of the 1977 “Roots.” In the years since that landmark programming event, the younger Wolper frequently was approached with offers to produce a retelling of this sprawling story, and he rebuffed all of them. Then, four years ago, he sat down to re-watch his father’s “Roots” with his 16-year-old son. “He found it almost impossible to watch,” Wolper recalls. “It was so alienating to him, in terms of the ‘architecture’ of television from that time. The style of the storytelling, the production values of that time, almost everything was just so jarringly different from what we see these days. When it was finally over, he said, ‘Dad, I understand why it’s important, but it’s like your music. It just didn’t speak to me.’ ” That family viewing experience led to the new four-night adaptation of “Roots” premiering Monday, May 30, on History. (History’s sister channels A&E Network, LMN and Lifetime also plan to simulcast the production). “Look at television these days. It’s better than feature films,” says Wolper, an executive producer on this project. “It’s a phenomenal form of storytelling, and to be able to take what was a classic and incredible piece and translate it for the generation of today (was important). We have to keep telling history over and over again, that was my realization. This is the history of this country, and frankly, this story relates directly to what is going on in the world today. How could it be wrong to retell this story for the generation of today that didn’t even see the original?” In reconceiving the story for a modern audience, Wolper noticed that the narrative could break fairly neatly into
Thus, Phillip Noyce (“Patriot Games”) directs Monday’s premiere, which focuses primarily on Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby), while that character’s daughter, Kizzy (Anika Noni Rose), is the focus of night two, helmed by Mario Van Peebles. Her son, Chicken George (Rege-Jean Page, in the role that made a star out of Ben Vereen), dominates night three, directed by Thomas Carter (“Save the Last Dance”), while Bruce Beresford (“Driving Miss Daisy”) brings things home in the finale anchored by George’s son, Tom (newcomer Sedale Threatt Jr.). The cast also includes such familiar faces as Laurence Fishburne (as Haley), Forest Whitaker, James Purefoy, Anna Paquin, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Mekhi Phifer, but it’s Page – a UK-trained newcomer of British-Zimbabwean heritage – who nearly walks off with the whole shebang with his charismatic work as Chicken George in the third movie. “I remember being sat down at some point by someone when I was a kid to watch (the original ‘Roots’), and then I watched it again more recently,” Page says. “I recognized that this project was a unique opportunity to tell the kind of story that is so rarely represented and yet is so constantly misrepresented.” The 1977 “Roots” sparked a wildfire of new genealogical research that yielded fresh information about the families and characters in Haley’s story, some of which makes its way into this new adaptation. “We know now the exact heritage of all these slave owners because of all the documents that are available. In doing this for the History Channel, we tried to be as accurate as we could,” Wolper says. “We know when these (plantation) families came over from England and we know their family’s crest. We were just trying to articulate this story more authentically than the original had the ability to do.”
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
JesMacallan of ‘Mistresses’ Monday on ABC
Season 4 of “Mistresses,” which starts Monday (May 30), picks up in real time from where the show left off. How did that go for you and your character Joss? It was definitely interesting. A lot went down with (last season’s) cliffhanger. We flash forward to a year later, and Joss is on the stand testifying in this murder trial. Harry (Joss’s sister’s ex, now involved with Joss) cuts his trip short – he was headed off on a private jet with Rocco DiSpirito – and surprises Joss with his “whirlwind” thing, and we just pick up with everybody’s life. It gave us some interesting catch-up for the audience. The first two episodes are really entertaining, because you’re like, “What? Wait! What?” You kind of feel like you’ve missed these people for a year, which is good. It’s been about seven months since we’ve been on the air, so it’s like a perfect little storm. Production of the series moved to Vancouver for Season 3, then returned to Los Angeles for the new season. What did that mean for you? We’re thankful to be working, so you don’t want to be negative about it ... but it was definitely a challenge. An L.A.-based show is supposed to look like it’s in L.A., so on the days when it was raining in Vancouver in March, we were like, “This is never gonna work.” I will say there were positives, though, too. (The cast members) hung out a lot, and we got to feel like we were on a bit of a field trip with each other, and that was fun. We all lived near each other there, but we’re so much happier to be home, even though we’re (filming) out in Santa Clarita. It’s still a bit of a trek, no matter where you go.
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For many people, “Mistresses” falls into the “guilty pleasure” column. Does that influence your portrayal of Joss? There’s one side of the show that’s the “OMG!” moments, but there’s also a grounding that I always try to bring to Joss. You just try to make it that even though we’re in hyper-crazy circumstances, you feel like people would feel if they were really in the situation.
CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
KristinKreuk
of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Thursday on The CW
Though the fourth and final season of “Beauty and the Beast” begins airing Thursday (June 2), the filming of it has been done for a while. Have you adjusted? It’s always a weird transition when you stop working. I’m sure it’s like that for everybody who ends up being between jobs, but it’s been really nice. I actually just started school – I never had a chance to go to secondary school, because I was working – and that’s really wonderful. It feels like a funny readjustment, but it’s good and positive. How was it to make the fourth season, on which you also were a producer, knowing it would be the end of the series? We really liked having that. You know that the stories are all going to wrap up, there’s no sense of anything being unknown. Everyone can complete their arc, and that felt really good. The season starts with (Catherine and Vincent) on their honeymoon, which I think the fans will enjoy. Of course, things will go crazy ... as they do every year. It’s a really interesting final arc for the two of them, trying to close out all the threats against them so they can just be normal again. There’s someone who’s looking for beasts, and there’s a bounty out there, so figuring that out is what their focus is.
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The humor level between Vincent and Catherine was amped up last season. Is there more of that in the final round? I think we still have that tone. There’s some pretty goofy stuff. Jay (Ryan, who plays Vincent) also is just very funny, and he’ll bring humor to the plate often. There’s still a lightness to the show in the midst of all the drama.
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CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
Dana
Carvey of ‘First Impressions With Dana Carvey’ Tuesday on USA Network As someone who does celebrity impressions, do you pick up anything from the contestants on “First Impressions”? Oh yeah. I don’t sit down and make a list of impressions I’m trying to learn. I just sort of use them when they pop up or appear to me. But I saw ... some Seth Rogen’s (I really liked). You know, the ones I don’t do are very interesting. The women did a lot of Drew Barrymore. And also the women for whatever reason, and I was a big fan of it, Owen Wilson. Women all did Owen Wilson. I don’t know why that was. But one thing I did notice a lot was just that people will hold their jaw in a different way or hold their mouth in a different way instantly to get to the voice. It was just fun. It was just fun seeing impressions done well, especially ones you don’t do.
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Did you see a lot of nervousness in the contestants? Well yeah. I think that was the part of the thing that was sort of emotional about the show, was that we’re not doing “The Voice,” like you’re getting a million bucks or something. But when those three (contestants) get in there it’s just validation. And they’re with their peers. And they’re seeing Freddie and me and maybe Steve Carell or Jon Lovitz and so I would have been very nervous if I were them. What was kind of the sweet part of it is they did want to win and each winner, when you saw their faces, was just like this wave of validation, like “Hey, I am good.” So it has that element to it, which was very sweet.
FOOD George Dickie’s What's for Dinner the cocoa-covered morsels the partygoers must identify by taste, prompting Standards and Practices to step in. “Jaleel White was eating one of those chocolates,” Richter recalls, “and said, ‘Oh, this is terrible. It tastes so bad it’s like what you would give a woman if you wanted her to break up with you.’ And I said, ‘I don’t think they put herpes in chocolate.’ And they couldn’t use that. I guess the herpes joke in the middle of a food show probably isn’t in good taste. But I mean, if there’s a good herpes joke to be made, I’m still going to make it. It’s up to them to use it or not.” The half-hour series returns for Season 2 Sunday, May 29, bringing with it more celebrities partaking in parlor games while consuming gourmet-quality hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Guests for this round include TV personality Melissa Rivers, recording artists Coolio and Ruben Studdard, comedian Bill Engvall, and actors Jennie Garth, Greg Grunberg, Kim Whitley and Tom Arnold. Richter is the first to admit that this series has little to do with food prep – other than the fact that food is served and the games are food-centric. But a good time is apparently had by all who come on it.
It’s a dinner party at Andy’s house on ‘Celebrity Food Fight’
Especially when alcohol enters the equation.
Andy Richter likens Food Network’s “Celebrity Food Fight” to having a dinner party at his house. And as such, he feels that since it’s his house, his rules go. So no subject is off limits. But that wasn’t entirely the case during the series’ premiere last December, when during the “Chocolate Surprise” segment, the host and erstwhile “Conan” sidekick made an off-color remark after guest Jaleel White objected to one of
What book are you currently reading? “It’s actually a graphic novel, which I don’t read a lot of, but it’s ‘Patience’ by Daniel Clowes. ... It’s a really great book.”
What did you have for dinner last night? “Last night I worked on the show, so I ate my dinner standing up spread out over a couple of hours. Because there’s all this food around so it’s like a lamb chop here and a small dish of risotto there. I ate a lot of prop food last night. It was a grab bag, although when I got home I had a bowl of Cheerios. They fed me there so last night was a dinner of hors d’oeuvres, basically.”
“Most of the people you see on the show have had a couple of drinks,” Richter says, “and so they’re not sloppy but they certainly probably shouldn’t get behind the wheel. The show is liberally peppered with Food Network regulars and you’re going to see those people a little looser than what you normally see. “And probably the same with the celebrities, just looser than what you might see when they’re on ‘The View,’ ” he says with a laugh. “I don’t think they give you a couple of drinks before ‘The View.’ ”
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What is your next project? “ ‘Celebrity Food Fight’ is ongoing, I hope, and I’m back to work at ‘Conan’ next week. But I’m also hosting an ABC prime-time game show that we’re going to be shooting soon called ‘Big Fan,’ which is based on a bit from a Jimmy Kimmel show. It’s being produced by Jimmy’s company and Jimmy’s a friend of mine. ... After trying in the game-show business for a long time, now I’ve got two.”
When was the last vacation you took, where and why? “It would probably be we went to New York last Thanksgiving and spent the weekend. And I’ve traveled since then but it’s been kind of purpose-driven. I wouldn’t call it a vacation.”
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CELEBRITY
George Dickie’s Celebrity ScooP
Tony
Kanaan
Talk to Tony Kanaan about the Indianapolis 500 and it becomes immediately clear that winning that race in 2013 was a life-changing event for him. So big, in fact, that he rates it with marriage and the births of his two sons as the most important events of his life. So big that he even had the image of the Borg-Warner Trophy – which is awarded to the race’s winner – tattooed on his right arm. “Yeah, it changes your life,” the affable 41-year-old Brazilian says, “although I would kid myself before I had won, ‘Well maybe if I don’t win, it will be OK.’ I was definitely going to be OK because you have no choice. But it definitely changed my life. Now, everywhere you go you’re the Indy 500 winner. You know, it doesn’t matter. That’s your title, like when they’re going to present you to do something, you’re the Indy 500 winner and obviously your face goes on a trophy, your name is in a museum. You become a legend pretty much.” Kanaan will be in the field of 33 for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Indianapolis 500, airing live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday, May 29, on ABC. As a 20-plus-year veteran of open-wheel racing, there isn’t much Kanaan hasn’t won. In addition to his victory at the Brickyard, he’s racked up 16 other wins in IndyCar, won the series championship in 2004 and even took the Rolex 24 at Daytona last year. This year’s race at Indy is the 100th overall and while Kanaan would love to win it, he isn’t putting extra pressure on himself. “To me as a driver, if you ask, ‘Which 500 do you want to win?’ I mean, it doesn’t matter if it’s the 91st, the 110th,” he says. “But of course, it will be cool. It’s an extra thing but it’s cool to win the Indy 500 and it will be extra cool to win the 100th.” Page 8 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote May 29 - June 4, 2016
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CELEBRITY CelebritY profile
TedAllen
- Born May 20, 1965 in Columbus, Ohio.
- Ted holds an M.A. in journalism from New York University, with an advanced certificate in the school’s science and environmental reporting program, and a B.A. in psychology from Purdue University. - He started out as a reporter in Chicago working for a chain of community weekly newspapers. This led to his connection to food in the form of restaurant criticism – he was one quarter of a biweekly group-review team called “The Famished Four.” - He started freelancing for Chicago Magazine, which led to a full time job there, eventually becoming a senior editor and restaurant critic. - After several years he joined Esquire magazine as a contributing editor. While there he co-authored four books spawned from Esquire’s “Things a Man Should Know” column (about sex, style, business etiquette and marriage) and was nominated for a National Magazine Award for an article he wrote about male breast cancer.
Ted Allen is a journalist, food and wine expert and TV personality who can currently be seen hosting “Chopped Junior” on Food Network. - In Spring 2002, a friend passed along a casting call notice looking for a gay man with an “Esquire sophistication” to teach straight men about food and wine, and he decided to fly to New York as a lark to audition. He landed the job and from 2003 to 2007, he was the food and wine expert on Bravo’s bold, groundbreaking reality show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” - He was a judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef” for seasons three and four and in 2009, he began his long-running gig as the host of “Chopped” on the Food Network. - In 2012, he won a James Beard Award for his work hosting “Chopped;” the show itself also received a Beard for best in-studio program.
- He has also hosted the guide to classic foods across America, “Best. Ever.”; and a competition for amateurs, “All-Star Academy,” which debuted in March 2015. - Last October, the first season of “Chopped Junior” debuted on Food Network, where this time around he hosts as 10- to 14 -year-olds compete in the arena. - He currently lives in Brooklyn with his husband, interior designer Barry Rice.
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CELEBRITY
Look Who’s Talking! “I was talking to a comic friend of mine, and he said it would be a really good charity show to get me and Ray Romano and Ellen DeGeneres to go to the Improv or some club in L.A. and all do our ‘Tonight Show’ sets. That’d be a good show, wouldn’t it?” – Drew Carey of “The Price Is Right” on CBS, about those whose comedy careers largely were launched by appearing with Johnny Carson
“When he did ‘The Honeymooners,’ it was much more akin to stage work. It was live, there was a kinetic feeling in that everything they were able to do was in that one big room, and it was just acting and reacting. That’s the amazing thing about it. Television is so vastly different now.” – Jason Patric of “Wayward Pines” on Fox, about his grandfather, Jackie Gleason
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“They helped me promote it and really got behind it, and they’ve been very supportive of all the (related) stuff that has come after it, so I’m sort of like ‘My cup overfloweth’ on this one.” – Dan Harris of “500 Questions,” “Nightline” and weekend “Good Morning America” on ABC, about having the network’s backing on his “10 Percent Happier”
CELEBRITY
ON DVRs
“
Annette O’Toole of “Spotlight: Stage to Screen” on Turner Classic Movies It’s the three B’s: ‘Baskets,’ ‘Bosch’ and ‘Better Call Saul.’ (The latter co-stars O’Toole’s husband, Michael McKean.)
”
Mike Love (The Beach Boys) of the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS “I do love PBS programming, I really do. We actually just completed a show for them that will be out in August, part of the ‘My Music’ series. And who does classic music on TV better or more often than PBS? Also, anything to do with nature, I’m all for.”
Kristin Kreuk of “Beauty and the Beast” on The CW “I just got into ‘Orphan Black.’ It took me a little while. I think Tatiana Maslany is just spectacular, and I have a massive girl crush on her. I love that show.”
Joe Mantegna of “Criminal Minds” on CBS “I still watch different things on the American Heroes Channel when they come up, and I still watch ‘Seinfeld’ reruns every night. And I watch the Travel Channel a lot ... ‘Bizarre Foods’ especially, maybe because we own a restaurant.”
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STORY
‘THE DRESSER’ Anthony Hopkins stars in “The Dresser,” which premieres Monday on Starz. Story on next page
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STORY “I think every actor recognizes themselves and their past in this play,” McKellen says. “And if you, as an outsider, want to know what it feels like to be in a dressing room and a desperate performance is minutes away, this play tells you exactly what that is like. ... It’s a whole range of characters, not just Sir and his dresser, and they’re all in love somehow with the theater, and it rings absolutely true.” Although this marks their first professional collaboration, McKellen and Hopkins, at ages 77 and 78 respectively, vividly convey a sense that their characters have lives and destinies that have long been intertwined. McKellen says he suspects Norman is a failed thespian himself.
Pictured: Ian McKellen
Two lions in winter team up for ‘The Dresser’ on Starz By John Crook Two of Britain’s finest actors, Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins, team up for the first time in “The Dresser,” a new TV adaptation of Ronald Harwood’s comedy-drama premiering Monday, May 30, on Starz. Directed and adapted by Richard Eyre, the piece takes place in a small British regional theater during World War II, where a provincial touring company is performing Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Many of the troupe’s male performers are away in military service, and its very elderly star – addressed here only as “Sir” (Hopkins) – is teetering on the precipice of senility as he attempts one of the Bard’s most challenging roles. It’s up to Norman (McKellen), Sir’s devoted if severely alcoholic dresser, to help his master pull himself together. Harwood drew inspiration for his play, which was adapted as a feature film in 1983, from his real-life stint as dresser to Sir Donald Wolfit, a famous Lear in his day before his death in 1968. The two main roles in this show are favorites of older actors, since the play offers such a perceptive and affectionate look at life in the theater. “Why do actors want to act? Why do they night after night go onstage and repeat the same performances over and over? ‘The Dresser’ more or less answers that, that you have to go half-mad to survive that kind of life,” Hopkins says.
“I think in his past, it’s quite clear, (Norman) has had some sort of mental breakdown,” McKellen says, “(but) he found that he could dress, he could help, he could be there. He found a job within the theater.” Like McKellen, Hopkins has undertaken the role of King Lear himself, but shortly after that production, at London’s National Theatre in 1986, the actor abandoned the stage, a decision he chalks up today to insecurity and a sense that he simply wasn’t up to the challenge of theater work. Even filming bits of Sir’s onstage performance as Lear before a live audience made him nervous, Hopkins admits, but McKellen helped him get more comfortable. “(‘The Dresser’) touched something in me,” he says. “I thought, ‘I know what this means.’ It was a painless revisit to a world that I ... wasn’t comfortable with. Now I can understand why so many great actors love Shakespeare. I wish I had that.” Both stars give mesmerizing performances. McKellen’s Norman is comically fussy, but he shows us that the character’s devotion to Sir isn’t blind loyalty – it’s steeped in a keen awareness that he doesn’t have a Plan B for his life if and when this job goes away. Hopkins’ Sir is touching as a fading star who is frightened by his failing faculties, but he’s also occasionally scary, as when a worshipful young ingénue (Vanessa Kirby) visits his dressing room and he regards her as little more than a prospective sex toy. The exceptional supporting cast includes Emily Watson as Her Ladyship, Sir’s long-suffering companion; Sarah Lancashire (“Last Tango in Halifax”) as Madge, the stage manager who has adored Sir from afar; and Edward Fox, hilarious as a company bit player who discovers his inner ham when he is pressed into service to play Lear’s fool.
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STORY
Hosting friends are back at the National Memorial Day Concert Joe Mantegna (left) and Gary Sinise return as hosts of the National Memorial Day Concert, Sunday on PBS. Story on next page
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STORY
The Beach Boys bring their own meaning to the National Memorial Day Concert Also slated to perform in this year’s Memorial Day show are opera’s Renee Fleming, country music’s Trace Adkins, actors S. Epatha Merkerson (“Chicago Med”) and Esai Morales (who did several “Criminal Minds” episodes with Mantegna), singer-actor Alfie Boe, and two people with ties to “American Idol”: Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee (now of “Scorpion”) and the contest’s latest and last winner, Trent Harmon.
Pictured: Joe Mantegna (left) and Gary Sinise
By Jay Bobbin The Beach Boys might seem better suited to PBS’ Fourth of July special than to its Memorial Day commemoration, but the pop-music icons have their place in the more somber event. They’re part of the typically diverse talent lineup for the National Memorial Day Concert, as the 27th annual edition has its public-television airing Sunday, May 29 (check local listings). Longtime friends Joe Mantegna (“Criminal Minds”) and Gary Sinise (“Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders”) share the hosting duties for the 11th consecutive year – and for executive producers Jerry and Michael Colbert – on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. “I wear a bangle on my left wrist that was given to me by a fellow who was in the Central Highlands of Vietnam,” says Beach Boys co-founder and lead singer Mike Love, “and this bangle was created by a Buddhist tribe that was not going for the communist thing. And this fellow who was in the war gave it to me as a symbol of how much our music meant to him and his compatriots while they were doing what they had to do. “There are so many stories of how much our music has meant not only to the guys out doing battle, but also the wives and children and girlfriends back home,” Love adds. “It gave them a sense of comfort and happiness, so I take it seriously and I take it personally. It’s a fantastic thing to have something we did – having ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ doing our shows and living an unbelievably great life – mean so much to so many people.”
With Gen. Colin Powell and the National Symphony Orchestra (again conducted by Jack Everly) returning as usual, co-host Mantegna agrees the steadily touring Beach Boys may not be an expected act for the occasion, but believes they’re relevant to it. “I’m from the Vietnam War era, and I think the songs of the Beach Boys are of that ilk and of that time,” the Tony Award-winning actor reflects. “We’re always wellrepresented by country artists (in the concert), then it’s usually an eclectic group of other artists, so it’s run the gamut of different acts. Sometimes, it’s good to have a celebratory aspect to the music on Memorial Day as well. “It’s always going to have its heavy aspects,” Mantegna notes, “but sometimes, it’s nice to just recall a time like the ‘60s, which has a such a double feeling to me. I was doing the play ‘Hair’ then, with all its peace, love and rock and roll ... and on the other hand, we were going through this terrible time in terms of what our military had to deal with. So, I think it’s interesting in a way to have the Beach Boys.” For the holiday appearance, Love – who has an autobiographical book coming later this year – says his group is being selective about songs while not diverting from tradition. “We’re going to start with ‘California Girls,’ and we’re going to do ‘Sloop John B’ and ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice,’ and we’re going to do ‘Good Vibrations’ in its entirety. It is the 50th anniversary of ‘Good Vibrations” and (the album) ‘Pet Sounds,’ so we’ve got a lot to be thankful for. And we’re going to create more memories on Memorial Day.”
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STORY
The play’s the thing as TCM marks June with stage-inspired movies By Jay Bobbin To guide a month of films based on stage shows, Turner Classic Movies has placed the mission in hands wellsuited to it. Spouses Annette O’Toole (“Smallville,” “48 HRS.”) and Michael McKean (“Better Call Saul,” “Laverne & Shirley”) only have increased their theater cred lately. She just won a prestigious Lucille Lortel Award as lead actress in a musical for her Off-Broadway work in “Southern Comfort,” and he recently ended a Los Angeles run in “Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3).” Together, they’ll introduce a “Spotlight” series of “From Stage to Screen” adaptations of theatrical works two nights a week throughout June on TCM. The festival – highlighting plays on Wednesdays and musicals on Thursdays -- begins with such titles as “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (June 1) and “Show Boat” (June 2), then goes on to encompass such classics of both film and theater as “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The King and I,” “The Odd Couple,” “Funny Girl,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “West Side Story” and “Cabaret.” And Wednesday, June 29, is an all-Shakespeare night that includes Orson Welles’ “Macbeth” and Laurence Olivier’s “Hamlet.”
Pictured: Annette O’Toole and Michael McKean
the beginning, but then, we really kind of took off. It was during March Madness, so there were all these basketball people coming in and out, which was fun. And they just make it as easy as possible (at TCM). It was a labor of love.” As with Osborne’s co-hosts on the series “The Essentials,” Sally Field and Drew Barrymore among them, O’Toole and McKean – who were Oscar nominees for “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” a song they composed for the 2003 satire “A Mighty Wind” -- brought their own experiences as performers to their TCM assignment. “Some of these movies, I’d been up for,” O’Toole muses. “With ‘Hair,’ I went in for the part that Beverly D’Angelo eventually played. And Michael played the stage manager in a production of ‘Our Town,’ so we had inside information on those exact films.”
O’Toole laughs that she was somewhat “slap-happy” while “Michael had gone on (TCM) as a Guest Programmer with doing the TCM segments, since she had just finished “Southern Comfort” (for which she’s also a current Drama (principal channel host) Robert Osborne,” the charming Desk Award nominee) when she flew from New York O’Toole says, “and we’ve run into Robert a few times in to Atlanta. Things have stayed active for her since: Her New York, and we just adore him … as everyone does. performance as a serial killer in writer-director-star Ingrid TCM had wanted to do this stage-to-screen ‘Spotlight’ Jungermann’s “Women Who Kill” was shown at the Tribeca series with a couple, and I think we just kind of seemed Film Festival in April, and she’s been cast opposite Will like the appropriate people. We obviously love TCM and tweet about it all the time, and they went out a limb. They Forte (“The Last Man on Earth”) as the mother of National certainly knew what they were getting with Michael though Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney in Netflix’s “A Futile & Stupid Gesture.” they were less sure with me, but the stage-to-screen series was a good match for us since we do theater as “It’s been so many years, just kind of waiting to be well as films and TV.” asked to do things … and now, here it comes,” O’Toole says. “And it’s really, really nice,” However, she admits O’Toole knew many of the included titles well before TCM sent refresher copies to her and McKean, and the Atlanta one drawback is that her work often separates her from McKean “for a month or more. That’s the difficult part, but filming session was “just so much fun,” she reflects. “We we’re both so happy in what were doing. We just feel so sat there and talked for two days about movies. We had lucky to still be making a living doing what we love.” a couple of producers who were holding our hands at Page 16 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote May 29 - June 4, 2016
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Patrick Fugit
STORY
plays it dark in Cinemax’s disturbing ‘Outcast’
By George Dickie By all rights, Kyle Barnes has every reason to be a heel. As played by Patrick Fugit (“Almost Famous,” “Gone Girl”) in the compelling new Cinemax horror series “Outcast,” which premieres Friday, June 3, he’s a man who’s been in and around suffering his whole life. His mentally ill mother (Julia Crockett, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”) abused him as a child. His marriage to his apparently demonically possessed wife (Kate Lyn Sheil, “House of Cards”) ended under uncertain circumstances that had sad results for their daughter. And in his small West Virginia town, an 8-year-old boy (Gabriel Bateman, “Stalker”) also appears to be in the throes of possession.
“I quite like Kyle,” the 33-year-old actor explains. “I like the storytelling that they use with Kyle’s character. He’s not a character that expresses or says a lot – or at least he expresses but it’s not through saying things. It’s usually contextual in what’s happening to him in the way that he responds to it. And he’s got a duality. He’s outwardly very dark and inwardly he’s motivated by light and brightness and that’s what he wants in his life, and he’s in a very, very frustrating, tormenting state when we meet him because of that.”
More sensitive viewers should be aware that the action in this series, which is based on the comic book series by “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman (who is also an executive producer), can be disturbing. That’s especially That brings in Rev. Anderson (Philip Glenister, “Life on Mars”), a hard-drinking, self-styled soldier of God, to rid the so in the opening scene (and frequent promo), in which boy of the demon, and he enlists Kyle and his considerable the possessed boy slams his head into a wall to kill a cockroach and bloodies himself rather graphically. He then experience in the field to help. goes downstairs to his mother and bites off his finger. Kyle, meanwhile, is convinced his presence brings harm to those around him, so he sequesters himself from loved ones, including protective adopted sister Megan (Wrenn Schmidt, “Boardwalk Empire”), in a tiny, dank apartment, where he exists on junk food and hides from the devil he is certain is after him. Yet despite all this, Kyle at his core is a decent individual who tries to do the right thing, and that, says Fugit, is what drives him to do some of his darker deeds.
Yes, be ready to cringe. “I think that was Robert’s goal,” Fugit says with a laugh. “That initial scene when Joshua slams his head against the wall may make you startle but the content isn’t really like startle content. It’s very upsetting content and I think as the show goes on it continues along that sort of flavor. It’s not always that gnarly. Sometimes it’s maybe a little gnarlier but it’s certainly that vibe.”
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SPORTS
Carl
Edwards back flips to Victory Lane Story on next page
Full Name: Carl Michael Edwards II Born: Aug. 15, 1979 Birthplace: Columbia, Missouri Height: 6 foot 1 inch Car: No. 19, Toyota Camry
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing Sprint Cup Wins/Poles: 27/18 Honors & Achievements: NASCAR Busch Series Champion, 2007; Sprint All-Star Race, 2011
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SPORTS
By Dan Ladd Carl Edwards, the NASCAR driver known mostly for the back-flips he performs after winning a race, is hoping for more consistent trips to Victory Lane this season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota Camry can stay near the top of the Sprint Cup points standings by repeating as the victor at this week’s CocaCola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway airing Sunday, May 29, on Fox. The late-day race caps one of auto-racing’s busier days as the Indianapolis 500 also takes place on this date (on ABC). Edwards still seeks that elusive Sprint Cup title. He came close in 2011 losing in a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart when he was driving a Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. After finishing outside the top-ten in 2012 and 2013, he finished ninth in 2014. In 2015 Edwards signed with Gibbs and earned victories at Charlotte and Darlington before finishing fifth overall. He’s switched crew chiefs this season and in April won the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway where he started from the pole. He followed that up a week later with a last lap victory at the Toyota Owners 400 in Richmond, which propelled him to third in the Cup standings.
CarlEdwards
Wins such as those at Bristol and Richmond certainly go a long way towards keeping Edwards entrenched in the points race, which is where he’ll need to be come September when the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. After all, you can’t win if you’re not in.
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JAY BOBBIN's Theatrical movie review
MOVIES
Multi-star movie now makes any day
‘Mother’s Day’
Our Take
I
f you know director Garry Marshall’s movies at all, you know what to expect from them – and the phrase “massive sentimentality” leaps to mind. It certainly applies to “Mother’s Day,” the latest of his star-packed comedies that have celebrated various occasions, also including Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve. (Some may have wanted him to tackle Arbor Day next, but hey, that’s the way it goes.)
Chalke) – are you getting the “Six Degrees of ...” setup yet? – also has cause to hide her marital matters from the folks.
Pictured: Jennifer Aniston (left) and Kate Hudson
There are a number of moms at the heart of the film, including those played by Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Marshall’s earlier “Pretty Woman,” Julia Roberts. There’s even a male mom, a military widower portrayed by Jason Sudekis. Going through the respective situations of their alter egos feels like a checklist of plots in every Marshall movie that has come before. Aniston is a divorced mother trying to cope with her ex (Timothy Olyphant, “Justified”) and his much younger new bride (Shay Mitchell of “Pretty Little Liars”). Aniston’s pal (Hudson) has had reason not to inform her parents (Margo Martindale and “CHiPs” alum Robert Pine) of her husband’s ethnicity. Hudson’s sister (Sarah
Roberts’ character is a tycoon in TV’s home-shopping world who has ties to a mom (Britt Robertson, “Tomorrowland”) uncertain about being with her baby’s stand-upcomic dad (Jack Whitehall). And Sudeikis is the mourning survivor of a Marine (a blink-and-you’llmiss-her Jennifer Garner) whose daughters get to roll their eyes a lot at their father’s efforts to be both Mom and Dad. If any potential plots have been missed here, don’t worry: They probably still can be edited in. And if you’re a Garry Marshall aficionado, also don’t worry: Perpetual presence Hector Elizondo is here, too. Following the pattern that TV-sitcom veteran Marshall established for his past holiday salutes, “Mother’s Day” is an uneven affair, to be generous. Some of its tales are silly, while others are touching ... and most of the actors are on and off the screen with such regularity, it’s hard for them to get any traction with their characters. Indeed, if there’s a message here, it’s to spend more time on your Mom than this film does on its.
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JAY BOBBIN's movie review movies to watch
MOVIES
“PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES” This certainly isn’t your parents’ Jane Austen. Screenwriter-director Burr Steers (“Igby Goes Down”) puts giant twists on the legendary author’s classic story (which first added the undead in a print version by Seth Grahame-Smith) in this revision that gives the British of the 1800s a lot more to worry about than the class system. Lily James (“Downton Abbey,” “Cinderella”) plays heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who’s skilled against blood-thirsty enemies in surprising ways. Sam Riley (“Maleficent”), Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”), Jack Huston and “Game of Thrones” veterans Lena Headey and Charles Dance also are in on the battle. DVD extras: two “making-of” documentaries. ››› (PG-13: AS, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)
upcoming DVD releases to get excited about! “HAIL, CAESAR!” (June 7): A 1950s Hollywood “fixer” (Josh Brolin) tries to rescue a kidnapped movie star (George Clooney). (PG-13: AS, P) “13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI” (June 7): Directed by Michael Bay, the true drama about the 2012 diplomatic-compound attack stars John Krasinski. (R: P, V) “ANOMALISA” (June 7): The animated Oscar nominee focuses on an author (voice of David Thewlis) who gains a renewed appreciation of his life and family. (R: AS, N, P)
Family Viewing Ratings
“45 YEARS” (June 14): Recent Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay play a couple upset by news on a milestone wedding anniversary. (R: AS, P) “LONDON HAS FALLEN” (June 14): The U.S. president and his Secret Service man (Aaron Eckhart, Gerard Butler) are among terrorists’ targets in the “Olympus Has Fallen” sequel. (R: AS, P, V)
AS Adult situations P Profanity V Violence N Nudity GV Graphic Violence
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S
FAVORITE SHOWS
Cat Deeley hosts “So You Think You Can Dance”
Simon Cowell is a judge in “America’s Got Talent”
Matt Iseman co-hosts “American Ninja Warrior”
SUNDAY 8 p.m. on CBS Undercover Boss The unscripted series’ seventh season concludes with “AdvantaClean,” not only the episode title but also the name of a firm that guarantees the best environment for a home. Cleanliness, safety and efficiency are the company’s aims for a residence, and founder and CEO Jeff Dudan goes incognito to assess whether his employees are meeting that goal. He has to get in and do some of the tough stuff while posing as a co-worker to fulfill his mission. Season Finale New
MONDAY 8 p.m. on FOX So You Think You Can Dance The contestants are younger than ever as this competition starts Season 13 with “The Next Generation: Audition No. 1” — and, indeed, the entrants are between the ages of 8 and 13. Do not mistake youth for not being able to bust moves, as host Cat Deeley and judges Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo and Nigel Lythgoe (now joined by 13-yearold judge Maddie Ziegler) are destined to learn weekly. Those who make the Top 10 will be partnered with a series “All-Star.” Season Premiere New
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TUESDAY 8 p.m. on NBC America’s Got Talent Well, look who’s back on American television: none other than Simon Cowell, whose penchant for snark helped propel “American Idol” to success in its early years. He has rightful claim to be at the judges’ table in this contest’s 11th season, which starts with “Auditions,” since he created the format that has expanded to other countries. (He’s also an executive producer.) Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel are back as judges. Nick Cannon is the host. Season Premiere New
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FAVORITE SHOWS WEDNESDAY 8 p.m. on NBC American Ninja Warrior The competition begins anew for Season 8, as the “Los Angeles Qualifier” launches a fresh round that again will take the show across the country in search of the best competitors in various cities. The road ultimately will lead once more to Las Vegas, where finalists will vie for the $1,000,000 grand prize. Here, the Floating Steps, Tic Toc, the Escalator and the Ring Jump are among the challenges put to the rivals by hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila. Season Premiere New
FRIDAY 9 p.m. on CBS Hawaii Five-0 As Halloween nears in this story, is Frankenstein’s monster loose in the islands? It only looks that way in the Joe Dante-directed episode “Na Pilikua Nui” (Hawaiian for — appropriately enough — “Monsters”), as a serial killer adopts the creature’s image. Jerry (Jorge Garcia) seeks the team’s help after a blood bank is robbed. Danny (Scott Caan) looks for Grace (Teilor Grubbs), who fibbed to him in order make her way to a Halloween bash.
S
SATURDAY 9 a.m. on NBC 2016 French Open Tennis A women’s champion will be crowned today at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, where the 2016 French Open reaches its penultimate day. Last year, Serena Williams won her third title on the red clay and 20th Grand Slam championship overall by defeating Lucie Safarova in the final 6-3, 6-7(2-7), 6-2.
THURSDAY 8 p.m. on NBC Strong “The Final Showdown” is exactly what this episode’s title indicates, as the two remaining teams face off in the season finale — and if you think the challenges they’ve endured up to now have been tough, wait until you see what they have to contend with in the last three legs of their pursuit. It’ll be worth it for the winners, though, in terms of both bank account and ego. Gabrielle Reece hosts the series that includes Sylvester Stallone as an executive producer. Season Finale New 9 p.m. on CW Beauty and the Beast It must be nearing summer if this adventure-drama series is returning — but the Season 4 premiere, “Monsieur et Madame Bete,” means the beginning of the end for Catherine and Vincent (Kristin Kreuk, Jay Ryan) since it’s the show’s final round. They’re married now, but that doesn’t mean their troubles have lessened, especially now that a bounty has been posted for beasts. Translation: Watch out, Vincent. Nina Lisandrello and Austin Basis continue to co-star. Season Premiere New
Serena Williams is the defending women’s singles champion in the 2016 French Open
Scott Caan stars in “Hawaii Five-0”
Gabrielle Reece hosts “Strong”
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