What's news: WBD chief David Zaslav held a town hall with staff in Burbank. Elon Musk revealed why he bid for Twitter. Michael Davies is the permanent showrunner for Jeopardy! HBO Max has greenlit Neil Gaiman's Dead Boy Detectives. MLB renews YouTube streaming deal. Plus: Hulu has landed a prestige drama based on the life of Sammy Davis Jr.— Abid Rahman
THR Icon: Lily Tomlin on Insult Comedy, the Oscars and Her Upcoming Tom Brady Movie
►"I try to be more thoughtful or informative or enlightening." As part of THR's Icon series, comedy legend Lily Tomlin spoke to Pamela McClintock about her five decade career that has spanned TV, Broadway, films and most recently streaming with Grace and Frankie. Tomlin also ruminates on the two Janes in her life (her wife, Jane Wagner, and frequent co-star Jane Fonda) and talks cancel culture. The interview.
—"Be patient with us." Days after closing a megadeal that created Warner Bros. Discovery, mogul David Zaslav outlined his vision for the combined Hollywood giant in a Thursday town hall with staff in Burbank. In conversation with Oprah Winfrey, Zaslav talked about how the deal came about, where $3 billion in cost synergies will be found and the idea of a unified streaming platform bringing together HBO Max and Discovery+. The story.
—"Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square." At the TED 2022 conference on Thursday, Elon Musk explained his reasons behind the shock $43 billion bid to buy Twitter. In his first public appearance since the bid became public, Musk added that he hopes to “open source the algorithm” to try and improve trust in the platform. The story.
—Directors’ Fortnight opener. Scarlet, a French-language period drama from Italian director Pietro Marcello, will be the opening night film for the 54th edition of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section. It will kick off the 2022 film festival sidebar on May 18, the full lineup will be revealed on Tuesday. The story.
—Presidential approval. Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, has signed on to Netflix’s adaptation of author Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind, which stars Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali. Sam Esmail, the creator of Mr. Robot and Homecoming, wrote and directed the adaptation, which also stars Ethan Hawke and Myha’la Herrold. The story.
Lee Daniels' Sammy Davis Jr. Drama Starring Elijah Kelley Lands at Hulu
►Yes they can. Hulu is teaming with Lee Daniels to tell the story of Sammy Davis Jr. The streamer has picked up an eight-episode limited series exploring the life of the entertainer and told through the lens of his racial identity and relationship with the Black community. Elijah Kelley (Star, The Butler) will play Davis Jr. The untitled series is based on Wil Haygood’s book, In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr.The story.
—It’s official. Michael Davies is the new showrunner of Jeopardy! The Embassy Row president accepted producer Sony Pictures Television’s offer to become the permanent replacement for Mike Richards. Davies, whose exec producing credits include Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Talking Dead, was appointed interim showrunner/exec producer Aug. 31 after Richards was ousted from the role following a series of scandals. The story.
—Casting news.THR's Mia Galuppo has the scoop on Henry Golding joining the cast of the adaptation of Chuck Klosterman’s Downtown Owl. The project, the directorial debut of Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater, comes from Sony’s Stage 6 Films label. Golding will appear alongside Ed Harris, Vanessa Hudgens, Finn Wittrock, Jack Dylan Grazer and August Blanco Rosenstein, as well as Rabe. The story.
—On the case. HBO Max has given a series order to Dead Boy Detectives, which is based on a DC comic by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner. The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey adapted the comic and will serve as showrunner on the series from Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri play the title characters, dead British teenagers Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland who investigating crimes involving the supernatural. The story.
Are Romantic Comedies Theater-Worthy?
►"The studio system wants movies that make a billion dollars." After slumping box office results, the romantic comedy was mostly abandoned in theaters in favor of superhero extravaganzas and IP-driven fare. But then the Netflix algo figured out people still liked the genre, and it went all in, cementing the narrative that streaming 'saved' rom-coms. THR honeydripper Ryan Gajewski talked to leading filmmakers and stars and the challenges they face in convincing studios to keep meet-cutes on the big screen. The story.
—"He had a magic voice." The late Gilbert Gottfried left behind a deep archive of recorded material, most of it never seen. Cameo — the viral app that sells personalized messages from celebrities to fans, for a fee — revealed that Gottfried was among the biggest earners ever, recording about 12,000 messages in all, earning him over $2 million. The story.
—Deeper into streaming. Major League Baseball has renewed a deal with YouTube to carry 15 exclusive games on the platform this season. The renewal means the video platform will stream MLB games for a fourth consecutive season. The deal follows other streaming pacts MLB has made with Apple TV+ and Peacock. The story.
—Big opening numbers. Pixar/Disney’s Turning Red and Netflix's The Adam Project led both Nielsen’s overall streaming chart and the movie chart, covering mid-March. Turning Red was viewed a total of 1.67 billion minutes for the week of March 14-20 after clocking in at 1.7 billion hours a week earlier, while The Adam Project debuted on Nielsen with a hefty 1.33 billion minutes viewed. The streaming charts.
TV Review: 'Killing It'
►"A fun, funny takedown of the American dream." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews Peacock's Killing It. Craig Robinson plays a cash-strapped would-be entrepreneur who teams up with his Uber driver (Claudia O'Doherty) for a snake-hunting contest in the comedy series from Luke Del Tredici and Dan Goor. The review.
—"Trashy fun, but little substance." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Roku's Swimming With Sharks. Kathleen Robertson's take on the 1994 film features Diane Kruger as a demanding executive and Kiernan Shipka as a seemingly innocent assistant who isn't that innocent. The review.
—"Casts the everyday in a mysterious and memorable light."THR film critic Sheri Linden reviews Ramon and Silvan Zürcher's The Girl and the Spider. Exploring a turning point in a young woman’s life, the second feature by The Strange Little Cat filmmakers is, like their first, set largely within the confines of an apartment. The review.
—"The humor clarifies the play’s sinister undercurrents."THR critic Lovia Gyarkye reviews David Mamet’s American Buffalo. Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss star in director Neil Pepe’s Broadway revival of the 1975 play about three small-time hustlers angling for a piece of the American Dream. The review.
Thank Pod It's Friday
►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—TV's Top 5.Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. This week the guys begin by running through the headlines including all the new series pickups and castings. They talk over Michael Davies taking over as showrunner of Jeopardy! on a permanent basis and the rebrand of IMDB TV as Freevee. The Flight Attendant showrunners Steve Yockey and Natalie Chaidez drop by for a chat. And a busy critic's corner this week features Dan's reviews of Netflix’s Russian Doll and Anatomy of a Scandal, Amazon’s Outer Range, Apple’s Roar, Roku’s Swimming With Sharks, AMC’s Better Call Saul and Showtime’s The First Lady. Listen here.
—Awards Chatter. Awards analyst Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott speaks to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Alex Borstein. The three-time Emmy winner reflects on her beginnings in sketch comedy and breakthrough gig on MADtv, voicing Lois Griffin on Family Guy and how being cast — but unable to accept a major part — on Gilmore Girls led decades later to the role of bartender-turned-manager Susie Myerson. Listen here.
—An absolute must-read: Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid [Atlantic]
—Louis Staples on the 10th anniversary of Girls, and defending Lena Dunham's creative genius [Daily Beast]
—Ryan Faughnder on Disney getting dragged into Ron DeSantis' ridiculous culture war [LAT]
—Kara Swisher on Elon Musk's motivations behind his bid for Twitter [NYT]
—Why Nicolas Cage is Hollywood's most misunderstood star [BBC]
Today...
...in 1990, Fox introduced In Living Color. Created by Keenen Ivory Wayans and Damon Wayans, who both also wrote and starred in the half-hour comedy sketch show, the groundbreaking series featured upcoming stars Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey and David Alan Grier as well as other members of the Wayans family. The show won a Primetime Emmy in 1990 and ran for five seasons. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Seth Rogen (40), Emma Watson (32), Maisie Williams (25), Luke Evans (43), Emma Thompson (63), Reed Morano (45), Susanne Bier (62), China Chow (48), Paula Pell (59), Linda Perry (57), Samantha Fox (56), Alice Braga (39), Samira Wiley (35), Thomas F. Wilson (63), Andy Daly (51), Sam McMurray (70), Olivier Nakache (49)
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