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Sean Hannity Digs Up Old ‘Man Show’ Comedy Sketches in Ongoing Feud With Jimmy Kimmel

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Sean Hannity Digs Up Old 'Man Show' Comedy Sketches in Ongoing Feud With Jimmy Kimmel

The days-long feud continued on Friday's edition of 'Hannity,' when Hannity brought out sketches that showed Kimmel making sex jokes and appearing in blackface.

Sean Hannity took his days-long feud with Jimmy Kimmel to a new level Friday night on Hannity when the host presented racy old TV sketches featuring Kimmel.

"Tonight we're going to pound him with his own words…. I don't take pleasure in this, but I have had it with the unrelenting hypocrisy," Hannity said at the top of the hour, telling viewers that the ongoing argument was not, for him, about a bruised ego but about his desire to see the Live! host apologize to Melania Trump.

Hannity ran seven sketches from Comedy Central's 1999-2004 comedy show The Man Show, which both satirized and paid tribute to crass male behavior and was co-hosted by Kimmel. Hannity played one clip where Kimmel asked women on the street to guess what was in his pants and made suggestive comments, another where Kimmel interviewed women about their feelings on penis size while wearing a protruding object in his pants, one where Kimmel asked random women if they would like to have sex with him, one where he asked random people about what underwear they had on that day, one where he asked a soon-to-be-married couple about their sex life and a scene in which Kimmel visited rapper Snoop Dogg's house and made a crass joke about a standing cigarette holder shaped like a woman.

Hannity also brought out a sketch from The Man Show in which Kimmel, in blackface, pretended to be former NBA player Karl Malone and did not use grammatically correct conjugations or possessives when talking.

"I'm throwing down the gauntlet. I'm not going to stop. …. It's not going to end with me. it's going to end when he apologizes to Melania Trump," Hannity said at the end of the segment.

Hannity additionally defended himself against Kimmel's claims that he supported former Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who was accused of sexual misconduct with minors, saying he "pressed" Moore on the allegations on his show. He additionally called Kimmel a "pervert" throughout the program in between clips of The Man Show.

In response, Kimmel tweeted after the opening monologue, "Dear @SeanHannity thx for the trip down Man Show memory lane. The idea that YOU'd call ANYONE a 'pervert' while slobbering over Trump, Ailes, O’Reilly and, YES, Roy Moore – who you DID SUPPORT is, to quote a fella you love very much, 'Sad!' #nobodyissafefromKimmelspervertedwrath."

The fight began Wednesday, when Hannity aired a segment on hisshow that criticized Monday's episode of Live!, in which Kimmel joked about first lady Melania Trump's accent while she read a book to children at the White House Easter Egg roll. "You know what this means: You could be first lady of the United States," he told his audience. Hannity called the remarks "disgraceful" and the host an "ass clown" on Fox.

On Thurday night, Kimmel fired back on Live!, arguing that Hannity was hypocritical to criticize his jokes about the first lady given the Fox News host's support of harsh immigration laws. All of Friday, the show hosts traded jabs, with Hannity attacking Kimmel's former Man Show sketches and his late-night show's ratings. Kimmel responded on Twitter, calling the Fox News personality a bully.

Jimmy Kimmel
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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‘Everything Sucks’ Canceled at Netflix (Exclusive)

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'Everything Sucks' Canceled at Netflix (Exclusive)

"Everything Sucks"

The 1990s-set coming-out comedy premiered in February and ran for one season on the streaming giant.

Netflix continues to refine its scripted roster.

The streaming giant has canceled rookie comedy Everything Sucks after one season.

Created by Ben York Jones (Like Crazy) and Michael Mohan (Save the Date), the 1990s-set coming-out comedy series, starring Peyton Kennedy (American Fable) and Jahi Winston (The New Edition Story), bowed Feb. 16 to promising reviews.

“We're super proud of the show we made — and very proud that it found an audience of very passionate fans, for many of whom it became an important personal touchstone: either reflecting their current life, or an echo of their own teenage years," said exec producer Jeff Pinker. "We are grateful to Netflix for the opportunity, but are very disheartened we won't be continuing to tell these stories.”

The show, following two groups of high school misfits, an AV club and a drama club, that collide in 1996 Oregon, made waves within the LGBT community but struggled to cut through to mass appeal despite a small group of loyal and vocal supporters. The series was particularly praised for its lesbian representation as it followed young Kate Messner's (Kennedy) coming-out process.

Everything Sucks, which had drawn comparisons to Judd Apatow's great one-and-done series Freaks and Geeks, has a 69 percent rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and an impressive 89 percent metric among viewers. (Netflix, like fellow streamers Amazon and Hulu, does not release viewership information.)

Sadly, the series ended on a cliffhanger as creators Jones and Mohan were already plotting out a map for a potential second season.

Midnight Radio's Pinkner (Fringe), Scott Rosenberg (October Road), Josh Appelbaum (October Road) and Andre Nemec (Alias) exec produced the series alongside Jones and Mohan. (Jones had a key recurring role.) Mohan and Ry Russo-Young directed.

Everything Sucks becomes the latest series to get the ax at Netflix as the streaming giant, which this year will spend an additional $8 billion on originals, continues to be more selective when it comes to returning shows. It most recently stubbed out prolific producer Chuck Lorre's Kathy Bates pot comedy Disjointed after its initial two-season, 20-episode order was completed. Everything Sucks joins a list of one-and-done series at Netflix including Girlboss, Gypsy and The Get Down.

Netflix
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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‘Mozart in the Jungle’ Canceled at Amazon After Four Seasons (Exclusive)

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'Mozart in the Jungle' Canceled at Amazon After Four Seasons (Exclusive)

Amazon's 'Mozart in the Jungle'

The decision to end the show marks new Amazon boss Jennifer Salke's first big move at the streaming giant.

Mozart in the Jungle is being played off.

Amazon has canceled the drama after four seasons. The cancellation marks the first major programming decision by new chief Jennifer Salke, who started in her role at the streamer a few weeks ago. The move is also in line with the NBC vet's directive to shift away from niche indie projects and deliver broader, big-budget swings in an attempt to land the next Game of Thrones.

“We are so proud of the four seasons we made of this show and are grateful to the cast, crew, fans and Amazon for writing this symphony with us. We hope people will keep finding the show for years to come," said executive producers Paul Weitz, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Will Graham in a joint statement. (It's worth noting that Amazon is reteaming with Graham to develop its A League of Their Own series.)

Based on Blair Tindall's memoir of the same name, Mozart in the Jungle follows the dedicated members of the New York Symphony, and the mind games and politicking they engage in to survive. The show stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Lola Kirke, Malcolm McDowell, Bernadette Peters, Hannah Dunne, Saffron Burrows and Schwartzman. All episodes of the fourth season launched on Amazon in February.

The drama nabbed two Golden Globe awards out of the gate in 2016, one for best musical or comedy series and another for star Bernal's performance. However, the awards favor quickly wore off, as the show has failed to snatch up any real Globes or Emmy love in its three seasons since. As for viewership, Amazon (like streaming competitors Netflix and Hulu) does not release ratings.

Mozart in the Jungle's axing comes four months after the streaming giant cut a trio of comedies from its roster — One Mississippi, I Love Dick and Jean-Claude Van Johnson — shortly after the ousting of its former programming head, Roy Price. The decision to cancel the shows came a month after Amazon passed on three of its five comedy pilots — Sea Oak, The Climb and Love You More — as part of its attempt to give more straight-to-series orders to better compete with competitors like Netflix, Apple and HBO.

But for as many originals the platform has cut in recent years (The Last Tycoon, Z: The Beginning of Everything, Good Girls Revolt, Mad Dogs, Red Oaks and Crisis in Six Scenes), Amazon has produced its share of success stories, too. Chief among them is the critically adored The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which scored two Golden Globes and a quick season two pickup. Also on the streamer's roster is Catastrophe, Fleabag, The Tick and Transparent, the latter of which got swept up in the #MeToo movement when star Jeffrey Tambor was fired as a result of sexual harassment allegations.

Mozart in the Jungle
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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‘Murphy Brown’: See the Cast Back Together in First Photo

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'Murphy Brown': See the Cast Back Together in First Photo

'Murphy Brown'

The Candice Bergen sitcom will return to CBS this fall.

The cast of Murphy Brown is back together again.

The stars of the '90s CBS sitcom have assembled for the show's revival, and star Candice Bergen has shared a new photo of the gang on Instagram.

"MURPHY BROWN…together again. Coming to your neighborhood TV in the fall. Just in time…" the Emmy-winning star of the series wrote on the social media platform.

CBS announced that the groundbreaking series would be back for a 13-episode run back in January. It's the latest show to join broadcast's reboot craze, which also includes Will & Grace, Roseanne and the forthcoming Cagney & Lacey.

Check out the photo below.

MURPHY BROWN…together again. Coming to your neighborhood TV in the fall. Just in time…

A post shared by Candice


Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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Jay-Z and David Letterman Frankly Discuss Past Infidelities on Netflix Talk Show

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Jay-Z and David Letterman Frankly Discuss Past Infidelities on Netflix Talk Show

In this story

Beyonce Knowles
Beyonce Knowles
Jay-Z
Jay-Z
David Letterman
David Letterman

"Much like you I have a beautiful wife who was understanding and who knew that I'm not the worst of what I'm done and who did the hard work of going to therapy," the '4:44' performer told the late-night host in the latest episode of 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.'

David Letterman's conceit for his new Netflix show, to find common ground with his guests, yielded some dramatic material in his latest episode, which saw the comedian and Jay-Z discussing infidelity in their marriages.

At the end of the latest episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, which released on Netflix on Friday morning, Letterman addressed cheating on his wife and asked if his own experience "[rang] a bell" with the rapper and businessman.

"A few years ago, I got myself into some trouble, and the situation was my responsibility and my fault. I did something that I had no business doing and I regret it and since then I have tried to acknowledge that mistake and be a better person," Letterman said, never saying the words "cheating" or "infidelity." "At the time the pain that I caused myself was the fear that I had blown up my family … I never talked to a person who had been in that situation. And I'm wondering if this rings a bell with you."

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, responded, "Yeah, of course. For a lot of us, we don't have, especially where I grew up and men in general, we don't have emotional cues from when we're young. Our emotional cues are 'Be a man, stand up, don't cry!'" The rapper went on to say that his 2002 single "Song Cry" attempted to address that he wished he had the "emotional tools" to keep his family together.

"Much like you I have a beautiful wife who was understanding and who knew that I'm not the worst of what I'm done and who did the hard work of going to therapy and really, we love each other. We really put in the work," Jay-Z said, referencing his wife Beyonce. "For years, this music that I'm making now is a result of things that happened already. Like you, I like to believe that we're in a better place today but still working and communicating and growing. I'm proud of the father and the husband that I am today because of all the work that was done."

The late-night host also said that he's changed since he put in work on his marriage: "I now know I'm a different person and my worst fear is not coming to pass." Jay-Z then stood up and shook his hand.

Letterman famously admitted to having affairs with coworkers and cheating on wife Regina Lasko on a 2009 episode of The Late Show, after a blackmailer attempted to extort him for $2 million to withhold the information. Jay-Z has spoken openly about past infidelity against wife Beyonce since she released her 2016 album Lemonade, which dealt explicitly her husband's relationship with a woman she gave the alias "Becky with the good hair." Jay-Z, in turn, addressed his infidelity in his 2017 album 4:44.

The frank conversation capped an episode that also touched on Jay-Z's opinions on music, his beef with Kanye West and feelings on Trump and current political climate.

Jay-Z, who previously slammed Trump for his immigration comments on The Van Jones Show in January, said that he thought the Trump administration actually was "a great thing." In explanation, the rapper said, "I think what he's forcing people to do is have a conversation and for people to band together and work together. You can't really address something that's not revealed. He's bringing out an ugly side of America that we wanted to believe was gone. And it's still here and we've got to deal with it." He added that he thought that the current administration will bring more young people out to the polls, and that he believed the 2020 presidential election would break voting records.

Letterman and Jay-Z discussed the rapper's continued advocacy for fellow performer Meek Mills, who is engaged in a protracted legal conflict with a Philadelphia judge over his sentencing for breaking parole. In November, Jay-Z wrote a New York Times op-ed in Mills' defense. They also touched on the "99 Problems" performer's HBO documentary series Time: The Kalief Browder Story, about a 16-year-old who was accused of theft and held at Rikers Island for three years without a trial, with time in solitary confinement. "He's not this outlier that everyone would like you to believe," Jay-Z said.

The episode also spent a significant time on Jay-Z's opinions on music, with field segments to the Malibu, Ca.- based Shangri La studio owned by music producer Rick Rubin, where Jay-Z, Kanye West, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Johnny Cash all recorded. Of Kanye West, with whom Jay-Z reportedly has a difficult relationship, the rapper explained, "That's my brother. We're beyond friends. Really, like literally, my little brother is Kanye, and like your little brother, things happen sometimes."

West infamously called out Jay-Z during a long rant at a Sacramento, Calif. concert in 2016 before The College Dropout performer was admitted to a hospital for a psychological breakdown. West also cut ties with Jay-Z's streaming platform, Tidal, last year.

Seemingly for comedic effect, Letterman asked Jay-Z to explain rap conventions to him several times. When he asked if rap songs were all biographical, the rapper laughed, saying rap "pretends to be" from personal experience. Of his use of the "n-word" in songs, he said, "Someone has used a word to down your entire culture and tradition. And what hip-hop did was take that word and flip it and use it as a word of empowerment." And when asked about his definition of excellence in music, he complimented Snoop Dogg's voice and Eminem's cadence, saying that there are multiple ways to be great in the music world.

In a scene that was widely shared before the episode aired, Jay-Z also discussed his mother Gloria Carter's sexuality: While he was recording 4:44, his mother came out to him and later became the subject and co-writer of his song on the album, "Smile." He said that he knew his mother was gay before she told him, and that when she did, "I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free."

Jay-Z's latest tour with Beyonce, On the Run II, will run June 6 through Oct. 2.

Beyonce Knowles Jay-Z David Letterman
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back at Sean Hannity After Criticism of Melania Trump Jokes: “He’s Lost His Mind”

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Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back at Sean Hannity After Criticism of Melania Trump Jokes: "He's Lost His Mind"

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Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
Late-Night TV
Late-Night TV

"This is the guy who defended the multiply alleged pedophile Roy Moore, and I'm the despicable disgrace," Kimmel retorted.

Jimmy Kimmel is clapping back after Fox News host Sean Hannity attacked the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host's jokes about first lady Melania Trump this week.

On Monday, Kimmel joked about the first lady's role in the White House Easter Egg Roll, saying that there was "not a chance she did one thing to help set that up" and impersonating her accent while she read children a picture book. "You know what this means: You could be first lady of the United States," he told his audience.

Kimmel's remarks were slammed by Fox & Friends and the Hannity host on Thursday morning, with Hannity calling the segment "brutal" and Kimmel a "despicable disgrace." Hannity added, "Ass clown Kimmel. Now I'm gonna tell you something. What a disgrace. Hey, uh, Mr. Kimmel, she speaks five languages. How many languages do you speak?"

In his response on Live! on Thursday night, Kimmel homed in on Hannity's use of the insult "ass clown." "What is an ass clown? I was thinking about it this morning; is it an ass that's a clown or a clown that lives in an ass, like a little Bozo bird in your butt cheeks? I honestly don't know. And more importantly, why is Sean Hannity fantasizing about clowns in the ass? Is this your thing at night? At 2 a.m., you got your laptop open to Breitbart, you sneak to hump a pillow from the Ivanka Trump collection, quietly, so your wife doesn't wake up and make you go to church?" Kimmel asked.

"Sean Hannity's problem is, for eight years while Obama was president, he was unable to get an erection. And he tried everything: Viagra, Cialis, he tried looking at pictures of Paul Ryan with his shirt off, didn't work, went to office Christmas parties with Bill O'Reilly — nothing worked. But now that Trump is president, here's the twist: Sean Hannity is unable to have anything but an erection. He's had an erection since November of 2016, and it's driving him mad, he's lost his mind. This is the guy who defended the multiply alleged pedophile Roy Moore, and I'm the despicable disgrace, I'm the ass clown," Kimmel added. "If I'm an ass clown — and I very well might be — you, Sean, are the whole ass circus."

Kimmel then ended his retort by joking that he was glad that Hannity finally took an interest in immigrants coming to the U.S. He added that he thought what was truly disrespectful was cheating on the first lady with a "porn star" after she had just had a baby, a dig at allegations by adult-film actress Stormy Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) that Trump had a brief affair with her right after the birth of his son with Melania, Barron Trump.

His kicker to Hannity: "Get a haircut, you hippy!"

Watch the full clip below.

Jimmy Kimmel Late-Night TV
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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Where the ‘Will & Grace’ Revival Will Go Next After Those Proposals (and Existential Crisis)

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Where the 'Will & Grace' Revival Will Go Next After Those Proposals (and Existential Crisis)

Cast of 'Will and Grace'; inset: Max Mutchnick (left) and David Kohan

Co-creators and co-showrunners David Kohan and Max Mutchnick discuss that Alec Baldwin sex scene and what the finale could mean for Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) going forward.

[This story contains spoilers from the first season of NBC's Will & Grace revival.]

Will & Grace capped off the first season of its NBC revival with happy news all around — except when it comes to Will and Grace.

Thursday's season-ender left best pals and roommates Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and Grace Adler (Debra Messing) potentially adding another descriptor to their relationship: siblings. After losing their respective spouses, Grace's dad (Robert Klein) and Will's mom (Blythe Danner) found themselves single and enjoying one another's company so much so that they decided to announce a quickie engagement. And they weren't the only ones with good news: Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) also accepted his new boyfriend's proposal after a whirlwind trip to Ibiza, Spain.

Both of the newly engaged couples told Will and Grace, rather harshly, that their impending nuptials and decisions to be happy and in love were motivated by the desire to not turn out like Will and Grace — alone and in what they collectively deem to be in an unhealthy relationship. Even Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) called off her long-term affair with her lover (Alec Baldwin) to keep her marriage somewhat of a priority.

Suffice to say, Will and Grace did not entertain the image of being siblings and the finale left the pair questioning themselves, each other and the decisions they have made to get them to this point. With the comedy already renewed for two more seasons (through 2020!), Will & Grace creators and showrunners David Kohan and Max Mutchnick tell The Hollywood Reporter that anything is on the table when it comes to the starring pair's dynamic when the show returns. "It's all thrown into question," says Kohan.

When you started out with the revival, did you have a clear vision of where you wanted the season to end up?

David Kohan: It all started with this idea that we wanted to pay tribute to Bobbi Adler — to Debbie Reynolds — at some point and go back to the house. From there, it evolved into a conversation about how Will’s father is no longer with us — Sydney Pollack, the actor who played him, is no longer with us — and at some point, we want to acknowledge that as well. Then we said, "Hey — they’re single! And Will and Grace are too close and in a relationship that they’ve often referred to as incestual — what happens if we literally make it that?"

Max Mutchnick: We were telling a story about Grace’s family and the only actual hurdle for us, as far as that went, was recasting the part of Martin Adler, because [the original actor who played him] Alan Arkin was no longer going to be available to us. The Alec Baldwin story really was a separate thing entirely, and we melded the two of them together. We were doing the Debbie Reynolds tribute story, the finale and the introduction of Grace’s new father, played by Robert Klein, and we feel like we hit a homerun with the chemistry of Robert and Blythe and Debra.

How did securing all those finale guest stars — Alec Baldwin, Blythe Danner, Sara Rue, Mary McCormack and Robert Klein — complicate your plan?

Kohan: We shot the two-part finale over the course of 10 days in January. There were a few schedules that needed to be accommodated. We knew at the beginning of the season the people that we wanted to write for — so much of this has been planned out. You can’t go to an actress as busy as Blythe Danner and say, “Hey, do you want to come play next week?” We would have shot the finale in November if that was when everybody was available.

Mutchnick: It was a little spotty because we had so many different actors with so many different schedules. Baldwin was such a big get for us, that we had to make sure we built the week around his time and the time that we had with him. For the most part, all these actors want to come and play with the actors that are on Will & Grace, so it has never really been a struggle to schedule.

Mullally had joked that her scenes with Baldwin might get you into trouble with broadcast's standards and practices. What was the set like when they were filming their "no touching" sex scene?

Kohan: They rehearsed it and figured out what looks the best. It started off with them closer together and the farther apart they were, the funnier it got. When they were doing their simulated “I won’t touch you, but let’s have sex” bit, it went on and on and it kept getting funnier for the audience. The real question was: What’s going to be acceptable and what’s not? How far can we go?

Mutchnick: I thought the scenes between the two of them were some of the funniest we’ve ever done in the entire run on the show. What was funny about the making of those scenes was the legal representation from NBC that was on the set watching the scenes play out and deciding at what point can we imply a certain behavior before it gets too much for primetime TV. We can walk things up to a line, and then we are not allowed by FCC regulation to cross them. (Laughs.)

You leave Will and Grace in a state of existential crisis. How do you describe what is going through their heads at the end of the finale?

Mutchnick: We always write ourselves into a corner. We go on a holiday and then we come back and go into a story camp and figure out how we’re going to write ourselves out of that corner. The relationship between Will and Grace is fraught and problematic on paper, but it works for them in practice. As they get older, I think they have to figure out more involved, complicated ways to justify why they continue to spend their lives with each other.

Kohan: They had just made their peace with each other. Grace said, “Look, I am in this situation and I am happy, and I don’t have to apologize for my contentment with this unconventional situation.” Will had kind of gotten there by default as well and now, suddenly, it’s all thrown into question. They are thinking: "Everybody seems to be doing things in reaction to what our life is, maybe we are deluding ourselves." So, who is going to take some kind of rash action? But it also seems at the point where you are middle-aged and thinking, “I want to do something. I want to leave my mark. If I’m not going to have kids, what am I going to do? It can’t just be inertia that takes me through the next 30 years. I need to make some kind of move here in my life and it has to happen soon.” So, that’s where they are.

How does having the two-season renewal give you confidence to, maybe, take a hammer to what viewers have grown accustomed to from the show?

Mutchnick: When we get confidence we don't necessarily say, “Let’s blow it all up.” But I do know what you’re saying. Having two seasons is a really wonderful gift that NBC gave us and we get to relax — well, we’re never relaxed — but we get to open ourselves up because we know we’re going to be here. We want to try to tell the most interesting stories that we can about these characters.

Are Messing and McCormack worried that Will and Grace might not be in the best place, together, when you return?

Kohan: There is a trust with the actors. The attitude from their perspectives is that they know that there has to be twist and turns and that things have to change. It can’t just be stasis for them, because the show will get stale and they will feel it — and they don’t want that at all. They trust the direction that we take. Eventually, they are always a part of the decision. They’ll weigh in if they have an issue, but right now they don’t seem concerned. The attitude is more, “I wonder what’s going to happen.” Which is our attitude, too.

If they are indeed on the road to becoming step-siblings, will Klein and Danner be returning next season? And does the same go for Jack's fiance Estefan (played by Brian Jordan Alvarez) — are these weddings pushing ahead?

Kohan: In some form! Either they’re happening or they’re not, in which case, both are stories, right? We're planning on them returning.

Mutchnick: We always want these characters to live on. Once they’re on the show and when they fit in as well as they do, we hope to see these people over and over again because we feel like the audience likes it as much as we do.

This season was very topical and relevant. What did you learn about what worked, and maybe what didn’t, and how will you apply that going into next season? Will you continue to rip from the headlines and be as political?

Mutchnick: Well, last week we learned that if we fully support Trump, we will get 18 million viewers to watch the show. But overall, I think the lesson is always the same. The shows that are the most entertaining and the most relatable are the most satisfying on every level.

Kohan: We really do ask ourselves the question, “How would the characters respond to this?” That is the question that we put first. If it would have impact on these people then yes, we will tackle it.

Mutchnick: I think we will get ourselves into trouble if we start to write from a place of what’s going on in the news. It's better for us to stick with these four characters and how old they are and what they have to wrestle with emotionally. And if they cross paths with stories that involve politics because of their character traits, then so be it. But it’s never going to be motivated in the direction of: What’s on the cover of The New York Times?

You mentioned the 18 million viewers who tuned in to the premiere of the Roseanne reboot. Is there room for all these revivals on TV? Do you see it as welcome competition to remain topical?

Mutchnick: I think the more, the better. If there are more sitcoms out there that are doing well, that audiences are watching on network television, that’s only good for us. I don’t think that we should have any problem with anybody else doing well. The more the merrier.

What did you think of the Will & Grace finale? Sound off in the comments below.

Will & Grace
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

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‘Y: The Last Man’ on FX: Who Should Play Yorick?

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'Y: The Last Man' on FX: Who Should Play Yorick?

Michael Green and Aida Mashaka Croal are set to adapt the Brian K. Vaughan comic book series. Here are a few casting suggestions for the show's (lone) male lead.

Step aside, Will Forte: The TV landscape is about to usher in a new last man on Earth.

In making an official pilot order for Y: The Last Man, FX has taken a crucial step in bringing one of the most beloved comic books of the new millennium to life. Based on the Vertigo Comics series from Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y focuses on the titular Yorick Brown, an aspiring escape artist who improbably survives an apocalyptic event that claims the life of every male mammal on Earth — every one except for Yorick and his pet monkey, Ampersand, that is.

Beginning with that hook of a premise, Yorick embarks on a global trek alongside the deadly Agent 355 and the brilliant Dr. Allison Mann, encountering new allies and dangerous enemies along the way. Their goal: to understand the nature of their present doomsday scenario, and hopefully steer humanity away from the brink of extinction in the process — and perhaps find Yorick's fiance, trapped on the other side of the world, as well.

Given the scope of the series and the roster of memorable characters, Y: The Last Man (which is set to move forward with American Gods' Michael Green and Jessica Jones' Aida Mashaka Croal as co-showrunners) has a big order to fill in the casting department — and it all begins with the last man himself. As the pilot begins to cast its leads, here are some of the actors we are humbly putting forward as contenders to fill out Yorick's considerable shoes … or straitjacket, as it were.

Darren Criss: Hot off a mesmerizing turn as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Criss is already firmly within the FX family, and is more than capable of expressing the right mix of Yorick's misplaced self-assuredness and frequent self-doubt.

Donald Glover: Another member of the FX family, albeit one who is likely too embroiled with his own Atlanta (and film and music careers) to take on the lead role of such a sprawling series. With that said, Glover possesses all the warmth, humanity and wit Yorick is known for; what's more, he's expressed an interest in the comic book and superhero spaces, what with his Spider-Man connection, as well as his recently scrapped Deadpool adaptation at FX.

Dylan O'Brien: The Teen Wolf alum stands out as an easy choice for the Y: The Last Man starring gig. He's the right age for the role, and brings the right level of name recognition as well.

Elijah Wood: A bit outside of the ideal age range for Yorick, the Lord of the Rings veteran has nonetheless floated his own name forward for Y: The Last Man in the past. Given his previous affiliation with FX through Wilfred and the recent cancellation of his BBC America series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the timing and venue might be right for Wood to take on this coveted comic book role.

Joe Keery: He's currently tied up with Stranger Things season three, but he can't go on playing Steve Harrington forever. One could easily see the Netflix star walking away from the Upside Down and into this entirely different surreal universe, one in which the world has gone upside down in its own right.

Liam Hemsworth: He wouldn't be the first of the Hemsworth siblings to wind up on an attention-grabbing genre show: brother Luke has already beat him there with Westworld. Liam seems more comfortable on the big screen, with only a handful of television appearances in his career, but the actor might find Y: The Last Man a worthy challenge.

Logan Lerman: With a relatively low profile since the Percy Jackson days, Lerman has long been a name tossed around various comic book adaptations, most famously the two recent Spider-Man reboots. Now 26, Lerman is the right age to take on a character like Yorick; the humble work he invested in The Perks of Being a Wallflower only adds to the reasons why he would make a great "last man."

Michael B. Jordan: Given his rising star in Hollywood, it's hard to imagine the Black Panther star signing on for a TV series as demanding as Y: The Last Man. But Jordan has dabbled in small-screen territory as recently as the forthcoming Fahrenheit 451 original movie slated to hit HBO in May. what's more, Jordan has multiple comic book credits to his name between Black Panther and Fantastic Four, not to mention the "comic book adjacent" movie Chronicle and a recurring role on Netflix superhero series Raising Dion.

Nick Robinson: From appearing in the juggernaut known as Jurassic World and his recent breakout role in Love, Simon, Robinson is perfectly positioned to headline a series of his own. The heart and humor he's displayed in his career are perfect attributes to bring to a role like Yorick.

Rupert Grint: Ron Weasley, last man standing? Hey, he was the only one of the trio who temporarily tapped out of the Deathly Hallows mission … classic Yorick style, in other words. He's dipped his toe into the television arena before; why not for Y? Come to think of it (and as a bonus pick here), Harry himself wouldn't be a bad pick for the gig. Daniel Radcliffe once lamented that "a lot of comic book [roles] have" been seized already, but perhaps Yorick is the one he's been waiting for.

Steven Yeun: Is the world ready for the erstwhile Glenn Rhee to return to the world of comic book TV adaptations? Ready or not, The Walking Dead alum would be perfect for Yorick: earnest and light at first glance, with an ability to traverse darker corners as the role would demand.

Who do you want to see as Yorick Brown? List some of your suggestions in the comments below, and keep checking THR.com/LiveFeed for more on the show's development.


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