Here is our entertainment news for the third week of August 2020. Again we are going to experiment with a video version of this report. Please like and subscribe to the video version and share with your friends on social media. First of all HBO’s new horror series “Lovecraft Country” is absolutely awesome. Look for a complete review coming here soon.
Pandemic News
- The Billboard Music Awards originally scheduled for April, now will be October 14 on NBC.
- ABC sitcom “The Conners” like its predecessor “Roseanne” as always begun with a voiceover “filmed before a live studio audience” however now it is sent to resume production on next season without an audience.
- “For All Mankind” the Apple TV+ alternate history of the Apollo program had just 2 episodes left to film for season 2 when it had to shut down for the pandemic. Production has resumed this week on those final 2 episodes. It is produced by Sony pictures TV which has been at the forefront of efforts to safely return scripted series to production. They also produce “S.W.A.T.” which became the first broadcast drama to start filming new episodes, Its daytime drama “The Young and the Restless” has been back in production for weeks, “The Goldbergs” is eying a production restart in a week and “The Good Doctor” is expected to resume filming in Vancouver by the end of the month.
- Late-Night with Seth Meyers will return to 30 Rock Studios on September 8. Slightly earlier than expected. All of the other major late-night shows have already returned to their studios all without audiences.
Renewals, Coming Soon, and Casting News
- Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki has been cast to play Princess Diana in the final two seasons of Netflix’s “The Crown”
- Former Supernatural star Jensen Ackles has been added to the season 3 cast of Amazon’s “The Boys”
- Speaking of “Supernatural” its final 7 episodes which were delayed by the pandemic are now scheduled to air starting October 8 with a two hour series finale scheduled for November 19.
- Although Kelly Clarkson said she felt very comfortable in the chair of Simon Cowell as his temporary replacement for AGT, this week Kenan Thompson will be the fill in for Cowell
- Although not quite worthy of my “Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse” award… We do have to wonder the decision-making of having Will Smith and Kevin Hart remake of the 1987 holiday classic “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles”. Do they really think they cannot do the original? I don’t think so.
- “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” has been canceled after 6 seasons on Netflix.
- Amazon’s new apocalyptic series “Utopia” the premier September 25.
Politics and Showbiz
- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are among the guests scheduled for “A Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as he goes live after the Democratic National Convention
- Marge Simpson matriarch of the Simpsons animated family responded via Twitter at a Trump operative who said that Kamala Harris sounds like Marge. Said it was disrespectful.
- Eva Longoria, Tracy Ellis Ross, Kerry Washington, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are among the celebrities who will speak at the DNC this week.
Miscellaneous News
- The original creators of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” have withdrawn from the upcoming live-action version in production for Netflix. The fans of the original anime series are pretty upset by the news.
- Several DC Universe original TV series will be moving to HBO Max. I have to wonder if that means that the DCU streaming service is in trouble and perhaps going away.
- Disney announced that its upcoming series “The Owl House” will have its first ever bisexual lead character
- R. Kelly’s manager Donnell Russell has been charged in New York with threatening to shoot up a Manhattan screening of the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” in 2018
- A federal grand jury has indicted 2 men for the 2002 murder out Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay.
- A federal appeals court has ruled that Star Trek Discovery’s use of outer space born creatures “tardigrades” does not infringe on a videogame also based on the creatures. Part of the reasoning once that these creatures do actually exist (although not in the size as used in Star Trek) and they have been shown to be able to survive the vacuum of space. So you can’t copyright the properties of the real world animal. See the link below for more details.
In Memoriam
- Composer Duane L. Tatro who composed music for “Dynasty” and “The Love Boat” age 93.
- Linda Manz actress in “Days of Heaven”, and “The Wanderers” age 58 lung cancer
- Robert Trump businessman and younger brother of Donald Trump age 71.
- Howell Brinkley Tony winning lighting designer for “Hamilton” and “Jersey Boys” age 64