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Paul Simon’s Sudden Exit from Jimmy Kimmel Gives Break to Rapper, Sampler Action Bronson (Watch)

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Action Bronson got a big break last night on national TV.

The rapper who is similar to DJ Khaled got to perform on “Jimmy Kimmel, Live from Brooklyn” at the last minute because legendary singer songwriter Paul Simon cancelled at the last minute. Simon was supposed to perform and be interviewed. His appearance was heavily promoted. But for unclear reasons he ditched the show. No mention was made of the change. If Simon is ill (presumably) let’s hope he get better fast.

Bronson performed his hit called “Jaguar.” You’ll notice an amazing background vocal by a Black woman. Bronson samples the late great Loleatta Holloway from her record, “I Can’t Help Myself,” released in 1975. Holloway died in 2011 at age 64. Who knows if she — her estate — got paid for this sample?

There’s an odd note about “I Can’t Help Myself.” It’s a total rip off of Barbara Acklin’s “Am I the Same Girl,” which was written by the Chi Lites’ Eugene Record. It’s the same song, just a few years later. I don’t know why Gene Record let this happen, or if he was just ripped off himself! It doesn’t change the quality of Holloway’s magnificent voice, but it just shows how artists are pillaged all the time.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Z0Ui9cocCg

Box Office: “Bros” May Score Just $5 Million Weekend After Disastrous Opening Night

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“Bros,” billed as an all gay comedy, is a box office disaster.

Total receipts for Thursday and Friday came to just $1.84 million. With another $2.5 million coming on Saturday and Sunday, “Bros” stands to make less than $5 million for its entire opening weekend.

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“Bros” doesn’t have a huge budget — $25 million at most. But the movie has had a tremendous amount of publicity and marketing, a blanketing that most films would give their popcorn up for. This just means that the public at large had no interest in seeing not only a gay rom com, but one with graphic sex scenes.

“Bros” comes from Universal, which will also release a second film in this genre through its Focus Features soon called “Spoiler Alert.” Once that’s over, this genre may be severely curtailed. What a disappointment for Billy Eichner and Judd Apatow, but this is an example of Hollywood being insulated from reality even when it has the best of intentions.

Thursday Ratings: Chris Meloni’s “Organized Crime” Is Weak Link in “Law & Order” Chain, 1 Million Behind SVU

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Thursday night ratings: Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order” night is back to normal after the big three way opening last week. But Chris Meloni’s “Organized Crime” remains an issue. At 10pm, the spin off show dropped 1 million viewers from the 9pm “SVU” with just 3.51 million fans.

“SVU” took in 4.51 million and built on the 8pm “L&O” Classic with a strong 4.33 million. “OC” is simply not pulling its weight. The show’s structural problems are continuing even with a new showrunner and a changed direction. Some ingredient is missing there.

Over on CBS, “Young Sheldon” continues to kill with 6.6 million viewers. “Ghosts” was right behind it at 8:30 with 6.1 million. You know, as someone pointed out to me, Sheldon is no longer young. Iain Armitage is 14 by now and growing. This is the sixth season. He’ll be turning into Jim Parsons soon. They may get just one more season out of this blockbuster. Maybe the next series can be “Old Sheldon.”

Box Office: “Bros” Looking at Weekend Below $10 Mil as Previews Tank for Universal’s Noble Experiment

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It’s not like Universal didn’t put everything into “Bros.” The marketing and publicity have been superior. Billy Eichner has been everywhere. And “Bros” has a strong 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But “Bros” does not have mainstream appeal now matter how hard you sell. The audience is gay and women. Straight me will not go near it, even on a date. That much came true last night as the Judd Apatow-produced comedy picked up just $500,000 in 2,700 theaters. It made less money last night than the re-release of “Avatar,” which was in fewer theaters.

It’s not just the gay themes. Nothing is working right now. “The Woman King” is punking along and “Don’t Worry Darling” isn’t doing much better. The moviegoers are seeing high ticket prices and a crashing stock market, lay offs, and a possible recession. They’re opting to stay home until they hear there’s a compelling reason to go out. Wait til “The Fabelmans” comes, and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and a few others.

Exclusive: Famed Singer Songwriter Paul Simon Drops Out of Jimmy Kimmel Brooklyn Taping at Last Minute

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I was very excited to go out to Brooklyn tonight at rush hour for the taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

The musical guest was supposed to be Paul Simon. He was also set for an interview.

But now I’m told that Simon has dropped out of the show at the last minute. Since he’s a consummate live performer, one suspects he has COVID or a cold or something that took him out quickly.

What a shame. Simon, as I told you recently, has been recording a new album. I thought he might play a new song. Or one of the dozens of famous ones from “The Sound of Silence” to “American Tune” or really “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

So we’re sending best wishes to Paul Simon to get well quickly. And Jimmy Kimmel will still feature Jason Bateman and I’m sure have a worthy replacement. His shows all week from Brooklyn have been a lot of fun!

Watch Trevor Noah Announce He’s Ending His 7 Year Run as Host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”

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Trevor Noah surprised his audience at “The Daily Show” tonight. He’s leaving as host of Comedy Central’s most popular show after 7 years. There’s no timetable yet for his exit, but now the question is whether the channel will continue the show and find a new host, or if this is the series finale. Since Samantha Bee’s show has been cancelled by TBS, she’d be a great replacement. A lot of people will vie for that job.

Wednesday Ratings: “The Goldbergs,” “Big Sky” Numbers Collapse But “The Conners” Bounces Back!

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Last night was a bad one for ABC. Most of their schedule was a failure. The alphabet network finished in fourth place behind Fox. Ouch.

I don;t know which is worse, “Big Sky” or “The Goldbergs.”

“Big Sky” returned with a bunch of names thrown in like Reba McEntire and Jensen Ackles. ABC owns the show and refuses to give up on it even though not a single human being watches it.

When the series came back last week it fell 30% from the end of last season in the key demo. Episode number 2 dropped another 23%. They’re down to 2.1 million viewers. It’s time to pull the plug.

Over on “The Goldbergs,” this tired 10th season of a hash of a comedy with no laughs fell for its second week in a row to an all time low. They’re down to 2.4 million viewers, many of whom may be institutionalized if they think this thing is funny. Killing Jeff Garlin didn’t help, but shooing him off the show last January got the ball rolling. It’s unlikely there will be an 11th season of “The Goldbergs.”

Now here’s the actual funny part of the story. Two years ago ABC moved “The Conners” from 8pm to 9pm and lost about a million viewers. They didn’t seem to care. This year, they moved it back to 8pm and picked up the extra people. “The Conners” last two weeks have each been substantially higher than any week from last season! They’re in the 3.7 million range, a total comeback from the disastrous numbers forced on them by ABC. Their numbers were so bad they cut the budget and let go of original cast member Michael Fishman. Now they can afford to bring him back!

Watch the Very Cool Trailer to Timothee Chalamet Cannibal Movie with Gnashing, Thrashing

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You want it darker? Best trailer of the year goes to Luca Guadagnini’s “Bones and All.” It’s set to Leonard Cohen’s “You Want it Darker.”

Timothee Chalamet plays a cannibal. There’s a lot of thrashing and gnashing. Just as in that Sebastian Stan movie from earlier this year, people are eating chunks of each other. Just like in “Call Me By Your Name,” Michael Stuhlbarg apparently makes a speech about people being themselves.

Get the Pepcid ready. People will be dining out on this one all year.

Box Office: “Don’t Worry Darling” Isn’t Drawing Harry Styles Fans, Mid Week Sales Failure

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I said yesterday that Harry Styles fans may not be going to see “Don’t Worry Darling” because they have homework.

But it’s worse than that. Wednesday ticket sales were down 34% from Tuesday. The first three days of the week have been a disaster. “Don’t Worry Darling” is not even being shown in Harry’s House (the name of his album).

The movie is basically dead. It made its money last Thursday and Friday. It’s coming into Thursday just $5 million higher than it finished the weekend. Ouch!

Yes, the cost is put at $35 million, which means it was $40 million. And they will clear that number. But Warner’s has to make twice that for this thing to have worked, and I don’t think we will get to $70 million under any circumstances.

So many questions here. One for sure I’d like to know the answer: why isn’t there an original Harry Styles song on the credits, one that could have been a radio hit? And used for Best Song in the Oscars? How hard would it have been for Harry’s team to write a song called Don’t Worry Darling?

Watch LIVE Bruce Springsteen Announces New Album “Challenging His Voice” And First Single

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Watch Bruce introduce his album, “Only the Strong Survive.” and the first single, “Do I Love You.” I told you all about this yesterday morning.

Album drops November 11th.

The whole tracklist appears below.

1. Only the Strong Survive

2. Soul Days feat. Sam Moore

3. Nightshift

4. Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)

5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore

6. Turn Back the Hands of Time

7. When She Was My Girl

8. Hey, Western Union Man

9. I Wish It Would Rain

10. Don’t Play That Song

11. Any Other Way

12. I Forgot to Be Your Lover feat. Sam Moore

13. 7 Rooms of Gloom

14. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted

15. Someday We’ll Be Together