Monday, December 22, 2025
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TV: The Final Blow for Roseanne Barr Tonight as Widower Dan Marries Louise on “The Conners”

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It’s the final blow for Roseanne Barr tonight on The Conners.

Roseanne Conner, killed off at the beginning of Season 2 of the “Roseanne” spin off, really gets the ultimate diss in this new episode.

Roseanne’s widower, Dan, remarries, to Louise, played by Katy Sagal of “Married with Children” fame. Louise has become a popular character, and fully erased ol’ Roseanne once and for all.

Barr isn’t even profiting off the characters she created for the original series. She had to give that all up when she Tweeted racist comments at the end of Season 1. Then she doubled down on those comments by backing Donald Trump and basically losing her mind in public.

Roseanne was killed off at the start of the second season. This season, even more of her death was discussed, just in case we didn’t get it: she’s dead and not coming back.

Now with Louise’s ascension into the Conner household. Roseanne has been obliterated. Of course, “The Conners” ratings aren’t so great anymore since ABC moved the show from Tuesdays at 8 to Wednesdays at 9. This might be the last season of the spin off. If not, the end will come with Season 5 to be sure.

Review: Kendall Roy Burns It All Down in Nightmarish Opening of “Succession” Season 3

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Here’s a warning: don’t watch “Succession” Season 3 before you go to bed. You will definitely have nightmares.

I watched three in a row, in ‘succession’, last night and boy was I anxious.

The HBO hit is the family version of Showtime’s “Billions,” but with less fun and more angst. Where “Billions” is juicy and delicious, “Succession” is bitter and dry. It’s “Veep” written by Ibsen.

The Roy family is very much a reflection of Rupert Murdoch and his lovely adult children. Instead of News Corp they won Waystar, the largest family owned media conglomerate in the world. Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is Murdoch, or in this case, also King Lear. The four adult children are vying to succeed him. They are Kendall Roy, played by Emmy winner Jeremy Strong; Siobhan, whose nickname is, LOL, Shiv, the wonderful Sarah Snook; Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy; and Alan Ruck as the eldest, Conner Roy.

We also have cousin Greg, who takes a larger role this season in the person of Nicholas Braun; Shiv’s husband, Tom (Matthew MacFadyen); and the company’s lawyer, Gerri, the only person of reason, played by the impeccable J. Smith-Cameron.

At the end of Season 2, Logan’s misdeeds — which are many including lots of MeToo stuff — are revealed, secret papers are leaked to the SEC and FBI, Logan throws Kendall under the bus, and Kendall turns against the family.

And here are. The first three episodes are a psychological chess game that should be called Kill or Be Killed as everyone jockeys for position. These people are brutal. JR Ewing would not last a day with them. No one is happy, no one even smiles. They are calculating, ironic, avaricious, snarky, downright mean. The constant second guessing, positioning, re-positioning will leave you exhausted. If this is what goes on in the real Murdoch family, I feel sorry for them.

But then you have the acting, which is so strong it’s frightening. Strong just won an Emmy, and he will win again. Kendall is haunted, destroyed, a shell of a human being. He’s committing corporate and familial suicide. Or is he? Because what the writers telegraph constantly is that even when Kendall reaches his lowest point, he will always be welcomed back. And by the end of episode 3, season 3 his situation looks pretty bleak.

Everyone loves Sarah Snook as Shiv, and Kieran Culkin as Roman, the Lannister-esque siblings who are shiny and young and as vulnerable as they are destructive. But the key to Season 3 looks like it will be cousin Greg, who is not as stupid as he seems. And I’m crazy about Sanaa Lathan joining as Kendall’s wily Lisa Allred-Bloom type lawyer. In fact, many of Logan’s so called crimes, etc seem more like Harvey Weinstein’s than Rupert Murdoch’s. The writers have laid it on thick.

So off we go. After a nap and a drink I’ll ingest the next three episodes and report back. But we’re in for one hell of a ride this season. And Adrien Brody — who I reported first had joined the cast– hasn’t even shown up yet!

 

Trailer for the Beatles “Get Back”: It’s Going to Be Such a Comical Thing in 50 Years Time…They Broke Up Because Yoko Sat on an Amp”

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The trailer is here for Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary about the making of Let it Be. The three part “Get Back” is meant to erase the memory of Michael Lindsay Hogg’s original 1970 movie that showed the Beatles in distress as they made the album and recorded the famous rooftop concert.

The trailer has a lot of great moments. But the best is Paul, in 1969, saying, “It’s such a comical thing…In 50 years time…They broke up because Yoko sat on an amp.”

And that’s exactly what happened. I guess this why Paul once wrote the famous line, “Many years from now.” He was prescient.

On Disney Plus November 25, 26, and 27.

James Bond’s Grandson, Dashiell Connery, 24, Coming Sunday to “NCIS Los Angeles” — with a “Ferris Bueller” Connection

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It’s hard to imagine two touchstones from our culture with less in common than James Bond and Ferris Bueller.

And yet, there is one degree between them.

Once upon a time, Jason Connery, son of the original 007 Sean Connery, married and had a child with Mia Sara. She was the beautiful girl who was part of the main trio with Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Now the child of Jason Connery and Mia Sara, Dashiell Connery, will make his debut this Sunday on “NCIS Los Angeles” playing a character named Jason Quinn.

This is Dash Connery’s second series credit this fall. He’s already appeared in the season premiere of “The Rookie.” Otherwise, he’s fresh in the Hollywood mix. Hey– in three more years he’ll be 27 and perfect for a “Young James Bond” series. Someone call Barbara Broccoli!

PS Where is Linda Hunt? The beloved 77 year old Oscar winner who plays Hetty was in the season premiere on Sunday but it looks like she’ll be making limited appearances this season.  She’s the main reason to watch this show! (For me, in reruns.)

 

L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum Will Still Open Season with Porn-ish “Slave Play” Despite Playwright’s Complaints

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The pornographic and not very good “Slave Play” will still open the season for the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles next winter.

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris said he wanted the production pulled because Center Theater Group, of which Mark Taper Forum is a part, didn’t have enough plays by women. He wanted gender parity.

“Slave Play” is a money maker for its producers for no other reason than there’s a lot of nudity and gratuitous sex talk. It did not win any Tony Awards, and for a good reason. It’s not at that level.

But when Harris yapped about pulling out of Los Angeles, his investors I’m sure were not thrilled. Neither was Center Theater Group

So CTG apparently hustled and worked out a deal to bring more productions by women and non binary playwrights. Now, Harris is appeased. What a relief. BTW the play that was always planned to comeafter Harris’s in the CTG schedule is written by a woman and directed by one, too. But why sweat the details?

CTG has posted a notice on their website that reads:

As the season is shaping up, we are excited about our plan to schedule the full Taper 22/23 Season next year with entirely women-identifying or non-binary playwrights and to also have it be a BIPOC majority season. We are focusing our Douglas 22/23 season on majority women-identifying or non-binary and BIPOC playwrights. We will continue our commitment to uplifting/building gender and racial equity within our production directors and artistic teams.

In addition to the work that will appear on our stages, our expanded New Play Development programs also further our commitment to gender and racial equity. We have been preparing to announce a new chapter for our Not a Moment, But a Movement initiative in which we will be commissioning six new plays by Black women-identifying or non-binary playwrights. This adds to our other current developmental programs including the current writer’s cohort which is comprised of 10 women-identifying, majority BIPOC playwrights, and 11 of our 16 current commissions are with women-identifying playwrights, 11 are also BIPOC playwrights.

 

Monday Box Office: “No Time to Die” Keeps the Momentum Going with Just a 50% Drop from Weekend

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Here’s a little good news for a change.

“No Time to Die” dropped only 50% on Monday from Sunday. Most Monday drops even for big blockbusters like Marvel’s “Shang Chi” can be way up in the 60 percent range.

But “No Time to Die,” Daniel Craig’s final James Bond movie, held up well on Monday. The total take was almost $7 million.

At that rate, with more good word of mouth, “No Time to Die” will start the next weekend around $83 million. They’ll go over the $100 million during the weekend. Runaway hit? No. But given its length, and the pandemic, this is a positive report.

Total domestic box office today is $62 million. Worldwide just under $320 million.

 

Happy Birthday to the Original and Only Soul Man, Sam Moore, “We Thank You” for 86 Years

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Happiest of birthdays to the original and only real Soul Man, Sam Moore.

The singer of “Soul Man,” “Hold On I’m Coming” and many other classic hits turns 86 years young today.

Sam is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (when it meant something), a Grammy winner, and a long time advocate for performers and artists rights. He’s testified in front of Congress about the importance of performers getting royalties for their radio play, among other things.

He’s also sung for all the presidents living and for George Bush Sr. on his inauguration. (He also performed to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2008 with Sting and Elvis Costello.)

Sam is the last of the Atlantic soul stars that included Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, and so on. He needs a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Hello, Atlantic!)

Happy, happy birthday, Sam! (And PS his voice is better than ever!) He will celebrate tonight with his wife of 40 years, Joyce, and his big family around him!

 

Mark Harmon Ratings for “NCIS” Exit Bring Series Low Ratings, Down Whopping 22% in Key Demo from Last Week

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Mark Harmon left “NCIS” last night after 18 seasons. You’d think there would have been a lot of fanfare and an uptick in the ratings.

Alas, last night’s episode was down 22% in the key demo, and almost 8% in total viewers. It was the lowest rating of the entire now 19 season run.

The total viewers were 7.3 million down from 7.9 million last week. This spells the end of the show come next spring because at this rate “NCIS” will be down to 6 million viewers by then. It will just be too expensive to produce. And why bother anyway? The heyday is over. Nineteen seasons is a huge accomplishment. Time to give it up.

Harmon knew the end was coming. He got out before they hit bottom and can return for a series finale with a victory wave, along with some of the others who’ve left or been written out. Big finale next May, I’d say.

 

Adele Will Drop “Easy On Me” at 7PM Eastern on Thursday Night So Everyone Is Alert and Awake

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Adele wants us to be wide awake and very alert when she drops her new single on Thursday night.

She and Columbia Records have announced the drop will be midnight in the UK, which means 7pm in New York, and 4pm in Los Angeles.

This way, we can all wake up on Friday morning to Adele at number 1 on iTunes with “Easy on Me” written by Greg Kurstin.

Adele debuted a clip of the song on Instagram Live over the weekend, and it’s a three-hanky weeper about her marriage breaking up. With this release time, her fans can go to sleep sobbing into their pillows.

It’s time to stock up on Kleenex because almost no one has handkerchiefs anymore!

 

Golden Globe Awards Will Be Given Out This Year, Just Not on TV and Especially Not on NBC

The Golden Globes are going to be given out this season even if no one wants them.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has apparently decided to go forward with the 2022 awards, just not on television and especially not on NBC. The Peacock network put the Globes on hold for this coming year after the HFPA had a number of scandals concerning diversity in their membership and their voting practices.

You would have thought NBC’s decision would have put the kibosh on the Globes. But Variety reports that they’re going to barrel ahead anyway with some kind of presentation to actors at least if not other categories. How they’ll do it remains to be seen since they’re precluded from carrying this out on other TV outlets. Maybe then can stream it on Facebook Live.

There are so many odd twists in this Golden Globes story. The HFPA was taken down by a report in the Hollywood Reporter by Tatiana Siegel. The Hollywood Reporter is owned by Todd Boehly’s MRC company, which also owns Dick Clark Productions,the company that produces the Golden Globes for NBC. Now Boehly — who merged his publishing operations with Jay Penske’s Penske Media, publisher of Variety and Deadline.com, has been named interim CEO of the Golden Globes.

Got that?

At the same time, after months and months of doing nothing to extend membership to people of color, the HFPA finally added 21 new members who were just as unknown as the 80 or so members they already have. Only the HFPA is capable of finding these obscure bylines. The HFPA also just announced a partnership with the NAACP to increase diversity for the Globes. And that announcement engendered criticism from other minorities. So good luck with that.

Meantime, the Golden Globes TV date, January 9th, has been taken by the Critics Choice Awards, a group of 300 or more actual journalists. The show will air on the CW Network, although CBS– which owns the CW– would be smart to put it on the main network as well and grab NBC’s thunder. The Critics Choice is an independent operation, too, and not governed by the trade magazines like Variety and THR which do their own awards advocating and depend on ads from the studios for much of their revenue.