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“Nomadland” Takes PGA Award, Plus “The Crown,” “Queen’s Gambit,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “RuPaul,” “Octopus,” John Oliver, “Hamilton”

Roger Friedman
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“Nomadland” Takes PGA Award, Plus “The Crown,” “Queen’s Gambit,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “RuPaul,” “Octopus,” John Oliver, “Hamilton”

“Nomadland” wins the Producers Guild award. On to the Oscars!

keep refreshing…”The Crown” Best Drama…”Schitt’s Creek” wins Best Comedy…RuPaul’s Drag Race Best Game/Competition Show..Documentary: “My Octopus Teacher”…Animated: “Soul”…”Hamilton”…”The Queen’s Gambit”…

The PGA– not a golf group — is giving out its awards tonight. Interestingly, some of their nominees for best picture did not overlap with the Oscars. So we’ll see how they roll, often an indicator of the Academy Awards. The show is well produced EXCEPT they couldn’t spell Steven Yeun’s name right, nor Irrfan Khan…

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

  • “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)
    Producers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Monica Levinson, Anthony Hines
  • “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros)
    Producers: Charles D. King, Ryan Coogler, Shaka King
  • “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
    Producers: Denzel Washington, Todd Black
  • “Mank” (Netflix)
    Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas Urbanski
  • “Minari” (A24)
    Producer: Christina Oh
  • “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
    Producers: Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao
  • “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
    Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Jody Klein
  • “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
    Producers: Josey McNamara, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell
  • “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)
    Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche
  • “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
    Producers: Marc Platt, Stuart Besser

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

  • “The Croods: A New Age” (DreamWorks Animation)
    Producer: Mark Swift
  • “Onward” (Pixar)
    Producer: Kori Rae
  • “Over the Moon” (Netflix)
    Producers: Gennie Rim, Peilin Chou
  • “Soul” (Pixar)
    Producer: Dana Murray
  • “Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)
  • Producers: Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants

Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television

  • “Better Call Saul” (AMC) – Season 5
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Bridgerton” – (Netflix) – Season 1
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “The Crown” (Netflix) – Season 4
    Producers: Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Stephen Daldry, Andy Harries, Benjamin Caron, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, Michael Casey, Andy Stebbing, Martin Harrison, Oona O’Beirn
  • “The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus) – Season 2
    Producers: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, Karen Gilchrist, John Bartnicki, Carrie Beck
  • “Ozark” (Netflix) – Season 3
    Producers: Jason Bateman, Chris Mundy, Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams, Patrick Markey, John Shiban, Miki Johnson, Matthew Spiegel, Erin Mitchell, Martin Zimmerman, Peter Thorell

Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy

  • “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO) – Season 10
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max) – Season 1
    Producers: Greg Berlanti, Kaley Cuoco, Steve Yockey, Meredith Lavender, Marcie Ullin, Sarah Schechter, Suzanne McCormack, Jess Meyer, Raymond Quinlan, Jennifer Lence, Erika Kennair
  • “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop TV) – Season 6
    Producers: Eugene Levy, Daniel Levy, Andrew Barnsley, Fred Levy, David West Read, Ben Feigin, Michael Short, Kurt Smeaton, Kosta Orfanidis
  • “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus) – Season 1
    Producers: Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Jeff Ingold, Bill Wrubel, Liza Katzer, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee, Kip Kroeger, Brendan Hunt, Tina Pawlik, Joe Kelly
  • “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX) – Season 2
    Producers: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Paul Simms, Scott Rudin, Garrett Basch, Eli Bush, Stefani Robinson, Sam Johnson, Marika Sawyer, Derek S. Rappaport

David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television

  • “I May Destroy You” (HBO)
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Normal People” (Hulu)
    Producers: Lenny Abrahamson, Sally Rooney, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton, Anna Ferguson, Catherine Magee
  • “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)
    Producers: William Horberg, Allan Scott, Scott Frank, Marcus Loges, Mick Aniceto
  • “The Undoing” (HBO)
    Producers: Susanne Bier, David E. Kelley, Per Saari, Nicole Kidman, Bruna Papandrea, Stephen Garrett, Celia Costas, Deb Dyer
  • “Unorthodox” (Netflix)
    Producers: Anna Winger, Henning Kamm, Alexa Karolinksi

Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures

  • “Bad Education” (HBO)
    Producers: Fred Berger, Eddie Vaisman
  • “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square“
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Hamilton” (Disney Plus)
    Producers: Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeffrey Seller
  • “Jane Goodall: The Hope“
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “What the Constitution Means To Me“
    Producers: eligibility determination pending

Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television

  • “60 Minutes” (CBS) – Season 53
    Producer: Bill Owens
  • “The Last Dance” (ESPN) – Season 1
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Laurel Canyon” (EPIX)
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “McMillion$” (HBO) – Season 1
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” (Netflix)
    Producers: eligibility determination pending

Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television

  • “8:46 – Dave Chappelle (Special)” (Netflix)
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” (Comedy Central) – Season 26
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO) – Season 7
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS) – Season 6
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) – Season 46
    Producers: eligibility determination pending

Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television

  • “The Amazing Race” (CBS) – Season 32
    Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo, Phil Keoghan
  • “The Masked Singer” (FOX) – Season 3, Season 4
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “Nailed It!” (Netflix) – Season 4
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “RuPaul’s Drag Race” ( (Season 12)
    Producers: eligibility determination pending
  • “The Voice” (NBC) – Season 18, Season 19
    Producers: eligibility determination pending

Oscars Add Raft of Talent to This Year’s Show Including QuestLove as Musical Director, 4 Black Writers, and 2 Producers

Roger Friedman
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Oscars Add Raft of Talent to This Year’s Show Including QuestLove as Musical Director, 4 Black Writers, and 2 Producers

The Oscars are getting an Oscar for diversity this year.

Producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher, and Jessie Collins have added a slate of writers and producers to their team, as well as named a musical and lighting director.

The bulk of this group is Black, which is no coincidence. After the Golden Globes race debacle, the Academy is being careful to emphasize inclusivity. It’s about time.

Named as musical director is Questlove, of the Roots and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight show. Amir Thompson is his real name, and he just directed his first documentary, “Summer of Soul.”

The Academy named four Black writers, as well as director-screenwriter Richard LaGravenese, The writers are Mitchell Marchand, dream hampton, Rodney Barnes, and Amberia Allen.  Head weiter remains Jon Macks.

Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay join the production team.

Returning are David Rockwell as the production designer, and Robert Dickinson as lighting designer.

There’s no host for the Oscars this year. Raj Kapoor returns as co-producer. Glenn Weiss is running the show.

But the show is going to be hip and stylish, and different. And that’s a good thing!

 

 

 

“Bewitched” Will Finally Get a Real Movie Version: Who Should Play Samantha? Darrin? Endorra? Uncle Arthur? Dr. Bombay?

Roger Friedman
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“Bewitched” Will Finally Get a Real Movie Version: Who Should Play Samantha? Darrin? Endorra? Uncle Arthur? Dr. Bombay?

“Bewitched,” the hit 60s TV comedy, is finally getting a real big screen movie.

In 2005, Nora Ephron had one of her few flops when she tried to make a “Bewitched” movie that made no sense and no one wanted to see. Nicole Kidman was great as Samantha, Will Ferrell would have been fine as Darrin etc but it was a meta-take and not the real thing.

So now Sony-Columbia Pictures has authorized a real “Bewitched” movie in which a young witch marries a mortal who is stunned to find his wife has super powers. If they stick to the story. it’s “Mad Men” time with Darrin in advertising. They should set it in the 60s, too, because cell phones and the internet will make harder to believe or accomplish.

So who should play Samantha, Darrin, Endorra, Uncle Arthur? Will the filmmakers switch Darrins in the middle of the movie? In the series, Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as Darrin without an explanation?

And who will play Dr. Bombay?  Aunt Clara? Larry Tate? Mrs. Kravitz? The mind boggles.

Let’s hope they get it right this time.  The actual show never played it campy, the audience brought that to it.  What we don’t need here is “The Prom” masquerading as “Bewitched.”

Now, please, Disney-Fox TV, “Dobie Gillis” with Pete Davidson as Maynard G. Krebs!

Lana Del Rey Projected to Outsell Justin Bieber in CDs and Downloads for “Real” Number 1

Roger Friedman
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Lana Del Rey Projected to Outsell Justin Bieber in CDs and Downloads for “Real” Number 1

Whoa stand back.

Lana DelRey is projected to outsell Justin Bieber this week and be the “real” number 1 on Friday.

Lana’s highly praised  “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” is set to sell around 54,000 copies in CDs and downloads. Bieber will sell only 27,000 in those formats.

Lana wins!

Bieber’s triumph is in streaming. Adding in those numbers, Bieber will total around 135,000. Lana should hit around 70,000. Bieber’s fans are just hitting the streaming buttons over and over. They don’t necessarily need to own a copy of “Justice.”

For Del Rey, “Chemtrails” may be her biggest album ever. At the same time, Bieber is struggling to sell singles. It will be interesting to see how his second week fares. Also, the singles that are selling are all with duet partners like Khalid. Hope they’re getting proper payment for their participation!

Numbers are from HitsDailyDouble and Buzz Angle.

Ratings for “Genius Aretha” 2nd Night Drop by Almost 50%, Series Wraps Tonight with Arista Hits Chapter

Roger Friedman
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Ratings for “Genius Aretha” 2nd Night Drop by Almost 50%, Series Wraps Tonight with Arista Hits Chapter

The second night of “Genius: Aretha” was not as successful as the premiere.

Monday night numbers fell to 1.1 million total from 1.38 million on Sunday.

More frightening : the key demo number fell almost 50% from 2.1 to 1.1. That’s a steep drop in the number of people who watched ages 18 to 49. Those who left might have been the Cynthia Erivo fans who came in to hear her, then realized she wouldn’t be singing “Respect” or “Natural Woman.”

The series continues tonight at 9pm on Nat Geo for two hours. I will watch that last hour, which I haven’t seen yet. That has Aretha’s big Renaissance with Clive Davis and Arista Records. Fingers crossed, we’ll get some of those hits. I sure hope so! (I look forward to saying nice things around 11pm eastern).

 

Taylor Swift’s Next Gift for Scooter Braun: First Unreleased Single from An Old Album with Maren Morris On Background Vocals

Roger Friedman
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Taylor Swift’s Next Gift for Scooter Braun: First Unreleased Single from An Old Album with Maren Morris On Background Vocals

Taylor Swift is toying with Scooter Braun the way one of her cats plays with a rubber mouse.

She’s releasing a “From the Vault” single from her re-recorded album, “Fearless,” tomorrow night. The single “You All Over Me,” has background vocals from Maren Morris.

Taylor has re-recorded her “Fearless” album and included unreleased tracks, all in an effort to kill off the original version of the album which was sold to Scooter Braun and then to Shamrock Capital for $300 million.

The first “Fearless” redux single “Love Story” sold around 33,000 copies in downloads and around 400,000 copies including streaming. Taylor might release a couple more before she unleashes the whole album.

“Jeopardy!” Ratings Drop An Unusual 5% With Katie Couric, First “Outsider” to Guest Host

Roger Friedman
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“Jeopardy!” Ratings Drop An Unusual 5% With Katie Couric, First “Outsider” to Guest Host

Don’t blame Katie Couric. But in the first week she guest hosted “Jeopardy!” ratings dropped 5%.

Katie was an excellent host, but “Jeopardy!” fans are very particular. They don’t want an “outsider” subbing for Alex Trebek.

The fans welcomed Ken Jennings, the heir apparent, and even were nice to EP Mike Richards. But Katie may have been too much– a woman, and someone who has nothing to do with the history of the game.

“Jeopardy!” fell to 5.6 million viewers from 5.9 with Richards and 6.0 with Jennings.

Now, of course, the hardcore fans are protesting Dr. Oz’s guest stint with petitions and bad publicity. They say he’s a quack and should not be on the show. While Dr. Oz has had some questionable public situations, I’m sure he’s capable of hosting the show. Art Fleming, the show’s original host, was no Einstein.

I thought Katie gave the show a nice, cheerful demeanor, not as dour as usual.

Still to come before Jennings gets the job: quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But don’t worry, all these people have jobs and lives in other cities and have no illusions about hosting the show permanently.

 

Beloved Actor George Segal Dies at Age 87, A Movie Star Who Found New Careers in Sitcoms

Roger Friedman
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Beloved Actor George Segal Dies at Age 87, A Movie Star Who Found New Careers in Sitcoms

George Segal has died, according to reports. The great actor was 87 and passed away from complications from heart surgery.

I know you may know his name from “The Goldbergs” sitcom on ABC, or remember him from “Just Shoot Me,” but George Segal was a movie star once. And a really great one. In 1966 he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Sandy Dennis in Mike Nichols’  “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” He won an Oscar nomination for that role. That classic launched him, and after that Segal appeared in a number of quality TV dramas, productions of Broadway plays on TV, and movies.

He really hit his strike in the early 70s with “Where’s Poppa?” with Ruth Gordon, “What’s Up Pussycat” with Barbra Streisand, “The H9t Rock” heist movie with Robert Redford, then my favorites– a pair of knockouts– “A Touch of Class” with Glenda Jackson and “Blume in Love.” He was a star. There are a couple more from that time, too: Robert Altman’s “California Split” with Elliot Gould, and “Fun with Dick and Jane” co-starring Jane Fonda.

As he got older, Segal transitioned more into television, but there was still the occasional film in which he roared like David O. Russell’s 1996 “Flirting with Disaster.”

Segal made a name for himself in the last two generations in TV. But to me played the great Jewish leading man. Not Woody Allen’s shmoe, but an unlikely romantic hero who was clever and good looking enough to win the leading lady. This was not something to be sneezed at.

After his second wife died, Segal married his childhood sweetheart. He had two children from his first marriage. He had four short stints on Broadway. Born in New York, lived in Los Angeles and was mostly an L.A. guy. I met him once or twice but by then he was fully in the TV world. I like to think he was a mensch, he always seemed like it. His work will live on.

Bob Balaban Directs Group of Broadway All Stars This Weekend Including Jessica Hecht and Harris Yulin in Virtual Play Reading

Regina Weinreich
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Bob Balaban Directs Group of Broadway All Stars This Weekend Including Jessica Hecht and Harris Yulin in Virtual Play Reading

“All families are the same, but like snowflakes, they are different,” said actor Bob Balaban recently by phone, explaining the rich detail of the play “Squeaky,” which he will direct this week for a March 28th Guild Hall Zoom reading. Click here to buy tickets.

A group of Broadway all-stars — Jessica Hecht, Marc Kudisch, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Ben Shenkman, and Harris Yulin– are featured in the play based on playwright Jeff Cohen’s family experiences, noted Balaban, “Squeaky works well because it is so accurate to the details Jeff Cohen lived.”

Many families find themselves in situations, the sons in conflict as to how to deal with their parents’ golden years, particularly if problems with dementia arise—but these parents!

“Plays are difficult to write, finding subjects that excite me; then, it’s a puzzle to make them stage worthy,” Cohen told me a few weeks ago by phone from Florida. “One of the challenges was to write an autobiography for the stage and use real names, and to try to avoid being the great hero of my story.”

Jeff Cohen grew up in Baltimore; his father played tennis at the country club, and the dialogue grew out of Cohen’s memory of that. Stan, his father, was called Squeaky because of the way he laughed. Jeff remembers one friend saying, Squeaky’s squeaking. The story attracted not only Balaban to direct, but a dream cast, all noted stage and screen actors.

An outsized, charismatic character, Squeaky will be read by Harris Yulin. The exchanges between Jeff and his brother Rob, a conman, will be read by the actors Marc Kudisch and Ben Shenkman. Connie, who watches over Stan will read by Latanya Richardson Jackson. And their mother Sandy– trust me, you could not invent a character as brilliantly skewed as she is in just one scene– is Jessica Hecht.

Prior to Squeaky, Cohen won much praise for “The Soap Myth,” a meditation on Holocaust denial that starred Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh. Maybe Guild Hall will have a full production once the pandemic eases.

Cohen said he never set out to be the chronicler of the Holocaust, although he is now sending around a new play, “The Righteous,” about Eduard Reinhold Karl Schulte, a German industrialist who warned the world about the final solution, and whose identity was not known until the 1980’s. “He risked everything and accomplished very little,” said Cohen. While Squeaky is a departure, it nonetheless stars an unforgettable character.

Balaban said they go into rehearsal and filming early this week, a few days ahead of the filmed reading on March 28th at 7:30 pm. “I don’t have to worry about providing backstory to these actors; the background detail is so rich. Reading through is enough of a rehearsal for these actors. If I have a few notes, I will give them” said Balaban. And when I point out this is the second Passover seder, he quipped, “It’s ok, these characters are Jewish.”

 

Disney Moves “Black Widow” to July Theaters and Streaming with $30 Ticket, Pushes All Films Through Year

Roger Friedman
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0
Disney Moves “Black Widow” to July Theaters and Streaming with $30 Ticket, Pushes All Films Through Year

Wanna see Scarlett Johansson in “Black Widow”? Well it won’t be in May, as planned. Disney has abandoned May for July 9th, when it will show “Black Widow” in theaters and on Disney Plus. The latter will be $30 after you’ve subscribed. Get six people in the room with you.

“Black Widow” was ready to go more than  a year ago. My joke is she’s been a widow so long it’s a wonder she hasn’t remarried!

“Cruella,” another take on “101 Dalmatians,” will come to Disney Plus on Memorial Day, Monday May 28th. That will also cost $30 over the Disney Plus subscription. I guess Disney figures by the last day of Memorial Day weekend you’ll be desperate enough to pay anything to occupy the kids.

More Disney changes: Pixar film “Luca” will just go to Disney Plus on June 18th with no extra fee. “Free Guy” (Aug. 13), “The King’s Man”(Dec. 22), “Deep Water” (Jan. 14, 2022) and “Death on the Nile” (Feb. 11, 2022) are getting theatrical releases, as is “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” on September 3rd.

This past year, the Academy allowed movies to play online and streaming to qualify for Oscars. It’s unknown whether that will continue with this new crop of films.

 

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