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TV Flash: Emmy Awards Could Have as Many as 8 Nominees Per Acting Category Under New Rules

Roger Friedman
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TV Flash: Emmy Awards Could Have as Many as 8 Nominees Per Acting Category Under New Rules

There are so many “TV shows” that the Television Academy has just announced some serious changes to Emmy nominations. And they did it at 11pm Eastern!

There will now be as many as 8 nominees per category. And this does make sense, I guess, since so many shows and actors have been routinely left out of the mix. Let’s see if this increases diversity or just adds more of the same. Issa Rae, you’ve got a chance now! We’re voting for you many times.

Here’s the release:
The Television Academy today announced additional rules changes for the 72nd Emmy® Awards competition, including a restructuring of how nominees are selected in each category.

To align the nominations selection process across all awards categories and to allow for more inclusiveness in the recognition of excellence, the number of nominees per category will now be based on the number of submissions in each category. Emmy submissions for 2020 have increased by 15% over the previous competition year.

“The increase in submissions is a reflection of the number of new voices, new television platforms and a tremendous growth in content from existing platforms across our industry,” said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma. “Despite production suspension resulting from COVID-19, there is a wealth of excellent work submitted for this year’s competition.”

The number of nominations in a category will now be determined using the following criteria:

1-19 submissions: A sliding scale between zero to 4 nominations
20-80 submissions: 5 nominations
81-160 submissions: 6 nominations
161-240 submissions: 7 nominations
> 240 submissions: 8 nominations

Comedy and Drama Series categories will have eight nominations each, regardless of the number of submissions received. Paired performer categories (i.e., supporting actor comedy and supporting actress comedy) will have parity in the number of nominations.

Finally, this new rule eliminates the previous 2% rule, which specified that in categories with five nominees, if the fifth and sixth top vote-getters were within 2% of each other, both would be nominated.

UPDATE Billie Eilish James Bond Theme Song Could Be Changed, It Was Done Once Before, from Shirley Bassey to Tom Jones

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE Billie Eilish James Bond Theme Song Could Be Changed, It Was Done Once Before, from Shirley Bassey to Tom Jones

Listen, we only live twice.

Over the weekend, I suggested that the Billie Eilish theme song to “No Time to Die,” the next James Bond movie, could be changed. There’s plenty of time for Billie and Finneas, her producer brother, to re-record it with a more lively setting. The song was not a big hit when it was released in February. Now the movie will come in late November. There’s no excitement about the single. Why not do something?

Well, it turns out it wouldn’t be a first. The James Bond theme song was changed in 1965. Shirley Bassey recorded the title track to a Bond movie that was going to be called “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” She cut it, but the studio didn’t like it. The studio also didn’t like the title of the movie. They changed it to “Thunderball.”

In the interim, they had Dionne Warwick record “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” In 1965, you couldn’t get a bigger star than Dionne Warwick. She had hit after hit with songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Didn’t matter. As the movie’s title changed to “Thunderball,” a new song was needed with the name of the movie in the lyrics. Enter Tom Jones, also a mega star of the day. He recorded the new song for the newly titled movie, and it was a hit.

Warwick’s and Bassey’s versions exist today, they survived very nicely. Shirley had the title songs in “Goldfinger,” “Diamonds are Forever,” and “Moonraker,” so she didn’t mind. Dionne has more gold records than she knows what to do with. So Billie Eilish would survive if there were a change before “No Time to Die” is released. And her original version could always be used somewhere else in the movie.

It’s been done before. And everyone survived.

Tip of the hat to Bill McCuddy

Danny Masterson, Actor from “That 70s Show,” Charged with Rape of 3 Women by Los Angeles District Attorney

Roger Friedman
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Danny Masterson, Actor from “That 70s Show,” Charged with Rape of 3 Women by Los Angeles District Attorney

Danny Masterson, star of “That 70s Show” and a very public member of Scientology, has been charged with raping three women, by the Los Angeles District Attorney. Masterson’s alleged crimes here took place between 2001 and 2003. He’s been married since 2011 to Bijou Phillips, daughter of the late John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, and late actress Genevieve Waite. They have one child.

You can read more in depth coverage of Masterson’s history over at Tony Ortega’s site.

Here’s the release:

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced today that actor Daniel Masterson has been charged with forcibly raping three women in separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003. Masterson was charged with three counts of rape by force or fear. The case was filed for warrant yesterday. Arraignment is scheduled for September 18 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

The defendant is accused of raping a 23-year-old woman between January and December 2001, according to the complaint. In April 2003, Masterson allegedly raped a 28-year-old woman and sometime between October and December of that year he is accused of raping a 23-year-old woman who he had invited to his Hollywood Hills home.Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller of the Sex Crimes Division, who is prosecuting the case, said all of the alleged crimes occurred at the defendant’s home.

If convicted as charged, the defendant faces a possible maximum sentence of 45 years to life in state prison. Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office declined to file sexual assault charges against Masterson in two other cases, one for insufficient evidence and the other based upon the statute of limitations for the crime alleged.The case remains under investigation by Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.

Bob Dylan Once Wrote “When I Paint My Masterpiece”: Now He Has, And It’s Number 1 on Amazon 3 Days Before Release

Roger Friedman
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Bob Dylan Once Wrote “When I Paint My Masterpiece”: Now He Has, And It’s Number 1 on Amazon 3 Days Before Release

Bob Dylan once wrote a very good song called “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” Now he’s written his masterpiece, and it’s already number 1 on Amazon three days before its release.

“Rough and Rowdy,” which is neither actually, is going to be hailed as the latest masterpiece in a lifetime of them. It’s not just one song, it’s a whole album of them including “Murder Most Foul,” a 17 minute rave, a church sermon, dirge, I don’t know what to call it even after listening to it many times in the last couple of months.

But “Murder Most Foul” isn’t the only masterpiece on “Rough and Rowdy,” a ten-song sampler that could very well be Dylan’s culminating work after six decades. Let’s hope this isn’t the end, but who wouldn’t want to go out on this note? It’s extraordinary.

“Rough and Rowdy,” by the way, comes with little information. There is no credited producer, no lyrics sheet for reviewers. There’s just a list of bandmembers who play with him on the road who are presumed to be on the record. This is kind of perfect, isn’t it? Dylan is telling us, You figure it out.

Of course, he did give kind of a loony tunes interview in which he cites the Eagles song, “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” written by Joe Walsh, as one of “the best songs ever.” I did like that he enjoyed “Girl from the North Country,” the Broadway musical assembled from his songs. If we’d had a season, the show would have won Best Musical at the Tony Awards.

Anyway, I digress. “Rough and Rowdy” will appear Thursday night at midnight going into Friday. It will be number 1 on amazon. iTunes? Hard to say. Dylan fans aren’t big streamers. If the Grammys were ready for it, “R&R” would win Album of the Year next February. As it is, it may be relegated to “Traditional Pop” and “Americana,” which is ridiculous. But Dylan has painted his masterpiece, and it came in the nick of time.

PS What’s so great– we have a lot of time to study this record, and really listen to it. Extraordinary. Right now, I’m floating in “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You.”

Broadway Must See for June 17th: Three Time Tony Nominee Rebecca Luker Will Be Feted Online by Katie Couric, “Tootsie” Star Santino Fontana

Roger Friedman
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Broadway Must See for June 17th: Three Time Tony Nominee Rebecca Luker Will Be Feted Online by Katie Couric, “Tootsie” Star Santino Fontana

Rebecca Luker is one of Broadway’s great stars. She has three Tony nominations, ranging from 1995 to 2007. She was most recently on Broadway in “Fun Home” in 2016.

Luker also happens to be married to another Broadway star, Danny Burstein. They just celebrated their 20th anniversary. They’ve had a lot of deserved success and acclaim. But now they’re fighting for their lives. Last year, Rebecca was diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.

So tomorrow night Rebecca will be interviewed online by Katie Couric, a fervent supporter of Project ALS. Santino Fontana, Tony winner for “Tootsie,” will perform, and Luker will, too. The event — At Home with Rebecca Luker–  is sponsored by Playbill and the Actors Fund. They are raising money for ALS research and a drug called Prosetin. One hundred prcent of the proceeds from this event will go toward Prosetin. Prosetin is the first-ever ALS drug candidate developed–from start to finish–using cells from actual ALS patients. It is proven to get into the brain and reach motor neurons, the cells targeted for destruction in ALS.

I’m glad Project ALS was there for Rebecca. I’m just sorry it had to exist at all. Project ALS was started by my late friend Jennifer Estes and her amazing sisters. The sisters have kept it going and made Project ALS vital in Jennifer’s memory. It’s one of the great sadnesses that Jennifer didn’t get to live long enough to see all the good work she started.

This is how it works: register by clicking on this link. Donate a minimum of $25 so you can participate in the evening.

Tune in on Wednesday. Donate!       And by all means watch the interview below with Rebecca and Danny below. Get out your tissues, and your wallets!

Independent Spirit Awards Not So Independent, Fall in Line with the Oscars, Move 2021 Ceremony to Day Before Academy Awards

Roger Friedman
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Independent Spirit Awards Not So Independent, Fall in Line with the Oscars, Move 2021 Ceremony to Day Before Academy Awards

The Independent Spirit Awards aren’t so independent, of anything.

The Film Independent awards group has moved its 2021 ceremony to April 24th, the day before the Oscars. The Spirit Awards can’t exist without the Oscars, so what were they going to do? Have their show in February?

The Spirit Awards are an odd animal. They’re supposed to celebrate independent cinema, but they mostly march in lockstep with the Academy Awards. Almost no one watches the telecast on the IFC channel. The last two years averaged around 100,000 viewers.

Well, now that we’ve gotten over that hump, who’s next? SAG Awards, DGA, WGA, PGA, all of them will move to April. And the Golden Globes will have to take March 20th.

PS Do you know which movie won the Independent Spirit Award this past winter? Answer: it was “The Farewell,” a little gem you cannot not love.

Paris Jackson Taking the Leap, Releasing First EP of Music with Her Band, The Soundflowers, Next Week

Roger Friedman
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Paris Jackson Taking the Leap, Releasing First EP of Music with Her Band, The Soundflowers, Next Week

Paris Jackson is tough, I give her that. She’s not afraid of anything.

Next week, Michael Jackson’s daughter is releasing her first EP with what she describes as her band, The Soundflowers. The band is mostly composed of her and her boyfriend, Gabriel Glenn.

What Paris is attempting here isn’t easy. Her father was the most famous music personality in the world, certainly of his generation. In these situations often the problem is that the child of the rock star sounds so similar to the parent there’s no place to go. The result is it rarely works out.

In Paris’s case, she sounds nothing at all like Michael. Her music is kind of a Monterey Pop era folk rock, strummed on acoustic guitars. There’s no funk. No one will be singing “shamone” between the lines.

The Soundflowers may not be groundbreaking, but there’s nothing wrong with some pleasant pop sung by nice people. We could do a lot worse.

So circle June 23rd.

 

Oscars 2021: Disney’s (formerly Fox) Searchlight is Ready with Two Excellent Candidates: “David Copperfield” and “The French Dispatch”

Roger Friedman
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Oscars 2021: Disney’s (formerly Fox) Searchlight is Ready with Two Excellent Candidates: “David Copperfield” and “The French Dispatch”

So much talk the last couple of days about the Oscars. When are they? How will this all happen? and so on.

One studio clearly ready is Fox Searchlight (they are now Disney’s Searchlight, which I object to). They’ve got two excellent candidates for Best Picture. The first is Armando Iannucci’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield” starring Dev Patel as Charles Dickens’ famous character. The film was supposed to be released in March, but will now launch on August 14th.

I can’t say enough about “David Copperfield” except that it’s magic. It’s hilariously told and beautifully made. At the Toronto Film Festival last fall I laughed til my sides split, and that isn’t easy. There are many wonderful supporting performances, by Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw especially. The accents are strong, so I hope Fox Searchlight includes captioning. The audience will appreciate it. If they’re going to this kind of movie in the first place, they can read!

The other big Fox Searchlight film is Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.” I told you months ago that Anderson’s film would open Cannes. But there was no Cannes! Even so, “The French Dispatch” was included on the festival’s ultimate list. There’s an all-star cast including Tilda Swinton  again, Timothee Chalamet, Elisabeth Moss and many from Anderson’s repertory group like Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. Anticipation is high for this one. Opening date is February 16th.

And it’s not like we don’t have a couple of candidates already for Oscar attention. Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” is most certainly on the list, from Netflix. And Delroy Lindo pretty much guaranteed that his name will be in the mix for Best Actor. His performance is wild, incendiary, memorable. Jonathan Major and Clarke Peters are also in the mix for Best Supporting Actor. And let’s not forget Marisa Tomei in “The King of Staten Island.” Just tuck that away for now. Tomei’s lovely, nuanced turn as Pete Davidson’s mother is going to be cited a lot whenever we get to awards.

So here we go!

So Much for the Emmy Awards: They’ll Be Virtual, Governor’s Ball Cancelled, Academy Donates $1 Mil to Actor’s Fund

Roger Friedman
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So Much for the Emmy Awards: They’ll Be Virtual, Governor’s Ball Cancelled, Academy Donates $1 Mil to Actor’s Fund

There will be no big parties for the Emmy Awards this September.

The Television Academy announced this morning that the Creative Arts Emmys — which precede the big Emmys by a week– will be held virtually, somehow, over three nights beginning September 12th.

The actual Emmys, set for September 20th, will likely also be virtual. The Academy is not going to stuff 12,000 people into the Microsoft Theatre at LA Live.

The Academy also cancelled the Governor’s Ball that follows the Emmys. Instead they’re contributing $1 million to the Actors Fund.

We knew the parties were over when HBO cancelled its big soiree at the Pacific Design Center. This is too bad because I’d planned on stalking Issa Rae. I love her show. So she’s breathing a sigh of relief!

From the press release: “This has been an incredibly challenging time for our industry; and though we are now making plans to get back to work, we know there are many still suffering from the work stoppage caused by the coronavirus,” said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma. “As we strive to do the right thing for our community with these changes to our annual events, the Television Academy is also pleased to support those still in need with a $1 million donation to The Actors Fund COVID-19 Relief Fund.”
Scherma said that the gift will add to a pipeline of support for those in the entertainment industry who are struggling to meet basic needs due to layoffs, employment furloughs and other impacts of the pandemic. “As the industry reemerges, we will continue to support our more than 24,000 members and our community through this donation and our Academy’s programs and resources,” he said.

 

UPDATE Oscars Move to April 25, 2021, Golden Globes May Move Too, Eligibility Window Extended to February 28th

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE Oscars Move to April 25, 2021, Golden Globes May Move Too, Eligibility Window Extended to February 28th
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