51st Academy of Country Music Awards
“I don’t know why I said ‘Yes,’ ” but Dierks Bentley is co-hosting anyway
FIND OUT Why Claire can’t go back to the 1940s on
‘Outlander’
Other award show competition isn’t stopping the
iHeart Radio Music Awards PLUS
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Freeman goes from playing the deity
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CELEBRITY
ACM Awards
Co-hosting the ACM Awards is “a challenge” for Dierks Bentley
4 Gary Sinise
is glad to chase more ‘Criminal Minds’ overseas
5 Kathie Lee Gifford ‘Today’s’ Kathie Lee celebrates life with wine
6 Josh Gates
When the photographers become the photographed on ‘Expedition Unknown’
8 Wendell Pierce
returns as sidekick to ‘The Odd Couple’ ... and more
‘Outlander’ Jamie a new man in Season 2
9 Len Goodman iHeart Radio Music Awards It’s a triple play for iHeart Radio Music Awards in new TV homes
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FOOD
7 Noah Cappe
revels in ‘Carnival Eats’
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18-19 YankEES
‘The Story of God’ takes Freeman around the world
Ellsbury hosts Houston for MLB opener
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20-21 Featuring: Theatrical
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REALITY 16 ‘America’s Greatest
Makers’ A cool million may await
Editor's choice
STORY
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Freeman ponders the big questions in NatGeo’s ‘The Story of God’
By George Dickie In a geopolitical climate where religion is seen more as a source of division than unification or comfort, National Geographic Channel’s “The Story of God With Morgan Freeman” is particularly well-timed. Airing Sundays beginning April 3, the six-hour, six-part series follows the host and Oscar-winning actor around the world to locales such as Israel, Egypt, Mexico, the United States and India, as he seeks answers to the most fundamental questions of human existence: Who is God? Where did we come from? What happens when we die? Why is there evil? Along the way, he talks with clerics, academics, archaeologists, theologists, scientists and those who have experienced life after death to understand how religion has evolved over the course of civilization and how religion has shaped the evolution of society. It’s the actor’s personal journey to find God. And what he and fellow executive producers Lori McCreary and James Younger found among the five major world religions explored in the documentary – Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism – is that we’re more alike than we think, starting with one major recurring theme. “Belief in an afterlife,” Freeman says. “Belief that when you die, if you’ve done your life correctly – and this is specifically Hindu but it is generally just about every religion – you can become part of what is God: pure energy. Or you can sit at God’s right hand. Or you can be forever in paradise. That’s pretty much common.” Freeman also immersed himself in religious experiences and rituals and even became a test subject in scientific labs to examine how neuroscience and religion intersect. In Sunday’s premiere, Freeman submits to a brain scan that he later says shows evidence of God.
“This neuroscientist or neurologist, he had been doing this for a while and he had done brain scans on nuns and Buddhist monks and these people who can get into deep concentration,” Freeman explains. “So the question is, can you see God in a brain scan, can you see evidence? And he’s come to the conclusion that because of these people and their deep meditations, their brains just glow. And because I’m a believer in God, he wanted to know if I would have my brain scanned while meditating. So yes, and I showed it to him and he said, ‘There you are. You can see it.’ But it’s an interpretation, it’s not a reality, I don’t think. I’m quite sure you can meditate on just about anything, if you meditate deeply enough, your brain will show it.” The hope with the series, all three producers say, is to foster understanding of and among the different faiths and maybe even open lines of communication. “I think the overall hope,” Freeman says, “is that (viewers) will think about the similarities that exist between us, so as not to carry forth the idea that, hey, I’m right and you’re wrong if you don’t think what I think.” “I would love to open a dialog between people that may not have otherwise had a conversation,” McCreary says, “because they see something that makes them curious or makes them feel like they have more in common with somebody else that they might not otherwise have had a conversation with.” “And also, not only are we ... showing the similarities between different faiths,” Younger adds, “but also to show that faith and the scientific view of the world are not mutually exclusive of one another. There’s a fundamental quest for knowledge and understanding that is true in science and in faith.”
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
Gary
Sinise of ‘Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders’ Wednesday on CBS What made you decide to return to series television with “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders”? “CSI: NY” was a very successful show. If you get nine seasons, that’s a good thing, so I was blessed to have that. During that period, I was able to do a lot personally with my work with the military and our veterans, and it just became apparent that having that stability was very positive for those efforts. I had started my Foundation during the last two seasons, and when the show ended, I poured 2-1/2 solid years into nothing but traveling for the military and helping our veterans out. Then, along came (executive producers) Erica Messer and Mark Gordon with an offer to come meet with them to discuss a spinoff of “Criminal Minds.” I wasn’t sure, because I kind of missed (doing) movies ... but with where my life is today, the stability of a TV series fits my lifestyle very well. What do you like about your new character, Jack Garrett? He’s different personally from (“CSI: NY’s”) Mac Taylor, yet he’s got certain similarities because they’re both really strong leaders, devoted to serving justice and their country. Is there an extra appeal for you in being spun off from a show that stars your close friend and fellow military supporter Joe Mantegna? Absolutely. I relate to public servants, and I’m trying to do public service in my own way – and I’m inspired by a lot of first responders and military folks. I’ve also met FBI agents who are just driven to fight injustice and evil, and to protect the innocent. In our show, for whatever reason, something bad happens to innocent people who are traveling or working overseas. And we are blessed that we have qualified people who are willing to step in and change the course of what’s going to happen.
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CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
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Kathie Lee Gifford of ‘Today’ weekdays on NBC What got you into the wine business?
A man showed up at my dressing room. My attorney sent him over to have a meeting and he’s one of the most brilliant men in the licensing world. He finds product and the right person for the product. And he came to me and he said, “Why aren’t you in the wine business?” And I looked at him and I said, “Please, have a seat (laughs) and let’s talk about this.” He says it’s just the most natural thing. My love of wine is well-known. I was born in Paris, France, and lived in Europe until I was about 6 years old. But my mom and dad brought back to Maryland so many of the traditions and recipes and things of living in Europe. So that part of their living in Europe, the European experience, came home with us from Europe, and we incorporated it into our home life. And I’ve done it ever since in my own home life.
So is it safe to say you were indoctrinated at a young age?
Well, you know what they do in Europe – and people get crazy about it here. My parents never said, “What would you like, merlot tonight?” No, they’d let me have a little, teeny sip and they’d put it on their finger. Or when we lived in Germany, my daddy would let us have a tiny, little sip of his beer – suds. And I equate such lovely, wonderful memories with being a happy family. Nobody was ever drunk but we were celebrating all the time. Wine has been a part of every culture since the caveman. I’ve got a feeling the caveman had a wine cellar in there. And it’s such a part of all of literature, poetry, and everything in life is sweeter to me when you celebrate and have a beautiful glass of wine to go with it.
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CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
Josh Gates of ‘Expedition Unknown’ Wednesday on Travel Channel You like to put your crew on camera from time to time. Are they comfortable with that? (Laughs) Most of them are. I have a very shy audio guy who I try not to point a camera at. But when we’re in the midst of something really exciting or really funny or really adventurous, a lot of it just sort of falls away and everybody is just in the moment, and so it doesn’t feel so pressured or set up for them. The cameras just kind of swing around and everybody is included in the action. So there’s a lot of great moments with them.
What places do you want to bring the show that you haven’t yet? I’ve always wanted to take the show to India. We haven’t done that yet. It can be kind of a logistically challenging place. Tibet, another place that I’d really love to be able to bring our cameras to travel through. I think a lot of it is location-based for me. But in terms of legends, it’s funny, there’s no shortage of these incredible stories from different cultures around the world. Whether it’s missing artifacts or buried treasure or mythological stories, every time I go somewhere I learn about five more things that I want to explore, so it’s a long list that keeps on getting longer. It doesn’t get shorter.
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FOOD George Dickie’s What's for Dinner
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Cappe and his cast-iron stomach
return for Season 3 of ‘Carnival Eats’ Pictured: Noah Cappe
Ask Noah Cappe about some of the more outrageous dishes to expect in Season 3 of the Cooking Channel series “Carnival Eats” and he is quick with a two-word answer: The Defibrillator. As served up at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, it’s a deep-fried burger between two grilled-cheese sandwiches as buns and topped by deep-fried cheese, deep-fried bacon and a deep-fried pickle. With a calorie count of 1,605 and 44 grams of saturated fat, it’s the proverbial heart attack on a plate. Luckily, the 38-year-old Canadian is in excellent health. “The first season, you learn certain rules quickly,” Cappe explains. “It’s like when the cameras cut, drop the food and walk away.” The new season gets going Thursday, April 7, once again bringing viewers around the United States and Canada as Cappe samples some of the most outlandish, decadent and delectable dishes to be found at carnivals and fairs. That includes a S’mores cobbler, peanut butter and jelly ice cream (“which was super cool because it actually has pieces of the white bread in the ice cream,” Cappe says), all manner of funnel cakes and an item appearing in the season opener, a five-pound burger found at the State Fair of Louisiana. “The bun’s crazy,” Cappe says. “This guy gets this custom bun done. It’s huge. It’s like bigger than a Frisbee. And when he’s cooking the burger, because the burger is so big ... he actually uses tongs and tools to flip the grill itself because he can’t flip the burger because it’s so big. So he takes another grill, lays it on top and then flips the grills 180 degrees and puts the new grill on the bottom. And it flips the burger.” With all the crazy and outsized foods he must ingest, one would think Cappe downs antacids by handful. But he’s pleased to report that both he and his digestive tract are healthy and happy. “I’m very lucky in that sense,” he says. “I don’t run across very many dishes that don’t go down easily. And that’s the scariest part of all of it, is that for some reason I never get an upset stomach, I never feel off. It’s like, ‘What’s wrong with me on the inside that makes everything feel so right?’ ”
What book are you currently reading?
“I’m currently reading ‘The Grand Design’ by Stephen Hawking. It sounds super impressive. I mean, I normally am reading like Maxim magazine... .”
What did you have for dinner last night?
“I went to the movies. I went to the VIP theater, where they serve real food, and I watched the new Tina Fey movie and had a cheeseburger, French fries, popcorn and a drink. I mean, if that’s not just perfectly embarrassing for the host of ‘Carnival Eats’ ...”
What is your next project? “I wish I could tell you about it. I’m signing the contract in the coming days. I’m going to be filming it this spring. It’s a massive brand that everybody knows and I’m super excited to be connected to it.”
When was the last vacation you took, where and why?
“I just got back from my first vacation in a long time. ... I went to St. Lucia for a sit-on-my-butt vacation. Not an adventure trip, more of a I’m-going-to-try-to-readthis-Stephen-Hawking-book-and-see-ifI-can-understand-anything kind of trip. ... It was a nice way to reconnect with my wife, who’s been a supportive but lonely component of our relationship.”
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Celebrity ScooP
Wendell Pierce
It’s been hard to miss Wendell Pierce on television lately, and April definitely won’t change that. Following appearances in “Grease: Live” and “Suits,” the alum of “The Wire,” “Treme” and “Ray Donovan” returns as sports-talk radio host Oscar Madison’s (Matthew Perry) agent Teddy in Season 2 of CBS’ reboot of “The Odd Couple” Thursday, April 7. Then, Pierce turns intensely dramatic by playing Clarence Thomas (opposite Kerry Washington as Anita Hill) in HBO’s dramatization of the Supreme Court Justice’s “Confirmation” Saturday, April 16. “I kind of pride myself” on a variety of roles and projects, the friendly Pierce says, “because I always knew that would give me the best shot at having longevity, mixing it up. It’s one of the things I trained for at Juilliard ... to be able to do classical and contemporary, comedy and drama, stage and film. It makes the business fun.” Also an author (“The Wind in the Reeds: A Storm, A Play, and the City That Would Not Be Broken”) a Tony Awardwinning producer (“Clybourne Park”) and a philanthropist largely aimed at helping his native New Orleans, Pierce appreciates the latest “Odd Couple” having a sophomore season, after the earlier incarnations – including the original Neil Simon play (which Mike Nichols directed on Broadway), the 1968 Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau movie, and the successful Tony Randall-Jack Klugman ‘70s sitcom. “Like anything, it’s an organic process,” Pierce reasons. “The writers get to know our work better, (the cast’s) chemistry in working together gets better, and we keep the focus on having fun and doing our best work. It was clear from the minute we came back that we were hitting a different stride and had gone to another level. I think Matt and Thomas (Lennon, who plays Felix Unger) had chemistry from the beginning, but it was great to come back and know we had grown as a company.” As for Teddy in the new round of “The Odd Couple,” Pierce notes, “You see a little bit more of (his) family, and it expands on his relationships with everyone. It’s more, and better, of what we started working on last year. And that means more opportunities for fun.”
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CELEBRITY CelebritY profile
LenGoodman
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- Born Leonard Gordon Goodman, April 25, 1944, in Bethnal Green in London. - Though more interested in football, at age 14 he attended the Court School of Dancing in Welling, England. He only mildly enjoyed the experience; at 15, he dropped out of school to become a welder. He worked on the docks as an engineering apprentice until he was about 20 years old. - When he was 19, he started dancing again, on a doctors recommendation, when he was trying to strengthen his ankle after an injury from playing football. - He specialized in a form of dancing called Exhibition, which is all about the lifts. He quickly became a British champion, winning the title four times. He was the runner up in the Exhibition World Championships.
Former professional dancer, TV personality and judge Len Goodman can currently be seen on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” - He has also been awarded the British Rising Star Award, the Carl Allen Award and, most recently, a Lifetime Achievement Award. - In his late 20s, he retired from professional dancing after winning the British Championships at the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival in England. He then turned his attention to teaching aspiring dancers at his own dance school in Kent, England. - In the 1990s, he traveled all over the world, judging dance competitions and giving lectures. - In 2004, his career experienced resurgence after he starred on the hit reality competition series “Strictly Come Dancing,” in the U.K., as its head judge. Due to the show’s overwhelming success, the American version of the show, “Dancing With the Stars” premiered the following year on ABC. - In 2015, he took a break from “Dancing with the Stars” to spend more time with family and on other commitments. This season he has returned to the judging panel.
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CELEBRITY
“I love our creative team. They’re able to renew and revitalize our show every season – and that’s not easy to do, considering we have 10 to 15 performances per show. To keep coming up with new ideas, it’s incredible. They work so hard.” – Carrie Ann Inaba of “Dancing With the Stars” on ABC
“The best magicians in the world came to go on ‘The (Tonight) Show,’ and I used to spend some time with them after the taping, at 3:00 in the afternoon – don’t tell anybody – in his white Corvette, and he showed me the latest little sleight-ofhand thing. And he was very, very good at it, believe me.” – James Randi, seen recently in “Independent Lens: An Honest Liar” on PBS, about his encounters with talk-show legend Johnny Carson
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“When we were sort of really crafting what the look and feel of this was going to be, it was relative to the other things that are (on) Netflix as well. And I think that ultimately what we want to do is break the convention of sitcom and say, (for instance,) ‘It doesn’t have to be brightly lit.’ That has only been a choice of the creators of sitcoms over time.” – Ashton Kutcher of “The Ranch” on Netflix
CELEBRITY
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ON DVRs
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Dierks Bentley, seen on the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt’ puts me in my trance state with (the theme) – I honestly just listen for that music, because it lets me know what time it is. I’m also a big ‘House of Cards’ fan, but I’ve gone through kind of a lull after ‘Breaking Bad’; that was such a good show. I’m always up for watching ‘Saturday Night Live,’ too, and I was a fan of ‘Making a Murderer’ ... but ‘House of Cards’ is the main thing. Frank Underwood is a nasty sucker.
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Kathie Lee Gifford of “Today” on NBC “I am a news junkie ... . There is not one show I watch or binge on or anything like that. I just am not interested. There’s so much going on in our world geopolitically, in every way, in terms of our civilization that I am literally, if my TV is on, you can bet it’s news. I know I sound like an extremely dull person and perhaps I am. ... I think we are way too ill-informed as a voting nation, way too illinformed.”
Wendell Pierce of “The Odd Couple” on CBS “The Republican debates ... because they are devoid of any policy. It is all about television, and it is a sad commentary on where we’ve gotten as a culture. It’s really more about the sensationalism of the show than the depth of the policy discussion.”
Freddie Highmore of “Bates Motel” on A&E Network “I don’t really record or watch that much TV, just sports, which you’ve got to watch live. My football team just lost, unfortunately, now against Barcelona, so obviously I wasn’t able to watch that. We have season tickets to Arsenal, so that might be sort of a passion, I’d say, besides doing what I’m doing.”
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STORY
Dierks Bentley
is ready to give co-hosting “a try” Luke Bryan (left) and Dierks Bentley host the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday on CBS. Story on next page
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STORY
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‘Let’s do it!’:
Country music’s Dierks Bentley becomes ACM Awards co-host By Jay Bobbin
Dierks Bentley is a newbie to live award-show hosting, but he’s not too worried about handling the job.
hosting an award show is one of those things, so ... let’s do it!”
A big reason is that he’ll share the duties with pal Luke Bryan when they preside over the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards, which CBS televises Sunday, April 3. A double nominee himself, Bentley also will perform on the show at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, as will Bryan (who’s also up for two of the honors), Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett and – tied for the most nominations, with five each – Eric Church and Chris Stapleton.
Though he knows he’ll get support from the country community as audience members, Bentley reflects, “You kind of reach a point where you just don’t care. I put all my time into making the best albums I can make and touring for the fans, so as far as getting worked up about the industry and worrying whether someone does or doesn’t like me, or thinks I’m funny or doesn’t think I’m funny, it doesn’t really affect me anymore. For me personally, this is awesome. I get to do something different, do it with my friend Luke, and see if I can meet the challenge.”
Up for male vocalist and video (for the title track of his album “Riser”) of the year, the funny and friendly Bentley is happy to return to the ACM Awards, which named him top new artist in 2004. Succeeding Blake Shelton, Bryan’s ACM hosting partner the past three years, Bentley calls Bryan “a good dude. I’ve known him a long time, we’re good friends, and we have a lot of fun together.
The ACM Awards precede a spring and summer concert marathon for Bentley, whose tour – named for “Somewhere on a Beach,” the already released first single from his forthcoming album “Black” – will begin in Ireland, England and Scotland before its U.S. leg launches in mid-May.
“I’ve never had any aspirations of hosting a TV special,” maintains the maker of such hits as “What Was I Thinkin’,” “Every Mile a Memory,” “Am I the Only One,” “Home,” “I Hold On” and “Drunk on a Plane.” “I’m pretty content just to play music and write songs and do the hobbies that keep me busy, but Luke asked me about this and I love Luke, so I thought, ‘Well, let’s give it a try.’ I also love the ACMs; it’s a great award show with great people behind it. I don’t know why I said ‘Yes,’ but I’m looking forward to it.” Bentley says he embraces the fact that his ACM stint will be “a challenge. I’ve been doing a lot, but this is something I haven’t ever done before. I’m always looking for the next thing that makes you uncomfortable, and
“There’s so much going on right now, I wake up in the morning and have to be on my game,” says Bentley. “Trying to finish this record, then thinking about the ACMs and the European tour and the album coming out, it’s a lot of planning. And a lot of trying to make the right moves so that I ultimately put out an album so that in 10 years, I’ll be like, ‘Yeah. No regrets. That sums up where I was then.’ ” As the hours lessen before the ACM Awards start, Bentley (who considers his male-vocalist nomination “huge”) is hoping to get some hosting tips from others, since he muses those haven’t come from Bryan: “He gave me nothing. All he said was, ‘Have a few drinks.’ I’ll just need some classic help.”
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STORY
Jamie and Claire get political in Season 2
Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan star in “Outlander,” which opens its second season Saturday on Starz. Story on next page
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STORY
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Jamie and Claire go to France to save Scotland in Season 2 of
‘Outlander’ By George Dickie As Season 2 of Starz’s “Outlander” gets going this week, lovers-across-the-centuries Claire and Jamie exchange the blood and guts of Scotland for a blood-letting of another sort in France, but still have the same objective. Returning Saturday, April 9, the new season finds 18th century Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and his wife, 20th century nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), setting sail for France with the intention of infiltrating the Jacobite rebellion and thus prevent the disastrous Battle of Culloden that would kill or wound thousands of Scottish troops in 1746. Jamie and Claire are catapulted into the world of French society, where intrigue and parties are easier to come by than political gain and back-stabbing is the sport du jour. Of course, altering the course of history comes with a price and that weighs heavily on the couple as they try to prevent the extinguishing of Scottish life as they know it. As the season opens, Jamie is still dealing with the emotional scars left by his rape at the hands of the sadistic Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) in Season 1. But as Heughan explained to a recent gathering of TV critics in Pasadena, Calif., Season 2 will bring about renewal. “Obviously we go to Paris on this mission, and we’re there for a reason,” the 35-year-old Scottish actor says. “But Jamie’s definitely still affected by the trauma. I think time is a great healer, but ultimately, he puts his whole body and soul into this mission about changing history, and then there is a great revelation that kind of cures him or brings him out of himself, which I can’t really
Pictured: Caitriona Balfe
tell you what that is, but it certainly brings back the old Jamie.” As for Claire, she starts Season 2 back in 1948, despondent about where she is and pregnant with Jamie’s 18th century child, a fact of life she then has to explain to Frank (Menzies), her 20th century husband and Black Jack’s descendant. “I think as much when Claire first encounters Black Jack and she can’t fail but to see Frank in him and believe that, you know, somewhere there is that connection,” the Irish actress, 36, says, “I think when she goes back, there is also that reverse thing where every time she looks at Frank, she can’t help but see Black Jack. There’s many layers of why that relationship is difficult when she goes back. She’s definitely not the same woman that left.” Heughan had to undergo extensive fight training for the battle scenes of Season 1 and he even had to learn to duel. But in Season 2, he says, the warfare will be much more subtle. “It’s more politics and backstabbing and poison. It’s more hidden. There’s a lot more politics at work and a lot more danger, so it’s a different kind of world,” he says. “But we certainly do go back to Scotland where we go back to the mud and blood and gore. So there’s something for everyone.”
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STORY
By Jay Bobbin If anyone is going to produce a business-driven competition show, Mark Burnett certainly is a man for the job. With “Shark Tank” and “The Apprentice” among the multiple Emmy winner’s many projects -- along with “Survivor” and “The Voice” -- he’s taking that particular genre to another level by partnering with the tech company Intel for “America’s Greatest Makers.” Premiering Tuesday, April 5, the TBS program pits teams of amateur inventors against one another in a bid to win $1 million and the chance for their products to reach the consumer market. “On ‘Shark Tank,’ each contestant essentially gets one act,” Burnett explains, “but like ‘The Voice,’ (the ‘Makers’ entrants) go through various rounds and a progression. They give their first pitch to the judges, and those who go on to the next round go to Silicon Valley and work with the teams at Intel. It’s almost a boot camp where they’re helped in organizing the technology to make their ideas even better. “Then they go off to the University of California, Berkeley for business advice, and then they come back before the judges again and there’s another elimination. We end up with five teams that get to the finale, and they get $100,000 each … and one will end up getting the million. And several of the finalists’ ideas could be brought to market, and I think that’s more valuable.” The “America’s Greatest Makers” judging panel includes Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, business expert Carol Roth, and comedian and truTV “Hack My Life” co-host Kevin Pereira. They’re joined by guest judges, “The Big Bang Theory” co-star Mayim Bialik and sports figures Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith among them. Burnett likes having such familiar faces help to steer viewers through the show’s technological aspects, but he also sees audience appeal in “how (the contestants’) ideas adjust once they’ve had this incredible opportunity of going to Intel and spending several weeks working with the engineers there. Here’s an astounding fact: Intel manufactures 10 billion – with a ‘b’ – resistors a second. If you think of almost everything we use now, I’ll bet it’s running on some kind of microchip. Imagine sitting down with, and explaining your idea to, the brilliant people at a company that can come up with that and manage that.”
‘America’s Greatest Makers’ vie for exposure – and $1 million Premiering Tuesday, April 5 on TBS
Also now running the television division of the MGM studio along with his wife, actress-producer Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel,” “The Bible”), Burnett is pleased to have been at the forefront of businessthemed TV contests’ popularity. The London-born mogul reflects, “I think the real root of business television in this country has to be ‘The Apprentice’ (which will have another NBC ‘Celebrity’ edition next season, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the new host). People said, ‘Who’s going to care about watching a business show on primetime TV?’ Of course, it’s still going, and it shows that Americans have a real interest in business. So there’s been that and ‘Shark Tank,’ and now, ‘America’s Greatest Makers’ puts a different twist on it.” Page 16 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote April 3 - 9, 2016
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STORY
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The iHeart Radio Music Awards switch networks – from one to three
Pictured: Meghan Trainor
By Jay Bobbin How does a network celebrate getting an award show away from another network? By putting it on two additional networks. That’s what’s happening with the iHeart Radio Music Awards, anyway. After the first two annual editions aired on NBC, the event moves to several Turner-owned outlets – TBS, TNT and truTV – which all will show it simultaneously Sunday, April 3, with nominees Justin Bieber and Meghan Trainor among the slated performers at the Forum in Los Angeles. That scheduling puts the show in direct competition with another, the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS, thus begging again a familiar question: Are there too many award shows? Of course, those behind each of the respective shows would contend there aren’t, at least in the case of their own ... thereby helping to justify its existence. In the music industry, the Grammys remain the Cadillac of such celebrations, and the American Music Awards were created as a response to those in the 1970s when ABC lost the Grammys to CBS. Since then, along have come the Billboard Music Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, the Soul Train Music Awards, the World Music Awards and other honors that aren’t exclusively about music, but involve them to a big degree (the BET Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, the
ALMA Awards, etc.). And soon to debut: the Electronic Music Awards & Foundation show, arriving April 23 on Fox. In any event, the producers of the third iHeart Radio Music Awards have their focus on their own show, and following are the nominees in several of the major categories. Album of the year: “1989,” Taylor Swift; “25,” Adele; “Beauty Behind the Madness,” The Weeknd; “In the Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith; “X,” Ed Sheeran. Song of the year: “Blank Space,” Taylor Swift; “Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weeknd; “Hello,” Adele; “Shut Up and Dance,” Walk the Moon; “Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Female artist of the year: Adele; Selena Gomez; Taylor Swift; Meghan Trainor; Carrie Underwood. Male artist of the year: Justin Bieber; Luke Bryan (who will be co-hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards at the same time); Ed Sheeran; Sam Smith; The Weeknd. Best New Artist: Hozier; Tove Lo; Sam Hunt; Shawn Mendes; Fetty Wap. Best Duo/Group of the Year: Fall Out Boy; Maroon 5; One Direction, Walk the Moon; Zac Brown Band.
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SPORTS
JacobyEllsbury
Yankees’ Ellsbury seeks another comeback Story on next page Full Name: Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury Born: Sept. 11, 1983 Birthplace: Madras, Oregon Height/Weight: 6 foot 1 inch, 195-pounds
Position: Center field No.: 22 Teams: Boston Red Sox, 2007–2013; New York Yankees, 2014–present Batting Average: .289
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Home Runs: 88 RBI: 417 Honors and Achievements: World Series champion, 2007, 2013; All-Star, 2011; Stolen bases leader, 2008, 2009, 2013; 30-30 Club, 2011, Gold Glove Award, 2011
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By Dan Ladd Had it not been for injuries to key players, it’s quite possible that the New York Yankees could have advanced beyond their home loss in the 2015 American League Wild Card Game to the Houston Astros. The Yanks again host the Astros to start the 2016 season Monday, April 4, on ESPN. Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was among those banged up players that New York limped into the post-season with (or without). The list also included Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira. Ellsbury did not start the Wild Card game, but did pinch-hit. Now, a new season looms and the challenge for Ellsbury and others is to stay healthy. The veteran outfielder is no stranger to overcoming injuries, as he was the American League Comeback Player of the Year in 2011. That season he reached many other milestones, including becoming the Boston Red Sox’s (his team at the time) only player to join the famed 30-30 Club, which honors those who crush 30 or more home runs and steal at least that many bases. A healthy Ellsbury is good news for the Bronx Bombers as he is a player with an assortment of skills. Not only does he hit for power and steal bases, he’s also been known to flash a little leather in the outfield, winning a Gold Glove Award during that amazing 2011 season. His presence in the lineup is paramount should the Yankees continue their resurgence in the American League East and return to the playoffs.
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MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's Theatrical movie review
review
‘London Has Fallen,’
and reunited stars are there Pictured: Aaron Eckhart (left) and Gerard Butler
One of the inside jokes of the “Die Hard” movies was hero John McClane muttering to himself, “How can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?” Now, Mike Banning may as well say the same thing. Played by Gerard Butler, he’s the Secret Service man who redeemed himself from a critical miscalculation by going to the rescue of the U.S. president (Aaron Eckhart) in “Olympus Has Fallen,” which edged out “White House Down” as the better of the same year’s terrorists-against1600 Pennsylvania Ave. thrillers. That kind of success evidently is enough to inspire the same producers to try again, thus the arrival of “London Has Fallen,” transposing an exceedingly similar scenario onto – you guessed it – a not-so-merry old England. You can’t blame a sequel for sticking close to the premise of the original, since by definition, the reason for its existence is to deliver more of the same. At the same time, you hope the follow-up will offer at least a couple of original twists. In this case, it’s not hard to imagine someone picking up the “Olympus” script, simply crossing out every “Washington” reference and writing in “London.” Bingo! You’ve got a sequel. Luckily, you’ve also got the enjoyable teamwork of Butler and Eckhart, which was such a big factor the first time. Page 20 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote April 3 - 9, 2016
Their characters head overseas, as do numerous other global leaders, to attend the funeral of England’s prime minister. All those dignitaries in one place at one time? Cue the bad guys. Of course, this does not speak well for that country’s security forces, but you wouldn’t have a movie otherwise. Our heroes are just about the only ones who make it out of the attack alive, and they head for the American Embassy ... but that’s hardly an easy route, given the carnage, rubble and continuing attacks. An MI6 agent (Charlotte Riley) eventually lends assistance, partially as a human GPS to help the duo navigate the city and its very recently altered landscape. The movie also finds reasons to put Morgan Freeman (as the vice president), Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell and Robert Forster back in their “Olympus” parts. That’s a pretty good average for cast returnees, even if none gets more than a couple of minutes (or a couple of lines) to do what’s needed of him or her here. If you don’t look much deeper than the fact that “London Has Fallen” exists largely for the stunt and pyrotechnic teams to show their stuff, the picture does provide some fun in the old Saturday-afternoon-serial spirit. And enjoy it while you can, since it’s more than likely London will be the last city falling for this franchise.
MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's movie review movies to watch
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“STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS” One of the most popular and successful of all movie franchises gets a highly entertaining addition with this J.J. Abrams-directed chapter, smartly going back to the series’ roots while simultaneously advancing the saga. New rebels, with the principal ones effectively played by Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, oppose the sinister First Order with valuable help from a certain someone by the name of Han Solo (Harrison Ford, in a most welcome return to the role). While other familiar faces also are back, the ultimate scene-stealer here arguably is the droid BB-8. Adam Driver (“Girls”) makes an impact as new villain Kylo Ren, with Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o and Andy Serkis among other newcomers to this particular galaxy. Abrams also was among the screenwriters here, along with series veteran Lawrence Kasdan. DVD extras: “making-of” documentaries; deleted scenes. ›››› (PG-13: V) (Also on Blu-ray)
Top Pick
DVD
upcoming DVD releases
Coming Soon on DVD... “THE FOREST” (April 12): A woman (Natalie Dormer, “Game of Thrones”) seeks her twin sister, a supposed suicide, in Japan; Taylor Kinney (“Chicago Fire”) also stars. (PG-13: AS, P, V)
“THE REVENANT” (April 19): The recent Oscar winner for best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and director (Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu) is an early-19th-century frontier survival story. (R: AS, N. P, GV)
“GRACE AND FRANKIE: SEASON ONE” (April 12): Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reunite in the Netflix series as women left by their husbands ... for each other. (Not rated: AS, N, P)
“KRAMPUS” (April 26): A youngster (Emjay Anthony) disappointed at the holidays conjures up a Christmas demon; Toni Collette also stars. (PG-13: AS, P, V)
“JACKIE ROBINSON” (April 12): The same week it debuts on PBS, Ken Burns’ profile of the baseball and civilrights icon (voiced in some sequences by Jamie Foxx) comes to home video. (Not rated)
“RIDE ALONG 2” (April 26): Kevin Hart and Ice Cube reunite as their characters team with a female cop (Olivia Munn) against a drug dealer. (PG-13: AS, P, V)
Pictured: Natalie Dormer
Family Viewing Ratings AS Adult situations
P Profanity
V Violence
N Nudity
GV Graphic Violence
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FAVORITE SHOWS
Pharrell Williams in “The Voice”
Shemar Moore stars in “Criminal Minds”
SUNDAY 9 p.m. on ABC The Family Series regular Andrew McCarthy doubles as director again on the new episode “Nowhere Man,” as Adam (Liam James) is used as bait by Nina and Clements (Margot Bingham, guest star Matthew Lawler) to lure and capture his kidnapper (guest star Michael Esper). The plan goes awry, though, and Adam ends up in the hospital. Flashbacks recall various ways in which the night of the kidnapping could have gone differently. Joan Allen and Alison Pill also star. New
Sarah Paulson stars in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
MONDAY 8 p.m. on NBC The Voice Miley Cyrus remains on hand to serve as key adviser in the new episode “The Knockouts, Part 3,” as the competitors still standing choose their own songs. The results put coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams on the spot to select who stays on their respective teams. Those not chosen then can be “stolen” by one of the other coaches to continue in the contest. Another episode airs Tuesday. Carson Daly is the host. New
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Joan Allen stars in “The Family”
TUESDAY 10 p.m. on FX The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story Series co-creator Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story”) wrote the Season 1 finale, “The Verdict,” which chronicles the final stages of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Both prosecution and defense make their closing statements, the jurors deliberate over the long months of testimony and evidence, and the polarizing verdict finally comes down. Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, Sterling K. Brown, Cuba Gooding Jr., John Travolta and David Schwimmer star. Season Finale New
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FAVORITE SHOWS WEDNESDAY 9 p.m. on CBS Criminal Minds A.J. Cook was missing from for most of the early part of Season 11, but she returned from maternity leave — as did her character, JJ — in “Target Rich.” She’s back in time to help her teammates seek a missing college student, a situation of concern to Rossi’s (Joe Mantegna) daughter Joy (guest star Amber Stevens West). Morgan (Shemar Moore) learns of a covert group of assassins known as the “Dirty Dozen.” Thomas Gibson and Kirsten Vangsness also star.
FRIDAY 9 p.m. on CBS Hawaii Five-0 Though they aren’t related in real life, Michelle Hurd and Paige Hurd are linked by family in the new episode “Malama ka Po’e” (Hawaiian for “Care for One’s People”), as they return as two of Grover’s (Chi McBride) closest loved ones. He tries to protect them while they’re all fugitives when an underworld kingpin seeks revenge for a case Grover handled many years ago. Mark Valley (“Boston Legal”) also guest stars. Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Caan and Grace Park also star. New
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SATURDAY 9 p.m. on HALLMARK Movie: Hearts of Spring A famous “mom blogger” (Lisa Whelchel, “The Facts of Life”) dreads her looming empty-nest situation as her daughter (Clancy Cauble, Whelchel’s real-life daughter) gets ready to leave for college. Turning to her own words in search of advice, she’s shocked to find her blog under attack from a male reader who sharply disagrees with her. As this online writer deals with that unpleasantness, in the real world she meets a charming single dad (Michael Shanks). Do we really have to tell you where this is going? Premiere
THURSDAY 8 p.m. on FOX American Idol Not only does the winner named here end up as the “American Idol” for this season, but also as the last one for the entire show — at least for the foreseeable future — since this episode marks the series finale. Expect emotions to run high as host Ryan Seacrest and judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban participate in the final coronation. And also expect the occasion to run long, so it might be wise to set recording devices for extra minutes. Series Finale New 8:31 p.m. on CBS The Odd Couple Season 2 of the sitcom reboot begins with “All About Eavesdropping,” continuing to explore the highs and lows of the relationship between two of playwright Neil Simon’s most popular characters, highly dissimilar roommates Oscar Madison and Felix Unger (Matthew Perry, Thomas Lennon). Here, they overhear neighbors arguing incessantly and try to save that marriage. Wendell Pierce, Lindsay Sloane and Yvette Nicole Brown continue their co-starring roles. Season Premiere New
Harry Connick Jr. in “American Idol”
Lisa Whelchel stars in “Hearts of Spring”
Alex O’Loughlin stars in “Hawaii Five-0”
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