Featured Stories
“Falling Skies” “Humans” “A Capitol Fourth”
Profiled athlete
Martin Truex Jr.
CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHTS
The story
Animals attack in ‘Zoo’
James Wolk stars in the suspense series “Zoo,” premiering Tuesday on CBS.
Mike Vogel Adam Richman Beth Riesgraf Jeffrey Dean Morgan Tai Beauchamp
WHAT'S FOR DINNER
Featuring: Rocco DiSpirito
JAY Bobbin's movies to watch
And so much more!
Connect to these shows within this magazine!
folio Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
C
CONTENTS
What’s Hot This Week Click or tap to jump to these featured sections!
Featured
Stories
“Zoo”
Premiering Tuesday on CBS. p3
“Falling Skies”
Returning for its fifth and final season Sunday on TNT. p 11
“Humans”
Premiering Sunday on AMC. pp 12-13
“A Capitol Fourth” Airing Saturday on PBS (check local listings). pp 14-15
SIX
Celebrity potlights Mike Vogel
of “Under the Dome” on CBS.
Rocco DiSpirito of “Food Fighters.” p7
p4
Adam Richman Jeffrey Dean of “Man Finds Food” Morgan on Travel Channel. p5
Checking In. p8
Beth Riesgraf
Tai Beauchamp
of “Complications” on USA Network. p6
of “Dare to Wear” on TLC. p9
Page 2 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
+
Pictured: FRANK SINATRA arrives at the London Airport for his series of charity concerts in 1975.
Profiled Athlete Martin Truex Jr. pp 16-17
Editor's choice
STORY
S
By Jay Bobbin
“I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for all of this.” So says the zoologist and African tour guide played by James Wolk (“Mad Men,” “The Crazy Ones”) early in “Zoo,” but you just know the explanation won’t be simple as animals begin launching unprovoked attacks on humans around the globe. The novel by best-selling author James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge gets a CBS series adaptation starting Tuesday, June 30, with Kristen Connolly (“The Whispers,” “House of Cards”) and Billy Burke (“Revolution,” “Twilight”) also starring as a reporter and a veterinary pathologist who team to probe the deadly phenomenon. In Patterson’s view, “Zoo” translates to television nicely. “I don’t write for film,” he maintains, “but I think the way I write can adapt pretty well because I write ‘scene, scene, scene.’ I think that makes it a little easier, but you never know what’s going to happen out in Hollywood. I just go, ‘If it happens, that’d be wonderful.’ ” Patterson allows the nature-on-the-rampage theme is a switch from his norm, but notes he’s “particularly happy” about “Zoo” crossing mediums. “I created Alex Cross and I created ‘Women’s Murder Club,’ but this is different and unique. A lot of people who have read it have said, ‘I’ve never read anything like that,’ which is cool. Now I think people are going to go, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that.’ ” Also featuring Nonso Anozie as Wolk’s colleague and Nora Arnezeder as an attack survivor, “Zoo” is “a real honor” for Wolk to be part of, the amiable actor says. “People love James Patterson’s books, and this one has a huge audience. To step into the role of someone they’ve
imagined in their minds is a responsibility, and you just want to do a great job and bring some life to it – and bring your own take on it. You have to have confidence in the fact you were hired for a reason.” It surely helps a “Zoo” star to be fond of and comfortable with animals, and Wolk is a dog owner. “I have a Shepherd-Rottweiler mix, and she’s beautiful,” he reports, “but I never spent a lot of time with lions and bears, which is what we’ve done on this show. It’s been very eyeopening. “I would say the craziest day we had was being within inches of a Kodiak brown bear,” Wolk adds. “There are trainers and it’s super-safe, but at the same time, it’s a bear. And you can’t reason with a bear. They wouldn’t put us in a situation where we felt threatened, but you definitely feel the power and the wild nature of the animals.” Along with Patterson, filmmakers James Mangold and Cathy Konrad (“Walk the Line,”“Girl, Interrupted”) are among the executive producers of “Zoo.” Patterson likes the show’s summer scheduling, since he believes it has “a blockbuster quality to it. I think it’ll be one of those ‘Bet you can’t eat just one’ things, where people just keep watching. “You hear all the time that old saw that the book is better than the movie,” notes Patterson, “and the screenwriters say, ‘Well, we only had two hours.’ Well, in this case, they have 13 hours ... so there’s no excuse. And it might well be better than the book.”
Click or tap here for more!
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 3
C
CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
MikeVogel
of ‘Under the Dome’ on CBS What does your character Dale “Barbie” Barbara think the dome is? I would not say that I am a massive sci-fi freak but what I love about good sci-fi is that it’s real people reacting to completely unbelievable circumstances. ... Julia was kind of always the (one) who had a – I don’t want to say a relationship with the dome – but she understood it as a thing and it interacted with her. For Barbie, it was just about how do we keep these people alive for as long as we possibly can until A) we can get them out of here, or B) get this thing down. And I think last season Barbie saw a lot of things that he could not explain, from going through a portal into his hometown and finding a way back into the dome to get everyone out ... . But I think this year, Barbie becomes much more of a believer in the supernatural that surrounds this whole thing. How have fans been when they’ve spotted you out in public? The fun thing about shooting in Wilmington (N.C.) is that it’s a small town and has a really intimate feel, so everyone knows the things that are shooting in town and what’s going on around town. ... Wilmington kind of functions as a little mini-Chester’s Mill. Everyone’s invested in the show. They are all wanting to know this season what’s happening, what is different. “I hope you kill Big Jim this year. I hope ... .” They really get into the relationships, which is exciting for us because it shows that we’re getting through the message of what we’re trying to put out there. But yeah, it is funny. Wilmington functions as its own little Chester’s Mill here.
folio Page 4 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
Click or tap here for more!
CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
C
AdamRichman ‘Man Finds Food’ on Travel Channel
Rumor has it that you keep a journal of all the places you’ve eaten at. Is that true? Yeah, it’s kind of changed forms but yes, since ‘95 I’ve had a food journal. It started almost like a diary where I ended up like saying, “Hey, I’m actually talking about the food as much as I’m talking about my own life.” And it was an easier way to access all the other stuff going on with me by virtue of the fact that I had this outlet. But I still keep some kind of notes and I always try to like lock something down in terms of like knowledge to recall at a future date. But generally speaking, the journal has changed forms but it’s just been amazing because it’s such a profound resource, and if I’m traveling, if a friend’s traveling, if I’m in a certain city for work or a layover, I know a place to go. You grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, home of a lot of great seafood restaurants. (Actually) sort of like on the edge of Sheepshead Bay – Marine Park/ Starrett City – correct. It’s remarkable. It’s one of the few areas of Brooklyn that really and truly does take advantage of the fact that we are surrounded on nearly all sides by water, so I think that it’s always going to be seafood country in Brooklyn. That’s never going to change.
Click or tap here for more! June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 5
C
CELEBRITY John Crook’s Q&A
BethRiesgraf of ‘Complications’ on USA Network
Does John’s rash act to save the boy in the park make him a bad husband and father? John is acting very recklessly, making decisions that affect the health and safety of those he loves most. He’s playing God outside of the hospital, trying to take on this role of saving all the ones that may not be saved. You have to remember, though, that he has just lost his (mind) in the car over being reminded that he couldn’t save his own daughter, so it’s not the act of a rational man. Why is Sam at a different place with her grief? Samantha was able to go through a grieving process, and you’ll see later in the series how that went down. She was able to confront the loss in a different way that helped her to process it quicker. She also has some secrets, though, and you’ll find out what those are.
Click or tap here for more!!
Page 6 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
On “Leverage,” your show before this one, fans absolutely loved you as the kooky Parker. Do you still miss that character? That role was a gift, a dream role, no ifs, ands or buts. I told (“Leverage” series creator) John Rogers that he had ruined me because I don’t know whether I will ever get to do all those different things with one character again. We tried to do a “Leverage” spinoff, but it didn’t happen for whatever reason. But the fan interest is still there, I can tell. They want those characters back!
FOOD George Dickie’s What's for Dinner
F
RoccoDiSpirito No kidding around in Season 2 of ‘Food Fighters’
A new season of NBC’s “Food Fighters” brings in more celebrity chefs to vie against talented amateurs who get a shot at a $100,000 grand prize. And in a new twist, some of the civilians aren’t even old enough to vote or drive. A prospect that at first didn’t thrill Rocco DiSpirito (“The Restaurant”), one of the pros in Season 2. “Are you kidding?” says the New York-based chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. “It was a no-win situation. If I beat him, I’m a jerk; if I don’t beat him, I’m a bad chef. That’s how I felt going into it but also I just did the best I could with the resources I had.” In the second season, which gets underway Thursday, July 2, each contestant – adult or child – must face off one by one with five professionals, putting their signature dishes to the test in a series of showdowns. Those that make it to the finals square off against another pro. Celebs competing this time around include DiSpirito, Nadia G., Lorena Garcia, Duff Goldman, Eric Greenspan, Antonia Lofaso and Brian Malarkey. Despite his initial ambivalence, DiSpirito – who himself got started in the business as a youngster – felt an empathy with his 15-year-old adversary. “I wanted him to understand I wasn’t there as purely a competitor,” the 48-year-old Queens, N.Y., native says. “And the reason I did the show wasn’t to prove that I’m capable of doing something. “I gave him something that my mentor gave to me immediately to make him feel like this was a camaraderie, this was a friendship; this was not pure competition. Gray Kunz, my mentor from Lespinasse (in New York), built this spoon called the Kunz spoon that’s now legendary among very sophisticated cooks and we all have them. And he reissued the Kunz spoon in gold at the 20-year anniversary and I had an extra one so I brought it and gave it to him. “I think the wonderful thing about chefs,” DiSpirito continues, “is we are really teachers and students at the same time and we share knowledge, tools, techniques; time, of course, and we enjoy seeing other people produce wonderful things. When another chef is good, it makes us happy.”
What book are you currently reading? “I have about 10 of them on my side stand, half-read. I can’t remember a single name right now.” What did you have for dinner last night? “I had wild Alaskan salmon with rhubarb and fava beans and onion soubise that I made myself.” What is your next project? “My next project is I’m expanding my Pound a Day fresh food delivery service. I currently manage the health care and healthy weight goals of 60 people. I send them food every day and I coach them and use technology to
account for their progress – success or failure. And it’s a small, handmade, high-touch business, and I’m working on phase two, which is to further my overall goal in life as a person and professional to reverse the obesity trend in the United States. So phase two of this is to scale it out so that it’s affordable and available to everyone.” When was the last vacation you took, where and why? “Way too long ago. It was Los Cabos (Mexico) – 2008, maybe, 2009. I’m running a start-up, so ... it’s basically 24/7.”
Click or tap here for more!
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 7
C
CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Celebrity ScooP
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan knows the benefits of having a personal partner in the same business: If they work together, he’s assured of seeing her. One of television’s busiest and most well-traveled actors this year, the rugged “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Magic City” alum – seen recently in History’s “Texas Rising” and Lifetime’s “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe” – is the fiancé of actress Hilarie Burton (“One Tree Hill,” “White Collar”). Much to his pleasure, they both join returning star Halle Berry as the CBS sci-fi drama “Extant” starts its second season Wednesday, July 1. “When I took the job,” Morgan says, “the deal was, ‘We’ll get you home as much as possible,’ and that just hasn’t worked out. But Hilarie got a job on ‘Extant,’ which was fantastic. You’ll see her a couple of times throughout the season, so that’s one way we’ve been able to keep the family sort of together.” Morgan’s “Extant” character, futuristic bounty hunter JD Richter, comes to the aid of astronaut Molly Woods (Berry) after she’s detained by officials who fear her experiences in space have made her a threat on Earth. The two stars’ teaming has “worked out beautifully,” Morgan attests. “I don’t know if I’ve had more fun working with someone.
“We are in just about every scene in the show together, and that has been nothing but a thrill. I’ve worked with some great actresses, and I put Halle right up there at the top. The one thing I’d forgotten about network television is that the schedules are just killers, almost to the point where it’s ridiculous, so to be in the trenches with that caliber of actor and that fine a person is the only way you could do it. Or, at least, I could do it.”
Birthdate: April 22, 1966 Birthplace: Seattle Current residence: Upstate New York Marital status: Engaged to actress Hilarie Burton; they have a son, Gus Other television credits include: “Magic City,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Texas Rising,” “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe,” “Shameless,” “Weeds,” “Supernatural,” “The O.C.,” “Monk,” Page 8 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
“Tru Calling,” “The Handler,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Angel,” “The Division,” “The Practice,” “ER,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Sliders,” “JAG,” “The Burning Zone” Movie credits include: “They Came Together,” “The Salvation,” “Red Dawn,” “The Possession,” “Texas Killing Fields,” “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding,” “The Resident,” “Jonah Hex,” “The Losers,” “Taking Woodstock,” “Watchmen,” “P.S. I Love You,” “Fred Claus”
CELEBRITY CelebritY profile
Ta iB e a ucham p
C
of ‘Dare to Wear’ on TLC
- Name is pronounced Tahy Bo-schomp.
- Completed her first NYC ING marathon raising $7,500 for Malaria No More in 2008.
- Born in Newark, NJ on Jan. 7, 1978.
- She has done volunteer work for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Dress for Success, and Step Up Women’s Network.
- Currently lives in New York City. - Graduated from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature and also attended NYU’s Television Production program. - She began working at O, The Oprah magazine in 2001 as a fashion and beauty assistant, rising to the title of associate beauty editor.
- In 2006 became deputy editor of VIBE Vixen magazine, leading the magazine’s relaunch.
- In 2011 was appointed style and beauty correspondent for Proctor & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful. - Became style ambassador for InStyle Magazine in 2012.
- In 2004, she became the youngest, as well as the first African-American, appointed to the role of beauty & fitness director at Seventeen Magazine. - In 2005 she started a youth job-readiness and training program formerly called YouthWORKS, now called R U Ready for WORK which is run by Rutgers University.
- Received the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Prestige Award in 2009.
- In 2013 worked with The Recording Academy as the official “Grammy Live” co-host. - She is currently working on a book and will soon launch a new website, www.thetailife.com, with the goal of “Empowering women to live their most beautyfull and stylish lives.”
Click or tap here for more! June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 9
C
CELEBRITY Celebs’ favorite shows
Mike Vogel
Kyra Sedgwick Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Missy Peregrym
Set the DVR Kyra Sedgwick, executive producer of “Proof” on TNT “I’m obsessed with the ‘PBS NewsHour.’ If you want real news, that’s where to go for it. You really get all sides of all stories. We all learn differently and take in information differently, and they get at things from all different angles ... and I have to say I’m obsessed with (co-anchor) Judy Woodruff! Her outfits are so fantastic. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I’ll say to Kevin (Bacon, Sedgwick’s husband), ‘Look at Judy, with those earrings and that necklace that accent her sweater. She’s killing it tonight!’ ” Jeffrey Dean Morgan of “Extant” on CBS “I watch a lot of mindless television that I don’t keep up with. After I come home from a 14-hour day, I’ll watch something like the DIY Network. And I just saw the first
episode of ‘UnREAL,’ and I was like, ‘This show could be cool!’ I just thought it was very well-done.” Mike Vogel of “Under the Dome” on CBS “Honestly, right now I’ve got three little kids, so if it’s not on Nickelodeon or Disney or Sprout or some sort of children’s show, I’m not watching too much these days. That’s the sort of season that I’m in until I get these kiddoes beyond that and get me a little time back. ... But I literally just caught up with all the Oscar movies over the last couple of months, is how far behind I am. So it’s bad.” Missy Peregrym of “Rookie Blue” on ABC “I guess it would be ‘The Last Man on Earth.’ ”
Page 10 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
STORY
S
Humanity has final
showdown with aliens
as ‘Falling Skies’ returns for closing season By Jay Bobbin
Pictured: Noah Wyle and Moon Bloodgood
The fifth and final season of TNT’s sci-fi drama “Falling Skies” promises to bring closure in humanity’s battle with aliens on a post-apocalyptic Earth. “This is the final battle,” says Moon Bloodgood, who plays 2nd Mass pediatrician Anne Glass on the hourlong show that returns with the Season 5 opener on Sunday, June 28. “We are wrapping the show up. You know, you get to see one character really go off the deep end, and every character on our show gets a great storyline this year, obviously, because it’s our last season and you want to see something happen with all these characters that you watched as a group. And you see certain relationships play out. I get to do some great stuff with characters that I had not really worked with as much before. And in the end, we get some answers.” Last season, the Mason family (Bloodgood, Noah Wyle, Drew Roy, Connor Jessup and Maxim Knight) and the remaining 2nd Mass found themselves under attack by a new Espheni war machine and an extremely deadly creation. Forced to scatter to the wind, the survivors fought harder than ever to survive. As this season opens, the alien power core has been destroyed, all manner of beast and mutant are running
wild, and the Espheni are forced to fight on the humans’ terms. As the battle rages on, Bloodgood says some human characters will turn on each other and some will die. One teaser for this season shows Anne facing a firing squad – at the hands of fellow humans. “I can’t believe they showed it ...,” Bloodgood says. “So I’m being lined up with some other people and yeah, I’m about to be exterminated. I can’t say, I guess, much more than that but yeah, it’s not the aliens. It’s humans.” “I’m always interested in watching shows where humans don’t fight just against aliens,” she continues, “they fight against each other because there’s no way when you’re dealing with circumstances like an alien invasion that all humans can be united. There’s just too much fear and distrust that people can’t always come together. “I think people turning on people is interesting because the one thing that we always say that we have over aliens is our humanity. Well if humans lose that and they turn on each other, then it becomes ‘Lord of the Flies’ and it’s a much more compelling story to watch.”
Click or tap here for more! June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 11
S
STORY
William Hurt meets
‘Humans’
This sci-fi drama series “Humans,” premieres Sunday on AMC.
Story on next page
GemmaChan Page 12 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
STORY
S
explores ‘Humans’ nature in AMC sci-fi drama By Jay Bobbin
William Hurt isn’t done tackling the subject of artificial intelligence. The Oscar-winning star of such screen classics as “The Big Chill,” “Broadcast News,” “Body Heat” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” worked with director Steven Spielberg on the 2001 movie “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” He returns to that title theme by playing an owner of a youthful-looking “robotic domestic helper” in “Humans,” a British sci-fi series that AMC gives its American premiere Sunday, June 28 (two weeks after its debut in England). “I was riveted by the topic when I was a kid, by (writer Isaac) Asimov when I was in my early teens,” Hurt says as “Humans” tracks four related, concurrent stories in a “parallel” present-day London. “What I’m heartened about personally is the fact that I’m being allowed to participate in the discussion. It’s one of my number-one topics; it always has been. “Also,” Hurt adds of another “Humans” appeal, “I was working in the U.K. One of the reasons we’re hiring so many British actors in the United States nowadays is because they have skills which are theater-based, and that’s where I come from. When I can bring skills to a set that people understand implicitly, that helps me a lot.” Hurt played the creator of a humanoid in “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” and his “Humans” character George Millican also is a scientist who has left similar work behind. The widower has kept his “Synth” (or synthetic companion) Odi (played by Will Tudor), and both show signs of age,
with Odi’s indicated in the premiere by a meltdown in a supermarket. However, George resists trading him in for an allegedly better version, the much more domineering Vera (Rebecca Front). Gemma Chan (“The Game”) appears as another “Synth.” “The great thing about ‘Humans’ is that the situations in which big questions are asked are so average,” Hurt reflects. “It’s where the battlefield really is, in the greatest issues of time and sociology ... not at the top of the tallest buildings in New York, but in the household. What happens in the supermarket is the absolute issue for George, since his entire existence could be impacted by the severing of a very slender thread, which is Odi’s functions and – most of all – his memories of George’s wife. That’s George’s thread to his humanity.” Previously a television presence in “Damages” and the HBO drama “Too Big to Fail,” Hurt also continues his feature-film work, reprising his “The Incredible Hulk” role as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the next “Captain America” movie (“Civil War”) as one of his current projects. He continually advocates for having sufficient rehearsal for any project. “You need that time,” he stresses. “You need to create a common imaginary reality, then the characters emanate from that, and that’s what brings them into confirmation of each other in the world of the film or the play. You create it with your peers. I’m very proud of the awards (the industry has) given me, but I wish what they’d give me more often is to ask how we did it.” Click or tap here
for more!
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 13
S
STORY
Robert Davi performs Frank Sinatra songs in “A Capitol Fourth” Saturday on PBS (check local listings). Story on next page
Page 14 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
STORY
Fireworks
and
S
Frank Sinatra
tribute featured in this year’s ‘A Capitol Fourth’ celebration By Jay Bobbin
love of our country, so to be able to pay tribute to a guy who was so important to entertainment and the Italian-American community on the Fourth of July is very meaningful.”
Robert Davi got his professional start opposite Frank Sinatra, who’s about to be saluted by him on Independence Day. Known for tough-guy roles, the actor-singer who was James Bond’s enemy Sanchez in “Licence to Kill” and FBI man Bailey Malone on the NBC series “Profiler” has opened a new chapter of his career by rendering the iconic “Chairman of the Board’s” music on record and in concert. Davi will do so again in this 100th-anniversary year of Sinatra’s birth as a cast member of PBS’ annual holiday-concert special “A Capitol Fourth,” which marks its own 35th anniversary Saturday, July 4 (check local listings). Trained as an opera singer in his youth, Davi says he feels privileged to perform “on the 100th anniversary of who I think is the greatest entertainer of all time, at a Fourth of July celebration in a country that he loved and his parents loved. And my parents loved.” Sinatra was the star of Davi’s first movie, the 1977 NBC TV movie “Contract on Cherry Street,” and Davi felt from the beginning that they had much in common ... encompassing their Italian-American heritage, their careers and their social concerns. Both Davi’s father and grandfather were military veterans, and he recalls that “every Fourth of July, every Memorial Day and every Veterans Day,” his naval-officer dad “raised the American flag and put on his Navy uniform. That was what I grew up to, that image of the importance and the
After appearing in such other movies as “The Goonies” and “Die Hard,” Davi is part of a “Capitol Fourth” talent roster for which executive producer Jerry Colbert also has booked returnee Barry Manilow (who’s sure to perform his patriotic anthem “Let Freedom Ring”), Alabama, Hunter Hayes, Nicole Scherzinger, Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, classical pianist Lang Lang, “The Voice” Season 8 runner-up Meghan Linsey and popmusic veterans KC and the Sunshine Band. Jack Everly will conduct the National Symphony Orchestra in the program on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The impact of the 2011 album “Davi Sings Sinatra – On the Road to Romance” also has been seen in touring that has taken Davi across America and overseas to Italy (where he recently was on its version of “The Voice”), Sweden, Hungary and Australia. He’s also been enlisted to sing Tuesday, June 30, at a gala at New York’s United Nations headquarters. Still, Davi confirms, “The July 4th event will be the biggest platform for me. The producer had seen me at (Connecticut’s) Foxwoods Casino, then came backstage and invited me to be on the show. I’m very thrilled. I really am.”
Click or tap here for more!
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 15
S
SPORTS
Story on next page Full Name: Martin Lee Truex Jr. Birth date: June 29, 1980 Hometown: Mayetta, N.J.
Height/weight: 5 feet 11 inches/180 pounds Car: No. 78 Chevrolet SS
Team: Furniture Row Racing Sprint Cup wins: 3 Top 10s: 108 Poles: 7
Page 16 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
Honors and achievements: NASCAR Busch Series Champion, 2004 and 2005; NASCAR Busch Series Most Popular Driver, 2004 and 2005
SPORTS
S
By Dan Ladd Martin Truex Jr.’s June 7 win at Pocono Raceway was long overdue. Wouldn’t it be something if it were to happen again one day before his 35th birthday? He’ll get his chance Sunday, June 28, at California’s Sonoma Raceway road course in the Toyota – Save Mart 350, where he won in 2013. The race will air on Fox Sports 1. Truex, the son of 1990s Busch and Craftsman Truck Series driver Martin Truex Sr., has had his ups and downs on the Sprint Cup circuit after winning 13 races and consecutive Busch (now Xfinity) titles in 2004 and 2005. He has since been a journeyman of sorts, racing for DEI (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) and Michael Waltrip Racing before signing on with Furniture Row Racing in 2014, a season in which he had four top-10 finishes but no wins. Along with his victory in the Poconos, Truex has finished in the top 10 in all but one race this year. He finished eighth in the Daytona 500 in February, second in Las Vegas at the Kobalt 400 in March while in May he led the most laps in three consecutive races: Kansas (SpongeBob SquarePants 400), Charlotte (Coca-Cola 600) and Dover (FedEx 400).
MartinTruex Jr.
Those efforts, at this writing, had Truex in second place in the Cup driver standings, where a top-10 spot come September would be as welcome as a birthday win at Sonoma.
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 17
M
MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's Theatrical movie review
review
“Aloha”
A hello, and a well-advised goodbye, to ‘Aloha’ Pictured: Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone
After “Say Anything,” “Singles,” “Almost Famous” and very particularly “Jerry Maguire,” Cameron Crowe has a nearendless reserve of goodwill from this reviewer. That’s mildly fortunate in regard to the journalist-turnedfilmmaker’s latest movie, “Aloha,” since looking for the traditional dose of offbeat heart he puts into his characters keeps the picture intriguing to a degree. In the end, though, it’s not enough to sustain a plot that just isn’t all that interesting ... and, frankly, pretty contrived as love stories go. You can’t fault Crowe for handing it over to an attractive cast, though. Bradley Cooper plays a shady military contractor who returns to Hawaii (hence the title) on a mission to help a tycoon (Bill Murray) put his own rocket into orbit. Emma Stone portrays Cooper’s government liaison – and potential romantic interest, of course – with new “True Detective” co-star Rachel McAdams (reunited from “Wedding Crashers” with Cooper) as his ex-girlfriend, whose new life as a wife and mother may not preclude them from hooking up again.
With that gathering of actors and Crowe’s touch for relationship tales, “Aloha” should hit it out of the park, but it barely gets to first base. You get the definite sense that a lot of it was shaved in the editing room, which doesn’t help matters. And even though the Hawaiian scenery is as stunning as ever, this isn’t supposed to be a travelogue. John Krasinski also is on hand, typically smartly doing what’s required of him, in this case playing the husband meant to show why McAdams presumably would be better off with Cooper. With that working against the scenes of the burgeoning Cooper-Stone relationship, it’s questionable whether anyone here will emerge with a particularly good deal on the love front. The stars have a tough time indicating that as a probable outcome. Crowe’s efforts to stay in the game are reminiscent of those of James L. Brooks, another writer-director who struck gold with the same sort of film early on, then began scoring diminished returns as he kept going. This critic fought like crazy to like his “How Do You Know” over several viewings, and “Aloha” seems destined for the same fate. Taking a cue from its title, bidding it farewell here and now might be the better path.
Page 18 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's movie review movies to watch
M
“GET HARD” The differing comedic styles of Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart are the main sources of humor in this tale of a financial manager (Ferrell) being sent to prison for unethical practices. He decides he’d better toughen up before he gets there, so he seeks advice from a man (Hart) he presumes to be an ex-con – which turns out not to be the case, but they become allies anyway. Debuting director Etan Cohen co-wrote the script, which aims for social commentary among the laughs; co-stars include Tip “T.I.” Harris, Alison Brie (“Community”) and Craig T. Nelson. DVD extras: outtakes. ››› (R: AS, N, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)
Top Pick
DVD
name
upcoming DVD releases
Pictured: Will Ferrell (left) and Kevin Hart
Coming Soon on DVD... “HOUSE OF CARDS: VOLUME THREE” (July 7): Now the U.S. president, Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) takes his scheming to an entirely different level. (Not rated: AS, P, V) “THE JINX: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF ROBERT DURST” (July 7): The recent HBO documentary miniseries that ended quite controversially comes to DVD and Blu-ray. (Not rated: AS, P) “THE LONGEST RIDE” (July 14): Rebounding from an injury, a rodeo rider (Scott Eastwood) falls for an art student (Britt Robertson) in this Nicholas Sparks story. (PG-13: AS, N, P, V)
“THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL” (July 14): Richard Gere joins returnees Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy in the seriocomic sequel. (PG: AS, P) “PAUL BLART: MALL COP 2” (July 14): While attending a convention in Las Vegas, Blart (Kevin James) opposes would-be art thieves. (PG: P, V) “INSURGENT” (Aug. 4): The “Divergent” sequel finds Tris (Shailene Woodley) trying to find respite while being hunted by enemies, physically and psychically. (PG-13: AS, P, V)
Pictured: Kevin Spacey
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 19
S
FAVORITE SHOWS
Anna Friel stars in “American Odyssey”
Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars in “Extant”
SUNDAY 10 p.m. on HBO Ballers Strapped for cash, Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) desperately tries to close a deal when Vernon’s (Donovan Carter) best friend, Reggie (London Brown), refuses to step aside in the new episode “Raise Up.” Jason (Troy Garity), meanwhile, works diligently to renegotiate for his client. Ricky (John David Washington) discovers on his first day of workouts that not all his new teammates are friendly. At a business brunch, Spencer urges Vernon to learn from his mistakes. New 10:01 p.m. on NBC American Odyssey The drama concludes its season with “Real World,” which finally makes
Bella Thorne stars in “Scream”
Odelle’s (Anna Friel) plight known to the public at large. Supposedly safe in Barcelona with Aslam (Omar Ghazaoui), she’s about to detail her story to reporter Isabel (Branka Katic) when a major hurdle surfaces. Peter (Peter Facinelli) also faces more trouble in New York when the facts about Societel Mining’s corruption are revealed. Nate Mooney, Treat Williams and Jim True-Frost also star. Season Finale New MONDAY 8 p.m. on FOX So You Think You Can Dance Any performer who auditions for anything hopes to make enough of an impact to rate a callback, and those who fared that well in the early weeks of this show’s season get to
Page 20 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote June 28 - July 4, 2015
Paula Abdul is a judge in “So You Think You Can Dance”
show more of what they’ve got in the new episode “Vegas Callbacks No. 1.” Judges Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo and Nigel Lythgoe offer additional assessments as the remaining stage and street dancers dig deeper to try to stay in the competition. Cat Deeley is the host. New TUESDAY 11 p.m. on MTV Scream Don’t expect a clone of the hit horror movies in this long-in-development new series adaptation, which opens as the brutal murder of Nina Patterson (guest star Bella Thorne) rocks her small town of Lakewood. A video that subsequently goes viral has local teens worried that Nina’s sudden death may be connected continued on next page
FAVORITE SHOWS to another gruesome murder two decades earlier. Yes, it’s more teens in peril, but expect some surprises — including a chilling new mask for the killer. Willa Fitzgerald, Bex TaylorKlaus and John Karna star. Series Premiere New
asylum where a famous First Lady once was held against her will, in “Stone of Destiny, The Day Niagara Falls Shut Off, The Madness of Mary Todd.” Series Premiere New
9 p.m. on PBS The National Mall — America’s Front Yard For most visitors to Washington, D.C., a WEDNESDAY stop at what literally is the city’s center 10 p.m. on CBS attraction is a must. This special traces Extant Halle Berry is back as Molly Woods, its history, as well as those of such related landmarks as the Washington the astronaut who returned from space mysteriously pregnant, as this Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. A sci-fi drama’s second season opens major element of the Mall’s background with “Change Scenario.” That subtitle is the 1963 civil-rights march on Washington, whose symbolism has is apt, since with new producers on endured. board, the show gets a reboot that sees Molly confined by authorities who believe her to be a threat. A bounty hunter (new cast member Jeffrey Dean Morgan) may be her ticket back to freedom. Goran Visnjic and Grace Gummer continue as costars. Season Premiere New THURSDAY 11 p.m. on SYFY Olympus In the season finale, “Truth,” Hero, Oracle, Daedalus and Medea (Tom York, Sonya Cassidy, Matt Frewer, Sonita Henry) finally make it inside the doors to Olympus, but they discover their quest is far from over as they face still more tests and disappointments. Ultimately, Hero and Oracle are confronted with the most daunting task ever demanded of a mortal. Season Finale New FRIDAY 9 p.m. on TRAVEL Mysteries at the Monument In this new series, host Donald Wildman visits London’s historic Westminster Abbey, where Scottish pranksters once broke in to settle a 650-year-old score by reclaiming a royal 360-pound relic. Next, it’s a trip to Niagara Falls for a look at a natural wonder that Mother Nature herself threatened to shut down, and a visit to Bellevue Place, an Illinois
S
So has those of such Mall-connected initiatives as the AIDS Memorial Quilt and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. SATURDAY 12 p.m. on ESPN2 2015 Hot Dog Eating Contest A Fourth of July tradition for a century, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is held today at the Nathan’s Famous restaurant at Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y. Top competitive eaters will try to best eight-time reigning champion Joey Chestnut, who downed 61 hot dogs and buns — otherwise known as “HDBs” — in 10 minutes in last year’s competition.
Donald Wildman hosts “Mysteries at the Monument”
Sonya Cassidy stars in “Olympus”
Joey Chestnut defends his title in the 2015 Hot Dog Eating Contest
June 28 - July 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 21