Buzzworthy stars talk about everything from a love of wine to a passion for wildlife conservation
Houston, we have a golf tournament! Will J.B. Holmes find his name at the top of the leader board?
PLUS
“The Ranch” “The Path” crossover episode
“Supergirl”
Supergirl, meet The Flash
NEW SERIES
Jon Foo isn’t Jackie Chan, but he’s in “Rush Hour”
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CELEBRITY
“The Ranch”
is a “That ‘70s Show” reunion
4 Carrie Preston
is happy being “Crowded”
5 James Purefoy
Purefoy feels like an ‘old pickup’ to Hendricks’ Bentley
6 Sarah Graham
A chef’s love of lions
8 Jussie Smollett
“Empire” star doesn’t like auditions
“The Path” A crisis of faith
9 James Young “SUPERGIRL” The epic story of when superheroes collide
17
Getting to know the kitchen fixer
FOOD
7 Kathie Lee Gifford Wine love
SPORTS
the story!
18-19 J.B. Holmes
Holmes hoping Houston Open is simply elementary
“Rush Hour” brings another movie premise to TV
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Review, Our top DVD pick, and Coming Soon on DVD.
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20-21 Featuring: Theatrical
22-23 Featuring: Our top
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REALITY 16 “Independent Lens”
focuses on magic’s Amazing Randi
Editor's choice
STORY
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It’s ‘Rush Hour’ at CBS with new series version of actioncomedy movies By Jay Bobbin If a movie franchise is popular enough, it still can yield a television-series spinoff some years later. Shows based on “Lethal Weapon” and “The Exorcist” are in the works, and another example is about to debut. Nine years after the last of the three action-comedy films that teamed Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, CBS’ version of “Rush Hour” premieres Thursday, March 31. Justin Hires succeeds Tucker as self-styled Los Angeles police detective Carter, whose manner immediately clashes with that of his new partner: martial-arts-skilled Lee (Jon Foo), who arrives in the City of Angels to probe his sister’s presumed death. The duo gets other missions assigned by their nononsense boss (“Hot in Cleveland” and “Just Shoot Me!” alum Wendie Malick), and they receive help along the way from Carter’s former partner (Aimee Garcia, “Dexter”) and streetwise cousin (Page Kennedy, “Backstrom”). With TV veterans Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs,” “Spin City”) and Steve Franks (“Psych”) among the show’s executive producers, other “Rush Hour” stars certainly include the stunt players, since the first hour alone indicates there’s plenty for them to do. “It is risky dice to roll,” Lawrence allows, “because if it’s an iconic movie that people like, you can’t knock fans off of it, but I think what you hope is that a title brings people to check out your show and give it a look. And I still want to believe that if you cast it well and write it well and act it well and produce it well, the people will stay long after the references to the feature (films) are gone.” Franks adds of the main “Rush Hour” characters and actors, “I like the humanity that these guys bring to this world. I love the guys. I think it’s real fun. For eight years on ‘Psych,’ we were doing a version of the buddy comedy, kind of. Here’s these two guys that were just sort of meant to be together, and this felt like a fun extension of
Pictured: Justin Hires
that. And I’ve never laughed so hard as hanging out with these guys.” Foo comes by his physical agility naturally, since he explains, “I started out as a martial artist working in the circus. I did performances with the London Chinese Acrobats and the Flying Dudes Rock and Roll Circus and then went to Hong Kong and Asia and Thailand, so I started with martial arts and then ended up doing action movies.” If viewers aren’t familiar with Foo, though, he understands. “This is my first TV show,” he notes. “This is my first time having any kind of experience like this.” Should Foo and Hires be compared to Chan and Tucker – which seems inevitable, particularly since a “Rush Hour 4” movie reportedly has been discussed – they maintain they’re ready for it. “Chris Tucker is literally one of the reasons that I got into comedy,” stand-up comic Hires says, “so it’s a huge honor and a privilege to be able to step into those shoes. Honestly, I just feel like if I bring my own comedic voice to this role, eventually, the audience will see that there’s a different Detective Carter. And hopefully, they’ll grow to love me somewhat comparable to Chris Tucker.”
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CELEBRITY By Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
Carrie
Preston of ‘Crowded’ Sunday on NBC
Is being a series lead in “Crowded” a big deal for you? Yeah, it is a big deal. It’s certainly one of the things that attracted me to this job. I knew I was ready to take the next step; I’ve been playing these great supporting roles, but I was like, “I want to be on the (show-promoting) poster.” I want to have that responsibility, and I think I’m ready for it. Your husband, “Person of Interest’s” Michael Emerson, took a similar route in television with such shows as “Lost.” Did he give you any tips about making the leap to series star? I’ve certainly watched him over the last five years with that, and the responsibility that comes with it is bigger. Sometimes he will say, with a little bit of whimsy, “I kind of wish I was just doing the supporting thing.” A lot more is asked of you – not that he ever complains about it – but there is something that is different. I’m starting to feel that. At the same time, “Crowded” makes you part of an ensemble cast again. Do you like keeping that aspect? When you’re doing the single-camera (drama) stuff, you’re not there all the time with your cast. When I was on “True Blood,” it was like three or four different shows, and everybody else was on a vampire show. With this, we’re all there every day, doing the work together ... and we present it to the audience together. I like that. Also with single-camera work, you’re in the hands of the editors and directors, and there are many different ways to cut a scene together. Sometimes you’ll make a deliberate choice and it won’t make it into the (final) cut, or you’ll do something you didn’t think was anything, and they’ll make a “moment” out of it. When you’re doing this (a comedy filmed with multiple cameras), everything counts.
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CELEBRITY
James Purefoy of ‘Hap and Leonard’
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George Dickie’s Q&A Some actors say that when they do accents for a role, they have to stay in it all day. Is that the case with you? I’m not like that. Maybe I pay for it. I don’t know if the accent works or it doesn’t but it seems to work. I like to think about accents as voices and I think that’s a different thing. An accent is something that lots of people speak. A voice is the thing that only one person has. And I think if you’re playing a person, you’re playing a single person, so an accent, you know, they get melded with different things. I used to have a strong West Country accent in England, it’s like that (drawls). That’s how they speak. I used to speak like that (drawls) when I was 17.
Wednesday on Sundance Channel
On “Hap and Leonard,” is ex-wife Trudy smarter than your character, Hap? What she’s got on Hap is that she knows he loves her, so she will always have power over him. You know those women. We’ve all been there. I’ve been there. The woman who you just can’t help loving. And I’m sure there are women in my life who if they came back now, I would struggle. Even though I’m a married man, they would kick something in me ... that little fundamental piece in your heart that you remember from when you were a kid or when you were a teenager or when you were a young man. That doesn’t go away. It’s not that she’s smarter than him, it’s just that she has that over him and she knows that. It’s power. And she’s played by Christina Hendricks (laughs), so she looks like Christina Hendricks, for Christ’s sakes. What more can you say?
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And semi-recognizable from “Mad Men.” Yeah, also Christina is disarmingly intelligent and beautiful. And I was just saying to somebody else, it was like she would come on set and Michael (Kenneth Williams, his co-star) and I are like a couple of old pickups and along purrs the Bentley.
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CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
of ‘Sarah Graham’s ri’ Food Safaon Saturday g Cookin Channel
Sarah
Graham Given your upbringing, you must be comfortable with these animals.
Yeah. I mean, the lions, they are something I love so much and so we literally did grow up with lion cubs in our home, bottle-feeding them in the middle of the night. When they’re really young, they’re like babies. They have to have a bottle of milk every three or four hours and it’s a really special experience.
Do these animals remember you later on?
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Wildlife conservation is an important part of “Food Safari” for you, correct?
Yes, absolutely, because (a wildlife conservancy) is where I grew up and so it’s a big part of my life and my family’s life and the whole lion conservation program. My dad is a real character and he actually had his left arm taken off by one of our lions about 20 years ago. He had to have his left arm amputated after the attack, and he really is such a character. He still goes around and he’s still passionate about lion conservation.
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They do. I mean, with the lions, we can only really physically interact with them until they’re about 22 months old. After that, it’s no longer safe. And then they go into a kind of a fenced off area in the bush that acts as a semi-release area where there’s other wildlife and then they can hunt for themselves and form their own independent prides. And so my parents have constructed a whole project that works on releasing lions back into the wild.
FOOD George Dickie’s What's for Dinner
F
Kathie Lee Gifford
takes her love of wine to market Ask Kathie Lee Gifford about the wines she and co-host Hoda Kotb sip on the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today,” and it becomes immediately clear that this is a woman who knows wine. She’s lived with it her whole life, from a happy childhood in Europe and the United States with a family who celebrated life with a little vino through her partnership (with Scheid Family Wines of Monterey, Calif.) in Gifft wines to her current gig on NBC’s iconic weekday morning program, which she’s been co-hosting with Kotb for the past eight years. And she has strong opinions on the subject. Take, for instance, her views on the current state of California chardonnays, which she expressed to the winemakers who did her first release. “I just said, ‘I haven’t liked California chardonnays in so long because they’re so oakey, so heavy, so bitter.’ I mean, they overshadowed completely any food you would eat with them,” she says, “And so I said, ‘If Click or tap on icon for more! you could make a chardonnay for my Gifft wines that taste like the kinds that in the 1970s were California chardonnays, were more like modernday pinot grigios, they were just delicious and light.’ And they said, ‘We can do that.’ So that’s what I’m enjoying in the mornings and Hoda drinks the red blend, which is a blend of 10 different varietals.” As for Kotb, she readily admits she isn’t nearly the wine enthusiast that her co-host is, adding that her spirit of choice is tequila. But on camera, Gifford’s wines are her go-to beverage. “If I’m going to sip a wine on the show, which is what we do because we don’t want to get crazy by the last guest, I sip Kathie Lee’s red because it’s awesome,” Kotb says. “I mean, when I order from a restaurant, I usually order a pinot noir or I order a syrah or something. And Kath’s is strangely addictive, which is really ticking me off – in a good way – where you’re like, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll have a little more of that.’ ”
What book are you currently reading?
“I just finished a fascinating book called, ‘Who Ate Lunch With Abraham?’ It’s by a man named Asher Intrater. Fascinating book. ...”
What did you have for dinner last night?
“I don’t eat dinner. I’m a big, big, big lunch girl. I was at Geoffrey Zakarian’s restaurant the National in Greenwich, Conn., yesterday, so Geoffrey always takes very good care of me ... .”
What is your next project?
“I’m just now forming a film company with a very good friend of mine that we haven’t even announced yet. ... So I’m looking forward in the next few years to being a part of some very, very exciting film projects.”
When was your last vacation, where and why? “We have a place down in the Keys, a family home, that we’ve had for about 20 years. So I took a couple of weeks – I just took my doggie; Bambino and I went – and I have a lot of friends down there. I just had a very, very, very quiet holiday. It would probably be the most boring thing for others. But I lost my husband and my children’s father about seven months now, and I just wanted to be someplace quiet and safe and full of memories.”
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CELEBRITY John Crook’s Celebrity ScooP
Jussie
Smollett The mid-season finale of Fox’s hit drama “Empire” ended things on several cliffhangers last December, as Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) lost control of his company due to the betrayal of a loved one. As the story resumes with new episodes on Wednesday, March 30, however, we’ll see the Lyons start to reunite, says series star Jussie Smollett. “We see this family that was so broken starting to come back together,” says the actor, who plays gay son Jamal Lyon. “We see Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and Lucious trying to fix this family that has been through so much. I love where we see Jamal going in this second half of the season.” In part, that includes renewed sparring between Jamal and his father, both of whom have been nominated in the same category for a major industry award. “The award represents something much larger, a fight that has been going on a long time, and the unhealed wound that they still have from the past,” Smollett says. “Their unity is still very new. This is a crazy, deranged, dysfunctional family, but that being said, they always find their way back together, and I think that’s why we love them.”
Early ambition: When he was 8, Jussie and one of his sisters wrote an entire album’s worth of songs for Janet Jackson, although she never recorded them.
As a child, Smollett co-starred in films such as “The Mighty Ducks,” then he and his five siblings starred together in the 1994-95 NBC sitcom “On Our Own.” When that show folded after one season, he turned his focus on music and travel, chiefly throughout Europe. “I started honing my craft as a musician, a songwriter, because that was what I wanted to do,” he says. “I knew that I would always act, but I didn’t like the whole going-on-auditions thing. I remember my mother telling me ‘No one is going to be able to write a song that says what you want to say better than you.’ ” Page 8 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote March 27 - April 2, 2016
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CELEBRITY CelebritY profile
Jame sYoun g
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- A multi-skilled U.S. Army veteran who received two Army Achievement Medals and received a Soldier of the Month award. He was a signal soldier – communications, so he “fixed things.” - When he left the Army he joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and began a five-year apprenticeship. He is now a licensed master electrician, contractor and renovation wizard. - While working as an electrician he eventually started getting into carpentry as well. - After being laid off as an electrician/ construction worker he received a phone call asking him to audition for a TV show. He thought it was fake or that they were trying to sell him something so he skipped the audition
James Young is a master electrician, licensed contractor and TV host who can be seen on “I Hate My Kitchen” on DIY Network. twice. When they called to reschedule a third time and he received more information (and the name of the person who recommended him) he went to the audition and landed the job. - In 1996, he made his TV handyman debut on the Discovery for a show called “Gimme Shelter.” He loved it and has been in the industry ever since. - In the early 2000s he also became a realtor and started to flip homes. He realized he made more money on the houses where he focused more on the kitchens and started to shift his focus. He gave up the realtor part when his schedule got too busy. - In 2010, he became host of “I Hate My Kitchen.” He loves tearing up kitchens and showing homeowners the latest designs and products, always coming up with innovative ways to remodel their kitchens without breaking the bank. - So far, he has remodeled several homes and over 100 kitchens, bringing them from ugly to awesome. He has also worked on numerous large-scale commercial and residential projects as a licensed electrician.
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CELEBRITY
“Michael’s like my brother. I love him so much. We started this together, we have so much fun and it’s so great. And now, there’s a bit of sadness. It’s just mixed emotions. It’s a really hard thing. I’ve definitely cried … a lot.” – Pauley Perrette of “NCIS” on CBS, about co-star Michael Weatherly’s imminent exit from the series
“There have been these great moments where we haven’t done a disguise fitting together, so the first time we see it is on set. We’ve referenced this in the past, but there was a moment when she walked on set looking like a young John Denver, and I couldn’t recover for the majority of the scene.” – Matthew Rhys of “The Americans” on FX, about disguises he and co-star Keri Russell have worn on the show
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“Basically, Shonda handpicks everyone in her world and then she gives them license to do what they’ve been hired to do. So it’s different from other places that I’ve worked where you ... feel kind of a heaviness of the producer’s eyes, because they trust you here in ShondaLand to do your work and do your best.” – Mireille Enos, on working on the Shonda Rimes-produced and -created “The Catch” on ABC
CELEBRITY
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ON DVRs
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Mireille Enos of “The Catch” on ABC I watch ‘Pepa Pig’ and ‘Octonauts’ (laughs). You know, I have a 5-year-old and an 18-month-old. And so in my spare time when I’m not making TV shows, I’m watching little kids’ shows. I love all the Pixar movies but I’m pretty useless to talk about adult television with.
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Norm Abram of “This Old House” on PBS “ ‘This Old House’ (laughs). You know, they used to send us DVDs of the show. Now we don’t get that so I record the show because I have to be my own critic. And mostly, some of the TV shows we like. There’s probably less now because with things like Apple TV, you can just watch it whenever you want and don’t have to store it, necessarily.”
Jurnee Smollett-Bell of “Underground” on WGN America “ ‘Downton Abbey.’ Of course, ‘Empire.’ I love a lot of HGTV shows, love ‘Flip or Flop,’ ‘Love It or List It.’ ... My husband and I just bought a house, so I’m obsessed with interior design. I love ‘Master Class,’ Oprah’s ‘Super Soul Sundays’ are good.”
Carrie Preston of “Crowded” on NBC “ ‘Homeland,’ ‘Nashville,’ the Shonda Rhimes(produced) shows, ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones,’ obviously ‘The Good Wife’ (for which Preston won an Emmy), ‘Madam Secretary’ ... any show that has a female center. I really try to support those shows.”
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STORY
“THE RANCH” Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson together again
This Netflix comedy series “The Ranch,” is premiering Friday Story on next page
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STORY
Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson reunite on ‘The Ranch’ in Netflix series By Jay Bobbin A “That ‘70s Show” reunion is in store on “The Ranch.” Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson – alias the earlier series’ Kelso and Hyde – reteam as stars and producers of the Netflix comedy that debuts Friday, April 1, with the first 10 of its 20 first-season episodes available simultaneously. Executive producer Kutcher plays a semi-pro-football failure who returns home to Colorado to join his brother and father (Masterson, Sam Elliott) in running the family ranch, though there’s emotional strain from their many years apart. In a rare series turn since her first major role, as Wonder Girl to “Wonder Woman” in the mid1970s, Debra Winger also stars as the siblings’ baroperating mother. “Whether it’s television for network or television for cable or television for a streaming service, you have the same goal, which is to make a great product,” Kutcher reasons. “You try to get a great group of people together and work really hard to make something wonderful. I think there’s some beautiful liberties that you get when you’re working with Netflix that I’ve never experienced before ... and one is just an absolute creative freedom. They’ll suggest things to you that they’d like to see happen, but once they order the show, they let you make your show. “I think, as a creator, it allows you to think a little bit outside the box and try to push the edges of what’s possible and what you’re capable of,” adds Kutcher, who also has four seasons of “Two and a Half Men” experience. “We’re doing a very traditional format,
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which is a situational comedy with a live audience – but because we’re working with Netflix, we get to explore the ability to tell the story in a slightly different way. We don’t have commercial breaks, so we don’t have to pump a comedic joke at the end of every scene. We don’t have a 22-minute time capsule that we’ve got to deliver a show in, so it allows us to really play more dramatic story into the format.” With “Two and a Half Men” alum Don Reo also an executive producer of “The Ranch,” co-executive producer Masterson recalls having done “eight years of ‘That ‘70s Show’ ” with Kutcher “and then spent some years doing different projects, but (we were) always talking about getting back together and doing something together. Our favorite stuff on ‘That ‘70s Show’ is the Hyde-Kelso relationship of domination and abuse, so when this show was coming together, it was kind of like, ‘Let’s find adult versions of those guys ... a little more realistic, but keeping that dynamic of how our comedy works together.’ ” Admitting she’s a newcomer to the sitcom world, “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Terms of Endearment” movie veteran Winger explains that “it was so intriguing to me, the whole picture, and Ashton and Danny – the fact that this was a world that they had inhabited and was a comfort zone (to them) in some ways. I was just intrigued that I could live on that planet for a while. It had started in being interested in working with Sam on something, so we’ll see if they kick me off the planet, but I’m really happy to start learning all of it. The first 10 episodes were like school.”
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STORY
A crisis of faith Hugh Dancy stars in “The Path,” dropping with 10 episodes Wednesday on Hulu.
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A family in a religious cult struggles with faith in Hulu’s
‘The Path’
By George Dickie A family at the center of a religious cult finds its faith tested in many ways in a new series premiering this week on the streaming service Hulu. “The Path,” dropping with 10 episodes on Wednesday, March 30, follows the Lane family as they struggle with relationships, faith and power as members of the Meyerist Movement of upstate New York. They’re made up of father Eddie (Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad”), who converted to Meyerism after suffering a crisis of faith; Sarah (Michelle Monaghan, “Source Code”), Eddie’s wife and a woman born into a Meyerist family, whose devotion is tested when she discovers her husband’s falsehoods; and son Hawk (newcomer Kyle Allen), who wants to drop out of high school and join the Movement full time – until popular classmate Ashley Fields (Amy Forsyth, “Defiance”) pursues a relationship with him. The Lanes are under the influence of Cal Roberts (Hugh Dancy, “Hannibal”), the sect’s charismatic unofficial leader who winds up roiling the waters of the Lanes’ already troubled marriage. And so is Mary Cox (Emma Greenwell, “Shameless”), a young addict saved by Cal and the Meyerists after a tornado struck her hometown. The series is the brainchild of creator Jessica Goldberg (“Alex of Venice”), who is an executive producer with Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”) and Michelle Lee (“Parenthood”). “I think our goal is to look at both sides of religion,” Goldberg recently explained to a gathering of TV critics in Pasadena, Calif., “where it brings comfort, and then also where ... when you go against the grain of the faith, sure, that does provide cynicism. But there’s also great comfort
Pictured: Michelle Monaghan to be taken in having a frame for your life. And I think that’s something a lot of us are seeking.” The premiere episode does a fine job of illustrating the positives and negatives of life within the cult. On the plus side, its rescue of Mary in the opening scene and subsequent nursing her back to health. On the down side, we see two cult members stake out a defector and try to pull her back to the sect. As for whether working on a project that casts a critical eye at religion might make one cynical, Dancy says, “I think we’re all playing people well, those of us within the Movement, ... that are genuinely either not wrestling with, perhaps, but are very much living a life of belief, and faith is incredibly important to them. There are some problems, some fault lines within the structure that they’re in. But the basic thing that drives them all is that they believe and that they want to believe. Nobody thinks they’re in a cult, right?” “I think Stephen Colbert said, ‘If you’re wondering if you are in a cult, you are in a cult,’ ” the British actor continues. “But these guys, they are not having that thought. They’re just trying to improve their lives, strive for something, heal themselves, heal people. There is something beautiful about that ... .”
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STORY
The Amazing Randi makes magic for PBS’ ‘Independent Lens’ By Jay Bobbin If you practice any form of magic, you’d better keep the intention pure, or you’ll have the Amazing Randi to answer to. James Randi has been in the illusion business for a halfcentury, and actively protecting his profession has made him a nemesis of those who use the tricks of the trade to bilk unsuspecting people. On Monday, March 28 (check local listings), PBS’ “Independent Lens” documentary “An Honest Liar” profiles Randi not only from the stance of his performing career -- with clips from his many television appearances with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and others included – but also from his efforts to expose cheats, in part by staging hoaxes himself. “They just keep going because they’ve always got a sucker audience out there … some people, often in many cases elderly people and people who are not as well-educated as they might be,” Randi says of the faith healers, psychics and others he opposes. “I don’t expect everyone out there to be a genius that can solve these things, but the point is if they really need something at an emotional part of their life, a death in the family or a divorce, these things trigger that need. And they look for some consolation, and these people are ready to give them the consolation. It’s a pack of lies, but they are willing to collect on them.” Among those commenting on Randi’s life and work in “An Honest Liar” are Penn & Teller, “Science Guy” Bill Nye, music’s Alice Cooper, “MythBusters” staple Adam Savage … and Uri Geller, the self-declared psychic who supposedly can bend spoons just by using his mind, and who has been a particular target of Randi’s debunking attempts. “I can tell you very simply,” Randi purports of Geller’s technique. “You do it when no one is looking, and that’s exactly what Uri Geller does. Now, he’s a much younger man than I. I swear that if you give me a teaspoon or give me 20 teaspoons, I can probably hold them all in one hand -- but when Mr. Geller picks up a teaspoon, he picks it up with both hands as if it’s very heavy, turns away from the
Click or tap on icon for more! camera and says, ‘Come over here.’ And when you go over there, you see that the spoon is hanging out one side of his hand. It’s already bent.” During the making of “An Honest Liar,” an unexpected legal development involving Randi’s longtime partner, artist Jose Alvarez, and multiple identities “took the direction of the film in a very different path, but in the same path along the theme of the film,” says Tyler Measom, one of its producer-directors along with Justin Weinstein, who adds, “As documentary filmmakers, you care about your subject, or else you’d do something else. So, we were concerned. We were worried. We didn’t know what would happen.” However, Randi cited a Oliver Cromwell saying by telling them to proceed with a “warts and all” profile. The Toronto, Canada-born Randi allows that in his crusade against those who would use illusion improperly, “It’s very hard to convince some people, because they have very good educations, that they have been wrong. And many of them have admitted that they saw that I was speaking truth and that they were wrong … and, then, you get a letter two years later that says, ‘I looked over the evidence again. No. I’m convinced that the kids could bend spoons with their minds.’ And it’s discouraging, Yes, it is. But that’s my job.”
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‘Supergirl’ and ‘The Flash’
meet in a cross-network episode By Jay Bobbin If merging two series across different networks seems like a superhuman feat, a couple of shows ideal for that challenge have met it. The new Monday, March 28, episode of CBS’ “Supergirl” also involves the title character of The CW’s Tuesday adventure “The Flash.” The powerful, DC Comics-based alter egos of Kara Danvers (played by Melissa Benoist) and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) team up in a story that pits them against villainnesses Silver Banshee and Livewire (Italia Ricci, as the evil alias of the Siobhan Smythe role she’s been playing on “Supergirl,” and Brit Morgan). In making the crossover happen, it hasn’t hurt that the two shows share executive producers. One of them, Andrew Kreisberg, wrote the script with Michael Grassi – with fellow executive producer Greg Berlanti devising the story. “It’s so much fun to see those two characters together,” Kreisberg says. “It’s that same giddy feeling you got when you were a kid and you opened a comic book, and on the last ‘splash’ page of a Batman comic, Green Lantern showed up. “Melissa and Grant are both such easygoing, happy, positive hard-working No. 1’s on the call sheet,” adds Kreisberg, “to watch them work together and have fun and get such a kick out of it, it was a really special few weeks for everybody.”
Big production values have to be anticipated from a meeting of two super-icons, and Kreisberg admits, “We saved our shekels for this one. We took a little bit out of every (episode budget) surrounding it so we could really go to town on this. It feels huge; it feels epic. We shot in the desert, we shot in downtown L.A., and it’s been a blast.” With The CW’s “Arrow” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” also under the same shingle, the producers rarely if ever have a moment that’s less than busy ... so they’re grateful for all the relationships that facilitated the “Supergirl”/“The Flash” crossover. Kreisberg reflects, “Because it was The CW and CBS (which share ownerships), and because both shows are produced by Warner Bros. Television – which owns The CW with CBS – it wasn’t quite as tricky as it might have been, had we been trying to cross over with a show that was on Fox or NBC. “At the end of the day, everybody was as excited by the prospect of this as we were ... and they’re comic-book fans, and fans of these shows, especially (Warner Bros. Television president) Peter Roth and (CW chief) Mark Pedowitz. They wanted to see this, I think, just as much as we did and the fans did.”
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SPORTS
J.B.Holmes
Right at Holmes in Houston Story on next page Full Name: John Bradley Holmes Born: April 26, 1982 Birthplace: Campbellsville, Ky.
Height/Weight: 5 foot 11 inches, 190-pounds College: University of Kentucky Turned Pro: 2005
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PGA Tour Wins: 4 Honors and Achievements: Has played in 22 Masters, making the cut in 12 of them; SEC Champion
SPORTS
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By Dan Ladd J.B. Holmes hasn’t won a PGA event since his victory at the Shell Houston Open in 2015. He’s hoping for a repeat performance of that effort when the action picks up from the Golf Club of Houston, Saturday, April 2, on NBC. With The Masters sneaking up on members of the PGA Tour the time is right for an oft-contender like Holmes to catch his foes looking ahead. Holmes could use a push in both the money and Fed Ex Cup standings, and at times, has shown some poise. He had back-to-back top ten finishes (sixth place in both) at the Farmers Insurance Open and Waste Management Phoenix Open. He also finished eighth at the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event, and placed just outside the top-ten in three other tournaments. Still, at press-time he was 40th in point standings and was ranked 32nd in the money leaders standings. If Holmes can catch fire, his chances of climbing in both standings is excellent. Household names like Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson are struggling outside the top-ten with only Bubba Watson among the more popular golfers making that cut. Brandt Snedeker, Adam Scott and Kevin Kisner have been more common on the leader boards and in the standings thus far.
J.B.Holmes
Still, a lot of golf remains, including that big tournament at Augusta next weekend. For now, J.B. Holmes would be content to not only notch another top-ten finish, but find his name at the top of the leader board for the first time in a year.
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MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's Theatrical movie review in question to make it fresh ... and Jackman largely does.
You just never say “never” to some people, and “Eddie the Eagle” is one of them.
Jim Broadbent and Christopher Walken also turn up in the cast directed by actor Dexter Fletcher (who made a memorable screen underdog himself in “The Rachel Papers”), with Walken making his usual sort of impact that can’t be denied even in the shortest of roles. Much as Jackman plays mentor to Egerton. Walken plays that to Jackman; it’s one of the movie’s top treats to see them work together, brief though it is.
The British athlete named Michael “Eddie” Edwards fuels the latest example of a genre that’s been around for some time now: the feelgood true-sports movie. If you know the story being dramatized, there’s little room for surprise, though the result still can leave you smiling. That’s exactly the effect, as Taron Egerton (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) plays Eddie, looked down upon by the British selection team for the 1988 Winter Olympics. When he’s cut from the downhill-skiing squad, the underdog doesn’t take it lightly, redirecting his focus to ski jumping. The focus is quite intense, too. Eddie refuses to let anything or anyone deter him from his goal, thanks to his own drive and the unflagging support of his parents. And, ultimately, thanks also to an initially reluctant mentor – a veteran of the sport played by Hugh Jackman. Jackman actually is much of the fun here, playing a burnout who eventually redeems himself by training our hero. You’ve seen that character in movies a zillion times, so it’s up to the actor
And then, there’s the matter of the skiing itself, which “Eddie the Eagle” captures quite well. There certainly are bumps along the way, and it’s an art in itself to show those effectively. Fletcher achieves that nicely, leading up to the payoff at the Calgary Olympics when Eddie finally has to give all he has to the dream he’s pursued.
‘Eddie the
Eagle’ flies on the ski slopes
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Having the cameras at the top of the ski jump gives viewers the youare-there feeling that the picture‘s conclusion virtually demands, and it’s satisfying to have made the journey with the title character all the way to that point. In the end, “Eddie the Eagle” doesn’t quite soar ... but for what its aim is, it flies high enough.
MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's movie review movies to watch
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“THE HATEFUL EIGHT” Part of the fun of any Quentin Tarantino project lies in sensing the filmmaker’s evident love for conventions of earlier movies, and how he’ll incorporate those into his own by putting twists on them. This Western is another example, boasting an impressive core group of players that includes Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Demian Bichir, Walton Goggins (“Justified”), Michael Madsen, Tarantino-film regular Samuel L. Jackson and recent Oscar nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh. Most of them play strangers who become stagecoach companions, but a blizzard puts a halt to their travels, and resulting complications and suspicions leave in doubt who will survive. Channing Tatum and Lee Horsley (“Matt Houston”) also appear, and writer-director Tarantino narrates the lengthy, often vicious saga. The music score is by the celebrated Ennio Morricone. ››› (R: AS, N, P, GV) (Also on Blu-ray)
Top Pick
DVD
Pictured: Samuel L. Jackson
upcoming DVD releases
Coming Soon on DVD... “THE EXPANSE: SEASON ONE” (April 5): Earthlings and Martians try to coexist in the Syfy series; stars include Thomas Jane and Shohreh Aghdashloo. (Not rated: AS, P, V) “STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS” (April 5): The enormously popular fantasy franchise gets another chapter; returnees include Harrison Ford, and Daisy Ridley and John Boyega also star. (PG-13: V) “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) Pictured: Thomas Jane
“JACKIE ROBINSON” (April 12): The same week it debuts on PBS, Ken Burns’ profile of the baseball and civil-rights icon (voiced in some sequences by Jamie Foxx) comes to home video. (Not rated) “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) “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)
Family Viewing Ratings AS Adult situations
P Profanity
V Violence
N Nudity
GV Graphic Violence
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FAVORITE SHOWS
Jaimie Alexander stars in “Blindspot”
James Corden “The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special”
SUNDAY 8 p.m. on CBS Madam Secretary Veteran television journalist Jane Pauley becomes the latest personality to portray herself on this show in the new episode “On the Clock.” She apparently brings her ”A” game, since she conducts what’s described as a “grueling” interview with Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) — who has other worries here, since a plane crash affects the peace talks she’s staging with the prime ministers of Israel and Pakistan. Henry (Tim Daly) tries to help find a terrorist. New
Taraji P. Henson stars in “Empire”
MONDAY 10:01 p.m. on NBC Blindspot Jane (Jaimie Alexander) takes matters into her own hands to protect her comrades in the new episode “Older Cutthroat Canyon,” as a painting stolen from a gallery — and incorporating one of her tattoos — becomes the blueprint for a series of attacks on the team. To stop the threat, Jane makes herself disappear. Jordana Spiro and Francois Arnaud continue their guest roles. Sullivan Stapleton, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Ashley Johnson also star. New
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Tea Leoni stars in “Madam Secretary”
TUESDAY 10 p.m. on CBS The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special One of the most popular and talkedabout features of James Corden’s program showcase his teamings with various music stars, singing the given artist’s hits while tooling around with him or her in an automobile. This new special compiles many of those segments, with Corden’s sessions with Adele and Elton John certain to be among the ones excerpted. There’s also a new example staged specifically for this hour, with Jennifer Lopez joining Corden on the road. New
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FAVORITE SHOWS WEDNESDAY 9 p.m. on FOX Empire Season 2 of the drama resumes with the spring-premiere episode, “Death Will Have His Day,” as Lucious (Terrence Howard) is determined to get his company back. Not unexpectedly, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) has her own ideas about that. The entire Lyon family ends up shaken by a sudden tragedy. Guest stars include Naomi Campbell and William Fichtner. Jussie Smollett, Bryshere “Yazz” Gray, Grace Gealey and Gabourey Sidibe also star. New
FRIDAY 9 p.m. on FOX Hell’s Kitchen Who doesn’t like ice cream? That may be a dangerous question to pose to the contestants in the new episode “7 Chefs Compete,” as they take a blind taste test to name different flavors. If three wrong guesses are made, a different teammate will suffer the consequences. The winners get a kitchenware shopping spree, while the losers get to deal with malodorous fruits. “Family Ties” alum Meredith Baxter and Olympic-medalist swimmer Haley Anderson are guests. Gordon Ramsay hosts. New
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SATURDAY 8 p.m. on FOX Rosewood Actor and director Vondie CurtisHall (“Chicago Hope”) guest stars as Rosewood’s (Morris Chestnut) dad, who generates problems for his son during a trial in which both are testifying, in “Quadriplegia and Quality Time.” The father also causes a shock for his son when he and Donna (Lorraine Toussaint) offer a revelation. Mackenzie Astin also guest stars. Jaina Lee Ortiz and Gabrielle Dennis also star.
THURSDAY 10 p.m. on FX Archer Macho superspy and phrasing enthusiast Sterling Archer (voice of H. Jon Benjamin) returns for his seventh season of animated adventures with the new episode “The Figgis Agency,” which finds Archer breaking into a mansion to restore the honor of a Hollywood starlet. Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer and Amber Nash round out the principal voice cast. New 10 p.m. on HISTORY Vikings Ambitious King Ecbert (Linus Roache) schemes to gain the crown of Mercia, but the real action is happening in Paris, where the Vikings attack again with considerable force. Rollo’s (Clive Standen) defenses prove to be formidable, however. Back in Kattegat, the mysterious wanderer Harbard (guest star Kevin Durand) reappears and causes a stir among the women of the community in the new episode “The Profit and the Loss.” New
Morris Chestnut stars in “Rosewood”
Gordon Ramsay hosts “Hell’s Kitchen”
“Archer”
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