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Sharon Stone meets‘Agent X’
Sharon Stone and Jeff Hephner star in “Agent X,” premiering Sunday on TNT.
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Jaimie Alexander Bruce Campbell Eddie Jackson Jeremy Jordan David Tutera
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CELEBRITY
“Flesh and Bone”
“He knows that she can save his company.” - Ben Daniels
4 Jaimie Alexander
“Blindspot” star finds new meaning to “Tattoo You.”
5 Bruce Campbell
Campbell now knows his stuff.
6 Eddie Jackson
Trading football for a food truck.
8 Jeremy Jordan
“Supergirl’s” pal doesn’t mind not being musical.
“With Bob & David” “We don’t have rules now.” - Bob Odenkirk
9 David Tutera
Get the details here! “2 Broke Girls” Beth Behrs kept “faith and hope” for sitcom’s return.
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7 “Uncorked”
Featuring Sommeliers.
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18-19 Ben Bishop Lightning quick!
“Agent X”
Sharon Stone has the basic instincts to play the vice president.
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20-21 Featuring: Theatrical
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16 “DONNY!”
Ad man Deutsch doesn’t mind being “kind of an idiot.”
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STORY
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By Jay Bobbin Sharon Stone knows and has worked with so many politicians, she already had a lot of her research done to play a vice president.
it all. We’ve just been so lucky (with the cast), and because we’re shooting in town (Los Angeles), we’ve been blessed with the most magnificent crew.”
Still iconic for her “Basic Instinct” and Golden Globe Awardwinning “Casino” performances two decades later, the actress is tackling her first weekly television role since 1983’s “Bay City Blues.” She’s also an executive producer as TNT’s “Agent X” premieres with back-to-back episodes Sunday, Nov. 8, casting her as a newly installed second-incommand who secretly has a secret agent (Jeff Hephner, “Boss”) at her disposal ... as have vice presidents before her, as her right-hand man (Gerald McRaney) explains.
Stone doesn’t deny she’d like “Agent X” to have the effect of encouraging “Americans to embrace women in positions of political power,” and she says with a hearty laugh, “I think it’s time, because it’s clear that the men have been killing us. If we would like to live a little longer and stop having so many wars ... I love what the Pope said, that we are part of our environment. That’s a beautiful way to look at things, and I think women have an easier time addressing that. I also think women are a little more nurturing, by nature, and less inclined to make the first choice to kill.”
“We’re just pounding to be good,” Stone says, adding that she’s been “a giant pain in the rear” in her producing capacity. She muses that she likes the show’s conceit that vice presidents covertly have been sending spies around the world to take care of dirty work: “Now we know why we like Joe Biden so much. He’s been kicking a.. under the cloak of darkness. I think it’s absolutely adorable. It’s fun and exciting, and it holds what we might say is a certain kind of lurid possibility.” Jamey Sheridan (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), Mike Colter (“The Good Wife”) and – as the president – John Shea also star in “Agent X,” and for added evidence of the impressive casting around Stone, look no further than James Earl Jones (“my friend for 30 years,” Stone notes) as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Also noteworthy: Olga Fonda (“The Vampire Diaries”) as a Russian spy who engages in some entertaining court-and-spark with Hephner’s John Case. “He’s so charming and attractive and interesting,” Stone says of Hephner, “and he’s such a good actor. He’s just got
In many scenes of “Agent X,” the positioning and lighting (and hairstyle) make it hard to deny the resemblance of Stone’s widowed-by-mystery Natalie Maccabee to a certain current political candidate, and the star allows she’s “a big fan of Hillary Clinton. I don’t like the fact that she has to pander to be liked, when I think respect and admiration are bigger keys to a presidential candidate.” Long associated with politicians through her global work with peacekeeping campaigns and the AIDS research foundation amfAR, Stone admits “Agent X” is a big step in recharging her career after dealing with a health crisis (a subarachnoid hemorrhage) and raising adopted children. “I went around and did a bunch of different series,” she reflects. “I did ‘Will & Grace,’ I did ‘Huff,’ I won an Emmy for ‘The Practice’ – I tried out all these series to see what type would be good and appropriate for me. Then, I didn’t want to do it without a wonderful production team, and then I wanted to gather the best group of writers. It’s like picking cherries.”
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
Jaimie
Alexander of ‘Blindspot’ Monday on NBC Click or tap on icon for more!
How is the full-bodytattoo process for you in making “Blindspot”?
It takes about seven-and-a-half hours to apply. It can last a few days you’ll see that sometimes I’m in short sleeves or a hoodie, and I will just put on the tattoos that are showing ... mostly to save time. Reading the (pilot) script, I definitely realized it was going to be quite the task. But I think if you come from a place of acceptance, you just go with the flow. We have a great time. We have a great crew that helps supply these tattoos, and we listen to Beatles on Pandora. We have good coffee and good conversation, and the hours fly by.
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Has it taken a lot to master the physicality you display on “Blindspot”?
I have a huge fight background, so my own skill set – aside from my character’s – definitely influences my performance and makes it possible. I was a wrestler growing up. Lady Sif (Alexander’s role in the “Thor” movies), her moves are very fancy, graceful, big, and glittery in a way. And this character’s hand-to-hand combat (is) brutal, efficient, quick and realistic. I started the female team at my school to create an opportunity to learn selfdefense for the young women in my grade and the grade below mine. I’ve always been sort of an activist in pro equality, and it was a skill set that I knew that I could advance in, so I wanted to start the team.
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Are you surprised by how well your background has served you in your acting career?
It’s funny, because I used to think everything that I was doing when I was young was absolutely normal. And then I came to Hollywood and people were like, “Wow, that’s so abnormal.” But my childhood definitely shaped me, who I am today. And everything that I went through makes it possible for me to play these characters. And I take influence from my past, for sure.
CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
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Bruce
Campbell ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ Saturday on Starz From a viewer’s standpoint, your character of Ash Williams in Starz’s “Ash vs Evil Dead” looks like a lot of fun to play. Is he?
Well, he’s an idiot so those characters are fun because it’s a little more boring playing the guys who are flawless, perfect sort of hero guys. That to me is a bore. I don’t like it; I don’t get it. I could have done soap operas. You know, I was a decent-looking guy. I could have done that but not interested.
At what point did you realize Ash had enough legs to bring him back for a series?
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Well, it’s been tormenting me for years. You know, that’s been an ongoing chorus from fans, ... “We need more.” So we gave them a remake a couple of years ago. They thought that was OK but it wasn’t what they really wanted. They wanted Ash back. They wanted Sam (Raimi, executive producer) back. And so we really just felt – I feel like a manufacturer – “let’s give these people what they want.” And you know, it’s been really fun doing that. Because we forgot, Sam and I, how much fun we had making these movies. ... But you know, I’ve been in a bunch of Sam’s other movies just doing little gag cameos but never on that daily one-onone basis like we were. And that was great because the old man has learned a lot of tricks, I’ve learned a few tricks and we can apply that toward the same, old character that got us the show, the movie that got us all in the business. It’s fun to be able to now, as I think experienced people in the business, revisit that character, kind of knowing more. You know, I didn’t know s... as an actor playing Ash the very first time and so it’s great to go back and revisit Ash when you do know s... as an actor. So I’ve enjoyed that process. November 8 - 14, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 5
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CELEBRITY George Dickie’s Q&A
Eddie Jackson of ‘BBQ Blitz’ Friday on Food Network
How does a former NFL player such as yourself wind up in the culinary arts?
Well, I’ve been cooking my whole life and it’s one of those things where when I got done playing football, it was like, “What else do I love to do?” And it was food and cooking and so that’s what I started doing. When I finished playing, I was just cooking all the time and just trying to figure out a way that I could make this a part of my life. And I just opened up my food truck and started cooking for people privately and ended up where I am today.
Do you still live in Dallas?
I live in Houston, Texas, and I have a food truck there. We basically specialize in doing catered events and things like that, but also have it parked behind my gym and we do healthy meals throughout the week.
What’s your specialty?
Well, my food truck is called Caribbean Grill and so we utilize a lot of grilled items and stuff like that. And just not like barbecued brisket and ribs and stuff like that, but we do everything. We grill out vegetables. We grill out all of our seafood and stuff like that. So it utilizes every part of grilling and barbecuing.
What do you look for in good barbecue?
If I go to an area, I want to eat that type of barbecue that it’s known for. When I’m in Miami, there are big Caribbean flavors down there, so I want to taste some Caribbean-style barbecue. If I’m in Kansas City, I want to try the best Kansas Citystyle barbecue. Texas and so on and so forth, all over the country. And I think that’s going to be the beauty of the show because it’s a traveling show and everyone has different interpretations of what barbecuing and grilling is to them, whether it’s the Carolinas going all the way up to New York ... .
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FOOD George Dickie’s What's for Dinner
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Sommeliers hit the bottle to hit the books on Esquire’s ‘Uncorked’
If you think the bar or CPA exams are the gold standard in terms of degree of difficulty, a unique new series premiering this week on Esquire Network might convince you otherwise. In “Uncorked,” a six-part, hourlong series premiering Tuesday, Nov. 10, six wine experts prepare to take the master sommelier exam, a test whose body of knowledge is so all-encompassing that only 230 people have passed it in its 40-plus-year history. The exam is in three parts: service, where you must exhibit the skills to perfectly present and serve wine to the most discerning of palates; taste, where you must be able to identify a wine’s varietal, year and even the village where the grapes were grown just by blind sipping; and theory, the written portion in which you’re asked about such things as alcohol content and the elevation in which some varietals are grown. And there’s no way to cram for this exam, according to one of the sommeliers on the show, Josh Nadel. Much of the knowledge contained in these tests can be acquired only through experience.
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Pictured: Josh Nadel
“When you get into service and tasting, part of that’s going to be experience on the floor and comfort in a service environment that you get from working over the course of a minimum of a few years in the restaurant business,” the native New Yorker says. “If you started a sommelier with the sole goal of passing the master sommelier exam, I would think you’d probably be ready for the service exam an absolute minimum of three to four years – maybe. And that’s literally having no other goal besides being ready for that. And then the tasting exam is also something that takes years to master and years of exposure. So it’s less cramming and more relentless and methodical and kind of maniacal focus over the course of many years on a very consistent basis.” Passing the exam means entry into a highly exclusive world where membership can lead to the most desirable jobs in the food and wine industry. But Nadel, already the executive beverage director for seven restaurants in New York and Miami, intends to use his certification to teach. “Everybody in my family, literally, on my mom and dad’s side, is a teacher or has been involved in education in some way, shape or form for like three generations,” he says. “So there’s something in my genes that makes me want to teach. And the Court of Master Sommelier has quickly become the gold standard for education and mentoring of the best and the brightest sommeliers around the world, and that’s the motivation for me.”
What book are you currently reading?
“To be perfectly honest, I am reading a book called ‘The Quest’ by Daniel Yergin. And it is a book about energy security and the remaking of the modern world. It’s basically one of the world’s foremost authorities on the history of oil and gas exploration going back to the Rockefellers.”
What did you have for dinner last night?
“For dinner last night ... I made refried bean buckwheat tacos (laughs) with organic brown rice in California.”
What is your next project? “My next project is to learn how to play the piano.”
When was the last vacation you took, where and why? “The last vacation I took was ... I went to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara with my wife in the springtime.”
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Celebrity ScooP
Jeremy Jord an Everyone needs a trusted confidant ... even a superhero. Or superheroine, in the case of “Supergirl.” Jeremy Jordan is filling the role of co-worker and best pal of the Girl of Steel (played by Melissa Benoist) in CBS’ new Monday adventure show. Though the part of Winslow “Winn” Schott, who also is known as the Toyman in the Superman comic series, doesn’t involve – at least not yet – the ample singing talent he displayed on NBC’s “Smash” and in the movie “The Last Five Years,” Jordan is very happy with his latest gig. “One of the things that really excited me about doing this was the fact that I was able to land a series that didn’t rely on my musical abilities,” he says. “That was a big goal of this past pilot season for me when I was going out for shows ... to kind of take a step way from that, honestly. I wouldn’t be opposed to (singing) if they asked me, but I’m certainly not expecting anything like that. And I’m not pushing for it, either.” On the other hand, Jordan would embrace being involved in the stunt work that “Supergirl” surely encompasses. “I would love to,” he confirms, “though you’re more likely to see me on the back end of that stuff, like getting saved. I don’t foresee any superhuman strength for myself anytime soon.” Having also appeared on Broadway in “Rock of Ages,” “Newsies” and a musical version of “Bonnie & Clyde,” Jordan could be deemed to have that sort of strength already for the stamina it takes to do so many live performances weekly. Still, he reasons that each undertaking has its own level of demand. “You try to challenge yourself a little bit more with each new project, and hopefully, you don’t hit a plateau ... ever. You try to keep pushing yourself, because it’s when you feel you’ve hit it that it’s a warning signal. Nobody’s ever going to be perfect, ever, so I just try to better myself as a person and as an actor. And every opportunity I get to explore that, I take.”
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Click or tap on icon for more! Birthdate: Nov. 20, 1984 Birthplace: Corpus Christi, Texas Current residence: Los Angeles Marital status: Married to actress-singer-dancer Ashley Spencer Other television work includes: “Smash,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Elementary,” “Submissions Only” Movie work includes: “The Last Five Years,” “Joyful Noise,” “Common Change” On his “Supergirl” role: “One of the things I liked the most about the character when I read the script was his relatability. He’s the nerd’s way in, the sort of fanboy proxy on the show, and that’s a really fun aspect of it. It provides a lot of comedic opportunities. More often than not, my lines are punch lines, at least in the beginning.”
CELEBRITY CelebritY profile
DavidTut era
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- Born April 23, 1966 in Port Chester, NY.
- His grandfather, a successful florist, first noticed his grandson’s artistic ability at an early age and encouraged him to pursue his destiny. - At age 19, he opened his own event planning business. - The first event he planned was a Bar Mitzvah. - In 2008, his show “My Fair Wedding” debuted on WE tv. - He has had cameos on the popular daytime soap “The Young & the Restless” and TV Land’s “The Exes.” - He was honored by Life & Style Magazine as “Best Celebrity Wedding Planner.”
David Tutera is a wedding and entertaining event specialist who can currently be seen in “David Tutera’s CELEBrations on WE tv.” - He has also designed events for several charities including the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids) and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. - Honored by Modern Bride magazine as one of the top 25 trendsetters of the year, he was also awarded best celebrity wedding planner by Life & Style Magazine. - He has written several books including “The Big White Book of Weddings,” “America Entertains: A Year of Imaginative Parties” and “Disney’s Fair Tale Weddings”. - He has designed his own fashion lines, including Wedding Dresses by David Tutera for Mon Cheri, as well as do it yourself wedding crafts, lines of home goods and various other products. - The third season of his current WE tv show “David Tutera’s CELEBrations” kicked off at the end of October. - Currently lives in Los Angeles with his daughter Cielo and his rescue dog Lucy. November 8 - 14, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 9
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CELEBRITY
“There’s an awful lot of people, like (‘The Godfather’ director) Francis Ford Coppola, who don’t necessarily do ‘The Tonight Show’ or those kinds of shows … but when you say, ‘We are not going to talk about show business, we are going to talk about just cars and automotive repair,’ (they reply,) ‘Oh, great.’ And it’s really been terrific.” – Jay Leno of “Jay Leno’s Garage” on CNBC, about getting celebrity guests for the program
“We’re the most irreverent family in history. There’s two brothers and two sisters, and my mother was just (like), ‘Oh, isn’t everything nice?’ Anything I wanted to do, she said, ‘You can do (it).’ And my dad said, ‘You want to be an actor? That’s a 10,000to-1 bet against you.’ But my mother said, ‘OK, little kid.’ So, here I am,” – James Brolin of “Life in Pieces” on CBS
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“I found … stuff about him that I had no idea about and I certainly never got taught about in art history or even in the most basic lessons in school, which was what a difficult, headstrong, bigoted, temperamental, tantrum-throwing guy he was and how full of himself he was.” – Tom Riley of “Da Vinci’s Demons” on Starz, on what he found out about Leonardo da Vinci in his research for the part
CELEBRITY
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ON DVRs
Bruce Campbell of “Ash vs Evil Dead” on Starz “I record Lawrence Welk. I record a fair amount of news. But the funny thing is the DVR is fading out now just because of what I can get on my iPad just right now, just live.”
Teyonah Parris of “Survivor’s Remorse” on Starz “ ‘Survivor’s Remorse,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ for sure. Yeah, I haven’t watched TV in a while. A long while. That’s it.”
Jane Lynch of the forthcoming “Angel From Hell” on CBS “ ‘House of Cards’ is masterful, and I also watch ‘Episodes’ and ‘ Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.’ ”
Anna Faris of “Mom” on CBS “ ‘House of Cards’ is a favorite, and I really, really love ’The Last Man on Earth.’ I also love ‘Veep’ and ’Silicon Valley’ – and ‘Game of Thrones’ is a little like watching a football game for me: ‘Wait, can’t there be more establishing shots? I don’t know where we are anymore.’ It’s fun to watch it with fellow fans. It’s fun group viewing.” November 8 - 14, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 11
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STORY
A powerful
‘Flesh and Bone’ “Flesh and Bone” premieres Sunday on Starz.
Story on next page
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STORY
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By George Dickie Probably one of the most impressive things about Starz’s dark new drama “Flesh and Bone” is Ben Daniels’ powerful performance as a struggling ballet company’s hard-driving artistic director. In the eight-hour limited series that premieres Sunday, Nov. 8, Daniels stars as Paul Graydon, the bipolar founder and artistic director of the struggling American Ballet Company in New York City. A former dancer who sees himself as a nurturer of talent, Paul is feeling the heat from his company’s financial woes and sees his salvation in the form of young Claire Robbins. Claire, played by newcomer Sarah Hay, arrives at his doorstep a talented ballerina and a wounded soul, with an abusive home life in her history and a tendency toward self-destruction. The only way to bring her talent to full fruition, Paul feels, is to be tough with her – almost obsessively so. His screaming fits of rage make it obvious that he’s a grenade waiting to go off.
Click or tap on icon for more! her because he’s now dependent on her, so it’s a highly complicated, volatile situation.” For Daniels, a pleasant, soft-spoken Briton, getting into the skin of the martinet American Paul took a lot of transformation, “both physically, and understanding where he’s from emotionally as someone who is bipolar, has bipolar disorder, and how that affects his mood episodes within each scene because they’re very extreme. And then obviously physically because he was a principal dancer who enjoyed great fame and stardom for years before a career-ending injury. I’ve never danced in my life, so that was intense to try and pull that off.” For Hay, an experienced ballerina, trying her hand at acting meant risk, not only for possibly failing as an actor but also losing her place in the ballet world. “When I was approached for the role, at first I really didn’t think I was going to get it,” says Hay, who currently performs for the Dresden Semperoper Ballet in Germany. “So I thought, ‘OK, I’ll give it a try and see what happens.’ When I got it, it was exciting but also very nerve racking because you can lose your status and your place in the dance world very easily. You are very easily replaced. It’s kind of like a chess game for the director, you know.
“He needs her because his company is in a financially precarious position and it’s sort of on the downward spiral,” the 51-year-old actor says. “She walks in, she’s like a miracle. He recognizes something in her that’s broken that also is within him. “She’s a transcendent ballerina and he knows that she can save his company,” he continues. “He falls in love with her the moment he sees her, which also means he hates
“And, yes, so it was nerve racking, but I decided, ultimately, it was the best decision for me in my life right now, and I couldn’t have made a better decision.”
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STORY
Bob and David
are back Bob Odenkirk stars in “With Bob & David,” premiering Friday on Netflix.
Story on next page
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STORY
Netflix’s ‘With Bob & David’ reunites
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Emmy-nominated comedy team By George Dickie
Bob Odenkirk and David Cross want to make it clear that in no way will their new Netflix series “With Bob & David” resemble their previous sketch comedy effort “Mr. Show.” Except for one thing. “The part where David and I do a show and we’re funny,” Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”) deadpans. “That’s the part we’re bringing back.” The new series, which drops with four half-hour episodes and an hourlong “Making of” special on Friday, Nov. 13, reassembles much of the cast and creative team of the Emmy-nominated 1995-98 HBO cult favorite – including regulars Paul F. Tompkins, Jill Talley, Jay Johnston, John Ennis and Brian Posehn and co-executive producers Mark Rivers and Dino Stamatopoulos – in skits that parody everything from organized religion and third-wave feminism to modern television and science fiction, all done before a studio audience and with a Monty Python influence very much in evidence. “That was the greatest show ever and still is,” Odenkirk says. “The difference is going to come about basically in the fact that we’re older,” Cross (“Arrested Development”) explains. “It’s still us and it’s still us working together and with a number of the old cast and a number of the writers, which we’ve wanted to do. Not to re-create ‘Mr. Show’ at all. We were very specific about making some differences. I don’t think it’s wholly different. It looks different, I think. It feels different.” Part of that can be owed to the fact that this was created for a streaming service, which didn’t bind the creative
Pictured: David Cross (left) and Bob Odenkirk
team to the rules of a traditional cable or broadcast network. “I think we entered into it with the spirit that we could do anything we want,” Odenkirk says. “It has a new name, it has a new place to exist, Netflix. We don’ t have a time limitation at Netflix like HBO or a network would have. You don’t have to get it done in a certain number of minutes, and we just didn’t want to feel like we owed anything to the old show because this was new. It has a new name and we intended to do it new. In the end, we ended up working with a lot of the old writers and a lot of the old cast because we all got along so well and we were doing great together. But we never felt the responsibility to do any of that s... . “And in fact,” Odenkirk continues, “the pieces sometimes connect up, sometimes they don’t. It doesn’t have an opening with a song and it kind of goes its own way any which way it wants to go. And in that way it’s different because there were rules at ‘Mr. Show’ and we don’t have rules now.”
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STORY
‘Donny!’
lets ad man Deutsch play his
alternate self
By Jay Bobbin
Pictured: Donny Deutsch
Donny Deutsch isn’t Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David or Billy of the boys’ commercial, a boy goes, ‘I won.’ You know, it’s Crystal, but he has a sense of what it’s like to be them – or a zero-sum game ... where, to me, women are brilliant and a version of them. smart and powerful without all of the bulls***. I basically am the butt of the joke in this show, and the women kind of Those performers have played variations of themselves in rule. And that’s the way I kind of see it in real life, also.” sitcoms, and now, rather brash advertising guru and former CNBC “The Big Idea” host Deutsch is doing the same. The talk-show milieu of “Donny!” is built for guest He stars as himself (sort of) as the USA Network series appearances, and Regis Philbin, Christie Brinkley, “Donny!” premieres Tuesday, Nov. 10, making him the “Today’s” Hoda Kotb and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” team single-dad host of a weekday talk show ... and as soon as of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are among the cameras are off, he shows himself less than confident those featured – “just some really interesting New York in many areas he has purported to be a know-it-all about. characters,” Deutsch notes, “and all playing themselves. There’s a lot of surprises that will pop up in there, so it’s kind of a fun thing. And the other theme about the show “I’ve been on every (talk) show you can,” Deutsch says, “whether it was filling in for Piers Morgan (on CNN) or the that’s interesting, it’s set against a backdrop of a very highend New York lifestyle, but it’s just everyday problems.” ‘Today’ show, and so many of these TV personalities are quite different on-air than they are off the air. And the more I met them, it kind of became an impetus that this would be For anyone not already familiar with him, Deutsch believes a funny thing to do and kind of use that as a platform.” “Donny!” gets that job done quickly and effectively. “I’ve been very lucky,” he reflects. “I’ve had a very fun, exciting Though the series centers around Deutsch, there’s also a life and do all these TV things and have had success in advertising. And you sometimes can get put in a certain big female presence: Emily Tarver portrays his executive producer, Meera Rohit Kumbhani (“Weird Loners”) appears light, whereas in reality, I am a complete idiot, and I’m struggling every day. And my kids are doing stuff that you as an assistant, and Fiona Robert portrays his teenage can get very caught up in. daughter. “This is true to my real life,” Deutsch maintains, “in that I come from the Bill Clinton school of, ‘Just surround yourself with brilliant women.’ And I actually think “That’s why I kind of laugh at my own life sometimes, women are superior to men. I’ve written that in one of my watching people react to me if they’ve seen me on TV or books. they know I’ve been a successful business guy. Inside, I know that I’m just kind of an idiot, and I’ve never lost sight “If you watch a Saturday morning TV commercial for a little of that. Actually, the people I respect most, some really girl’s game or toy, at the end, girls are always collaborating. successful people, are the people that have ... I don’t want to call it a sense of fraudulence, but I know there’s a lot of They are giggling at the end of a commercial. At the end luck involved. And I don’t take any of it for granted.” Page 16 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote November 8 - 14, 2015
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STORY
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Still ‘broke,’
but not out: ‘2 Broke Girls’ begins Season 5 By Jay Bobbin Their characters still may be relatively broke, but since they’re entering Season 5 with earlier episodes now in wide syndication, it’s not quite that way for the actresses who play the “2 Broke Girls.” Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs are getting a later start than usual as New York waitresses and cupcake entrepreneurs Max and Caroline, but they return to CBS with new episodes Thursday, Nov. 12. Right off the bat, things are tough all over for them as both their cupcake-sales window and the diner where they work for boss Han (Matthew Moy) are targeted for destruction by city officials. “We’ve been back at it since the first week of August,” Behrs says of prepping to be called back into the lineup, which happened sooner than later when CBS decided to postpone the premiere of Jane Lynch’s “Angel From Hell” until early 2016. “We were making the episodes as great as they could be – as always – in faith and hope that no matter when we were back on the air, our fans would find us. We were just happy to be making the episodes, knowing they were going to be seen.” They’ll be seen on a different night now, since the show created by executive producers Michael Patrick King (“Sex and the City”) and Whitney Cummings is moving from its former Monday berth. “It’s an honor in itself,” Behrs reflects of joining a CBS Thursday-comedy schedule that also includes “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mom” and the relatively new “Life in Pieces” (also relocating from Mondays). “All those shows are awesome, and I’m a fan of them all, so I think it’ll be a really fun lineup. And hopefully, we’ll get some new fans from syndication.” Indeed, Behrs is glad to be starting a “2 Broke Girls” season for the first time while past episodes get frequent weeknight play on many local stations and TBS: “It’s been interesting
Click or tap on icon for more! Pictured: Kat Dennings (left) and Beth Behrs
to find, in the day-to-day fan interactions, that a lot of younger fans have found it. Girls between the ages of 13 and 16 are coming up to me more, and I think that’s because of syndication. I used to watch reruns of ‘Friends’ and ‘Will & Grace’ when I was doing my homework, so I feel like maybe they’re finding the show that way, which is really cool.” Besides her acting, which also brought her a role opposite two-time Oscar winner Sally Field in the recently filmed movie “Hello, My Name Is Doris.” Behrs is embarking on another career: author. She’s working on a self-help book with a humorous tone and also a strong health slant, but she remains devoted to her series, which she says may take Caroline and Max to Los Angeles in an extended story arc. “The relationship between Kat and I has developed,” Behrs notes of her principal co-star. “Now, she’s literally one of my closest friends, if not the closest; it’s almost beyond sisters at this point, and I think the show reflects that our friendship is much more evolved, as is that of the girls on the show. We’re insepararable now, and I think that helps on screen. People are able to see how close we are, I hope.”
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SPORTS
Lightning’s Ben Bishop hopes to shutout the competition Story on next page Full Name: Benjamin Bishop III
Height/Weight: 6 foot 7 inches/216 pounds
Born: November 21, 1986
Position: Goalie
Birthplace: Denver, Colorado
No.: 1 Catches: Left
Drafted: 85th overall pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2005 Teams: Tampa Bay Lightning 2013-present; Ottawa Senators, 20122013; St. Louis Blues, 20052012
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Honors and Achievements: Stanley Cup Finals, 2015; One of only three goalies in NHL history to record two, game seven shutouts in a single postseason, 2015; AHL All Star game MVP, 2012; NAHL National Championship, 2005
SPORTS
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By Dan Ladd Being a goalie in the NHL is one of the most difficult jobs in sports. Sometimes Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes it look easy. Bishop and the rest of the defending Eastern Conference champions will host the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday, Nov. 10, on NBCSN. Bishop’s tenure in hockey has been solid, but just as his college career came up short of a National title, so has his NHL career. Bishop did hoist a championship trophy early as a junior leaguer with the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League. He then spent three seasons at the University of Maine, leading the Black Bears to two Frozen Four tournaments; losing each time in the semi-finals. Bishop was drafted as the 85th overall pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2005 and by 2008 was seeing time on the NHL ice. Still, platooning between the NHL and AHL became a regular occurrence and he was eventually traded to the Ottawa Senators. He landed in Tampa Bay in 2013, where he began to excel, as did the Lightning. The big goalie made history during the Lightning’s run to last season’s Stanley Cup finals, his playoffs debut, when he shut out the New York Rangers, not once, but twice. That had never been done to the Rangers before and their Game 7 loss to Bishop and the Lightning at home was also a first.
BenBishop
Bishop and the Lightning hope to improve on last year’s success and hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup themselves at season’s end. November 8 - 14, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 19
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MOVIES
review
JAY BOBBIN's Theatrical movie review
Panning ‘Pan’: Say ‘Never’ to this land
Every now and then, a major movie comes along that simply makes you shrug your shoulders and ask, “How? Why?” Welcome to “Pan.” So many versions of the Peter Pan legend exist – certainly the animated Disney classic, the Mary Martin-starring television production, even Steven Spielberg’s “Hook” – adults surely can, and should, choose one of those editions as children’s screen introduction to the J.M. Barrie story above director Joe Wright’s current take. That’s not said with any joy, since Wright can be an effective filmmaker (“Atonement,” “Pride & Prejudice”), but joy is exactly what he has stripped from his prequel that lands young Peter (played by Levi Miller) in an orphanage that pirates raid for new recruits. These aren’t just any pirates, either: They sing punk-rock. And you did not misread that, as their renditions of tunes by Nirvana and the Ramones confirm (though the Lost Boys largely take the lead there). This definitely is not your grandparents’, or even your parents’, “Peter Pan.” The pirates also supply the movie’s brightest spot with their leader Blackbeard, played by the ever-committed Hugh Jackman. Charismatic as he is, he’s also lethal, not above making someone walk his airborne ship’s plank to meet a horrid fate below. He also knows Peter will become the foil of pirates, so he tries to take preventative measures. Mildly interestingly, the pre-captain Hook (Garrett Hedlund) is Peter’s ally rather than his enemy here, and they eventually find themselves in league with Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara). All the story elements are here, but in the end, their reconfiguration touches on anything approaching “magical” only occasionally. And that likely is not what anyone wants from a Peter Pan project. Still, the picture does hit its goal from a technical standpoint. There’s clearly a lot of computer-generated imagery at play, obviously not inappropriate in a story so centered on a mythical place such as Neverland ... though that also has the effect of making it tougher to appreciate what an agile performer such as Jackman can do on his own physically, since it’s tough to delineate between what’s been enhanced and what hasn’t been. “Pan” is one of those ideas that undoubtedly looked better – a lot better, one would venture to guess – on paper. In the end, it simply doesn’t pan out. Page 20 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote November 8 - 14, 2015
MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's movie review movies to watch
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“TERMINATOR GENISYS” He’ll be back, all right: Arnold Schwarzenegger returns in a reboot of the sci-fi classic that cemented his movie stardom. Once again, resistance fighter Reese (now played by Jai Courtney) travels back in time to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke, who also has worked with director Alan Taylor in “Game of Thrones”), who’s destined to give birth to the leader of the future pushback by men against machines. It’s a slightly friendlier Schwarzenegger who does his terminating this time, but there’s still room for welcome nods to his original performance. Jason Clarke, no relation to Emilia, and “Whiplash” Oscar winner J.K. Simmons also star. ››› (PG-13: N, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)
Top Pick
DVD
Pictured: Arnold Schwarzenegger
upcoming DVD releases
Coming Soon on DVD... “WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS” (Nov. 17): A young disc jockey (Zac Efron) falls for the girlfriend of his new mentor (Wes Bentley). (R: AS, N, P) “THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.” (Nov. 17): Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer assume the roles of newly partnered spies Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. (PG-13: AS, N, V)
“We Are Your Friends”
“RICKI AND THE FLASH” (Nov. 24): A would-be rock star (Meryl Streep) is summoned home to deal with her troubled daughter (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s actual offspring). (PG-13: AS, P) “MINIONS” (Dec. 8): The animated “Despicable Me” characters get their own movie, taking them to 1960s-era New York and London; voices include Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm. (PG: AS)
“AMERICAN ULTRA” (Nov. 24): Not realizing he’s a CIA operative with deeply implanted spy skills, “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE a slacker (Jesse Eisenberg) is – ROGUE NATION” (Dec. 15): targeted for elimination. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is an (R: AS, P, GV) agent without an agency after the CIA shuts down his team. (PG-13: AS, P, V) November 8 - 14, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 21
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FAVORITE SHOWS
Sam Bradford and the Philadelphia Eagles
Taraji P. Henson stars in “Empire”
SUNDAY 8:20 p.m. on NBC NFL Football A clash of NFC East rivals is on tap tonight at AT&T Stadium in Texas, where Matt Cassel and the Dallas Cowboys hope to right their ship against Sam Bradford and the Philadelphia Eagles. The ’Boys defeated the Eagles back in Week 2 20-10, but the victory proved costly as quarterback Tony Romo went down for an extended period with a broken clavicle. They then went on to lose their next three games with back-up Brandon Weeden calling signals.
John Stamos stars in “Grandfathered”
Blake Shelton in “The Voice”
MONDAY 8 p.m. on NBC The Voice Three consecutive nights of “The Live Playoffs” begin as the last 20 contestants make their bids for a spot in the upcoming live shows. Having made it to this stage of the competition, they give it all they’ve got for coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams — but the field of hopefuls will be whittled down significantly by the time this round is over on Wednesday. Carson Daly is the host. New
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TUESDAY 8 p.m. on FOX Grandfathered Prior to the upcoming sequel series “Fuller House,” there’s a “Full House” reunion in the new episode “My Amal,” as guest star Dave Coulier teams with John Stamos again. In the story, Jimmy (Stamos) seeks the kind of love connection he wants by dating a coworker of Sara (Paget Brewster), but things don’t work out as he’d hoped. Gerald and Vanessa (Josh Peck, Christina Milian) strike a relationship accord. Kelly Jenrette also stars. New
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FAVORITE SHOWS WEDNESDAY 9 p.m. on FOX Empire Planning to advance the label on a global scale, Lucious (Terrence Howard) mulls partnering with a force in music streaming (guest star Patrick Mulvey) in the new episode “True Love Never.” Andre (Trai Byers) tries to bridge the disconnect between different aspects of his life. Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) masterminds an event for charity. Oscar winner Marisa Tomei, Kelly Rowland, Adam Rodriguez and Clarence Williams III (“The Mod Squad”) guest star. New
FRIDAY 9 p.m. on CBS Hawaii Five-0 A con artist, played by guest star Kristoffer Polaha (“Backstrom”), becomes an unlikely ally of the squad members as they investigate the murder of the swindler’s partner in the new episode “Piko Pau ’iole” (Hawaiian for “The Artful Dodger”). Julie Benz (“Dexter”) begins a recurring role as a San Francisco police detective who comes to the islands to work with Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) to solve several murders connected to illegal arms sales. New
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SATURDAY 9 p.m. on CBS Democratic Debate It’s no guarantee Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) will side again with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding her e-mails — a showstopper moment of the first of these debates — but anything is possible as the candidates square off again, this time at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Former Senator Martin O’Malley (Md.) also is expected to be a participant again. John Dickerson is the moderator. New
10 p.m. on FX American Horror Story: Hotel Who’s in Room 33? Get ready for the answer, since the identity is promised by a new episode titled — of all things — “Room 33.” Vengeance also is on this hour’s menu, and it’s never pretty on this show, to put it very mildly ... as Ramona and Donovan (Angela Bassett, Matt Bomer) are prone to confirm yet again here. Love comes calling for Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare). Lady Gaga, Wes Bentley and Cheyenne Jackson also star. New THURSDAY 9 p.m. on LIFETIME Project Runway Junior The adults have had their turn with the popular premise ... now it’s time for youngsters to have their shot, too. The premiere of this spinoff series finds Tim Gunn still on hand, but dealing this time with younger fashionistas who use the standard instruments of design and execution to create their own looks. Model Hannah Davis hosts with Gunn, and Kelly Osbourne, designer Christian Siriano and magazine editor Aya Kanai are on the judging panel. Series Premiere New
Hannah Davis and Tim Gunn host “Project Runway Junior”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to participate in the Democratic Debate Saturday on CBS.
Daniel Dae Kim stars in “Hawaii Five-0”
November 8 - 14, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 23