Featured Stories
“Outlander” “Younger” “Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert”
Profiled athlete Joey Logano
CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHTS Becki Newton Jeremy Piven Colton Haynes Tyler McLaughlin Tony Little
WHAT'S FOR DINNER Jay Larson
JAY Bobbin's movies to watch
And so much more!
The story
‘The Dovekeepers’ revives miniseries Cote de Pablo stars in “The Dovekeepers” Tuesday and Wednesday on CBS.
Connect to these shows within this magazine! folio
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CONTENTS
What’s Hot This Week Click to jump to these featured sections!
Featured
Stories
“The Dovekeepers”
Tuesday and Wednesday on CBS. p3
“Outlander”
Returning Saturday on Starz. p 11
“YOUNGER”
Premieres Tuesday on TV Land. pp 12-13
“Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert” “Great Performances” presents “Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert” Friday on PBS. pp 14-15
SIX
Celebrity potlights Becki Newton
Jay Larson
p4
p7
“Weird Loners” on Fox.
Jeremy Piven
“Masterpiece Classic: Mr. Selfridge” on PBS. p5
Colton Haynes
“Arrow” on The CW. p6
Pictured: Elegant as Ever! Actress Cote de Pablo attends the 41st Annual People’s Choice Awards at Nokia Theatre LA Live on January 7, 2015 in Los Angeles.
“Best Bars in America.”
Tyler McLaughlin “Wicked Tuna.” p8
Tony Little
“America’s Personal Trainer.” p9
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Profiled Athlete Joey Logano pp 16-17
Editor's choice
STORY
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By Jay Bobbin Once a staple of broadcast television, the miniseries has been all but absent from it for years ... but not in the coming week. One such multipart drama was “Masada,” the Emmywinning 1981 saga of the conflict between Jews and Romans centered at the title fortress in 70 C.E. The story gets a different slant in “The Dovekeepers,” Alice Hoffman’s best-seller about several women caught in the battle; it’s now a CBS miniseries, executive-produced by spouses Roma Downey and Mark Burnett (“The Bible”) and airing Tuesday and Wednesday, March 31 and April 1. Former “NCIS” co-star Cote de Pablo returns to the network’s Tuesday lineup temporarily as Shirah, a single mother who is one of those literally tending to doves amid the violence. Rachel Brosnahan (“Manhattan,” “House of Cards”), Kathryn Prescott (“Finding Carter”), Sam Neill and Diego Boneta (“Pretty Little Liars’) also are among the principal stars of the drama filmed in Malta. “I absolutely fell in love with the story,” Downey says. “I had been to Masada a few years ago and had been so profoundly touched by the story of a persecuted people who, in the face of that persecution, had stood up for what they believed in ... where courage was greater than fear, and faith and love was greater than hate, and the power of sacrifice was greater than war. And I was sure that the rights had been taken, but I reached out to Alice, and I went to Boston and I met with her.” Downey ultimately did acquire those rights, and as it happened, CBS Entertainment chief Nina Tassler also had visited Masada recently. They struck a deal for Downey to work again with the network where she starred in the series “Touched by an Angel” for nine seasons. De Pablo had to master working with actual doves for “The Dovekeepers,” and she also had been at Masada roughly
a decade earlier. She notes that what she recalls most about the site is “that incredible heat ... and the view. And when you hear the story, the only thing you can do as an actor is to put yourself in a position where you honestly think, ‘How could these people go through this?’ I mean, it was a massive, massive story, what ended up happening to them.” “The Dovekeepers” is the first drama venture to emerge from United Artists Media Group, through its faithbased and Downey-supervised LightWorkers Media division, since she and Burnett began running the studio. Burnett’s successful unscripted series – ABC’s “Shark Tank,” CBS’ “Survivor” and NBC’s “The Apprentice” and “The Voice” – also are under the United Artists banner now. It’s certainly no coincidence “The Dovekeepers” is timed for the Passover and Easter season, nor is it for Burnett and Downey’s NBC series “A.D. The Bible Continues,” premiering April 5. With other projects (including a “BenHur” remake) in progress, Downey reflects, “It’s been a really great time. As a woman in my 50s, it’s often a time when people are taking a step back in their careers. And I feel really encouraged that I have stepped forward into, really, a whole new chapter of my career as a producer.”
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
BeckiNewton ‘Weird Loners’ on Fox Since the title of your new show is “Weird Loners,” do you consider yourself to be one? People have asked that. They say, “You don’t look like a weird loner. I don’t get it.” And I say, “Look, I have a great friend who ... .” On paper, she’s fantastic. She’s beautiful. She’s successful. And everyone always says, “Why is she single?” And then those people talk to her for five minutes, and they say, “Oh.” So I think my character, Caryn Goldfarb, is probably one of those people where you think she seems to have it together. And then, you just have a conversation with her and it all makes sense. Do you believe the term “weird loner” also is accurate for the show’s other regular characters? What’s incredible is, they can be huge. They can behave very badly. Some of the comedy can be crazy and nutty, and then very quickly, it turns incredibly heartfelt and you actually just want to hug these people no matter what they’ve done, no matter how badly they’ve behaved. I think that’s an incredible balance that we’ve all tried to create, is that it just turns really quickly and you’re surprised – and we’re probably a little surprised – about what we’re able to get away with, and you still sort of like them at the end, and that’s what I’ve always loved about it. Do you know anyone in your own life who’s behaved like your new character? I do have a very good friend that tends to get in her own way romantically ... and every time she calls me, she says, “I met the one.” And that phone call happens about once a week.
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CELEBRITY Jay Bobbin’s Q&A
JeremyPiven
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of ‘Masterpiece Classic: Mr. Selfridge’ on PBS As you start your third “Masterpiece Classic” season in “Mr. Selfridge,” what kinds of reactions have you gotten from people to your portrayal of the American behind a famous British department store? If they’re watching it in real time, they can’t get enough of it. It doesn’t come fast enough. And those who have access to it (online) will binge-watch it and can’t wait to see more. These are, by the way, people of every demographic ... so I’ve been incredibly lucky. The HBO machine and the Warner Bros. machine (which have made, respectively, the television and forthcoming movie versions of “Entourage”) are great at what they do. And PBS has been doing it on a high level for so long, but they don’t have the resources to get the word out the same way. It’s an interesting experiment on how long a show takes to catch on, based on word-of-mouth, in today’s culture. Do you find there are people who know of your Harry Selfridge who don’t know of your Ari Gold from “Entourage”? In fact, what everyone says is, “I didn’t even know he was American.” A lot of people know of the store (Selfridges, or Selfridge & Co.), and they love the experience. And it’s a tribute to this guy that over 100 years later, here we are and not only does the store still exist, it thrives. I live around the corner from it when I’m in London shooting the show, so every day, I see the massive amounts of people flocking there. And he would be so proud, but the show is about so much more than that. It’s about the world he inhabited at that time, which was fascinating.
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CELEBRITY John Crook’s Q&A
ColtonHaynes of ‘Arrow’ on The CW Much of “Arrow” is really intense. What is the mood like on the set? To be honest, it’s starting to be a problem that we can’t stop laughing. Someone will blow a line or just mess up a word and somebody else will bust out laughing, which is funny for us but it gets uncomfortable because we have to do so many takes. The fact that most of our scenes are so intense just makes it harder. I mean, the blooper reel for this season is just going to be hilarious. Did your experience on another genre show, “Teen Wolf,” help when you got this job? Yes, we called that show the little engine that could. It launched without a lot of fanfare and then it was a really big hit and is still a fan favorite. I think the fans respond to the complexity of the characters, like on “Arrow.” They can identify with these dark characters that have these surprising hidden truths. It’s just really touching, because there’s every type of character to want to be if you’re a fan. You started out in theater. What roles did you play? As a child, I had this really angelic voice that was very high, and then puberty happened and ruined my life. Now I can’t sing high at all. I was Chip, the teacup, in “Beauty and the Beast.” I eventually went on to play Tony in “West Side Story.” I absolutely love theater.
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FOOD George Dickie’s What's for Dinner
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JayLarson
Larson takes it all in on Esquire’s ‘Best Bars in America’ Jay Larson, host of Esquire Network’s “Best Bars in America,” has what many would agree is a fun job. Himself included. “I think that’s an understatement ... ,” says Larson, a standup comedian by trade who co-hosts with best friend and fellow comic Sean Patton as the hourlong unscripted series returns for its second season Wednesday, April 1. “I mean, it’s pretty awesome. I bartended for a long time and I grew up working in restaurants, so to be able to go into a bar and have a seat waiting for you and have people ready to make you the best drinks in the house is a pretty awesome experience.” Inspired by Esquire magazine’s annual survey of the nation’s top watering holes, the series embarks on a cross-country pub crawl this season that takes it to San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Louisville, Ky., and the Southern California coast, taking in establishments with great drinks, atmosphere and/or people. There are also themed episodes on best speakeasies, bar food and games. And sometimes no drinking is occurring, such as when the series hit an oxygen bar in Chicago. “We did that as kind of like a hangover cure,” Larson explains, “so I got an IV drip put in me. Sean did the oxygen tank. And we just sat there. It kind of helps rejuvenate you and get you back. “The great thing about the show,” he continues, “it’s called ‘Best Bars in America,’ but it’s a travel show as well, so when we go to these different cities we don’t just go to bars but we’ll go experience the food. In Boston, we got to go to Fenway Park and go to the ballpark. In different cities, we’ll go to different places. ... We’ll go and get a taste of everything that’s really going on in the city and how it relates to the best bars and drinking and what not.” Keeping in mind, of course, that “Best” is a subjective term. “I think there might be a strong argument that every bar is the best bar in America,” Larson says, “because of one thing and that’s booze. But we try to go out there and find the hole-in-the-wall places or the places that have been around the longest. You know, everything has a uniqueness to it.” What book are you currently reading? “I am reading ... ‘The Warrior Ethos’ (by) Steve Pressfield.” What did you have for dinner last night? “Last night I cooked at home. I made bison steak and a kale salad.” What is your next project? “I have kind of a lot of projects. I do other things in comedy, obviously standup, so I’m on the road.”
When was the last vacation you took, where and why? “Well, we’ve got a baby now. The last vacation, my wife and I took the baby up to Sonoma, stayed on a vineyard up there, ate some good food, drank some great wine. We stayed at the Benziger Winery because we went up there for the show. Great winery in Glen Ellen, and we stayed there for a couple of days and then we stayed right in the town square in Sonoma for one night at a hotel.”
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CELEBRITY George Dickie's Celebrity ScooP
TylerMcLaughlin
It may not have been “The Perfect Storm,” but for “Wicked Tuna’s” Tyler McLaughlin it was more than adequate. The captain of the Pinwheel and his mate were out on 10-foot seas and with a wind blowing 35-40 mph off Gloucester, Mass., one night last October when over his radio came a distress call from a nearby boat saying the craft was taking on water. “So I ran over there,” says McLaughlin, now in his third season on the unscripted Sunday National Geographic series. “They were a mile away. I had to cut my anchor. My mate pretty much almost got washed over the front of the boat trying to get us free of our anchor. We steamed there, we’re taking waves over the bow. It was pretty intense.” Upon arrival, McLaughlin immediately recognized the boat – the Miss Sambuca, which was captained by Paul Hebert two seasons ago – going down by the bow and two men standing on its roof. A wave knocked one in the water, injuring his ribs and sternum, but he had a survival suit on, so McLaughlin decided to go after the other, who was uninjured but had no flotation device. They pulled him out of the 47-degree water without incident. “And then we managed to find the other guy about three-quarters of a mile or a mile away down in the debris field,” McLaughlin says. “... We ended up having to use my boom that I use to lift tuna fish in the boat to boom the guy in the boat because he weighed so much with the survival suit full of water.” The end result was two very grateful fishermen saved and dropped off at the Gloucester Coast Guard station. The Miss Sambuca, however, didn’t fare as well. It rests on the ocean floor several miles off Gloucester. “I saved the numbers,” says McLaughlin of the wreck’s GPS coordinates. “I’m not really telling anybody because it’s going to be my own little secret fishing wreck.” Full name: Tyler McLaughlin Date of birth: Dec. 21, 1987 Birthplace: Nashua, N.H. Education: Nichols College, majored in business management
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Largest fish caught: A 1,269-pound bluefin tuna What he loves about fishing: “I love that you get to be your own boss and make your living your way. You have to rely on your own skills and experience to get that fish on deck, and it’s so rewarding when it all comes together.”
CELEBRITY CelebritY profiled
T o n yL i ttle
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is known as “America’s Personal Trainer.”
• Little is known as “America’s Personal Trainer.” • He has succeeded against all odds, and with strong convictions and a deep caring for people. He has brought physical fitness into mainstream America in a way that has enhanced the physical appearance, personal stamina and emotional outlook of his trainees. • In 1983, Little was already an acclaimed Junior National Bodybuilding champion. • Little was training for The Mr. America Bodybuilding Championship, the biggest competition of his life, which he was sure he would win. Six months before the competition, Little was blind-sided by a school bus. He had suffered numerous lacerations to his body and face. He also suffered two herniated discs, a cracked vertebra, and a dislocated knee, not to mention the massive amount of soreness that he felt throughout his entire body from the devastating impact. Even though his body had been shattered, he still competed in the event and finished in fifth place. • As a certified personal trainer, physical fitness specialist and former National Bodybuilding Champion, he knew there was much more to getting into shape than aerobic exercise. • In 1987, Little met the president and founder of Home Shopping Network and they struck a deal. • Little sold 400 videos in four minutes on HSN. His success was due to the fact that he was the first person to spend the majority of the time on his video discussing motivational exercise technique along with muscle group information. • In 1993, Little started doing infomercials in the U.S. and Europe. • In 1998, on New Year’s Eve night, Little blasted through the record books. He sold over 200 tractor-trailer truckloads of his Gold Gazelle Glider on QVC. • His devotion to helping others has made Little a favorite among both the public and the media as he continues to capture the attention of audiences worldwide. • Little’s attitude on overcoming obstacles is simple, “conceive, believe and achieve.” March 29 - April 4, 2015 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 9
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CELEBRITY Celebs’ favorite shows
Jeremy Piven
Cote de Pablo
Robert Irvine
Sophia Bush
Set the DVR Jeremy Piven of “Masterpiece Classic: Mr. Selfridge” on PBS “I’ve watched every episode of ‘Luther’ and ‘Breaking Bad,’ but have never seen ‘Friends’ ... so people in the U.K. (where Piven has been working often lately) think I’m a freak.”
Robert Irvine of “Restaurant: Impossible” on Food Network “I’m in the middle right now of watching ‘Gotham’ and ‘Vikings.’ ”
Sophia Bush of “Chicago PD” on NBC “When you’re making a TV show, you don’t have time to Cote de Pablo of “The Dovekeepers” on CBS watch much TV – but I never miss an episode of ‘Orphan “I’ve been traveling for five months and haven’t watched Black,’ ‘Transparent’ and ‘Orange Is the New Black.’ I don’t anything – but I was always into ‘Game of Thrones.’ And for know if I could exist without those shows. And we never a while, anything with vampires also was something that miss ‘Chicago PD,’ obviously.” I loved. Things grab me and I watch them and get caught up, and then life happens. I don’t want to commit myself to a show, because then, you have to be loyal to it for a while ... knowing you may have to go someplace like Malta or Chile or Berlin, and it will kill you not to be able to keep up with it.” Page 10 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote March 29 - April 4, 2015
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Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan
Torn between
two lovers – and centuries
By George Dickie When last we saw World War II-era combat nurse-turned18th century Scotswoman Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), she was rushing toward the Standing Stones to reunite with hubby Frank (Tobias Menzies in a dual role), who was shouting to her from the 1940s. This was before she was abducted and nearly raped by Black Jack Randall (Menzies also) and subsequently rescued by her 18th century lover – and true love – Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). So as the second half of the first season of “Outlander” opens Saturday, April 4, on Starz, the question remains: With whom – and where and when – does Claire want to be? “Well, I think it was such an impulsive decision for her run and to flee,” Balfe says. “I think everyone was (saying), ‘How could you leave Jamie? What were you thinking?’ But I think the pull and the ties to her own time and to everything that she knew is just sort of an instinctual pull. You know, she just saw her moment and I don’t think she thought about it so much, she just went because that was her sole concern for so long. “And then once we pick up again in the second half of the season, so much has changed,” she continues. “Number
one, I think her interaction with Black Jack and how dark that gets, I think it really unnerves her quite deeply. And then she realizes the impact that she would have had on Jamie’s life had she left, and I think that she really has to come to a decision within herself: Is she going to continue to try and keep running or is she going to make her peace with this situation and build a life for herself in this new time? “So I think you’re going to see,” Balfe says with a chuckle, “this decision come to fruition and that struggle for her.” But whatever decision Claire makes, Balfe is confident she is battle tested and strong enough to face it. “If you had gone through some of those experiences,” she says, “you’re prepared to handle anything. And that was the great thing about Claire. There’s not an ounce of selfpity, really, anywhere. You know, there are times, of course, when she feels despondent and it all gets a little too much. But she just has such reserves of strength and I feel that really comes from what she experienced and what she witnessed during the war.”
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STORY
Story on next page
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STORY
Sutton Foster
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turns back the clock in TV Land’s ‘Younger’ By John Crook Time is not on Liza Miller’s (Sutton Foster, “Bunheads”) side in “Younger,” a breezy new sitcom from “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star, premiering Tuesday, March 31, on TV Land. Fifteen years after giving up a high-powered executive position in New York to raise her daughter, Liza now finds herself 40 and recently divorced, her husband having left her for a younger woman. She wants to re-enter the work force, but the young 20-somethings doing the hiring regard her as a relic. After a handsome, 26-year-old tattoo artist (Nico Tortorella, “The Following”) makes a pass at Liza in a bar one night and guesses she is about his age, however, her best friend, Maggie (Debi Mazar), urges Liza to tell prospective employers she’s only 26. Thus, after a styling makeover and a crash course in pop culture from Maggie, Liza finds herself interviewing to be the assistant of Diana Trout (Miriam Shor, channeling Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”), the head of marketing at a publishing house. Diana, a bitter divorcee herself, is just three years older than Liza, but only grudgingly gives Liza the job, since Diana sees her muchyounger office colleagues – including junior editor Kelsey Peters (Hilary Duff) – as her adversaries. The central comic hook in “Younger” is that Liza – who brings more life experience and job savvy to the company than most of her younger colleagues – has to conceal those very strengths in order to hold onto her job. That same lie also complicates her growing romance with Josh, the aforementioned tattoo guy, who is drawn to something indefinably ... different about Liza. Foster was only 38 when she filmed the “Younger” pilot early last year, but she recently passed her milestone
SuttonFoster 40th birthday in real life. She’s thinking a lot about her age these days, mainly because of this show. “I don’t work a 9-to-5 job and in my life, which is mostly in theater, I haven’t really experienced ageism yet,” the two-time Tony Award winner says. “But that is beginning, because I’m also transitioning in my career in terms of the roles I play. I’m aware that now occasionally I’ll look at something and think, ‘Oh, I’m too old! I can’t play that anymore!’ There’s a whole new generation that is coming in and those roles are going to them because they are more age-appropriate. “Liza is an interesting character for me to play right now, because I get to toe that line where I get to play 40 while also reliving my youth, in a way.” Foster says she hopes “Younger” enjoys a long run, but wonders how long Liza credibly can keep spinning her lie. “Yeah, that’s something I worry about,” she concedes. “I mean, certain characters are going to have to figure this out. I can tell you that during this first season, this central lie starts to unravel for Liza.”
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STORY
Annie Lennox waxes nostalgic “Great Performances” presents “Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert” Friday on PBS (check local listings). Story on next page
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‘Nostalgia’ inspires Annie Lennox in ‘Great Performances’ concert By Jay Bobbin For fans of a certain vocalist and of classic song standards, sweet dreams are made of this. Annie Lennox is iconic for her work in the pop and soul modes, but she gathered such long-popular tunes as “I Put a Spell on You” (featured in the movie “Fifty Shades of Grey”), “Summertime” and “Georgia on My Mind” for her latest album, “Nostalgia.” A four-time Grammy winner, the Eurythmics veteran offers her renditions – with spare backup orchestration emphasizing the lyrics even more – in a new “Great Performances” program Friday, April 3, on PBS (check local listings). The hour-long “Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert” was recorded at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre in January, and its Scottish star allows, “I’ve never really been known as a jazz singer ... but I’ve written songs, and I perform, and I love to collaborate with different people. And I love all kinds of music. My taste is very eclectic. It always has been. And I suppose the sort of inner challenge of recording ‘Nostalgia’ was to step into another genre. “That made it interesting for me,” adds Lennox, “because I’m a singer and I love to use my voice, but I also saw the soul/blues connection to jazz – which is something I, for some reason, feel so strongly. It’s such a powerful force.” It’s also something Lennox has known virtually her entire life, since she notes, “American music has traveled so widely. It even came to the northeast of Scotland in the 1960s.
“But for me, as a teenager, I was listening to Motown and Stax. We were dancing in the dance halls to Stevie Wonder and the Foundations and the Four Tops and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the whole thing. And that came from Detroit, and it deeply influenced me, deeply affected me. So that aspect of hearing music in Scotland that was from a completely different culture has always been part of my identity.” Released last October, “Nostalgia” surely displays a different side of noted activist Lennox’s musical talent, but she’s keeping her wide fan base from such contemporary hits as “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” “Here Comes the Rain Again” and “Why.” No matter which era she draws her material from, the Oscar owner – for “Into the West,” from “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” – maintains she takes a similar approach to all of it. “Everything I do is pretty intuitive,” Lennox says. “I’m just drawn to songs, for whatever reason. There’s nothing prescriptive about my taste. And I don’t think there ever needs to be, really. I really value musical historians and people who can analyze songs structurally. But as a musician, most of us musicians, we feel it. And if you’re playing music and you’re not feeling it, it’s kind of a pointless exercise, really. Don’t you think?”
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SPORTS
Catch 22:
Joey Logano off to a good start Story on next page
Full Name: Joseph Thomas Logano
Height/Weight: 6 feet 1 inch/155 pounds
Born: May 24, 1990
Wins: 9
Hometown: Middletown, Conn.
Top Tens: 85 Poles: 9
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Honors and Achievements: Daytona 500 winner, 2015; youngest Sprint Cup race winner at 19 years, 35 days; 2009 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year
SPORTS
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By Dan Ladd Fresh off his Daytona 500 win and a fourth-place finish at Atlanta a week later, NASCAR’s Joey Logano is poised to make a solid run at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia when the Sprint Cup STP 500 airs Sunday, March 29, on Fox Sports 1. If those first two races hold any significance for the rest of 2015, Logano is in for a heck of a season. After starting fifth at Daytona, Logano pulled ahead in the final laps and took the checkered flag barely under caution. A week later, he started from the pole in Atlanta and finished fourth, which is where Logano finished in the 2014 STP 500 at Martinsville behind Kurt Busch, who just returned from a suspension. Logano, however, holds the qualifying speed record at Martinsville, recording a lap in 18.898 seconds and going just over 100 mph during qualifying for the 2014 STP 500. Over the course of his career, Logano has had his ups and downs at Martinsville. He had a secondplace finish in 2010 while driving a Toyota as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing. Since joining Team Penske and driving a Ford, he finished fifth at the Goodies 500 during NASCAR’s 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup on his way to a fourthplace overall finish for the 2014 season.
JoeyLogano
Now, Logano is the secondyoungest driver to win the Daytona 500 and will no longer be flying under the radar. Other drivers will be trying to catch No. 22.
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MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's Theatrical movie review
If there’s one thing you need as a con artist, it’s focus. The movie titled “Focus” has that to a certain degree, though it loses some as it heads for the finish line. Still, there’s considerable compensation in a typically winning performance by Will Smith, and also in an impressive turn by Margot Robbie (best-known previously for her work in “The Wolf of Wall Street”). Smith plays a scammer who’s well aware of when he’s being scammed himself, so Robbie’s character doesn’t get nearly as far as she expects to when she targets him as a potential mark. What she gets from him instead is an extensive tutorial in helping her fleece bigger game – specifically in New Orleans, the site of an imminent football championship. Those in town for the big game provide the duo and some other cohorts with what’s known as a “targetrich environment,” and there’s fun of the nature that’s also been supplied by such films as “The Sting” and “Entrapment” in seeing how rip-offs are arranged and executed through ultimately precise teamwork. Writer-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“Crazy Stupid Love”) don’t stop there, though – and that’s part of the problem with “Focus.” Instead of giving the New Orleans story a coda, they build a whole other tale onto it, relocating the major players to Buenos Aires in a plot involving a revolutionary fuel for race cars. It’s hard not to admire filmmakers for overreaching, even if the attempted reach fails, but “Focus” would have been better if it had been kept simpler. The added material does give time to such good performers as Gerald McRaney (and it’s a pleasure to see the television veteran get a chunky featurefilm role) and Rodrigo Santoro, but the core of “Focus” really is Smith and Robbie. Take the focus off them, and you’re running a risk.
review
“Focus”
Will Smith puts the ‘Focus’ on con games
What’s especially fun about their work together is that they’re such a good match, with Smith the familiar screen veteran and Robbie a newcomer who’s his confident match. And with as confident as he is, that is no small matter. If you keep your focus on them, “Focus” hits its aim well enough. Page 18 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote March 29 - April 4, 2015
MOVIES JAY BOBBIN's movie review movies to watch
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“INTERSTELLAR” Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan (“Inception,” “The Dark Knight”) goes for spectacle in the galaxy with this lengthy scifi drama, which poses a lot of big questions as Matthew McConaughey plays a farmer recruited to draw on his aviation past in heading an expedition to ensure a future for mankind. The trek has very personal implications for him. Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow and Nolanfilm regular Michael Caine also appear, but the members of the picture’s technical team – who led the movie to an Oscar win for its visual effects – are as much stars as anyone else here. ››› (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)
Top Pick
DVD
Matthew McConaughey
upcoming DVD releases
Coming Soon on DVD... “MANHATTAN: SEASON ONE” (April 7): The WGN America series about the development of the atomic bomb includes Daniel Stern and Rachel Brosnahan in its ensemble cast. (Not rated: AS, P)
Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams
“CAKE” (April 21): Jennifer Aniston plays a woman newly involved with the widower (Sam Worthington) of a late member (Anna Kendrick) of her support group. (R: AS, P)
“BIG EYES” (April 14): The truth about a painter’s (Christoph Waltz) artworks, involving his wife (Amy Adams), emerges in director Tim Burton’s fact-based tale. (PG-13: AS, P)
“TAKEN 3” (April 21): Framed for murder, CIA veteran Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has to clear himself and protect his daughter (Maggie Grace) again. (PG-13: AS, P, V)
“THE BABADOOK” (April 14): A children’s book generates terror for a woman (Essie Davis) and her son (Noah Wiseman) in writer-director Jennifer Kent’s thriller. (Not rated: AS, P, V)
“GOODFELLAS” (May 5): For its 25th anniversary, the true crime drama gets a newly remastered Bluray edition with new cast and director (Martin Scorsese) interviews. (R: AS, P, GV)
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FAVORITE SHOWS
Eoin Macken stars in “The Night Shift”
Becki Newton stars in “Weird Loners”
SUNDAY 8 p.m. on NBC iHeartRadio Music Awards A who’s-who of the past year’s top recording stars — from such relative veterans as Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo to newcomers including Sam Smith and Meghan Trainor — is scheduled to perform in the second annual edition of this event, as Jamie Foxx hosts at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. Chart positioning and fan voting determine the winners. Among others slated to take the stage are Madonna, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg and Florida Georgia Line. New 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) Call the Midwife The staff of Nonnatus House opens a fourth season of personal and
Laz Alonso stars in “The Mysteries of Laura”
professional dealings by moving into the 1960s in the new “Episode 1.” There’s a newcomer in the group: Barbara Gilbert (Charlotte Ritchie), a nurse whose less-than-impressive start is countered later by her rapport with a troubled new mother. Trixie (Helen George) has one of the biggest challenges she’s faced. Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) begins to come to terms with her health problem. Season Premiere New MONDAY 10:01 p.m. on NBC The Night Shift A case is personal for TC (Eoin Macken) in the new episode “Need to Know” since the patient is his sisterin-law (guest star Sarah Jane Morris), injured in an apparent fall down stairs.
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Taylor Swift is a performer in the iHeartRadio Music Awards
Jordan (Jill Flint) is aware of some related factors that TC isn’t — and she also has someone else’s fall to deal with, after a youngster tumbles down a well. Ragosa (Freddy Rodriguez) worries about his daughter learning the truth about his job when she comes to the ER. New TUESDAY 9 p.m. on PBS Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies The second episode of the new miniseries executive-produced by Ken Burns, “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” recalls the medical profession’s place in the “war on cancer” that President Richard Nixon launched in 1971. Though genetic causes of the disease were uncovered continued on next page
FAVORITE SHOWS relatively soon, treatments for it were Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman, Thandie Newton and Melissa George also star. not determined quite as quickly, Season Finale New taking until the 1990s in many instances. An oncologist’s own bout with breast cancer is traced. New FRIDAY 10 p.m. on CBS 9:30 p.m. on FOX Blue Bloods Weird Loners “Weird” is in the eye of the beholder, Leslie Hope (“24”) guest stars in the and ”loners” also is up for some new episode “Through the Looking debate as this comedy premieres Glass” as a reporter who won’t reveal with “Weird Pilot,” since the central the identity of a source — a selfcharacters reside together in confessed murderer — to Frank (Tom Queens, N.Y. Becki Newton (“Ugly Selleck). A police program makes Betty”), Zachary Knighton (“Happy Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) the mentor Endings”), Nate Torrence and Meera of a teen he hopes to convince to make Rohit Kumbhani play the quartet who better life choices. Acting veteran Eric rely on one another as they navigate Laneuville (“St. Elsewhere”) directed the life in their 30s. Sitcom veteran episode. James Lesure (“Las Vegas”) Michael J. Weithorn (“The King of Queens,” “Family Ties”) is the show’s creator. Series Premiere New WEDNESDAY 8 p.m. on NBC The Mysteries of Laura Kathie Lee Gifford normally inhabits NBC’s weekday lineup, as a coanchor of the fourth hour of “Today,” but she makes her way into the network’s primetime lineup as a guest star in the new episode “The Mystery of the Sunken Sailor.” She plays a psychiatrist who consults on the case of a slain seaman, which coincides with Laura’s (Debra Messing) birthday — an occasion Laura doesn’t want to acknowledge, in the worst way. Josh Lucas and Laz Alonso also star. New THURSDAY 10:01 p.m. on NBC The Slap The drama ends its relatively brief season with the new episode “Ritchie,” as that character’s (Lucas Hedges) photos of the actual slap are turned over to Harry’s (Zachary Quinto) prosecutors. In a bid to discredit Ritchie, unflattering information about his past is leaked by Harry and Thanasis (Michael Nouri). Gary (Thomas Sadoski) then tries to prevent more tragedy. Peter
Mariska Hargitay stars in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
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also guest stars. Bridget Moynahan also stars. New SATURDAY 8 p.m. on NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit A teen’s (guest star Madison Grace) crush on a movie star (guest star Shiloh Fernandez) has tragic results in “Agent Provocateur.” She’s brutally assaulted after the actor invites her to a party, and Benson (Mariska Hargitay) suspects he and his agent (guest star Patti LuPone) aren’t telling all they know. The case intensifies when the chief of a gossip site (guest star John Pankow, “Mad About You”) releases security footage from the party.
Bridget Moynahan stars in “Blue Bloods”
Uma Thurman stars in “The Slap”
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