Disney Channel(NEW YORK) — It’s karaoke night for the Green family on Disney Channel’s popular animated series, Big City Greens.
In Saturday’s 11-minute episode, titled “Okay Karaoke,” creators and brothers Chris and Shane Houghton have packed in five original songs, each suited to the different members of the Green clan. There’s even a guest voice appearance by singer Macy Gray.
“It’s like it’s a Big City Greens mixtape,” Shane tells ABC Audio. “There’s all these different genres and all these different vibes to the songs, and it’s…all of the songs are based on the characters personalities, which was a really fun challenge for us in the writers’ room, talking about kind of who would listen to what and why.”
The series is currently in its second season and has already been picked up for season three, with Chris, Shane and their entire crew of writers and animators continuing to work remotely during the pandemic. Despite the many changes to their production, they’ve made the decision to keep the Green’s world COVID-free.
“Yes, I’m happy to report Big City is the city we all want to live in right now,” Chris says. “It is open and people are having a great time and we’re just living in that world for a little while.”
Ahead of the new music-filled episode, the Big City Greens: Don’t Think, Just Sing! digital soundtrack, featuring all the songs from the episode, is available today via Walt Disney Records.
FOX/Ray Mickshaw(LOS ANGELES) — Rob Lowe has an impressive list of TV credits that includes The West Wing, The Grinder, Californication, Parks and Recreation, as well as his latest turn on Ryan Murphy’s Fox drama 9-1-1: Lone Star — with one notable misstep.
The 56-year-old actor passed on what became a career-rebounding role for Patrick Dempsey, playing surgeon Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd on the Shonda Rhimes hit Grey’s Anatomy.
However, Lowe has no regrets about his decision, telling Variety that he has learned to stay focused on the future rather than the past.
“This is what longevity, experience and recovery give you. There are no accidents,” he says. “Whatever decision you come to, if you come to it from the right place, it’s never wrong.”
In fact, Lowe’s not even sure he was right for the show in the first place.
“Me in that part isn’t as interesting as Patrick in that part,” he insists. “If it’d been me (the fans) wouldn’t have called me ‘McDreamy,’ they would have called me Rob Lowe.”
Besides, says Lowe, passing on Grey’s Anatomy gave him the chance to show off his comedy chops, playing the eternally optimistic government official Chris Traeger in the NBC hit comedy Parks and Recreation.
“Had I done Grey’s, I wouldn’t have been in Parks and Recreation,” he says. “That alone for me is enough.”
Samara Heisz/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER, IVAN PEREIRA and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 104.9 million people worldwide and killed over 2.28 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Feb 05, 9:41 am Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine effective against UK variant, researchers say
University of Oxford researchers said Friday that the COVID-19 vaccine they developed with British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca remains effective against a new, more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus currently circulating in the United Kingdom.
A preprint of ongoing work to assess effectiveness of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine shows that the existing version has similar efficacy against the so-called B117 variant to previously circulating variants. The preprint also describes recent analysis showing that the vaccination “results in a reduction in the duration of shedding and viral load, which may translate into a reduced transmission of the disease,” according to a press release from the university.
“Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom indicate that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel variant, B117, which caused the surge in disease from the end of 2020 across the UK,” Andrew Pollard, professor of pediatric infection and immunity at the University of Oxford and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said in a statement.
The B117 variant was first identified last September in Kent, England, and has since spread to dozens of other countries.
“We are working with AstraZeneca to optimize the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary,” Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said in a statement. “This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change.”
Feb 05, 8:11 am Ghana’s Parliament reduces sessions amid COVID-19 outbreak
The Parliament of Ghana will reduce its sessions to twice a week after dozens of lawmakers and legislative staff tested positive for COVID-19.
Addressing lawmakers on the floor Thursday, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin said at least 15 members of Parliament and 56 staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. They have been asked to self-isolate while steps are being taken to have members of their household tested as well.
There are still 48 members of Parliament who have yet to be tested, according to Bagbin.
Starting next week, Ghana’s Parliament will only sit on Tuesdays and Thursdays in an effort to control the spread of the virus. Only the lawmakers and staffers who are needed on those days will be allowed inside the building, Bagbin said.
Schools reopened across the West African nation in January, following a 10-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. But as COVID-19 infections rise again, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday reimposed a ban on social gatherings.
Ghana has confirmed at least 63,883 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including 390 deaths, according to the latest data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Feb 05, 7:24 am New vaccine helpline in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County gets over 15,000 calls per second
The Allegheny County Health Department in Pennsylvania said 750 residents made appointments to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on Thursday through a new phone registration offered by the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s 211 helpline.
The call center began receiving calls well before the official start time at noon on Thursday. In the first five minutes following the announcement of the phone registration, there were 653 calls into the helpline. More than 15,000 calls were coming in per second throughout the day, attempting to reach the center, according to a press release from the Allegheny County Health Department.
“We have known for a while that the demand for vaccines far outweighs the supply, and today’s phone registration only underscores that,” Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, said in a statement Thursday. “While we realize that there were many, many people who were frustrated because they did not receive an appointment, we also were able to serve 750 individuals who may not have had the opportunity to schedule otherwise.”
The 211 helpline is for only scheduling vaccination appointments for Allegheny County residents who are 65 and older. Appointments are for the Allegheny County Health Department’s Point of Dispensing inside the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Monroevile, about 10 miles east of Pittsburgh. Other vaccine providers in the county have separate registration systems, the health department said.
Feb 05, 5:49 am US reports over 5,000 new deaths for first time
A staggering 5,078 fatalities from COVID-19 were registered in the United States on Thursday, marking a new single-day record, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that the U.S. has recorded more than 5,000 deaths from the disease in a single day. Thursday’s tally far exceeds the country’s previous all-time high of 4,466 new deaths registered on Jan. 12, Johns Hopkins data shows.
There were also 122,473 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed nationwide on Thursday, down from a peak of 300,282 newly confirmed infections on Jan. 2, according to Johns Hopkins data.
COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend last month.
A total of 26,679,554 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began and at least 455,869 have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of the pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country’s cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.
The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4, then reaching 200,000 on Nov. 27 before topping 300,000 on Jan. 2.
So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use — one developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and another developed by American biotechnology company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. More than 35 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Disney+/Marvel Studios(LOS ANGELES) — After last week’s WandaVision episodeleft the audience with more questions than answers, series creator Jac Schaeffer teased even more exciting developments are on the way.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight ahead of Friday’s new episode, Schaeffer explained why certain Marvel Cinematic Universe characters were brought back for the new Disney+ show — namely Kat Dennings’ Darcy Lewis from Thor.
For Darcy, who last appeared in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, Schaeffer explained, “It was really important to us that we show that eight years is a long time and she has accomplished a lot and is a different person.”
Schaeffer furthered that Darcy, who now has a PhD, is considered “an expert” inside the MCU but lamented, “There were a lot of ideas that didn’t make it into the show.”
The showrunner also explained why the series killed off Captain Marvel‘s Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) — a decision, he says, was not made “lightly.”
“Our priority was introducing Monica (Teyonah Parris,)” explained Schaeffer. Parris plays Monica Rambeau, Maria’s daughter, who is introduced by coming back from Thanos’ snap and learning that her mother died of cancer while she was “blipped.”
“We learned so much about Monica and what she’s dealing with in that cold open,” he described. “It was a big decision. We had a lot of conversations, and Maria and Lashana, the actor, were so important in Captain Marvel and such a tremendous character. We did not make that decision lightly.”
As for what’s to come, Schaeffer teased, “There are more surprises and more conflict to see.”
“Wanda and Vision’s journey and the other characters get more complex as we move forward,” he added. “We will answer all the things that need to be answered.”
WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, updates every Friday on Disney+.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) Tom Brady is poised to make NFL history on Sunday when he becomes the only quarterback to play in a Super Bowl across three decades. But, before the 43-year-old Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers can take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, Jimmy Kimmel served the winningest quarterback in NFL history a large slice of humble pie.
On Thursday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late night host dedicated a special edition of “Mean Tweets” to the star quarterback, who had to read nothing but not-so-nice tweets about himself from passionate football fans.
The former Patriots player was an exceptionally good sport throughout the segment and smiled as he relayed each scathing insult, such as, “Tom Brady seems like the kind of man who doesn’t know how to use a wrench.”
“It’s kind of true,” Brady shrugged with a grin.
The athlete couldn’t stop laughing as he browsed each diss. He especially lost it when reading off, “Can we be real for a moment, is there really anyone you’d rather see dropped in a vat of rendered bacon fat than Tom Brady?”
Another taunt that he found particularly amusing was, “I hope this loss depresses you so bad that you hardly have sex with your supermodel wife in your giant mansion.”
There was one tweet, however, that the star quarterback didn’t find as amusing as the rest, which wished, “I hope your dog eats chocolate and gets really sick and throws up on your socks.”
“That’s ****ed up,” he deadpanned.
Kimmel also snuck in a slight when introducing the special edition of “Mean Tweets,” noting, “Tom is 43 years old, which is like 100 in Super Bowl years.”
The Super Bowl kicks off Sunday, February 7, at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Disney Channel(NEW YORK) — It’s karaoke night for the Green family on Disney Channel’s popular animated series, Big City Greens.
