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The long-awaited 'Friends' reunion finally getting underway

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Warner Bros. Television(LOS ANGELES) — The long-delayed meet-up of Joey, Chandler, Ross, Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel is finally getting underway.

The Friends reunion special, which was delayed multiple times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, starts shooting next week, according to Deadline. 

The cast, which was once the highest-paid ensemble on TV, will continue the trend with the reunion: David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc will reportedly make upward $4 million each for the HBO Max project.

The largely unscripted special will shoot on the same sound stage as the beloved original sitcom, Warner Bros. Stage 24 lot in Burbank, according to Deadline. However, while things will be the same behind the scenes, it won’t be the same show, the cast has hinted.

In a chat with Variety last June, Kudrow noted, “I will not be Phoebe,” to which Aniston added, “I will not be Rachel, although I kind of am. Well, we’re all sort of little fragments of them…. not really. But yeah.”

Could we be any more confused?

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

What? Regé-Jean Page won't return for second season of 'Bridgerton'

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Netflix(LONDON) — Sorry, Regé-Jean Page fans: Bridgerton‘s resident hunk, who plays the Duke of Hastings, will not be back for season two of the binge-worthy Netflix series.

The news was revealed via a tweet from, naturally, the show’s omniscient society gossip writer, Lady Whistledown.  “Dear Readers, while all eyes turn to Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s quest to find a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Regé-Jean Page, who so triumphantly played the Duke of Hastings. We’ll miss Simon’s presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family,” the missive begins.

“Daphne will remain a devoted wife and sister, helping her brother navigate the upcoming social season and what it has to offer — more intrigue and romance than my readers may be able to bear,” concludes the message, which is titled “Your Grace, it has been a pleasure.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Page only had a one-season contract, and the sophomore season was always intended to focus on Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton.

For his part, Page just posted to his Instagram a dapper photo of himself on horseback, tipping his hat to the camera. “The ride of a life time [sic]” he wrote.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to be your Duke. Joining this family – not just on screen, but off screen too. Our incredibly creative and generous cast, crew, outstanding fans – it’s all been beyond anything I could have imagined,” the actor noted.

“The love is real and will just keep growing,” he concluded.

With Page now freed of his contractual obligation, will he trade his frilly frock for James Bond’s tux, as has been rumored? Stay tuned.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Parmalee, Blanco Brown give their chart-topping “Just the Way” the pop treatment with new Bryce Vine version

• No Comments • Country Music News

BBR Music GroupLast month, Parmalee and Blanco Brown hit the top of the country chart with their joint effort, “Just the Way.”

It was an unlikely pairing between the country stalwarts, who previously hit the top of the chart with 2013’s “Caroline,” and a newcomer whose homegrown variety of ‘Trailer Trap’ country produced the viral megahit “The Git Up” in 2019. Now, they’re adding another layer of genre diversity to the mix, tapping rapper and indie-pop star Bryce Vine for a pop version of “Just the Way.”

“‘Just the Way’ going number-one at country radio and connecting on so many other platforms is amazing — and doing it with a friend like Blanco, even more so,” Parmalee’s Matt Thomas declares. “Bryce adds another element to the song giving it a whole new feel — we’re thrilled to have him on it.”

For his part, Bryce adds that he’s excited to venture into a musical field outside his own.

“I’ve always loved dipping into different genres and styles, so this gave me a great excuse to put my cowboy hat on,” he notes.

The new version of “Just the Way” is available now.


By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

"Different times": Elizabeth Perkins says sexy scene in 'Big' would never fly today

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20th Century-Fox/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — (NOTE CONTENT) In 1988’s Big, actor David Moscow played Josh, a 12-year-old kid who makes a wish and turns into his much-older self, played by Tom Hanks. 

In his “big” form, the Penny Marshall-directed movie has him moving to the big city, scoring a job with a toy company, and scoring with Elizabeth Perkins’ much older character, who at the time doesn’t know he’s actually 12. 

“[T]hey wouldn’t have shown that at all [these days]” Perkins tells Page Six. “I think we’re in a different time,” adding, “I’m totally on board with that.”

About the scene, the actress, currently starring in Fox’s The Moodys, recalls, “We don’t see them having sex but…I take my shirt off and he touches my breast, then we cut to the elevator door opening and he’s got a big smile on his face. We never say, ‘Oh they slept together,’ but they definitely fooled around.”

Whether the body-swap sexy scene was appropriate or not “was not even a consideration of ours at the time…on any level,” the actress admits. “Different times.”

Perkins also explained that both Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford were first considered for the older-Josh role in Big, but Marshall, who died in 2018, was having “trouble” getting it to work.

“Then when Tom came on board it all just cemented,” Perkins said. “We knew we were going to be better than the other body-changing movies [at the time] because of Penny and Tom.”

The family comedy The Moodys airs Thursdays as 9:30 p.m. on Fox.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'Where Have You Gone': Alan Jackson shares the title track of his first new album in six years

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Universal Music Group NashvilleAlan Jackson will return this spring with Where Have You Gone, his first studio album in six years and a collection of songs that he says are country through and through, even by his traditional standards.

“It’s a little harder country than even I’ve done in the past,” admits the country music legend. “And it’s funny, I was driving and listening to the final mixes that [producer] Keith [Stegall] sent me, and I started to tear up. I was surprised to get so overly emotional, but I just love this kind of music.”

Alan wrote 15 of Where Have You Gone’s 21 songs, including the title track, a forlorn meditation on the good old days of country music.

“Sweet steel guitar, oh how I’ve missed you / Words from the heart, let me hear you again,” he sings in the chorus of the ballad. “Sounds from the soul, fiddle, I need you / Sweet country music, where have you gone?”

Where Have You Gone will arrive in full on May 14 and is available for pre-order now. In addition to 20 original songs, the project’s final cut is a bonus track cover of “That’s the Way Love Goes,” a song originally written by Lefty Frizzell and Sanger D. Shafer and notably covered by Merle Haggard in 1983.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.