January 29, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Jeff Niera(LOS ANGELES) — Sara Gilbert, the star and executive producer of ABC’s The Conners, is reportedly taking a look into the so-called Varsity Blues college cheating scandal, as part of her new fact-based HBO Max series called Verbatim. 

Deadline reports the show will be based on the New York Times‘ digital documentary series of the same name, which re-enacts actual events, using the subjects’ own words as a script.

The trade notes that The Office alum Rob Huebel, veteran character actor Leland Orser, and Chris Messina, the latter of whom was recently seen in Birds of Prey, are also set to star in the pilot. Deadline says Gilbert will “likely” play one of the FBI agents integral to the investigation into wealthy people who got caught trying to grease their children’s admission into various colleges.

In all, the scandal snagged 53 wealthy individuals, including Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, and Fuller House star Lori Loughlin and her designer husband Mossimo Giuanulli. They were each sentenced to jail for their roles in the scam.

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

January 29, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy(LOS ANGELES) — Emmy and Grammy Award winner Dave Chappelle may be a familiar face to most — but apparently not to some recent contestants on Jeopardy!

During an episode of the popular game show, Chappelle’s photo was featured as part of a question during a Double Jeopardy round.

“This comedian displayed his drama chops in A Star is Born, playing Bradley Cooper’s longtime friend,” read interim host Ken Jennings to the seemingly oblivious contestants.

When no one buzzed in, Jennings responded, “That’s Dave Chappelle.”

It didn’t take long for social media to react to the blunder.

“No one recognized Dave Chappelle during Jeopardy? What is, ‘who are these people?’,” one wrote.

“It’s crazy enough that a picture of @DaveChappelle was a $2000 clue on Jeopardy tonight – what’s more incredible is no one got it right!,” shared another.

One fan even joked that he had to yell at his TV when no one knew that it was Chappelle.

“Watching Jeopardy last night and screaming at my TV “Who is Dave Chappelle, Who is Dave Chappelle???” How can they not know who he is? Put down the book and watch some Netflix or Comedy Central,” he wrote.

Chappelle has yet to comment on the Jeopardy! episode.

By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 29, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc./HBO Max(LOS ANGELES) — In a do-over of its rankings for the end of 2020, Nielsen streaming data now shows that Wonder Woman 1984 was the most streamed show for the week of December 21-27, besting Disney/Pixar’s Soul. 

According to the revised numbers, 2.25 billion minutes of the Patty Jenkins-directed sequel were watched, easily topping the 1.6 billion minutes watched of Soul, which had previously been logged as the most-streamed title. 

Incidentally, while the two new titles slugged it out at the top, a fan favorite sitcom scored. 1.435 billion minutes of The Office was streamed on Netflix in that last week of December — before the sitcom was moved to the Peacock streaming service; its performance was good enough for the number 3 slot.

Netflix dominated that key holiday week, the records show, taking 7 of the 10 slots; only Wonder Woman,  Disney+’s Soul and The Mandalorian (#5) were the only non-Netflix content to chart on Nielsen’s ratings.

Disney is the parent company of ABC Audio.

Here are Nielsen’s revised SVOD [streaming video on demand] rankings for the week of Dec. 21-27, 2020:

1. Wonder Woman 1984 (HBO Max) (movie) – 2.252 billion minutes
2. Soul (Disney+) (movie) – 1.669 billion minutes
3. The Office (Netflix) (192 episodes) – 1.435 billion minutes
4. Bridgerton (Netflix) (8 episodes) – 1.204 billion minutes
5. The Midnight Sky (Netflix) (movie) – 1.113 billion minutes
6. The Mandalorian (Disney+) (16 episodes) – 1.024 billion minutes
7. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Netflix) (movie) – 705 million minutes
8. The Crown (Netflix) (40 episodes) – 700 million minutes
9. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix) (366 episodes) – 691 million minutes
10. Christmas Chronicles 2 (Netflix) (movie) – 660 million minutes

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

January 29, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

AppleTV+(LOS ANGELES) — Justin Timberlake’s new movie Palmer debuts on Apple TV+ today.  Justin stars as Eddie Palmer, a high school football star-turned-ex-con, who returns to his home town and begins mentoring a non-binary young boy abandoned by his mother.  Director Fisher Stevens wasn’t entirely convinced that Justin Timberlake was the right guy for the movie, but the pop star soon changed his mind.

“I have to say, the minute I met him and the intelligence he had discussing the script…he discussed the script better than most actors I’ve ever met or worked with,” Stevens tells ABC Audio. “Like, he is an actor. He just…happens to be an actor who makes a living as a pop star. But he’s just as much an actor…in his intelligence and his approach to the role.”

It was Leonardo DiCaprio‘s manager who recommended that Stevens cast Justin in the movie. And while Justin was interested, Stevens said he waited eight months to actually commit to the part.  But when he did, Stevens said, the singer impressed him.

“He just got into it, man, he just started losing himself,” Stevens recalls. “He just started talking to people who were in prison, and he started lifting weights…he’s a chameleon.”

In fact, Stevens notes, “One of the comments I’ve been hearing quite a bit about the movie is like, ‘Oh, my God, I forgot it was Justin Timberlake within like two minutes of the film.'”

But what really impressed Stevens was going to one of JT’s concerts.

“I was like, ‘Woah!'” he laughs. “I mean, Jesus! The power...the guy held 22,000 people [in the palm of his hand]. I mean, that’s a skill. That’s a beautiful thing for my movie too: Someone who has that kind of charisma.”

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 29, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Photo credit: Ryan Plummer(NEW YORK) — Ciera Payton says fans will get to see the “grounded and authentic side” of Wendy Williams in the new Lifetime biopic Wendy Williams The Movie.

“People know Wendy so well and they watch the show think[ing] that’s what she’s like – 24/7,” Payton, who plays Williams, tells ABC Audio. “But no one knows who she is behind the camera. And when she takes the hair out and the makeup off and stuff. And so, we wanted to really show you this human that no one else knows.”

Payton says portraying the real Wendy Williams wasn’t that hard to do since Williams was there to offer her insight.

“Her big thing was — ‘It was about confidence,'” Payton explains. “We spent a little while just talking about that because I was curious for myself. Like, ‘How do you maintain your confidence and dealing with some of the controversy over the years and still put yourself out there.’ And she was like, ‘Listen, point blank, it’s all about just getting back up, putting your shoulders back, keep your head up high and just say, ‘Screw it.'” 

While Payton says Williams wanted the film to focus on her confidence and most authentic self, the actress admits she was a bit “surprised” when Williams’ infamous catchphrase, ‘How You Doing?’ wasn’t included.

“I’m like, ‘Is it not in the script, like, what’s going on?,” Payton recalls saying, before adding that she even tried to sneak in the line.

“And I’m just going to say it: there is one part in the movie [where] I said it.” she laughs. “And it didn’t stay. And I was like, ‘Nooo!'” 

Wendy Williams The Movie, also starring Morocco Omari and Kevin Hunter, premieres Saturday, January 30 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.

By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.