October 8, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Samir Hussein/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — If you’re not following Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Instagram account, where have you been?  The pro wrestler turned box office superstar just surpassed 200 million followers on the social media site.

Johnson was typically humble in marking the milestone — as humble as you can be when you make and post a four-minute video about it. 

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for giving me the space to speak my truth,” Johnson captions the video, in part.  “And the result of speaking my truth is I was just informed, I’ve surged past and blown by 200 MILLION FOLLOWERS on Instagram and over 300 MILLION FOLLOWERS across all platforms.”

According to Johnson, that makes him the #1 followed man in America, and the #1 followed American man in the world.

“And most importantly,” he writes, “the #1 daddy at home.”

He concludes, “Love you guys, I always got your back and let’s keep rockin’.”

True, 200 million followers is seriously impressive, but Johnson’s got a ways to go before he matches the most-followed man on the planet.  That’s Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, with 239 million followers.  Pop star Ariana Grande is the planet’s most-followed woman on Instagram, with 203 million followers.

By Christopher Watson
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

October 8, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Netflix(NEW YORK) — The first six episodes debuted July 1.  Now Netflix is teasing the next six episodes — Volume 2, as they’re calling it — of their Unsolved Mysteries revival. 

The just-released trailer for the second half of the season offers glimpses of the new installments.  “Suspicious deaths, missing children, encounters with spirits and other true-life tales unfold in a new collection of unsolved mysteries,” Netflix declares.

Unsolved Mysteries co-creator and longtime executive producer Terry Dunn Meurer told ABC Audio before the revival’s premiere that the show’s original premise remains — which is that “Someone, somewhere knows the truth. Perhaps you can help solve the mystery. We believe that very, very strongly.” 

The new Unsolved Mysteries episodes premiere on Netflix Monday, October 19.

By Christopher Watson
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

October 8, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet; Turner/HBO Max(NEW YORK) — HBO Max announced just over two weeks ago that the cast of The West Wing would reunite this month for a  special to raise awareness for the nonpartisan organization When We All Vote.  Now we’ve got our first extended peek at the event.

A brand-new trailer, released Thursday, shows Martin Sheen returning as President Jed Bartlet, along with the rest of the political drama’s principal cast members — Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Martin Sheen — all reprising their roles together for the first time in 17 years.  Sterling K. Brown joins the cast to perform the part of White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, played on the series by the late John Spencer, who died during the show’s final season.

The cast is a little older and grayer, but they’re all smiles in the behind-the-scenes glimpses of production, complete with elbow bumps and face masks.

The special is a theatrical staging of the “Hartsfield’s Landing” episode from The West Wing‘s third season.  The episode in part involves the primary day vote in the fictitious town of Hartsfield’s Landing, New Hampshire, the first town in the nation to open their polls.

The special will also include act breaks with messages from When We All Vote co-chair Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Hamilton co-creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda. There will be musical performances from composer W.G. Snuffy Walden, who will play The West Wing‘s familiar theme song, and The Avett Brothers, who will close out the show

A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote premieres Thursday, October 15, just over two weeks before the election.

The West Wing ran for seven seasons on NBC and won 27 Emmys.

By Christopher Watson
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

October 8, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Apple TV+(LOS ANGELES) — Hailee Steinfeld’s Apple TV+ series Dickinson is sticking around for a while.

Not only has season two gotten an official release date, the comedy series has also scored early renewal for season three.

Season two will premiere on January 8, 2021 and Apple TV+ released a new teaser to get fans excited. The teaser shows Hailee as 19th century poet Emily Dickinson participating in a candlelit seance with a group of other young women.

“Should I seek fame?” she asks the spirits, and gets thunder and lightning in response.

Season two will feature returning cast members Jane Krakowski, Anna Baryshnikov, Ella Hunt, Toby Huss and Adrian Blake Enscoe, as well as world rapper Wiz Khalifa, who will reprise his role as Death. It will also introduce brand-new guest stars including Nick Kroll as Edgar Allan Poe and Timothy Simons as Frederick Law Olmsted.

After the official premiere date was announced, Hailee tweeted, “i’m so excited to bring emily back for another wild ride…”

Hailee also executive-produces the series, and contributed a song, “Afterlife (Dickinson),” to its soundtrack last season.

By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

October 8, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Image Group LA(LOS ANGELES) — Eva Longoria is tired of people policing others on how to properly raise a child, especially when those mommy shamers come after her.

Longoria, who shares her two-year-old son Santiago with husband José Bastón, sat down recently with Anna Faris for her Unqualified podcast and discussed why mom shamers need to stop obsessing over other people’s style of parenting.

“The mom shamers of the world are real,” the Desperate Housewives alum opened. “I never want to be that person, to be on a podcast like, ‘What I do is I put my son to bed at 7 because studies show that the brain–‘ Like, Oh my God, good for you. You go do that.”

Longoria vowed that she will never take it upon herself to “tell someone how to parent” because “I am in no way an expert of being a mom.”

Not only that, she says that doling out parental advice “can make other women feel less than, sometimes.”

The Golden Globe nominee also confessed that she is guilty of comparing herself to other moms, noting that “I’m like, ‘Oh, gosh, she has it together. Maybe I’m not doing something right.'”

However, whenever the Devious Maids alum finds herself second guessing whether or not she is raising her son correctly, she reminds herself of her amazing support system, which she calls her “village.”

“I have an amazing husband who supports me, I have amazing sisters and I have amazing girlfriends who have kids the same age,” detailed Longoria. “We all chip in and get it done.”

As for what Longoria says about learning to be a parent while holding down a job and social life, the actress assured, “You just figure it out.”

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.