April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — In a sweaty picture snapped in what he always refers to the “Iron Paradise,” his massive home gym, a super-jacked Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed production his DC superhero flick Black Adam “kicks off this week.”

Johnson’s photo proves that unlike some, he won’t need any CG embellishments to play the supernaturally-strong, god-like titular anti-hero. To put it plainly, his leg muscles could have their own zip code.

“Black Adam ready,” Johnson captioned the pic, adding, “It’s always the work we quietly put in when no one is watching that changes the game,” and “Grateful for the grind,” along with the hashtags #BlackAdam,
#DCUniverse, and #ChangeTheGame.”

He closed it with, “Production kicks off this week.”

Black Adam, which also stars Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, is expected in theaters in the summer of 2022.

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

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Pamela Littky(NEW YORK) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) Based on the life of Erin Brockovich, Katey Sagal stars tonight in the series debut of ABC’sRebel.

ABC’s new drama series that has her playing Annie “Rebel” Bello, a legal advocate with no law degree who dedicates herself to fighting for the underdog.

Whether in animated form, as she was in Futurama, or in live-action shows like Sons of Anarchy and now this series, Sagal has a knack for playing strong women. “I don’t know what my secret is,” she laughs to ABC Audio, “but I do seem to have a ‘formidable’ stamp on my head.” 

Rebel’s not only street-smart but, like Brockovich, she also has a less-than-modest wardrobe. “To me, that’s one of the things I’m really proud about,” 67-year-old Sagal says. “I really feel great that…we’re showing —  I don’t like to say old, I’ll say ‘older women’ are still very viable in many, many ways.”

She adds, “And so you’re seeing sort of a kick-a**, kinda still hot, still sexy, still, you know…older woman.”

The character will stop at nothing to bring corrupt corporations to their knees, but she’s got less of a leg to stand on in her personal life.

“Rebel has a sort of sordid past in that she hasn’t quite been able to keep her personal life together,” Sagal explains. “She’s got a whole bunch of husbands and different kids from each one of them…So all of Rebel’s kids have admiration for her, and a chip on their shoulder about her.”  

Rebel, which also stars Andy Garcia and John Corbett, debuts tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern time on ABC.

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

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment(NEW YORK) — We’ve got the first trailer for the DC Animated film Batman: The Long Halloween: Part One. 

The project features Supernatural vet Jensen Ackles as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Bosch‘s Titus Welliver as mob boss Carmine Falcone, and fan favorite Troy Baker as Joker. 

It also features the late Naya Rivera as Selena Kyle/Catwoman in her final performance following her death last July.

The film has The Caped Crusader hunting the villain Calendar Man, who’s killing people on holidays in Gotham City. But as always, the Joker is also there to make things interesting.

“There’s only room for one homicidal maniac in this town!” he says in the trailer, which is punctuated by his insane laugh.

Baker, who voiced Joker in several animated Batman films and video games, tips his hat to Mark Hamill, the actor so many fans, himself included, credit for providing an unforgettable voice to the character in previous animated incarnations. 

“In some ways, because of [Batman] The Animated Series, I grew up [watching]…when I read The Killing Joke, when I read Arkham Asylum, that’s whose voice was in my head,” Baker  told ABC Audio. “But we’ve also had Cesar Romero, Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, you know, a bevy of actors who’ve played the character, and I, everyone has been playing a different side of that character.”

Batman: The Long Halloween: Part One debuts on Blu-ray/DVD June 22, with the second installment out some time in the fall.

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

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Ricky Middlesworth(LOS ANGELES) — Alfonso Ribeiro brought laughter to millions through his character Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and now he’s weighing in on news of the series making a comeback. 

While chatting with E! News’ Justin Sylvester on the Just the Sip podcast, the actor first clarified that the new version of the show is not a reboot but, instead, is a “reimagining.”

“I like to call it a reimagining. We sometimes throw a lot of things into one word, one concept. A reboot would be taking the actual show and characters and bringing it back. This is a totally different show,” he explained.

“It’s not even based on the show. It’s based on the theme song,” the America’s Funniest Home Videos host continued. “It’s a completely different thing. It’s drama. It’s not comedy. I have nothing to do with it so I don’t really know anything more…But I actually appreciate it even more than a reboot. Let’s take a concept and turn it into a different show.”

Although Alfonso is admittedly not part of the Fresh Prince reimagining, which is being produced by Universal TV and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios, he’s still rooting for it. 

“I’m like, roll the dice,” he said. “Go ahead and try it and see what happens.”

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC(LOS ANGELES) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) Six years after the infamous Miss Universe mix-up, Steve Harvey is reflecting on the moment. 

Back in 2015, the comedian hosted the beauty pageant and announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as the winner. However, after realizing the mistake, he corrected the error and revealed that it was really Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, who won the crown.

“It was a painful a** night there, dog,” Steve said while on the Comedy Gold Minds with Kevin Hart podcast. “I didn’t know the pain I was in. I didn’t know how bad the mistake was…”

The Family Feud host then elaborated on what led to the mix-up, sharing that there was a last minute change to add a third name to his card and that he had someone in his ear telling him what to do. He also explained that it was his idea to go correct the mistake immediately despite the organization wanting to wait until the next day, which in retrospect, he said he “should have let them.”

The Think Like A Man author even detailed how people threw rocks over the fence of his Atlanta home with the Spanish version of the b-word written on it.

“You know, I knew it was bad when it happened, and really it wasn’t my fault…” Steve said, adding “When I woke up the next morning, it was everywhere. It was the headline in every country. And it was the worst week of my life, man, in show business.”

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.