Monday, September 28, 2020
Monday Night TV
STANLEY CUP FINALS (8p ET, NBC) — The Lightning and Stars duel in Game 6. Tampa Bay leads the series 3-2.
DANCING WITH THE STARS (8p ET, ABC) — It’s Disney Night, as the celebs dance to their favorite tunes.
IHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL NIGHT 2 (8p ET, CW) — New. Scheduled performers include Keith Urban, Usher, Bon Jovi, Swae Lee and Kane Brown, with special guests Khalid and Miley Cyrus.
L.A.’S FINEST (8p ET, FOX) — New.
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (8p ET, ESPN) — Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens.
LOVE ISLAND (9p ET, CBS) — New.
FILTHY RICH (9p ET, FOX) — New.
THE COMEY RULE (9p ET, Showtime) — Part 2.
MANHUNT: DEADLY GAMES (10p ET, CBS) — New.
SERIES PREMIERE: EMERGENCY CALL (10p ET, ABC) — Hosted by Luke Wilson, this hour-long docu series chronicles what happens leading up to the arrival of help and focuses on the extreme, suspenseful and sometimes humorous stories that come into 911 call centers.
WHOSE VOTE COUNTS, EXPLAINED (Netflix) — This new docu series looks at the voting process, including gerrymandering, the Electoral College, voter suppression, fraud at the ballot box, and the ways votes are counted.
Showbiz News and Gossip
AT THE BOX OFFICE TENET… is the No. 1 movie in North America for a fourth week, earning an additional $3.4 million. Coming in at No. 2 is The New Mutants with $1.1 million, followed by Unhinged at No. 3 with $1 million, Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back at No. 4 with $910,000 and Infidel at No. 5 with $745,000.
THE MOUNTAIN HAS A SON
The Mountain from Game of Thrones is father to a “strong, healthy” newborn son. Hafthor Julius Björnsson, the 6-foot-9, 420-pound Icelandic strongman who played Sir Gregor Clegane, aka The Mountain, on HBO’s Game of Thrones, announced Sunday that his wife Kelsey Henson had given birth to a boy.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE TRYING TO FILL SEATS
Saturday Night Live is the hottest ticket in New York. Everyone wants to see the show in person. There are two performances: dress rehearsal and live. It’s almost impossible to get into either one of them all season. Not anymore. SNL is now soliciting audience members. What’s really crazy is that you can request up to 9 tickets if they’re in your COVID bubble — meaning people you’re quarantined with.
… If selected for tickets you’ll take a COVID-19 test upon arrival with results delivered before the show; you’ll have a temp check; you’ll be required to wear a mask at all times… and more.
GWYNETH PALTROW POSES NUDE FOR BIRTHDAY PHOTO _ Gwyneth Paltrow shared a nude photo of herself on Instagram in honor of her 48th birthday. The outdoor snapshot shows the smiling Oscar winner from the side, standing with her arms crossed over her breasts. On Instagram she wrote: “In nothing but my birthday suit today… thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and thank you to @goop’s insanely amazing brand new body butter for making me think I can still get my kit off.”
GANGSTA’S PARADISE GETS A REMIX
Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio was a No. 1 hit in 1995. For Oktoberfest, it’s a Bavarian polka. • VIDEO
DWAYNE JOHNSON BACKS BIDEN AND HARRIS
Not so long ago, Dwayne Johnson flirted with the idea of running for president in 2020. That didn’t last long but now the actor and professional wrestler has decided to dip his toes in presidential politics for the first time in his career by openly throwing his support behind the Democratic ticket. Johnson released a video Sunday in which he endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, marking the first time the Fast and Furious star has publicly backed a presidential candidate as he characterized the November vote as “critical.” In the video Johnson emphasized he is a “registered independent … with centrist ideologies” and feels that Biden and Harris “are the best choice to lead our country.”
JOAQUIN PHOENIX AND ROONEY MARA NAME THEIR SON RIVER
It’s been four months since news spread that Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara were expecting their first child together — and, while neither has confirmed that, they have apparently welcomed a baby boy. Director Victor Kossakovsky, whose film Gunda was executive produced by Joaquin, shared the news at a recent screening during the 2020 Zurich Film Festival. According to the director, Joaquin wasn’t in attendance to promote the film because he “just got a baby,” a “beautiful son.” The director also shared the name Rooney and Joaquin chose for their child: “River.”
… The name is a loving tribute to Joaquin’s late brother, who tragically died in 1993, and who the actor gave a moving speech about while accepting the Oscar for Best Actor earlier this year.
M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN’S NEXT FILM IS OLD
M. Night Shyamalan’s box office track record is up and down, but the premise of his films is always intriguing. His next film, scheduled for release next year, is called Old — based on a French graphic novel called Sandcastle. The synopsis for Sandcastle reads: “Early morning on a perfect summer’s day, people begin to descend on an idyllic, secluded beach. Among their number, a family, a young couple, a refugee and some American tourists. Its fine white sand is fringed with rock pools filled with crystal clear water. The beach is sheltered from prying eyes by green-fringed cliffs that soar around the cove. But this utopia keeps a dark secret. A woman’s body is found floating in the waters, which brings these thirteen strangers together to try and unravel the riddle of the sands and escape the beach alive in this tense, fantastical mystery.”
FAMILY GUY FINDS A NEW VOICE FOR CLEVELAND BROWN
Around the same time the producers of The Simpsons decided that they wouldn’t cast white voice actors to play any characters of color on the animated series, Family Guy followed suit when Mike Henry announced that he would step down from voicing Cleveland Brown. Now, after The Simpsons found a new actor to voice Homer’s friend Carl, Family Guy has done the same by announcing a new voice for Cleveland. Voice actor Arif Zahir has landed the role.
JAMES CAMERON IS 95% DONE SHOOTING TWO AVATAR SEQUELS
Thanks to New Zealand’s containment of COVID-19, James Cameron has been able to continue full speed ahead on his Avatar sequels. In fact, he’s almost done filming not just one, but two of them. Cameron says his team is “100% complete” on all live shoots for Avatar 2 and “sort of 95% complete on Avatar 3.”
… Avatar 2 will be in theaters in December 2022 with Avatar 3 set for release the following year.
NICK FURY’S NEW SERIES WILL REPORTEDLY FEATURE A FAMILIAR AVENGER
To the delight of many fans, it was reported on Friday that Samuel L. Jackson would be reprising his role as Nick Fury in his very own Disney+ series. And according to sources, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is set to to accompany Jackson’s Fury in some capacity.