Hogan’s Heroes and Walker, Texas Ranger co-creator Al Ruddy dies / Adria Arjona boards Criminal / Cote de Pablo reteam for NCIS podcast

PLUS: The Top 100 shows of the 2023-2024 TV season: Tracker leads all non-football programs, canceled NCIS: Hawai’i tops several returning CBS dramas.

Al Ruddy dies: The Hogan’s Heroes and Walker, Texas Ranger co-creator who was portrayed by Miles Teller in The Godfather series The Offer was 94
Albert S. Ruddy, who won the Oscar for Best Picture for producing 1972’s The Godfather and 2004’ Million Dollar Baby, died Saturday after a brief illness. His death comes two years after Paramount+ released The Offer, a 10-episode limited series that told the story of the making of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather from Ruddy’s point of view with Teller as Ruddy. "Ruddy is one of nine producers ever to earn two or more Best Picture Oscars, and has the distinction of winning them with the largest interval in between — 32 years," says Erik Pederson in Ruddy's Deadline obituary, adding: “Before his big-screen success, Ruddy co-created with Bernie Fein Hogan’s Heroes, the decidedly iconoclastic sitcom about life for Allied prisoners in a Nazi PW camp. Starring Bob Crane and a memorable supporting cast, it ran for six seasons and remained popular in syndication. Ruddy had been developing a Hogan’s Heroes sequel series just before the Covid pandemic." Ruddy was also one of four co-creators of Walker, Texas Ranger, along with fellow Oscar winner Paul Haggis, and was also credited on The CW's recently canceled prequel series Walker. “It was an honor and a privilege to portray Al in The Offer," Teller said in a statement. "Al lived a life most could only dream of and all would envy.” The Offer director Dexter Fletcher added: “Al was truly one of the great Hollywood mavericks. One of the last Mohicans who created great movies which still influence and inspire to this day. From humble beginnings to the highest of Hollywood accolades. His was an incredible journey. Achieved through the sheer power of his determination, strong will, irrepressible energy and charm and a rarely matched love for the art of film.”

Adria Arjona boards Amazon's Criminal
The Andor and Irma Vep alum, who is currently starring with Glen Powell in the Netflix movie Hit Man, is the second cast member confirmed for the graphic novel adaptation after Richard Jenkins. She'll play Greta, “a sharp-tongued top-level car thief and driver and the widowed mother of Angie. Ever since her husband died in a bank job gone bad, Greta has been battling with herself about how to escape the only life she’s ever known – and the only place she’s ever thrived. The problem is, she’s good at this. She’s looking for a big score, a lump of money she can use like a gun to shoot her and Angie out of this life and into another one.”

When Calls the Heart actress Mamie Laverock on life support after falling five stories from a balcony walkway
staying at a Toronto hospital after sustaining the fall. Laverock has recurred as Rosaleen Sullivan since Season 1 of the Hallmark Channel series. “She sustained life-threatening injuries, has undergone multiple extensive surgeries, and is currently on life support,” her parents Rob and Nicole wrote on her GoFundMe. “We are all devastated, in shock, at this intensely difficult time.” When Calls the Heart stars Erin Krakow and Johannah Newmarch, who plays Laverock’s on-screen mother, offered their support for the actress and pointed fans to her GoFundMe.

Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly to host an NCIS rewatch video podcast for Spotify
The former NCIS co-stars, who are reteaming for the upcoming spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva, unveiled a trailer for their new podcast, titled Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch and premiering June 4.

The Top 100 shows of the 2023-2024 TV season: Tracker leads all non-football programs, canceled NCIS: Hawai’i tops several returning CBS dramas
Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 for the 2023-2024 season in total viewers, according to Variety. No. 4 was Justin Hartley-led freshman drama series Tracker, followed by NCIS, Young Sheldon and FBI. NCIS: Hawai’i ranked No. 16 in its third and final season, which was up over its second season, topping returning CBS dramas Elsbeth, FBI: Most Wanted, Fire Country, FBI: International, NCIS: Sydney and S.W.A.T. Also, only one scripted cable series, When Calls the Heart, made the Top 100.

All American's 100-episode milestone is becoming rare on TV
"Six years ago, Spencer James was just a kid from South Crenshaw with a big dream. 100 episodes later, he’s never been closer to that dream," says Deadline's Katie Campione. "The CW‘s All American celebrated a milestone Monday that is becoming exceedingly rare in television. Back in the day, reaching 100 episodes was an accomplishment, because it meant that a show qualified for syndication. But now, it means much more. It signifies that the show has beat the odds and survived through the tumult of an ever-changing TV landscape." Episode 100 was directed by star Daniel Ezra, who remembers Nkechi Okoro Carroll called him about directing the milestone episode. “(Carroll) called me to say, ‘So this season we’re going to hit our 100th episode. We think it’s only fitting that you direct it.’ But she warned me, ‘It’s going to be a lot of work," said Ezra. "There is no scenario where you’re going to be light in that episode.'"

George R.R. Martin praises Shōgun as he slams most book adaptations: "They never make it better"
"If anything, things have gotten worse," the Game of Thrones author writes of book-to-TV adaptations, on his blog. Screenwriters, he writes, tend to "make the story their own. They never make it better, though. Nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand, they make it worse. Once in a while, though, we do get a really good adaptation of a really good book, and when that happens , it deserves applause. I can came across one of those instances recently, when I binged the new FX version of SHOGUN. Must confess, I was dubious when I first heard they were making another version of the Clavell novel. It has been a long time, a long long LONG time, but I read the book when it first came out in the late 70s and was mightily impressed. (I really need to give it a reread one of these days, but there are so many books, so little time). And the 1980 miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain as the Anjin was a landmark of long form television, right up with with ROOTS; why do it over again, when that version was so good? I am glad they did, though. The new SHOGUN is superb. Better than Chamberlain’s version, you ask? Hmmm, I don’t know. I have not watched the 1980 miniseries since, well, 1980. That one was great too. The fascinating thing is that while the old and new versions have some significant differences — the subtitles that make the Japanese dialogue intelligible to English speaking viewers being the biggest — they are both faithful to the Clavell novel in their own way. I think the author would have been pleased. Both old and new screenwriters did honor to the source material, and gave us terrific adaptations, resisting the impulse to 'make it their own.' But don’t take my word for it. Watch it yourself."

Bridgerton continues leading Netflix's Top 10
After debuting to 45.1 million views, Season 3 dropped to 25.3 million views for its second week, which was enough to put it in first place. ALSO: Shane Gillis’ Tires debuts in 7th place.

Mike Tyson says he's "feeling 100%" after on-flight medical scare
“Now feeling 100% even though I don’t need to be to beat Jake Paul," Tyson tweeted today roughly 48 hours after emergency medical personnel were forced onto the flight after the boxing great had a medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles.

Gaby Hoffman defends Louie love interest Louis CK: "Cancel culture nonsense is hugely problematic"
Hoffman, who guest-starred on CK's Louie in 2012 as his character's love interest, told The Telegraph that the disgraced comedian is a “human being with flaws” but we are all “complicated human beings with a lot going on, and we fail and we make mistakes," according to The Independent. “Louis is a friend. Not a close friend, but you know, I had a good personal experience working with Louis,” Hoffman added.

Sean Bean to play a gang leader in BBC drama series This City is Ours
The Game of Thrones alum is among the stars of the Liverpool-set crime series.

Bryan Cranston's Your Honor is headed to Netflix
The two-season 2020-2023 Showtime drama, in which Cranston plays a New Orleans judge willing to do anything to protect his son, joins Netflix this Friday. "If you haven’t seen this limited series - please do catch it. I’m very proud of it. We have a terrific cast, and you’ll be on the edge of your sofa watching this story unfold," Cranston tweeted.

Netflix unveils the trailer for America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Cheer's Greg Whiteley's is back with another cheerleader docuseries showing the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders premieres June 20.