Laurence Fishburne joins The Witcher / Young Sheldon spinoff is in the works / The Jennifer Hudson Show renewed for Season 3

PLUS: Kevin Hart says he won't host the Oscars or any other awards show: "Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics."

Laurence Fishburne joins The Witcher
The Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor will take on the role of Regis, a world-wise Barber-surgeon with a mysterious past who joins Liam Hemsworth’s new Geralt on his journey in Season 4. “I’m very excited to be joining the cast and look forward to exploring the wondrous world of The Witcher,” said Fishburne, who also joins Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan and Joey Batey. Regis was first introduced in Andrzej Sapkowski’s third novel in the Witcher saga, Baptism of Fire. Here's how Netflix describes The Witcher Season 4: "After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out season three, the new season follows Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri who are faced with traversing the war-ravaged Continent and its many demons apart from each other. If they can embrace and lead the groups of misfits they find themselves in, they have a chance of surviving the baptism of fire — and finding one another again." Fishburne most recently starred in FX’s The Sterling Affairs as Doc Rivers.

CBS is developing a Young Sheldon spinoff revolving around the characters of Georgie and Mandy
Montana Jordan and Emily Osment are in talks to reprise their respective Georgie and Mandy on the potential spinoff, which Variety's Michael Schneider reports is nearing a series order. Georgie is the older brother of Sheldon Cooper and his twin sister Missy. In Season 5, 17-year-old Georgie begins a relationship with 29-year-old Mandy, who gives birth to their child Constance Cooper in Season 6. "However, The Big Bang Theory fans know that Georgie and Mandy aren’t meant to last: In the present day, it’s revealed that Georgie (played by Jerry O’Connell) has two ex-wives — one of whom is presumably Mandy," explains Schneider. "Also in the Big Bang Theory timeline, Georgie has become the successful owner of the Dr. Tire chain." The potential spinoff comes as Young Sheldon is kicking off its seventh and final season on Feb. 15.

Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt say Joy Behar being offered the Ted Lasso mom role is "news to us"
Behar recently revealed on The View's Behind the Table podcast she turned down the role of Ted's mom in Season 3 because Britain's weather would be "too hot." Ted's mom was played by Becky Ann Baker, who earned an Emmy nomination for guest actress in a comedy series. During a panel discussion Thursday, Sudeikis and Hunt were asked about Behar's comments. “I, no. Joy Behar from The View?” Sudeikis said. “Respectfully, it would be news to us. We just work there,” Hunt added.

Kevin Hart says he won't host the Oscars or any other awards show: "Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics"
Hart, who stepped down as host of the 2019 Oscars over outcry over his past anti-gay tweets, tells Sky News: “Whatever little hope you had, I want to destroy it right now. Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics. It’s no shot to the Oscars, no shot to the Globes or anything else. Those just aren’t comedy-friendly environments anymore. I think they got it right one year where it was like just a bunch of personalities acting as the hosts and that’s a nice thing. It’s a collaborative thing, different people get to be responsible for act one, act two, act three, but you know, the days of it being a room for a comic, those days are done.” Meanwhile, on Watch What Happens Live, Hart offered advice to Jo Koy after his Golden Globes disaster. “If I’m Jo, I don’t let it get to me," Hart told Andy Cohen. "Let it slide off your back. You’re fine. You’ll be fine. You’re a talented and successful comic...It’s a tough room where the expectation is one of consequence and everyone is on edge.”

The Jennifer Hudson Show renewed for Season 3
Fox Television Stations and Hearst Television has picked up Hudson's daytime talk show, which succeeded Ellen DeGeneres' Ellen, after it posted growth among younger viewers and averaged 4.4 million viewers in Season 2. Watch Hudson's renewal announcement.

TCM will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year with special programming, a new directors-themed series and a studio tour
Turner Classic Movies, which launched on April 14, 1994, is creating a special Warner Bros. Studio tour revolving around the beloved channel in honor of its upcoming 30th anniversary. TCM will also launch Ben Mankiewicz's Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast next week and add a new TV franchise called Two for One, with prominent filmmakers co-hosting a double feature of their choice on Saturday nights, including Patty Jenkins, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Lee, Olivia Wilde, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ethan Hawke, Todd Haynes and Maggie Gyllenhaal. In the fall, TCM will partner with The New Republic to highlight movies from the magazine’s list of “The 100 Most Significant Political Films of All Time.” TCM also plans to mark the 90th anniversary of the Hays Code.

The White Lotus adds five, including Babylon Berlin's Christian Friedel
Friedel, Miloš Biković, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi and Shalini Peiris are the latest additions to Mike White's cast for the third season set in Thailand. They join previously announced Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, and Tayme Thapthimthong, plus the returning Natasha Rothwell.

On Patrol: Live gets a 90-episode pickup
The Reelz cop show's renewal will keep it on the cable network through January 2025.

Southern Charm's Shep Rose is confronting his alcohol problem after blacking out at BravoCon
“I’m at a crossroads. I was out of control, drunk in Las Vegas. I scared the sh*t out of me,” Shep, 44, told his castmates during part 1 of the Southern Charm reunion that aired on Thursday. “I was blacked out. I can’t even tell you what happened (at BravoCon).”

Gaten Matarazzo doesn't look like a teenager anymore on the set of Stranger Things' final season
TMZ posted photos of the 21-year-old Matarazzo filming the fifth and final season, noting that "he's sure as hell not looking like a teenager anymore -- despite them trying to keep the illusion alive."

Jessica Simpson and her daughter spoof her famous Newlyweds "chicken or tuna" moment in Chicken of the Sea ad
In the ad, Simpson and her 11-year-old daughter Maxwell “Maxi” Drew sit down on a couch while the singer eats from a packet of tuna. Mom, what are you eating in the packet,” Maxi asked. “It’s called Chicken of the Sea, but it’s not really chicken — it’s tuna,” said Simpson. “So don’t get confused by it.” The ad was inspired by Simpson's famous scene in the first season of her and then-husband Nick Lachey's MTV reality show Newlyweds.

Abbott Elementary releases Season 3 poster and behind-the-scenes video
“Happy to be back to work, not at school though," Janelle James says in the ABC video.

Usher Super Bowl LVIII halftime show trailer promises a performance "30 years in the making"
The "Yeah!"-themed trailer released by Apple Music features music and footage from the R&B icon's 30-year music career, plus cameos by LeBron James, J. Balvin and BTS' Jung Kook.