Lorne Michaels confirms he's sticking with SNL / Mark Harmon to appear on NCIS: Origins / Industry renewed

PLUS: Oprah Winfrey bought back the rights to Apple TV+'s authorized biographical documentary on her life after reportedly clashing with its director.

Sep 19, 2024

Lorne Michaels confirms he's sticking with SNL after Season 50
Michaels' comment in 2020 to Willie Geist that Season 50 would be his last set off a wave of speculation on who would replace him. But in recent years, Seth Meyers and other Saturday Night Live vets have insisted that Michaels is not retiring. In a Hollywood Reporter cover story on Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary, Michaels — who turns 80 on Nov. 17 — says he's not ready to give the show up. “It’s always going to be described the same way, which is ‘uneven,’ and yet people have decided somehow that it’s important,” says Michaels. “And so as long as it’s important and I can be useful, I’ll stay.” As for Season 50 taking place during a presidential election year, Michael says: "I think there’s two things happening at the same time at SNL: an election — and I’m tired of everybody telling us it’s the most consequential one in history because there’ve been a lot of big elections — and the 50th anniversary. And I want to celebrate this season with people coming back who’ve been part of the show and who love the show — not so much as hosts but just making appearances, and so the election is a chance for that because that’s five or six shows. So, Maya (Rudolph) and some others coming back for the election will be fun for everybody. And, at the same time, there will be new people emerging, a different generation."
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Lorne Michaels says SNL is reinventing Donald Trump again for Season 50: "Trump has morphed," Michaels tells The Hollywood Reporter. "James (Austin Johnson), who I think is brilliant, played Trump as the sort of diminished Trump. The guy at the back of the hardware store holding court, and that played because it felt relevant. But we are going to have to reinvent it again because, well, you saw the debate. One of the great parts of show business is that you can’t come back with the same show. So, all of these characters have to be reexamined, and if it makes sense and feels relevant, you know you’re on the right track. But if it feels like you’re talking to the audience and want to be supported because your values are the same as their values, you really shouldn’t be in comedy."
Lorne Michaels calls out the "overreaction" to Shane Gillis' racist slurs that led to his 2019 SNL firing: "We had a bad time when I added Shane Gillis to the cast (in 2019)," he tells The Hollywood Reporter. "He got beat up for things that he’d done years earlier (racist and homophobic jokes) and the overreaction to it was so stunning — and the velocity of it was 200 Asian companies were going to boycott the show. It became a scandal and I go, 'No, no, he’s just starting and he’s really funny and you don’t know how we’re going to use him.' And when he came back to the show last year (to host), we saw, 'Oh right, he’s really talented, and he would’ve been really good for us.' Now, his life turned out well without SNL, but my point with it is everything became way too serious. It was like a mania. And the velocity of cancellation — and lots of people deserved to not be liked — it just became not quite the Reign of Terror, but it was like you’re judging everybody on every position they have on every issue as opposed to, 'Are they any good at the thing they do?' I do think that period is winding down and, I believe, the people who do awful things will still be punished."
Michael Che dressed as Donald Trump and Colin Jost transformed into Melania Trump for The Hollywood Reporter's SNL cover story
Chloe Fineman: I hope SNL will allow me to make my debut as Melania Trump this season

Mark Harmon will appear in NCIS: Origins' premiere
Harmon, who executive produces the NCIS prequel series starring Austin Stowell as a young version of his Leroy Jethro Gibbs character, filmed new footage of himself for the Oct. 14 premiere, co-showrunner David J. North revealed Thursday. “That was a discussion between Mark, myself and Gina Monreal,” said North. “I hope the audience will be excited to see him after so many years.” Harmon will also serve as a narrator for each episode. “We are focusing on him telling the story of 1991,” said North of Harmon. “As far as Mark appearing again, we are open to anything.”

HBO renews Industry for Season 4
With two episodes left in Season 3, HBO has ordered a fourth season of the acclaimed British finance drama. "Industry has show sizable ratings growth this season," says The Hollywood Reporter's Rick Porter. "While it’s never been one of HBO’s bigger shows, the series, created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, has improved by 40 percent on its season two performance, averaging 1.6 million cross-platform viewers per episode since its Aug. 11 premiere. That number will likely continue to grow, as HBO measures viewing for 90 days from a premiere." Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO drama series and films, said of the renewal: "or three seasons, Industry has been unflinching in its examination of ambition and class, solidifying itself as a marquee HBO drama. Under Mickey and Konrad’s singular vision, this twisted, thrilling look at London finance has redefined the contemporary workplace show. We’re so excited that viewers and critics have recognized season three as bigger and better than ever, buoyed by sublime performances from our unparalleled cast. We have no doubt that Mickey and Konrad, alongside the amazing team under executive producer Jane Tranter at Bad Wolf and executive producer Kathleen McCaffrey, will take season four to even greater heights.”

Oprah Winfrey bought back the rights to Apple TV+'s authorized biographical documentary on her life after reportedly clashing with its director
In 2021, Apple TV+ announced that Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin MacDonald was directing a two-part documentary on Winfrey after he previously made the Whitney Houston biographical documentary Whitney with Emmy-nominated collaborator Lisa Erspamer, who previously worked on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Page Six reports MacDonald clashed with Winfrey over the final cut. “Kevin made the film, but Oprah didn’t like it and he refused to change it, and Oprah has paid back her fee to Apple,” source tells Page Six. A spokesperson for Winfrey — who ended her content deal with Apple in September 2022 — tells Page Six: “As the Apple TV+ deal was coming to an end, Ms. Winfrey bought back the rights to her docuseries and has since decided to put the doc on hold. Ms. Winfrey believes Lisa Erspamer and Kevin MacDonald are incredibly talented filmmakers and is grateful for the time and energy they put into the project.” A source in Winfrey’s camp tells Page Six Macdonald did not refuse to make edits and that Winfrey simply decided “it wasn’t the right time to do a documentary” before making the unusual move of buying it back. Reps for MacDonald didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Black Mirror Season 7 books Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae, Cristin Milioti, Awkwafina, Emma Corrin, Peter Capaldi and more
Tracee Ellis Ross, Rashida Jones, Jimmi Simpson, Harriet Walter, Chris O’Dowd, Paul G. Raymond, Billy Magnussen, Siena Kelly, Rosy McEwen, Osy Ikhile, Patsy Ferran, Milanka Brooks and Lewis Gribben will also appear in leading roles on the Netflix anthology series' seventh season.

Margo Martindale to guest on Paramount+'s JonBenét Ramsey series
The Emmy winner will play the mother of Melissa McCarthy's Patsy Ramsey and grandmother of JonBenét on the Paramount+ limited series.

Hallmark announces 47 "Countdown to Christmas" movies
The 15th "Countdown to Christmas" celebration kicks off Oct. 18 with new movies premiering every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The lineup also includes debut of two limited holiday scripted series, Mistletoe Murders and Holidazed, that will debut on Hallmark+.

Sabrina Carpenter to star in a Netflix Christmas special
A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter, featuring “unexpected duets and comedic guests," will drop on Dec. 6. Carpenter will perform songs from her holiday-themed EP Fruitcake as well as other Christmas season classics.

Nico Santos is returning to NBC with guest roles on St. Denis Medical and Night Court
Santos will reunite with the Superstore team as a registered nurse with "a Mean Girls vibe" on medical mockumentary St. Denis Medical. He'll also guest on Night Court in November.

British shows dominated Netflix's most-watched shows of the first half of 2024, including Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer and Bridgerton
Harlan Coben adaptation Fool Me Once topped all series in the first six months of 2024, Netflix revealed in its latest "What We Watched" data dump. Baby Reindeer, The Gentleman and Bridgerton Season 3 rounded out the Top 4. The most-watched U.S. series was Avatar: The Last Airbender in fifth place, followed by Griselda. One Day came 10th, meaning more than half of the top 10 were either made or commissioned out of the UK.
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The Bachelorette's Devin Strader denies ex's claim of physical assault: "The accusations are simply not true"
“Following my time on The Bachelorette, there have been many stories and misrepresentations put out in the media that I want to take a moment to address,” Strader said in a statement today in response to reports earlier this week that he was arrested and his ex-girlfriend filed a restraining order against him in 2017, adding: "Most recently, there have been challenges from a low point in my past that have been brought up and severely misconstrued. The accusations are simply not true as I have never inappropriately laid hands on another individual or treated my ex-girlfriend in any of the ways I have been depicted. That restraining order was never granted, and fully dismissed. My college ex-girlfriend and I ended up reconciling and eventually ended our relationship on good terms. This was the first time I ever fell in love and I learned a lot from our relationship. It was a growing experience for both of us.”

Jimmy Fallon celebrates hits 50th birthday
"Today I am turning 50 years old," The Tonight Show host wrote in an Instagram post. "I just want to say thank you for giving me this great life. I’m very lucky. I appreciate the applause, laughter, and support, whether it be at one of my shows, walking down the street, at a basketball game in France, or even stranded and lost in a Bavarian field. I feel the love, and I love you back. Thank you for always supporting any new idea I have. You believing in me makes me believe in me. Today I donated to three amazing food organizations: Feeding America, which helps feed people around the country, and two local food banks, Long Island Cares and Bridgehampton Food Pantry. Link in bio to learn more and donate. I am sending my birthday wish to you all for a great year to come. Thank you." ALSO: Jimmy Fallon is campaigning for People's sexiest talk show host.

Jon Lovett on his Survivor 47 experience: "I've just been genuinely pleasantly surprised"
"Well, obviously there's unfinished business," says the former Obama speechwriter and Pod Saves America co-host. "I didn't get to do any business! Here's what I'd say. I have truly no regrets about doing it. I'm really glad I did it. Even just the short time I had, it was a fascinating and rewarding experience. When you get voted out of Survivor, you start figuring out the story you tell yourself about what happened, but that takes a beat. And when you're at Ponderosa, one by one these raw people come in and they just let it all out. And I learned so much about Survivor from those raw conversations before the narratives take hold. You can gather the little bits of information and a narrative to repair your ego a bit — kind of like what I'm doing with you right now. That was really fascinating, and it did make me want to have the experience I had hoped I'd have. So I would say, Jeff knows where to reach me." ALSO: Jon Lovett jokes: "They were denied the full experience of me."

CBS sets the first three cast members for soap opera Beyond the Gates
Tamara Tunie, Daphnee Duplaix, and Karla Mosley will star in Beyond the Gates, the first daytime television soap opera to feature an Black cast since Generations in 1989.

ABC's Joshua Jackson-led Doctor Odyssey trailer is a hit with 77.8 million views within its 48 hours of release
"The total makes this the most-watched trailer for a new broadcast TV show ever," says Deadline's Nellie Andreeva of the Ryan Murphy series. "The prior record was held by NBC’s This Is Us, which amassed a similar total over its first 11 days. The top platform for Doctor Odyssey was TikTok, which accounted for 38.8M views on the official ABC channel alone, with Facebook coming up behind. Back in 2016 when This Is Us premiered, TikTok was in its infancy, with the lion share of trailer viewing done on Facebook (50M in 11 days.)"

ER premiered 30 years ago today
The groundbreaking Michael Crichton-created 1994-2009 medical drama premiered with a two-hour pilot on Monday, Sept. 19, 1994, moving into its regular Thursday at 10 p.m. timeslot three days later.

Will Kirby is done interviewing the jury on Big Brother
The Big Brother 2 winner has been a staple of past seasons, interviewing cast members in a season-finale Q&A. But Kirby tells Parade: "It’s simply time to hang up the proverbial cleats. The run I’ve had on the show, first as (a) contestant and then as a host, is practically unheard of but nothing lasts forever; I am ready to pass the reality television baton!”

Mohamed Al Fayed accused of rape by multiple women in BBC documentary
Premiering today, Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods will delve into rape allegations against the Egyptian businessman who died in August 2023 at age 94 The majority of the women making the allegations are former employees at Harrods, the luxury British department story Al Fayed owned for 26 years.

When Hope Calls returns for Season 2 in January 2025
The Great American Family drama series begins filming late this month for a premiere early next year.

Tim Burton will direct half of Wednesday‘s Season 2 as he did for Season 1
"He's doing four. He's doing half the season like he did in Season 1," says co-creator Alfred Gough.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar flips the script on Shanola Hampton in Found's Season 2 trailer
The NBC drama series returns Oct. 3.

Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman are back in Lioness' Season 2 trailer
The Taylor Sheridan spy drama returns to Paramount+ on Oct. 27.

Fat Joe Talks unveils its Starz trailer
Starz’s first-ever weekly talk show hosted by rapper Fat Joe will feature interviews with Method Man, Mary J. Blige, Hakeem Jeffries, T.I., Babyface, Latto, Buju Banton and Remy Ma. Fat Joe Talks premieres Oct. 4.

Ella Purnell's Sweetpea unveils its Starz premiere date and trailer
Purnell plays a quiet wallflower who develops a vengeful and intoxicatingly liberating taste for murder in Sweetpea, premiering Oct. 10.

Watch Love Is Blind's Season 7 trailer
The dating reality show's new season featuring contestants from the Washington, D.C. area premieres on Oct. 2.

Tim Dillon's talk show-style special This Is Your Country gets a premiere date and trailer
The comedian will tackle current events Jerry Springer-style with "everyday Americans" in his hour-long special, premiering Oct. 1.

It's Meredith vs. Catherine in Grey's Anatomy's Season 21 trailer
The ABC medical drama returns on Sept. 26 in a new 10 p.m. timeslot.

TV Tattle

Lorne Michaels confirms he's sticking with SNL / Mark Harmon to appear on NCIS: Origins / Industry renewed

PLUS: Oprah Winfrey bought back the rights to Apple TV+'s authorized biographical documentary on her life after reportedly clashing with its director.