Marc Summers says Quiet on Set pulled "bait and switch" / Mindy Kaling back at Hulu / Avatar: The Last Airbender changes showrunners
PLUS: The Simpsons parodies The Bear in an episode tackling workers' rights and ghost kitchens.
Marc Summers: I walked out on Quiet on Set because directors pulled a "bait and switch" and “ambushed” me
The former Double Dare host told the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, in a pre-taped interview airing Friday, that he didn't know he was participating in a docuseries about toxic behavior at Nickelodeon when he agreed to sit down with the directors of Investigation Discovery's Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The four-episode docuseries focused on abuses taking place after Summers' 1986-1993 tenure, and Summers says he's never met the docuseries’ main focus: Dan Schneider. “They asked me what I thought of Nick, and the first 10 to 12 seconds, from what I understand, in this documentary is me saying all these wonderful things,” said Summers. “But they did a bait and switch on me. They ambushed me. They never told me what this documentary was really about. And so they showed me a video of something that I couldn’t believe was on Nickelodeon. And I said, ‘Well, let’s stop the tape right here. What are we doing?'” Summers added that he was told six weeks ago that he wouldn't be in the docuseries. But then four weeks ago he was told he'd only appear in the first part to discuss the positive aspects of Nickelodeon in its early days. “What they didn’t tell me — and they lied to me about — was the fact that they put in that other thing where they had the camera on me when they ambushed me," said Summers. "And so, now we get into a whole situation about who’s unethical.” In Quiet on Set, Summers can be seen watching a suggestive Nickelodeon clip on a phone, asking: “Did that air on Nickelodeon?”
Mindy Kaling is headed back to Hulu with single-camera comedy series Murray Hill
Hulu beat other streamers to land Murray Hill, a comedy created by Kaling about five work-obsessed twenty-somethings who strive for professional success and, if they have time, personal happiness in Murray Hill, Manhattan’s most glamorous neighborhood. Kaling's The Mindy Project was picked up by Hulu in 2015 after three seasons on Fox, ending in November 2017 after six seasons, including three on Hulu.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is changing showrunners after one season
Showrunner Albert Kim, who replaced original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko in 2020, is moving on to Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He'll be replaced by Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani, who will lead the Netflix series for Seasons 21 and 3. Kim will retain an executive producer credit.
The Simpsons parodies The Bear in an episode tackling workers' rights and ghost kitchens
Sunday's "Night of the Living Wage" episode will have an homage to Disney corporate sibling The Bear's one-take episode. It was also inspired by the 2020 campaign in California for Proposition 22, which allowed app-based transportation and delivery companies to classify their drivers as “independent contractors” instead of “employees," said the episode's writer, Cesar Mazriegos, who served last year as a WGA strike captain. “I wanted to say something,” said Mazriegos, whose wife is an activist. “Seeing the wins that we got, that SAG got and now hopefully that IATSE will get, it feels like an incredible time to have been able to pull this episode off,” he added. “Our production staff did an amazing job on this episode. It’s very real for them, and for so many people in this town. Clearly everything isn’t back to normal just yet. (IATSE and the Teamsters) were there to support us and we’re there to support them also.”
Kate Upton to host Hulu's fashion design reality competition Dress My Tour
The 10-episode Dress My Tour will follow 11 fashion designers as they compete to create designs and style for music stars, with the winner receiving $100,000. Upton will be joined by Emmy-winning costume designer Marina Toybina and creative director/choreographer/director Laurieann Gibson, who will serve as judges.
Kurt Sutter‘s The Abandons to feature a Sons of Anarchy reunion with Ryan Hurst — Michael Greyeyes, Michiel Huisman and Toby Hemingway also cast
All four will join Sutter's Netflix Western series in a recurring role. Hurst played Opie on the first five seasons of the Sutter-created Sons of Anarchy.
Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen debuts at No. 2 on Nielsen's streaming chart
Love Is Blind continued as No. 1 while The Gentlemen had 1.205 billion viewing minutes for the week of March 4-10. After a huge opening and a strong second week, Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender fell by about 51% to 950 million minutes, putting it in sixth place.
NFL Network drops four of its stars, including Melissa Stark and Andrew Siciliano
James Palmer and Will Selva are also out as NFL Network continues shaking itself up amid rumors the NFL is trying to sell the league-owned cable network. The layoffs comes after NFL Network announced its signature show Good Morning Football is going on hiatus for a move from New York City to Los Angeles. "There’s nothing normal, natural, or typical about what’s happening at NFL Network," says ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio." The league clumsily moved its popular morning show from one coast to the other, all in an effort to cut costs. In the interim, the show has gone off the air — for months. Starting less than a month before the draft, for crying out loud. They keep trying to act like everything is fine. It’s obviously not. Making the situation more confusing is the fact that the NFL is generating unprecedented revenues. There’s no financial crisis prompting these moves. So why make them?"
Greg Gutfeld re-ups his Fox News contract
The news comes as Gutfeld prepares to celebrate the third anniversary of his talk show Gutfeld! on Friday.
Among Us adds Patton Oswalt, Debra Wilson, Phil LaMarr and Wayne Knight
The four will star on the animated series alongside previously announced cast members Dan Stevens, Liv Hewson, Kimiko Glenn, Randall Park, Yvette Nicole Brown, Elijah Wood, and Ashley Johnson.
Tyler Perry’s first Netflix series Beauty in Black sets its cast
Taylor Polidore Williams and Crystle Stewart will lead the 16-episode drama about two women leading very different lives. They are among 18 cast members joining Beauty in Black, which Perry will write, direct and produce as part of his Netflix overall deal.
The King of Queens heads to Paramount+ and Pluto TV
While all nine seasons of the Kevin James 1998-2007 CBS comedy will be available on Paramount+ as part of licensing deal with Sony Pictures Television, only Seasons 1-3 can be watched on Pluto TV.
Mario Lopez and wife Courtney Lopez to headline a Great American Family Christmas movie
They'll be joined by their son Dominic Lopez on My Grown-Up Christmas Wish.
Brittany Cartwright says her "toxic" marriage "got worse" when The Valley stopped filming
“Whenever we were filming over the summer, we definitely had some blowups,” Cartwright, who announced her separation four days before the Bravo Vanderpump Rules spinoff's premiere, tells People. “But I feel like we got worse after the cameras went down.”
Katie Lowes and Guillermo Diaz's Scandal rewatch podcast is returning for Season 2 after a strike delay
Their iHeartRadio podcast Unpacking the Toolbox, which returns April 11, paused after tackling the first two seasons because of the Hollywood strikes.
Anna Paquin walks red carpet with a cane
An undisclosed illness over the past two years has left the former True Blood star with mobility issues. Last night, Paquin joined husband and fellow True Blood star Stephen Moyer at the premiere of his new film A Bit of Light.
TCM begins celebrating its 30th anniversary
”The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship: 30 Years of TCM” retrospective kicks off tonight, running Thursday nights through April, featuring a former Turner Classic Movies staffer introducing a favorite movie. Tonight, TCM's first president Brad Seigel will reflect on the beloved movie channel’s launch as he introduces Annie Hall.
Loot spoofs Vogue's 73 questions with Maya Rudolph's Molly Wells
Watch the billionaire and philanthropist take Vogue on a tour of her spacious home.
Bob Odenkirk celebrates David Cross' 60th birthday
"Happy birthday to this li'l peanut," Odenkirk tweeted of his Mr. Show with Bob and David collaborator.
Shirley Jones turns 90
Sons Shaun Cassidy, Patrick Cassidy and Ryan Cassidy marked The Partridge Family star’s milestone birthday on Sunday.
Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire unveils its trailer
The six-episode Disney+ follow-up to the acclaimed 2022 animated series Star Wars: Tales Of The Jedi premieres May the 4th.
Watch Selling the OC's Season 3 trailer
The Oppenheim Group’s Orange County agents are back and bringing the drama in season 3 of the Netflix reality show, premiering May 3.
Five soccer superstars take on new personas to find romance in the trailer for Peacock's Love Undercover
Premiere League superstars Jamie O'Hara, Ryan Babel, Lloyd Jones, Marco Fabián and Sebastián Fassi will attempt to find love in a group of 18 women in Los Angeles. "The men must leave their lavish lives behind and take on secret identities to date several single women in Los Angeles, who don’t know of their fame overseas," according to the official description.