The Simpsons boss again slams fake AI-generated “predictions” / One Piece tops Netflix's "What We Watched" report / Dave Coulier to play Doctor Dave
PLUS: Dexter: Original Sin finds its leads in Patrick Gibson, Christian Slater and Molly Brown.
The Simpsons boss again slams fake AI-generated “predictions” after fake Diddy image goes viral
In March, showrunner Matt Selman went after an AI-generated image claiming The Simpsons predicted the Baltimore bridge collapse. Now Selman is denouncing an AI-generated image claiming The Simpsons predicted Diddy's downfall. "In the current era of digital misinformation, The Simpsons 'predictions' (or, more accurately, 'coincidences') have become meaningless," Selman said in a statement to TMZ. "Any goofball can whip up an AI image based on a current event and say 'The Simpsons predicted it!' — and decent-but-easily-misled folks will believe it because they so very want it to be true."
One Piece had the most-watched Netflix scripted season in the second half of 2023
The live-action manga adaptation had 71.6 million views, placing it No. 1 between July and December 2023, according to Netflix’s second “What We Watched” report. German limited series Dear Child was No. 2 with 52.5 million views, British limited series Who Is Erin Carter? was No. 3 with 50.1 million views, French series Lupin Part 3 was No. 4 with 49.7 million views, The Witcher Season 3 ranked No. 5 with 47.9 million views and Sex Education Season 4 ranked No. 6 with 46.3 million. Meanwhile, licensed titles continued to do well. The eight seasons of Suits available on Netflix delivered 144 million views in the second half of 2023, followed by 88 million for Young Sheldon, 51 million for Grey’s Anatomy, 49 million for Gossip Girl and 45 million for Gilmore Girls. ALSO: Beckham and Squid Game: The Challenge were tops among unscripted content.
Dexter: Original Sin finds its leads in Patrick Gibson, Christian Slater and Molly Brown
Gibson will play a young version of Dexter Morgan in the 1991-set Paramount+ with Showtime prequel series, taking over the Michael C. Hall role. Originally titled Dexter: Origins, the prequel is now titled Dexter: Original Sin. Slater will play Dexter's father Harry, originally played by James Remar. Brown has been cast as Dexter’s sister, Debra Morgan, originally portrayed by Jennifer Carpenter.
Alphabet and Meta are talking to Hollywood studios about licensing their content for A.I.
The tech companies behind Google and Facebook "have held discussions with major Hollywood studios about licensing content for use in the tech giants’ artificial intelligence video generation software," reports Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw, adding that "Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. has expressed a willingness to license some of its programs to train the models, but only for specific divisions — not its entire library. Walt Disney Co. and Netflix Inc. aren’t willing to license their content to these companies, but have expressed an interest in other types of collaborations."
Dave Coulier to lead Doctor Dave, a medical drama series he co-created
The Full House alum will play Dave, “a beloved pediatrician who uses humor and compassion to care for his patients and for the diverse and eccentric ensemble of co-workers at a struggling Detroit hospital.” No word on a platform showing Doctor Dave, which Coulier co-created with Dan Merchant.
The Sopranos' most shocking death aired 20 years ago today
Terence Winter, who won an Emmy for writing the May 23, 2004 Season 5 episode "Long Term Parking," reflects on its shocking ending 20 years later, saying filming it "was hard for all of us."
Wild Cards renewed on The CW for Season 2
The Canadian procedural starring Giacomo Gianniotti, Vanessa Morgan and Jason Priestley was officially picked up for a third season this morning at the CBC's upfronts. "It marks a bit of good news for The CW, which canceled Walker earlier this week, while Canadian drama The Spencer Sisters, which it also aired, was canceled at CTV," says Deadline's Peter White. ALSO: Season 2 will expand to 13 episodes from Season 1's 10.
Warner Bros. Discovery is now reportedly going after the NBA package earmarked for Amazon
"Warner Bros. Discovery is considering matching an offer for the media rights to a package of National Basketball Association games as the league looks to finalize terms — but its focus could be on a potential Amazon package rather than games slated for Comcast’s NBCUniversal," reports CNBC's Alex Sherman, who adds: "The league is close to signing agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon for three different packages of games, the people said. If that happens without a side agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, its CEO, David Zaslav, will have a chance to leverage matching rights that were secured — and paid for — as part of its previous deal with the league."
Charles Barkley says he may reboot Inside the NBA as he calls out Warner Bros. Discovery for having "screwed this thing up"
“Morale sucks, plain and simple. You know, I just feel so bad for the people I work with Dan,” Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show this morning, before criticizing his corporate bosses at Warner Bros. Discovery. “These people I work with, they’ve screwed this thing up clearly. And we don’t have zero idea what’s going to happen. I don’t feel good. I’m not gonna lie, especially when they came out yesterday and said we bought college football (playoff games). I was like, well damn, they could have used that money to buy the NBA.” Barkley said that he’s discussed reconstituting the popular NBA studio show at his own production company, should TNT lose NBA rights. Barkley also said he believes Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s “We don’t have to have the NBA” angered NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Daytime Emmys will be hosted by E.T.’s Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner for the third consecutive year
The 51st Daytime Emmys will air on CBS on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m. ET (tape delayed on the West Coast).
Laura Linney to direct Jason Bateman in an Ozark reunion on Netflix's Black Rabbit
Linney has been tapped as one of the directors on the limited series Black Rabbit, starring and executive produced by Jude Law and Bateman.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero reteam for a comedy podcast
The weekly iHeartRadio podcast More Better with Stephanie and Melissa, from producer Wilmer Valderrama, "will take listeners along on a personal ride through all aspects of life. They’ll share cheat codes for adulting, anecdotes and probably a few embarrassing stories." More Better with Stephanie and Melissa premieres May 30.
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett is starring on Survivor 47
The former Obama administration speechwriter and Pod Save America co-host was seemingly revealed in a trailer for Season 47 after last night's Season 46 finale. While CBS didn't confirm Lovett's involvement, his Pod Save America co-host and fellow former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau made it clear that was Lovett in the teaser, tweeting: “What did I tell you? Eat Pray Lovett.” Jon Lovett left the White House during President Obama’s first term and co-created with Josh Gadd the short-lived 2012-2013 NBC White House sitcom 1600 Penn.
Survivor 46 finale felt like a 42-minute episode stretched over three hours
"I don’t even know if it can be compared to other new-era seasons or old seasons, just because the game play has been so haphazard and pathetically bad," says Andy Dehnart. "Five people in a row not playing idols—after watching player after player be blindsided? Despite the copious number of idols, this season actually backed away from advantages and twists, including none being successfully played at Tribal Council. Imagine a season like this with better players! At the start of the episode, I was hoping for the most chaotic possible final three, which for me would include Ben and Liz. And I got at least part of what I’d hoped for. While there were moments of wacky entertainment, the Survivor 46 finale was most definitely a 42-minute episode stretched over three hours."
ALSO:
Survivor 46 winner Kenzie Petty reveals what went down after the final Tribal Council
Breakout star Ben Katzman has written songs about his Survivor 46 experience
Investigation Discovery's Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter depicts Nick Carter as a monster and blames him for his brother's death
"In its search for an explanation for all this heartache and tragedy, ID’s four-part docuseries (May 29) points the finger in many directions, blaming their parents Jane and Robert, fan culture, Backstreet Boys mastermind Lou Perlman, and a music industry that enabled and shielded predators so long as they remained cash cows," says The Daily Beast's Nick Schager. "No matter the scope of its critique, however, the real target of its ire is Nick, who’s depicted as a monster who wielded his popularity and influence to coerce underage girls into doing as he pleased—and, afterwards, to silence them. As with more than a few recent true-crime exposés, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter is hampered by the fact that its tale remains incomplete. At present, Nick is in the midst of litigation against three women—Melissa Schuman, Ashley Repp, and Shannon “Shay” Ruth—who’ve filed lawsuits alleging sexual assault and battery. Nick has responded with countersuits of his own, claiming that the trio have conspired to defame and vilify him. While he doesn’t participate in director Tara Malone’s docuseries, Nick’s attorneys did provide documents supporting his position that are available at FallenIdolsDocumentary.com."
The Handmaid’s Tale promotes Ever Carradine for its final season
After recurring as Naomi since Season 1, Carradine will become a full-time cast member for the upcoming sixth and final season.
Netflix celebrates 0-star pan of Buying London
The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson called Netflix's British answer to Selling Sunset "probably the most hateable TV show ever made." The NetflixUK Twitter/X account ran with her review, celebrating her 0-star rating.
Amazon's Obsession taps Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia as its leads
Cameron and Jogia will star in the Prime Video thriller series as Ciara and Oliver, "who, after meeting randomly in a supermarket, fall for each other fast, and dangerously hard," per Deadline. "56 days later, homicide investigators arrive at Oliver’s apartment to find an unidentified body — brutally murdered and intentionally decomposed. Did he kill her? Did she kill him? Intercutting between an intense single day in the present investigation and the twisted trajectory of the young lovers’ affair in the past, the series is both a crime story and an erotic, psychological thriller."
Tyler James Williams is glad to see Abbott Elementary "dirty" up Gregory in Season 3
"It’s been huge," says Williams. "One of the things that I was looking for with Gregory, particularly going into season three, was to dirty him up a bit. He’s seen as this great guy and supportive partner, and he is, but I didn’t want that to be it. I think his whole jealousy arc showed that eventually, he’s learning how to be more assertive about what he wants and how to go after this life that he’s looking to have. We had a very short amount of time to accomplish all of it this year because of the strike. But it’s been nice to play that out because it feels like a more natural transition." ALSO: Williams on the Season 3 finale: "Now there’s a whole bunch of other s**t we’re going to have to address."
Jeremy Renner details to Jimmy Fallon his near-fatal snowplow accident: "It was brutal, dude”
“You see like your eye with your other eye — it was because my eyeball was out — and weird things go through your head, right?” Renner told a visibly shocked Fallon on The Tonight Show. “It’s like, ‘Guess that’s real, but I’ll worry about that later.’ I look and my legs are all twisted up, ‘I’ll worry about that later. I’ve got to worry about breathing first.’”
What is Jesse Tyler Ferguson doing in a Modern Family house?
"Haven't seen this view in a while," Ferguson wrote this morning in an Instagram Story from the Dunphy house.
Seinfeld's Michael Richards' new memoir reveals his stage 1 prostate cancer battle
In his upcoming memoir Entrances and Exits, out June 4, Richards writes about being diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer of 2018, after a routine checkup showed high PSA levels. He was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. "I thought. well, this is my time. I'm ready to go," he tells People of receiving the news. "But then my son came to mind just a few seconds later and I heard myself saying, "I've got a 9-year-old and I'd like to be around for him. Is there any way I can get a little more life going?"
The Conners bosses haven't ruled out bringing back Michael Fishman and Johnny Galecki for the seventh and final season
Their DJ Conner and David Healy characters haven't been seen on The Conners since Season 4 and Season 2, respectively.
Poll: Lester Holt is America's most-trusted news anchor
In a The Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll of 2,239 U.S. adults asking about more than 40 major TV news stars, NBC News' Holt came out on top with a 65% approval rating. ABC News' David Muir was second with 63%, followed by CBS News' Norah O'Donnell at third with 53%.
Julio Torres' Fantasmas unveils a trippy HBO trailer featuring Emma Stone, Steve Buscemi and more
“I’m Julio, I’m an Aquarius, I got struck by lightning when I was a child and now I see the world a little differently and I’m allergic to the color yellow,” Torres says in introducing Fantasmas, which premieres on HBO and Max on June 7.
Nat Geo reveals the trailer for Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown
The three-part docuseries, premiering on June 17 on Hulu, documents the last days of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple cult in Guyana in November 1978.
Amazon's I Am Celine Dion trailer details the iconic singer's road back from a life-altering illness
"If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl," Celine Dion says of her battle against Stiff Person Syndrome. I Am Celine Dion premieres on Prime Video on June 25.
Discovery Channel's Hoffman Family Gold teases the end of an era with Season 3
Premiering June 3, Season 3 will mark the last time three generations of the Hoffman family will work together as patriarch Jack Hoffman steps down.
Vice TV unveils the trailer for Hells Angels: Kingdom Come
The docuseries premiering May 29 features never-before-seen footage of the outlaw biker gang.
Watch the trailer for HGTV's Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home
Drag superstar Trixie Mattel's follow-up to Trixie Motel premieres on HGTV and Max on June 1.
Descendants: The Rise of Red trailer pits Brandy's Cinderella against Rita Ora's Queen of Hearts
The movie featuring Brandy and Paolo Montalban reprising their 1997 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella premieres on Disney+ on July 12 and on Disney Channel on Aug. 9.