Will Ferrell reuniting with SNL co-star Molly Shannon for Netflix golf comedy / A T.J. Hooker movie is in the works at Netflix / Fox One to cost $19.99 per month
PLUS: Emmys moves SNL50 vs. Beyoncé variety category to primetime.
Will Ferrell reuniting with SNL co-star Molly Shannon for Netflix golf comedy series as Ramy Youssef exits
The Netflix comedy series titled GOLF announced in May 2024, starring Ferrell and Ramy Youssef, is being shaken up with the addition of Shannon and the exit of Youssef. "The untitled project stars Ferrell, in his first TV comedy series, as a fictional golf legend," reports Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "The 10-episode series has evolved significantly and is very different than the original May 2024 announcement, which had Ferrell starring in the comedy alongside Ramy Youssef, with the two co-creating it alongside Josh Rabinowitz." Shannon’s role is being kept under wraps. Both Ferrell and Shannon starred on SNL together from 1995 to 2001, appearing in iconic sketches like "Dog Show." They also appeared together on the big screen in the SNL films A Night at the Roxbury and Superstar. In 2018 and 2019, Ferrell and Shannon reteamed as Rose Parade hosts Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan. The untitled series counts Rian Johnson, Chris Henchy, Harper Steele, David Gordon Green and Ferrell among its producers.
A T.J. Hooker movie is in the works at Netflix
The William Shatner-led ABC-CBS 1982-1985 police drama series, also starring Heather Locklear and Adrian Zmed, will become the next classic TV show to get the reboot treatment, from writers Jarrad Paul and Andy Mogel. "The original series premiered in March 1982 on ABC and ended its five-season, 91-episode run in 1986, with its final season airing on CBS," says Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. "The show starred William Shatner as Sgt. T.J. Hooker of the LCPD, a hard-nosed veteran reeling from a divorce from his wife and the loss of his partner in the line of duty. Principled, moral, and driven to fight crime, the former plainclothes detective returns to uniform to train recruits and clean up the streets of criminals like the kind who killed his partner. Heather Locklear, Adrian Zmed and James Darren also starred. It is at this point unclear whether the 94-year old Shatner will be involved. The show seems organically suited for a more action comedy take, given Hooker’s old style and often roughneck crime fighting style, which seemed out of place in a more woke world." T.J. Hooker creator Rick Husky will serve as an executive producer.
Emmys moves SNL50 vs. Beyoncé variety category to primetime
Netflix’s Beyoncé Bowl and SNL 50: The Anniversary Special's Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category was originally scheduled to be part of the Creative Arts Emmys. But the category — which also includes the Oscars, Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show and SNL50: The Homecoming Concert — will now be part of the main primetime ceremony. "The motives for the move are not entirely clear, but it’s likely an opportunity to get Beyoncé to the awards," says Deadline's Peter White. "The pop star has never attended the Emmys, despite having been nominated before."
President Trump lashes out at Gayle King: "She should have stayed with her belief in TRUMP"
In response to the New York Post's report Monday that King's future on CBS Mornings is "murky," Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Gayle King’s career is over. She should have stayed with her belief in TRUMP. She never had the courage to do so. No talent, no ratings, no strength!!” TMZ caught up with King this morning, who said in response: "I'm sorry he feels that way."
Roku to launch a low-cost ad-free streamer called Howdy
At $2.99 per month, Roku sees Howdy's 10,000 hours of content as a low-cost alternative to the likes of Netflix — not a direct competitor.
Fox One streaming platform will cost $19.99 per month
Launching Aug. 21, the Fox One platform will offer programming from the Fox broadcast network, Fox Business, Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox Weather, along with B1G, FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and Fox local stations. Subscribers will also be able to bundle Fox One and Fox Nation for $24.99 per month.
Jason Reitman exits Jennette McCurdy’s Apple TV+ series I’m Glad My Mom Died over creative differences
The Oscar-nominated Juno and Up in the Air director wasn't listed as being part of McCurdy’s Apple TV+ adaptation of her bestselling memoir, starring Jennifer Aniston as a version of her mom, when the series was announced last month. According to Puck News' Matt Belloni, "creative clashes—specifically between McCurdy, who is serving as showrunner with Ari Katcher, and Reitman, who envisioned the project as more comedic than McCurdy wanted—culminated in a casting call marred by a tense (one source called it 'disrespectful' to Reitman) exchange between the two. Shortly thereafter, Reitman was out, and given Aniston’s limited window of availability, Apple TV+ execs have offered producers a week or two to find a replacement director of similar caliber or the project will be suspended indefinitely. (All sides declined to comment.)"
MTV VMAs will feature a country category for the first time
Nominees for the inaugural best country award are Chris Stapleton’s “Think I’m in Love With You,” Cody Johnson with Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You,” Jelly Roll’s “Liar,” Lainey Wilson’s “4x4xU,” Megan Moroney’s “Am I Okay?” and Morgan Wallen’s “Smile.” ALSO: Lady Gaga leads VMAs nominations.
John Oliver won't take comedic advice from Jay Leno, says "comedy can't be for everyone"
"I’m going to take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno," the Last Week Tonight host tells The Hollywood Reporter when asked about Leno's recent comments about political late-night hosts. "Who thinks that way? Executives? Comedy can’t be for everyone," said Oliver. "It’s inherently subjective. So, yeah, when you do stand-up, some people try to play to a broader audience, which is completely legitimate. Others decide not to, which is equally legitimate. I guess I don’t think it’s a question of what you should do because I don’t think comedy is prescriptive in that way. It’s just what people want. I think our show clearly comes from a point of view, but most of those long stories we do are not party political. They’re about systemic issues. Our last few shows were about gang databases, AI slop, juvenile justice, med spas, air traffic control. I’m not saying that these don’t have a point of view in them. Of course they do. But I hope a lot of them actually reach across people’s political persuasions. You want people to at least be able to agree on the problem, even if you disagree on what the solution to it is."
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have taken significant time off from Morning Joe this summer
"Since Memorial Day, Morning Joe has often felt like Morning Guest Host," says Mediaite's Colby Hall. "Over the past two months, roughly two-thirds of the show’s episodes have aired without one — or often both — of its marquee stars, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. For regular viewers, it’s become something of a parlor game: Which fill-in will be leading the table today? Will it be Willie Geist solo in the NYC studio, Jonathan Lemire capably holding down the fort, or Katty Kay playing the lead role?" As Hall notes, there summer absences is occurring as MSNBC undergoes a significant transformation with the upcoming launch of Versant, the new publicly traded cable network spun off from under the NBCU News Group umbrella. "Since Memorial Day, Morning Joe has aired on 49 business days," says Hall. "Both Scarborough and Brzezinski have appeared together on just 18 shows — about 38% of the summer so far. On 19 days, or 40%, only one of the two lead hosts was present. And on 12 days — 25% of the time — neither host appeared at all. Brzezinski has been off for 26 days, representing 53% of the summer, while Scarborough has missed 18 days, or 37%. There are multiple ways to frame this: while one or both hosts showed up for 77% of episodes (37/49), a more telling figure is that for a majority of the summer — 59% of the time (29/49) — viewers saw either just one host or none at all. For a show that thrives on the dynamic between its co-hosts, the pattern is hard to ignore."
Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers admit they feel the pressure of putting on the Las Culturistas Culture Awards on TV for the first time
The fourth edition of their podcast award's show airs tonight on Bravo in its TV debut after taping on July 17 at Los Angeles Orpheum Theatre. "The Culture Awards started off as a bit. They became a live event only after Lincoln Center asked Yang to program a show for its Summer for the City series in 2022," says Vanity Fair's Chris Murphy. "The free, outdoor event was such a success that Lincoln Center brought them back the following summer—with many fans turned away due to spatial constraints. In 2024, the show moved to Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre and became a ticketed event—selling out and leaving some fans in the cold." “I still don’t think I am famous,” says Rogers after the promo shoot. “I guess I notice a change. But famous is such a weird word now anyway. I think that’s part of why the Culture Awards are so great, because you can expect to see people that you can’t believe how famous they are next to someone you’ve never heard of.” The difference this time is that “everyone that wants to be able to see it for sure is going to be able to see it this year. That’s the coolest thing," says Rogers. "You hear about so many people that are bummed because they can’t make it to New York, or they waited outside for a long time back when it was free and they didn’t get in. Or last year they didn’t get a ticket because we did it in a theater, and there were only so many seats. It’s not something you can do more than once because of the nature of what it is.” Yang notes that for the first time they'll use a jib — a camera on a moving crane — “in the room. You know what I mean?”
Christina Applegate hospitalized for kidney infection
Applegate recorded this week's episode of her and Jamie-Lynn Sigler's MeSsy podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler from an L.A. hospital as she struggled with severe pain that made her feel like her appendix was bursting.
Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack
The heavy metal and reality television star died last month at age 76 of a heart attack and had suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s, his death certificate reveals.
The White Lotus is releasing an official cookbook
Authored by Jarrett Melendez and published by Insight Editions in partnership with Warner Bros. and HBO, the cookbook due Sept. 2 will feature more than 50 recipes inspired by each of the season’s luxury locales — from Thailand to Hawaii and Italy.
Check out Naomi Watts as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for Ryan Murphy's American Love Story
Watts and Paul Kelly, who plays John F. Kennedy Jr. were spotted filming their FX series in New York City on Monday.
Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks have a Life-Size reunion
Lohan and Banks, who starred together in the 2000 ABC TV movie, reunited Tuesday on the Freakier Friday red carpet in Australia.
South Park teases skewering of ICE raids
The logline for this week's “Got A Nut” episode reads: “When Mr. Mackay loses his job, he desperately tries to find a new way to make a living.” The teaser for the episode sure does reflect America today: a contentious and political school board meeting, a highly weaponized fleet of ICE agents, and an event to celebrate Donald Trump, to which the president has brought the devil as his date. The animated Trump barely even registers the speaker honoring his courage because he’s too busy rubbing his date’s knee, but the devil swats his hand away with an aggravated 'Stop!'”
Starz explores the impact of an Atlanta strip club in the Magic City: An American Fantasy trailer
Premiering Aug. 15, the five-part docuseries takes a deep dive into how the Atlanta strip club Magic City became a cultural staple, honing in on the legacy of the famous strip club and its powerful influence on hip-hop.
My Life With the Walter Boys teases return of love triangle
The Netflix teen drama series returns Aug. 28.
Apple TV+ unveils Invasion's Season 3 trailer
The 10-episode third season launches on Friday, Aug. 22 with one episode, followed by a weekly release.