J.J. Abrams

• Posted Thursday 12/13/18 at 1:17PM EST Jennifer Garner reuniting with Alias creator J.J. Abrams for Apple limited series
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  Apple has given a straight-to-series order to My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, starring Garner with Abrams serving as executive producer. Based on Amy Silverstein's memoir of the same name, My Glory Was I Had Such Friends tells the story of Silverstein's strong connection with her friends that helped get her through life as she waited for a second life-saving heart transplant. This is Abrams' second Apple series, after the dramedy Little Voice starring Sara Bareilles.

  # TOPICS: Jennifer Garner, Apple, My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, Amy Silverstein, J.J. Abrams

• Posted Friday 9/28/18 at 11:40PM EDT Felicity turns 20: Why The WB college drama couldn't happen today
  Source: Indiewire

  Keri Russell became a star with Felicity, which co-creators J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves launched on The WB on Sept. 29, 1998. Speaking this past summer, Reeves says the concept of Felicity is too simple to work on television nowadays. “I think that you need, in today’s world, a kind of access point that allows for a shell, that is the big, bright, shiny thing,” he tells Indiewire. “I feel like that in our current cycle, that you almost need that big billboard signpost that genre allows you to have — and if you have the approach to character, which I think is the most important thing, it grounds it. That mix becomes very exciting, because you’re taking something fantastical, and finding a way to ground it in something relatable.”

  ALSO:

  • Recalling the fashion of Felicity Porter
  • Looking back at Felicity's 10 best episodes

  # TOPICS: Felicity, The WB, J.J. Abrams, Keri Russell, Matt Reeves, Retro TV

• Posted Thursday 8/02/18 at 10:51PM EDT Lost producers "profoundly apologize" to Evangeline Lilly after she revealed nude scene complaints
  Source: People

  

  Lost co-creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, as well as executive producers Carlton Cuse and Jack Bender, issued a joint statement today in response to Lilly's revelation that she felt "basically cornered into doing a scene partially naked, and I felt had no choice in the matter" -- an experience that left her "crying my eyes out." “Our response to Evie’s comments this morning in the media was to immediately reach out to her to profoundly apologize for the experience she detailed while working on Lost,” the Lost producers said in a joint statement “We have not yet connected with her, but remain deeply and sincerely sorry. No person should ever feel unsafe at work. Period.” Lilly revealed on The Lost Boys podcast published earlier this week that “in season 3, I’d had a bad experience on set with being basically cornered into doing a scene partially naked, and I felt had no choice in the matter. And I was mortified and I was trembling when it finished. I was crying my eyes out and I had to go on do a very formidable, very strong scene thereafter.” She added that "in Season 4, another scene came up where Kate was undressing and I fought very hard to have that scene be under my control and I failed to control it again. And so I then said, ‘That’s it, no more. You can write whatever you want—I won’t do it. I will never take my clothes off on this show again.’ and I didn’t.”

  # TOPICS: Lost, ABC, Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, Evangeline Lilly, Jack Bender, J.J. Abrams

• Posted Wednesday 7/25/18 at 11:01PM EDT Castle Rock is an "All-You-Can-Eat Stephen King Buffet," for better and worse
  Source: Dallas Observer

  Hulu's new Stephen King-themed series from J.J. Abrams and King is "more a King-flavored time killer" than "some grand statement of Kinglyness. It’s a thing to watch rather than something you can’t miss," says Alan Scherstuhl. Think of it as Trivial Pursuit: Stephen King Edition. "In its first 10 minutes, Hulu’s horror-drama Castle Rock establishes itself as something of a Stephen King buffet, a comfort-food miniseries providing familiar, undistinguished fare that’s lightly spiced with proper nouns you might recall from earlier, better meals," says Scherstuhl. "Here’s Castle Rock, the small town haunted by the memory of horrors everyone politely agrees not to mention out loud, a miserable burg where the only jobs are at the local prison, Shawshank."

  ALSO:

  • Castle Rock is a creepy and captivating expansion of Stephen King's universe
  • It has both too much and too little Stephen King
  • Castle Rock is in danger of being more about Easter Eggs than an "honest-to-goodness narrative"
  • Castle Rock is a smart and addictive dive into King's work
  • Mediocrity is the real monster on Castle Rock
  • One original departure from King is Castle Rock's sophisticated treatment of race -- one of King’s major Achilles’ heels was his “magical Negro” characters
  • Castle Rock has fun and deep scares, breathing new life into King's work
  • It's like a version of Stranger Things "where the nods to King are direct, fully authorized, and intellectual-property-lawyer-approved"
  • Castle Rock is more of a character drama than a horror thriller -- it has more in common with The Leftovers and The Walking Dead
  • Why do some Stephen King TV adaptions work, while others fail?
  • Castle Rock is a showcase for actor Andre Holland

  # TOPICS: Castle Rock, Hulu, Andre Holland, J.J. Abrams, Stephen King

• Posted Tuesday 7/24/18 at 2:04PM EDT TVLine founder Michael Ausiello's childhood is set to become a 1980s-set TV dramedy
  Source: Deadline

  The TVLine founder is going from reporting on TV to being the subject of a scripted TV show. Ausiello is teaming with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot to develop a half-hour, single-camera, coming-of-age dramedy based on his "TV-obsessed, closeted-gay childhood in small-town New Jersey during the 1980s." Ausiello is writing the script for the untitled project.

  # TOPICS: J.J. Abrams, Michael Ausiello

• Posted Tuesday 7/10/18 at 1:20PM EDT Hulu unveils the official trailer for Castle Rock
  Source: YouTube

  The psychological horror-drama from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams, set in the King multiverse, premieres on July 25.

  # TOPICS: Castle Rock, Hulu, J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Trailers & Teasers

• Posted Friday 7/06/18 at 3:07PM EDT Twenty years after Felicity, Keri Russell is in talks to reunite with J.J. Abrams on Star Wars
  Source: Variety

  This fall marks the 20th anniversary of the Abrams co-created WB college drama. And today Variety revealed that Russell is in early talks to reunite with Abrams, who is directing Star Wars: Episode IX, for a role that will require to do action-heavy fight scenes. Russell should be up for the job coming off her physical role on The Americans. Russell and Abrams last collaborated on the 2006 film Mission: Impossible III.

  # TOPICS: Keri Russell, The Americans, Felicity, J.J. Abrams, Star Wars

• Posted Thursday 6/28/18 at 6:48PM EDT J.J. Abrams' mysterious HBO sci-fi drama Demimonde finds a showrunner
  Source: Entertainment Weekly

  Bash Doran, whose credits include The Looming Tower, Masters of Sex and Boardwalk Empire, will lead the "epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama."

  # TOPICS: Demimonde, Bash Doran, J.J. Abrams

• Posted Wednesday 6/06/18 at 1:56PM EDT Apple orders musical dramedy Little Voice from Sara Bareilles and J.J. Abrams
  Source: TVLine

  Days before Bareilles is set to co-host the Tonys with Josh Groban, Apple has given a 10-episode order to a half-hour dramedy that is described as "a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York." Named after Bareilles' first album, Little Voice is "an exploration of “the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s.” Bareilles recently played Mary Magdalene on NBC's Jesus Superstar Live in Concert! For Little Voice, she'll work behind the camera as executive producer and showrunner.

  # TOPICS: Sara Bareilles, Apple, Little Voice, J.J. Abrams

• Posted Thursday 4/26/18 at 5:09PM EDT Jurnee Smollett-Bell to reunite with Underground co-creator on HBO's Lovecraft County
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  Smollett-Bell will star in Misha Green's drama series set in 1950s Jim Crow America. Lovecraft County also counts J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele as executive producers.

  # TOPICS: HBO, Lovecraft Country, Underground, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Misha Green

• Posted Monday 4/16/18 at 5:49PM EDT Showtime is remaking The Wrong Mans starring Ben Schwartz, with James Corden and J.J. Abrams producing
  Source: Deadline

  The 2013 BBC action comedy that Corden co-created and co-starred in is getting an American remake with Corden producing along with Abrams' Bad Robot productions. Schwartz will play one of two office workers whose life is turned upside down by a chance phone call and a case of mistaken identity.

  # TOPICS: Showtime, The Wrong Mans, Ben Schwartz, James Corden, J.J. Abrams

• Posted Tuesday 4/03/18 at 6:29PM EDT Felicity stars will have their 20th-anniversary reunion at the ATX Festival
  Source: TVLine

  Keri Russell will be joined by Scott Speedman, Tangi Miller, Amanda Foreman, Amy Jo Johnson and Ian Gomez. No word yet if Scott Foley or creators J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves will be in attendance. The ATX Festival will also have a panel of ABC's TGIF alumni.

  # TOPICS: The WB, Felicity, Amanda Foreman, Amy Jo Johnson, Ian Gomez, J.J. Abrams, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Tangi Miller, Retro TV, TGIF

• Posted Friday 3/16/18 at 10:02PM EDT How much did Alias influence Counterpart?
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  Viewers have noticed that J.K. Simmons' Starz drama has parallels to J.J. Abrams' ABC spy series starring Jennifer Garner. "Both series have alternate universes, liberal use of doppelgangers, and an increasingly tense and at times deadly turf war between the two worlds," as Ron Gilmore points out.

  # TOPICS: Counterpart, Starz, Alias, Jennifer Garner, J.J. Abrams

• Posted Sunday 3/04/18 at 2:12PM EST SNL usually shies away from parodying tragedy, but not when it came to President Trump and Parkland
  Source: The Washington Post

  "Saturday Night Live usually responds to a national tragedy by eschewing comedy. Usually, it has no choice," says Avi Selk. "...But when SNL returned to the air this weekend after a month-long hiatus during which the country’s worst high school shooting massacre occurred, the show used President Trump to bridge the gap between the tragic and the ridiculous."

  ALSO:

  • SNL spoofs the Oscars and Hollywood's sexual harassment problem with "The Grabbies"
  • J.J. Abrams made a cameo with Charles Barkley in a cut-for-time Star Wars-themed sketch

  # TOPICS: Saturday Night Live, NBC, Alec Baldwin, Charles Barkley, Harvey Weinstein, J.J. Abrams, Parkland School Shooting, Sexual Misconduct, Trump Presidency

• Posted Thursday 2/22/18 at 3:48AM EST J.J. Abrams took Stephen Colbert's audience to watch his Broadway play
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  Abrams surprised The Late Show audience Wednesday with tickets to The Play That Goes Wrong, which he's producing.

  # TOPICS: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS, J.J. Abrams, Stephen Colbert, Late Night

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South Park uses the C-word uncensored for the first time

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