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Tag: TV News

  • Netflix’s ‘That 90’s Show’ Adds Another ‘That 70’s Show’ Alumni

    Netflix’s ‘That 90’s Show’ Adds Another ‘That 70’s Show’ Alumni

    Tommy Chong is officially returning as Leo for That 90’s Show. The actor confirmed his return during a recent appearance on The Dark Mark Show. “They gave me a call and I did my part,” he confirmed. “They never gave me any instructions, so I don’t know if I’m supposed to be talking about it or not. I really don’t give a s— to tell you the truth. I’ve got a big mouth. That’s what I’m known for…I’m back as Leo.”

    Chong is the latest cast member from That 70’s Show to be confirmed. It was recently announced that Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Wilmer Valderrama are returning for guest appearances. They’ll join series leads, Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp, who are reprising their roles as Red and Kitty Forman.

    The spinoff series will focus on Leia Forman (Callie Haverda), the daughter of Eric (Grace) and Donna (Prepon), as she visits her grandparents during the summer of 1995. Much like her parents, she’ll find herself forming bonds with a new generation of Point Place kids under the watchful eye of Red and Kitty.

    Over the course of its run, Chong appeared as Leo in 65 episodes of That 70’s Show as a hippy stoner who built a close relationship with Hyde after employing him at the Foto Hut. Danny Masterson is not expected to reprise his role as Hyde in That 90’s Show.

    That 90’s Show was ordered straight to series by Netflix with a 10-episode count. The creators of That 70’s Show, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner, have boarded the series as writers and executive producers alongside their daughter Linsey Turner. Gregg Mettler, who also worked on That 70’s Show, is also on board as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner.

    Source: The Dark Mark Show via Variety

  • Deborah Chow Played John Williams ‘Star Wars’ Score While Filming ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Deborah Chow Played John Williams ‘Star Wars’ Score While Filming ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    There’s something iconic about John Williams‘s score. No matter when you hear it, you instantly can connect it to Star Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s marketing team knew that as the moment they played Duel of the Fates in the teaser trailer, they knew what kind of emotions it would awaken.

    While talking about making the lightsaber during action sequences in the Disney+ series’ press conference, Deborah Chow revealed that they couldn’t tell if the cast was doing them as they were playing music while filming. Not just any music as they were using John Williams‘ iconic scores to put the actors in the right mind, as Moses Ingram reveals how it felt hearing the music while simply stepping off a ship.

    And it was sick, too. Because we’d be like stepping off the ship or doing something else and the music would swell. And you’re just like feeling like you’re 10 feet tall. It’s very, very cool.

    Moses Ingram

    Chow highlights that this was their intention to use the music that’s become synonymous with the franchise to bring the actors to feel what it means to be part of this franchise.

    Yeah, that was the big reason we did it, because there’s the music obviously brings the emotional component. And what John Williams has done has been so inextricably tied, it is Star Wars. so, if we put it on, all of a sudden, I see Moses go like two inches taller and everybody responds to it.

    Deborah Chow

    The franchise wouldn’t be the same without William’s score and it definitely left its imprint on many. The inclusion during filming is a great way to convey the emotions it brings to life and there’s something special about the soundtrack of the Prequel trilogy. The most exciting aspect is to also hear the return of this soundtrack once the Disney+ series premieres this Friday.

  • Ewan McGregor Would Be Open to a Season 2 of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Ewan McGregor Would Be Open to a Season 2 of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    It’s no secret that Obi-Wan Kenobi will be a limited series. Most of the advertising highlighted it as such, and head writer Deborah Chow has confirmed that this was their take ever since it was conceptualized. Yet, there’s still always a little glimmer of hope that we could see more and it seems that while Choh remains strong on how she initially perceived the project, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy is certainly open to the idea.

    Mainly because everybody came together and had such an incredible time. Ewan had an incredible time. Hayden had an incredible time. So certainly from that point of view, everybody involved would love to see this not end. But we have to really spend our time asking the question: Why would we do it? If we were to decide to do anything more with the Obi-Wan character, we’d have to really answer the question why?“

    Kathleen Kennedy

    She’s not the only one surprised, as it seems Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor, has also warmed up to the idea of potentially doing more with the franchise. The experience working on the project may have certainly gotten his interest to return to the role in the future.

    Yeah, I would like to make another one. I had such a great time working with Deb, and the actors that we had in this were so great to work with, and the crew are just… I can’t tell you. It was so wonderful to work on. I couldn’t wait to get to work every day, and on a long shoot like this, that’s something. Right to the end, I just loved the experience of it

    Ewan McGregor

    While there’s no necessity for him to continue an Obi-Wan Kenobi series after the initial limited run, there are other options they could take. We have a few Jedi refuges after the event of Order 66, who might stumble upon the former Jedi Master and seek his help. Tatooine also seems to be commonplace for these Star Wars series to visit, which has become a bit of a running gag that every live-action series end up on the desert planet at some point. If they have a spark for a new series to have McGregor return, we’ll have to see what Lucasfilm cooks up in the future.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • New ‘Ms.Marvel’ Documentary Special to Release Ahead of Disney+ Premiere

    New ‘Ms.Marvel’ Documentary Special to Release Ahead of Disney+ Premiere

    Here’s a pleasant surprise, as it looks like a new exclusive look and documentary short will be released ahead of the series premiere of Ms. Marvel. The special will include a look back at her comic origins, as well as how they brought the Disney+ series to life with interviews. The team behind the series, as well as Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala Khan, will be part of the new documentary short titled A Fan’s Guide to Ms. Marvel.” The short is currently eyeing a June 1st release.

    There are no further details currently on what will be included and if it includes entire footage from the series, or if it may focus on the interviews. The June release is just a week away from the Disney+ series premiere. So, we’ll likely see a similar tease like with Hawkeye back during Disney+ Day, which also included a brief segment from a future episode of the December series ahead of its premiere.

    There’s a lot of history even if the character was only introduced in 2013. It’s a nice touch to introduce the character to people that might want to catch up with her comic history before jumping into the series. Plus, we might see more of this small documentary when they introduce new character’s to the franchise that some might not be too familiar with. We’ll see if we might get something similar with the release of She-Hulk in the future, as they find a way to ease in new viewers to these characters as the MCU continues to expand with new characters that are more obscure than others.

    Source: What’s on Disney Plus

  • Ewan McGregor Compares the Technology of the Prequel Trilogy to Disney+’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Ewan McGregor Compares the Technology of the Prequel Trilogy to Disney+’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Ewan McGregor last played Obi-Wan Kenobi back in Revenge of the Sith in 2005. After all this time, he is ready to return to a galaxy far far away, in the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series. Of course, a lot has happened in the film industry, as technology has come quite far since the last time he stepped into a Star Wars project. In the press conference for the Disney+ series, he talks about what it used to be like compared to now.

    Episode 2 […] was my first experience of shooting on digital cameras. And now, you know, it’s so rare to shoot on film, sadly really. But those cameras were like dinosaurs. They were cutting edge technology, but compared to what we shoot on now, they had huge umbilical cords comingout of the back of the cameras.

    Ewan McGregor

    That was not all, as these massive cameras turned out to have one massive flaw. The frequency they were humming throughout production overshadowed all the spoken dialogue, which led the production team to ADR all performances, as revealed by McGregor.

    And that was the new setup and the umbilical’s led to this big tent in the corner of the stage that literally hummed. It was so noisy and in post-production they realized, at the end, that the noise they made was exactly in the frequency of the human voice. So, we had to ADR every single line of Episode 2. None of the original dialogue made it through because the cameras were so new and none of the bugs had been worked out.

    Ewan McGregor

    Deborah Chow goes on to highlight that “George [Lucas] was doing by using digital so early, is so much of that groundwork is how we got toe Stagecraft.” The technology she is referring to became a new landmark with its use through The Mandalorian and is now becoming a new standard for many other major film productions. So, the creator of Star Wars would become the pioneer of modern digital technology.

  • Amazon Orders 2 Seasons of Maya Rudolph’s Animated Comedy ‘The Hospital’

    Amazon Orders 2 Seasons of Maya Rudolph’s Animated Comedy ‘The Hospital’

    Adult animation has grown quite a bit in popularity over the years with franchises like Rick and Morty, Big Mouth, Hoops, and many more. Now, it seems that Amazon Studios is planning to add another to the mix, as they have ordered not one but two full-season orders of The Hospital. The animated sci-fi series is from Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne’s Animal Pictures with both having starring roles in the production. Vernon Sanders, Amazon Studios Head of Global Television, has the following to say on the project:

    The Hospital is the perfect example of the fresh and unique programming we get so excited to deliver to our global Prime Video customers. Cirocco’s humor and clever characters will entertain in any galaxy. We are thrilled to have this special project join our growing adult animated slate.

    Vernon Sanders

    The series has attached Cirocco Dunlap, Kieran Culkin, Keke Palmer, Greta Lee, and songwriter Sam Smith. There have been hints that we’ll also have more additional voice cast members joining the project, but aren’t yet announced. Amazon Studios will produce the series which has already been in development since 2020.

    Dunlap will write the series that follows alien surgeons Sleech (Lee) and Klak (Palmer) that tackle the most dangerous cases. So, they aren’t safe from time loops, out-of-this-world STIs, and parasites that feed off of anxiety. Yet, they risk their entire career based on one case that may put their lives on the line. As with any adult comedy, their personal lives are just as much a mess as you might expect.

    The rest of the cast consists of Lyonne voicing Nurse Tup, Rudolph is a robot intern known as Vlam, Culkin will be a surgeon known as Dr. Plowp and Smith will voice Dr. Azel. Cirocco Dunlap is also serving as showrunner and executive producer on the series. It looks like Amazon fully believes in the project that it was already ordered for two seasons, but there’s a chance they might’ve just split the initial episode order into two parts. Still, with a cast like that, you can’t go wrong.

    Source: Deadline

  • RUMOR: ‘Ironheart’ May Have Already Started Filming in Chicago

    RUMOR: ‘Ironheart’ May Have Already Started Filming in Chicago

    While all eyes have been on the recent Disney+ production of Marvel Studios, Echo, to start production, it seems that the upcoming Ironheart series has also already gotten things rolling. It must be noted, that this is seemingly not the actual production start but rather B roll and plate shots. Second units tend to prepare production and film elements ahead of the actual production, which is what is being referenced by @filming_chicago, but it does further add that Ironheart will start production in June.

    Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, will make her MCU debut in the upcoming Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever. It’s unclear how her story will lead into her own Disney+ spinoff series, but visiting one of the most advanced nations in the world will definitely leave an impact on anyone. We don’t know if she’ll even have her Ironheart armor when we first see her, or if it is something she develops throughout her Disney+ seres. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is also heavily involved with the series. So, we’ll see if she might have some familiar faces from her travels to Wakanda drop by in the Disney+ series as well.

    Either way, it’s great to get an update that they may have already started work for the production. It’s unclear if Chicago will also get used as a backdrop as she was a student of MIT. So, we’ll see how they potentially tie it together or simply use it as a backdrop for another location, which isn’t uncommon for most movies nowadays.

    Source: Twitter

  • Deborah Chow on Tackling ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ as a Limited Series, Makes ‘Logan’ Comparison

    Deborah Chow on Tackling ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ as a Limited Series, Makes ‘Logan’ Comparison

    Obi-Wan Kenobi is the first Disney+ series to get marketed as a “limited series” while others, like Moon Knight, kept it vaguely open in case it got enough fanfare asking for more. While most of the series never really got an announcement, it was a nice surprise when it was confirmed as one. It looks like that was something head writer Deborah Chow also wanted to do with the project, as she wants to use this opportunity to further explore the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi and what he’s going through after the events of Revenge of the Sith. In the press conference, she talked about how this approach excited her for the Disney+ series.

    I was really excited of the idea to do a limited series for one. Just because you get to tell a bigger story, but you also get the time to really get into the character. I think first and foremost, I was the most excited about doing a character-driven story and really kind of having the opportunity to get more depth, and have more time to really get to know the character.

    Deborah Chow

    She also highlights films like Joker and Logan, which take the iconic characters out of the bigger franchises and further explores their place in that world. In a way, the series is closer to Logan which took a look at its main character suffering from the events that led to them losing everyone they cared about.

    In a similar way, it’s a different tone, but something like Joker and Logan. Where you take one character out of a big franchise and then you really have the time and you go a lot deeper with the character. That, to me, seemed really exciting to do in Star Wars.

    Deborah Chow

    There’s definitely something really interesting about taking a closer look at the character’s storylines without the weight of the entire franchise having to continue its story. The Mandalorian’s big draw was this isolated story within a galaxy far far away. perhaps this also opens up the possibility to explore other storylines from characters we’ve come to love over the years.

  • Deborah Chow on ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s “Biggest Challenge”

    Deborah Chow on ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s “Biggest Challenge”

    There was a lot of excitement when it was announced that not only Ewan McGregor but also Hayden Christensen were making their grand return to a galaxy far far away with the next Disney+ Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Deborah Chow is tackling a challenging project by not only bridging two iconic trilogies but also exploring the complex relationship of two of the franchise’s most iconic characters.

    In the official press conference, head writer Deborah Chow talked about how having to bridge these two timelines of the Star Wars universe was “one of the biggest challenges” for the Disney+ series. She highlights the challenge of keeping the canon alive while still telling a unique story.

    I would say that was definitely one of the biggest challenges with the series. We have these huge legacy, iconic characters and we’re in between two trilogies. So, a large part, we’re telling a second act of a story which is often challenging enough. So, I think you know, the biggest thing we’re looking at is respect canon and we also need it to have an original story and original vision for it. That was the biggest challenge, but at the same time, it was very exciting that we were bringing back two of these huge iconic characters and telling new stories with them.

    Deborah Chow

    The biggest challenge will also be how they have to adhere to Star Wars Rebels, which included the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi to face off one last time against Darth Maul. There was a piece that theorized he was originally going to be the series’ main antagonist before it focused on Darth Vader, which Chow swiftly denied, however.

    We’ll see how the series potentially also connect elements from the prequels, like how the Clone Troopers became the Storm Troopers, as a way to give us more insight into how the Empire changed the galaxy through its regime. Of course, many also hope to see Palpatine make an appearance as well, to further showcase his influence over Vader before his son would set him free. Luckily, it’s not too long until we get to finally watch the Disney+ limited series as the first two episodes will stream on May 27th.

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Damage Control Actor Will Appear in ‘Ms. Marvel’

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Damage Control Actor Will Appear in ‘Ms. Marvel’

    In an intricately intertwined universe like the MCU, small connections and crossovers are constantly building to larger things. The official fact sheet for Disney+’s Ms. Marvel has revealed one of these potential connections.

    Listed in the cast is actor Arian Moayed. MCU fans would recognize Moayed as Department of Damage Control Agent P. Clearly, who interrogates Peter Parker early on in Spider-Man: No Way Home. While Moayed had only a minor role, the fact that he will make his way to Jersey City in Ms. Marvel could suggest a growing presence of Damage Control in the MCU.

    The Department of Damage control first made its MCU appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming as a joint venture between Stark Industries and the federal government in response to the damage left behind after Avengers battles.

    While Moayed’s character is not officially confirmed to be Agent Cleary, it only makes sense that the character could act as sort of a figure head for the slowly-growing presence of Damage Control, similarly to how Clark Greg’s Phil Coulson teased S.H.I.E.L.D. across several films. The Department is even set to appear in August’s She-Hulk.

    The full scope of Damage Control’s presence in the MCU going forward is not yet known, but superheroes and the destruction they inevitably leave in their wake has certainly been on people’s minds following films like Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Far From Home. As Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel rises as a superhero, she may find herself in a climate much more hostile to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes than those who came before her had to deal with.

    Ms. Marvel premieres exclusively on Disney+ on June 8.

    Source: Disney