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Friday March 17, 2017, Disney Studios released the live action version of their iconic animated film Beauty and the Beast. Growing up, I loved the animated film and watched it countless times, so I was truly excited to see how Disney would reinterpret the classic fairy tale of a prince who is imprisoned in the form of a beast and can only be freed by true love.
And guess what? I was not disappointed.
Entertainment Weekly recently made its (multiple) cover story the return of the TV show Twin Peaks. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, or even if I want to watch it. This is surprising to me since I was a big fan for most of the show’s run.
The show was set in the Pacific Northwest in a small town and was created by David Lynch (writer and director of the movie Blue Velvet) and Mark Frost (one of the main writers of the TV series Hill Street Blues). The show took place in the mythical small town of Twin Peaks, nestled in lumber country, and deals with the townsfolk, many of whom are, well, odd. The show starts with the discovery of high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer who has been murdered. Circumstances draw in the FBI in the person of Special Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, a favorite actor of Lynch’s. Agent Cooper is, well, odd. He solves mysteries with the help of dreams and visions that he gets. He’s a very Special Agent and, I think, something of a shaman.
The L.A. Times, which actually knows about these things because, you know, company town, gives us the info we all need:
A decade ago, Hollywood writers brought the entertainment industry to a standstill when they walked off the job for three months in a dispute over pay for movies and TV shows distributed online. The strike halted dozens of TV and movie productions and sent shock waves through the Los Angeles economy.
Now, the Hollywood community is feeling a sense of déjà vu as the possibility of another strike looms large. After the collapse of talks with the major studios, the Writers Guild of America is seeking a strike authorization vote from members. While the union has until May 1 to reach an agreement, tensions are as high as they’ve been in years, say people close to the negotiations not authorized to comment.
Viewers suffering withdrawal from Third Rock From the Sun were given hope when NBC announced it would debut Trial and Error, a new sitcom whose opening episodes would feature veteran actor, John Lithgow, playing defendant Larry Henderson.
Broadcasting a show about an elderly man and starring the 71-year old Lithgow proves some willingness on NBC’s part to welcome comedic talent at any age. Impressed with Lithgow’s versatility, education and 5 Emmys, I had high hopes for the sitcom.
Yet initial descriptions of the show caused some doubt. Described by the network as “an outrageous fish- out- of- water comedy,” it depicts a young lawyer named Josh, from New York, who travels to a small town to defend John Lithgow’s character against a murder charge. Hmmm, a highly educated man from New York traveling to a small town to do some good. So far, it sounds like Northern Exposure.
