Category: Entertainment

During Netflix’s live Geeked Week send-off event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday night, host — and out and proud geek — Joe Manganiello announced he has stepped up his nerd cred even more. 

The Magic Mike star will be joining the cast of One Piece, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the beloved and bestselling manga, for its second season. 

The actor will play the iconic villain Mr. 0; also joining the show will be Bumper in Berlin alumna Lera Abova playing Miss Sunday.

The series stars Iñaki Godoy as straw hat-wearing swashbuckler Monkey D. Luffy, who sets off with his crew —Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji — to find the fabled article of treasure that shares the series’ title.

One Piece managed to avoid the pitfalls of other adaptations, like Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, by becoming a smash out of the gate. 

The live-action version of Eiichiro Oda‘s pirate saga debuted on Aug. 31, 2023, at #1 on the streaming service’s English language TV chart and the top 10 in 93 countries. In its first four days, it racked up 140.1 million hours of viewing time, right up there with the debuts of massive hits like Stranger Things season 4 and Wednesday.

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Have no fear, your reality roundup is here! Here’s a look at what happened in the world of reality television this week:

The Bachelorette (ABC)
Bachelor Nation, it seems we’re not done talking about Devin Strader just yet. The man who was briefly engaged to Bachelorette Jenn Trann has spoken out about his 2017 arrest on accusations of burglary and the restraining order his ex-girlfriend filed against him. The same ex also accused him of verbal and physical abuse. In a statement shared to his social media, Strader says, “The accusations are simply not true. … That restraining order was never granted, and fully dismissed. My college ex-girlfriend and I ended up reconciling and eventually ended our relationship on good terms.”

Love is Blind (Netflix)
It’s almost time for season 7 of Love is Blind. The trailer for the new season of the show has arrived, and it shows off the 19 singles from Washington, D.C. Over the course of 12 episodes, the cast, which includes a lawyer, a journalist and the show’s first-ever set of sisters, will take to the pods and attempt to find their forever partner. The first six episodes of the season drop on Oct. 2.

Survivor (CBS)
If you were excited about Pod Save America host Jon Lovett competing on season 47 of Survivor, well, at least you have the premiere episode. Lovett was the first person voted off the island, and he says he wishes he’d gotten the full experience of the show. “I didn’t really fully get the experience. And that disappointment is the part that’s important to me. And honestly, in terms of the unimportant public reaction, I’ve just been genuinely pleasantly surprised. I expected people to be a little bit harsher,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

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Ready, set, binge! Here’s a look at some of the new movies and TV shows streaming this weekend:

Disney+
Agatha All Along: The witch is back. Kathryn Hahn stars in the WandaVision spin-off series, and you can stream the first two episodes now.

Paramount+
Frasier: Time for more tossed salad and scrambled eggs. The Frasier reboot is back for season 2.

Prime Video
A Very Royal Scandal: Learn the story behind Prince Andrew’s infamous BBC interview in the new series.

Netflix
His Three Daughters: Three estranged sisters reunite to take care of their ailing father in the new film.

Hulu
Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison.: True-crime lovers, get ready for your next obsession. ABC News Studios’ new series is available to watch.

MGM+
FROM: Learn what happens after last season’s cliff-hanger in the season 3 premiere.

That’s all for this week’s Weekend Watchlist – happy streaming!

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Sunday marks the 25th anniversary of the NBC political drama The West Wing, and actress Elisabeth Moss, who was only 17 when she debuted on the series as Martin Sheen’s daughter Zoey Bartlet, tells ABC Audio she learned a lot during her time on the program.

“The actors that I worked with were incredibly formative for not only what acting is supposed to be like, but how you’re supposed to act on set and your off-camera behavior,” she shares, calling Sheen “one of the kindest people alive.”

She adds, “The way that he would treat the crew was the template for how I thought, ‘OK, that’s how you’re supposed to act with everyone.’”

In addition to Sheen, who played President Josiah Bartlet, the series starred Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer and Richard Schiff, and Moss says the experience working with them was like a “master class.”

“They were also all really nice,” she says, noting it taught her that to succeed “you have to be talented and kind.” 

The West Wing is currently tied for the most Emmy wins for Outstanding Drama Series with four; when fans think of the show, many point to the writing as being a highlight. Moss says getting to say those words spoiled her for future projects.

She notes, “To be able to, at that age, have that caliber of material to speak really set the tone for me of what I was going to be looking for in my career.”

Several members of The West Wing cast reunited at the Emmy Awards Sunday. The Hollywood Reporter says that in honor of the anniversary, the cast, including Sheen and series creator Aaron Sorkin, will reunite again Friday at the White House at an event hosted by first lady Jill Biden.

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While 22% of Americans say they have a home theater, far fewer have a pickleball court.

But integrating the hot new sport into the moviegoing experience is just one perk of a $2.2 billion upgrade to the country’s major theater chains that has been announced by the National Association of Theatre Owners.

The upgrades include amenities you might expect — everything from upgraded seats to sound systems; laser projectors to air conditioning; and more offerings at the concession stand — but also ones you may not, like pickleball courts, arcades and suspended rope courses.

All of it is designed to get you off your couch and back to the movies, says the association’s president and CEO, Michael O’Leary, in a statement — well, not in so many words: “This investment reflects that commitment in a tangible way that every moviegoer will see and enjoy.”

He adds, “The competition for consumers’ hard-earned dollars is fiercer than ever. Going to the theatre is an unparalleled entertainment experience, and exhibitors are dedicated to making every visit to their theatres memorable.”

As an example, the B&B Theatres location in Red Oak, Texas, has been refurbished into a full-on entertainment center, that not only has 12 theaters, but a performance space, bowling lanes, an outdoor bar and, yes, two pickleball courts.

The eight largest theater chains in the U.S. and Canada are taking part in the efforts, including AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas.

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The bombshell Prince Andrew interview about Jeffrey Epstein that caused Andrew to step back from his royal duties is the subject of the limited series A Very Royal Scandal, which started streaming Thursday on Prime Video.

Michael Sheen plays the prince, opposite Ruth Wilson as Emily Maitlis, the former BBC Newsnight anchor whose hard-hitting questions sent shock waves through the U.K. and beyond. Wilson remembers that interview vividly and tells ABC Audio that like the rest of the nation, she was left “gobsmacked.”

“My takeaway from that was, ‘How on earth did this happen? … Why did he put himself in that scenario?’ And now, you know, having done this drama, we’ve interrogated that and we’ve got all the answers on that. Or not,” she laughs.

The fallout came as no surprise to Sheen, who tells ABC Audio that the interview checked a lot of boxes when it comes to the kinds of things that fascinate the British people.

“There’s both the kind of media frenzy, the tabloid fodder kind of nature of it. … And then also, of course, underlying it all was this much darker, more serious, more disturbing issue that it was dealing with about, you know, the exploitation of young women and the relationship with Epstein and all that kind of stuff.”

Sheen had to gain a bit of weight for the role and tried to portray Andrew as this former military stud who was far removed from his glory days.

“The aging process, losing your looks, putting on a bit of weight, all of that stuff, the media no longer being interested in you as being kind of, you know, tabloid fodder. … It’s getting, moving further and further away from the center of power and all that kind of stuff. … It was that sort of trajectory.”

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Starz has revealed the premiere date for its new dark comedy Sweatpea, along with the official trailer. The six-part series stars Yellowjackets‘ Ella Purnell as Rhiannon, “a quiet wallflower who develops a vengeful and intoxicatingly liberating taste for murder.” Almost invisible to people at first, Rhiannon’s “killer secret” turns everything around and she becomes “a young woman capable of anything,” according to the official synopsis. Sweatpea launches Oct. 10 on Starz …

The trailer for season 2 of the Paramount+ spy thriller Lioness dropped on Thursday. Based on a real-life CIA program, Taylor Sheridan‘s espionage thriller follows Laysla De Oliveira as a new Lioness operative helping bring down a terrorist organization from within, according to the streaming service. Genesis Rodriguez and Morgan Freeman have been added to the season 2 cast, joining returning stars Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman and Michael Kelly. The second season of Lioness premieres with two episodes on Oct. 27 …

Ahead of Industry‘s penultimate episode of season 3, airing Sunday, HBO announced it has given the drama series a fourth season. In season 3, Yasmin, Robert and Eric — played respectively by Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey and Ken Leung — are “front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi,” a green tech energy company, led by Kit Harington‘s Sir Henry Muck, per the premium cable channel. Meanwhile, Myha’la‘s Harper “is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig” — played by Sarah Goldberg. Industry‘s third season concludes Sept. 29 …

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Halle Berry hasn’t been seen in a horror film since 2003’s Gothika, but that changes on Friday with the release of the thriller Never Let Go.

In the film, she plays the mother of two young boys who’s trying to keep them safe in their remote home after an unseen evil takes over the world. The trio is all alone against this threat, bonded by blood and a rope they keep tethered to their home, and themselves, when they venture outdoors.

While Halle hasn’t scared moviegoers in a while, she tells ABC Audio, “I love this genre … And I liked this script because it represented something that I had never seen.”

The Oscar winner continues, “While it’s… got some similarities to other movies, I had never seen a family like this, a mother and two sons in the middle of nowhere having to, you know, figure their way through this predicament that they’re in.”

Regarding that “middle of nowhere,” they shot in “an old, abandoned house” in very rural Oregon, not a soundstage.

Halle says it was everything for her and her young co-stars, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins. “I loved it because … it kept us all in the reality of this world,” the actress said, adding “being out in the elements” meant the occasional danger of bear encounters, helping show them how quickly that “beautiful place would turn into a horrific place.”

Halle says she made sure the movie’s heavy subject matter didn’t take a toll on the young performers. “Being a mother, that’s one of the things I worried about. And I … wanted to send them back home the way they came,” she adds with a laugh. “And I think they did. So I think that’s a huge accomplishment.”  

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There has been a rallying cry in this country to pay our educators more, and Warner Bros. Television has apparently listened — even though the Abbott Elementary cast only pretends to be teachers on ABC. 

Deadline is reporting the cast of the show created by producer and co-star Quinta Brunson has gotten “major salary increases” for the fast-approaching fourth season of the series. 

According to the trade, the six regular cast members of the series — Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti and Lisa Ann Walter — have been given “big” per-episode bumps, in the “triple digit” percentage compared to the last season, in fact. 

William Stanford Davis, who plays the wise-cracking janitor Mr. Johnson, was also given a “generous raise,” according to the trade. He only became a series regular in the second season, but according to the trade, he will be pulling in $100,000 an episode.

School is back in session for the fourth season of Abbott Elementary on Oct. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Sebastian Stan won’t stand for any Marvel hate.

The actor, who made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Bucky Barnes in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, teased his next movie in the long-running film series and shut down those who want to “pick on” the franchise in a new interview with Variety, published Thursday.

“It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films],” he told the outlet. “And that’s fine. Everyone’s got an opinion.”

“But they’re a big part of what contributes to this business and allows us to have smaller movies as well,” he continued. “This is an artery traveling through the system of this entire machinery that’s Hollywood. It feeds in so many more ways than people acknowledge.”

Stan said he gets “protective” of the franchise “because the intention is really f****** good.”

He added, “It’s just f****** hard to make a good movie over and over again.”

Stan will star in Thunderbolts* next summer, in which he leads a ragtag group of heroes — many of them reformed villains — including Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell and Hannah John-Kamen. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus also reprises in the film.

Stan says the movie is “kind of like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” describing both of them as being about “a guy coming into this group that was chaotic and degenerate, and somehow finding a way to unite them.”

With Stan playing Barnes aka The Winter Soldier across numerous movies and even a TV series, the actor is “constantly … challenging” himself.

As proof, he’s in two of the year’s buzziest films heading into awards season: A Different Man, out Sept. 20, and The Apprentice, out Oct. 11.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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