UK company reportedly looking to serve up British version of ‘Cheers’
Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank
Thirty years after Ted Danson‘s Sam Malone declared, “Sorry, we’re closed,” to end the 11-season classic sitcom Cheers, a U.K. company is reportedly interested in serving up an English version.
That’s the news from Deadline, which reports that the U.K. company Big Talk has tapped Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye to develop a new version of the show that was based at that Boston bar where everybody knew your name.
Cheers opened for business on NBC on the evening of Sept. 30, 1982, and its finale, “One for the Road,” attracted 40 million viewers on the evening of May 20, 1993 — one of the most-watched finales of all time.
During its run, the show earned a total of 179 Primetime Emmy nominations and 28 wins, and spun off another Emmys magnet, Frasier, in 1993.
Mescal in ‘Gladiator II’ – Paramount Pictures/Aidan Monaghan
Gladiator II, the sequel to Ridley Scott‘s 2000 Oscar winner, doesn’t hit theaters until Nov. 22, but the filmmaker says he’s already looking ahead to a third installment.
As reported, Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington star in the upcoming sequel, which centers on Mescal’s Lucius, who returns to Rome against his will, but with vengeance on his mind.
While promoting the picture to the French-language publication Premiere, Scott revealed, “I’m already playing with the idea of Gladiator III,” before adding, “No, seriously! I lit the fuse.”
Scott, who will be turning 87 just after the second film debuts, reveals another famous sequel inspired him to push the story further. “The ending of Gladiator II is reminiscent of The Godfather, with Michael Corleone ending up with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘And now, Father, what do I do?’ So, the next [one] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”
It’s likely in this case he’s referring to Mescal’s character as the stand-in for Al Pacino‘s Michael. However, Mescal isn’t putting the chariot before the horse: he said Scott only recently clued him in to a third film.
“I’m waiting to see what will happen, but I’m interested, of course,” the actor said. “But we must not hurry anything,” stressing it’s all up to whether a third film would serve the story.
Kerry Washington‘s latest show, Unprisoned, will not go on. She announced the news of its cancellation Friday while sharing gratitude for the fans who supported the show for two seasons.
“Ladies & Gents, that is a wrap on Unprisoned,” Washington wrote on Instagram, alongside a montage of behind-the-scenes moments. “This beautiful show that we poured so much of our hearts and souls into is unfortunately not coming back for a Season 3. But I wanted you to hear it from me because while we’re super duper disappointed, we’re also crazy deeply grateful.”
“Thank you to ABCS, Hulu & Onyx for giving us a creative home,” she continued. “And most importantly, we are grateful to YOU ALL – for watching, laughing, crying, yelling, dancing, eye-rolling, cheering (and all of the things between) along with us each episode. It was such a blessing. And we thank you.”
Unprisoned debuted in 2023. It followed Washington’s character, Paige Alexander, a marriage and family therapist whose life is turned upside down following her father’s (Delroy Lindo) release from prison and subsequent move into her home, where she lives with her son (FalyRakotohavana).
Marque Richardson, Jordyn McIntosh and Jee Young Han also star in the series, which premiered its second season in July.
Teri Garr, whose many films include Young Frankenstein, Mr. Mom and Steven Spielberg‘s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, has died at age 79.
ABC News confirmed the performer died on Tuesday in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends. In a statement, she was described as “a fierce advocate” for multiple sclerosis awareness after appearing on Larry King Live in October 2002 to share her diagnosis.
Garr initially trained as a dancer and even appeared as such in several Elvis Presley films. Her first significant acting role came in the 1968 Star Trek episode “Assignment: Earth,” which was intended as a pilot episode for a spin-off series that never materialized.
But Garr’s breakout role, and one in which she displayed her gift for comedy, came in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy classic Young Frankenstein, in which she played the sexy lab assistant Inga, more than holding her own against her more experienced comedy co-stars Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman and Marty Feldman.
Garr was in demand in the 1970s and ’80s, with roles that included Close Encounters of the Third Kind opposite Richard Dreyfuss; 1983’s Mr. Mom opposite Michael Keaton; and 1982’s Tootsie, opposite Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Later roles included the 1992 comedy Mom and Dad Save the World.
Garr made regular TV appearances from the 1960s through the 2000s, notably as Phoebe’s birth mother on Friends. Her quick wit made her a popular late-night talk show guest, with frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Show with David Letterman. She also hosted Saturday Night Live three times.
Garr revealed in 2002 that she’d been diagnosed with MS, which required her to essentially go into semiretirement. She also suffered a brain aneurysm in 2006 that left her in a coma for several weeks, but from which she recovered. She was briefly hospitalized in December 2019 for what was described as dehydration.
Garr was married and divorced once and leaves behind a daughter, Molly O’Neil, and grandson Tyryn, 6.
