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.
Grey’s Anatomy season 21 is finally here, and Good Morning America gave fans an exclusive preview of the new season Thursday morning.
The dramatic opening scene of the season’s first episode, which airs Thursday night on ABC, will leave fans waiting anxiously for the plot to unfold.
The new season picks up in the aftermath of the season 20 finale, with Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) trading barbs with Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), who is standing up for the interns.
“I can have all of you replaced by tomorrow,” Catherine tells the group.
“What about me? Can you replace me?” Miranda says as she walks into the scene.
Catherine stands her ground, saying, “Do you know how many doctors I have replaced in my career? Your rejects can stay, but your salary will pay for the lawyers who will fix their mistakes. You’re done here, Dr. Bailey. Goodbye.”
Miranda isn’t going without a fight, though, as she tells the boss, “I refuse to allow my job to be taken by someone who only operates on spite and greed. You don’t see faces, you see dollars.”
Catherine retorts that Miranda’s leadership is costing her money, and the scene ends with Miranda reminding Catherine that “this profession is a calling — not a business.”
A synopsis for the episode, which is titled “If Walls Could Talk,” teases more drama ahead for our favorite TV doctors.
“After firing some of Grey Sloan’s best, Catherine continues to interfere with Meredith and Amelia’s research. Accidents at a climate change protest bring unique cases to the hospital, and Bailey encounters a blast from the past,” the synopsis reads.
This season will also see the return of Kali Rocha as Sydney Heron and Jesse Williams as Catherine’s son Jackson Avery.
Grey’s Anatomy season 21 premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
The Wild Robot topped the domestic box office, earning an estimated $35 million in its opening weekend. The animated adventure — with a voice cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Stephanie Hsu — added an estimated $18.1 million internationally, for a global total of $53.1 million.
After a three-week run at No. 1, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice slipped to second place, grabbing an estimated $16 million at the North American box office, bringing its four-week tally to $250 million. The film has grossed $373 million worldwide to date.
Transformers One took third place, delivering an estimated $9.3 million in its second week of release, for a total of $39.2 million. Its global tally now stands at $72 million.
Fourth place went to India’s Devara Part 1. The action drama collected an estimated $5.6 million at the North American box office and $32.9 million worldwide. Rounding out the top five was Speak No Evil with an estimated $4.3 million domestically, bringing its tally to $57.7 million worldwide.
Opening in sixth place was Francis Ford Coppola‘s much-hyped Roman epic Megalopolis. The film — starring Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf,Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Chloe Fineman and Dustin Hoffman — earned just $4 million at the domestic box office and $6.1 million worldwide against a $120 million budget in its opening weekend.
Costume retailer Spirit Halloween is trying to have the last laugh at Saturday Night Live, after the show’s 50th season contained a fake commercial spoofing it.
“We are great at raising things back from the dead,” read a Spirit Halloween post on X, showing a costume package with SNL‘s anniversary logo, described as “Irrelevant 50-year-old TV show.” The accessories therein were listed as “dated references, unknown cast members, and shrinking ratings.”
The SNL sketch spoofed how the stores pop up in abandoned storefronts across the country “for six weeks before bouncing,” according to a voice-over by Heidi Gardner.
“Times may be good on Wall Street, but on Main Street, communities are struggling,” she says. “Closed stores, shuttered businesses, empty parking lots. When hard times hit, it’s easy to feel like no one cares. But help is on the way because when others leave, we show up.”
Chloe Fineman adds, “We’re here providing vulnerable communities with the things they need most: wigs that give you a rash, single-use fog machines and costumes of famous characters tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit.” On the latter, a costume listed as “Candy Slave” is obviously an Oompa Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for example.
Gardner also touts how the company provides “six-week jobs for some of America’s hardest-hit perverts,” with a scuzzy Mikey Day advising an under-18 customer that he’s “not legally allowed” to talk to her.
At one point, a little girl asks Fineman if they have a Taylor Swift costume, only for the employee to happily hand her a “Blonde Singing Woman” one. “That’s not Taylor Swift!” the little Swiftie protests, only to have Fineman boop the girl’s nose, saying, “Neither are you.”
