Innholdsfortegnelse for August 21, 2017 i TV Guide Magazine

@TVGMMattRoush TV Guide Magazine @TVGuideMagazine @tvguidemagazine What is your reaction to the upcoming season of The Middle being the last? The show has been so consistent: warm, quirky and relatable. It’s a shame that it got so little critical buzz, and more of a shame that Eden Sher never got any love from the Emmys for playing Sue. Maybe she’ll get a yearbook signed by everybody! —ML MATT ROUSH: I’d sign that! My feelings are bittersweet—they always are when a show I’ve treasured comes to a natural end, which I do believe is the case here, as The Middle heads into its preconceived final season. I am sorry the comedy never got the industry attention it deserved for shining a light on the struggles of such a funny family in…

WANT SCOOP? WE’VE got tons of intel from actors and network execs about what’s coming up on their shows this fall and beyond. Some made a splash while others made headlines, all at the justcompleted Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills. • NBC ordered four more episodes of Will & Grace (for a total of 16) and renewed the series for next year before a single episode of the revival even filmed. “We are a very grateful network, and we’re more than thrilled to have this show on the air for a minimum of two seasons,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. • When ABC’s Roseanne reboot airs next year, some events from the 1997 series finale will be forgotten—most notably, John Goodman’s Dan is very much…

THE BLACKOUT FINAL moments of The Sopranos. The snow-globe ending of St. Elsewhere. The dreamy, hilarious sendoff of Newhart. The rocky goodbye of M*A*S*H. The deadly flash-forwards of Six Feet Under. The conclusions of all these classics owe a massive debt to the show that established the importance, and appeal, of a TV series finale: ABC’s The Fugitive. It was 50 years ago—on August 22 and 29, 1967—that ABC aired the two-part finale of the crime series that had run for four seasons. So had its protagonist, Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen), a man unfairly convicted of murdering his wife. Kimble escaped from a train wreck while being transported to prison and traveled across the country, taking itinerant jobs and helping people he met while searching for his wife’s killer,…

SNEAK PEEK The Gifted DRAMA SERIES PREMIERE Monday, Oct. 2, 9/8c, Fox @TheGift edonFox AND YOU THOUGHT your family had drama. In Fox’s new sci-fithriller The Gifted, a seemingly ordinary clan of four, the Struckers, find themselves caught up in the saga of persecuted mutants that began 17 years ago with the first X-Men film. And director Bryan Singer, who’s helmed multiple X-Men blockbusters, is part of the team helping to bring the iconic heroes to TV. Just don’t call The Gifted an “X-Men” show, says executive producer Matt Nix (Burn Notice). “The X-Men are gone, and nobody knows where they went,” Nix explains of the series. “What’s left behind are groups of mutants that are piecemeal, doing what they can to help [fellow mutants] on the wrong side of…

Diana: Her Story Tuesday, Aug. 22, 8/7c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org) Diana and the Paparazzi/Diana: The Day We Said Goodbye Sunday, Aug. 27, 8/7c and 9/8c, Smithsonian Channel DOCUMENTARIES The fractured fairy-tale life of Princess Diana—which ended tragically 20 years ago this month—continues to inspire a surfeit of minutely detailed Diana nostalgia. But why? As Charles Poe, executive producer for Smithsonian’s new docs, puts it, “Diana is the object lesson that tells us more about celebrity and the press than any other story.” Poe and Her Story exec producer Charles Furneaux preview some tidbits unveiled in three brand-new Princess Di specials. Diana desperately wanted a real marriage. “She says in revealing videos made with her speech teacher that she and [Prince] Charles hadn’t had sex in years,” Furneaux…

Weekdays, ABC GENERAL HOSPITAL MAURA WEST CAN do more in one scene with one eye—literally—than most actors can in a lifetime. This always superb, three-time Emmy winner (above, with James Patrick Stuart) plays General Hospital mob doll Ava Jerome who, due to severe facial burns from a fire she started, has been hiding out in a Phantom of the Opera mask. Ava’s best friend these days is a jar of olives and a bottomless martini. Her only source of hope: sexual fantasies about Griffin Munro (Matt Cohen), the town priest. West breaks it down. To be fair, Griffin is on sabbatical from the priesthood and is now a doctor, but he doesn’t mess with women. So this is very Thorn Birds! What the hell is Ava thinking? She’s an extreme woman,…

@damianholbrook REALITY EDITION Cheers to Luann D’Agostino for cutting her marriage storyline short. Even though nutso naysayer Ramona gets to be right about her Real Housewives of New York City costar’s future ex-hubby Tom, we’re glad that the former countess has come to her senses and sent the player packing. Cheers to The Great British Baking Show for cooking up a delicious season finale. Like a sugarcoated Top Chef with a stiffer upper lip, PBS’s gem closed out its latest season with a perfect combo of culinary talent and tension as adorable gym teacher Candice (right) brought the heat to beat engineer Andrew and landscape designer Jane. LOVE IT! Cheers to Love Connection for warming our hearts. Andy Cohen’s reboot of the ’80s hookup factory took a break from its…

NEWS, VIEWS, TRENDS AND INDUSTRY SCOOP ON THE HEELS of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin landing Emmy nominations for Grace and Frankie comes another Netflix comedy starring a woman of a certain age. Oscar and two-time Emmy winner Kathy Bates headlines Disjointed, the first post-potlegalization comedy, from producer Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Mom) and former Daily Show head writer David Javerbaum. Bates thought her career was over in 2012 after her legal drama Harry’s Law was canceled and she suffered her second bout of cancer. A year later, however, she launched an awardwinning turn in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology, and now she hopes to enjoy a long run as Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, passionate proprietor of a marijuana dispensary. “An old broad like me, still kicking,” Bates…

IN THE THREE decades that David E. Kelley has been making TV shows, cable exploded, screens shrank and streaming services came into being—but one thing hasn’t changed. “For me, it all starts with characters,” says the 10-time Emmy-winning creator and producer of The Practice, Boston Legal, Picket Fences and Amazon’s Goliath. “The plot in my work is something that we use to explore the characters.” With the debut of his latest, the thriller Mr. Mercedes (Wednesdays, 8/7c, AT&T Audience Network), Kelley charts some of his greatest hits. L.A. LAW (1986–1994) While working as a lawyer in Boston, Kelley “started penning a screenplay, for no other reason than to kill time.” The script found its way to executive producer Steven Bochco, “and that was it,” Kelley says. “He is a great…

LOVE IT OR hate it, you can’t deny that Twin Peaks is one of the most influential series in TV history. Lost, Legion, Fargo, Mad Men, Bates Motel, The X-Files and even Desperate Housewives owe a debt to David Lynch’s drama. As Showtime’s revival approaches its season finale, writer-producer Noah Hawley describes why Twin Peaks (both the 1990 ABC original and the reboot) is so gosh-darn impactful, and how that’s reflected in his own oeuvre. Nobody expected Twin Peaks. In 1990, networks didn’t take risks on unconventional filmmakers like David Lynch. For me, a twentysomething, the series was a revelation. On the surface, it seems to be just another show about a dead girl. (TV, unfortunately, is built on the backs of young dead women.) A logger finds the homecoming…

PLAYED BY SEAN TEALE Origin The Gifted Debut 2017 Power Photon manipulation The New Guy “Eclipse is an original character to this show, but that doesn’t mean he’s just a random guy,” says Nix, who also teases that “Eclipse has a relationship [to someone] that we’ll explore.” PLAYED BY JAMIE CHUNG Origin The Uncanny X-Men #317 Comics Debut 1994 Power Teleportation Ready for Her Close-Up Played by Fan Bingbing in Days of Future Past, Blink is the only character on The Gifted to have appeared in one of the X-Men films. “Why is Blink there?” asks Nix. “We will build up the mystery.” PLAYED BY EMMA DUMONT Origin The X-Men #49 Comics Debut 1968 Power Electromagnetic abilities Who’s Your Daddy? “I lobbied hard to get Polaris,” Nix says. “She’s Magneto’s daughter. [Magneto’s supervillain…

Party Boat COMEDY MOVIE PREMIERE Thursday, Aug. 24, Crackle Who says partying isn’t hard? Superfun guy Max (Brett Davern, right) is putting his all into throwing an off-the-charts 25th birthday bash for his best friend, Kiley (Katie Leclerc). But when Kiley’s boyfriend reveals his plans to propose during the big celebration, the pang in Max’s heart forces him to refocus his efforts on winning her for himself. Asian Provocateur DOCUMENTARY SERIES PREMIERE Thursday, Aug. 24, Sundance Now Imagine Who Do You Think You Are?, but when the show ends, the celebrity hits the road to drop in on the living members of his extended family tree. This hilarious travelogue follows British teacher turned stand-up Romesh Ranganathan (far left) on such a journey through England, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United…

ACROSS 1 _____ Is Us 5 Mail delivery service 8 Jaime Sommers’s hometown 12 At _____ 13 _____ Detector 14 Love Boat: The _____ Wave 15 Win, Lose or _____ 16 Superman nemesis 17 Holbrook and Linden 18 Brandy cocktail 20 Piermont Winston on Sons of Anarchy 21 Gold (Sp.) 22 Hostile aliens in Space:Above and Beyond 24 Essentially (2 wds.) 26 _____ Enough (2 wds.) 29 Dined at Jack’s Place 30 Downton Abbey network 31 Actress Gardner 32 Professional massager 35 Jennifer of Claude’s Crib 37 Aunt on Double Trouble 38 Ryan O’Neal on Empire 39 Classic cowboy flick 41 Key ocean talent (2 wds.) 45 Arcade goof 46 Animal Kingdom network 47 The “Industry” state 48 Singer Guthrie 49 Graham of The Vampire Diaries 50 It Had _____…

@TVGMMattRoush Get Shorty This adaptation gets Elmore Leonard just right COMEDY Sundays, 10/9c, Epix BACKSTABBING IS ONE way into show business, and usually meant as a metaphor, but not in this exhilarating and darkly funny Hollywood satire, easily the best original series to date from Epix. It’s less a remake of the Elmore Leonard classic (previously turned into a 1995 movie) than a Fargo-style homage, capturing a tone of heartfelt whimsy and graphic brutality. Shorty will have you rooting for and reeling at the exploits of con men conquering the film industry through blackmail and mob money, breaking a few fingers and burying several bodies along the way. Leading an expert cast is the lethally charming Chris O’Dowd as Miles, Irish enforcer for Nevada crime boss Amara (Lidia Porto), queen…

TOO SOON, GAME of Thrones! The hit HBO series’ shortened Season 7 is racing to its explosive, supersized 81-minute conclusion. Who will live? Who will die? And can the new alliances stop the powerful Night King? “This finale is bigger and more complex logistically and in terms of storytelling than any other episode,” teases Jeremy Podeswa, who directed this season’s first and final installments. “It has an enormous number of locales and epic events. The story comes to a head and hurtles toward a dramatic finish.” But first, we look back at key behind-the-scenes moments from Season 7. Spoiler alert: Shoulder pads are back—and they are fierce. BEHIND THE SCENES Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) got a new lease on life thanks to aspiring maester Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), who cut away…

Summer Movie Blowout ACTION Tuesday, Aug. 22, 9:30am/8:30c, AMC These guys are here to chew bubble gum and kick butt— and it turns out they’re all out of bubble gum. The network celebrates the end of summer with a collection of beloved action extravaganzas, starting with 1993’s The Fugitive (left, based on the classic innocent-man-onthe- run TV show; for more on that, see page 8). Then, if you’ve got the guts, stick around for the full day’s lineup: Black Hawk Down, Rambo, the original Total Recall, the remake of Clash of the Titans and, finishing things off at 10:30/9:30c, Pompeii. Silence DRAMA (2016) Saturday, Sept. 2, 8/7c, Epix A longtime passion project from Martin Scorsese, Silence rages with equal parts beauty and painful cruelty. Andrew Garfield (near right, with Shinya Tsukamoto)…