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Jason Ritter has a very specific impression of his late father’s iconic Three’s Company character in his repertoire.

Three’s Company premiered on ABC in March 1977, and ran a total of eight seasons. The sitcom’s original cast was comprised of John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, Joyce DeWitt, Norman Fell, Audra Lindley and Richard Kline, with Don Knotts, Jenilee Harrison and Priscilla Barnes joining the mix in later years.

More from TVLineLittle House on the Prairie Cast Blasts Fired Event Organizer Who Continued to Market Cancelled Fan EventsSuzanne Somers, Star of Three's Company and Step by Step, Dead at 76Gen...

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are optimistic about the upcoming presidential election, which is less than 50 days away.

“I’m feeling very hopeful,” Clooney told Variety‘s Marc Malkin at the “Wolfs” premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. “Feeling hopeful,” Pitt chimed in.

Vice President Kamala Harris will go head-to-head with former President Donald Trump as U.S. citizens cast their votes in the Nov. 5 election.

“Momentum is a big deal,” Clooney explained, “so I’m feeling hopeful.”

Clooney made headlines on July 10 for publishing an op-ed in The New York Times, in which he urged President Joe Biden to end his campaign following his performance in the presidential debate against Trump. The Oscar winner noted in his op-ed that Democrats had been “all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign” when it came to Biden’s aging.

The premise of the 1977 sitcom "Three's Company" -- adapted from the 1973 British series "Man About the House" -- would likely never fly in 2024. Roommates Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers) require a third roommate to pay rent in their expensive Santa Monica apartment. They stumble across Jack Tripper (John Ritter), an aspiring culinary student whom they get along with. It so happens, though, that the building's landlord, Mr. Roper (Normal Fell), is ultra-conservative and refuses to let unmarried men and women share his apartments. To get around this contrived contingency, Janet and Chrissy tell Mr. Roper that Jack is gay. This satisfies the landlord but opens Jack up to homophobic jibes.

Fell eventually left the series and was replaced by the high-strung Mr. Furley, played by Don Knotts. Mr. Furley, it seems, required the charade to continue. Somers also left the show in its last two seasons and was...

Suzanne Somers’ death on Oct. 15 ensures a Three’s Company reboot would be impossible. It would have been unlikely before the starlet’s death, but Somers wasn’t against the idea. Now, though, there is just a single member of the original main cast that is still alive. That makes us immeasurably sad.

Joyce DeWitt is the only remaining original ‘Three’s Company’ cast member still living

Joyce DeWitt, who played Janet Wood on Three’s Company, is the last living original cast member. DeWitt appeared in 171 episodes of the iconic series, working with both Ritter and Somers as a main cast member from the pilot onward.

Richard Kline with Priscilla Barnes, Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

While DeWitt is the only original main cast member still alive, several other actors who appeared in the series are doing well. Both Jenilee Harrison...

The UK’s ITV has agreed to acquire a majority interest of 79.5 in Hostile Planet and Tiny World producer Plimsoll Productions for approximately £103.5M (126M), giving the company an enterprise value of £131M (159.7M).

The stake is being acquired from private equity group Ldc, which made a multi-million dollar minority share investment in Plimsoll in 2019.

Plimsoll, founded by Grant Mansfield — a former ITV factual boss — in Bristol in 2013, is the world’s largest independent producer of natural history programs and focuses on making premium factual. The BAFTA, Emmy and Oscar-winning firm has produced hundreds of hours of content, which has traveled to nearly 200 countries.

Among its credits are Tiny World and Giant World for AppleTV+; Hostile Planet and Supernatural Planet for Disney; Night On Earth and Animal for Netflix; and the upcoming series A Year On Planet Earth for new parent ITV, Tencent in China, Fox Nation in the U.

U.K. broadcaster ITV has completed its acquisition of leading natural history program producer Plimsoll Productions by taking a majority 79.5 stake.

The deal, which was revealed by Variety last week, values Plimsoll at £131 million (161 million) and ITV will pay £104 million (127 million) in cash for the stake.

Founded in Bristol in 2013, the BAFTA, Emmy and Academy award winning Plimsoll has produced hundreds of hours of content including “Tiny World” and “Giant World” for Apple+; “Hostile Planet” and “Supernatural Planet” for Disney; “Night on Earth” and “Animal” for Netflix and the upcoming series, “A Year on Planet Earth” for ITV, Tencent in China, Fox Nation in the U.S. and Ard Group in Germany.

Under the leadership of founder Grant Mansfield, the Plimsoll team includes chief creative officer Martha Holmes, creative director Tom Hugh-Jones, Karen Plumb as head of factual entertainment; and Richard Klein, former head of ITV Factual, and head of documentaries at the BBC.

On Dec. 7, 1979, Paramount’s Star Trek — The Motion Picture hit theaters and launched the franchise on the big screen. The film, which reunited the cast of the NBC series, went on to earn three Oscar nominations (for art direction, original score and visual effects) at the 52nd Academy Awards. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

No mistake about it, Star Trek is a big movie — big in scope, big in spectacle and, most important, big in entertainment values. Trekkies will be pleased to know that almost all of their favorite characters are back in their original roles (with the welcome addition of voluptuous Persis Khambatta as the Navigator); while the Enterprise itself, which had apparently been in drydock these many years, has now been rebuilt and enlarged to an unimaginable vastness — unimaginable except, of course, by producer Gene Roddenberry and the special effects teams assembled by Douglas Trumbull...

Dino De Laurentiis took a lot of flack for his underwhelming remake of the incomparable 1933 horror classic, which he promoted into a monster-sized hit. Nothing could eclipse the original but the good casting still appeals. An honest ad campaign would have leaned on two points: See Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin carry an insultingly ugly production like real stars! See ‘newcomer’ Jessica Lange play a sexualized ditz so well that she retains her dignity! …and most importantly, See the biggest special effects fraud ever perpetrated on movie screens! Umbrella Entertainment from Australia puts this one back in print, on Blu-ray.

King Kong (1976)

Region B Blu-ray

Umbrella Entertainment

1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date November 4, 2020 / Available at Umbrella Enertainment 19.95 (au)

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange, Rick Baker, Rene Auberjonois, Julius Harris, Jack O’Halloran, Ed Lauter, John Agar.

Cinematography: Richard Kline

Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters

Production design: Mario Chiari,...

1980: Edge of Night's Raven finally arrived to see her sick son.

2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.

2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live premiered on Hulu."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later and ran until 1959.

1940: Young Doctor Malone aired for the first time on CBS Radio, having moved from the Blue Network.

For Sunday’s Oscars 2019 ceremony, producers had a difficult decision of which film industry people would make the cut and who would be left out of the “In Memoriam.” For the segment, Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic performed music by Oscar winner John Williams.

Over 100 Academy members or film industry veterans died in the past 12 months. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.

SEEDirector Stanley Donen, dead at 94, was light on his feet and a movie musical heavyweight

Stanley Donen would have certainly been included, but he died on the weekend after the segment had been finalized (look for him on the 2020 show). Here is list of some of the people included in the Memoriam tribute for the ceremony (Academy members are indicated with ** by their names):

Susan Anspach (actor)

Bernardo Bertolucci (director)

Yvonne Blake (costume designer)**

Paul Bloch...

While Academy Awards producers have strived for a much shorter ceremony this year, the annual “In Memoriam” segment will definitely remain. In fact this moment on Sunday’s 2019 event should be extra classy since Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic will be performing as part of the tribute.

Over 100 Academy members or film industry veterans died in the past 12 months. But which ones will be featured in the short segment? There are generally outcries each year from family members upset about people being left out. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.

Virtually certain to be part of the montage are Oscar-winning directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Milos Forman, Oscar-nominated actors Carol Channing, Albert Finney and Burt Reynolds, director and actress Penny Marshall, executive producer and entertainment icon Stan Lee and many more.

SEEDana Carvey, Mike Myers, Queen Latifah, Barbra Streisand...

1980: Edge of Night's Raven finally arrived to see her sick son.

2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.

2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live

premiered on Hulu."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later...

Previous | Image 1 of 23 | NextMariel Hemingway of ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Star 80.’

Chicago – “The Hollywood Show” is an exciting gathering of celebrities and memorabilia for movies, TV and pop culture fans. The latest edition is coming up – March 24th-26th, 2017 – at the Hyatt Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. Among the TV and film stars scheduled to appear is Ed Asner (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”), Stefanie Powers (“Hart to Hart”), Angie Dickinson (“Police Woman,” original “Ocean’s 11’), Dawn Wells (“Gilligan’s Island”), Charlene Tilton (“Dallas”) and Richard Chamberlain (“Dr. Kildare,” “Slipper and the Rose”). Detail link below the Slideshow.

To give you an example of the celebrities that appear at The Hollywood Show, photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took Exclusive Portraits at last year’s Fall show in September. Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below.

Three's Company is turning 40. In honor of the classic sitcom's upcoming anniversary, Antenna TV is hosting a cast reunion and marathon.The comedy starred John Ritter as Jack Tripper, a young man who ends up moving in with two female roommates. The cast also included Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, Jenilee Harrison, Priscilla Barnes, and Richard Kline. The series ran on ABC for eight seasons before ending in 1984.Read More…...

President and Mrs. Obama welcomed trick-or-treaters to the White House for the last time on Monday, and you better believe they’re not leave-a-bowl-of-candy-on-the-porch types.

Thousands of visitors stopped by for a treat, and the historic structure received a fantastical new look for the occasion. Characters from famous children’s storybooks including Mother Goose, Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz make appearances in the larger than life decor, but Alice in Wonderland steals the show. A gold pocket watch swings from the South Portico framed by giant mechanical white rabbits, and, below, a chess board floor. Live performers even dot the lawn,...

New Line Cinema is in negotiations to acquire the rights to classic sitcom Three's Company and has hired screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (He's Just Not That Into You) to author the script for a film adaptation. Robert Cort (Cocktail, Runaway Bride) will produce the project, which will be set in the 1970s, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Three's Company, which aired from 1977 to 1984 on ABC, focused on an unlikely trio of Santa Monica roommates: two single women and a man pretending to be gay in order to circumvent the era's narrower housing norms.

Billy Connolly will criss-cross the Us by train, seeking out outlaws, singers, fighters and dreamers, in a three-part series produced by 7Wonder. Commissioned by ITV, the show will follow the comedian/actor as he visits 28 states, starting and finishing in New York. Billy Connolly's Tracks Across America is a sequel to his 2011 ITV series Billy Connolly.s Route 66, in which he travelled along the famous Route 66.. Launched last year, 7Wonder is a joint venture between the Seven Network and former Maverick Television executives Alexandra Fraser, Liza Abbott and Simon Ellse which creates TV programs and formats for the UK market. The Connolly series, which was commissioned by Jo Clinton-Davis, ITV controller of factual and Richard Klein, director of factual, will screen here on Seven. Shooting is due to start in August. The director is Mike Reilly, who worked on Billy Connolly.s Route 66 and Billy Connolly.s Big Send Off.

Actor Mark Strong is to narrate a new ITV documentary commemorating the ten year anniversary of the London July 7 bombings.

The 7/7 Bombing: Survivors' Stories will focus on the events of 2005, which saw 52 people killed and 750 injured following a terrorist attack.

Those who experienced the attacks will share their side of the story on the 60-minute programme.

The 7/7 Bombing: Survivors' Stories will air next month with no advert breaks.

ITV's controller of factual Jo Clinton-Davis and ITV's director of factual Richard Klein commissioned the documentary from Stv Productions.

Clinton-Davis said: "As we reach the tenth anniversary of a date that has become a dark landmark in our history, by hearing from those directly involved this film aims to provide an insight into the truth of the human impact of this tragedy; how individual lives were changed forever that London morning and continue to be profoundly affected a decade on."

Stv's head...

ITV has commissioned a new consumer programme Big Box, Little Box.

The show will see British families testing a range of products over the space of three days, contributing funny and honest reviews for the cameras.

"We've all struggled with that new gadget or time-saving device - not just reading the instructions and trying to get the thing to work, but sometimes just getting onto the packaging," said ITV's Director of Factual Richard Klein, who commissioned the show. "Now you can sit back and let others read the manual for you.

"In an age when gadgets and devices dominate our lives more than ever, Big Box Little Box is a wry and warm take on how the British family copes with the modern world when it enters their living rooms."

The factual entertainment series will be comprised of six half-hour shows.

ITV recently announced that it is to revive fictional detective Maigret,...

Alan Titchmarsh will spend a year in the Buckingham Palace Garden for a new ITV series.

The Queen's Garden will offer a "rare insight" into the palace gardens, as Titchmarsh explores the "living museum" where almost every plant has a royal story to tell.

The two-part documentary will use aerial photography, time-lapse, thermal imaging, and remotely-operated motion-sensitive cameras to give a comprehensive view of the monarch's garden.

Rare archive footage will also feature in the documentary to illustrate the Royal Family's attachment to the 39 acres of land.

The Queen's Garden was commissioned by Richard Klein, ITV's Director of Commissioning Factual and Katy Thorogood, Commissioning Editor Factual. The series is produced by Oxford Scientific Films.

Klein said: "There is something magical about a garden hidden behind high walls, and no more so than here, at Buckingham Palace.

"Guided by Alan Titchmarsh and the four seasons, The Queen's Garden is a delightful...

Channel 4 has been named 'Channel of the year' at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.

The channel received the honour at the 13th annual awards show, picking up the crown for the first time since 2010, reports The Guardian.

Channel 4 also won 'TV moment of the year' for its Educating Yorkshire documentary. The moment in question saw pupil Musharaf Asghar overcome his stammer by giving a speech to the school.

Capping off a successful year for Channel 4, The Murder Trial won the 'Programme Innovation' award.

'Production Company of the Year' went to Big Talk, which makes shows such as BBC3's Him and Her and Sky1's Chickens. It was acquired by ITV in 2013.

The 'Producer/Director Debut Award' went to Marcel Mettelsiefen for his work on Children on the Frontline, while ITV director of factual Richard Klein was named 'Commissioner of the Year'.

John Hurt is to star in an upcoming WW1 drama on ITV.

The Doctor Who actor will play Siegfried Sassoon in The Pity of War: The Lives of Loves of the War Poets, a one-off 60-minute drama.

The drama will be centred on the relationship between Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves while they wrote about their war experiences.

It is part of a series of programmes marking the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.

Olivia Colman will narrate a four-part series titled The Great War: The People's Story, which tells the stories of personal accounts collected from archives and libraries.

Alison Steadman, Daniel Mays, Claire Foy and Brian Cox will also feature in the series, alongside others.

"This programme gives the stage to the authentic voice of the British people as they endured over four years of the greatest violence in human history," said Richard Klein,...

Alison Steadman will front an ITV documentary about the Shetland Islands, it has been announced.

The Gavin and Stacey actress will explore the area and wildlife in a special ITV documentary that will air later this year.

An avid bird watcher and patron for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (Rspb), Steadman will visit colonies of rare birds such as gannets and puffins.

"I'm thrilled to be exploring some incredible wildlife against the stunning backdrop of Shetland - a place I have been longing to explore for over 20 years," Steadman revealed.

"Shetland is renowned for its seabird colonies, including some rare and beautiful breeds."

Commissioned by ITV's Katy Thorogood and Richard Klein, the Shetland documentary will be executive produced by Melanie Leach, Juliet Rice and Dan Adamson for Twofour.

Later this year, Steadman will appear in BBC's upcoming five-part drama series titled The Secrets.

✒ Last week's farewell party, or in effect funeral service, for the Press Complaints Commission offered a sad contrast with the Pcc in its pomp. Lord Hunt, one of several sometime chairmen and directors attending, wandered around with a tray of canapes as if looking for a new, humbler role. Solemn speeches were ill-advisedly backdropped by a slideshow rich in Pcc party snaps, including one of a former bigwig playing Santa Claus. All a far cry from the body's glitzy apotheosis, its 10th birthday party in 2001, when guests swigged champagne amidst display cases of jewellery at Somerset House and mingled with Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince An drew, Prince William and, for some reason, Donatella Versace. Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be regulating was very heaven.

✒It dragged on far into the night. Several of the participants rambled on embarrassingly or said stupid things. Almost everyone was drunk or acted drunk.

Some of Broadway's brightest stars, including Tony Award nominees Howard McGillin 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Sunday in the Park With George' and Barbara Walsh 'Company', 'Falsettos', along with Loni Ackerman 'Evita', 'Cats' and Penguin favorite Richard Kline 'Wicked', 'Three's Company', headline a cast of more than 15 in A Salute to Sondheim tonight, October 5 at 8 p.m. at Suny Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York.

Some of Broadway's brightest stars, including Tony Award nominees Howard McGillin 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Sunday in the Park With George' and Barbara Walsh 'Company', 'Falsettos', along with Loni Ackerman 'Evita', 'Cats' and Penguin favorite Richard Kline 'Wicked', 'Three's Company', headline a cast of more than 15 in A Salute to Sondheim Saturday, October 5 at 8 p.m. at Suny Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York.

Long Lost Family will return to ITV for a fourth series, it has been announced.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell will continue to host the show, which reunites family members who have been separated for most of their lives.

ITV has commissioned Wall to Wall to produce a further eight episodes following strong ratings for the current series, which finished last night (August 12) with 5.2 million viewers.

Richard Klein, director of factual at ITV, said: "Long Lost Family has that rare quality of speaking to everyone and every family.

"Everybody has complicated families, and Long Lost Family shows how important the family is in the hearts of the British people."

Jo Clinton-Davis, controller of factual at ITV, added: "Long Lost Family has captured and grown in the popular imagination.

"Each story is deeply personal yet has a universality with which we can all identify. We are proud and delighted that it...

✒Some of those who relished the Pirandellian spectacle of the BBC's coverage of the Queen's visit to New Broadcasting House on Friday (climaxing in especially postmodern fashion with her contribution to a Radio 4 special about, well, her visit to New Broadcasting House) consulted the maps for BBC staff of the "goldfish bowl" newsroom, as previously reproduced in MediaGuardian. And, yes, the spot where Hm stood as she appeared panto-style behind the news presenters is the No 1 no-go area, marked "please don't stand here".

✒This wasn't the only instance of royal scorn for the rules, as she wore a hat in the newsroom and was accompanied by an equerry equipped with a sword, both contrary to BBC guidelines though more alarmingly so in the latter case. At one point it seemed possible the sword might come in to use, when a second chap in military garb could be glimpsed making a...

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow will look after BBC Four during an interim period while the broadcaster searches for a replacement for Richard Klein.

Klein announced yesterday (May 8) that he would be leaving BBC Four to take over as director of factual at ITV.

Hadlow will be assisted by channel exec Adam Barker and schedulers Don Cameron and Owen Courtney, reports Broadcast.

Whoever takes over at BBC Four will have to handle a significantly reduced budget and a channel that no longer develops original drama output.

The BBC's new director of television Danny Cohen has two controller positions to fill, including his own former job as controller of BBC One.

BBC Drama boss Ben Stephenson and ITV's director of entertainment Elaine Bedell are believed to be in the running for the BBC One job.

Richard Klein, the controller who brought The Killing and Borgen to British TV, has departed the BBC for ITV.

Klein and Channel 4 exec Helen Warner have taken up jobs as ITV director's of factual and director of daytime, respectively.

Klein has been at BBC Four since 2008 and despite financial restrictions, which meant totally dropping original drama, he has actually doubled the channel's audience share during his stint in charge.

"I am most excited to have this opportunity to commission and make entertaining, popular programmes for the ITV audience. The ambition is to make programmes that people watch and talk about in equal measure, and that's a challenge I relish," said Klein.

ITV director of TV Peter Fincham commented: "Richard has been a highly successful controller of BBC Four and I know he's looking forward to a return to mainstream television and the challenge of making high quality programmes for broad audiences.

New York — New York is a safer, less fearful place than it was in 1990, when murders hit an all-time high, race relations were raw and the city felt under siege from drug dealers and gangs on "wilding" sprees. But one major piece of unfinished business from back then still hangs over the city and its legal system: the Central Park jogger case.

Five black and Hispanic boys were convicted that year in the rape and grisly beating of a white woman jogging in the park, and they went on to serve six to 13 years in prison before their convictions were thrown out in 2002 because of evidence linking someone else to the crime.

They sued police and prosecutors for $250 million. But the lawsuit has languished for a decade with no resolution in sight.

Now, a growing chorus of lawmakers is asking New York City to settle with the five men. And...

Those who have suggested that The Review Show's move from BBC2 to BBC4 signals the end for the programme are wrong, but the reduction to once a month is a travesty

After almost 20 years on mainstream TV, The Review Show is being shunted to BBC4, its weekly slot reduced to a monthly cameo. As John Dugdale wrote in last week's issue, the messages coming from BBC management are, in the words of my fellow panellist Anne McElvoy, "executive code for likely death". I'd known for a while of the quiet euthanasia that was being performed on the programme that I'd loved since, as a pimply teenager, I'd tuned into Tom Paulin, Tony Parsons and Allison Pearson chewing over the cultural significance of Toy Story on the Late Review. Now the world knew too, and a half-hearted #savethereviewshow campaign briefly fizzled into life on Twitter. I made the trip up to...

BBC Four has announced two new international drama acquisitions for 2013.

Swedish crime series Arne Dahl - based on a collection of five novels - revolves around a tight-knit team of elite specialists who investigate the dark side of society.

Four-part Italian drama Inspector Da Luca - which charts the exploits of its "brutal", "uncompromising" lead character in Bologna - has also been acquired.

Watch a promo reel for BBC Four's new international film and drama acquisitions below:

"These acquisitions are part of BBC Four's on-going mission to give viewers an excuse to stay in on a Saturday night by offering an entertaining alternative to Saturday television viewing," said Richard Klein, Controller of BBC Four.

"Arne Dahl continues in the tradition of The Killing and Wallander in portraying a social hinterland through the prism of the day-to-day of police investigation; and Inspector Da Luca is a clever and hugely entertaining drama...

On this week's Media Talk, we hear from BBC4 boss Richard Klein about the Review Show's move from BBC2; and ask if there's finally light at the end of the tunnel for the music industry after a surprise upturn in global sales.

Plus, we look at the latest music piracy crackdown, the row over online photos of James Bulger's killer, and Seth McFarlane's controversial Oscar performance.

We also review the first episode of ITV crime drama Broadchurch, Us country music drama Nashville, and new Channel 4 sketch show Anna and Katy.

Joining John Plunkett are former Radio 1 and Channel 4 radio exec Sam Steele, and the Guardian's Lisa O'Carroll, Josh Halliday and Rebecca Nicholson.

John PlunkettRebecca NicholsonJosh HallidayLisa O'Carroll...

Flagship BBC2 arts and culture show loses its weekly status but retains presenters Martha Kearney and Kirsty Wark

For nearly 20 years it has brought BBC2 viewers the latest developments in the world of arts and culture, in various incarnations and featuring bickering panellists including Tom Paulin, Allison Pearson and Tony Parsons.

But now The Review Show, one of the BBC's flagship arts programmes, is to be moved from BBC2 to BBC4 and cut from a weekly to monthly slot – as new director general Lord Hall prepares to join the BBC on 2 April from one of the UK's leading arts institutions, the Royal Opera House.

Arts coverage on BBC1 and BBC2 is being cut as a result of the BBC's £700m cost-cutting measures, Delivering Quality First.

The BBC's arts commissioning editor, Mark Bell, said the reduction in arts coverage was minimal across BBC1 and BBC2, amounting to a "couple of hours" a year.

The BBC has announced that The Review Show is to move from BBC Two to BBC Four.

The revamped show will also be reduced from a weekly broadcast to a monthly hour-long episode.

Martha Kearney and Kirsty Wark will remain as presenters in a new primetime slot on the digital channel.

The Review Show has been one of the BBC's flagship arts programmes for nearly 20 years, and features contributors looking back at the week's cultural highlights.

The move has been criticised by various quarters, with Channel 4 News culture editor Matthew Cain tweeting: "Who's going to start a petition to save the BBC's Review Show? I want to sign it!"

It has also been described as a "typical piece of BBC cowardice" by Guardian writer Stephen Moss.

BBC Four controller Richard Klein defended the changes, saying: "The range of topics will be, I think, broader, but also we'll do what...

Cult Us comedy Parks and Recreation will finally arrive on UK TV next month.

The show's first season will begin airing on BBC Four on Wednesday, March 6 at 10pm. The broadcaster will launch the show with a double bill of episodes.

Parks and Recreation stars Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls) as Leslie Knope, an optimistic, mid-level bureaucrat who works at the Parks department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana.

The comedy - which is currently airing its fifth season in the Us - was co-created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur (NBC's The Office) and also stars Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott and Rob Lowe.

BBC Four boss Richard Klein has described the show as one of America's "smartest comedy series".

Season one of Parks and Recreation only includes six episodes, but the BBC is expected to broadcast the 24-episode...

BBC Four has confirmed that it has acquired the third and final series of Borgen.

The Danish political drama has proven to be a ratings hit for the channel, with series two achieving a show average of over 1m viewers.

Borgen stars Sidse Babett Knudsen as Danish Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg - the final series will see Birgitte disillusioned with politics, but convinced to re-enter the arena by her old friend and mentor Bent Sejrø (Lars Knutzon).

"Borgen season two was a tremendous success for BBC Four," said Head of Programme Acquisition for the BBC, Sue Deeks. "We are delighted that this intelligent, complex and compelling political drama will be returning to the channel next year for its third and final season."

Richard Klein, Controller of BBC Four, added: "I am delighted we can bring BBC Four viewers the third and final series of Borgen. Strong characters coupled with delicately...

Artists on Demand had an exclusive interview with Lisa Howard not too long ago and the talented actress spoke about Siobhan and her ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2′ experience, as well as, what her next projects would be.

Can you tell us briefly how you got into acting?

I got into acting by way of singing. I started taking voice lessons at a young age and performed in show choir, but I really found my true love with musical theater. I loved movie musicals like Annie, The Sound Of Music and Grease. So, in high school I tried out and performed in a musical or play every year, getting my first taste of what acting is all about. I ended up going to the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and got a Bfa in musical theater. I moved to NYC after that and have been singing and acting ever since.

You play Siobhan in the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, part 2. Can you tell us a bit about your character (for those living under a rock and unfamiliar)?

Siobhan is the leader of the Irish Coven of vampires and is friends with Carlisle Cullen. When asked, she and her coven come to bear witness to the Volturi that the Cullends did not make an immortal child. (Which is a crime punishable by death). She is believe to have her own unique power which is the ability to will the outcome of a situation in her favor.

What was it like coming into this movie in the final film and joining a cast that had been working together for some time?

The cast was quite welcoming to all the new vampires. I think they enjoyed having some new blood around. No pun intended.

Everyone is dying to see the final fight. Rumor has it that it does not follow the book exactly. Anything you can tell us about that?

Well, at this point the movie is out in theaters, but I still wouldn’t want to ruin it for someone who hasn’t seen the film yet. Yes, there is a sort of twist at the end, but you’ll have to see it for yourself to appreciate it!

The final fight scene has a large group of people that took part in filming it, as many different covens and nomads joined the Cullen’s to face the Volturi. What was the experience like filming that scene?

We spent a Lot of time standing in that snowy field! However, it was the perfect chance for everyone to bond. I made some great new friends! Also, it was really cool to see that army of Volturi Vampires come marking toward us. Very creepy!

Do you think the final film does justice to the end of this series that the fans love so much?

Most definitely! I think Bill Condon did an amazing job with this film.

Have you seen the movie? If so, what is your opinion?

Yes, I’ve seen it twice now and I Love it.

Out of this entire saga, do you have a favorite movie or scene?

I, of course, love Breaking Dawn, part 2, but I also have a special connection to the first Twilight film that introduced us to this wonderful world.

We have to ask! Team Edward or Team Jacob?

I think I have to say Team Edward. There’s just something about vampires.

Aside from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, part do, do you have anything else you are working on that fans should be on the lookout for?

I’m planning on doing some concerts in the new year. You can check out my website www.lisahowardnyc.com for details on those. I also have another project in the works, it’s a show called It Shoulda Been You, directed by David Hyde Pierce and starring myself, Tyne Daly, Harriett Harris, Richard Klein, and Edwart Hibbert. We hope to open on Broadway next fall!

Where can fans find you online? Twitter? Facebook?

Yes, you can follow me on Twitter @lisahowardnyc.

I also have a facebook fan page under Lisa Howard or you can visit my website www.lisahowardnyc.com

See the full story at Artists on Demand.

Martin Richards — or “Marty,” as those in the theater community called him — died of cancer Monday in New York City. Richards won an Academy Award in 2003 for producing that year’s Best Picture, Chicago. The Oscar was the culmination of Richards’s decades-long battle to bring that Kander and Ebb musical to movie theaters; it began in 1975, when Richards produced the show’s original Broadway production.

Of course, Chicago wasn’t Richards’s only project. The prolific stage producer — born Morton Richard Klein in the Bronx — was nominated for 10 Tony Awards throughout his career, winning for La Cage aux Folles...

Martin Richards, a Broadway and Hollywood showman whose own life was often as flamboyant and warmhearted as his many productions, died of cancer Monday at his Upper East Side New York home. He was 80. Winning the Best Picture Oscar for his movie musical Chicago at the 2003 Academy Awards - he had also produced the original Broadway version in 1975 - Richards had to hold back the tears as he recalled those he had worked with on the show, including the late legendary director-choreographer Bob Fosse and Richards's late producing partner and wife, Mary Lea Johnson, of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company family.

Marty Richards, the producer behind the Broadway productions of "Sweeney Todd" and "La Cage aux Folles," as well as the 2002 big-screen adaptation of "Chicago," died Monday, Playbill reports. He was 80. Richards, born Morton Richard Klein in the Bronx, started out as a performer, joining the cast of the 1944 musical comedy "Mexican Hayride" at 10 and performing as a nightclub singer while studying architecture at Nyu. Small television and movie parts followed, with Richards later working as a casting director for Fox and Paramount. Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of...

The channels' director is proud about offering audiences something he believes they can't get anywhere else

James Hunt is thinking about Jon Hamm. In the bath. With Daniel Radcliffe. The Sky Arts channel director's interest is entirely professional, looking ahead to his adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's A Young Doctor's Notebook, in which the two men will star.

"For Sky Arts to attract Don Draper and Harry Potter in the same production, in the same bath even, it's a dream come true," says Hunt. "It shows not only the ambition of the channel, but the ambition Sky has in trying to attract the world's top talent."

Radcliffe and Hamm play the same doctor at different stages of his life in the four-part series, which begins on 6 December. The drama has been described by the Mad Men star as mixing "madness and the macabre", and it stands every chance of delivering Sky Arts' biggest-ever audience.

BBC Four has confirmed that it will air Parks and Recreation in the UK. Channel controller Richard Klein first announced the acquisition in August, but the relevant sentence was later deleted from the BBC's press release. However, in a new BBC statement, Klein has said: "I'm delighted that we have acquired Parks and Recreation, one of America's smartest comedy series." He continued: "BBC Four is in really great shape at the moment, with share continuing to increase. We've had a great critical and audience response to recent programmes, from Food Glorious Food to the Big Science season; and of course, the much anticipated return of The Killing III which launched with (more)...

BBC Four has apparently confirmed that it has picked up Parks and Recreation. The Us comedy has aired four seasons on NBC, with a fifth currently in the works. Channel controller Richard Klein appeared to announce the acquisition in a BBC statement, promising "a year of comedy led by... hit Us comedy Parks and Recreation". However, the relevant sentence was later deleted from Klein's section on the BBC media centre website. The sitcom stars Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls) as Leslie (more)...

David Tennant and Janet Montgomery have been cast in an adaptation of The Spies of Warsaw. The Doctor Who and Human Target stars will appear in two 90-minute instalments of Alan Furst's novel to air on BBC Four and Poland's Tvp. Tennant is set to portray Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier, a decorated war hero who begins an affair with Montgomery's Parisian lawyer Anna in the run-up to World War Two. The Spies of Warsaw, which takes place in London, Paris, Berlin and Poland, is penned by The Likely Lads writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. BBC Four controller Richard Klein said: "Spies of Warsaw is Alan Furst at his best - a tense, passionate and sexy love story set against the increasingly strident clang of coming war. "I think David Tennant playing Mercier and Janet Montgomery (more)...

BBC Four has confirmed that it will air the second series of Danish drama Borgen. The show follows the life of Denmark's first female Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) as she faces challenges in the political arena and at home. Borgen also examines the life of Birgitte's spin doctor Kasper (Pilou Asbæk) and television journalist Katrine (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) among others. The first series came to a close on BBC Four at the weekend and an American remake is thought to be in the works. BBC Four's controller Richard Klein has now confirmed that the second series of Borgen will air on the channel, adding that (more)...

The BBC has secured rights to drama series Lilyhammer featuring Steven Van Zandt as a mobster hiding out in Norway, sales company SevenOne International announced today. The news comes on the same day that Lilyhammer will make its debut in the U.S., Canada and Latin America via Netflix – the first original series to launch on the streaming service. Lilyhammer, produced by Norwegian outfit Rubicon and co-created and exec produced by Van Zandt, posted records in January when it launched on Norway’s NRK1. With an overall 56.3% share, it scored the best ratings for a Norwegian made drama series ever. Richard Klein, controller of BBC Four which will air the show, said: “Lilyhammer mixes sharp wit and American big city ways with the beauty of the Norwegian mountains and folksy nature of a small town – a perfect combination for a razor-sharp drama about cultural mores. I am delighted the BBC...

The Bradford boyhood of Frederick Delius had a profound impact on the music he wrote until the end of his life

The untold story of the Bradford youth of one of Britain's greatest composers is to be investigated on film for the first time. Frederick Delius is sometimes claimed as a German composer, due to his parentage, and sometimes as a cosmopolitan European who finished his life in France.

In fact, the composer of On Hearing the first Cuckoo in Spring and La Calinda, was born in Bradford and spent his early working life employed at his father's wool business.

BBC4 has commissioned the

award-winning film-maker John Bridcut to produce a 90-minute profile that will reclaim his status as a Yorkshire talent. Delius not only had a Yorkshire accent but loved cricket and played as a young man, Bridcut has discovered.

"There is no recording of his voice, but according to the writer Neville Cardus,...

Creative England Launches, Sets Its Board And Funding A new organization has risen from the ashes of the UK Film Council’s network of regional screen agencies. At its launch the nonprofit venture Creative England announced 7 board members and 3 senior managers and outlined its funding structure. On the board of Creative England are: Ruby Films founder Alison Owen, Illumina Digital’s Andrew Chitty, Reel Solutions executive director Bill Lawrence, Twofour Group CEO Charles Wace, former Shed Media chair Heather Rabbatts, Maverick TV’s Jonnie Turpie and BBC Four Controller Richard Klein. For 10 years, the regional screen agencies supported industries including film, TV, games and digital media across England outside of London. Creative England will have an initial film budget of £900,000 in grant-in-aid from the British Film Institute and £1m in lottery funds. The funding for other creative endeavors will come from public and commercial sources. ‘Tintin’ Will Screen At Rome...