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Just in Time star Jonathan Groff in currently in second place in Gold Derby's Tony Awards predictions for Best Actor in a Musical, only behind fellow Glee alum Darren Criss for Maybe Happy Ending. The former triumphed for Merrily We Roll Along just last year, so if he prevails again, he'd be the first individual in history to win this category consecutively.

Prior to Groff, five men were Tony nominated for Best Actor in a Musical two years in a row, but didn't emerge victorious:

Gregory Hines in 1980 for Comin' Uptown and 1981 for Sophisticated Ladies George Hearn in 1983 for A Doll's Life and 1984 for La Cage aux Folles (the latter of which resulted in a win) Patrick Wilson in 2001 for The Full Monty and 2002 for Oklahoma! Michael Cerveris in 2006 for Sweeney Todd and 2007 for LoveMusik Brian d'Arcy James in 2023 for Into the Woods and 2024 for Days of Wine and Roses...

Mark Wahlberg has come a long way since his days as Marky Mark in Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. With an over three-decade-long acting career, he’s appeared in dozens of films, from action-packed thrillers to heartfelt dramas. However, long before he became a Hollywood A-lister, Wahlberg made his cinematic debut as a young soldier in Renaissance Man.

While Wahlberg’s role in the film was relatively small, it set the stage for the actor to eventually shed his Marky Mark persona and transition into leading man status. And, though Renaissance Man wasn’t a great success at the box office, it completely changed the trajectory of Wahlberg’s career, helping to establish him as a serious actor and paving the way for the diverse roles he would take on in the years that followed.

Renaissance Man is Classic Danny DeVito Humor

Directed by Penny Marshall, Renaissance Man follows...

So far, there is only one character who appears in every season of The White Lotus — Greg, who is now going by Gary in Season 3. We know Greg as the scheming and downright murderous former husband to the beloved Tanya McQuoid (the legendary Jennifer Coolidge). In Season 1, he weaseled his way into her heart. In Season 2, he bailed on her in Italy but secretly arranged for her murder. In Season 3, we find him living in Thailand at a house near the White Lotus resort, dating a "model" (the delightful Charlotte Le Bon). When another character from Season 1, Tanya's potential business partner Belinda (the hilarious Natasha Rothwell), shows up at the Thailand White Lotus resort and recognizes Greg, she begins to fear for her own life.

Greg/Gary is a scary jerk, probably the most explicitly villainous character in Mike White's show, but he's played by an extremely funny man — Jon Gries.

Another year, another blah Oscars program, complete with all the trappings, clichés, and safe musical numbers. Most of which you'll be ignoring as you scroll on your phone. About the only thing that has made the show watchable in the last three decades is backstage blunders and that one time a WWE fight broke out. We didn't know how good we had it. Back in the late '80s, the Oscar producers were aware of precisely this problem. In what was a lavish, high-concept gamble, they sought to inject new ideas into a stale format.

But they were wise to play it safe all those decades prior. At the 61st Academy Awards ceremony, the Oscar planners found out that lesson the hard way. For those wondering why the Oscars are excruciatingly dull, one watershed moment in 1989 is to blame. 36 years later, the taint remains, the event compared to a “gay...

Happy Valentine’s Day from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today we appreciate one of the great, under-appreciated Hollywood directors: Peter Hyams! Our B-Sides include Peeper, Hanover Street, The Star Chamber, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and Running Scared.

Our guest is Mike Ryan, great writer, interviewer, and deep fan of Hyams’ eclectic body of work. Sudden Death is a favorite, along with 2010.

We discuss the auteur versus the “workman director,” why some filmmakers gather an intense following and others don’t, and the lasting effect many of Hyams’ films have had on the culture as well as other filmmakers.

There’s much talk about Hyams’ ability as a cinematographer, and how rare it is to be a director that films their own movies.

Mike makes the...

The new month kicks off with over a dozen hit titles on the world's biggest streaming platform. From Oscar-winning dramas to rom-coms, horrorshows, and heartfelt dramas, Netflix has it all on day one.

I can't imagine anyone firing up their video-watching machine of choice this month and being disappointed in the new selections on Netflix this month. We've given you three of the best of day one, but there's so much more here. You can watch everything from an Academy Award winner for Best Picture to the seventh film of a long-running horror franchise.

Add a pair of family-favorite animated hits, some beloved rom-coms, some intense dramas, and - oh, heck, let's just get to the list. Trust me, there's a lot going on this month, and this is all on the first day of the month. There is literally something for everyone here. And I haven't even mentioned the...

As a singer, Whitney Houston needs no introduction. As a Christmas movie star, though, she may come across as somewhat more obscure. Despite this, she found success on that avenue of life as well. Not only did she star in the surprisingly good 1996 Christmas film "The Preacher's Wife," but she also did so opposite the great Denzel Washington, and earned plenty of money for her efforts.

A remake of the 1947 film "The Bishop's Wife" (itself based on the 1928 book of the same name), "The Preacher's Wife" is a fantasy comedy-drama about Henry Biggs (Courtney B. Vance), a stressed-out reverend who's going through a crisis of faith while his church is standing in the way of a real estate mogul's (Gregory Hines) construction project. Fortunately, an angel named Dudley (Washington) and Biggs' wife Julia (Houston) are there to support the preacher. Unfortunately, it seems that the two are also falling in love.

“Life is a cabaret, old chum,” a mindful lyric from the iconic Cabaret, performed by Liza Minnelli, perfectly encapsulates the vibrant spirit with which Linda Lavin lived her life. Alas, the world lost a theater giant on December 29, 2024, when Lavin passed away at the age of 87 due to complications from lung cancer.

Known to millions for her unforgettable portrayal of Alice on the beloved CBS sitcom, she was far more than just the face behind a diner waitress.

Linda Lavin in The Back-up Plan (2010) | Credit: CBS Films

From musicals like A Family Affair to the quirky, It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman, Lavin brought an energy to the stage that was impossible to ignore. She was a true chameleon, a woman who could transition from drama to comedy without breaking a sweat.

As we bid farewell to the legendary star who passed away at 87, let...

Alfa Anderson, an early lead vocalist for Chic who sang on hits including “Good Times” and “Le Freak,” died on Dec. 17 at age 78. Chic bandmate Nile Rodgers confirmed the news.

“Thank you for everything,” Rodgers wrote on Tuesday, Dec. 17 on Instagram, sharing a montage of photos of him and Anderson, and the band. Chic’s “At Last I Am Free,” one of Anderson’s solo features from 1978 sophomore album C’est Chic, soundtracks the tribute. “Rip Alfa Anderson. Chic organization,” it reads over the montage. “Forever loved.” No further details about her death were given.

Things were going badly on Saturday Night Live‘s 1980-1981 season, even before producer Jean Doumanian realized than the January 10, 1981 episode was headed towards disaster.

The previous season had seen the departure of Lorne Michaels and the entire cast, including founders Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, and Laraine Newman, as well as Bill Murray and Harry Shearer. Doumanian had tried to pitch her incoming group of comedians as the next generation for the hit series, but the performers quickly gained reputations as also-rans. Charlie Rocket was a less funny Chevy Chase, Gail Matthius an off-brand Jane Curtin, and so on.

But on that Jan. 10, 1981 episode, hosted by actor Ray Sharkey, things were going particularly badly. The skits went faster than anticipated and the show had five extra minutes to fill. So in an act of desperation, Doumanian followed the advice of writer Neil Levy and pushed 19-year-old featured player...

Laurence Andries, a TV writer and producer who has worked on shows including Blue Bloods, How to Get Away with Murder and The Pacific, has been charged with six felony counts of sexual assault in Los Angeles.

The accuser, a John Doe, claims Andries drugged and assaulted him in June 2022 after they met for drinks. The writer-producer was arrested in August 2023 after charges were filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney. He remains free on a $150,000 bond and has not yet had a preliminary hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times.

News of the charges came to light after the John Doe, a military veteran, appeared this week in an ABC-7 interview, calling Andries his mentor in the industry.

“I believe that he drugged one of my drinks, took me to his place and then … I can’t say the word. I’m sorry, I can’t say it,” the...

It’s sad to say, but death seems to be working overtime as we close out 2023. Following the news that beloved character actor Tom Wilkinson has passed away, come the passing of two more well-loved supporting players in TV and film. Richard Romanus, who played the role of loan shark Michael Longo in Mean Streets, passed away at the age of 80 on December 23rd. Meanwhile, Maurice Hines, the brother of Gregory Hines, has also passed away, also at 80.

Although Richard Romanus had a lengthy career that went back to the early ‘70s, it was his turn in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets that remained his most memorable performance. It was his character who, after a run-in with Robert De Niro’s Johnny Boy (who owed Michael money), manned the car that drove up alongside Johnny Boy and Harvey Keitel’s Charlie, leading to the shooting of the loose cannon.

Richard...

Maurice Hines, an actor, dancer and choreographer who starred with his brother Gregory Hines in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Cotton Club,” died Friday. He was 80.

Friends including Debbie Allen and John Manzari reported the news of his death.

Hines began studying tap dancing at 5 years old, making his Broadway debut in “The Girl in Pink Tights” in 1954. With an act modeled after the Nicholas Brothers, Maurice and his older brother Gregory, who died in 2003, began touring with their dancer father as Hines, Hines & Dad, appearing across the country and on several TV shows.

When Maurice Hines decided to go solo, he was cast as Nathan Detroit in a national tour of “Guys and Dolls,” then performed on Broadway in “Eubie!” On “Uptown…It’s Hot!” he worked as choreographer and performer, netting a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical.

Among the other shows he choreographed were “Harlem Suite,...

Maurice Hines, the Broadway dancer, choreographer and actor who famously showcased his skills alongside his late younger brother, Gregory Hines, in a Nicholas Brothers-like act featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, has died. He was 80.

Hines died Friday of natural causes at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, his cousin and rep, Richard Nurse, told The Hollywood Reporter. He lived there for a couple of years.

The elegant, Harlem-born Hines received a Tony Award nomination in 1986 for best actor in a musical for Uptown … It’s Hot and starred again on Broadway in 2006’s Hot Feet. He conceived, directed and choreographed both productions.

In his THR review of the 2019 documentary Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back, Frank Scheck wrote that the Hines brothers had a falling out and didn’t talk for 10 years “for reasons that Maurice refuses to discuss to this day. He provides no explanation in the film,...

2023 is a milestone year for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Aaadt) and its artistic director emerita Judith Jamison. On May 10, Jamison celebrated her 80th birthday, and on Nov. 29, the dance company will hold its annual opening night gala celebrating its 65th season; founder Alvin Ailey and a group of Black dancers first performed under the Aaadt name in New York City in March of 1958.

“Numbers and ages really do matter,” says Jamison, a Philadelphia native who began dance training at the age of 6 at the Judimar School of Dance. “I love when people say, ‘The number doesn’t matter.’ Oh, yes it does when you’ve been dancing most of your life. It matters a whole lot because your body is catching up to what craziness you were doing as a dancer. At 80, everything doesn’t work the same way. And that’s the challenge, finding out, what can I do?...

The best tap dancing movies capture the grandeur of live performances and use Hollywood magic to elevate the art form. Tap dancing has been a distinctly cinematic art form since the advent of sound movies, and each era puts its own spin on the traditional formula. The best tap dancing movies combine groundbreaking dancing with compelling stories for a satisfying cinematic experience.

The best tap dancing movies capture the grandeur of live performances on the big screen and use Hollywood magic to elevate the art form to even higher heights. Since the birth of cinema, dance has been a big part of the moviegoing experience, with many of the first blockbusters being massive song-and-dance spectacles. Tap dancing in particular has been a distinctly cinematic art form, and the advent of sound movies made the toe-tapping rattle seem even grander on the massive silver screen. Not surprisingly, tap dance has continued to be popular on screen,...

The Wolfen episode of The Black Sheep was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Brandon Nally, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

A black sheep doesn’t have to be considered bad to have that loving title and distinction. I mean, some of them are considered quite bad and need the layers peeled down to show off the good inside. There are other cases though. A movie can also be a black sheep if it was buried by a more popular outing like The Last Broadcast being utterly forgotten after the behemoth The Blair Witch Project made its appearance. Sometimes, like Last Broadcast, it can just be buried withing its own genre, decade, year, or as in today’s title, all 3. I’ve seen more than a few comments for this one so let’s take a look at werewolves in 1981. No,...

Synopsis

Broadway bound, the Muppets take Manhattan by storm in this magical musical about breaking into show business! Fresh out of college, Kermit, Fozzie, and the entire cast of Kermit’s musical “Manhattan Melodies” head for the Big Apple with plans to turn their small play into a big hit! All they need now is someone to produce their show! But when no one in town will even meet with them, it’s up to Kermit to believe hard enough for all of his friends that the show Will go on! Family entertainment has never been more fun than this comedy marking Frank Oz’s solo directorial debut.

Disc Details & Bonus Materials

4K Ultra HD Disc

Feature remastered in 4K resolution from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision, plus all-new Dolby Atmos immersive audio 4K picture and Atmos sound mix approved by director Frank Oz Also includes English 5.1 + mono...

Following a season that saw its Broadway transfers Into the Woods and Parade score a slew of Tony Award nominations, the New York City Center has announced what’s coming next for its celebrated Encores! series: Once Upon a Mattress, Jelly’s Last Jam and Titanic.

The 30th annual Encores! season of concert stagings will kick off in January with Sutton Foster playing Princess Winnifred the Woebegone in Once Upon a Mattress (January 24-28) – the role made famous in 1959 by then-up-and-comer Carol Burnett. Directed by Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet with a new concert adaptation by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the comical update of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea features such musical numbers as “Shy” and “In a Little While” with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.

Next up is Jelly’s Last Jam,...

In the words of the late great Madeline Kahn‘s Empress Nympho, “Yessssss!” After 40 years, the classic satire that is Mel Brooks‘ History of the World: Part 1 has finally birthed a follow-up befitting its legendary status. Not only in laughs but in sheer casting magic. Like the feature film, which starred icons of comedy like the aforementioned Kahn, Gregory Hines, Cloris Leachman, Dom Deluise, and Sid Caesar, Hulu’s sequel series History of the World: Part II is running over with famous faces from, well, modern times. Literally, everyone is in this thing. Tyler Golden/Hulu In addition to Josh Gad, Zazie Beetz, and Jay Ellis, who sat down with us to talk about the project, there’s a cast list of historic proportions. Jake Johnson, Richard Kind, Johnny Knoxville, Lauren Lapkus, Jenifer Lewis, Poppy Liu, Joe Lo Truglio, Jason Mantzoukas, Ken Marino, Jack McBrayer, Jack Black, Jason Alexander, Ayo Edebiri,...

As the American treasure himself says in the opening credits, Mel Brooks is a hero to some, and merely a legend to others. He broke ground in irreverent social commentary with Blazing Saddles, and rewired the knobs in the monster’s brain for Young Frankenstein. Brooks’ Hulu TV-sketch-series-masquerading-as-a-film-sequel throws more jokes at the viewer than almost any comedy in the History of The World, Part II. Not all of them land squarely, though the ricochets inflict sufficient comic collateral damage.

There is a lot we can learn from an anthology sketch series. All of which is graded on a curveball. Like History of the World, Part I, the series is made up of short gags, like Marco Polo’s (Jake Johnson) impromptu gift-exchange on his first trip to China, longer one-off sequences, and a few continuing stories. The eight-episode series is Brooks’ first creative project since composing the score to...

Mel Brooks' long-awaited sequel, History of the World, Part II, has recently been accused of plagiarism. The upcoming Hulu series is a follow-up to his 1981 movie, History of the Word, Part I. The farcical comedy classic featured an all-star cast included Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, and Gregory Hines in fictionalized comedic retellings of important real-world events.

Something Rotten! writer John O’Farrell took to social media to call out Brooks' History of the World, Part II for using one of their jokes. In a recent trailer, Josh Gad portrays William Shakespeare who uses a writer's room to develop his plays. One writer suggests actors sing a portion of their lines to music, an idea that Shakespeare shoots down. O'Farrell claims the show "ripped" off Something Rotten!, pointing out his Broadway play used the same premise in 2015. Gad defended the series in a Tweet calling the joke a "one off...

Angela Bassett is now one of the most revered and respected actresses in Hollywood after multiple decades in the business. There were only two years between her breakthrough role in "Boyz n the Hood," to her Oscar-nominated role as Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to Do with It." Bassett not winning that year has long been considered one of the worst snubs in Oscar history. Despite Bassett's deserved stature in the industry, being tasked with finding substantial roles in 12 good movies was harder than anticipated. This goes to show that however talented and skilled a Black actress is, she will not necessarily get the opportunities for leading roles that she should rightfully have.

Despite this, Bassett has still worked with a wide range of filmmakers, including John Sayles, Wes Craven, John Singleton, Forest Whitaker, and Spike Lee, and has taken on a wide range of roles. She has worked with Laurence Fishburne three times,...

If you've never watched the 1981 Mel Brooks film "The History of the World, Part I," now is the time to do it. All these years later, a sequel series, "The History of the World, Part II," is hitting Hulu in March. Even if you haven't seen it, you've definitely heard people quote it, from the Torquemada musical number in The Spanish Inquisition segment to lines like, "It's good to be the king," and the "No, no, yes" song from Madeline Kahn. I feel pretty confident when I say that it's one of the funniest movies of all time, and I'm hardly alone in that sentiment.

"History of the World, Part I" is irreverent and absolutely stupid in the most wonderful way, and even after dozens of viewings, I still giggle to myself about parts of it whenever they cross my mind. Not only did Brooks write, direct, and star as Moses,...

In my eyes, one of the most singularly talented people of the second half of the 20th Century was Gregory Hines. The man was a true triple threat that harkened back to Golden Age of Hollywood musical stars. He was overflowing with movie star charisma and also had impeccable comedic chops. Hines was the consummate entertainer and sadly died far too soon from liver cancer in 2003.

The first time I ever saw Hines was in Mel Books' 1981 comedy "History of the World, Part I," which is finally getting a "Part II" this year. As it turns out, this also happened to be his very first movie, discounting his appearance in "Finian's Rainbow" as an extra when he was a kid. Brooks lets Hines show off every single thing that made him such a talent, most obviously his ability to play an absolute lown. It seems like it was a role specifically written for Hines,...

The first History of the World, Part II trailer reveals the sequel to writer-director Mel Brooks cult classic comedy, History of the World, Part I, 40 years later. The original film hit theaters in 1981 sporting a star-studded ensemble cast including Madeline Kahn, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, and Cloris Leachman. Segmented into chapters, the film featured fictionalized comedic retellings of important real-world events from the Stone Age, the Old Testament, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution.

The 96-year-old Brooks returns as a writer for the first time since 2005's The Producers remake starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, and introduces Hulu's trailer for History of the World, Part II.

The trailer takes a hilarious look at important moments in human history while confirming members of the upcoming series' extensive cast. Alongside Ike Barinholtz, Nick Kroll, and Wanda Sykes, the trailer reveals Seth Rogen as Noah,...

Newly released images from History of the World, Part II reveals the sequel to the beloved Mel Brooks movie. Released in 1981, the original comedy film, History of the World, Part I, retold significant events in history through humorous fictionalized vignettes. Written and directed by Brooks, the movie covered the Stone Age, the Old Testament, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution. Brooks starred alongside an ensemble cast to include Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Sid Caesar, and Gregory Hines in his first film role.

Entertainment Weekly shared new images of the upcoming History of the World, Part I sequel, History of the World, Part II. Starring Big Mouth's Nick Kroll, The Other Two's Wanda Sykes, and Afterparty's Ike Barinholtz, the stills reveal several time periods covered in the upcoming television series including the Russian Revolution with Barinholtz as Leon Trotsky, Shirley Chisholm's...

It’s good to be a Hulu subscriber because Mel Brooks‘ History of the World, Part II series is finally ready to rewrite the past for laughs and scrutiny. Hulu shared a gallery of images from the original comedy series on Wednesday, featuring images of Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, and Ike Barinholtz occupying various historical points for the sketch-style presentation.

According to Hulu’s official description, “After waiting over 40 years, there is finally a sequel to the seminal Mel Brooks film, History of the World, Part I, with each episode featuring a variety of sketches that take us through different periods of human history.”

The series stars Mel Brooks, Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, and Ike Barinholtz. Gary Nguyen, David Stassen, Dove Cameron, Pamela Adlon, and Johnny Knoxville also appear throughout the series.

Last year, The Ankler reported that Brooks’ History of the World, Part II series could feature a who’s who of Hollywood royalty,...

Character actor Mary Mara, known for her work on ER, Law & Order: Svu, and Nip/Tuck, and dozens of other TV shows and films, drowned Sunday in the St. Lawrence River in Cape Vincent, NY, according to New York State Police. She was 61.

A State Police press release says Mara was found in the river Sunday morning by troopers and Cape Vincent Fire and Ambulance following a report of a possible drowning. A preliminary investigation indicates she drowned while swimming in the river. Police said there was no indication of foul play and an autopsy will be conducted to determine an official cause of death. The investigation is continuing.

A family spokesperson said Mara was staying at the summer home of her sister, Martha Mara, of Syracuse, N.Y. The property fronts the river outside the Village of Cape Vincent, in the Thousand Islands region, where the St. Lawrence separates Canada and the U.

Mary Mara, the actor best known for her recurring roles in “ER” and “Law & Order,” died in Cape Vincent, N.Y. Sunday from an apparent drowning. She was 61.

In a report published Monday, the New York State Police confirmed that Mara was discovered in the St. Lawrence River in Cape Vincent around 8:10 p.m. on Sunday by various officers. According to a statement from a representative, Mara was staying at the summer home of her sister Martha. A preliminary investigation suggested Mara died by drowning while swimming. Her body has been transported to Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy will be performed to determine an official cause of death.

In a statement to Variety, Mara’s manager Craig Dorfman confirmed her death.

“Mary was one of the finest actresses I ever met,” Dorfman wrote. “I still remember seeing her onstage in 1992 in ‘Mad Forest’ off Broadway.

“It tied it all together,” declares actor Dule Hill about singing the original “The Wonder Years” theme song in an episode of the new series. For our recent webchat he adds, “It was a great initial nod to the original series. It was very daunting for me, but once I got into it, I really loved the process.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

The reimagining of the Emmy-winning ABC series from the late 1980s is still set in the late 1960s. This incarnation tells the story of a middle class African-American family in Alabama. It is told from the perspective of 12-year-old Dean (Elisha Williams). Hill plays Dean’s dad, Bill Williams, a musician and university teacher. Oscar and Emmy nominee Don Cheadle serves as the narrator.

SEESaladin K. Patterson interview: ‘The Wonder Years’ showrunner

Playing a musician tapped into familiar territory for Hill. As a 10-year-old, he was...

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While it’s much easier to gather with family this year, that doesn’t mean we can’t uphold some well-worn holiday traditions, like settling in on the couch with some hot cocoa to watch Christmas movies. Even if you’re not physically in the room with them, watch parties using integrated apps or Zooms or other virtual meetups means you can still have a collective, shared experience — just over the internet.

And if you are lucky enough to be in the same place as your family, you can spend time with your loved ones and cherish the fact that you’re able to be close to them Irl when so many people cannot be with theirs.

Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I is getting another chapter: Hulu has ordered a follow-up series to the 1981 comedy, with Brooks returning as writer and executive producer.

The sequel, titled (of course) History of the World, Part II, will be a variety series consisting of comedy sketches and musical numbers. The original film was set during different periods of world history like the Old Testament, the Roman Empire and the French Revolution. There’s no word yet on which historical periods the new series will tackle, though.

More from TVLineY: The Last Man Cancelled at FX on HuluJessica...

The 1981 Mel Brooks film History of the World, Part I was never meant to have a sequel, but Deadline has confirmed Brooks’ high jinks across history will continue as part of an eight-episode variety series at Hulu. The writers room for History of the World, Part II will begin this month, and production will commence in spring 2022.

“I can’t wait to once more tell the real truth about all the phony baloney stories the world has been conned into believing are History!” Brooks, who will write and executive produce, said in a statement.

The big-screen original parodies various moments in history from the Roman Empire and Stone Age to the Old Testament and the French Revolution, among other periods. It starred Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Gregory Hines, Cloris Leachman, Mary-Margaret Humes and Sid Ceasar.

Part II will also be executive produced by Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes,...

“History of the World, Part I” is finally getting a Part II, with Hulu ordering a variety series followup to the classic Mel Brooks comedy film, Variety has learned exclusively.

“History of the World, Part II” is described as a sequel to the 1981 film. The film was made up of segments set during different periods of world history. Among those was the Stone Age, Ancient Rome, and the French Revolution. Like most of Brooks’ work, it also featured musical numbers, including one about the Spanish Inquisition and, of course, “Jews in Space.”

Brooks is a writer and executive producer on the series along with Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen and Kevin Salter. There is no word yet on which world events the series will cover. Hulu has ordered eight episodes of the show. The writers room is beginning in October with production slated to begin in Spring...

By Susan King

Audra McDonald is the most lauded Broadway performer winning a whopping six Tony Awards in both musical and dramatic categories. And she may be receiving her seventh for the revival of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair du Lune” when the 74th annual Tonys take place Sept. 26th at the venerable Winter Garden Theatre.

Despite that record, it took a long time for Black artists to be acknowledged by the Tonys, which were first handed out in 1947. It wasn’t until 2004 that a Black actress won for a lead performance in a play: Phylicia Rashad broke this barrier with her win for a revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Hansberry was the first Black artist to be nominated for Best Play in 1960 for the original production of “A Raisin in the Sun” as were its director Lloyd Richards and stars, Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil.

Showtime has just released the trailer for their new series Yellowjackets, starring Juliette Lewis alongside Christina Ricci as survivors of a plane crash 25 years ago that left a champion high school girls' soccer team to fend for themselves in the wilderness. The psychological horror series shows that there's some unfinished business to be dealt with amongst the survivors, Kill Bill-style.

The official Yellowjackets synopsis from Showtime reads, "Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness.

The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they've attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in...

Actress Suzzanne Douglas, star of '90s sitcom The Parent 'Hood and more recently the Netflix mini-series When They See Us, has died at the age of 64. A cousin of the star, Angie Tee, broke the news via Facebook on the 6th of July, announcing the death while also speaking of her admiration of the actress and what she achieved in her career. Tributes have also been paid by fellow stars, directors and authors at her passing. Angie Tee wrote in her original Facebook announcement.

"Suzzanne Douglas a beautiful and talented actress made her transition today. She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin. I can remember growing up, there weren't very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in Tap starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines...

Suzzanne Douglas has died at the age of 64. On July 6, The Parent 'Hood star's cousin, Angie Tee, confirmed the news in a statement on Facebook. "Suzzanne Douglas a beautiful and talented actress made her transition today. She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin," she said. "I can remember growing up, there weren't very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in Tap starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. The Inkwell, Jason's Lyric and so much more the list goes on."

While Suzzanne got her start in the 1981 TV film Purlie, it was her NAACP Image Award-winning role as Amy Simms in 1989's Tap that served as a breakout in her career.

Sad news out of the TV world today.

Suzzanne Douglas, best known for playing Jerri Peterson on the hit sitcom The Parent 'Hood, has reportedly died at the age of 64.

Suzzanne's cousin, Angie Tee, shared the sad news on Tuesday.

"A beautiful and talented actress made her transition today," Tee wrote, tagging her cousin.

"She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin."

Her post continued, "I can remember growing up, there weren't very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in Tap starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr."

"She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in How Stella Got Her Groove Back," the post reads.

"The Inkwell, Jason's Lyric and so much more the list goes on."

"The world will miss...

Suzzanne Douglas, who starred in Robert Townsend’s WB ’90s sitcom The Parent ‘Hood and most recently appeared in Ava DuVernay’s 2019 Netflix miniseries When They See Us, died yesterday at the age of 64. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Douglas’ death was announced on Facebook by her cousin Angie Tee.

“Suzzanne Douglas a beautiful and talented actress made her transition today,” Tee wrote. “She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world…The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever.”

DuVernay remembered Douglas as “a quiet, elegant force.”

“A gentlewoman,” DuVernay wrote on Twitter early this morning. “A gem of a lady. A confident, caring actor who breathed life into the words and made them shimmer. I’m grateful that our paths in this life crossed. May she journey on in peace and love.”

A Chicago native...

Suzzanne Douglas, best known to TV audiences for her starring role as Jerri Peterson on the 1990s sitcom The Parent ‘Hood, has died at the age of 64, TVLine has confirmed.

Douglas’ death was first announced Tuesday in a Facebook post by her cousin, Angie Tee. “A beautiful and talented actress made her transition today,” she said. “She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world… The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever.”

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Suzzanne Douglas, best known for starring in the WB sitcom “The Parent ‘Hood” and in the 1989 dance drama “Tap,” died on Tuesday. She was 64.

“Suzzanne Douglas, a beautiful and talented actress, made her transition today,” her cousin Angie Tee wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. “She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin. I can remember growing up, there weren’t very many Black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in ‘Tap’ starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back.’ ‘The Inkwell,’ ‘Jason’s Lyric’ and so much more, the list goes on. The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever. Rest in Paradise, my beautiful cousin Suzzane,...

Actress Suzzanne Douglas died Tuesday, according to multiple reports. She was 64 years old.

Angie Tee, a woman identified by Essence as Douglas’ cousin, wrote on Facebook Tuesday, “Suzzanne Douglas a beautiful and talented actress made her transition today. She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin.”

She went on, “I can remember growing up, there weren’t very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in ‘Tap’ starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back.’ The Inkwell, Jason’s Lyric and so much more the list goes on. The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever.”

Douglas is best known for her starring role in the show,...

Twyla Tharp on Zoom with Herman Cornejo and Misty Copeland in Steven Cantor’s Twyla Moves Photo: Zoom Stick Figure Films

Steven Cantor’s intimate and fierce Twyla Moves showcases the legendary Twyla Tharp working on a Zoom dance from New York during the height of the pandemic with Misty Copeland, Benjamin Buza, Herman Cornejo, Maria Khoreva, Kaitlyn Gilliland, and Charlie Neshyba-Hodges in other locations. She invites the great production designer Santo Loquasto to have a look. Twyla has collaborated with composers Philip Glass, David Byrne, David Van Tieghem, and Glenn Branca, won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Movin’ Out, featuring the songs of Billy Joel, staged dances for Miloš Forman’s Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus, and Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford’s White Nights.

Dancer, featuring Sergei Polunin, and Tyler Peck’s Ballet Now round out Steven’s trilogy of dance films.

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The eighties were the heyday of the buddy cop movie. The year before Lethal Weapon came out and make the genre even more popular, Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines were Chicago cops on the trail of a drug lord (played by Jimmy Smits) in Running Scared (1986) by director Peter Hyams. While a solid box office hit (there was even talk of a sequel), in the decades that followed Running Scared would become somewhat obscure. That's too bad as it's a really…...

Leslie Odom Jr. is up for a pair of Oscars this year: Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Song (“Speak Now”) for his work in the Amazon drama “One Night in Miami,” which makes him only the fourth person to receive nominations for acting and songwriting in the same year. “It means a lot,” Odom explains, and it also “speaks to some positive changes in the industry over the years.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Odom above.

Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”), Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”) and Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) also earned dual nominations for acting and songwriting in recent years. For Odom, that reflects an industry more open to artists crossing boundaries. An actor doesn’t just have to be an actor, and a musician doesn’t just have to be a musician, so “we’re allowed to bring all that we are to the table more...

“Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,” produced by Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland, shines the spotlight on the next generation of Black and brown dancers at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, where Allen first met Rhimes as a dance parent before partnering on “Grey’s Anatomy.” “When we put this footage together and shared with Shonda, she called and said, ‘Debbie, I have to have this,’ and that was it,” Allen tells Variety. “I can’t say enough about Shonda, who took director Oliver Bokelberg’s work, shaped it at Netflix and has been so supportive in promoting it, loving it and giving it to the world. It’s been like a Christmas present.” Allen reflects on her dance journey throughout the film, and Variety asked the legendary entertainer to share her three favorite dance docs.

1 “Queen of Swing” (2006)

“Norma Miller — who at 15 years old was the queen of the Savoy Ballroom — came to Dada for years,...

Waiting to Exhale fans, your wait is over: A series adaptation of the 1995 film is in development at ABC, with Lee Daniels onboard as an executive producer, our sister site Deadline reports.

The series, which has earned a script commitment with penalty from the Alphabet network, is billed as a follow-up to the original film and “looks at the next generation of our women through the lens of the tangled friendships and complicated lives of their daughters.” Attica Locke (When They See Us) and Tembi Locke (Never Have I Ever) will co-write the project, with Emmy winner Anthony Hemingway (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story...

Here comes a new big-data approach trying to crack the age-old problem of understanding what a TV show or movie is really about.

Entertainment-analytics startup Vody is coming out of stealth after more than two years of development and testing. Co-founders and co-CEOs Stephanie Horbaczewski and Jeremy Houghton, who both were previously top execs at YouTube network StyleHaul, claim they’ve built a better mousetrap. The company’s proprietary system, they say, uses machine-learning tech to trawl the internet and compile a comprehensive database of entertainment titles — designed to plug into streaming services for more accurate content recommendations.

The L.A.-based company was formed by Horbaczewski, previously founder/CEO of StyleHaul, and Houghton, who was StyleHaul Cto. They both left the Rtl Group-owned fashion and beauty digital network before Rtl shuttered StyleHaul last year.

“We want to give platforms the understanding of content that human beings have,” Horbaczewski told Variety.