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Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson have renewed their commitment to Turner Classic Movies, and George Stevens Jr. and Michael Schultz will be honored at the TCM Classic Film Festival in April, it was announced Saturday.

TCM also noted that new episodes of Two for One will return to the channel in April, with filmmakers and Ben Mankiewicz co-hosting a double feature on Saturday nights. Joe Dante, Kathy Bates and Jamie Lee Curtis will be among the guests.

TCM will continue to celebrate a different star every month, like Elvis Presley on what would have been his 90th birthday; Peter Sellers, Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson, Paul Newman, Tony Curtis and Donald O’Connor on what would have been their 100th birthdays; and Dick Van Dyke on his 100th birthday in December.

George Raft, Barbara Stanwyck, Red Skelton, Mae West, Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon will also be featured throughout 2025.

During its 31st year,...

The four films collected in Severin’s new set Hard Wood chronicle a seismic shift in cult filmmaker Ed Wood’s oeuvre. They see him moving from utterly idiosyncratic mashups of sci-fi and horror like Bride of the Monster and the immortal Plan 9 from Outer Space (not to mention the mockumentary delirium of Glen or Glenda?) to other perhaps less reputable pastures in the land of exploitation filmmaking. Starting with The Sinister Urge in 1960, except for one reasonably charming excursion into cornpone comedy, Wood largely confined himself to working within the increasingly explicit realm of sexploitation films.

Wood co-wrote but did not direct 1963’s Shotgun Wedding, a prime example of the hicksploitation craze that swept the nation in the early ’60s after the runaway success of the TV show The Beverley Hillbillies, which, in the world of exploitation filmmaking, bore fruit like Herschell Gordon Lewis’s gore-laden Brigadoon riff Two Thousand Maniacs!

Helen Gallagher, best known to soap fans for her role as matriarch Maeve Ryan on the ABC daytime drama series “Ryan’s Hope” has died. Gallagher passed away on Sunday, November 24. She was 98 years old.

Born July 19, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, Gallagher was a two-time Tony Award winner and a three-time Daytime Emmy Award winner, who also appeared on the soap operas “Another World,” “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.”

The news of Gallagher’s passing was first announced by The Washington Post, which was confirmed by Edith Meeks, the executive and artistic director at the Herbert Berghof Studio, where Gallagher had a long affiliation. An official cause of death was not provided at press time.

Attending the American School of Ballet at just 15 years of age, Gallagher first gained recognition playing a ballerina on Broadway, where she performed in the corps of “Seven Lively Arts” and “Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston,...

Ryan’s Hope alum, Helen Gallagher, died on November 24. The award-winning actress was 98 years old.

A Storied Soap Opera Career

Playbill reported that Gallagher, who portrayed Maeve Ryan on the now-defunct ABC soap opera from July 1975 to January 1989 when it ended. You may remember her rendition of “Danny Boy” in the series finale. She also sang the song several times throughout the soap’s run.

For her work as Maeve, Gallagher won three Daytime Emmy Awards. A five time nominee, the actress took home the statues in 1976, 1977, and 1988. Gallagher’s other soap credits include Another World, All My Children, and One Life To Live.

Broadway Star

Throughout her career, Gallagher also appeared on Broadway’s stages 21 times. She started on Broadway as a ballerina in Seven Lively Arts and Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston. She also danced in Billion Dollar Baby and Brigadoon.

In 1947, Gallagher won the role of Nancy in High Button Shoes,...

Helen Gallagher, who won Tony Awards for Pal Joey and No, No, Nanette before starring as Maeve Ryan in all 13 seasons of daytime soap Ryan’s Hope, died November 24. She was 98.

Playbill confirmed the news on social media.

Born on July 19, 1926, in New York City, Gallagher already was a singing, dancing and acting veteran of numerous Broadway shows when she was cast as Gladys Bumps in the Chicago-set 1952 musical Pal Joey. Starring opposite Harold Lang and Vivienne Segal, she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

She went on to appear in such Golden Age Broadway musicals as The Pajama Game, Mame, Finian’s Rainbow and Sweet Charity, earning a second Featured Actress Tony nom for playing Mickie alongside Gwen Verdon and Ruth Buzzi. She also performed in revivals of such classics as Guys and Dolls and Brigadoon.

In 1970 she was cast as the original Lucille Early in Broadway’s No,...

Helen Gallagher, the spunky Broadway triple threat who received two Tony Awards and starred as the matriarch Maeve Ryan for all 13-plus years of the ABC soap opera Ryan’s Hope, has died. She was 98.

Gallagher died Sunday at a hospital in Manhattan, Edith Meeks, executive and artistic director at New York’s Herbert Berghof Studio, told The Washington Post. Gallagher taught a class in “Singing for the Musical Theater” there for years.

The radiant singer, dancer and actress received her first Tony in 1952 for her portrayal of showgirl Gladys Bumps in a revival of the Rodgers & Hart musical Pal Joey, then landed another in 1971 for her turn as flapper Lucille Early, another wise-cracking character, in a revival of Busby Berkeley’s No, No, Nanette.

“When Miss Gallagher sings the blues of a lovelorn wife with piece of chiffon and a chorus of properly epicene tailor’s dummies, she makes the...

It’s Musicals Week at IndieWire. With “Wicked” about to sparkle over theaters, we’re celebrating the best of the movie-musical genre.

Season 1 of “Schmigadoon!” was a welcome bright spot in the waning days of the Covid-19 pandemic when it premiered in July 2021. The relentlessly cheery homage to and gentle spoof of Golden Age Broadway musicals was a throwback that also heralded a new voice in American musicals with Cinco Paul’s infectious songs and witty scripts. But the experience wasn’t quite what Paul had in mind when Apple TV+ first greenlit the show.

“Shooting Season 1 wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped it to be,” Paul told IndieWire with a rueful laugh. “Pre-covid, we were greenlit, and I was like, ‘It’ll be so fun, and we’ll hang out between takes.’ I had this image of it in my head, and it was not everybody double-masked,...

DS9's "Meridian" was a Star Trek take on Brigadoon, but faced budget and production challenges. Ira Steven Behr called himself a "moron" for pitching the episode idea based on Brigadoon. Despite its reputation, "Meridian" had strong character moments, especially for Terry Farrell and Avery Brooks.

One episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was so poorly received among the production team that Ira Steven Behr called himself a "moron" for even considering the story idea. DS9 season 3, episode 8, "Meridian" was pitched as "Star Trek does Brigadoon" in reference to the Gene Kelly movie musical. In Brigadoon, Tommy Albright (Kelly) stumbles into a Scottish village that only appears once every 200 years, where he falls in love with Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse). Directed by Jonathan Frakes, DS9's "Meridian", the USS Defiant discovers a planet that only appears every 60 years.

In Star Trek: DS9's version of Brigadoon, Lt. Jadzia Dax...

The preview opening of the new exhibit Meet the Stars: 100 Years of MGM Studios and the Golden Age of Hollywood on Thursday night was a crowded, buzzing affair. Held at the Hollywood Heritage Museum in the historic Lasky DeMille Barn across from the Hollywood Bowl, the event showcased the items of over 20 movie collectors. Memorabilia hunters, dressed in fedoras and flirty ’40s dresses, gabbed about their latest finds with others who have a similar passion.

The highlight of the night was when the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to former MGM child star Cora Sue Collins (who played a little Greta Garbo in 1933’s Queen Christina), the last surviving MGM contract player from the 1930s. Sitting at a tableau that recreated a party thrown for her by MGM in 1935, Collins elegantly thanked everyone for their well wishes. Actor George Chakiris was also in attendance, and he posed next to a costume...

Bleachers take on the classic show tune “Almost Like Being in Love” for the final track in the Jack Antonoff-curated The New Look soundtrack.

The tenth and season finale episode of the Apple TV+ series — about the career of fashion designer Christian Dior and his clashes with Coco Chanel amid the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Paris — hit the streaming service Wednesday, and with it Antonoff and Bleachers’ ghostly rendition of the show tune that, after featuring in the 1947 musical Brigadoon, was popularized by artists like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole,...

“Schmigadoon” has run out of its signature “Corn Puddin’.” The Apple TV+ musical-comedy series has been canceled after two seasons on the streamer.

Series co-creator Cinco Paul announced the news on Instagram. In his post, Paul revealed that scripts for a third season have already been written, along with 25 new songs that would have been featured had it been renewed.

“I am sad to share that Apple will not be moving forward with Season 3 of Schmigadoon!” Paul wrote on January 18. “The season is written (including 25 new songs) but we unfortunately won’t be making it. Such is life. I want to thank everyone involved with the show, our incredible cast and crew and writers, our wonderful supporters at Broadway Video, Universal, and Apple, for everything they did to make it happen.”

Paul called it “a miracle” that “Schmigadoon!” got the two seasons that it did.

“And to all the fans...

Winning an Oscar is considered the ultimate accolade in Hollywood. Yet, some of the films that bask in that glory nearly never saw the light of day. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a Western musical lauded as among the 25 best American musicals ever made by the American Film Institute, is one such film. Initially, MGM, the studio behind the film, was heavily invested in another musical, Brigadoon, and deemed Seven Brides for Seven Brothers too costly. MGM executives planned to scrap it altogether. But producer Jack Cummings fought tooth and nail for the film, proposing drastic budget cuts. It was not just the MGM executives that had an issue with the idea of the film. According to The Independent, the film's choreographer, Michael Kidd, was also initially skeptical about working on the project.

“Deep Dive” is an in-depth podcast and video essay series featuring interviews with the stars and creative team behind an exceptional piece of filmmaking. For this edition, the IndieWire Crafts and Special Projects team partnered with Warner Bros. to take a closer look at “Barbie” with director and co-writer Greta Gerwig and nine members of her creative team who breathed life into the iconic Mattel doll.

The tagline “Barbie is everything” turns out to be pretty apt. “Barbie” contains within it multiple kinds of high-concept comedy, musicals, action sequences, mother-daughter stories, and a liminal void wherein Barbie (Margot Robbie) can meet her maker, Ruth Handler (Rhea Pearlman), and elect to transcend toyhood to become a human woman. All in less than two hours!

That “Barbie” contains so much and accomplishes so much — stylistically, tonally, and emotionally — is a huge credit to co-writer and director Greta Gerwig and her creative team,...

The Criterion Channel is closing the year out with a bang––they’ve announced their December lineup. Among the highlights are retrospectives on Yasujiro Ozu (featuring nearly 40 films!), Ousmane Sembène, Alfred Hitchcock (along with Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut), and Parker Posey. Well-timed for the season is a holiday noir series that includes They Live By Night, Blast of Silence, Lady in the Lake, and more.

Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.

See the lineup below and learn more here.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988

An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...

Christmas comes early on Max, as the streamer adds a bevy of holiday movies to its library for the month of November, alongside new TV debuts, a noteworthy documentary and more. “Elf,” “Christmas Vacation,” “Arthur Christmas,” “The Shop Around the Corner” and “Four Christmases” are some of the holiday films arriving on the streaming platform on Nov. 1.

This month also sees the Season 2 premieres of “Rap Sh!t” (on Nov. 9) and “Julia” (on Nov. 16) and the series premiere of “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre’s new sitcom “Bookie” starring Sebastian Maniscalco (on Nov. 30).

On Nov. 11, check out the documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” in which the comedian, actor and filmmaker’s best friend Rob Reiner peppers him with questions about his life and career.

And Chip and Joanna Gaines renovate a 100-year-old building in “Fixer Upper: The Hotel,” which premieres on Nov. 8.

Check out the full list...

It’s a lean month for new original content on HBO/Max. November will see the return of two scripted series in Julia and Rap Sh!t, both of which are debuting their respective second seasons, but this month’s fresh highlight is likely to be Bookie, a new comedy series from the partnership of The Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre, and Nick Bakay. The show tracks an LA bookie called Danny (Sebastian Maniscalco), whose business is in peril as California movies to legalize sports gambling.

Elsewhere in November, there quite a few interesting documentaries to keep an eye on, and two that jump out as “must watch”. The first is Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, which chronicles the aging comedian’s life and career. The second is the previously-released Little Richard: I Am Everything, which tries to peel back the whitewashed canon of Richard Penniman in a true...

Max out your November viewing with Max! The streamer is starting the new month with a wide variety of additions to its combined library of HBO and Max exclusives, plus titles from Food Network, Cartoon Network, HGTV, and more.

While also racing toward the official holiday season with dozens of Christmas classics like “A Christmas Story” and “Elf,” you can also stream new documentaries on Albert Brooks and Little Richard, catch the premieres of new seasons of “Rap Sh!t” and “Julia,” and much more.

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what’s new this month on Max, and then continue below to see the full list of everything new in November!

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What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Max in November 2023? “Rap Sh!t” Season 2 | Thursday, Nov. 9

Issa Rae is back on her “Rap Sh!

Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde Pierce in ‘Julia’ season 2 (Photograph by Sebastein Gonon/Max)

Max’s November 2023 schedule includes season two of Julia starring Sarah Lancashire as Julia Child and the return of Rap Sh!t with Aida Osman and Mia KaMillion. Bookie, a new comedy about sports gambling created by Chuck Lorre, makes its debut on November 30th with Sebastian Maniscalco starring as an LA bookie.

HBO documentaries Albert Brooks: Defending My Life and South to Black Power will stream on Max this November, along with CNN Films’ Little Richard: I Am Everything.

Series & Films Arriving On Max In November 2023:

November 1

Act of Valor (2012)

After the Thin Man (1936)

Aliens (1986)

The Ant Bully (2006)

Arthur Christmas (2011)

The Avengers (1998)

The Bachelor (1999)

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

Bells Are Ringing (1960)

Black Beauty (1994)

Boys’ Night Out (1962)

Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)

Brigadoon (1954)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

A Christmas Carol (1938)

Christmas Cookie Challenge, Seasons...

The episode of Best Horror Movie You Never Saw covering 2001 Maniacs was Written by Cody Hamman, Narrated by Kier Gomes, Edited by Juan Jimenez, Produced by John Fallon and Tyler Nichols, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

Robert Englund doing a demented Colonel Sanders impression. Lin Shaye putting on a deadly song and dance routine. Enough politically incorrect elements to offend pretty much everybody. Buckets of gore. Gratuitous nudity. And a cameo appearance by Eli Roth, playing his Cabin Fever character. Put all of this together and you get 2001 Maniacs (watch it Here). The director calls it a “splatstick” movie. Splatter combined with slapstick comedy. We call it The Best Horror Movie You Never Saw.

Herschell Gordon Lewis was a classy guy, but he specialized in making movies that were not classy. His aim was to give the grindhouse and drive-in crowds the things Hollywood wasn’t giving them. Noting...

A brand new “The Boys” spinoff series, the second season of “Wheel of Time” and football highlight a robust lineup of new movies and shows coming to Amazon Prime Video in September. “Gen V,” a spinoff of “The Boys” set at a college, premieres on Sept. 29, while new episodes of “The Wheel of Time” Season 2 are rolling out all month long after the season premiere on Sept. 1.

Thursday Night Football is streaming starting Sept. 14, and a whole host of library movies worth checking out – from “Four Weddings and a Funeral” to “Dracula” to “10 Things I Hate About You” – are now streaming.

There’s also the premiere of the original film “Cassandro” starring Gael Garcia Bernal as a gay wrestler, and the acclaimed drama “A Thousand and One” comes to Prime Video on Sept. 19.

Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in September 2023 below.

It’s a deceptively big month on Prime Video in September! To kick things off, The Wheel of Time will be back for a second season on the service, while a live-action The Boys spinoff series called Gen V will be capping off the original series content later in the month.

But there are also some interesting new projects lined up between those two biggies. On September 15, Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen star in what is sure to be a delicious tale of revenge. Wilderness, based on B.E. Jones’ novel of the same name, stars Coleman as a heartbroken wife who discovers her husband has been cheating on her after she gives up her whole life to move over to America with him and support his career.

You should also keep an eye out for Cassandro, landing on Prime Video on the same day. The film, which has been...

Schmigadoon! season 2 takes Melissa, Josh, and viewers from the Golden Age musicals of the 40s and 50s to the darker musicals of the 60s and 70s that are parodied throughout. When Schmigadoon! was renewed for season 2, it was with the twist of a new setting and characters. While the core Schmigadoon! cast remained the same, with the exception of one actor who didn’t return from season 1, the Schmigadoon residents took on different roles to reflect the time period. As Schmigadoon! season 2 introduced viewers to the world of Schmicago, many musicals were parodied through songs, storylines, and characters.

Schmigadoon! season 1 focused on the musicals of the 40s and 50s, drawing its title and initial plot from Brigadoon, the 1947 Lerner and Loewe musical about a couple who stumbles upon a mysterious village that only appears for one day every 100 years. Schmigadoon! season 1’s musical numbers, characters, and plot also drew from musicals like The Music Man,...

Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 2 of Schmigadoon!After one season, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio's Schmigadoon! has joined the ranks alongside Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Galavant of fantastic musical TV shows we've gotten over the years, one that both hilariously and masterfully parodies, while paying homage to the history of musical theater. When we last left our heroes Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan Michael-Key), they had successfully found true love in one another and found their way out of Schmigadoon, the magical world which blends classic musicals from the old masters of the 1940s and 50s, Brigadoon (of course), The Music Man, Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, all of your Rogers and your Hammersteins, sweet and morally uncomplicated as apple pie.

Dove Cameron knew from the jump that her first dance partner for “Schmigadoon!” Season 2 was going to be a bit wooden.

Their big moment comes at the end of the Apple TV+ musical comedy’s season premiere, when Cameron’s Jenny Banks, a livewire starlet with a jet-black flapper’s bob and a seductive stare, drags an unassuming wooden chair across the dimly lit stage of the Kratt Klubb.

Against a shimmering red backdrop, and flanked by her cabaret dancers, Jenny launches into a kiss-off song called “Kaput” that requires Cameron to balance on, straddle and eventually settle into a split on top of the chair.

“Let me tell you something about those chairs: they were not nailed down, and they weighed about four pounds each,” Cameron tells Variety. “Those fucking chairs are as flimsy as a piece of sourdough, and I was having a panic attack! It’s really...

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Schmigadoon! season 2The Schmigadoon! season 1 finale ended on a cliffhanger of sorts with Josh and Melissa finally able to leave Schmigadoon, and the Schmigadoon! season 2 premiere answers whether they made it out or not. Schmigadoon! season 1 followed Josh and Melissa, a couple who were growing apart and trying to save their failing relationship when they stumbled upon a magical musical town that they couldn’t escape until they found true love. Through multiple musical numbers and exploration of lives without each other, Josh and Melissa found that they were each other’s true love in the Schmigadoon!, but it didn’t mean they had to leave the town of Schmigadoon.

Schmigadoon! was renewed for a season 2 by Apple TV+ following season 1's July 2021 release, though with a twist. All of the main cast members, except for Fred Armisen, who played Reverend Layton, will return in Schmigadoon!

Though it is perhaps not the buzziest title among Apple TV+'s offerings, the musical comedy "Schmigadoon!" was a surprising and pleasantly charming riff on some classic Broadway shows. Premiering in the summer of 2021, "Schmigadoon!", as its title would imply to those in the know, spoofed old-fashioned musicals like "Brigadoon," "The Music Man," and "Oklahoma!", with the twist that a modern couple found themselves magically transported into a world combining elements of these stage shows and could only get out by renewing and better understanding their love for each other. If "Schmigadoon!" had wrapped as a single-season miniseries, ending on a tentative but hopeful note, that would've been fine. But there are other eras of Broadway to spoof, and thankfully, we now have a second, very loopy, yet slightly edgier season of "Schmigadoon!", picking up almost exactly where it left off in terms of its story and high quality.

At...

Apple TV+ is subbing out “The Sound of Music” for “Sweeney Todd.” The first trailer for Season 2 of “Schmigadoon!,” the streamer’s musical parody series, has been released.

Created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, Season 1 of “Schmigadoon!” was a riff on the basic concept of “Brigadoon,” a 1947 Tony-winning musical. Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key lead the cast as Melissa and Josh, a long-term couple in a rocky patch of their relationship. The pair stumble upon the remote town of Schmigadoon and soon discover they can’t leave until they understand true love: something the magical realm determined the partners weren’t in. Every episode featured multiple original musical numbers, patterned from “Brigadoon” and other musicals of its era, all written by Paul.

Season 2 of “Schmigadoon” picks up with Josh and Melissa back in the modern world, where Melissa feels discontent after experiencing real-life musical magic. The two pack their...

Musical TV shows are a tricky thing, but Apple TV+ made magic happen with the first season of "Schmigadoon!," directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key as a couple who find themselves stuck in the world of a Golden Age-styled musical. Inspired by the 1954 MGM movie "Brigadoon," the duo are trapped in this mystical musical town that follows the rules of classic Hollywood musicals — think "Singin' in the Rain" and "Oklahoma!" — and it nearly destroys their relationship. They managed to work things out and escape after six episodes, but it looks like the real world just doesn't hold the same appeal as one where you can sing your daily gripes instead of just mutter them. The trailer for season 2 of the Apple TV+ series is here, and it appears Melissa (Strong) and Josh (Key) are headed back into the woods to look for the fantastical forest town again.

Can a change of scenery save a relationship? That is the question at the heart of “Schmigadoon!” The Apple TV+ musical comedy placed a couple — played by Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong — into their very own magical world. What followed, in Season 1, was a search to find love again, all while living through a barrage of musical numbers. The project parodies the classic musical “Brigadoon” — which was adapted into the Gene Kelly-led film.

Continue reading ‘Schmigadoon!’ Season 2 Trailer: The Apple TV+ Musical Comedy Takes On ‘Chicago’ at The Playlist.

Season 2 of “Schmigadoon!” lands Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) in an entirely new musical world, far from the sunny, upbeat climes of “Brigadoon.”

In the Season 2 trailer released on Tuesday by Apple TV+, Melissa tells a shocked Josh, “These musicals are darker with more sex and violence,” as they’re drawn into variations on sultry “Chicago,” flower-powered “Hair,” and the the bloody “Sweeney Todd.”

Oscar-winning “West Side Story” star Ariana DeBose shows off her moves as a chorus girl in the “Chicago” setting, while Jane Krakowski is a lawyer who promises to get Key off on charges of murder. Meanwhile, Tony-winning “Cabaret” star Alan Cumming wields a mean cleaver as butcher Sweeney Todd and Aaron Tveit (also a Tony winner) is a groovy hippie in “Hair” as the musicals intermingle into one big medley.

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Ariana DeBose Embraces the Memes From Her BAFTA Rap: ‘The Internet Is Wild,...

As the credits rolled on another episode of Crossroads on 4 November 1981, the switchboards at ITV started to jam. After watching the show’s beloved Midlands motel go up in flames, hundreds of viewers picked up the phone in tears to ask one question: would Meg Mortimer, the onscreen alter ego of actress Noele “Nolly” Gordon, make it out of the blaze alive? The odds for Meg, last seen clutching some sleeping pills, didn’t look good. The Sun claimed in a front-page splash the next day that some fans had even phoned up hospitals to ask about the injuries she might have sustained in the fire.

It was the culmination of nearly five months of outrage and hysteria that had begun in June, when news first broke that Gordon’s much-loved character would be written out of the soap. This was not a mutually agreed parting of ways – it was against Gordon’s own wishes.

As the credits rolled on another episode of Crossroads on 4 November 1981, the switchboards at ITV started to jam. After watching the show’s beloved Midlands motel go up in flames, hundreds of viewers picked up the phone in tears to ask one question: would Meg Mortimer, the onscreen alter ego of actress Noele “Nolly” Gordon, make it out of the blaze alive? The odds for Meg, last seen clutching some sleeping pills, didn’t look good. The Sun claimed in a front-page splash the next day that some fans had even phoned up hospitals to ask about the injuries she might have sustained in the fire.

It was the culmination of nearly five months of outrage and hysteria that had begun in June, when news first broke that Gordon’s much-loved character would be written out of the soap. This was not a mutually agreed parting of ways – it was against Gordon’s own wishes.

A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.

Just two weeks to go before nomination balloting begins for the Emmys, and there can be no doubt this year feels fully back to normal with so many FYC events going on all over town it is as impossible for Television Academy members to keep track of them — just as it is to actually watch the shows they are pushing. And if you need a reminder of what you need to see, the swag arriving daily will do that for you.

Arriving home from spending much of May on the road, first in NYC, then in Cannes, there was everything from a box of candy touting the Hulu limited series called, well, Candy, to another limited series The Offer, about the making of The Godfather, which offered an appetizing horse-head cookie to chew on while watching the show. For sports activities,...

The 2021-2022 Broadway season has been quite a busy one for actor Brandon J. Dirden. First he appeared opposite Phylicia Rashad in Manhattan Theatre Club’s presentation of Dominique Morisseau‘s play “Skeleton Crew” this past winter. Now he can be seen in Second Stage Theater’s revival of Richard Greenberg‘s 2003 Tony-winning play “Take Me Out.” After having previously appeared in award-winning Broadway productions of “Clybourne Park” (2012), “All the Way” (2014), and “Jitney” (2017), will either of Dirden’s two main stem appearances from this past year make him a first-time Tony nominee?

In “Skeleton Crew,” Dirden played Reggie, the manager of one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit. The company is on shaky ground and the workers have to make choices about how to move forward if their plant goes under. All the while Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family and the red tape in his office.

The opening of “West Side Story,” both the 1961 and 2021 films, is not a song or a dialogue scene or even a traditional overture; it’s a dance. And it’s not just a dance — it’s a plunge into a world in which street gangs in 1950s New York launch into the air in bursts of aggressive leaps and exhilarating turns. In Steven Spielberg’s reimagining, the Jets rove through their neighborhood as it is being demolished, their tours and pirouettes not only expressing their rage but also a sense of helplessness against larger forces at hand.

The dance in Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is different from what we’ve seen in movie musicals in the last half century. The film marks a stunning retrieval of a relationship between Hollywood, Broadway, and the ballet world not really seen since, well, the original Jerome Robbins-Robert Wise “West Side Story.

A version of this story about “Schmigadoon!” first appeared in the Awards Preview issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine

Among the many TV surprises of 2021 was Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!” — a comedy series that follows a couple that stumbles on a town that exists within a musical. It’s quirky and weird and fun, and as long as it remains that way, series creator Cinco Paul is happy to keep making more episodes.

“I think we should all be very hopeful. I’m hopeful,” Paul told TheWrap of the possibility for a Season 2 renewal. “I don’t have an answer yet. But I would love everybody’s positive hopeful energy. Because as I’ve said before, I’ve always conceived of this is more than just one season.”

In an ideal situation, he knows exactly how long his show will run: “until it stops being fun.”

Really, Paul waited awhile to bring “Schmigadoon!

The film is based on an original concept created byChris Evans, following a 12 year old boy who works on the MGM Lot in 1952 and creates an imaginary friendship with the Gene Kelly while he works on his next film.Gene Kelly starred in iconic movie musicals, such as Singin'In the Rain, An American in Paris, On the Town, Xanadu, and Brigadoon.

Sally Ann Howes, the actress and singer best known for playing the role of Truly Scrumptious in 1968 musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, has died aged 91.

The news was confirmed by Howes’ nephew who said on Twitter that his “beloved Aunty died peacefully in her sleep”:

I can also confirm the passing of my beloved Aunty #SallyAnnhowes who died peacefully in her sleep yesterday. My brother & I thought Sally Ann might hold on until the #Christmas screening of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as this would have greatly appealed to her mischievous side. ❤️❤️

— tobyhowes (@tobybhowes) December 21, 2021

The British-American actress, whose career spanned six decades, was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1963 for Brigadoon.

Howes was born in London on 20 July 1930 into a family of actors. Her career launched in 1943 with movie Thursday’s Child. She went on to sign contracts with UK studios...

Sally Ann Howes, who began her acting career as a child and was best known for starring in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” opposite Dick Van Dyke, died on Dec. 19. She was 91.

Her death was confirmed by her nephew, Toby Howes, who tweeted: “I can also confirm the passing of my beloved Aunty Sally Ann Howes who died peacefully in her sleep yesterday. My brother & I thought Sally Ann might hold on until the Christmas screening of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ as this would have greatly appealed to her mischievous side.”

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is often broadcast on Christmas Day in the U.K.

In a career that spanned five decades, Howes racked up 40 film and television credits, having spent the latter half of her career focusing on the theater, including a part in Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” at the New York City Opera in 1990.

Born in...

Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!” broke onto the scene in July and instantly endeared itself to audiences. The musical-comedy stars Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key as a New York couple going through relationship pains, so they trek through the woods and wind up in the magical town of Schmigadoon where everyone sings and dances. The six-episode series, created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, takes its inspiration from the classic Broadway musical “Brigadoon.” In all, 13 cast members are eligible for the ensemble prize at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards (see below).

SEECecily Strong shines in ‘Schmigadoon!’: From ‘SNL’ to SAG Awards?

Key plays Josh Skinner, a successful surgeon, while Strong takes on the role of Melissa Gimble, a caring Obgyn. While Key is a former SAG Award nominee for being a part of the “Key and Peele” ensemble, this would mark Strong’s first-ever bid with the actors guild.

One...

You’ll have heard that young people don’t watch television anymore, which might come as some surprise to young people. They absolutely still watch television, just on their own schedule, not that of a broadcaster, and not the way it used to be done, anchored to a single spot or even a single screen.

If young people didn’t watch television, then The Office: An American Workplace wouldn’t have been streamed for 57 billion minutes in the US in 2020, because it’s far from only those of us who’ve experienced the mundanity of office life who love The Office. Increasingly, it’s youngsters who find in Dunder Mifflin a kind of refuge. They stream The Office like the middle-aged pour a glass of wine after a long day – liberally and probably more often than is good for them. Teenage superstar Billie Eilish told the ‘An Oral History of...

Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Icelandic-Swedish-Polish drama “Lamb,” starring Noomi Rapace was awarded best film and actress for Rapace at the 54th edition of Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, which wrapped Sunday.

The prizes add to an Originality Prize which the film received when competing at July’s Cannes Un Certain Regard.

“Lamb,” a horror-comedy combo, follows protagonist Maria, played by Rapace, a woman living with her husband in the total loneliness of the Icelandic countryside. According to a Variety review, “creepy-funny-weird-sad ‘Lamb’ proves just how far disbelief can be suspended if you’re in the hands of a director — and a cast, and a SFX/puppetry department — who really commit to the bit.” Lamb is produced by Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV and Madants with New Europe Film Sales and A24 attached.

Rapace shared best actress honors with Susanne Jensen in Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer.” Justin Kurzel...

Peter Palmer, who originated the title character in Broadway’s 1956 musical Li’l Abner and then reprised the role for the 1959 film adaptation, died Tuesday. He was 90.

His death was announced on Facebook by his son Steven Palmer, who noted that the actor died one day after his 90th birthday. No cause was given.

“As a family we knew this was coming and that’s why we had such a wonderful celebration of his birthday this weekend,” Steven Palmer wrote. “He enjoyed being celebrated by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends and extended family. Gonna miss you, Pops.”

Palmer, who majored in music while playing football in the early 1950s for the Big Ten champs University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and routinely performed the National Anthem at games, was cast as Broadway’s naïve, muscle-bound hero of Dogpatch after producers saw him sing on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The Li’l Abner musical,...

After a 15 months delay, the 74th annual Tony Awards honoring the best of Broadway will be held September 26 on CBS and Paramount +. And there a lot of familiar faces expected at the ceremony at the Winter Garden Theatre including six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, who is nominated for the revival of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”; Jane Alexander, who won her first Tony Award 52 years ago for “The Great White Hope” and contends for “Grand Horizons”; and 90-year-old Lois Smith, who made her Broadway debut nearly 70 years ago, is up for “The Inheritance.”

The Tony Awards first ceremony, held April 6 1947 at the Grand Ballroom of the famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City, was a vastly different affair. Awards were handed out in only eight categories. Producer, director and Tony founder Brock Pemberton was the host of the evening which was broadcast on Wor and Mutual Network radio stations.

(Warning: This post, which was first published July 16, contains spoilers for the premiere of Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!”)

If at the end of the series premiere of Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!” you, like Josh (Keegan-Michael Key), were more focused on how Martin Short’s leprechaun was shattering your whole construct of what’s real and not real in the world than on what the little magical man was saying, we can’t blame you. Because he was a freakin’ leprechaun played by Martin Short.

But now that you’ve had a moment to adjust, we have some intel from Cinco Paul, the show’s co-creator and showrunner, about the mysterious being that warned Josh and Melissa (Cecily Strong) they’ll be trapped in the literal musical that is the town of Schmigadoon until they can find “true love” — which the couple thought they already had with each other.

“That was...

“Schmigadoon!” creator Cinco Paul may have based the premise of his six-episode Apple TV Plus comedic musical on “Brigadoon”, but he hadn’t actually seen the Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner play, nor the 1954 film, when doing so. His love of musicals in general inspired the series. And as he was developing his lead characters and their relationships, he drew on musicals from “The Sound of Music” to “The King and I.”

“Those old musicals were big and they had huge ensembles and we wanted to pay tribute to that,” Paul tells Variety. “I always felt the more authentic the musical numbers were, the better the comedy and then the show as a whole would be.”

“Schmigadoon,” which launches with its first two episodes July 16 on Apple’s streamer, follows couple Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) as they stumble into a seemingly magical town where everyone breaks out into song and dance.

The exclamation point seen in the title cards of the new musical comedy “Schmigadoon!” isn’t just a nod to Rodgers & Hammerstein (a short overture even figures in), it’s a full-on attitude in this fitfully jubilant slice of whimsy. A six-episode summer trifle — much like the various pies and pastries fervently pushed by locals in the nominal town — it can sometimes be a bit of a toothache, but the series is also just as often irresistible, with a tremendously committed, blue-chip cast working at the peak of their powers.

Melissa and Josh (Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key) are an on-the-rocks couple, both physicians (an aspect that doesn’t pay off completely), trying to reignite their sparkless relationship by signing up for a retreat, and after a backpacking sojourn where they go way too deep into the woods (heh heh), find themselves in an all singing-all dancing Golden Age musical hamlet.

In the opening minutes of the forthcoming AppleTV+ series Schmigadoon!, New York City residents Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) find themselves lost in the woods on a camping trip. But just like the protagonists of the 1954 MGM movie Brigadoon, they suddenly stumble into a mystical town that seems to appear out of nowhere. […]

The post ‘Schmigadoon!’ Director Barry Sonnenfeld on His Favorite Song and Dance Number in the New Musical Comedy Series [Interview] appeared first on /Film.

Your inclination towards “Schmigadoon!,” at least in its early going, will likely be determined by your reaction to its title.

If you think it’s a clever, charming wink to “Brigadoon” — the Lerner and Loewe musical about an enchanted village, don’t you know? — then you may very well be along for the ride from the first moment. If, like this critic, you think there’s something ineffably cringey about it, with a bit too much effort contained within that exclamation point: Well, you may not find yourself on the wavelength of a show defined by its strenuousness.

Or just not at first, as a cascade of plot and production numbers washes over the viewer. “Schmigadoon!” tells the story of Josh and Melissa, a longtime couple (Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong) who, in the midst of taking a hike, find themselves trapped in a town where citizens dance and sing...

“Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels has put his latest stamp in the TV streaming world as executive producer on Apple TV+’s star-studded musical comedy series, “Schmigadoon!” A series that prides itself on its parodies of iconic musical, and with a rich lineup of comedic talent, the show premieres its first two episodes on Apple TV+ July 16, with more to follow.

The starry cast includes Cecily Strong, Keegan Michael-Key, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Jane Krakowski, and Ann Harada. “Schmigadoon!” centers on Strong and Key as a couple, named Melissa and Josh, who strike out while on a backpacking trip attempting to revivify their relationship. They wind up stumbling into a magical mystery town where everyone appears to be possessed by the song and dance of 1940s musicals.

“There’s a whole tone to the show, which is both real,...