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Tyler Perry signs renewal deal with BET for 9 TV series
ATLANTA — The ever prolific Tyler Perry has signed a new, nonexclusive deal with BET to ensure fresh seasons of eight existing shows as well as a brand-new series.
This replaces his existing deal from 2017 with BET’s parent company Paramount. He was required at the time to create at least 90 episodes of new comedic and dramatic series for ...Read more
TV review: 'Jane' is the best heroine for families prepping for Earth Day
"Dora the Explorer" has inspired many youngsters to get curious about the world beyond the borders of Sesame Street. But once your child reaches the age of 7, Dora's adventures get a little dull. That's when Jane Garcia should take over.
The 9-year-old heroine of "Jane," which returns Friday on Apple TV+, is one of those kids who knows more ...Read more
Family guide to new movie releases
'ABIGAIL'
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language and brief drug use.
What it’s about: A team of kidnappers tasked with guarding a young hostage in an isolated mansion discover that they're locked in with a vampire.
The kid attractor factor: This is a horror film for adults, not kids.
Good lessons/bad ...Read more
Sound Advice: Turn up the fun with Bluetooth party speaker
Q. Our daughter is graduating college and we are planning a party. We hired a DJ for her high school graduation party but would like to avoid that this time. She said she can create a custom playlist for the party and stream it via Bluetooth. Is there some kind of streaming speaker available that can cover an outdoor 12-by-14-foot dance floor? ...Read more
NPG vets Michael Bland and Sonny Thompson extend their brotherhood into a post-Prince duo
MINNEAPOLIS — Sonny Thompson was creating some otherworldly sounds with his five-string, left-handed bass last week in a northeast Minneapolis rehearsal space.
"That's how people from Romulus play bass," drummer Michael Bland joked in admiration.
Bland and Thompson, veterans of Prince & the New Power Generation, are, as Bland says, like "...Read more
Toni Braxton reveals she was told to hide lupus diagnosis
Managers reportedly advised Toni Braxton against going public with her lupus diagnosis back in 2010.
The 56-year-old singer-songwriter revealed in a recent sit-down that her handlers told her to hide her chronic illness out of fear it would impact her ability to get work.
“People get scared around sick celebrities,” Braxton said on the ...Read more
'Franklin' review: Michael Douglas plays Ben Franklin in France, looking to fund the Revolution
Throughout history, world powers have funded wars in which they have no direct involvement. (Stares in our current moment.) In 1776, Benjamin Franklin hoped to convince France to do just that when the British colonies in America declared their independence from England and were in need of a serious infusion of money, men and supplies. France was...Read more
Review: Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough shine in Hulu's dark true-crime drama 'Under the Bridge'
"Based on a true story" — why do we care? Does it matter whether the events of a dramatic work "really happened," or sort of happened, more or less in the way we're being told? Is it a come-on to prurient interests, when the subject is dark or sensational? Is it to appear educational? Is it to advertise that things that seem too incredible to ...Read more
Commentary: Gen Z is watching 'Sex and the City' for the first time. Our discovery? Carrie is a terrible friend
“Sex and the City” is now one of Netflix’s most-watched shows as it settles into its new streaming home. Since the series’ April 1 debut on the platform, a whole new audience — many of whom weren’t born when the show premiered on HBO in 1998, changing the TV landscape — is discovering it. The comedy has been streaming on Max and on...Read more
Commentary: 'The Golden Bachelor' divorce turns a TV success story into a cautionary tale
Last week Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, the boomer couple who charmed millions by falling in love on “ The Golden Bachelor” last fall and getting hitched in a live, two-hour special on ABC in January, announced they were planning to divorce after just three months of marriage.
The news earned the septuagenarians the dubious honor of having...Read more
Review: 'Lempicka' struggles to make a painter's life work as a Broadway musical
NEW YORK — Say the words “Art Deco” and most people think of buildings and Miami Beach hotels. But those words also apply to the chic, tubular paintings of the artist Tamara de Lempicka, the title character of the fervently ambitious but chaotically conflicted musical from the writer-lyricist Carson Kreitzer and the composer Matt Gould, ...Read more
Travis Kelce heads to TV to host celebrity spinoff of 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'
Travis Kelce just scored another hosting gig: The three-time Super Bowl champ will lead a spinoff of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
Kelce's iteration of the game show — "Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?" — will be the famed tight end's first entry into series television after successfully hosting "Saturday Night Live" last year and ...Read more
Taylor Swift mural pops up by 'the lakes' in Chicago with mystery 'The Tortured Poets Department' message
CHICAGO — After clocking out of her shift at the Gage restaurant near Millenium Park Monday, Jess Dennsion saw a message on a Taylor Swift fan page that she couldn’t ignore.
She ran to River North, where painters hoisted on a green scissor lift created a fairly inconspicuous QR code using the letters “ttpd” and the number “13” on ...Read more
Meghan Markle's pals show off jam from new lifestyle brand
Pals of Meghan Markle are jamming out as they show off the first product from the Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle brand, just over a month after it was announced on Instagram.
American Riviera Orchard — which People reports will debut later this spring — will start its lifestyle legacy by selling strawberry jam, according to posts from ...Read more
Jack Antonoff tapped for Broadway's new 'Romeo and Juliet' starring Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler
NEW YORK — A new version of “Romeo and Juliet” will hit Broadway this fall — with a modern twist, and a modern score served up by Jack Antonoff.
British actor Kit Connor, who stars in the Netflix coming-of-age dramedy “Heartstopper,” and “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler will make their Broadway debuts in a revival of the...Read more
Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett hospitalized after adverse reaction to meds
Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett was rushed to a hospital over the weekend as he was preparing to play a since-canceled show at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.
The 74-year-old musician apologized "for the scare" in a Sunday Facebook post that included a photo of him in a hospital room hooked up to medical equipment. In the post, Hackett...Read more
'Push Ups' -- by Drake? -- sparks AI speculation as more players join diss-track drama
LOS ANGELES — Drake has finally dropped his Kendrick Lamar diss track. Or has he?
Over the weekend, a track titled "Push Ups (Drop and Give Me 50)" sent rap fans into a frenzy, thinking that Drizzy had taken his alleged rap beef with Lamar and recent collaborator Metro Boomin into his own hands. The song was reportedly leaked Saturday but ...Read more
Participant, maker of 'Green Book' and 'An Inconvenient Truth,' is shutting down
LOS ANGELES — After 20 years, 21 Academy Awards and 18 Emmys, socially conscious film production company Participant is shutting down.
The Culver City company told its employees Tuesday morning that it would be winding down operations.
In a letter to staff, founder and former eBay president Jeff Skoll wrote that the decision was "difficult,...Read more
Dad of Steel! Henry Cavill expecting first child with Vertigo exec Natalie Viscuso
Henry Cavill is going from "The Witcher" to the witching hour: The actor is expecting his first child with entertainment executive Natalie Viscuso, The Times has confirmed.
The "Justice League" and "The Tudors" alum alluded to the life update Monday in New York at the red-carpet premiere for his latest film, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly ...Read more
What 'Civil War' gets right and wrong about photojournalism, according to a Pulitzer Prize winner
LOS ANGELES — After favorable reviews and a strong opening weekend at the box office, Alex Garland’s provocative “Civil War” is already poised to become one of the most talked-about movies of the year. The filmmaker’s graphic, often terrifying depiction of a war-torn America and a government in crisis has sparked plenty of debate among...Read more
Inside Entertainment News
Popular Stories
- Taylor Swift mural pops up by 'the lakes' in Chicago with mystery 'The Tortured Poets Department' message
- What 'Civil War' gets right and wrong about photojournalism, according to a Pulitzer Prize winner
- Dad of Steel! Henry Cavill expecting first child with Vertigo exec Natalie Viscuso
- Jack Antonoff tapped for Broadway's new 'Romeo and Juliet' starring Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler
- Commentary: Gen Z is watching 'Sex and the City' for the first time. Our discovery? Carrie is a terrible friend