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Y&R Has Been Ratings Leader for an Unprecedented 31+ Years
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, the most-watched and highest-rated daytime drama for the last 31+ years, has been renewed for four more years, through the 2023-2024 broadcast season, it was announced today by CBS and Sony Pictures Television.
"Having the #1 show for any length of time in any daypart is a tremendous accomplishment," said Kelly Kahl, President, CBS Entertainment. "But THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS has been daytime's top drama for over three decades. The last time any other show was on top, Ronald Reagan was president, and the Berlin Wall was still standing. It's a remarkable achievement and a testament to the extraordinary cast, gifted writers, talented producers and supremely passionate fans, as well as our tremendous partnership with Sony Pictures Television."
"We are thrilled to continue the legacy of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS at CBS, as this renewal will take us to our 50th anniversary in 2023, and beyond," added Steve Kent, Senior Executive Vice President, Programming, Sony Pictures Television. "The iconic characters created by William J. Bell and Lee Philip Bell 47 years ago continue to captivate audiences in the U.S. and across the globe, and we look forward to building on the dynamic storylines featuring these beloved characters."
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS has been a mainstay of CBS Daytime for over 47 years. Currently, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS leads all other daytime dramas in viewers (4.11 million), women 25-54 (1.0) and women 18-49 (0.6). (Source: Nielsen live plus 7-day ratings through Jan. 10, 2020)
In the last year, there have been many notable anniversaries on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. Among them, Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman) celebrated 40 years on the show; Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott) celebrated 30 years; Joshua Morrow (Nicholas Newman) and Sharon Case (Sharon Newman) celebrated 25 years; and Bryton James (Devon Hamilton) celebrated 15 years. Next month, Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) will also celebrate his 40th anniversary.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS stars Marla Adams, Lauralee Bell, Peter Bergman, Donny Boaz, Eric Braeden, Tracey Bregman, Sasha Calle, Sharon Case, Doug Davidson, Sean Dominic, Melissa Claire Egan, Cait Fairbanks, Camryn Grimes, Mark Grossman, Amelia Heinle, Elizabeth Hendrickson, Bryton James, Tyler Johnson, Christel Khalil, Hunter King, Christian J. Le Blanc, Kate Linder, Beth Maitland, Michael Mealor, Mishael Morgan, Joshua Morrow, Melissa Ordway, Greg Rikaart, Brytni Sarpy, Melody Thomas Scott, Michelle Stafford, Jason Thompson, Jordi Vilasuso and Jess Walton.
The series is broadcast weekdays (12:30-1:30 PM, ET/11:30 AM-12:30 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network and is produced by Bell Dramatic Serial Company in association with Sony Pictures Television. Anthony Morina is the show's executive producer. The co-executive producer and head writer is Josh Griffith.
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Starz has given an eight-episode series order to Run the World, a half-hour comedy from Boomerang writer Leigh Davenport; Dear White People co-showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser; and Lionsgate TV, where Bowser is under an overall deal. Millicent Shelton (black-ish, P-Valley) is set to direct.
Created, written and executive produced by Davenport, Run the World is the story of a group of black, vibrant, fiercely loyal best friends who work, live and play in Harlem as they strive for world domination. At its core, it's an unapologetically female show about friendship and not only surviving — but thriving together.
"Run the World is exactly the kind of bold, authentic, inclusive storytelling that Starz is committed to delivering to our global audience," said Jeffrey Hirsch, President and CEO of Starz. "We feel as though we have captured lightning in a bottle with the energy and chemistry of this cast and their portrayal of these distinct characters in this modern-day view of four female friends in New York City and we look forward to bringing the series to the platform."
The previously announced cast include Amber Stevens West as "Whitney," Andrea Bordeaux as "Ella," Bresha Webb as "Renee," Corbin Reid as "Sondi" and Stephen Bishop as "Matthew."
Bowser executive produces via her Lionsgate TV-based SisterLee Productions.
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HBO Max has put in development Afro.Punks, a one-hour drama from writer Jenina Kibuka (Insatiable, Sabrina, P-Valley), Gabrielle Union and Holly Shakoor Fleischer's I'll Have Another Productions and Sony Pictures TV, where I'll Have Another is based. Anton Cropper (L.A.'s Finest, Black-ish, Jessica Jones) is attached to direct and executive produce.
Written by Kibuka, Afro.Punks is a coming-of-age, one-hour drama that will follow three teenage misfits on the brink of rebellion as they navigate life, love and Afro-Punk.
Kibuka executive produces with Union for I'll Have Another, along with Cropper. Shakoor Fleischer is co-executive producer. Sony Pictures TV is the studio.
The sale is I'll Have Another's first at HBO Max.
Union brought Cropper aboard the project based on their relationship on L.A.'s Finest, on which Union stars and Cropper executive produces and directs. Cropper's previous directing-producing credits include Black-ish, Mixed-ish, Suits and Jessica Jones. UTA and Rain Management Group.
Kibuka was a staff writer on Insatiable, which aired for one season on Netflix. Kibuka also is a writer on Starz's upcoming strip club drama P-Valley. She's reppedy The Cartel and Ziffren Brittenham.
Union is repped by CAA, Atlas Artists and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Down to what sure felt like her last chance, Serena Williams came through with a cross-court forehand winner to close a 24-stroke point, then raised her arms, held that celebratory pose and looked over toward her guest box.
Finally, on her sixth try, after 1 1/2 hours of action, she had managed to convert a break point against 27th-seeded Wang Qiang in the Australian Open's third round.
Right then, it appeared that the comeback was on, the bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title could continue. It turned out that Williams only was delaying a surprising defeat.
So tough at the toughest moments for so many years, Williams just could not quite do enough to put aside some shaky serving and all manner of other miscues, instead making her earliest exit at Melbourne Park in 14 years, a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 loss to Wang on Friday.
''I was optimistic that I would be able to win. I thought, 'OK, now finish this off.' I honestly didn't think I was going to lose that match,'' Williams said about her mindset after forcing a third set.
She began by crediting Wang but eventually shifted to criticizing herself for not playing well enough to win.
''I didn't return like Serena. Honestly, if we were just honest with ourselves, I lost that match,'' Williams said. ''I can't play like that. I literally can't do that again. It's unprofessional. It's not cool.''
Williams was broken in the final game after more than 2 1/2 hours, fittingly ending things with a backhand into the net. That was her 27th unforced error on the backhand side, part of a total of 56 miscues. Wang made only 20.
''I'm better than that,'' said Williams, who trudged through the long walkway that leads to the locker room, carrying two bags, while Wang was doing the winner's interview in Rod Laver Arena.
Later, at her news conference, Wang laughed as she said: ''I always believed I could do this one day. I didn't know which day.''
Since grabbing major championship No. 23 at the 2017 Australian Open, while she was pregnant, Williams hasn't added to her total.
She appeared in four major finals over the past two seasons, losing each one.
And she bowed out much, much sooner this time, animated as can be, often displaying what she later called ''the signature 'Serena frustration' look.''
Williams owns seven trophies from the Australian Open and hadn't lost as early as the third round at either of the hard-court Grand Slam tournaments - in Melbourne or at the U.S Open - since all the way back in 2006.
Here is just one measure of how unexpected this result was: The only other time these two women faced each other came at Flushing Meadows last September -- the only Slam quarterfinal appearance of Wang's career thus far - and Williams needed all of 44 minutes to dominate her way to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. The total points were 50 to 15.
Wang quickly surpassed those game and point totals Friday, thanks in large part to nearly flawless play in the first set.
She saved all four break points she faced in that set, accumulated 10 winners and made just five unforced errors. Wang picked up the lone break she needed at love with an easy forehand putaway winner that made it 5-4, and she soon owned the set.
After that lopsided loss in New York, Wang decided she needed more powerful strokes to compete with the likes of Williams, devoting her offseason to more work in the gym.
''I think it worked,'' Wang said, nodding. ''You can see the result.''
Wang quickly went up a break in the second set, too. Then, when Wang served for the victory at 5-4, Williams seemed to shift the entire complexion of the match.
She was 0 for 5 on break chances until then but the sixth time was the charm. On the point of the day, with both players slugging away from the baseline, it was Williams who did what it took to take it.
She was superior in the tiebreaker, too, and on they went to a third set.
''During the second set, (I was) a little bit confused. ... I have to be calm, you know?'' Wang said. ''A little bit confused inside, but my mind always told me I had to focus on the court, focus on the point and trust myself.''
Asked whether she would party Friday night, Wang offered a simple answer: ''No.''
So what were her plans?
''Rest,'' she said, ''and just prepare for the next match.''
That will come against 78th-ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, who ended the career of Caroline Wozniacki by eliminating the 2018 Australian Open champion and former No. 1 by a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 score.
The 29-year-old Wozniacki had announced that she would retire after this tournament. Following her final match, she sat on her courtside chair and cried.
At least the Dane was able to quickly joke about the circumstances, saying: ''It was only fitting that my last match ended with a forehand error.''
She and Williams are close friends; their losses concluded at around the same time. They ran into each other in the locker room and ''were both kind of bummed,'' said Williams, who teared up herself while discussing Wozniacki.
Friday's winners included No. 1 Ash Barty, two-time major champion Petra Kvitova, No. 18 Alison Riske and No. 22 Maria Sakkari. In men's action, defending champ Novak Djokovic, No. 14 Diego Schwarzman and unseeded Marton Fucsovics advanced.
The defending women's champion, Naomi Osaka, was scheduled to take on 15-year-old sensation Coco Gauff at night.
This was the first Grand Slam tournament in 11 years with each of the top 10 seeded women reaching the third round. Who would have suspected Williams would be the first to lose?
Williams was only seeded No. 8, on account of how infrequently she has competed since being away from the tour while having a baby daughter in September 2017.
But she is still about as good as it gets in women's tennis, as evidenced by her so-close-yet-so-far Grand Slam showings of late: The 38-year-old American was the runner-up at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in both 2018 and 2019.
She started 2020 well enough, winning a hard-court tuneup title in Auckland, New Zealand, this month for her first trophy of any sort in three years - and first as a mom.
But Williams wasn't able to carry that success to the Grand Slam level, where it matters the most to her.
''I'm way too old to play like this at this stage of my career,'' Williams said. ''Definitely going to be training tomorrow, that's first and foremost - to make sure I don't do this again.''
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Melbourne (AFP) - America's Serena Williams suffered a stunning third-round defeat to China's Wang Qiang at the Australian Open on Friday, pushing Margaret Court's 47-year-old record for career Grand Slam titles further from her grasp.
Williams, 38, was the bookies' favourite to win a record-equalling 24th Major at Melbourne Park but she came unstuck against a determined Wang, who won 6-4, 6/7 (2/7), 7-5 -- after taking only one game last time they met.
The upset means Williams, whose last Major win was at the 2017 Australian Open when she was pregnant, has fallen short at eight Grand Slams -- including four finals -- since returning from having her baby.
It further extends her long quest to equal Court, 77, who is in Melbourne this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her 1970 calendar-year Grand Slam.
Williams' defeat came just minutes after her close friend Caroline Wozniacki was knocked out by Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, bringing a tearful end to the former world number one's final tournament before retiring.
"I honestly didn't think I was going to lose that match," said Williams, adding that she still believed she would win an elusive 24th Major.
"I definitely do believe or I wouldn't be on tour," she said.
The shock result removes a major hurdle for Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty, who had been on course to meet Williams in the semi-finals and moved smoothly into round four.
Barty, bidding to become the first Australian champion since 1978, hit form in a 6-3, 6-2 demolition of Elena Rybakina, saying she had played her best tennis so far this year.
"I felt I needed to be really switched on for this," she said. "I feel it's the best I've played this summer so far."
- Coco v Osaka -
Wang, the 27th seed, was walloped 6-1, 6-0 by Williams in last year's US Open quarter-finals, triggering a torrent of criticism from Chinese fans at the manner of the defeat.
But even after failing to serve out the match in the second set, the 28-year-old steeled herself and she broke Williams for the third time to claim the biggest scalp of her career.
"I think my team always believed I can do it," said Wang. "After last time I did really hard work on and off court, I believed I could do it."
Williams, seeded eight, started slowly against the fast, positive Wang, and it looked all over when she was a set and a break down with Wang serving for the match.
However, Williams won a titanic 24-shot rally to break the Chinese player for the first time, raising her arms in triumph, and dominated the tie-breaker to level the match.
In the tense final set, both players held firm but Wang pounced when Williams was serving to stay in it, converting her third match point as the American netted.
Later, Roger Federer will need to avoid a second Grand Slam upset at the hands of home favourite John Millman, after the 2018 US Open, if he wants to bring up 100 wins at the Australian Open on Friday.
Reigning men's champion Novak Djokovic, who dismissed Tatsuma Ito in round two, thrashed another Japanese opponent, Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to make the round of 16.
And huge interest surrounds the meeting later between 15-year-old American Coco Gauff and defending champion Naomi Osaka, 22, the second instalment of a rivalry that could run and run.
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Melbourne (AFP) - Fifteen-year-old prodigy Coco Gauff set up an Australian Open blockbuster with defending champion Naomi Osaka on Wednesday, as a pumped-up Serena Williams took another step towards a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
On a day when men's seeds tumbled, Serbia's Novak Djokovic strode into the third round to be joined by Roger Federer, who dismissed Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1.
American teenager Gauff, showing a tenacity which is becoming her trademark, clawed her way back from a set down to beat the experienced Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Gauff, who screamed and pumped her fists as she completed her victory, said her "will to win" had got her through the tough second-round match at a windswept Melbourne Park.
"My parents always told me you can always come back -- no matter what the score is," said Gauff, who beat seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in round one.
Gauff also beat Williams on her Grand Slam debut last year at Wimbledon, and in another quirk, she faced Osaka in the US Open third round, going down meekly in straight sets.
Japan's Osaka, 22, beat China's Zheng Saisai 6-2, 6-4 but briefly lost her cool mid-match, hurling and kicking her racquet when she gave up a break in the second set.
"I was thinking that I really don't want to play a third set this time," explained Osaka, who is defending a Grand Slam title for the second time.
Former world number one Wozniacki, playing her final tournament before retiring, came from behind in both sets for a 7-5, 7-5 win over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
Serena Williams shouted at the top of her voice during a testing second set against 70th-ranked Tamara Zidansek, before seeing off break points to win 6-2, 6-3.
"She was a really good fighter -- she did not just let me win," said Williams, who can equal Margaret Court's all-time mark of 24 Grand Slams if she lifts the trophy.
- Wind 'massive factor' -
Earlier, Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty raced through 6-1, 6-4 against Polona Hercog, buoying hopes of a first home winner since 1978.
"It was very different end to end, I think the wind was a massive factor particularly with the new ball," she said.
Djokovic also weathered the breeze -- which followed heavy rain on Monday, and smog from bushfires last week -- to beat Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in 95 minutes.
"They were tough conditions, pretty windy and it was hard to know where the balls were going. My serve helped a lot to get me out of trouble," said the Serb.
Federer was barely detained by Krajinovic, the world number 41, as he moved smoothly through in 92 minutes in the night match on Rod Laver Arena.
In other results, Petra Kvitova, last year's runner-up, came through 7-5, 7-5 against Paula Badosa of Spain, and China's Zhang Shuai ousted American Caty McNally 6-2, 6-4.
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic won a five-setter against French seed Benoit Paire, and one-time semi-finalist Milos Raonic beat Chile's Christian Garin in straights.
Tennys Sandgren, engulfed in controversy over his political views and right-wing links during his run to the 2018 quarter-finals, took the biggest scalp so far when he ousted eighth seed Matteo Berrettini in five sets.
Sandgren's fellow American Tommy Paul also pulled off a five-set upset when he beat Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (10/3).
And Australia's John Millman further trimmed the number of high-ranked players when he ended the campaign of Polish 31st seed Hubert Hurkacz.
But Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a slice of fortune when Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew injured.
Among eight first-round matches held over from Tuesday, after rain wiped out half of Monday's schedule, Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, also retiring this year, upset Belarusian 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.
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Melbourne (AFP) - Serena Williams blitzed the first set in just 19 minutes as she launched her quest for a 24th Grand Slam title with a quickfire demolition of Anastasia Potapova at the Australian Open on Monday.
The 38-year-old American, wearing a lilac dress and matching trainers, and sporting heavily decorated fingernails, powered past the Russian teenager 6-0, 6-3 in 58 minutes.
The eighth seed plays Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia in round two in an expectant Melbourne, where she can equal the all-time record of Grand Slam titles.
Williams comes into Melbourne in ominous form after breaking her three-year title drought with victory in Auckland -- her first since becoming a mother to two-year-old daughter Olympia.
Olympia watched her mother win the title last week, and Williams said after easing to victory over Potapova: "It (Auckland) was really special for me and her (Olympia) -- I hope for her."
But the American legend, speaking to an adoring crowd at the 15,000-capacity Rod Laver Arena, admitted that Olympia "just cares about Play-Doh".
"I try to tell her I'm someone, you know," she joked.
"(But) I am just known about town as Olympia's mom -- I love that."
Williams threatened to blow away the 18-year-old Potapova -- who was temperamental at times -- in embarrassingly rapid fashion.
But the 90th-ranked Russian, overawed in the first set, fought back and broke Williams's serve in the second, helped by some sloppiness from the American.
Williams double-faulted to go down a surprise 2-1, but there was never a hint of an upset as the American broke back before pulling away to an easy win.
There is huge pressure on Williams as she eyes the record Grand Slam haul of Australia's Margaret Court.
Since winning the title in Melbourne in 2017 she has lost four Slam finals, each time failing to even win a set.
Williams, the highest-earning female in sport, was pregnant with Olympia when she lifted the Melbourne crown three years ago.
There is a fierce focus on Williams' latest bid for tennis history at the Australian Open, and she knows it.
"Now it's just more or less about doing the best that Serena Williams can do," she said.
"Margaret Court was a wonderful, great champion, and now how great is Serena Williams? That's it.
"That's kind of what I have been thinking about the last couple of weeks and months, it definitely helps me relax a lot."
Williams laughed off a tweet by reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka in which the 22-year-old posted a picture of them together and playfully described the American as "my mom".
"Definitely not the mom, though, definitely more or less cousin?" said Williams.
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Melbourne (AFP) - Serena Williams can make history at the Australian Open as she pursues a 24th Grand Slam singles title, which would equal Margaret Court's all-time record.
But there are numerous threats to the American, especially from the new generation headed by Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka.
AFP Sport picks out five women to watch when the action starts in Melbourne on Monday.
- Serena Williams -
Will this be the moment when the American great finally makes it a 24th Grand Slam title?
The 38-year-old Williams, now a mother, has been stuck on 23 Major triumphs since winning the Australian Open in 2017 when she beat her sister Venus.
Incredibly, Williams has lost her last four Slam finals, and each time failed to even win a set. Nevertheless, she is still a formidable presence and the woman to beat in Melbourne.
Now in her fourth decade on the WTA Tour, Williams started the season well when she won in Auckland -- her 73rd tour victory and first since the 2017 Australian Open.
- Naomi Osaka -
The 22-year-old hit the highs and the lows in 2019.
When Osaka triumphed at last year's Australian Open for her second Grand Slam title she looked set to reign over the women's game.
But the Japanese then endured a slump, exiting in the first round of Wimbledon and seeing her US Open defence fall flat.
With her father standing in as coach, Osaka roared back to the form that made her world number one with back-to-back titles in Japan and China.
In December she hired Belgian Wim Fissette as her coach -- her fourth in less than a year.
- Ashleigh Barty -
Australia's world number one will enjoy strong backing from the home crowd in Melbourne, but whether she thrives or shrinks in the spotlight will be key to her chances.
The 23-year-old, who once had a break from tennis and played professional cricket, won her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open in 2019.
Barty surged to the top of the rankings in June and has stayed there ever since. She sealed a breakthrough year with victory at the season-ending WTA Finals.
She lost to American qualifier Jennifer Brady in Brisbane in her first match of this year, but bounced back on Saturday with victory in the final of the Adelaide International.
- Simona Halep -
The 28-year-old Halep will have to dispel lingering doubts about her troublesome back.
She is a former number one and two-time Grand Slam champion -- at Roland Garros in 2018 and then last year at Wimbledon, where she convincingly defeated Williams in the final, 6-2, 6-2.
But Halep struggled towards the end of the season with her back, which has troubled her for several years. In December was voted WTA Fan Favourite for the third time in a row.
- Coco Gauff -
Just 15, the American ploughed through qualifying and then stunned five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon last year, before going out in the fourth round to eventual champion Halep.
It was no fluke. Gauff went on to make the US Open third round and won her maiden title in Linz in her next tournament.
At the end of 2018 she was ranked 686th in the world, but 12 months later had rocketed up to 68th.
Will face Venus Williams once more in the first round in Melbourne in one of the matches of the day on Monday.
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Hollywood heavyweights Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington made a stop at the TCA winter press tour Friday to present their new Hulu limited series Little Fires Everywhere, based on the bestseller by Celeste Ng.
The pair star in and executive produce the series, which follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. The story explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
"From the beginning, the book does delve into class and sociopolitical differences and cultural differences," Washington said. "The book does a really good job of stepping away from this binary idea of race we have in this country, which is black and white, because we're also dealing with Asian identity, immigrant identity and class. It's a lot to unpack."
She continued: "It's wonderful because all these issues are present, but they're really embodied in these very rich women. These characters are women you know and you love or you hate or make you feel closer to them because you are them or they make you feel you have no idea how they became who they are because they are so real."
Witherspoon, who discovered the book before it was published in 2017, brought Washington aboard after "looking for a project to do with Kerry for a long time."
"When I read the book," Witherspoon said, "it had so many themes in it that were very complex, and I knew whoever was going to be my partner I wanted to have many conversations that carry these performances together." She said her first instinct was to figure who was going to "show up and do the work," and Washington was the perfect fit.
"Everything she does she brings a grace to it and an intellectual aspect to it," Witherspoon said. "She deepens the conversation. So I knew I wanted to go on this journey with her."
Both women agreed that their similar work ethic and trust made the process of working together seamless.
"There's not a lot of people in this business that I trust with my full inner life the way that I trust Reese," Washington said. "On a project like this, it's important. In order to bring as much truth as we could to these characters and these performances, we had to explore some of our personal stuff and share our personal experiences. … We really revealed ourselves to each other. I never felt in that nakedness we were unsafe."
Witherspoon and Washington were joined onstage by Little Fires Everywhere showrunner and executive producer Liz Tigelaar, who talked about putting together a writers room that was reflective of the "racial landscape of the book."
"I knew when I read the book that, in assembling a writers room, I wanted the racial landscape of the writers room to match the racial landscape of the book. That was a no-brainer going in," Tigelaar said. "What was amazing about the room is that everybody had these multiple connectivity points for the show."
She added: "No one was there to be the voice of one race or one anything. Everybody was there to bring their whole selves and experience to it and have really hard challenging personal conversations about what mattered to them. For a lot of us, that's getting to the core of how we operate as mother and humans in the world."
Little Fires Everywhere premieres March 18.
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Video: https://youtu.be/zJc3yTOpNDA
Things are getting pretty heated between Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in this new trailer for Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere.
Released Friday during Hulu's presentation at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif., the 90-second sneak peek paints a haunting picture of an idyllic suburban existence going quite literally up in flames.
Based on the 2017 novel by Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere follows "the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. The story explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster."
Witherspoon and Joshua Jackson (The Affair) head up the "picture-perfect Richardson family," while Kerry Washington (Scandal) and Lexi Underwood (Family Reunion) play the aforementioned "enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives." The limited series' cast also includes Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara), Geoff Stults (Enlisted), Jaime Ray Newman (Bates Motel), Britt Robertson (For the People) and Jesse Williams (Grey's Anatomy), among others.
Little Fires Everywhere, which boasts Liz Tigelaar (Casual) as showrunner, premieres on Wednesday, March 18.
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Alicia Witt (88 Minutes), Rain Phoenix (Hitch), and Numa Perrier (Queen Sugar) have joined the cast of Fuzzy Head, filmmaker Wendy McColm's sophomore feature effort and follow-up to her 2018 Slamdance Film Festival standout Bird Without Feathers.
McColm and Ethan Paisley are producing the surrealistic, female-driven indie thriller. Production gets underway in Los Angeles in two weeks. Rhianon Jones and Suzann Toni will executive produce. Sonja Tsypin is the director of photography on Fuzzy Head.
The McColm-penned script is based on her original story and centers on Maria (portrayed by McColm) who must sift through childhood memories and trauma to unlock the truth about her mother's death. Witt portrays Maria's mother while Perrier portrays Marian, Maria's sister. Phoenix plays a character called The Whistler.
McColm's acting credits include Mr. Right and Community but she made her feature directorial debut with Birds Without Feathers, which took home the Spirit of Slamdance Award in 2018 for its tale bringing together a depressed motivational speaker, an identity thief, a stand-up comic with stage fright, and an aspiring Instagram star.
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Whitney Houston, whose powerhouse rendition of "I Will Always Love You" jumped off 1992's The Bodyguard soundtrack to become one of the best selling singles ever, is among the 2020 inductees of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Others in the class of '20 are Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G. and T.Rex. The organization announced the inductees this morning.
The 35th annual induction ceremony and concert will be broadcast live from Cleveland by HBO on May 2.
Also announced: Recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performing professionals, are longtime Bruce Springsteen manager and former music critic Jon Landau and veteran Eagles manager and multifaceted executive Irving Azoff.
With a significant proportion of inductees already deceased, this year's concert will lean heavily on tribute performances (Houston, B.I.G. and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan are no longer living).
In addition to the racial and gender diversity of this year's line-up, the inductees represent a range of rock eras: T. Rex – the British glitter band that was essentially a one-hit wonder in the U.S. ("Bang a Gong") but a phenomenon in England – and the Doobie Brothers hail from the '70s; Depeche Mode, Houston and Nine Inch Nails were at their peaks in the '80s and '90s; and Notorious B.I.G.'s popularity and influence outlasted his death in 1997.
Potential inductees not selected this year were Pat Benatar, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, Dave Matthews Band, MC5, Motorhead, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden and Thin Lizzy. To be eligible for 2020, nominee's first single or album had to be released in 1994 or earlier.
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